Chapter 85 If you are not greedy, how can I get promoted and make money?

"The oil the captain used last time was really top quality!"

Zhang Tie said with great joy: "The state (Emperor) is full of praise. Captain, you can expect to rise to great heights!"

Jin Mao sneered. Is it a good thing that Emperor Ling of Han values ​​him?
Sure enough, Zhang Tie’s next words verified his guess.

"In the future, the captain will pay tribute to the country in addition to the portion given to my father. This is a blessing that cannot be obtained in several lifetimes!"

Zhang Tie smiled like a glutton, greedy and dangerous.

Fortunately, this was a plot that Xi Zhicai had expected, and Jin Mao was well prepared.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mr. Zhang. I'm so poor that I can barely afford to eat. How can I be so blessed?"

Zhang Tie's expression became serious: "Don't call me the wrong commander, I am now the Yellow Gate Commander."

I thought Jinmao was something else, is this it?
"Oh, look at my stupid mouth. Congratulations on your promotion. I'll give you fifty barrels of oil as an apology."

Zhang Tie became more greedy: "Why didn't the captain send me a gift to congratulate me on my promotion?"

"This time, I have good news for the commander."

Jinmao felt cold, but in order to get the good news, he reluctantly sent another fifty barrels.

Zhang Tie was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't the captain want to be promoted to county governor?"

A strong smell of powder mixed with urine hit his nose. Jin Mao controlled his emotions expressionlessly, because eunuchs hated being poked at their sore spots the most.

Zhang Tie was very satisfied with this and said, "This year, the term of office of Magistrate Fan of Wu County has expired and he will return to the capital to report on his work."

"Oh! Why didn't Huang Menling tell you earlier!"

Jin Mao smiled happily and said, "Recently, I have so much oil that I have no place to store it. This time, you can take 500 barrels of oil back with you as the tribute for this year!"

"I'm leaving the post of Wujun Magistrate to you!"

Zhang Tie waved his hands repeatedly, pretending to be serious and said, "Captain, don't talk nonsense. It is obviously the country that has discerned the talent. How dare I take credit for it?"

"Then it's settled!" Jin Mao continued to lay out big baits to catch big fish: "If this is successful, I will double my tribute next year! I will also double your share!"

Zhang Tie was overjoyed: "I congratulate Magistrate Jin on your promotion!"

Jin Mao couldn't stop laughing. He didn't expect that getting promoted would be so easy.

It was just over 3,000 barrels of oil, which was nothing compared to what the governor of Wu County paid.

Wujun and Jianye are major iron-producing counties, and Wujun is much richer than Kuaiji County. If they occupy the land of Wujun.

Wuhu, take off!
However, Zhang Tie was greedy, and Jin Mao was even greedier. He not only wanted Wu County, but also the neighboring Yuzhang County.

"Do you think there is room for maneuver in this matter?"

Jin Mao said: "There are too many aristocratic families in Wu County. I am afraid that I will be excluded and lose my foothold. So I thought it would be great if I could have the governor of Yuzhang County as a retreat."

Zhang Tie was shocked by Jin Mao's appetite. After a long pause, he said, "Captain, do you still remember what I said before?"

of course I remember!

Jin Mao's eyes lit up: "Does that mean there is room for maneuver?"

"I can't guarantee that." Zhang Tie said in embarrassment: "The country's mind cannot be guessed."

Jin Mao leaned forward and lowered his voice, "I'll double your portion!"

Zhang Tie then smiled happily: "Don't worry, Magistrate Jin, I will take care of this matter. Yuzhang County is a remote and poor place, so this is not a big deal!"

Feeling offended, Jinmao forced himself to smile.

Next, the two of them chatted and watched the Tang family caravan load the oil into the trucks.

This is the fourth time that the Tang family caravan has come.

Of the first three times, except for the first one which was a long journey to Luoyang, the other two times were to transport oil to Shanyin County.

That was when Tang Mao took away 2,000 hu of oil, including the principal and interest, in the name of debt collection.

According to Tang Mao, "The books in my house are worth a thousand gold coins. Giving you two carts of books far exceeds the debt of ten thousand dan of grain and grass."

Since they are all family, Jin Mao will not argue. Sooner or later, he will let Tang Ji return the money from her parents' home with interest.

Therefore, this time the Tang family caravan also brought two carts of bamboo slips. This made Kan Ze very happy. He originally thought that it would be good to have ten volumes, but there were actually two carts!

"Mingsir, Governor Tang did not fool you!" Kan Ze said excitedly, "These books are all treasures!"

Seeing Kan Ze, who is always mature beyond his years, so excited, Jin Mao was also very happy: "Don't worry, there will be more in the future."

Kan Ze nodded vigorously: "Ming Gong, I will sort out the books first."

"Well, you're busy first."

At this time, Zhang Tie stepped forward at the right time and asked, "It seems that Magistrate Jin has a special liking for books?"

Jin Mao turned his head and saw Zhang Tie's eyes shining, then he remembered that Luoyang was the place with the richest collection of books in the country.

However, Jinmao knew that he couldn't show his weakness first, otherwise Zhang Tieshi would ask for too much and the deal would not be done.

After a while of arguing, the two men finally agreed that no matter the quality of a book, as long as Jinmao did not have the book in its collection, it would cost ten barrels of oil.

The business was settled.

Zhang Tie was secretly delighted: "This guy is not a local tycoon, he is a dog rich man! I have to find a way to get more benefits out of him."

Jin Mao was also very happy: "There is rapeseed oil every year, and there will be more next year. I will open a library in the future to attract all the poor children in the world!"

Win-win!

Since we are going to build a library, we have to arrange for papermaking.

The "Cai Hou Paper" that appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty was smooth and flat and could be used normally.

It was only due to the limitations of the times that paper was only used and circulated in a small circle among the royal family in Luoyang.

In a remote place like Kuaiji County, paper became extremely precious, causing most scholars and officials to not dare to use paper and instead use bamboo slips instead.

Don’t say that Jinmao doesn’t know how to make paper. Even if he does, why bother? Why not just find a papermaker?

However, when Zhang Tie heard that they wanted a papermaker, he started to raise the price on the spot: "County Magistrate, each papermaker is very valuable, it is not easy to hire one, and besides, your area has beautiful scenery, but it is sparsely populated..."

There are a lot of things, and they just charge more money.

When Zhang Tie finally left, he took away a total of one thousand barrels of oil.

Five hundred barrels were the tribute share, and the other five hundred barrels were divided into three hundred barrels for Zhang Tie's hard work, one hundred barrels for the deposit for books, and one hundred barrels for the deposit for the papermaker.

It’s not okay not to give the hard work fee.

Eunuchs are greedy and unreasonable. If you don't give them money, not only will they refuse to work, they will also sue you.

It will be different if he receives the gift. He will work hard and do his best this year because there will be better and more things waiting for him next year.

"I have a good appetite."

Looking at the caravan going away, Jin Mao thought to himself: "How can I be promoted quickly if I don't have a big appetite?"

Although he didn't know much about the specific details of the future, before the chaos came, the higher the official position, the better.

To put it another way, with a papermaker, he would become the largest papermaker in the entire Eastern Han Dynasty, without a doubt!

Who knows, Kuaiji County doesn't have much else but a lot of mountains, trees and bamboos.

You don’t even have to look for raw materials, you can make it using local materials!
The papermaking matter needs to wait, but the matters concerning Yuzhang County can be arranged.

Jin Mao said to himself, "Looks like I need to hire someone to look for Gong Lei. It's been so long, and I don't know how he's doing. I can't just stay where I am, can I?"

That’s hundreds of sets of armor and weapons. For the Shanyue, isn’t it a dimensionality reduction attack?
So he ordered people to search for Gong Lei and others in Yuzhang County in ten directions for one month, and return if they didn't find them.

There was no other way. In that era, carrying food and fodder was a big hassle. Without a baggage train, even if a small group of cavalry went out, carrying two months' worth of food and fodder would be the limit.

And Jinmao is not so extravagant as to have two horses per person.

"We still need to discuss this with Zhicai."

After all, the purpose was to create chaos and drive out the governor of Yuzhang County, not to rebel.

The two are of different nature.

He still has to be careful, he doesn't want to challenge himself to the limit again like last time.

(End of this chapter)