The most important point is, why does such a person have a destiny so much higher than his own? Is his ability very poor? Or are there other factors involved in the destiny besides ability?
Chu Nan knew very well that in terms of social status, the Zhang Yuan in front of him was not much higher than himself before he became an official. At most, his family had some fertile land and his ancestors had served as officials, but that was three generations ago. Now that he is in decline, even if he is in decline,
With a name from a poor family...that's too much of a difference, right?
"It turns out to be Chu Liecao." The smile on Zhang Yuan's face did not change because the other party was just a small official in the state capital. He was still quite enthusiastic.
Sometimes you can't just look at the surface when looking at a problem. Cao Xing is a subordinate general, and his status is supposed to be higher than that of Chu Nan. But judging from the performance of the two of them, it is obvious that Chu Nan is the most respected.
Being able to change the difference between official positions or status means that there must be something else in Chu Nan to make up for the shortcomings of this status. Either he is from a prominent family, or he is valued by Lu Bu. To put it in a popular name, this is
It's called privilege, and no matter where you are, those who hold privilege will be extraordinary.
"I'm here. First, I heard about Mr. Zhang's virtuous reputation and came to make friends." Chu Nan smiled and said, "Although Mr. Zhang is white, he cares about the people, which really makes us admire him."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuan quickly laughed and said: "What, you are using your meager strength, it is not worth what Cao Cao does."
This is just a polite word. First, give it a compliment to liven up the atmosphere and increase your favorability. Then when you talk about business, it won't seem so abrupt. Zhang Yuan has many more words like this, so it's not his fault.
He moved, seeing that Chu Nan did not continue to praise him, he said at the right moment: "I don't know, Chu Liecao is here, but what can I do for you?"
"It's not a big deal." Chu Nan nodded and said, "I am a Jin Cao at the beginning of my life, but there is not much salt in the treasury. Marquis Wen is worried about this matter and specially ordered me to come and make a batch of salt. I want to recruit people here.
Five hundred fishermen made salt, but they learned that the fishermen on the seaside were disturbed by pirates and were unwilling to contribute. They heard that Mr. Zhang was famous here, so they wanted to ask Mr. Zhang to come forward as a guarantee. In addition to their wages, they donated to the pirates.
That part of the salt comes out at the bottom."
"This..." Zhang Yuan frowned slightly when he heard this, looked at Chu Nan and said: "This way, there is no profit..."
After saying that, he saw Chu Nan looking at him with a smile but not a smile, and felt inexplicably panicked. After saying this, he knew how much tax the pirates collected from the fishermen, but in the hearts of Chu Nan and the fishermen, he shouldn't know.
It's so detailed.
"Don't worry, I'm new to the government, so I need a batch of salt to show my loyalty to Marquis Wen, so that I won't ruin my wealth." Chu Nan spoke to reassure him, with a dark smile on his face.
Zhang Yuan understood, also showed a tacit smile, nodded and said: "It's not difficult if it's just a guarantee, but..."
"General Cao!" Chu Nan turned his head and looked at Cao Xing.
Cao Xing silently took off the luggage he was carrying and placed it on the table. There was a muffled sound and the sound of metal hitting inside kept ringing.
"This money should be regarded as a security deposit. Although it is not much, it will be temporarily deposited with Sir. When the matter is completed, I will be grateful." Chu Nan said with a smile.
"Lie Cao misunderstood..." Zhang Yuan quickly stood up and wanted to refuse.
"Mr. Zhang, I'm a little pressed for time. If you feel it's not enough, I'll send another batch tomorrow. As far as Ganyu is concerned, it's just a passing guest. I understand the rules of visiting people in the mountains. Please ask, sir.
Don't refuse!" Chu Nan pressed the money bag and said with a smile.
"This..." Zhang Yuan said with a look of helplessness: "Forget it, I will help Li Cao keep it first. When the matter is completed, how about the deposit be counted as the wages of the fishermen?"
"These are Mr. Zhang's business. Anyway, I will pay all the wages to those fishermen. Mr. Zhang is generous and is willing to take the opportunity to help them. That is Mr. Zhang's business and has nothing to do with me." Chu Nan laughed.
He stood up and said.
"Okay, let's go back first. There will be fishermen who are willing to apply tomorrow." Zhang Yuan said with a smile.
"Farewell!" Chu Nan glanced at Cao Xing and clasped his fists at Zhang Yuan.
Zhang Yuan sent the two of them outside the door, watched them go away, and then returned to the room.
"Sir, why don't you go to the county magistrate to do these things?" On the way back to the military camp, Cao Xing frowned and looked at Chu Nan, wondering.
"First of all, he can't do it, and secondly, he won't do it for us." Chu Nan shook his head. Seeing Cao Xing's confusion, he said casually: "General Cao doesn't care about government affairs and doesn't understand these things. Even though the county magistrate is here, he can't do it for us."
Sir, if you want to get things done, you have to rely on the small and middle-level officials in the county and the wealthy and prominent families in the county."
"Zhang Yuan is not from a wealthy family." Cao Xing frowned, he was sure of this.
"This Ganyu area is barren. Although there are several ancestral lands of noble clans, the clansmen have long since moved elsewhere." Chu Nan said as he walked.
This is just like the era he lived in. Once a barren county town has no financial resources, local prominent people will usually find ways to move to prosperous cities. They may call back during the holidays, but in this era, people who move away will basically never come back.
, so most of the power in the county will sink to another echelon, and people like Zhang Yuan will have the opportunity to hold some kind of power.
"That Zhang Yuan is obviously not a kind person. Why are you so polite to him?" Cao Xing recalled the time when he talked with Zhang Yuan. At first, he felt good about it, but as time went on, he felt more and more wrong. Zhang Yuan seemed to be a noble and upright person.
, the moment he put down his money bag, he obviously changed.
"He can do things. We have to solve the urgent need now. If we wait a little bit to solve the problem, how long will it take? In all these things, the priority must be clear. Solve the urgent need first, and then talk about other things."
"Then there's no need to accommodate him like this, just give him money directly." Cao Xing obviously couldn't adapt to this.
"It's not that simple." Chu Nan shook his head: "People like Zhang Yuan are not short of money. If you give money directly, he will definitely not accept it, and he will not do anything for you."
Cao Xing looked at Chu Nan blankly, did you say something just now?
"When I said I wanted to deal with Marquis Wen, I was telling him that this was just an errand and that I would not stay here for a long time. I would also give him adequate compensation. If I really said that I would stay here forever, it would be a loss of his wealth.
He will definitely not agree. If I say this, and he thinks I am a big shot, it will not harm his interests, so he will not embarrass me." Chu Nan said with a smile.
He spoke in such detail. In addition to clearing up Cao Xing's doubts, he also made Cao Xing take it seriously. He foolishly thought that he was really just trying to deal with Lu Bu. Hou Cheng had already gone on strike. If Cao Xing didn't stand by him anymore,
, he has truly become a polished commander.
"Are you really going to leave after one month?" Cao Xing asked doubtfully.
"How is that possible? I'm just here for Haiyan. To put it bluntly, I'm just here to cut off their money. It's just rhetoric. Let's solve the current problem first. After a month, let him eat everything he eats.
Spit it out bit by bit!"
Cao Xing: "..."
Somehow, Cao Xing suddenly became worried about Hou Cheng's future...