The first county magistrate in history

Qin Zheng clutched his aching chest, gritted his teeth, and said, "The finished product will take a few days to come out. When it's out, I'll send someone to deliver it to you."

Xia Mochu was very satisfied, this was pretty good.

"I haven't figured out how to punish you yet. I'm leaving first." Xia Mochu picked up the two boxes and left.

"Ms. Xia, you are the national general agent of soaps and perfumes. I will ask those merchants who come here because of your reputation to negotiate with you about the ownership of regional agency rights." Qin Zheng reminded.

"Got it." Xia Mochu said without turning back: "Don't forget to send me the paper, pen, eraser and that triangle ruler. Also, if we start mass production in the future, I must be the national general agent. And those plastic products are mine too!"

Xia Mochu said this rudely and domineeringly, and left quickly without waiting for Qin Zheng to speak.

In fact, she also feels guilty.

Even the heels can figure it out, how much is the general agent of these things worth!

She left, leaving Qin Zheng disheveled in the wind.

"Miss!" Li Qiuhan, who was waiting outside, was surprised to see His Majesty come out with a smile. He was so angry when he came, how could he be so happy in the blink of an eye?

"Why do you smell so good?" Li Qiuhan twitched her nose.

"Let's talk about it when we get back." Xia Mochu smiled mysteriously.

At this moment, Xia Mochu thought of Qin Zheng's heartbroken expression just now, and suddenly had the urge to laugh out loud.

Li Qiuhan glanced at the wooden box held by his master, then looked at his master with a beaming face, and thought to himself, Qin Zheng bribed my Majesty with just these two boxes of things?

Not killing Qin Zheng?

What on earth is it that has such charm?

Passing by the government office.

Xia Mochu saw a little girl passing by and quickly hid a chicken leg in her sleeve.

Li Qiuhan also saw it and lowered her voice: "Miss, did you see it?"

Xia Mochu snorted coldly: "What a big liar!"

Li Qiuhan waited for a long time, but his master didn't say anything. He was very puzzled. Calling him a liar was the end of it?

Inside the post house.

After marveling at the magic of the soap and perfume, Li Qiuhan felt a headache as he looked at His Majesty who was constantly showing off to him.

She had an illusion: how could the wise, brave and decisive Majesty suddenly become a naive little girl?

It's like... it's like a naive girl falling in love...

Look how beautiful she is!

"Miss, cough cough cough... This perfumed soap is what Zhao Suhong's family wants." Li Qiuhan had to remind the intoxicated Majesty.

Your Majesty is the Supreme Ruler, and you have promised not to fight with the Zhao family.

Zhao Suhong was so kind to her that she told her all the business secrets. But now her boss took away the agency rights. How would she ever see Zhao Suhong again?

Xia Mochu, who was conceited, suddenly froze. "How could I forget? How could I do this?"

Li Qiuhan quickly said: "Yes, what should we do?"

Xia Mochu thought for a moment and said, "How about this? For all the products we distribute from Qin Zheng, we'll let the Zhao family be the second-level national general agent. Is that okay?"

Li Qiuhan was horrified: "Give it all back? Will Qin Zheng agree to that?"

Xia Mochu was proud: "Humph, he dares not give it to me!"

Li Qiuhan looked at his master suspiciously: "Miss, why do I feel something is wrong? Why is Qin Zheng so nice to you? Does he know that you are His Majesty?"

Xia Mochu shook his head affirmatively: "He doesn't know."

I thought to myself, you know nothing, I’m still at a loss!

Xia Mochu suddenly stood up and said, "Let's go and take a look at the city wall!"

Li Qiuhan was stunned: "What are you going there for?"

Xia Mochu snorted coldly, "It's said that Hongtong County is so rich that the city walls are tiled. I'll go and see if it's true. If it's really that rich, I'll have Qin Zheng donate money to the disaster area. I can't let him get away with it."

Li Qiuhan was speechless and thought to himself, how can someone who owes you what you owe listen to you?

She also didn't know where His Majesty got the confidence from, or who gave him the confidence!

Northwest corner of the city wall.

Xia Mochu personally took a dagger and dug the earthen city wall.

Li Qiuhan was also observing carefully: "Miss, it looks like it was splashed with mud."

Xia Mochu didn't say anything and dug hard.

Suddenly, with a clang, the dagger hit a hard object.

Xia Mochu sped up, and in a moment, a piece of bright sky blue tiles was revealed.

"Sure enough!" Xia Mochu's face was full of joy.

Li Qiuhan was completely stunned by his master's actions. This was a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. Shouldn't the master be furious?

Why are you still laughing?

Xia Mochu threw the dagger to Li Qiuhan and said in a good mood, "I'm hungry, let's find a restaurant to eat!"

Li Qiuhan was completely confused. Where did his master's good mood come from?

Little did she know that Xia Mochu's idea was that the more powerful Qin Zheng was, the more profit she would make.

She felt that she had Qin Zheng under control.

There were no diners in a shabby restaurant.

Xia Mochu was puzzled: "Waiter, it's lunchtime now, why is it so quiet?"

The waiter was a chubby teenager wearing a patched robe.

Looking at the two of them, my eyes widened. These two women are so beautiful.

However, he quickly looked away.

He didn't dare to look at it any longer. If a guest reported him for blasphemy, the county magistrate would definitely kill him.

He asked politely, "Sir, are you from outside the city?"

Xia Mochu nodded: "I'm dealing in cloth and have just reached a cooperation agreement with your county magistrate."

When the waiter heard that he had cooperated with the county magistrate, he relaxed his guard and said with a smile:

"You may not know, but my master is most afraid of promotion, fame, and showing off his wealth.

Well, we heard that the empress left the imperial capital for a secret visit. My master was afraid that she would come here to inspect, so he quickly disguised the whole city.

My business is very good. In the past, it would have been packed at this time. But now, the locals don’t want to bother the adults and would rather cook at home.

Li Qiuhan was surprised: "Are you so willing to cooperate with County Magistrate Qin?"

The waiter smiled and said, "To be honest, my master is absolutely the best official in the world. Without him, the people of our county would be as hungry and poorly clothed as those in other places."

Xia Mochu pretended to be casual and asked, "Waiter, how much is your monthly salary?"

The waiter said proudly: "Five taels of silver."

"What? Five taels of silver?" Li Qiuhan exclaimed and looked at his master.

Her monthly salary averaged only six taels of silver, and she was a female official beside the empress.

Xia Mochu looked at Li Qiuhan, feeling a little embarrassed.

She, the empress, is not as rich as a small county magistrate.

"How much is your monthly salary, County Magistrate Qin?" Xia Mochu asked again.

The waiter actually knew: "We masters don't have any salary."

"No salary? How is that possible?" Xia Mochu couldn't believe it. How could an official not receive a salary? The court had allocated funds.

The waiter smiled and said, "At first, our master did have a salary, but he used all the money from above to help poor families. Later, under his leadership, we had fewer children and planted more trees, building roads first and then getting rich.

In the past, we wouldn’t see a prefect or governor here for ten years, but now every family has become rich, and they all come here in droves, saying they want to learn from us, but in fact they just want our inventions, and some even ask for money directly.

My family rejected all of his requests, and he offended them all. Later, the higher-ups stopped paying him his salary, and he even frequently caused trouble, even ambushing our merchants on the way.

"There is such a thing?" Xia Mochu frowned and suppressed the anger in his heart.

Li Qiuhan asked, "Why is he so selfish? Only when everyone is rich can the country be rich and the people strong."

The waiter said, "Do you really think that if my master helps them, this money will reach the hands of the common people?"

Suddenly, he changed the subject and asked, "Do you know what the original population of Hongtong County was?"

Xia Mochu and Li Qiuhan didn't understand why the waiter brought up the topic of population.

Seeing that the two men were silent, the waiter said, "Originally, our county had a population of over 100,000, but we were so poor. The officials even found excuses to increase taxes, and if we refused to pay, our property would be confiscated and our families would be exterminated. Therefore, everyone who could escape fled. When Lord Qin took office, there were only about 2,000 people left in our county, and they were all elderly, weak, and sick.

But now, not only have those who left their homes returned, but there are also those who have come here because of its reputation. The population has reached nearly half a million. If it weren't for the local government's strict measures to prohibit population movement, the number would probably exceed one million. This is how we adults help the poor people.

Li Qiuhan was extremely shocked and couldn't help asking, "Why are they restricting population movement?"

Before the waiter could say anything, Xia Mochu spoke in a cold voice: "If everyone runs away, does an empty city still need officials? They are only concerned about their official positions!"

The waiter smiled and said, "Your Excellency is absolutely right. What would you two like to eat?"

Xia Mochu rolled his eyes and said, "Waiter, we are all family, so stop pretending and bring us some good wine and good food."

The waiter shook his head. "To be honest, sir, we must obey Lord Qin's orders. We dare not disobey. We don't serve any fancy fish or meat at the moment, but we guarantee that the taste will be excellent."

Xia Mochu had no choice but to say, "Please prepare some side dishes for us."

"Okay!" The child left.

Li Qiuhan complained: "This Qin Zheng is so cunning!"

Xia Mochu remained silent, then suddenly asked, "Are our guards trustworthy?"

Li Qiuhan was startled: "I can absolutely trust you. What's wrong, Miss?"

Xia Mochu frowned and didn't answer.

She thought, if it wasn't Qin Zheng, and it wasn't her, then who could have drugged her and Qin Zheng?

"Miss, is something wrong?" Li Qiuhan felt that since her master asked this, something must have happened.

Xia Mochu shook his head: "It's okay."

This matter is difficult to talk about, even though she and Li Qiuhan are like sisters.

Li Qiuhan knew his master's temperament and would definitely not say it if he didn't want to.

"Huh?" Xia Mochu's foot suddenly bumped into something. He looked down and said, "What a nice soup pot! Why is it on the ground?"

Xia Mochu bent down to pick up the soup pot and put it on the table.

The soup pot was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, with a wide rim. It also had a porcelain lid. The colorful painting of a carp leaping over a dragon gate was eye-catching.

The entire porcelain is smooth and warm, and feels great.

"It's so beautiful?" Li Qiuhan hugged it, stroked it and praised.

At this time, the waiter came over to serve tea.

"Waiter, was this soup pot also made by your county magistrate?" Xia Mochu asked.

When the waiter saw the soup pot, his face changed drastically.