Qing Yao

Chapter 121 I'll act as guarantor

Zhao An did not lie to the county magistrate. As long as he was willing to marry his granddaughter to him, Zhao An would do everything in his power to help him rise to the position in the past two years.

You should know that the county magistrate is forty-seven years old this year. In later generations, if he were still a division-level official, he would only be able to reach the provincial-level official by now.

But in this day and age, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

The old man still has nine good years left to live. If he's willing to spend money and finds the right path during those nine years, it's possible for him to become the county magistrate and take a seat in the provincial capital.

After all, the county magistrate was a true Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

They have very strong academic qualifications.

Zhao An himself is also quite good. Apart from impersonating someone else, he is simply superior to his peers in every other aspect.

No dynasty or era has ever had a 21-year-old Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) who was also a professor at the prefectural school!

The old man's side is even on the list, and in terms of future prospects, isn't he even more promising than you, Lao Ding, a true Jinshi?
To paraphrase Old Song, who started out as a matchmaker after a detour, "You couldn't find a grandson-in-law like this even if you carried a lantern."

It's not that we're marrying above our station, it's that the Ding family is getting a good deal!

Moreover, Zhao An is indeed unmarried and legally an unmarried young man with a clean record.

As for Zhao Youlu's wife, who lived with him, it didn't matter much; he could just be treated as a concubine.

What man doesn't have three wives and four concubines?

Your Excellency, don't you also keep two concubines?

Therefore, it was not absurd for Lord Zhao to propose marriage to himself, but rather a perfectly timed event.

This will not only further consolidate the interests of both parties, but also point out a new direction for you, Your Excellency – it's your turn to take the position next.

If he had a daughter and granddaughter, Old Song would definitely have snatched Zhao An as his son-in-law before the county magistrate could.

After being persuaded by Old Song, the county magistrate began to waver.

Old Song was right; as long as Zhao An's identity wasn't exposed, his future was much brighter than that of his grandfather.

My eldest granddaughter is already sixteen this year. Last month, my wife said that we should find her a husband. After all, a daughter is too young to stay at home. We were just worried about how to find a good husband for her when this good husband came to visit us.

Hey, you can't think about this too much, because if you do, it's a match made in heaven!

No matter how you look at it, this matter is only beneficial to the county magistrate.

Since they're already on Zhao An's pirate ship, even if their granddaughter marries someone else, she'll inevitably be implicated if something happens in the future. So they might as well let her marry Zhao An.

This kid is a bit bad, but he's a decent person, especially since he's quick-witted.

For no apparent reason, the county magistrate's mind kept flashing with Zhao An's good points, and his expression softened considerably.

Thinking back to how the other party had clearly stated that they would fully support him in moving up in rank, he felt somewhat moved.

Having previously expressed clear opposition, it would be awkward for him to suddenly agree, so he said in a low voice, "I must ask Madam's opinion on this matter. If Madam does not agree, then Lord Zhao should find another wife."

Zhao An, of course, gave him a way out, indicating that he would wait for good news.

He didn't even ask what Old Ding's granddaughter looked like, because he wasn't marrying Old Ding's granddaughter. To put it bluntly, he was "marrying" Old Ding, the powerful county magistrate, whose "potential" for promotion was real.

Zhao Youlu must have been on the old master's radar, otherwise he wouldn't have been granted the exceptional status of a Jinshi degree holder. However, apart from this correspondence bachelor's degree certificate, the old master didn't give Zhao An a promotion like he did last time.

This suggests that either the old master forgot about it, or he and the Grand Secretary didn't want Zhao An to be promoted. Or rather, they didn't want Zhao An to be promoted too quickly.

It is estimated that this may be related to Zhao An's commercialization of the academy.

If he is to be promoted and transferred away from the Yangzhou Prefectural School, wouldn't the commercialization of the school be abandoned halfway?

Zhao An actually guessed correctly, but only half of it. Because neither he nor Zhongtang had ever engaged in the commercialization of education, they wanted to see how the "commercialization" of Yangzhou Prefectural School would turn out.

If the results are indeed very good, then we should use this as a model to promote it nationwide. In the meantime, we can also use the actual benefits of Yangzhou Prefectural School to silence the opposing forces in the court.

The county magistrate briefly explained the details of the water conservancy project, which involves widening the existing river channel, opening diversion channels, and building sluice gates and dams to bring the Liyun River from Huai'an to Yangzhou into play. This will not only allow floodwaters from the Lixiahe region to flow into the Yangtze River, but also improve the river's transportation capacity.

In short, it's possible, absolutely possible.

If you do the math, the county magistrate might not lose money; in fact, he might make a profit.

Since it's a good thing for local officials to take the initiative to repair water conservancy projects, the province and the prefecture will allocate some money, and then the wealthy households in the city will be invited to donate, and the common people will contribute some as well. That way, the bulk of the project funds will be covered.

It's no longer killing two birds with one stone, it's killing three birds with one stone.

We must do it!
That afternoon, Zhao An accompanied the county magistrate to Hengli Money Exchange.

It wasn't a pre-arranged trip; it was just a coincidence that the money exchange sent someone to inform the professor that the main branch in the capital had received a message—the professor's loan application had been approved.

Then I'll go with the county magistrate to complete the paperwork for receiving the money.

Since it was Magistrate Ding who took Zhao An to borrow money last time, Manager Shi of the money shop did not think much of Professor Zhao who came with Magistrate Ding and instructed the counter to process the mortgage guarantee for Professor Zhao.

As instructed by the counter staff, Zhao An took the official seal of the academy and his personal seal and stamped them haphazardly on a pile of documents, then signed and pressed his fingerprints.

This is indeed a scene of usury.

Just as I was busy, I heard Manager Shi's surprised voice from next door: "Sir, you borrowed 200,000 taels of silver to repair the river and control the floods for the people?"

The county magistrate's booming voice echoed from inside the house: "That's right, I borrowed money to repair the river and control the floods. As the head of the county, if I can't do something practical and good for the people, I might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes!"

"To be honest, sir, many officials borrow money from us. Some do it to take office, some to cover deficits, some to entertain guests, and some to make ends meet. But to borrow money like you, sir, to do something practical for the local area, I am truly ignorant."

While admiring him, Manager Shi said that the money could not be lent because, based on the length of service and income of Magistrate Ding, there was a high probability that he would not be able to repay the money by the due date.

Two hundred thousand taels is too much; if it were thirty or fifty thousand taels, he could issue an invoice immediately.

Upon hearing that he couldn't borrow that much, Old Ding's momentum seemed to falter, and he even lowered his voice.

Zhao An was about to go over and ask about the situation when the clerk at the counter asked him, "Sir, the formalities are complete. Would you like cash or a bank draft?"

"Silver notes, perhaps."

Zhao An placed the teacup the waiter had brewed on the table, but dared not accept the cash. Firstly, he had nowhere to store it, and secondly, if he accepted the cash, he would have to pay a discount, which would result in a huge loss.

The waiter smiled and said, "Alright, sir, please wait a moment, I'll go to the account to get the ticket for you right away."

Zhao An nodded, and soon the shop assistant brought over the 90,000 taels of silver notes for Professor Zhao to count, after deducting a full ten percent interest.

"No need. Would a large bank like yours deceive its customers?"

Zhao An smiled, grabbed the silver note, walked to the next room, glanced at Manager Shi who looked troubled, casually pulled out a five-thousand-tael silver note and stuffed it into the other's hand, and said with a light laugh: "Lord Ding borrows money to do practical things for the people, so please be lenient, Manager. If it really can't be done, I will act as guarantor for Lord Ding, how about that?"

(End of this chapter)