Compared to Liuzhou City, Spirit Deer County was extremely lively during this period. Many people who fled from Liuzhou retreated to local county towns, and Spirit Deer County, as the birthplace of Liuzhou's culture and education, naturally became a temporary retreat for many scholars.
The newly appointed magistrate Gu Beiquan, has been extremely busy these past few days, with his most important task being entertaining the renowned teachers who once Liuzhou Prefectural School.
It could be said that there was a small banquet every three days and a large banquet every five days, which revealed how much Spirit Deer County valued these teachers. As the local official, he adopted an extremely humble attitude.
So, early in the morning, he brought local specialties from the capital and planned to visit Master Feng.
This was the teacher he most wanted to stay with. He had inquired about him before he came. This Master Feng's original name was Feng Haonian. He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of the previous dynasty and was extremely famous in Jiangnan. After the establishment of the new dynasty, the court invited him to serve as an official several times, but he declined each time. Although his status was not as high as that of Master Huang in the Ghost Puppet incident, he was still a well-known Confucian scholar!
After being invited by the prefect to teach at the prefectural school, his students spread all over Jiangnan. In twenty years, he taught no fewer than fifty people who passed the imperial examinations. All the prefects of Liuzhou treated him with great respect.
Magistrate Gu excitedly had his servants carry the gifts, but when they arrived at the door, he found someone already waiting. He frowned and said to the servant, "Go and find out who it is."
Upon hearing this, the servant hurried forward to inquire, and returned to the master's sedan chair a quarter of an hour later to report in a low voice, "Master, I've inquired, he's just a merchant who runs a business, and he's here to buy Master Feng's courtyard in Liuzhou."
When Gu Beiquan first heard that they were just traveling merchants, he was impatient and wanted to kick them out immediately. But when he heard that they were there to buy Master Feng's house in Liuzhou, he was stunned. "A house in Liuzhou... people still buy houses there?"
That awful place, even dogs wouldn't want to go there now, right?
"This... I don't know either..."
Just then, the steward of the courtyard came out to invite the two groups of people in together. As a local county magistrate and a newly appointed top scholar, Gu Beiquan was naturally unwilling to lower himself to be with a traveling merchant. However, when he thought that the other party was there to buy Master Feng's Liuzhou real estate, he immediately became more patient.
Since Master Feng was willing to meet the other party, he must have also planned to sell his house. If he sold the property in Liuzhou, he would have a better chance of keeping the other party, since Spirit Deer County was the other party's hometown.
As they were thinking this, the two groups were leisurely invited into the main hall of the mansion.
--
"Sir, I think Lord Gu of Spirit Deer County is very sincere. What are you still hesitating about? What's wrong with Spirit Deer County?"
In the bedroom, Master Feng 'Master Feng wife asked him questions while tidying his clothes.
"What do you know?" Master Feng rolled his eyes at his wife. "Although Spirit Deer County has a decent education, it's still just a county. How can it compare to Liuzhou?"
"The academy in Liuzhou has earned its reputation through the hard work of a group of old guys for over twenty years. In the entire Jiangnan, apart from the prefectural school of Nanming Prefecture, where else can compare? The students it usually admits are the top talents in Jiangnan. No matter how Earth Spirit Deer County is, how many good students can it possibly have?"
"With such poor student quality, how many successful candidates can even the best teacher produce? If we don't produce a single successful candidate for several years, what will become of our reputations?"
"This..." Madam Feng hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, but remembering the county magistrate's fawning over her these past few days, she still advised, "Didn't the magistrate promise to give you priority in selecting the best students?"
"Foolish!" Master Feng sneered, "That young county magistrate is only interested in petty gains, thinking only of undermining Liuzhou to boost his cultural and educational achievements. Has he ever considered that without Liuzhou, how could Spirit Deer County have its current status?"
"He gave me the best students, but what about the local teachers? Those teachers have been in Spirit Deer County for many years, and their connections and status are quite good. If I offend them all right from the start, how will I get by in the future? Rely on that short-sighted magistrate? He'll just pack up and leave after his three-year term. What am I going to do?"
"Uh..." Madam Feng immediately realized what was happening, and her expression instantly changed. "This new magistrate is a complete scoundrel! How dare he scheme against you, sir!"
"Alright!" Master Feng sighed, "When you go out and meet the county magistrate later, don't say anything. I'll handle it."
"Then, sir, if we don't stay here, where will we go?"
"Look... I've already written to some friends in Nanming Prefecture to see if I can secure a teaching position at the prefectural school there."
" Nanming Prefecture?" Madam Feng's eyes lit up immediately. "Master, you've thought things through!"
Going to Nanming Prefecture is definitely better than staying in Spirit Deer County!
"It's not easy either..." Master Feng's face remained melancholy. Although Nanming Prefecture was a good place, there were many renowned teachers there. He was among the top teachers at the Liuzhou Academy, but things were different in Nanming. Moreover, as an outsider, how easy was it to integrate?
Sigh... I never imagined that Master Huang, with whom I've worked for twenty years, would turn out to be a demon. This world...
With that in mind, Master Feng dressed himself and quickly went to the hall to greet the guests.
Although he looked down on the new county magistrate, he was, after all, the local official in charge of the people's livelihood and a top scholar in the imperial examination, so he still had to give him some face.
"I apologize for keeping Lord Gu waiting..."
"Not at all!" Gu Beiquan quickly stood up and bowed, "It was I who disturbed your rest, Master."
"Sir, please don't be so kind. Please have a seat, please have a seat..."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Master Feng looked at another burly man who was standing and bowing, and asked, "Is this Master Gu, who wants to buy the house?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Beiquan's face twitched. He had just been trying to curry favor with the other party, and he had responded with a few polite words. But when he learned that the other party's name was Gu Bei, his mood immediately soured. What kind of lowly peddler dared to call himself that?
"Sorry to disturb you, Master..." Gu Bei chuckled.
"It's hardly an intrusion..." The scholar sipped his tea, scrutinizing the other man. "Since you're a maritime merchant, surely you know the current situation in Liuzhou?"
"Oh... that..." Gu Bei's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, "I don't care about that. I've always wanted to buy a nice house in Liuzhou, and now the opportunity is finally here. As for those weird monsters, they're nothing. I've been sailing all these years, and I've killed countless water ghosts. Why would I be afraid of some kind of ghost puppet?"
Gu Beiquan, standing nearby, nearly choked on his tea upon hearing this, thinking to himself: This vulgar fool...
However, he tried his best to suppress his inner mockery and didn't say much, after all, he was also counting on this deal to go through.
Master Feng smiled and said, "Master Gu has traveled all over the country for so many years, and he is quite generous."
Compared to the young Gu Beiquan, Master Feng was much more shrewd. He had come into contact with these maritime merchants before. Although these people had more experience than the average farmer, they were far more wary of demons and ghosts. After all, only those who had experienced them knew how terrifying demons and ghosts were. How could they be as nonchalant as they were now?
After thinking for a moment, he tentatively said, "It's not impossible for me to buy my house, but I left in a hurry and left many old things there. I'll have to retrieve them before I sell it to you."
"No need for that trouble!" Gu Bei quickly waved his hand, "Master, just sell me the land deed, and tell me what else you need, and I'll send someone to deliver it to your door in perfect condition."
Seeing this Gu Beiquan chimed in, "This man is quite honest. If the teacher finds it inconvenient, I can send someone to help the teacher carry the things."
"There's no need to trouble you, sir..." Master Feng smiled, but his doubts only deepened.
This guy surnamed Gu... seems extremely reluctant to let me go to Liuzhou?
Something special!!
"How about this, I'll take this opportunity to go back to Liuzhou to pack my things. Since Master Gu wants to buy a house, how about we go together?"
"This..." Gu Bei's expression immediately turned sour, then he smiled and said, "Then... Master, shall we sign the land deed first?"
Seeing how anxious the other party was, Master Feng understood the situation even better and said with a smile, "No rush, no rush, we'll talk about it when we get to Liuzhou."
"Alright then, Master Gu, please go back and make your preparations. I have some matters to discuss with the magistrate, and we'll depart for Liuzhou this afternoon." Without waiting for a protest, he directly told the steward beside him, " Old Yang, see the guest out..."
"Master, you... Hey, hey, don't push me, don't push me! I know how to walk, Master, you have to think this through. These days, even dogs won't ask about real estate in Liuzhou. If you miss this opportunity, it'll be hard to sell later."
"No need for you to worry about that, Master Gu..." Master Feng replied casually while sipping his tea, but his desire to visit Liuzhou grew stronger.
Could something have changed in Liuzhou?
"Master, are we going to Master Zhao's house?"
After Gu Beiquan left, the butler hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
The master doesn't look too good. Did things not go very smoothly?
"To Master Zhao's house!" Gu Beiquan frowned as he got into the car. Master Feng seemed even more dismissive of him than usual. Had he already found someone else?
If we really can't keep them, then so be it; we need to keep the other teachers on board.
Thinking this, Gu Beiquan kept urging the driver to hurry up.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at Master Zhao's old home.
But when he arrived, the butler's words at the door stunned him.
"Has Master Zhao gone to Liuzhou?"
"Yes, Your Excellency..." the steward hurriedly replied, "This morning, someone came wanting to buy Your Excellency's property in Liuzhou. After exchanging a few words with Your Excellency, Your Excellency suddenly decided to go to Liuzhou, and sure enough, he left half an hour ago!"
"What?" Gu Beiquan was stunned. "Another person is buying a house?"
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