Chapter 48: A Tiger Skin

  The status is too poor, owe one more update.

  Finally, no one came to persuade him anymore, Lu Haoshan let out a sigh of relief, and he was finally able to clear his mind.

  The current feeling is like boarding a large ship, and I am the captain and helmsman. However, to make this ship sail smoothly, even against strong winds and waves, more people are needed on board to take positions such as vice-captain, guards, rowers, and sailors. Only then can the ship be complete. Lu Haoshan finally understands the benefits of being from a large family at this moment. With one order, young talents from the clan rush to join in, making good use of their skills without worrying about loyalty issues. It's like Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms era, who with just one flag, had his sons Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Cao Chun, plus the talented people from the Xia Hou clan, making it even more numerous. And with a large family, there is money when needed, and people when needed, it's hard to imagine not being able to achieve success. Unlike myself, who has nothing, in short, I'm just trying to catch a white wolf with empty hands.

  Talents, Lu Haoshan began to crave talents strongly, and now that he has become the county magistrate of a county, he can be said to have temporarily gained a foothold. After overthrowing Chen Gui and confiscating his family's wealth, he also had a considerable amount of funds in hand. What needs to be done now is to cultivate his own strength. Lu Haoshan hopes that he can cultivate an elite army like the Datang Xuanjia Army or the Guanning Iron Cavalry, which is small in number but extremely brave and good at fighting.

  However, training an army is not child's play, especially training a brave and good fighting force is even more difficult. As the ancient saying goes: "Three armies are easy to get, but one general is hard to find." Now what Lu Haoshan needs to do is to find a suitable person and then train a truly powerful force that belongs to himself. But what makes Lu Haoshan depressed is that he doesn't know much about the Ming Dynasty, and there are many famous generals that he knows of, such as Zhu Di, Zhang Fu, Li Wenxian, and others from the early Ming period, and then there are the famous generals from the late Ming period, such as Yuan Chonghuan who was thrown into prison, Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chuanting, Li Dingguo, and Lu Xiangsheng. The problem is that these people either died or were already famous at a young age and wouldn't pay attention to someone like him who is just a small role. It's really difficult!

  Lü Haoshan used to think that having no silver was painful, but now that he has silver, he doesn't have the right people under him, which is even more painful.

  A tax decree suddenly set the entire Jiangyou County government in motion, but with low efficiency in ancient times, it would take at least a few days of preparation. Lu Haoshan was preparing to mortgage official land to raise funds and alleviate the burden on the people, but he had to wait until the tax collection stalled and the people felt hopeless before taking action, using timely assistance to warm their hearts, only then could he achieve the best effect.

  At that moment, Lu Haoshan's mind was racing with thousands of thoughts, his thinking as swift as lightning, and one idea after another emerged, all about how to win people over and build up his own power. When he thought of something clever, he couldn't help but laugh to himself like a fool, fortunately there were no subordinates around, if they saw the county magistrate laughing like an idiot, who knows what they would think? Maybe behind his back they would be ridiculing him without him even knowing.

  A person thought for a while, Lu Haoshan stretched lazily and felt a bit depressed in his heart.

  In a small county like Jiangyou, most ordinary people are content with their simple lives and there are few who engage in nefarious activities. Even when something happens, the village elders will usually resolve it on their own, keeping "family secrets" within the family, and the county government is happy to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. Only major cases would disturb the county government. At the level of County Magistrate, any issues that arise are handled by subordinates, after all, they didn't spend so much money to hire them just to sit around doing nothing. While everyone else is busy running around, only the County Magistrate has some free time. Feeling depressed, Lu Haoshan decided to take a stroll on the streets, firstly to clear his mind, secondly to gauge public sentiment and see what the people are thinking about. If necessary, he could also show his face in front of the people and win their hearts.

  When Lu Haoshan changed into casual clothes, he suddenly missed Chen Zi. There was a maid by his side, and someone waited on him every day. When he was tired, someone massaged his bones; when he was bored, someone chatted with him to relieve his boredom. At night, there was also someone to warm the bed and do some exercises that were good for his body and mind. Unfortunately, Chen Zi did not pass his test.

  Liu Jinzhu went to investigate the news, and Lu Haoshan casually pointed out two captors, letting them change into plain clothes and follow him to walk around on the street.

  Out of the government office, walking about half a mile to the left, you arrive at the most prosperous street in Jiangyou County: Peijiang Street. This street is named after Peijiang and combines business transactions, food, entertainment, and other activities, making it the most prosperous place in Jiangyou County and also the face of Jiangyou people.

  "Baozi, just steamed meat baozi, more meat and less dough, you'll want another one after eating one"

  "Rouge, newly arrived in Hangzhou powder, both fine and smooth."

  "Suzhou's silk, come and take a look, take a look!"

  "Freshly baked buns, Hu's buns, crispy and fragrant, six cents each, ten cents for two, first come first served, hurry up!"

  ........

  Walking on Pei Jiang Street, the cries of peddlers and haggling voices were endless. The shop assistants shouted with all their might, and the pedestrians on the street crowded shoulder to shoulder. Just looking at this scene, it was hard to tell that this was a chaotic world. On the contrary, there was a kind of prosperity and bustle like in the Jiangnan region. As the county magistrate, Lu Haoshan's mood improved significantly.

  By the mid-Ming dynasty, commerce had become very developed, with different regions trading with each other and appearing very lively. In addition, the Ming dynasty's business tax was low, with a 3% tax rate, and some small businesses were even exempt from taxes. As a result, doing business became a profitable venture. Although Jiangyou is located in a remote area, it has the advantage of having a river, the Pei River, which allows boats to dock and replenish supplies, and sailors would often come ashore to have fun, making the place quite lively.

  Lu Haoshan was walking on the streets of Jiangyou County for the first time with such a relaxed mood, seeing this scene, a sense of pride arose: these are the people under his rule, this is the place he governs, and it's also where his dreams begin, looking like this, so close and lovely.

  "Be careful, sir!" Captain Zhang Wu walked ahead of Lu Hao, clearing the way for him. He even pushed aside some careless ghosts, afraid that they might bump into the honorable county magistrate.

  Cao Butou had already said that if the master had a slight difference, he would skin both of them, so they were especially careful. Normally, they were very arrogant and protected Lu Haoshan very thoroughly. The catcher named Niu Bao was also a clever guy. When Lu Haoshan showed some interest in a certain snack, he took the initiative to buy it and present it to him. Lu Haoshan was very satisfied with this.

  "Niu Bao, is it always this lively on Pingjiang Street? Why didn't I notice it before?" Lu Haoshan asked with some curiosity.

  "In response to Master's words, today is the market day, many peddlers will come here to set up stalls on this day, and ordinary people also choose this day to enter the city to rush to the market, so it seems much more lively than usual." Niu Bao replied respectfully.

  "Oh, it's a market day?"

  Zhang Wu hastily said, "Sir, you've just arrived and don't know that in Jiangyou County, every 2nd, 5th, and 8th day of the month is a market day. On these days, there are more goods than usual, and sometimes many merchants from the Western Regions also come."

  "It's not that" Niu Bao said with a sly tone: "Those merchants, sometimes they even bring some blonde-haired and blue-eyed foreign women to sell, or let them solicit customers, making the local brothel owners very unhappy. However, these Western merchants are quite good at socializing, they hand over three-tenths of their earnings to the county government, if you want to try something new, I can help you find someone."

  It's cold, I didn't expect such things. The Huaxia and neighboring countries have been trading for a long time, since Zhang Qian opened up the Western Regions, the exchanges have never stopped. By the Tang Dynasty, it gradually prospered, at that time, the Hujie were popular, people say merchants are profit-driven, but I didn't expect such a remote place would also have merchants from the Western Regions coming and going, it's really made Lu Haosong feel emotional.

  Facing Niu Bao's "kindness", Lu Haoshan shook his head and said: "Forget it, this official is not interested in these things."

  A small capture, taking the county magistrate to ask for flowers and willows, this matter must be spread out, it's simply a reputation, also fortunately he can say it, if it were Zhou Dàyuan this person is clever, definitely first arrange well, then quietly replace himself "add a pillow", thinking of Zhou Dàyuan, Lù Hǎoshān has some headache again, this guy is too cunning, naturally after Chen Zǐ's death, he always recommends his relatives in front of him, sometimes saying that his cousin is virtuous, sometimes saying that there is a talented and beautiful sister-in-law, etc., making Lù Hǎoshān sometimes not know what to say.

  "Hey boss, we've been walking for so long, why not find a place to eat something? There's a Zhouji mutton soup restaurant up ahead, the flavor is quite authentic." Zhang Wu said with a smile.

  "Wait a minute, let's take a look at what's going on ahead." Lu Haoshan said, pointing forward.

  Just in front of the intersection, a large crowd gathered, with three layers outside and three layers inside, occasionally exclaiming in surprise, as if something had happened.

  "Yes, sir." Zhang Wu and Niu Bao hastily replied. Since the county magistrate had spoken, neither of them dared to object.

  Then the three of them went forward together to watch the excitement.

  "Get out of the way."

  "Shut up, or I'll have you locked up in the county yamen."

  "Let go, let go, let go."

  There were Zhang Wu and Niu Bao leading the way in front, and Lu Haoshan walked into the inner room with ease. As soon as he entered, his eyes lit up: He saw a girl from an ethnic minority wearing traditional clothes, tall and slender, with fair skin, eyebrows like willow leaves, big and spirited eyes, a high and straight nose, and a confident yet cold expression on her face, just like a fairy who didn't eat human fireworks in the sky. As soon as Lu Haoshan saw her, his little heart beat rapidly: This woman was the one who made Lu Haoshan's heart move the most since he came to Ming Dynasty.

  Unfortunately, Lu Haoshan had his eyes on this beautiful woman, but her eyes were deeply attracted to a white tiger skin laid out on the ground, staring at it intently and refusing to look away. While gazing at the white tiger skin, she haggled with its owner: "Brother, eighty taels is really not a small amount, just sell it to me."

  "Girl, I've said it," the owner of the white tiger skin was a burly man with a rough appearance, wearing tattered clothes, but his demeanor was extraordinary. He looked at her calmly and said, "Less than 100 taels is not worth discussing."