This year is particularly hot, and it is hard to get hot as soon as March begins. Not to mention people, even the local plants and trees are caught off guard. The flowers bloom and they can’t wait to shed their leaves. The leaves grow wildly. This spring, red, thin, green and fat.

The sun sets down the mountain, and the heat left behind is still simmering on the ground. The cool breeze blows from the mountain, entangled with the heat on the ground, giving people a very wonderful feeling.

Xu Ping accompanied Shi Quanbin and brought Tan Hu and two of his accompanying soldiers to the town at the foot of the mountain.

Before the rainy season, Ruhe water passing through the town is as gentle as a little lady, flowing slowly and clearly. The willows that have moved are already lush and leaves, and willow branches are gently floating on the water, enjoying the coolness of the water. The bananas and kapok on the roadside have escaped the heat of the day and are regaining their energy.

Shi Quanbin looked at the increasing crowds on the street and exclaimed: "I didn't expect that Lingnan has such a prosperous place. Before coming, the official mentioned it to me that in the past few years, people proposed to merge Ruhe County. Why not only no one mentioned it this year, but also the meaning of seeing this place as a large county in Lingnan. Let me see if it is really as lively as the Lingnan officials said."

Xu Ping said: "What's so strange about this? There are thousands more people in the county, and their household registration has more than doubled. In addition, the merchants coming and going, it will become lively."

Shi Quanbin nodded and kept looking left and right.

The county rating is basically based on household registration. According to the rules, it is counted once every three or five years to determine whether the county will be upgraded or downgraded. In fact, it is not so strict. There are many places where the household registration remains unchanged for 10 or 20 years. It is just that officials copy old books every time due to various reasons. If the population changes too quickly here, Duan Fang had no time to sort it out, so he had to wait for him to leave office to count it as the basis for his political achievements.

Before I knew it, I arrived in front of a restaurant and Xu Ping said, "Peace Director, how about we welcome you here?"

Shi Quanbin looked at the restaurant. There were two-story bamboo and wood buildings in front, and there were colorful buildings outside the door, and there were two rows of female prostitutes sitting behind the colorful buildings. The weather in Lingnan was hot, and the clothes of female prostitutes were light, which vaguely added to the temptation under the dim light in the evening. There was a large plaque above the gate: "Renhe Building".

Shi Quanbin nodded: "This restaurant is quite grand, and it looks like a capital city."

Xu Ping couldn't help laughing: "The head of the Pavilion did not know that the local people nearby called this small town 'Lingnan Xiao Kaifeng', and they wished that everything would become related to the capital. This restaurant was run by the Yongzhou government, and it was named the Kaifeng official store 'Renhelou'. Not far from here, there is a restaurant opened by merchants, and the name is simply 'Kaifeng'. Opposite it is some restaurants opened by local chiefs, with more domineering names, called 'Saikaifeng'."

Shi Quanbin couldn't help laughing. People like to be so straightforward when they flourished overnight. Unfortunately, the Kaifeng City they learned was just what they imagined.

After passing through the Cailou, several people looked at the prostitutes sitting on both sides, which made the women chatter endlessly. Shi Quanbin was an eunuch, with fewer items on his body than a normal man. How could Xu Ping provoke women and trouble him?

Manager Tong, who was on duty, received the news of the servant, hurriedly came out and saluted, and asked, "Prime Minister Tong wants to have a banquet in our store? I wonder how big the pavilion is?"

"The backyard is the best and quietest place, remember not to let the idle people come."

Supervisor Tong agreed and ordered the servant to lead Xu Ping and others to the backyard to arrange the wine and food by himself.

This restaurant is under the name of the Yongzhou Minister's Library, and three supervisors manage it here. Two of the three were not public officials before, but were forcibly arrested to do this job. Without exception, they all came from a wealthy family in Yongzhou. If the management is not good, they can ensure that their families can afford it.

Taking big people as a job is a common problem in the Song Dynasty government. Those who have the ability can survive, while those who are not able will lose their money if they accidentally lose their money. This is a legacy of the Five Dynasties. The warlords in power in that era kept exploring and finally summarized this set of the most reliable way to save money, which is much more effective than digging three feet from the common people, and it will not cause social turmoil. It has to be admitted that although the warlords of the Five Dynasties do simple and rough things, they really dare to think and really dare to do it, and successfully summarized many refreshing governance experiences, which are much more reliable than those who think about literati and bureaucrats.

The biggest trouble for Xu Ping is that the development here is too fast and this set of experience is beginning to fail. Yongzhou is just a small frontier state. How many wealthy families can there be? The family is rich and the ability to do business, so this kind of people are even more rare, and talents are far from being able to keep up with the situation.

Furthermore, this method is based on scraping the land rather than social development. Although it can ensure that the government does not lose money, it is not conducive to local economic development. In order to truly develop the local area, Xu Ping still needs to consider cultivating reliable commercial talents. All industries cannot rely on large investors to operate.

Along the side corridor, the backyard is covered with flowers and trees, and is dotted with bamboo forests. The stream brought in from outside is winding among them, and the gurgling sound of water adds a bit of elegance.

When you enter it, the heat disappears suddenly. The cool breath wraps people with the fragrance of flowers and plants. The comfortable feeling penetrates into your bones, as if you have entered the cave of the gods.

Shi Quanbin couldn't help but tremble: "I didn't expect that there would be such a good place here. Compared with the heat outside, this place is just two worlds!"

Xu Ping said: "What the head of the Pavilion said is that this is the best summer resort in the town. A stream of groundwater just popped up in the back garden, which led to this stream during the renovation, forming this cool world."

“Good place, good place!”

Shi Quanbin nodded repeatedly and walked inside with the servant who led the way.

Not long after walking, there is a pavilion hidden in the bamboo forest in front of it, with bamboo tables and bamboo chairs inside. A few banana trees were planted beside the pavilion, which were graceful and accompanied by a few olive trees, exuding a faint fragrance.

The servant entered the pavilion, placed the lantern in his hand on the table, and used tinder to guide the kerosene lamps hanging on the pillars around him, and suddenly became bright.

Shi Quanbin walked up, not sitting, turned around and looked at the lamps, and asked Xu Ping: "Yunxing, what oil is used for your lamp here? It was surprisingly bright, but there was no black smoke."

Xu Ping said casually: "Kerosene, we all use this oil here now."

Shi Quanbin shook his head: "Why haven't you seen such a good thing in the palace? Is this a specialty from Yongzhou? What was it squeezed out? The local officials in the past deserved damn, and they didn't even offer sacrifices!"

Xu Ping felt a little sad. Yes, in this era, you have to use any good things with the emperor first, why did you forget it? It became popular in sugarcane gardens, but you never thought of making some tributes and sending them to the palace.

Seeing Shi Quanbin was still amazed there, Xu Ping had to bite the bullet and said, "To be honest, this oil is not squeezed, it is steamed from carbonite. When I distilled the coke, I made this oil by the way. How can I present such pickled things like carbide into the palace? I didn't expect this section you mentioned."

Hearing this, Shi Quanbin immediately changed his face and smiled, "It turned out to be made by Yunxing. When I was in the capital, everyone said that you were smart and didn't expect that it would be like this when you arrived in Lingnan. You are right, how can you offer such things like charcoal into the palace? But the oil looks clean. I also brought two buckets when I left. You can prepare a few more lamps and let the official family see it too."

Seeing Shi Quanbin expose it lightly, Xu Ping hurriedly took advantage of the situation to step down and nodded, "This is simple, I will prepare two big buckets for you to take. Anyway, your future journey will be waterways, so it will not be troublesome. When you return to the palace, if the emperor thinks it is useful, you can bring me a letter and pay some tribute every year."

Shi Quanbin came to make friends with Xu Ping, not to cause trouble, so he would not mention it after he said it.

Sitting down on the bamboo chair, Shi Quanbin looked around and said, "This place is elegant, I don't know if it has a name?"

"I haven't thought about this section. If the head of the Pavilion is happy, how about a name?"

Literary people like to show off. Not to mention such a good pavilion, even if they like a stone, they will give them a name and be arty. Xu Ping is different from the literati of this era and does not have this habit.

Using the light, Shi Quanbin looked at the bamboo shadows around the pavilion and shook his head: "When the hydrological light moves, I take the time to spring in the green shadows. Li Changji's poem is his own. This sentence describes bamboos with a clear and unique look. How about the pavilion between the bamboo shadows? Why is it better to be called 'green shadow'?"

"The clerk of the Pavilion is naturally good. Tomorrow I will find a master craftsman and engrave my name on it."

There is only Xu Ping, a Jinshi in Yongzhou. It is rare to see an orthodox literati of this era. Most of Xu Ping's daily life is devoted to various documents and books, and he has long forgotten his elegance in poetry. He has no spirit to accompany Shi Quanbin here to be a ritual, but he just echoes casually.

Shi Quanbin didn't care. He lowered his head and recited it twice, and the more he recited it, the more he became prouder.

Tan Hu and two accompanying soldiers dispersed around the pavilion, one was to be alert and the other was to stay away from each other, so as not to disturb the interests of the superiors and guests.

Xu Ping sat down opposite Shi Quanbin and asked casually: "People, what wine do you want to drink?"

"What wine do you have here?"

Xu Ping felt a little embarrassed: "This place is not as good as the capital. At that time, I had all kinds of good wines at home, but it was not possible here. There are also several kinds of white wines, but they are not as good as the tastes at home."

Shi Quanbin laughed when he heard this: "It's true that although your family is brewing wine, it's hard to cook without rice. When I come to Yongzhou, I'm afraid there is no good wine. Fortunately, I brought a few bottles of imperial wine with me. Look, this is the lamb wine that the Empress Dowager and the Officials in the Palace, which is for us to enjoy."

After saying that, he took a bottle of wine from his arms like a magic trick, and looked like he was about to touch a liter of it.

Sometimes Xu Ping admires people of this era who can put everything in their arms and sleeves. Although there are hidden bags and so on, they are still very uncomfortable after trying it a few times.
Chapter completed!