Chapter 1061 Local Gentry
A few days later, Sun Shan received an invitation from local gentry represented by the Wang family.
Invite Sun Shan to the No. 1 Teahouse in Yuanlu County for dinner and to exchange some ideas.
Perhaps because of the Wang family's visit, the so-called second and third families in Yuanlu County took the initiative to invite Sun Shan to dinner to understand his temperament and work style.
So that I can get along well with the county magistrate in Yuanlu County in the future and work together for the development of Yuanlu.
In fact, the local gentry should have invited Sun Shan earlier, but they could not figure out the temperament of the new magistrate.
Especially since the new magistrate started suppressing bandits and donating books to the county school as soon as he arrived, which was completely different from the previous magistrates, so the local forces had no choice but to wait and see.
When the Wang family came to visit under the pretext of "saving their lives", the local gentry finally found the way.
Everyone rushed to Wang's house to inquire about the news, and agreed to gather together to invite the magistrate to dinner to get to know him better.
Sun Shan glanced at the invitation in his hand. There were fifteen names on it. They should be the most powerful people in Yuanlu County, covering all walks of life.
Sun Shan had long understood that the Wang family was the most powerful family in the entire Yuanlu County, and the remaining second and fifteenth families combined were not as powerful as the Wang family.
Gui Ge'er didn't understand so he asked, "Brother Shan, are you going to eat?"
Sun Shan had refused the Wang family’s dinner invitation before, and Gui Ge’er didn’t know whether he would refuse this time.
Sun Shan smiled and said, "Yes, of course. I have been eating at the government office every day these days, so it would be good to go out and have a better meal."
Of course I'm just kidding.
The real reason was that Sun Shan wanted to meet the local gentry of Yuanlu. It would be better if they could get to know each other so that they wouldn't run into each other on the street and not know who was who.
Sun Shan believed that he would be able to use these gentry in the future.
For example, if a natural disaster occurs in Yuanlu County, donations of money and materials will all depend on the support of this group of wealthy people.
You can't rely on the government office.
Gui Ge'er didn't believe Sun Shan's reason either, and asked curiously, "Brother Shan, if you eat with them, will the people misunderstand that you are colluding with officials and businessmen and exploiting the people?"
Some county masters took the path of collusion with the crowd, while others took the path of being upright and noble.
A few days ago, Sun Shan rejected the Wang family. Gui Ge'er thought that Sun Shan was an independent person and would not have too many relationships with the local gentry.
Master Zhang shook his head and said, "Master, it would be good to have a meal with them and understand their speaking and doing styles so as to carry out official duties in the future. As the saying goes, knowing yourself and knowing the enemy ensures victory in every battle."
In fact, in addition to Sun Shan attending the banquet in person, it would be better to take the "madam route" and let the ladies get to know each other's wives. By getting a glimpse of the whole situation, they can probably understand the temperament and working style of these native gentry.
It was a pity that his wife did not come to Yuanlu with him, so he had to personally invite Sun Shan to every banquet.
Sun Shan agreed and said, "Master, you are right. Knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle. I have just arrived and need to meet these people, and let them meet me, so that they can know my style of doing things."
So two days later, Sun Shan took the lame Master Zhang to the banquet.
The host this time is Master Wang, the honorary head of the Wang family.
As for Old Master Wang, he has long retired behind the scenes due to his old age.
As soon as Sun Shan and Zhang Shiye walked in, fifteen local gentry immediately stood up.
Mr. Wang was the first to greet him: "Master Sun, you are here? Please take a seat."
Sun Shan was wearing casual clothes today, lacking the dignity of his usual official uniform.
He smiled and nodded: "Master Wang, nice to meet you."
He looked at the others and said with a smile, "Master Wang, I know you best here, could you please introduce me to them?"
After Sun Shan said this, the tense atmosphere relaxed a little.
Mr. Wang nodded quickly and said, "Master Sun, come here, let me introduce you. These are all merchants in Yuanlu, and there are many scholars in their families. The scholars in their families are very grateful to Master Sun for donating books to the county school."
There weren't any "farming and reading families" in Yuanlu, so most scholars' families did some business to a greater or lesser extent.
If I don't do business, it would be difficult to support my children's education.
Sun Shan waved his hands and said with a smile: "Donating books is a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. I am very pleased that someone in your family is educated. I like scholars the most, and I hope that all the sons and daughters of Yuanlu can go to school."
Master Wang and the other masters quickly agreed: "Master Sun is right."
In fact, Sun Shan didn't need to say it, the people of Yuanlu had already known that the new magistrate liked scholars.
If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t have gone to the county school in the first stop.
At the same time, he donated examination papers to the county school, which showed that Magistrate Sun was very eager for the students to achieve good results.
The new magistrate, Sun, was a double-listed Jinshi graduate, and a proper official through the imperial examinations, which made him much more formal than those magistrates who came from unconventional backgrounds.
Alas, Yuanlu County finally welcomed a county magistrate who was a "professionally trained" person. The people of the entire Yuanlu County were extremely excited, especially the scholars.
Previously, those officials who were either juren or relied on connections to gain protection had no idea how to develop Yuanlu County.
The people of Yuanlu County lived a happy life for ten years, just getting by day by day.
The new county magistrate gave the people a different feeling as soon as he arrived. Everyone hoped that the new person would bring a new look and a new atmosphere.
After Master Wang introduced each of the masters present to Sun Shan one by one, both parties took their seats.
Mr. Wang smiled and said, "Sir Sun, I heard that you are from Guangnan. It must be a long way to come here from Guangnan. You must have worked hard."
This was just making small talk, as everyone present knew Sun Shan's background.
Sun Shan nodded, showing his big smile. "It's not far. We can get there by walking. I studied in Changsha before, and I've been to Huguang before. I'm quite familiar with this place, and I've walked this road several times. It's not difficult to walk."
After a pause, he smiled and said, "If you have the chance, you can also visit Guangnan, have some fun, and do some business."
When these words were spoken, everyone laughed.
One of the old men, A, said with a smile, "If I have a chance, I must go and see it. Haha, I heard that there are a lot of foreign goods and novel things in Guangzhou. Oh, I can't wait to take a look at them."
Master B joked: "When you go to Guangzhou, you should not only look at foreign goods, but also eat delicious food. I heard that Guangzhou is the best place to eat. There are so many things to eat there."
Then he looked at Sun Shan flatteringly and asked, "Sir, am I right?"
Sun Shan smiled politely and said, "You are right. We do have a lot of delicious food and drinks in Guangzhou. Whenever I have the chance to go somewhere, I must eat and drink well."
Talking about the weather, food, and each other’s hometowns is the best way to start a conversation.
Sun Shan and the fifteen native gentry had a good opening speech and everyone chatted lively.
As we chatted, we talked about studying.
Sun Shan took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "I heard that many of your children are studying. This is a good thing. Even if you can't pass the imperial examination, it is better than not studying. If you don't read and learn to read, and don't learn to speak Mandarin, it will be difficult to do business.
The masters are indeed wise people with a long-term vision. They let their children study at an early age. If one of them passes the imperial examination, it will bring honor to the family.
Haha, gentlemen, I have no other requests, I just hope that you can let your children go to school, so that there will be more scholars in Yuanlu County and it will become a scholarly Yuanlu!"