Chapter 92.

Zhou An was livering up his proficiency here, and on the other side, fat merchant Qi Shuo had already left the blacksmith store.

Along the way, he kept silent, but his brows stayed furrowed as if he was thinking about something.

The guards next to him didn’t say much and moved forward in silence.

These guards were also all old men of the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce.

Everyone understood that there were things that could not be asked more.

The direction Qi Shuo traveled to was the direction where the county office was located, and it didn’t take long to arrive at the county office.

There were two constables standing at the door.

Usually, there are no people standing at the door.

These constables were accustomed to groping for fish, where would they stand guard at the entrance?

But today was different.

The new magistrate has taken office and won’t let them touch the fish.

Unless everyone could be like Zhou An and Yu Hang and not eat this bowl of rice, otherwise, they still had to carry out the orders issued down by the county magistrate.

“Stop, what’s your business?”

The constable stopped Qi Shuo and bellowed.

Today, they weren’t very good-tempered, after all, the days of groping fish in the past had passed, and no one else would feel comfortable in their hearts, so naturally, the voices shouted out were much louder.

Qi Shuo’s brows furrowed.

The brand of the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce was a big one, and a small constable dared to shout out to him.

It was also the thought that this was a small county and there weren’t necessarily people who knew what they were doing that Qi Shuo didn’t take to heart.

“Take the trouble to pass the word to the magistrate, just say that his old acquaintance is here.” Qi Shuo said.

The two constables looked at each other, one of them told them to wait here and ran inside the county office.

Not long after, Wu Youde walked out from inside.

Walking out with his hem lifted, he was in a hurry and was very fast, crossing out along the threshold of the county office entrance.

“Brother Qi, I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon, go, follow me into the house to discuss in detail.” Wu Youde had an eager face.

Seeing this, the two small constables moved their gazes to the distant sky.

They also learned that the county magistrate seemed to value this merchant, so they pretended not to see it.

Qi Shuo nodded his head faintly, but politeness was done properly as he arched his hand and said, “County Magistrate Wu, please step forward first.”

Wu Youde didn’t push back, and with a wave of his big sleeve, he led the way in front.

The two of them followed the doorway and walked into the county office.

Inside the county government office, the constables were also starting to get busy, no longer the salty fish of the past.

“Lord Wu is new here, and he has ruled the place into submission, he really is an expert.” Qi Shuo saw this scene and laughed.

“No where, no where, just doing my part, a few of you follow me into the inner courtyard to talk in detail.” Wu Youde began to bring Qi Shuo and the others towards the inner courtyard.

Soon, they followed the alleyway of the outer courtyard and walked into the inner courtyard.

Wu Youde didn’t have any real estate here, so he could only live inside the county courthouse, but the good thing was that the conditions here were still good.

Qi Shuo glanced around and asked the guards to stand guard outside before following Wu Youde into the room.

After Wu Youde entered the room, he closed the door with his backhand and poured two cups of tea, one of which he handed to Qi Shuo.

“It’s simple here, and there’s not much good tea, this tea is still the one I brought from the capital, taste it and see how it is.”

Qi Shuo just took a shallow sip and put down the teacup, “It’s not bad tea, Lord Wu, let’s cut the small talk, let’s go straight to the important process.”

Wu Youde nodded and came under a side table, flipping out a stack of dossiers and placing them on the table.

“Brother Qi, when I came here, the first thing I did was to map out the situation here, all of it, the general situation is also here, it’s actually very simple, as long as we develop the economy inside the county, then I’ll have a high chance of going back.”

“The first hurdle of the selection can pass, the second hurdle, I believe that I can also pass, after all, I am still very assured of my own talent.”

Wu Youde didn’t blush at all when he boasted about himself, and was even proud of himself.

Qi Shuo casually picked up a few books and flipped through them for a bit before putting them aside with a lack of interest.

When Wu Youde saw this state, he said something bad in his heart and couldn’t figure out why, so he didn’t say a word.

Qi Shuo was originally a fat man, but at this time, the aura on his body began to become shrewd.

The light released from those small eyes made Wu Youde feel a bit uncomfortable.

After a moment, Qi Shuo organized his words and slowly said, “Lord Wu wants to develop the economy, and we are happy to do so, that’s why we ran over.”

“To be honest, when we were in the capital, the reason why Lord Wu received funding from our Hengtong Chamber of Commerce was also because we saw that Lord Wu’s talent was good.”

“This time, it was an accident, but it wasn’t a bad ending, but a good one, I really didn’t think that there was this way to get rich in Anding County.”

When he said this, Qi Shuo rubbed his hands together with a face of excitement.

For businessmen, what else was more important than getting rich.

If one really had to choose one, it would be to get rich in a boring way.

“What way to get rich?” Wu Youde asked.

The Hengtong Chamber of Commerce was the background he had left behind in the capital.

It wasn’t a background to say the least, it was just when the Chamber of Commerce sponsored it. It gave him a lot of money.

Since that time, Wu Youde had tied his position in the capital to the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce by virtue of his own little ingenuity.

In fact, there were many cases like this one in Hengtong.

For those of them who were businessmen, the most important thing was to be able to unblock relationships.

Sometimes the better the relationship, the more benefits one could gain.

Let’s say that right now, if one wanted to open a branch here, then one would be in great need of people like Wu Youde.

They were able to save themselves a lot of trouble.

Qi Shuo felt that his mouth was a little dry after saying so much.

It was only after taking a sip of tea that he organized his words and spoke the subsequent things.

“Iron ore.”

Qi Shuo slowly said, “Anding County has abundant iron ore.”

Iron ore?

Wu Youde froze slightly when he heard this reply, but quickly reacted.

“But Brother Qi, the mines are all in the hands of the imperial court, it’s impossible for you to get your hands on this to make money.”

These days, mines were important strategic materials.

It was able to build weapons and wage war.

It was also able to be used to build all sorts of agricultural tools to increase the court’s agricultural harvest.

It was also able to build other things.

Anyway, it was a very important resource.

Great Chu for these resources, is firmly clutched in the hand.

Whoever dared to touch it, no matter how high his position sat, he would probably end up losing his head.

“Lord Wu is overthinking it, our Hengtong Chamber of Commerce looks big, but a single word from His Majesty is capable of tearing us apart, how would we dare to touch these prohibited things?”

Qi Shuo shook his hand, indicating that this was a serious statement.

These days, unusual people who wanted to move mines needed complicated procedures.

Let’s say a blacksmith.

Every blacksmith was registered with the imperial court, whether it was their height, physical appearance or voice, there would be a detailed record.

That’s how they were able to get access to the mineral resources, and they had to pay for it themselves.

The advantage of being registered was that as long as something was committed, it would be able to be tracked down.

Wu Youde expressed panic.

His worry lay in the fact that Qi Shuo was hitting the iron ore.

As a local magistrate, it was true that he held iron mines in his hands.

But these things, can be recorded.

When the time came, it would lead to dismissal and beheading, which no one could stand.

But listening to Qi Shuo this meaning, as if there are other plans, so he continued to listen.

Qi Shuo carefully, and solemnly, pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“Lord Wu, there are things that you still need to understand, you can’t say that you don’t understand the information now that you’re in a remote location.”

A piece of paper was placed on the table.

Wu Youde took the paper up and after reading it carefully, he was surprised and said, “His Majesty has opened up the permissions, and now the merchants are also able to pour iron ore, but they can only buy it from the same Da Chu Kingdom.”

This news was indeed surprising enough for him.

He was a scholar and somehow arrived here, where would he care about this?

Qi Shuo shook his head and said, “It wasn’t long ago that a holy decree was issued, and to be precise, it can’t be considered a buy, but rather a mining right.”

“This His Majesty of ours, he really intends to make a big splash.”

Wu Youde asked, “How so?”

Qi Shuo’s brows furrowed when he heard this.

He always felt as if this fellow in front of him was a little less than bright.

These days, after a scholar passed the exams, in addition to governing the affairs of the family and the country, it was important for him to also try to figure out the holy will.

When His Majesty issued a holy decree, if the people underneath couldn’t figure it out, then it would be easy to get into trouble.

Qi Shuo felt that Wu Youde didn’t seem too good at understanding.

But it had come to this point, he couldn’t change the person temporarily, and could only slowly say.

“There are many benefits to putting down the mining rights.”

“First of all, by allowing us to exploit the mineral resources in a specific area, we can gain lucrative benefits.”

“Secondly, the mining rights can provide important tax revenue, and also allow the people to gain income through mining.”

“In addition, mining rights can attract more merchants and promote further development.”

“Lastly, chambers of commerce that hold mining rights can improve their competitiveness and status through resource extraction.”

“All in all, mining rights are strategically important to individuals, the imperial court, and chambers of commerce.”

Qi Shuo didn’t care if Wu Youde understood, so he said all of his analysis.

Wu Youde also listened in confusion, but the overall feeling was that everyone would benefit if this thing was decentralized.

“I see, the reason why Brother Qi said that even if I arrive in Anding County, I will still have the support of the Hengtong Chamber of Commerce is actually for the iron ore, right?”

Although Wu Youde, this guy was not able to speculate on the holy intentions, but once it came to his own interests, he thought a lot.

“For the iron ore?”

Qi Shuo’s frown deepened when he heard this, he was already not too happy in his heart.

“Lord Wu has read quite a lot, but when you speak, you still need to pay attention to the measure.”

This was a hard thing to say, even though this was what they were planning to do, at least they had to pass on face, right?

“Win-win? Understand?” Qi Shuo said.

Wu Youde also heard that the other party was unhappy, and quickly nodded his head, indicating that it was indeed a win-win situation.

“Originally today was quite difficult, with this explanation from Brother Qi, I feel much more comfortable in my heart, at night time I will treat Brother Qi to dinner and give Brother Qi a pick-me-up.”

After coming, of course, it was routine to pick up the dust.

Qi Shuo was slightly curious, “In this acre of land, you are the hand, how can it be difficult?”

“Don’t mention it, there’s a prick, he said he quit in the morning, he really doesn’t give face, don’t let me encounter him committing a crime, if I do encounter him, he will definitely be dealt with seriously.” Wu Youde suddenly thought of Zhou An’s face, so angry that he couldn’t stand it.

Qi Shuo also just listened for fun and didn’t go deeper.

The next two chatted for a while, but the more they chatted, the more Qi Shuo felt that Wu Youde was a bit short-sighted.

He didn’t see it when he was in the capital before, but when he came to Anding County, this short-sightedness was more and more exposed.

Especially when Wu Youde was talking about the constable, saying that he had to get back to the scene and so on, he always felt that it was a bit redundant.

In his place, he definitely would not make trouble with a constable.

The reception banquet was going on as usual.

On the other side.

Zhou An had gone home at noon.

Until the evening, he had been practicing the Butcher’s Sword Technique inside his room.

When it was time to eat, Yu Hang came to the house with a basket of vegetables and meat.

“Whole, potluck!”

Yu Hang cheerfully said.

Since they had not become constables, the two had been idle, one livering proficiency, the other reading, but it had been a long time since they had gotten together for a meal.

Today, Yu Hang planned to start it.

He even brought up a jar of wine.

“Yo, Old Yu, you’re broke enough today.” Zhou An saw the dishes and joked.

Even if it was a weekday get-together, he hadn’t seen Yu Hang buy so much meat.

“Isn’t this happy, the selection won’t take more than a few days, after the selection, it’s the turn of the imperial examinations.” Yu Hang laughed.

“At that time it will be time to leave Anding County first, how can I get together with my brothers.”

Zhou An heard and understood and asked, “When will you leave?”

Right now the inspections were almost at the end of their work, and the selection exams hadn’t been scheduled for long.

Counting the travel time to and from, it was estimated that it would only be half a month in total.

Yu Hang said, “We’ll have to advance a few days, I guess it won’t take long.”

“Then there’s no need to have a whole lot of fish and meat today.” Zhou An said.

Yu Hang put the food basket on the table, “Have some wine tonight, there are some things I want to talk to you about.”

Zhou An has not seen Yu Hang how solemn, presumably there is a big thing, he did not ask more, first went to the kitchen to cook.

When the time comes, it’s better to talk on the table.

Not long after, the dishes were ready.

The two sat at the table and looked at each other.

Yu Hang poured a bowl of wine for Zhou An and poured a bowl for himself, clinked glasses and drank it in one gulp.

Zhou An similarly drank from his cup.

He wasn’t a good drinker, and usually didn’t like to drink too much, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t drink.

In a situation like this gathering, it didn’t matter if he drank some.

“Old Yu, I always feel that you have something on your mind, now that the wine has been drunk and the meal is being eaten, it’s time to talk about it.” Zhou An took a bite of the freshly fried huayan pork.

Yu Hang filled up the wine again, similarly took a bite of the meat, and as if he had made up his mind, he pulled out a book from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“Old Zhou, this is something I think I still need to give you.”

Zhou An froze slightly and picked the book up.

When he saw the words on the top of the book, his brows furrowed.

“Water Burial Method, Old Yu, where did you get the book? You didn’t cultivate it, did you?”

What was written on this book was precisely the Water Burial Method of the Five Elements Burial Method.

He couldn’t figure out why Yu Hang had this.

Yu Hang drained his wine with confusion in his eyes, “Heh, coincidentally, the magistrate of Chen gave it to me, not long ago, he found me ……”