I won’t mention it later, but Li You didn’t pay much attention to being arrested by Magistrate Chen for jacking up the vat. It had no substantial impact on him. It had already rained, so he didn’t need to do anything about praying for rain anymore, so he had his hands free.
Li You thought that the Xuhe water conservancy project should also be started, and told County Magistrate Chen: "It's only two months until the autumn harvest, so preparations for the river project should begin."
Chen Zhixian asked Master Huang: "How much silver has been raised?"
Master Huang replied: "Currently, there are sixteen large households in this county that have issued banknotes, and they have collected thirty-seven thousand taels."
Chen Zhixian nodded and said: "We can start preparing the materials. But what do you think about Qian Huangshang's offer of 50,000 silver taels to buy the stones? Will you give it to him?"
Li You's heart was not here, he was only thinking about Xue Juren's wood pile business, and said: "Although this matter is suspicious, the lord is afraid of being inappropriate and can't stop it, so you might as well give him money in installments. As long as he has no problems, I will give him 10,000 yuan at a time until the river incident."
Done, so that you don’t have to pay 50,000 taels in one lump sum to avoid any accidents or regrets.”
County Magistrate Chen and Master Huang both praised it, so it was settled like this.
After Li You followed Mr. Huang out of the magistrate's office, he said as he walked: "Old sir, we have some clues about finding a side house for the county magistrate. She is a distant relative of my mother's family. She is a good woman from a good family, with good looks. But her father is poor.
If I die and my livelihood is difficult to continue, I would like to take the county honorary as my concubine. Now I live in the Chenghuang Temple. I would also like to ask the old gentleman to introduce the county honorary to visit me when I have time."
It turned out that he had already thought about it last night. Instead of arranging it all by himself, he might as well leave it to Mr. Huang who is more familiar with Chen Zhixian, so as to save Mr. Huang from having any unnecessary thoughts.
Mr. Huang smiled and said, "You have spent so much time looking for it. I think it's not bad. I'll ask the county magistrate in the next two days."
Li You thanked him and said, "Mr. Lao is the one who has taken the trouble to do this. I'll thank you."
After returning to the public house, Li You drank a few sips of tea and then went out to find Xue Yuanqing and Xue Juren to discuss business. There was a lot of pressure to make money. There was a concubine at home with hundreds of taels of silver in his pocket. He couldn't always be inferior to her. Husband must be
Vibrate!
Xue Juren also lives in the north of the city. Speaking of the layout of Xujiang County, most dignitaries live in the north and east of the city, brothels and restaurants are mostly in the north and west of the city, and the south is where silk weaving, woodwork and other handicraft workers and foreign merchants gather.
, the streets in the middle are all shops.
When he arrived at Xue Mansion, Li You was surprised and even flattered to see that Xue Juren actually came to greet him in person. He said with emotion that Mr.
You know, a person who is elected can be called a master, and those who treat the magistrates with equal courtesy can even be selected by the Ministry of Personnel to be magistrates of small places, or to fill the vacancies of miscellaneous officials in the state government. Although they are only regarded as nothing.
Zhuoliu's promotion opportunities cannot be compared with Qingliu's Jinshi, but I don't know how much higher he is than a junior official like Li You.
After the guests and hosts sat down for tea in the hall, Xue Juren said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a long time. Mr. Li has become more and more outstanding. When you come to my house today, you must have good news to tell you."
Li You didn't beat around the bush and said: "Today I got the county magistrate's approval and we can start preparing materials. The river labor money is enough for now. Mr. Xue will hurry up and transport the wood. It is tentatively planned to use 10,000 wooden stakes, the thickness of which should not be less than 10,000.
Six inches, the price is very good.”
"It's really good news." Xue Juren said happily: "I will go and buy it immediately. I won't miss the important water conservancy event. Please don't worry, Mr. Li." Seeing that it was almost noon, Xue Juren said again: "I should have left food, but I
There is no preparation here, so please go to Taihua House to eat."
When I walked to the door of Xue Mansion, I saw a team of people beating gongs and trumpets, wearing red and colorful colors, passing through the alley, carrying twenty or thirty pole items.
Looking at the festive team, Xue Yuanqing chatted and said: "After Mr. Li's practice of raining rain, many families rushed to prepare for happy events after the ban was lifted. I don't know whose family hired this team."
Servant A of the Xue Mansion said on the side: "I saw several of them today. I heard that this one was a betrothal gift sent to Mr. Liu's house."
Mr. Liu? Li You was stunned when he heard this. It seems that there is only one person in Xujiang County who can be called Mr. Liu, and that is his future cheap father-in-law, Mr. Liu.
Another servant B said with a sharp tone: "Master Liu was looking for a son-in-law for the first half of the year, but no one in the wealthy family looked down on his mute daughter. In the end, I don't know what kind of family I found to make do with it. It couldn't be a deaf person."
, that’s a perfect match, hahaha.”
These words made Li You angry. He sneered and said to servant A of the Xue Mansion: "Go and find out! Who hired me?"
Not long after, the man inquired and replied: "I heard that it was a betrothal gift from Mr. Liu's house from Mr. Li's family."
Suddenly there was a chill.
Xue Juren was shocked when he heard this. He thought to himself, isn't Mr. Li's home the home of Mr. Li's boss? Could it be Mr. Li's own happy event? It was Li You who his servant was mocking just now? He wanted to get angry first and give orders.
He said: "This bitch dares to insult this distinguished guest, I will take him down and beat him to death!"
The second servant's face was so frightened that he knelt down in front of Li You and begged for mercy. But Li You looked at him indifferently and ignored him. He cupped his hands to Xue Juren and said, "Thank you, Mr. Xue, for your kindness. I really don't want to attend the banquet."
, I have to go home and take a look at it now. I also ask Mr. Xue to pay more attention to the lumber matter. When you have an idea, I will come to discuss the payment and say goodbye."
On the way home, Li You was walking and thinking that the wedding process was going too fast. According to custom, after accepting the recruitment, which is commonly known as the lower job, the marriage would take place as early as a few days or as late as a month. The family has done this
He actually didn't say anything to him personally. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes today, maybe in a few days his brother-in-law would suddenly run over and call: Master! It's time for you to enter the bridal chamber today. No one else can do it for you. Please come back.
Come on in person - that would be a surprise.
When he thought about it more carefully, he understood that this was definitely because his father was trying to judge a gentleman with a villain's heart, and was wary of his son, who had a criminal record, causing trouble. He had been busy with business these days and had never communicated his thoughts with his father.
Rushing back to his home in Xishui Town, Li You walked in and looked for his father. He saw his father and his neighbor Sun Yuanwai playing chess under the shade of a tree. Sun Yuanwai knew that the father and son had something to talk about and left.
Li's father waited for Li You to finish the ceremony and then said, "If you don't work seriously at the county government, what are you doing here?"
Li You said dissatisfied: "My father is too much. I don't even know about my marriage."
"What do you need to know? Did I tell you so that you could do something wrong?" Li's father said calmly. He knew that his son had many thoughts in his heart and often did self-righteous things, so he hid it from Najib from the beginning.
, to prevent my son from sabotaging the two procedures.
"Son, I..." Li You was about to defend.
Li's father slapped the case and interrupted: "How many times have you been bold enough to take concubines and go whoring wildly? When I was young, my father was not as arrogant as you! Let me tell you, whether you are satisfied with the marriage or dissatisfied, it is not your turn.
Come and decide! I have the final say in this family!"
"I think about this marriage..." Li You wanted to defend again.
Father Li yelled again: "What else do you have in mind! The betrothal gift has been paid today and I won't allow you to go back on your word! Do you want the whole county to laugh at you?"
"Father, listen to me! I..."
Father Li was not willing to listen to his son's sophistry, so he raised his hand fiercely to hit him.
Li You subconsciously shrank back.
There were only two slaps, and Father Li slapped his old face hard twice, leaving red fingerprints.
Li You was stunned. His father slapped him. What kind of joke was this?
Father Li, who had palm prints on his face, threatened in a stern voice: "If you dare to say no to the marriage again, my father will take the palm prints with you and use this as evidence to go to the Yamen to sue you for the serious crime of beating your father! You will have no defense.
Even if I am exiled for three thousand miles, I will not be able to make history! Then I will treat you as my son!"
According to the laws of this era, it has been confirmed that a son beating his father is a serious crime of disobedience, and the maximum penalty can be death. The father is indeed a ruthless man... but is it necessary? "I actually don't object to marriage..." Li You said helplessly
, "Father, why are you doing this? My son, I have already thought about it thoroughly. I came here today just to tell my father that I am willing to marry that young lady from the Liu family."
For a moment, his mind was almost lost. Father Li, who was a little angry, couldn't help coughing violently and complained: "Asshole! Are you an unfilial son who wants to make your father angry to death? Can't you tell the truth when you speak? What's the decency of hesitating!"
After calming down, Father Li said again: "Go and kneel down in front of the ancestral memorial tablet. Seeing that you are about to start a family and start a business, my father wants to tell you your family history painfully, and then talk about your lack of ambition. I, the Li family, will never be in your presence."
It’s out of hand!”
In fact, Li You understood that his father was a murderer without batting an eyelid. The reason why he got excited when talking about his marriage was because he also felt a bit similar to guilt but didn't know what guilt was. But based on his father's life
If you really know how to feel guilty about the evil things you have done, then you can repent day and night, even if you don’t feel guilty.
