Chapter Ten Destination, Luoyang

  Wei Du looked at Chen Chu deeply, then continued; "These official positions are all clearly priced, the county magistrate is 800 gold, the governor needs 1,500 gold, the higher the position, the higher the price, and the three public officials don't even think about it if you don't have 10,000 gold."

  Chen Chu listened intently, secretly calculating to himself: apart from the money spent on buying land and grain, he still had 1,500 taels of silver left, just enough to buy a position as a provincial governor, but considering that he needed to have a certain amount of liquid funds in hand, he could only afford to buy a county magistrate's position.

  Chen Chu's decision to buy an official position was made after careful consideration. In his past life, Chen Chu had watched countless TV dramas and movies based on the Three Kingdoms theme, which gave him an inspiration: wherever there were officials, heroes could more easily recruit strategists and generals, making it easier for them to establish their own power. With this in mind, Chen Chu decided to buy an official position.

  After thinking for a while, Chen Chu asked again: "Old brother, how should I donate a county order?"

  "It's simple, just bring the money and go to Luoyang directly. Today, at the Hongdu Gate, Zhang Bang is selling official positions, as long as you have money it will do, no need for anyone to introduce you. To say, today's goods are not bad." Wei Du said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

  Wei Du suddenly remembered something and said: "Younger brother, I'm going to Luoyang in a few days, you can come with me."

  Chen Chu heard this and was overjoyed. "That's great! I've been worried that I'm too unfamiliar with the Luoyang area!"

  "Wei Du smiled and said: 'Alright then, it's settled. I'll wait for you at the South City Gate three days later.'"

  Having finished discussing official business, just then a servant came in and said that lunch was ready.

  Chen Chu wanted to leave, but was pulled back by Wei Du, who insisted that he stay and have lunch with him.

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  After bidding farewell to Wei Du, Chen Chu remembered that the matter of reclaiming wasteland still required official approval, so he went straight to the government office.

  After reporting his name at the gate of the prefecture, the yamen runner told Chen Chu to wait at the gate and went in to report. Before long, the yamen runner came out and said that the county magistrate was in the main hall, and asked Chen Chu to go in.

  After meeting the county magistrate, Chen Chu explained his intention, but this county magistrate spoke evasively.

  The county magistrate, surnamed Qin, was over 70 years old and had been in the position of Leiping County for decades. The people of Leiping County all knew that no matter whether it was a lawsuit or something else, as long as they wanted to trouble Magistrate Qin, they had to prepare money and goods in advance, otherwise, forget about it.

  Chen Chu, who had just arrived in Le Ping County, didn't know the habits of this Qin county magistrate, but relying on his years of experience as a salesperson, he immediately realized that this Qin county magistrate was asking for benefits from him. Chen Chu was well-prepared for this.

  When Chen Chu presented ten taels of gold, all problems were solved effortlessly.

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  In the following days, Chen Chu stayed in the village almost every day. The village was no longer called a tenant farmer's village and Chen Chu gave it a new name - Dragon Tiger Village. Although the villagers were excited about having a name for their village, Deng Gong had some objections. According to Deng Gong, using the dragon character was taboo. However, Chen Chu didn't care about this and under his insistence, Deng Gong didn't say anything else.

  At that time, Deng Gong thought in his heart: It seems that the master is really ambitious! The master treats everyone with great kindness, no matter what the master wants to do, the villagers will definitely follow him to the death!

  Chen Chu never thought that just a name would evoke such emotions from his subordinates. If he knew, who knows what he would think.

  The villagers are currently busy with two things, one is to cut down trees and build houses, the other is to open up wasteland. Everyone's work enthusiasm is very high, and in just three days, they have opened up hundreds of acres of wasteland.

  Chen Chu saw his subordinates working enthusiastically and, itching to join in, also went to help. However, Chen Chu was completely clueless about these rough farm chores, so he ended up not helping at all, but instead causing more chaos. Nevertheless, Chen Chu's actions moved everyone even more, for who would have thought that a master like him wouldn't mind getting dirty and mingling with the others? Moved by this, everyone's morale was boosted even further.

  Three days later, Chen Chu arrived at the South City Gate early in the morning, but Wei Du had not appeared yet.

  Today is the day Chen Chu and Wei Du agreed to set out, Chen Chu will follow Wei Du to the capital city of Luoyang. Before leaving, Chen Chu had already arranged all matters in Longhu Village, with Deng Gong being responsible for everything in the village. After observing him for these few days, Chen Chu still felt at ease with Deng Gong.

  Chen Chu waited at the city gate for about half a watch, and then a team of horse-drawn carriages appeared, with Wei Du prominently among them.

  Chen Chu hastily went forward and greeted him with a loud "Older brother."

  Wei Du smiled and said: "Younger brother, you've come really early!"

  Chen Chu immediately joined the group and they set off along the official road towards Luoyang.

  Wei Du found that Chen Chu had no horse to ride, so he led over a horse for Chen Chu to use as a substitute.

  Weidu's team had eleven large vehicles, and apart from the coachmen and servants, there were more than a hundred guards. These guards were robust in build, solemn in expression, and riding on horseback was truly impressive. Chen Chu saw it and immediately felt envious, at the same time secretly making up his mind to also get a cavalry team.

  All along the way, Chen Chu and Wei Du walked together, chatting about everything under the sun.