Chapter 416: There Can only Be One Senior Official

A gentle cool breeze brushed across my cheeks, the coolness penetrated from the outside and radiated from the heart.

Wang Yan's body was tense, he opened his eyes, looked around with sharp eyes, and observed where he was at the moment.

The sun was warm in the sky, it was the rising sun. In front of him was a blue-black high wall of about ten feet, and below it, there were several straw arrow targets. Next to him was an ancient pavilion, under which stood a weapon rack, horse lance, red cherry spear, half-moon halberd, eight-foot long spear, Pudao and a Modao, in addition, there were several conventional swords and gun barrels without gun heads. The weapons were cold and sharp, and you could tell at a glance that they were good weapons.

Looking at the large open land of more than one hundred square meters where he was, it was not difficult to know that this place was a martial arts arena.

On the west side was a large house with flying eaves and green tiles. Through the double-opened doors, there was another large area of ​​light behind the deepness, and the place should be quite large. On the threshold, a young servant in green clothes with a boy's bun sat, propping his chin up in boredom, looking at the sky and the ground.

He looked at himself, wearing a short and tight outfit, black cloth shoes, long hair tied into a bun, and a green futou to fix his hair to prevent it from being scattered due to excessive movements. He was dressed for military training.

After confirming that he was safe, Wang Yan began to accept the identity arranged by his father this time.

Wang Yan, 18 years old, lived in Wangjiazhuang, ten miles west of Yanggu County, Jingdongxi Road-Yunzhou-Yanggu County. He liked martial arts since he was a child and was slightly interested in reading, but he did not join the army for martial arts, and he was a scholar for literature, but he failed the provincial examination before.

His parents both died of illness three years ago, leaving behind thousands of acres of land, this big house, as well as the wine shops, drug stores, cloth shops in Yanggu County, a caravan that carried goods from north to south, and various IOUs owed on credit by dozens of families in Wangjiazhuang. After some troubles, he completely controlled the huge family business.

At the same time, he is deeply loved by his neighbors. He is currently the head of Wangjiazhuang, in charge of household security and training of brave men. Of course, normally he should be called the big head of the village, which is the system changed by Wang Anshi's reform. There are 50 households with a big head of the village. Wangjiazhuang is a big village with 51 households and more than 300 people. It's just that with the evolution of time, the default is called the head of the village. The proper head of the village is in charge of more than 2,000 people. He is just a village chief.

As for why he is loved by his neighbors, of course, it is because most of the land in Wangjiazhuang belongs to him, and the rest of the people do not hold much land. Except for those who work outside, the people in Wangjiazhuang are basically his tenants. According to Huo Di, this much land was acquired little by little when there was a disaster or someone's family encountered something and couldn't get by. This is also a normal way for landlords to accumulate.

He is also a good landlord. The rent is not high. After removing various taxes, the people of Wangjiazhuang can still live a decent life. If he really couldn't make ends meet, he could get some help or borrow some money and food from Wang Baozheng's house. So in Yanggu County, he was known as the great official Wang.

It was the early summer of the first year of Zhenghe, which was 1111 AD, and the famous artist, Zhao Ji, was sitting on the dragon throne. And this time was only fifteen years away from the Jingkang year.

He was a decent landlord right from the start, which was considered a standard for a living father, saving him the initial accumulation and taking care of his good son. Of course, the reason was roughly the same, that is, if he really let go of his hands and feet, it would not be very difficult to achieve the current family business, so it would be better to be direct in one step, and a living father has always been very direct...

After understanding his own information, Wang Yan went to the weapon rack, took the long spear with a red tassel, and practiced in the martial arts field in his own yard. These weapons cost a lot of money and were carefully made by craftsmen from Yingtian Prefecture.

Weapons are an extension of the hands and feet, so he can use common weapons very well.

But to be honest, he can use this weapon at home, and no one will pursue it. If they really pursue it, they will catch him, beat him up, and put him in prison for three to five years. There is no problem at all. Not to mention that as shown on TV, a group of people are swaggering on the street with weapons, and no one can think of it.

After all, Lao Zhao has abandoned his martial arts for the sake of the Zhao family's kingdom, not to mention the dangerous elements holding sharp blades. There is basically no difference between holding a weapon in the street at this time and waving a gun in the street in modern times. But that's the story, and now it is reasonable.

While practicing martial arts, Wang Yan was distracted by thinking about how to do things this time.

There are still fifteen years before Jingkang. If he wants to be an official through the imperial examination, it is basically too late. No matter how good he is at flattering, it will be difficult for him to hold power for fifteen years. There are a lot of bigwigs in the court, and there are disputes between the old and new parties. It is not easy to use official positions to influence national policies and mobilize resources. Not to mention the three redundant and two accumulated problems known to later generations. There are so many empty officials waiting for ranking. The competition is fierce. He has to be very good at flattering to get promoted. It is not worth spending too much energy.

As for joining the army, forget it. It is not as good as the imperial examination. First, the military has a low status, and second, there are various constraints and precautions. It is not easy to get in. Di Qing and Yue Fei, such awesome people, were killed.

If he really got in the army, he would definitely be able to get to that level. But judging from the conduct of the old Zhao family and the civil servants in power, unless he directly raised the flag of rebellion, it would not be much better. That is not something that can be solved by flattering and various benefits transfers, but when they reach that position, they can't sleep well with the troops in their hands, which is the set of "it is not important whether there is a rebellious heart, but the ability to rebel is important".

Of course, his current identity is a landlord. If he were a soldier, or a minor official, that would be another story. So after thinking about it, he decided that it would be better to infiltrate from the local area.

As for Liangshan Song Jiang and his gang, let's talk about it later. After all, he didn't know what the situation was in Liangshan, and he didn't know where the plot was going. And to be honest, he didn't mean to cause trouble with Liangshan. After all, there was Liangshan in Shandong, and it was good for him to be in the dark under the lamp...

Thinking about it, he was almost done with the spear. He collected his moves, threw a gun flower, and threw it casually. The long spear landed accurately on the weapon rack and inserted into the fixed hole.

The blue-clothed servant came running with a kettle and a cup: "Master, drink water slowly, the bath water is ready."

This kid is called Wang Baoqing, the eldest in the family, and he is thirteen years old this year. Their family cultivated the land of Wang Yan's family. When the boy grew up, he could no longer afford to go to school, so he came here to work as a servant, doing what he could to earn money to supplement the family income. He was not a slave who sold himself, but a child laborer who was properly paid.

Wang Yan nodded and took the cup of water, letting the boy pour warm water for him. While drinking the water, he said, "Don't rush to take a bath, walk around the house first, and relax."

The child laborer was fine, following behind him, wandering all the way in this mansion.

This mansion is a large courtyard surrounded by high walls, and the whole is in the shape of a cross. The front and back doors are considered to separate the front yard and the back house. On the east side of the front yard are two rows of more than 20 houses, and on the west side are warehouses, grain stacks, and kitchens. At the second door across the courtyard, there is a front hall with three rooms. After a section of the courtyard landscape, there are three main rooms in the backyard, and more than ten side rooms on the east and west sides, and another kitchen.

Behind the main house is a garden with mountains, rocks, flowers, plants and trees. In the middle of Erdaomenzi, there are two roads, east and west. To the east is the martial arts arena for practicing martial arts and horse racing, and to the west is a stable with three tall horses, which are considered good horses. There is also a cowshed with ten old yellow cows, which are used by tenants in need when farming, free of charge. On weekdays, the children of the tenants will come to herd the cows, cut grass for feeding and silage, which is considered the cost of using the cows.

In addition, there are several two-story watchtowers in the yard, one for viewing, and the other for observation and reconnaissance to prevent someone from coming to rob. Because the house is built on a mound and does not connect with the village below, the view is still good. There is also a stream below, green mountains, green water, blue sky and white clouds, and the view is also excellent.

The entire area must be more than 1,000 square meters, or even more than 2,000 square meters. Standing on the watchtower, the cultivated land in sight is basically his. He also has the final say over the mountain behind him. If the neighbors go into the mountain and hunt prey, they have to send him some.

Such a big house, of course, has a lot of employees. There are sixteen young and strong thugs, two couples who cook, six servants who sweep and do things, two maids who do part-time shoemaking and clothing, and a middle-aged housekeeper named Wang Fusheng who is in charge. Except for the two maids who sold their bodies, the others were hired with money. The housekeeper has worked in their family for many years and is considered a family member and trustworthy.

This family business is enough, how can he be called a big landlord. Otherwise, the landlord must be overthrown, just look at him and you will know. If it weren't for the kindness of Mr. Wang, the neighbors who came from the same family many years ago and were related to him would have been completely harmed by him.

After looking around, Wang Yan went to a room in the east wing and soaked in a large wooden barrel with warm water. It was also at this time that he noticed that the tattoo on his body appeared automatically.

Maybe it's to match the plot. After all, those who are out nowadays, whether they have committed crimes, have tattoos or deliberately have tattoos on their bodies. Many of the gangsters on Liangshan have them. This is the fashion of gangsters. It's hard to say in modern times. After all, it's a personality, a hobby, and a niche culture. But now it can be said for sure that there are no good people with tattoos. The composition is very simple, either ruffians, gangsters, or criminals.

He doesn't care, it's fancy. Huo Di also explained that it was carefully tattooed by a tattoo master from Daming Mansion, and the source is quite clear...

After a simple wash, Wang Yan sat alone at the fine sandalwood dining table in the back hall of the main house and ate breakfast, millet porridge, a few side dishes, and a few boiled eggs. He ate normally. Two maids who had eaten early served him. The housekeeper Wang Fusheng sat opposite Wang Yan, drinking tea while reporting the family business to Wang Yan, the eldest master.

Business is of course very good, otherwise there would not be such a big house as his. Although the scale is not very large, the profit is also very considerable, involving mountain products, furs, etc., and there are also exchanges with the Liao Kingdom in the north, which can be regarded as cross-border trade.

After reporting, Wang Fusheng frowned and said: "Young Master, Ximen Qing has been a little dishonest recently, doing small tricks behind the scenes to steal our business."

Wang Yan thought for a while and was checking the background information of the system: "Ximen Qing has not given up the heart to destroy me, and has always been thinking about my Wang family's property. Uncle Fu, don't relax, pay more attention to his actions."

Ximen Qing's business is bigger than his, not only in Yanggu County, Yingtian Prefecture and even Bianliang, there are businesses, and he is a serious rich man. It is not surprising that he lives in Yanggu County instead of going to a big city, because here he is the boss, and he has strength in both black and white. When he goes to other places, he is a grandson, and there is no comfort in Yanggu County.

"Yes, young master."

"I don't know when I heard that there is a man named Wu Song in Qinghe County who is quite brave. Send someone to ask about him and get in touch with him. If possible, bring him to see me."

This is when he looked at the information about Ximen Qing just now, and by the way, he looked at the information of Yanggu County Yamen. There was no Wu Song, the head of the tiger-killing team, which means he has not arrived yet, so he made such an arrangement. The information in the system all intersects with him. As a famous local landlord, he is naturally familiar with the county yamen, and basically everyone in the yamen knows it.

Wang Fusheng responded, and seeing that the eldest young master didn't say anything else, he took his leave and went to do his own work. After all, it was such a big mess, and the eldest young master was only in charge of command. As a housekeeper, he was very busy every day.

Wang Yan had no other instructions, or because he didn't understand the situation now, there was no need to rush. First, have an idea of ​​your own assets and understand the situation, and then study what to do next. As for Ximen Qing's suicide, it was secondary. When he figured it out, this guy would definitely be the first to die. Whether there is industry or not is secondary. The main thing is that Yanggu County can only have one great official.

After breakfast and a short rest, Mr. Wang planned to go out for a stroll to find out the current situation. He changed into a green gown, and his hair was tied into a bun by a maid, and a jade green hairpin was inserted to fix it. He measured himself in front of the polished bronze mirror and nodded with satisfaction. It doesn't seem so in modern times, but in ancient times, after such tinkering, he is very handsome...

Followed by a guard in a carriage, with Wang Baoqing hanging behind him, Mr. Wang walked down the hillside with his hands behind his back. He wanted to see the situation in Wangjiazhuang first. These hundreds of people are the basic base, and they must be taken care of.

"Baoqing, I remember you were a good student before?"

"How can you be better than me? You are a scholar."

"You are so young, but you are so slippery. Anyone who studies can be a scholar. How can I, a warrior who failed the provincial examination, be good?" Looking at the smart boy next to him and listening to the sensible compliments, Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, and asked: "What did the teacher say?"

"The teacher said I can pass, but he and Da Niu and Er Hu also said so..."

"What about you?"

"I... don't know."

"The way of the university is to manifest the virtue, to be close to the people, and to stop at the highest good. Let's discuss it."

Wang Baoqing looked at the young master in confusion, but still said: "This is the first sentence of the university, which is..."

From the mansion on the hillside to the village at the foot of the mountain, it looks very close, but in fact it is still a few hundred meters away. And to discuss the first sentence of the university is not a simple process. If you break it down and talk about it in detail, it can really be talked about for two nights. Along the way, I heard this kid shaking his head and muttering.

When he arrived at the school at the entrance of the village, Wang Yan waved his hand, listened to the long reading sound coming from the school, and smiled at the thin child: "Do you still want to study and take the imperial examination?"

Thanks to the three big brothers (Best Quartile) (Xiaoyao Xiaoxiao) (Can you not be a eunuch) for continuing to support.

Daily thanks to the good brothers who voted for the monthly ticket,

Thanks to the brothers who voted for the recommendation,

Thanks to the big brothers who read the book silently.