The next day, noon.

The residence of the county magistrate in the backyard of the county government office.

In the quiet garden, a group of four people sat separately as guest and host.

Today, as the county magistrate, Li He hosted a banquet for Lin Ze, the chief registrar Gao Fei, and the county magistrate Liu Pei.

Among the officials present, Lin Ze already knew the other two, and this was the first time for Liu Pei to meet them.

Different from the two civil servants who have a relatively mild temperament, Liu Pei is completely dressed as a tough military commander. He is 1.9 meters tall and looks brave.

The county magistrate was born in the army. The magistrate is just a part-time job for him, and the school captain is his main job. He has 500 elite soldiers under his command who can be mobilized. They are usually stationed on the outskirts of the city. Today, he came to the county specifically because of the invitation of the magistrate.

Of the government.

Now that a group of four people have gathered together, it certainly means that the matter of the coal mine has been decided.

And this is also true. After finalizing the preliminary decision on opening a coal mine last night, Li He went home and asked someone to get coal and two big roosters to test what Lin Ze said about the correct use of coal.

Then it was discovered that coal is truly non-toxic when used correctly, which established the possibility of large-scale shipments of coal.

After confirming this, Li He felt completely at ease and began to contact Liu Pei, the county magistrate, to draw him into the coal business.

Because we had to talk about business next, we didn’t do any singing and dancing to add to the fun, but went straight to eating and drinking.

The chicken essence that Lin Ze gave to Li He yesterday has come in handy at this time. It made the chef in the county know that his cooking skills were as good as a restaurant chef. The taste of today's banquet was better than when Lin Ze came last time.

Much more delicious.

"Ziyi is indeed a young hero. He has accomplished such a remarkable career at a young age. Compared with my brother, I am only a few years older."

After a few glasses of rice wine, the atmosphere of the banquet became lively.

Liu Pei took Lin Ze's arm and began to exchange cups and cups.

He had already communicated with the county magistrate Li He before and learned about the establishment of a coal mine.

He also knew that as long as he supported him, he could reap huge benefits, so at this time, when he looked at Lin Ze, the God of Wealth, his eyes were extremely warm, and he was not looked down upon at all because of his age.

"I have five hundred warriors under my command. Their bravery is extraordinary. How can I belittle myself and be ignorant for so long? In my opinion, I am also a rare hero in this world."

Lin Ze also toasted with a smile on his face, and his words were warm and warm. It was not like meeting him for the first time at all.

"Hahaha, come and have a drink, respect you all."

Liu Pei laughed and raised his glass.

Others also followed. These three officials in Fengping County, who were only friendly on the surface, now actually have some inner acquaintance due to the influence of their interests.

------------------

After having had enough wine and food, we went to Li He's study, where he stood back and started talking about business.

"Ziyi, this is the land deed for the wasteland in Fenglin Township. The price is two hundred taels of silver, and it has been recorded in your name."

"However, for the sake of the future imperial examination career, the coal mine should not be named in one's own name. The coal mine can be placed on the head of the servant in the name of leasing it to others for mining."

Gao Fei took out a contract and handed it to Lin Ze.

The Zhou Dynasty officially did not allow officials to engage in business, and the children of businessmen were not allowed to take the imperial examination.

Therefore, in order to avoid being caught by others, these powerful people usually put their property in the name of their servants and their own clan.

"Well, okay."

Lin Ze agreed and took out two pieces of one hundred taels of silver prepared in advance from his sleeves and placed them in front of Gao Fei.

This is the money to buy the land, and it must be included in the county government's income.

"When the coal mine opens, my general will arrange for his soldiers to patrol the official road from Fenglin Township to Fengping County to ensure smooth coal mining and transportation."

Liu Pei took the initiative to speak.

If you want to make big money, of course you have to do something, otherwise you will definitely be rejected and you will only get some scraps.

There are elite armored soldiers patrolling around the mines and on official roads to ensure stable order so that the coal can be mined and sold smoothly.

"If you want to open a mine, you will definitely need a lot of manpower. In addition to the standing miners, you can also collect corvees in the name of the county government's iron smelting need for coal, and let the people in the county go to the mines to mine."

"In addition, it is not a problem for those criminals who have committed crimes to sit in jail and eat prison food every day. They can be sent to mining to serve their sentences."

At this time, the county magistrate Li He gave his own suggestions.

"6."

Lin Ze glanced at the county magistrate.

When it comes to free prostitution, I would like to call you the strongest.

Otherwise, how can we say that someone else can be the county magistrate? The situation is completely different.

Li He made this move, and Gao Fei immediately became bolder.

At this time, Gao Fei added with a smile: "Ziyi said yesterday that he would pay the mining tax as an achievement of the county government, but in fact we have provided many jobs so that everyone in the county can have food and clothing.

Reproducing a larger population is already a huge political achievement."

"Therefore, there is no need to pay mining tax at all. You can directly turn the mine's accounts into a loss. Then you can just pay some symbolic coal as mining tax for iron smelting. In this way, you can make a few more profits.

”

Lin Ze looked at Gao Fei and twitched the corners of his mouth, feeling that he was greatly shocked.

This one is even more of a heavyweight worm.

On the side, Liu Pei's thoughts were also opened up.

He opened his mouth and suggested: "Anyway, my son-in-law has nothing to do except training on weekdays. Why don't we organize ourselves and go to various parts of the county to suppress bandits, arrest those mountain people who live in the mountains and are unwilling to settle down and pay taxes, and send them all to prison?"

Mining in the mine."

Lin Zegao glanced at the captain and saw his consciousness. Even if he wanted to seek personal gain for himself, he still wanted to do something useful.

The three of them thought for a moment and felt that they had nothing to add for the time being, so they looked at Lin Ze.

The county magistrate Li He said: "Does Ziyi have anything to add about the coal mine?"

At this time, Lin Ze asked a soul-searching question: "As far as I know, there are supervisors in the county who will visit from time to time to check the officials' actions, and the county magistrate will be transferred every few years. If the next county magistrate comes to thoroughly investigate us,

What should we do if we wait?"

"According to my estimation, this wasteland contains anywhere from a trillion kilograms to more than ten trillion kilograms of coal. Even with all the efforts of the entire county, it could be mined in ten thousand years."

"If the matter is exposed, I am afraid that within three to five years, we will not be able to escape accountability and have our homes confiscated. How can we pass this family business on to future generations?"

People have a kind of short-sightedness, and it is easy to lose their minds in the face of huge interests.

Even as an official, his knowledge reserve and vision are better than those of ordinary people, but his foresight is limited.
Chapter completed!