The playboy county magistrate

"Of course, I will not contribute this silver myself."

The county magistrate, Cao, remained stunned for a long time.

If neither the yamen (government office) nor the magistrate provides the funds, then who will?

Isn't it the ordinary people who pay for it?

That corrupt official! He was definitely up to no good!

Magistrate Cao was furious, his face flushed and his neck bulging. Li Xuanzhi could naturally see what he was thinking, and he was also very happy that Magistrate Cao was indeed a good official. As long as he knew how to treat the people well, that was enough; at least his moral bottom line was there. This person was usable.

"Don't worry, we won't make those who are barely able to survive pay for it. I have my own methods."

Magistrate Cao was even more confused.

If this doesn't come out and that doesn't come out, where will the silver come from? Will it spring out from a crack in the rock?

Li Xuanzhi continued to close his eyes and rest, but his mind was already contemplating countermeasures.

It's time to collect the first interest on the debt the original owner was swindled out of.

Half a month later.

Beijing.

The residence of Vice Minister Yang of the Ministry of Personnel.

"Young Master, that little devil from the Li family wrote you a letter!"

The young master, dressed in a moon-white satin robe, pushed away the grapes that the woman beside him was offering to his lips and waved to the servant who had delivered the letter.

"Give it to me, let me take a look."

The woman, dressed very scantily, was not annoyed. She smiled and placed the grapes back into the white porcelain plate. She then wiped her slender, white fingers with a handkerchief, knelt down at Young Master Yang's feet, and gently massaged his calves.

boom--

With a scream of agony, the frail woman was kicked more than a meter away like a kite with a broken string.

"Damn it! That bastard Li Xuanzhi, that brainless idiot, dares to threaten me!"

Young Master Yang crumpled the letter in his hand into a tattered ball, sat there fuming for a long while, and finally spat out a sentence through gritted teeth—

"Go! Invite the eldest son of the Marquis of Chengen to come to the manor for a chat. Tell him that I have important matters to discuss with him."

The servant was terrified that his young master would kick him next, and he breathed a long sigh of relief after hearing his young master's words.

Thank goodness, we escaped a disaster!

He quickly rolled out and hurriedly headed towards the Chengen Earl's residence.

But there's a saying, isn't there? What's meant to happen will happen; there's no escaping it.

Sure enough, less than half an hour later, the servant returned with a deathly pale face.

"Young Master, the eldest son of the Marquis of Chengen said he doesn't have time recently due to his busy schedule. We can meet again when we have time."

Young Master Yang smashed the teacup in his hand, and the porcelain shards and hot water splashed all over the servant.

"What a fine young master of the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion! What a fine scholar, Li Dahanlin! They had to drag me into their affairs, and now that trouble has struck, I'm the only one being threatened?"

Young Master Yang's father was extremely intolerant of any wrongdoing. After accepting the bribe, Young Master Yang went to great lengths, bypassing his own father and pulling strings, to secure a "donation-based official" position for Li Xuanzhi.

If it weren't for Young Master Yang's help, how could the original owner of this body have thought of these things?

Li Xuanzhi has already threatened him in the letter; if he doesn't meet Li Xuanzhi's demands, Li Xuanzhi will send a letter of complaint to the Ministry of Personnel.

The officials in the Ministry of Personnel were divided into several factions. After all, there were upright and honest officials as well as corrupt officials, which were naturally opposed to each other.

If this letter were actually delivered to the Ministry of Personnel, and happened to be seen by his own father's political enemies, wouldn't the Yang family be ruined in the future?

Would this young master Yang still be enjoying his current glory? His family is nothing compared to Li Xuanzhi's. Li Xuanzhi is, at least, the second legitimate son of the Marquis of Chengen's family; what is his Yang family compared to that!

But Li Xuanzhi was asking for far too much.

They demanded 300,000 taels right off the bat. Even if they scraped all the land belonging to the Yang family, they still couldn't scrape together 10,000 taels.

Li Xuanzhi knew in his heart that the man surnamed Yang didn't have the strength and wouldn't dare to make a big fuss. He would definitely try every means to negotiate with him, and in the end, he definitely wouldn't get 300,000 taels. It would be a great achievement if he could scrape together 30,000 taels.

Li Xuanzhi wanted to make a big scene so that all the spoiled brats involved would resent the eldest son of the Marquis of Chengen who treated them like disposable tools, who was also the original owner's half-brother.

Just because Li Xuanzhi was far away in the remote and impoverished Fuyu County and couldn't personally cause trouble for his eldest brother didn't mean he couldn't remotely manipulate others to cause trouble for him.

If you're not having an easy time, your eldest brother shouldn't expect to either.

He only had three years to develop his career, and his eldest brother would have to spend at least three years as well. He was disliked and suppressed by various people for various reasons, so he could not expect to have any development or progress in the officialdom.

Otherwise, even if I painstakingly build up Fuyu County, the gap between the two brothers will widen even further after I return to the capital. I'll be trampled underfoot for the rest of my life. Just thinking about it makes me furious.

Two more months passed.

All the houses in Fuyu County have been repaired, and the correspondence that had been going on for some time has finally stopped.

Li Xuanzhi looked at the largest package and the thickest letter he had ever received, which had come from the capital.

Opening the letter, Li Xuanzhi saw the thick stacks of silver notes of varying denominations, and a package containing both whole and loose silver coins and copper coins. This was the first genuine smile he had seen since arriving in Fuyu County.

It seems I underestimated the group of "sheep" in Beijing who were willing to pay the price.

I thought it would be difficult to raise even 30,000 taels, but I never expected to be able to raise more than 80,000 taels.

These scattered pieces of silver and copper coins are just right for use when receiving monthly allowances or buying small items and odds and ends.

During this period, Li Xuanzhi had officially taken over Fuyu County from the old magistrate and had gained a thorough understanding of the entire county.

"Sir, Miss Gu and her family have already moved into the county government office."

Li Xuanzhi smiled and nodded.

The money is in place, the people are in place, what are we waiting for?

start!

"Go and summon everyone in the yamen who is over ten years old, except for the city gatekeeper. Also, summon the village head and Old Zhao; I have something to tell you."

Tang Zheng immediately agreed and went to do it. Uncle Wang finally came to his senses from the shock and hurriedly reached out to collect all the money on the table.

"Uncle Wang, just take some for emergencies, and leave the rest on the table."

Wang Bogang wanted to object, but when he thought about his young master's current status and what he might do next, he only gave a faint reply before picking out some large-denomination banknotes and a few ingots of silver and putting them away.

The government office was not large, and people arrived quickly.

Magistrate Cao was the first to receive the news and naturally the first to arrive.

Upon entering, I was immediately struck by the scene before me, and I gasped in shock, nearly fainting from excitement.

Li Xuanzhi pretended not to see his exaggerated expression, simply nodded and gestured for him to sit down and wait.

Soon, everyone had arrived, but the room became even quieter.

Everyone breathed very softly, acting extremely cautiously, as if they were afraid the silver would fly away in fright.

Seeing that it was almost time, Li Xuanzhi cleared his throat.