Chapter 23 Sowing Discord

  "Take care of your health, old man." Lu Haoshan handed a gift to an elderly white-haired man and said with concern.

  The old man with a head full of white hair was extremely moved, and as he knelt down, he said tearfully: "Thank you, great master, the great master is my reborn parents."

  An old man who was about to die, received the county magistrate's condolences and even personally presented him with a gift for the festival, although it was just a set of coarse cloth clothes and a package of pastries. However, that was the high-ranking county magistrate, and these ordinary people would normally tremble with fear at the sight of a mere constable. Now, the dignified county magistrate had come to offer his condolences in person. Who was the county magistrate? He was a god descended from heaven, and in the rigidly hierarchical Ming dynasty, this was an honor beyond honors.

  Lu Haoshan hastily helped him up and patted his hand, saying: "Respect the elderly and love the young, that was decreed by Taizu. You have made efforts for Jiangyou and should be respected."

  "Yes, yes, thank you sir, sir is truly a reincarnation of Judge Bao."

  In Yangyuan Village, Dayan Township, Jiangyou County, Lu Haoshan is making an effort to comfort the elderly, while Cao Hu, the usual arrogant and fierce captain, has put away his usual "tiger face" and is trying hard to squeeze out a few smiles on his rugged face, constantly handing out gifts to the elderly.

  In fact, Cao Hu was also somewhat surprised and delighted. Early in the morning, he was ordered by County Magistrate Da Lao Ye to follow him. He thought there would be some instructions, but unexpectedly, it was a lucrative job. Lu County Magistrate ate meat, and he followed, getting some soup to drink as well. He showed his face and got benefits, and could also get close to this County Magistrate Da Ren. Just thinking about it made him feel lucky.

  Taizu was born in a poor family and still remembered the taste of hunger. After seizing power, he ordered to treat orphans, widows, the elderly and the young kindly. Each county and town set up various charitable institutions, such as Ciyou Bureau for orphaned children, Yangji Hospital for the care of the elderly and disabled, Anji Fang for medical treatment, and even after death, there was a charity organization called Louze Garden to take care of the aftermath. Generally speaking, the system is still very perfect, but the degree of implementation depends on the conscience of local officials. Now it's a disaster year, bandits are rising everywhere, many places have long been closed down, and Jiangyou County is fortunately located in a remote area, temporarily avoiding war disasters, and relying on the convenience of Pei River, it will not be lost in drought years. The four major charitable institutions in the county can barely operate.

  Lu Haoshan was making a tour of inspection around the various localities under the pretext of visiting these institutions, showing his face and incidentally reaping some reputation.

  After comforting the people at Yangji Hospital for a short while, Lu Haoshan went to the Ciyou Bureau to visit those orphans and orphan girls, touching one's head and affectionately holding up another to amuse them, striving to create an image of a honest and kind-hearted official in the hearts of the common people.

  After a while, as soon as they came out of the orphanage, the local officials, gentry and village heads who had rushed to hear the news were already waiting outside.

  "Pay respects to the county magistrate." As a local snake, Lu Haoshan had just entered Dawan Township when they received the news. Although many people hadn't seen the newly appointed county official, Magistrate Dai Lao Ye, his green official uniform was quite eye-catching in the crowd, and Cao Hu, the head of the county yamen's catchers, followed closely behind him, making it easy to recognize him.

  Lu Haoshan feigned surprise and said: "Hey, how did you all come?"

  Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. The county magistrate was either ignorant or pretending to be noble. Every year, people would come to the county government office with both hands full, bringing gifts and money for the New Year's celebrations, which had become a usual practice. After all, they hadn't been stingy with their bribes on ordinary days. Now that the New Year was approaching, it was usually the deputy magistrate or the chief clerk who would come to collect the gifts. But this year, unexpectedly, the county magistrate himself came in person. This was great, now that the level of importance had increased, wouldn't the amount of money for the usual gifts also increase accordingly?

  "The adults are not afraid of the cold, and they come to comfort these elderly people who live alone. We are deeply moved, and it's just right that we have come to listen to your teachings."

  "It's here, it's here, sir, please come this way. The weather is cold and icy, we have already prepared warm wine to drink."

  Lu Haoshan and his party were surrounded by enthusiastic local officials, led by Li Zheng, and then "without being asked" they were pulled to attend a banquet.

  Putting aside the various enthusiastic and polite words, after Lu Haoshan and his party got on the carriage with a few degrees of intoxication, Liu Jinzhu, who had been following them for a long time, also got on the carriage with big and small packages of "孝敬" (tributes). These were all local products from various counties, which were collected by Liu Jinzhu on behalf of County Magistrate Lu.

  The coachman asked respectfully: "Where are we going now?"

  "Go to Zhaojia Village," said Lu Haoshan with narrowed drunken eyes.

  "Yes, sir." The coachman cracked his whip and the carriage continued on its journey.

  A group of people had long been prepared, and the jurisdiction of Jiangyou County had more than 50,000 people. The mountains were high and the roads were far away, even if they only visited the villages with oil and water, it would take at least seven or eight days. During this time, they would not return to the county government office. There were good wine and dishes served by others, and this kind of lucrative business was not always available. Everyone in the group had made some gains from the glory of the county magistrate.

  Seven days later, Lu Haoshan finally returned to the backyard of the county government office with a tired face.

  "Old man, you've finally come back, I was worried to death." As soon as Lu Haoshan returned, Chen Zi immediately helped him sit down and, without being told, began to massage his feet.

  Lu Haoshan smiled and pinched Chen Zhi's chin, saying: "You little rascal, are you serious or just joking?"

  "Master, what I said is true, every word. If you don't believe me, touch my heart and see if I'm deceiving you." He Zhi said as she grasped Lu Haoshan's hand and placed it on her chest, with a proud and stubborn expression.

  This ancient woman, without the makeup magic of later generations, and without those thick bras, everything is "genuine material", Chen Zhi's figure is indeed praiseworthy, this Chen Gui, indeed gave a generous gift.

  "Be gentle with it, if you break the gift from County Magistrate, I'll break your hands." At this time, Catcher Cao Hu led several yamen runners to move in the spoils of Lu Haoshan's trip. For seven consecutive days, they traveled to many places, and those local officials were extremely flattering, not knowing whether it was valuable or not. Anyway, when leaving, they requisitioned two horse carts specifically to carry them, truly receiving gifts until their hands were numb.

  After the servants had put everything in order and withdrawn, Cao Hu said with a smile: "Sir, all the things are here, I have personally checked them, not one is missing."

  "Hmm, not bad." Lu Haoshan nodded and said: "You performed very well this time, I'm very satisfied. You haven't returned home for several days, your family must be worried too, go back first, in two days I'll reward you heavily again."

  "Thank you, sir." Cao Hu also made a lot of profit this time and thanked him repeatedly before retreating.

  Liu Jinzhu said with joy: "Master, it's great! I didn't expect the people of Jiangyou County to be so enthusiastic. These gifts have filled up this place."

  "Hmm, not bad," Lu Haoshan said with a smile: "If it weren't for Cao Hu's reminder, this official would still be unaware of this fat job. Hmm, he's a talented person."

  Cao Hu?

  Chen Zhi suddenly realized that Chen Gui wanted her to investigate who was the county magistrate who came down to the countryside and took away the fat difference that originally belonged to him. It turned out that Cao Hu was trying to please the county magistrate, secretly selling out his former superior Chen Gui, and he wondered why the new county magistrate knew these rules so quickly after arriving here, while his own master blamed him for not being careful. The county magistrate's trip to the countryside was such an important matter, yet there was no news of it beforehand.

  Chen Zhi cursed secretly in her heart: Good Cao Hu, originally a wolf that can't be raised, just wait and see if I don't tell County Magistrate.

  Lu Haoshan caught a glimpse of Chen Zi's face out of the corner of his eye, her expression was somewhat complex, and a faint smile played on her lips, but it didn't show on her face at all. He said lightly: "Zi'er"

  "Master, the maid is here."

  "These gifts that have been collected, you and Jinzhu will sort them out together. If you see something you like, just keep it, consider it a reward from me. As for the ones that are not needed, take them away and exchange them for silver, they will come in handy in the future." Lu Haoshan said generously.

  "Yes, sir." Chen Zi replied, and then gave Lu Haoshan a charming smile: "Sir is really too good to me, thank you, sir."

  Lu Haoshan stretched out his hand and pulled her into his arms, kissed her face, and smiled: "So how do you say thank you?"

  "Whatever Master wants to thank, I'll thank him in the same way. After all, I'm your person." Chen Zi buried her head into Lu Haoshan's arms, with a proud and stubborn expression.

  "Haha" Lu Haoshan picked her up at the waist and said with a smile: "Let's go, serve this old master to take a bath. These things, let the servants handle them first, you can pick them out later."

  "Uh-huh"

  Seeing Lu Haoshan embracing Chen Zi, who was full of charm and beauty, into the room, Liu Jinchu, who was unpacking gifts beside him, thought with a face full of envy: Brother Shan is really too ***, Chen Zi's figure is so good, it must be thrilling to death. No way, I also need to find a bed warmer when I have time, those chicks in Cuiguiyuan are all played out recently...