White-robed Minister

Chapter 157 0155 [Bu Chao's Major Life Events]

"Judge Xu, I'm here to handle the handover." The newly appointed Judge Li Shanfu of Yingtian Prefecture bowed in greeting.

Xu Lai was very enthusiastic and pulled Li Shanfu inside: "All kinds of official documents have been organized, and Brother Li can check them at any time. As for the signing hall and the back residence, I have moved to the front yard to live with the servants, and Brother Li can move into the back yard today."

Li Shanfu quickly declined, saying, "How can we let Judge Xu move to the front yard and live with the servants? My wife and I can stay in the official residence or the guesthouse for now."

"It's alright," Xu Lai said, pulling him straight to the back courtyard. "Come on, let me show you around there. I have a cook and a cleaning lady; their employment contracts can be transferred to you. Especially the cook; I personally taught her how to cook, and she's quite skilled."

Li Shanfu was dragged away by Xu Lai in a daze and taken directly to the back of the signing hall to check. Seeing that Xu Lai had actually moved the items to the servants' quarters, Li Shanfu felt quite guilty.

Judge Xu is so warm and considerate, how could he be the "Tiger Xu" he is?

The two settled down in the inner courtyard, and Xu Lai asked Yu'er and the cook to prepare some wine and dishes.

Before the food and wine were even served, Xu Lai said to Li Shanfu, "The hidden fields in the seven counties have all been investigated. Brother Li, you must be wary of any reversals. It would be best to conduct regular spot checks and verifications of the fields according to the fish-scale map."

Li Shanfu cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for the reminder."

Xu Lai added, "Prefect Zhang officially took office in September, but he has been delegating power and not taking charge until I confirmed with Magistrate Zhuang that I would be transferred. Only then did he begin to truly manage affairs. He lacks authority in Yingtian Prefecture and may seek an opportunity to establish his authority. Brother Li is just the right person to cooperate with him."

Zhang, the official in charge of the grain transport, is strict and demanding; if you have a case, you can go to him. Gong, the judicial commissioner—he's a bit muddle-headed; if you want to get serious business done, don't go to him.

.

Li Shanfu was deeply moved. He had just arrived in this place and was unfamiliar with everything. Xu Lai had explained the political situation in Yingtian Prefecture in just a few words.

This would save Li Shanfu a great deal of energy.

While expressing his gratitude repeatedly, Li Shanfu quickly pulled out a letter: "This is a private letter that my uncle asked me to bring."

Xu Lai took a look and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Mr. Chen (Chen Cigong, the principal of Guangzhou Prefectural School) is Brother Li's uncle?"

Li Shanfu nodded and added, "Mr. Xujiang (Li Gou) is my cousin."

The man in front of him turned out to be the former principal's nephew, which made Xu Lai feel even closer to him.

As Li Liang's cousin and Chen Cigong's nephew, his political philosophy is undoubtedly profound—Wang Anshi's reforms were based on this ideology.

Li Shanfu had an excellent relationship with Wang Anshi and was a staunch reformer. He certainly wouldn't indulge the wealthy households of Yingtian Prefecture, ensuring the continuation of Xu Lai's policies.

At this time, Li Shanfu was not well-known; he later became famous for his military achievements.

During the Xining era, Li Shanfu accompanied Wang Shao on a military expedition.

Wang Shao led the main force to attack Hezhou, while Li Shanfu left 500 men to defend Xiangzicheng. Xiangzicheng was the Song army's logistical base, where Wang Shao's provisions were stored.

A large number of Qiang soldiers besieged Xiangzi City, claiming to number forty to fifty thousand. Li Shanfu led five hundred soldiers and fought a bitter battle for 24 days until Wang Shao returned to reinforce the city.

When Wang Shao returned to the capital to report on his duties, Mu Zheng seized the opportunity to lead the Qiang troops in a counterattack. Jing Sili led 6,000 Song soldiers to launch a proactive attack, but was surrounded by Mu Zheng at Tabai City and his entire army was wiped out.

Subsequently, Hezhou was besieged by Mu Zheng's heavy troops. Li Shanfu assisted the prefect in defending the city and held out for 27 days until Wang Shao's reinforcements arrived.

Had Li Shanfu not won the two victories in defending the city, Wang Shao's expansion of Xihe would have faced numerous difficulties. The first defense preserved Wang Shao's supplies. By the time of the second defense, court officials were already clamoring to abandon Xihe.

As long as the commander-in-chief is away, just hand the city over to Li Shanfu. Li Shanfu may not be good at field battles, but he's quite adept at defending cities, and he can definitely hold out until reinforcements arrive.

After Xu Lai and Li Shanfu finished drinking, Li Shanfu went to fetch his wife and children and introduced Xu Lai to his family.

The following day, Xu Lai took Li Shanfu to check the official documents.

Li Shanfu became increasingly alarmed as he looked at the documents. They were all meticulously categorized and stored in an orderly fashion. Upon examining them, he found that every single one had been handled with utmost care.

For two or three days in a row, Li Shanfu couldn't find any mistakes or omissions.

Even the messy accounts of the minister's treasury were meticulously fabricated by Xu Lai, so that at least on the surface, no problems could be seen—whether there were problems in the treasury or not was irrelevant, as that was not the judge's responsibility.

Li Shanfu was deeply impressed and said to Zhang Kongmu, "Xu, the judge, is truly a genius!"

Zhang Kongzi thought to himself: He is indeed a genius. After Judge Xu arrived, although everyone worked harder, they also received more money in the profits.

Xu Lai was in the front yard of the inner courtyard, packing his luggage with his servants.

Bu Chao stood awkwardly to the side, hesitant to speak for a long time, his face flushed as he didn't know how to start.

"Just say what's on your mind," Xu Lai said with a smile.

Bu Chao glanced at Yu'er beside him and whispered, "Let's talk in private."

Yu'er said irritably, "No need for me to ask for permission, I'll just leave."

After Yu'er left, Bu Chao lowered his voice and said, "Sanlang, could you write a marriage certificate for me yourself?"

"Which woman have you taken a fancy to?" Xu Lai asked with amusement.

Bu Chao said, "Didn't I used to help gather information from the common people? Back then, I often went to a tavern outside the city to drink and listen to the locals and merchants chat. The tavern owner's daughter—"

"Oh, I understand." Xu Lai laughed heartily.

"What are you laughing at?" Bu Chao hurriedly defended himself, "My relationship with Yuan Niang is completely innocent. She sells wine there, and I go there to drink. We didn't talk much for the first two months."

He didn't speak much for the first two months, which must be because Bu Chao doesn't speak the local dialect.

Xu Lai asked, "Have you already proposed marriage?"

Bu Chao nodded and said, "It's all taken care of. I know the importance of this matter and was afraid it would affect Sanlang's official career, so I didn't propose marriage before. Now that you're leaving Yingtian Prefecture, I'll quickly send someone to propose marriage."

The six rites of marriage in ancient times included: betrothal (proposing marriage), asking the name (matching birth dates and times), exchanging marriage certificates, presenting betrothal gifts, choosing an auspicious day, and the wedding ceremony.

Bu Chao has already proposed marriage and asked for the birth dates of the brides. Now he wants to ask Xu to help write the marriage certificate.

A marriage certificate personally written by Xu Laohu would definitely make the bride's family proud!

Xu Lai immediately wrote the marriage certificate and handed it to Bu Chao, saying, "Before I leave, I'll also arrange the betrothal gifts for you. You know I'm not greedy for money, so the betrothal gifts won't be very generous, but they will definitely make the woman's family look good and get something for nothing."

"Hehehe."

"7

Bu Chao just kept grinning like an idiot.

Once the ink on the marriage certificate had dried, Bu Chao immediately ran outside and disappeared into the city in a flash.

The woman's family wasn't poor; after all, land in the neighborhood near the Bian River was incredibly valuable, and selling the house would immediately make them very rich.

But the woman's family isn't wealthy, so they couldn't possibly sell the house.

This can be understood as a large city dweller whose house is very valuable, but whose life is just average.

Bu Chao soon arrived at the small tavern outside the city. It was a small place with the shop in the front and the house in the back, where the whole family worked and lived.

"Buy half a liter of wine!" Bu Chao shouted as he entered the shop.

A young girl was selling wine at a counter when she heard the sound. She turned around and saw that it was Bu Chao, so she lowered her head shyly.

The shop owner, who was Bu Chao's future father-in-law, greeted him with a beaming smile: "Mr. Bu, please come in and have a seat."

Bu Chao walked in and sat down with his head held high and chest puffed out.

This guy has very high standards. He used to look down on the clumsy, uncouth women in the countryside and only wanted to marry a woman from the county town. He was picky about the women in the city too; he wouldn't even look at the widow that Uncle Zhang married.

The girl selling alcohol in front of him perfectly matched Bu Chao's aesthetic: she had a pretty face, a slender figure, and a well-behaved personality.

At first, the girl's whole family looked down on him, regarding Bu Chao as just an idle man who often drank himself into oblivion.

It wasn't until Bu Chao went out with Xu Lai a few times, especially when he accompanied Xu Lai to measure the fields in Songcheng County every day, that his identity finally became known to the people of the prefecture.

The girl's family's attitude towards him also changed, and they started calling him "Lord Bu".

A few days ago, Bu Chao asked a matchmaker to propose marriage again, revealing his identity as Xu Qianpan's cousin. The girl's parents immediately agreed to the marriage.

"Yuan Niang, hurry up and go have some wine with Master Bu," the shopkeeper reminded her.

The girl is usually very generous when entertaining guests, but she is very shy when she sees Bu Chao, since the two have already matched their birth dates.

"May your lord be blessed." The young woman bowed in greeting.

Bu Chao quickly stood up, looking slightly flustered, and said, "Please sit down, please sit down. That—this is my marriage certificate."

The girl hesitated to accept it, and Bu Chao realized that the marriage certificate had been handed to the wrong person. He quickly went over and gave it to the shop owner.

The shop owner, who could read a few characters, exclaimed with delight after reading it, "Written by Judge Xu himself?"

Bu Chao straightened his back: "Exactly."

The shop owner quickly called his son and daughter-in-law over, and the whole family looked at the marriage certificate again and again.

The marriage certificate, personally written by Xu Lai, can be used to avoid a lot of trouble in critical moments.

Three days later, it will be a day off.

The tavern was full of customers, and the sounds of gongs and drums could be heard from the street.

Some busybodies even shouted, "Judge Xu has already proposed marriage!"

Bu Chao immediately rebuked, "Don't talk nonsense! It's my engagement! Look carefully, it's my engagement!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The onlookers burst into laughter.

The betrothal gifts were few in number and not particularly valuable, but the shop owner was overjoyed upon seeing them.

Because those who came to deliver betrothal gifts were all clerks from the prefectural and county governments. Officials changed frequently, but these clerks remained in their posts, holding the life and death of all the shops in the city in their hands.

From now on, this little tavern will be more effectively protected by civil officials than by government officials!

Bu Chao introduced Zhang Deyong to his future father-in-law: "This is Zhang Deyong, the chief clerk of the tax office. All the tax office staff are under his jurisdiction. The regular taxes of all the shops in the city are also paid to him by the guild leaders—"

The shop owner was dumbfounded; this man was the living ancestor of all the shops in the city.

Zhang Kongmu, who was just a small fry in front of Xu Lai, was actually the living ancestor of the merchants in Yingtianfu City!

Zhang Deyong cupped his hands and smiled, saying, "Congratulations!"

"Please come in, everyone." The shopkeeper felt lightheaded.

Bu Chao then introduced other clerks, and the shopkeeper repeatedly bowed with his hands clasped in greeting, overjoyed beyond measure. His son and daughter-in-law did the same, bustling about to serve him.

This daughter made a great marriage!

Officials at both the prefectural and county levels both respected and feared Xu Lai.

After Xu Lai leaves office, all that will remain is respect, not fear. At that time, they will definitely help take care of this little tavern.

Xu Lai didn't stay in the tavern for long. After delivering the betrothal gifts and saying a few casual words, he led the clerks to another restaurant.

After they left, the tavern became completely lively.

The patrons congratulated the shop owner, saying he had made a good connection with the owner and that no one would dare to cause trouble again.

Xu Lai then said to Bu Chao, "When I return to the capital, I will pass through Yingtian Prefecture, and you two can get married then. It won't take much time."

"Hehe, I'll listen to my husband," Bu Chao said with a silly grin.