If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

Just as the old man was completely baffled, someone below him spoke up again.

"Sir, there is no approval from the prefect above."

"Oh."

The old man then opened the memorial and read it carefully. Sure enough, it only had the signature of the county magistrate and not the signature of the local prefect.

"Hmph, since Kang Wen took office, his performance has been mediocre. He doesn't think about handling government affairs all day long, but does these dirty things like reporting to higher authorities and falsely accusing his colleagues. Zhou Wu's construction of the city wall was ordered by the emperor, and he doesn't even know that. What exactly is he doing in Qingyang County all day long?"

The old man was clearly very displeased because Kang Wen had falsely accused Zhou Wu. Zhou Wu had already been set up as a model by the court for his work on the city wall, and this Kang Wen actually accused him of treason. Did he not have a brain?

“Reject the memorial and send someone to the Ministry of Personnel to inform them that Kang Wen’s performance evaluation grade this year is D.”

"It's an adult."

The officials below felt a chill run down their spines. The old lord had always gotten along well with everyone, and this was the first time they had seen him so angry. The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of the annual evaluation and promotion of officials. The evaluation results were divided into A, B, C, and D from highest to lowest. Generally speaking, as long as a normal person was not rated as D, but if someone was really unlucky enough to be rated as D, he would be transferred to the reserve position, which basically meant that he would never have a chance to enter the officialdom for the rest of his life.

. . . . .

Jinshan Prefecture.

"Kang Wen, the magistrate of Qingyang County, lacked both virtue and talent. During his tenure as magistrate of Qingyang County, he did not think of serving the emperor and the people, but spent his days..."

An inexplicably received a message from the capital regarding a change in the magistrate of Qingyang County, asking him to recommend a suitable candidate.

"That's strange. Kang Wen is perfectly fine, so why are they replacing him?"

An was somewhat confused as to who Kang Wen had offended. Although he didn't like Kang Wen either, the man hadn't made any major mistakes at work so far, so even as the prefect, he couldn't do anything to him. At most, he could only give him a hard time. But An disdained to do that.

But now that the order has been issued directly from the capital, that's a different matter altogether.

In Qingyang County, Kang Wen saw the transfer document in his hand and collapsed to the ground.

"Zhou Wu's construction of the city wall was actually approved by the sage? I must be such an idiot. I knew Zhou Wu wouldn't so blatantly incite a rebellion, waaaaah..."

Kang Wen seemed to have gone mad, laughing uproariously one minute and then crying the next. But when the news reached Zhou Wu's ears, Zhou Wu didn't care about the reason; as long as his enemy was eliminated, it was naturally a good thing.

A few days later, An sent a letter to Zhou Wu, informing him that the higher-ups had asked him, the prefect, to recommend a suitable candidate to serve as the magistrate of Qingyang County. The chosen person was a trusted confidant, and the purpose was to reassure Zhou Wu that there would be no more messy troubles, allowing him to focus on his work.

"hey-hey,"

"Scholar, what are you laughing at? Why are you so..."

Niu Ye originally wanted to say "sleazy," but after thinking about it, he realized that Zhou Wu was now an official of the imperial court and couldn't be as casual as before.

"Kang Wen has stepped down, and the new magistrate is from **An's faction."

"Oh, that's something to celebrate! How about I treat everyone to a meal at Da Niu Wang today?"

Grandpa Niu was overjoyed, not for himself, but for Zhou Wu. The development of Niujia Village depended on Zhou Wu's leadership. If he made any mistakes, the entire village would suffer. Now, Niujia Village not only had three meals a day, but also fish every year. People living a good life didn't want to go back to a life of hardship. So, not only Grandpa Niu, but everyone in Niujia Village regarded Zhou Wu as their backbone. Anyone else could be in trouble, but Zhou Wu couldn't be.

"Master Niu is bleeding money today, that's truly rare! Great Bull King, let's go!"

When Niu Er heard that Niu Ye was treating everyone, he couldn't help but tease him. Although Niu Ye was not short of money now, his family was very strict. Everyone else would take turns treating, but Niu Ye, due to his strict upbringing, would only eat and not vomit, which often made him the target of jokes.

"Hmph, if you have the guts, don't go."

"No way, Uncle Niu, you do the math. You owe at least ten or eight meals, right? This time I'm going to eat my money back in one go."

During the construction of the city wall, a large number of workers entered Niujia Village, which directly led to the development of the catering industry and surrounding industries in Niujia Village. Although it could not compare with the prefectural government, it had already taken on the scale of a county town, and the prosperity of the center was in no way inferior to that of Qingyang County.

Da Niu Wang is a barbecue restaurant run by a woman in Niujia Village. It is very popular because the food is delicious and the prices are low.

"Girl, is there a seat available?"

They were all villagers from Niujia Village, and Grandpa Niu knew them well. Although she was already married, in Grandpa Niu's eyes, she would always be a girl who never grew up.

"Oh, Lord Zhou, Master Niu, Second Brother, Mr. Deng, what distinguished guests you are! Please come inside."

Niu Tiehua is the eldest daughter in her family. Her father was disabled after joining the army and her mother was too weak to work. There are four sisters in the family, and as the eldest, she took on the responsibility of supporting the family at a young age.

Niu Tiehua led the four to a private room in the back room, which was also the only private room in the entire barbecue restaurant. This private room was not open to the public on weekdays and was reserved by Niu Tiehua specifically for Zhou Wu.

"Please have a seat, gentlemen. I will make arrangements immediately."

As regular customers, Zhou Wu and his group didn't need to order themselves; Niu Tiehua arranged everything for them.

Niu Tiehua's husband, who had married into the family, immediately brought over some burning charcoal.

"Please be careful, gentlemen, it's hot."

The husband who married into the family was surnamed Zhang. He was a villager from a nearby village and his family was struggling financially, which is why he married into the family. Fortunately, both of them were honest and law-abiding people, and there were not as many dramatic plots as in TV dramas and novels.

"Old Zhang, how's business lately?"

"Very good, very good, thanks to Lord Zhou's guidance."

Zhang Xiangong and Niu Tiehua were truly grateful to Zhou Wu, because it was Zhou Wu who had guided them in this business. They didn't need a skilled cook; the guests could cook for themselves, and the ingredients were simply locally sourced, like various kinds of seafood. This was far better than farming.

"Old Zhang, what are you dawdling about? Show your gratitude by serving the adults some wine."

Niu Tiehua noticed that her husband was so slow and hesitant to light the charcoal fire, so she gratefully urged him on.

"Eh."

"The dishes are here, sir. Oysters, which are Lord Zhou's favorite, were freshly picked by the villagers this morning. The grouper from Uncle Niu is very fresh today. Lord Deng, eat more pork belly, you look so thin."

"Ahua, why didn't you prepare anything special for Second Brother?"

Niu Tiehua made no mention of Niu Er, which made Niu Er somewhat depressed.

"Second brother, why did you prepare this specially? Is there anything you don't eat?"

"Hahaha."

Niu Tiehua gave Niu Er a good scolding. The two were from Niujia Village, so they were related by blood and had been calling each other brother and sister since childhood.