Gu Wudu told Lin Xie at the wine table that he would be in charge of selecting candidates for idle official positions under the jurisdiction of the Surveillance Commissioner's office, and those who heard this were both envious and jealous.

  The Circuit Intendant's Office is in charge of the criminal and civil affairs of a prefecture, with both judicial and supervisory functions. It is headed by one Circuit Intendant of the third rank and one Vice Circuit Intendant of the fourth rank. Other responsibilities include military preparedness, education, coastal defense, military supervision, postal service, and land reclamation, each with its own officials. The office also has a fifth-rank associate official.

  Although the power of a prefecture is divided into three parts: the Circuit Intendancy, the Pacification Commission and the Provincial Military Command, in reality, the Circuit Intendancy has considerable control over the other two. For example, under the Circuit Intendancy, there are officials such as the Regular Fifth-Rank Military Affairs Commissioner who, in peacetime, promote education and moral instruction, repair city walls, and adjudicate lawsuits, but in wartime, command local troops to quell rebellions, effectively giving civil officials the power to command troops. The Circuit Intendancy also has officials such as the Regular Fifth-Rank Military Surveillance Commissioner who have the power to supervise the various garrisons under the Provincial Military Command, exemplifying this dynasty's use of civil officials to control military affairs.

  And regardless of whether it is the Investigating Censor, Deputy Investigating Censor, or the five-grade officials in charge of various branches, they are all high-ranking and powerful positions belonging to the capital-appointed officials. Except for these three and some other important officials, most of the officials under the Investigating Censor's yamen were subordinate officials. These subordinate officials included eighth- and ninth-grade minor officials who had entered the regular bureaucracy, as well as minor functionaries who had not entered it, all of whom fell within the scope of local selection officials. Among them were "clean" officials, as well as those with lucrative postings that brought in a steady stream of income; sometimes even an eighth- or ninth-grade official could wield enormous power.

  Gu Wudu said this, how can others not envy and jealous of Lin Xuan?

  Although the selection of personnel and officials in the Jiangdong Inspection Office is jointly responsible by the Jiangdong Pacification Commission and the Jiangning Ministry of War, the right to decide who to use still lies with the Inspection Office. The only prerequisite is that the person must be found from the Pacification Commission and the Jiangning Ministry of War. Of course, when the Inspection Office itself does not have a clear candidate for personnel selection, the Pacification Commission and the Jiangning Ministry of War can exercise their recommendation power.

  Lin Tie did not expect Gu Wu Chen to make such a promise as soon as he took office, and he quickly stood up and bowed deeply: "Thank you, sir, for your kindness in promoting me. Lin Tie will certainly repay your kindness with his life..."

  "You have this talent, I will recommend you to serve the imperial court," Gu Wu Chen smiled with a spring breeze on his face, he was very happy that Lin Fu did not refuse this time. "Think carefully, don't rush to make a decision today..." He came to Jiangning, although he had the halo of being a new noble of the Chu Party, if there were no useful and trustworthy people around him, others would also be able to take advantage of him. Yang Pu, Yang Shi, and Ma Chao were all trustworthy attendants, but they did not have any official titles to advance to, so they could only be arranged to do low-ranking military jobs such as guards, but being a military officer in the Procuratorate was not promising, with no power or promotion prospects. Lin Fu, although he had only passed the imperial examination and started at a lower level, was more convenient to operate and belonged to the civil official class after all.

  ****************

  Although he had Gu Wu Chen's promise, Lin Xuan did not dare to be careless and chose a quiet task with his eyes closed. Gu Wu Chen was a new noble of the Chu Party and a fourth-grade official, so he could do whatever he wanted without too much consideration; but Lin Xuan couldn't, he had to avoid conflicts with lower officials in the Procuratorate, avoid becoming the target of attacks by lower officials in the Procuratorate, and be careful when choosing a position from the Procuratorate.

  In the following days, Zhao Hu escorted Lin Jingzhong and Gu Tianqiao back to Shiliang County to discuss the sale of Gu's tea goods. Lin bought a shop near Xicheng Cangjin Bridge. The yard behind the shop had three main rooms and four side houses, which could accommodate apprentices and store tea goods.

  Although Lin Xie had made up his mind to build a warehouse at the mouth of Jin River outside the East City and buy ships to form a fleet, making Ji Yun She a large commercial firm that took care of both water and land transportation, these things couldn't be done in one or two days just by having silver.

  From a realistic point of view, even if the negotiations with the tea merchant go smoothly and they can get their hands on over 1,000 catties of old tea to transport to Jiangning before the new tea is released next spring, it would still be better to start by opening a small tea shop first.

  Lin Jingzhong and the others left for four days and returned. Lin Jingzhong, Gu Tianqiao, and Zhao Hu were all dusty and tired. Lin Jingzhong's body was weak from the wind, and his face had thinned out a lot. They rushed back without even having time to drink tea, and then dragged Lin Fu to Xicheng Cangjin Bridge to see the new tea shop they had just bought. He felt that the location and price were quite satisfactory, and jokingly said to Lin Fu: "I thought you wanted to be a careless boss, but it turns out you're much more clever than I expected..."

  "I don't care if you're not doing well, but you must quickly learn to let go...” Lin Fu said. In this era, there is a bad habit that when a master teaches an apprentice, they will always hold back a few tricks of the trade. Very few people are willing to clearly explain all the intricacies of the industry to their apprentices, for fear that the master will be replaced by the apprentice and lose their rice bowl. Moreover, letting the apprentice learn for a few more years allows them to be exploited at a low cost for a longer period. Therefore, the apprenticeship cycle in this industry is extremely long. Just like Lin Jingzhong, even if he followed the normal procedure and worked in Lin's warehouse, it would be unlikely for him to become an ordinary shopkeeper before the age of 30, even as a member of the Lin family. Lin Fu was worried that Lin Jingzhong would also learn this bad habit at Lin's warehouse and suppress Gu Tianqiao and other hired partners from standing out in Jiyun Society.

  Lin Jingzhong smiled silently, and Lin Xuan woke up with some embarrassment. However, thinking about it, Lin Xuan's ambition for the Yunyun Society was quite large, and if he put his mind on a small tea shop, it would only make Lin Xuan look down on him. He said, "I know, I also hope someone can help me..."

  "It's just a tea shop for now, but later on, we'll have warehouses and fleets to manage, and we'll need many capable people," Lin Fu pressed down on Lin Jingzhong's shoulder. "Also, there's the matter of the Jin Chuan River warehouse, I'll need you to help me take care of it."

  "Isn't that going to wear out my legs?" Lin Jingzhong smiled, his heart without any complaints. He had been the accountant at Lin's warehouse for two years and thought himself better than others, but he had no chance to stand out. At this time, hard work was just hard work, and he didn't mind it at all.

  From Jiangning to Dongyang, back and forth over 500 miles, he also had to go to Huyan to discuss the tea sales with the Gu family, and then return to Shanglin to tell the Seventh Lady about it. He completed all this in just four days, sleeping only half a night at home in Shanglin, his face thinner by a circle, all these hardships he was willing to bear, a man of great energy.

  Lin Tie said to Gu Tianqiao with a serious tone: "Tianqiao, I still want you to learn more from Jingzhong. I hope that by next spring, I can hand over the management of this tea shop to you..."

  Gu Tianqiao nodded and said: "Thank you, Dong."

  This time he followed Lin Jingzhong back to Shiliang Lake Dam, and the Yunyun Society agreed to collect tea prices at Lin's warehouse and raise them by 30%. In addition to Gu's family taking away over a thousand catties of old tea at once, they also paid 300 taels of silver as a deposit for the new tea after next spring. This matter was also promoted by the Gu family behind the scenes, and the negotiations with the Lin family did not need to be worried about by the Gu family. The elder of the Gu family agreed without much hesitation, and even sent two people to follow to Jiangning to become apprentices.

  The young masters only provided food and drink, free labor, but the family wanted to get out of the predicament of being limited to Dongyang Prefecture, so they thought it would be best to send as many people as possible to Jiangning to learn skills and broaden their horizons; Lin Xian had anticipated this, and beforehand instructed Lin Jingzhong that if the elder Gu mentioned this matter, he should readily agree.

  Lin Xie didn't want to restrict Gu's household to Dongyang Prefecture, so that Jiyun Society could continue to suck blood from them. First of all, they had to take care of Madame Gu's thoughts, and secondly, even if the price was raised to meet Gu's requirements at this time, it would be difficult to guarantee that Gu's household would not breed new dissatisfaction over time.

  Lin Xie has experienced a thousand years and knows that in order to maintain a long-lasting relationship, there must be a foundation of common interests.

  Apart from bringing two apprentices, Zhao Hu also brought his 12-year-old younger brother Zhao Xiong this time.

  Lin Xie knew what Zhao Hu's parents, especially his mother, Madame Zhao, were thinking. It was not easy for a farming family to support their children in studying, and it took a lot of effort. Moreover, becoming a scholar and achieving success through education was also a matter of luck. For example, Zhao Hu's three brothers had studied at the village school for two years before being called back home to help with farm work and other chores, which was a common choice for farming families.

  The second son, Zhao Bao, is already fifteen years old. He was taken by the seventh wife to run errands in front of her. This time, Zhao let Zhao Hu take his younger son to Jiangning. Compared to being tied up with a few acres of thin land from dawn till dusk, it's better for him to learn a trade in the city and become a shopkeeper or master craftsman, which is a great achievement for the children of a farming family.

  Looking at Zhao Hu leading his younger brother Zhao Xiong to instruct things, Zhao Hu, who had been in Jiangning for only half a month, instructed him with an air of authority, as if he was already an old Jiangning customer. Lin Mou was speechless and couldn't help but laugh, calling Zhao Hu and Zhao Xiong over: "How did your parents name you three brothers? Tiger, leopard, bear, it's like a whole zoo!"

  "What is a zoo?" Zhao Hu asked with confusion upon hearing the new term.

  "Isn't it more suitable to call the Royal Hunting Grounds a zoo?" Lin Xie said, pulling Zhao Xiong, who was still young but had a strong build, only one head shorter than himself, to his side. "I'll give you a new name, 'Zhao Meng'... You're still young, don't learn any skills for now, there's a school in the city, go read books for two more years, I'm not afraid that you little guy will bankrupt me!"

  "Zhao Meng Xiong, what a great name! Wen Wang Meng Xiong, with ambitions far and wide," Lin Jing Zhong walked over with a smile and said, "And there's another piece of good news, Zhao Hu is too embarrassed to say it himself, so I'll tell you."

  "What good news?" Lin Xian asked.

  "Does the daughter of Old Man Guo's family in Lower Lin Village, Hongying, still ring a bell?" said Lin Jingzhong. "Originally, Old Man Guo's family had second thoughts and didn't want to discuss it anymore, but just the other day, they found someone to ask Seventh Lady about it again, wanting to continue discussing this marriage arrangement, waiting for a response from the Zhao family side. Aunt Zhao was angry that Old Man Guo had changed his mind earlier and was dragging her feet. This time, I stayed overnight in Upper Lin Village with Zhao Hu, and Old Man Guo sent someone to directly probe Zhao Hu's intentions. We didn't stay long in Upper Lin Village, and we were busy discussing things with Seventh Lady, then rushing back and forth. I originally wanted Zhao Hu to stay another two days in Upper Lin Village, but he wasn't willing, saying that there was a shortage of hands here... To be honest, what's on Zhao Hu's mind, I'm not entirely clear about either."

  Lin Yuner burst out laughing and said, "Who doesn't hope their daughter can marry into a good family? Although Old Man Guo's thoughts are despicable, they can be understood." He clenched his fist and punched Zhao Hu: "If you still have thoughts for her, you should give a response early on. It would be fine to bring her to Jiangning during the New Year. If you drag it out, aren't you afraid of causing unnecessary trouble and making people think you don't have any intention of marrying your daughter off to someone else?"

  Zhao Hu's face was originally dark, but now it turned purplish red with shame, and he stuttered: "Wait... wait for someone to return to Dongyang, and just send a message back."

  ******************

  P.S: Got up at 5 o'clock and started typing, first supplemented a chapter that was missing yesterday.

  Red envelope, collect it, brothers.