Chapter 283 Giving Gifts
On the afternoon of the 29th day of the winter month, Qu Shaoyang and his party arrived at the county town.

After arriving at the place, they first settled down in the inn, and then Qu Shaoyang took his things and went straight to Cao Zhubu’s house.

Cao Zhubu played a big role in Qu Shaoyang’s becoming an inspector.

If Cao Zhubu hadn’t said a lot of good things about Qu Shaoyang in front of the county magistrate, how would the county magistrate know what Qu Shaoyang did?
When drinking water, one should remember the person who dug the well. Since Qu Shaoyang came to the county town to deliver New Year’s goods, he must go to the Cao family first.

It was almost dusk and Cao Zhubu had just returned home from the yamen and had just sat down.

When Cao Zhubu heard the servant report that Inspector Qu had arrived, he went out to greet him immediately.

Outside the Cao residence, Qu Shaoyang was waiting with two servants and a lot of things.

“Oh, Lord Qu, long time no see. How are you these days?” When Cao Zhubu saw Qu Shaoyang, he walked up to him with a smile and greeted him.

Qu Shaoyang bowed to Cao Zhubu and said, “Sir Cao, it’s been a while since we last met.

I have been very busy this autumn and have no time to go into the city to visit Lord Cao.

Isn’t it almost the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year is coming soon? I’ve prepared some small gifts, all of which are local products from the countryside, please don’t mind, Lord Cao.”

“Oh, look, Master Qu is so polite that he came all the way here to send me a New Year gift.

Come on, everyone, move your things in quickly.

Sir Qu, please come in. Have you had dinner yet? It just so happens that we are having dinner at home, so let’s have a drink together.”

Cao Zhubu grabbed Qu Shaoyang’s sleeve very kindly and let him into the mansion.

The two of them came to the front hall and sat down. The servants in the house quickly brought them hot tea and snacks.

Qu Shaoyang and Cao Zhubu were chatting while drinking tea.

During the chat, Qu Shaoyang revealed that he went to the city this time just to give some New Year gifts to several officials in the government office.

However, he was not very familiar with those people, so it might not be appropriate to give them gifts rashly.

Cao Zhubu understood immediately and said with a smile, “This is easy. Tomorrow morning, I will go to the county office to meet the magistrate and bring you a message.

As for County Magistrate Lin, you don’t need to go there. He is now in the Liushuhezi division, not in the county town.

It’s easy to talk to Liu Dianshi, I’ll say hello to him later.”

The county magistrate and the chief clerk are assistant officials, while the registrar and the inspector are subordinate officials of the county government. The two are not the same.

Among them, the county magistrate is an eighth-rank official, slightly lower than the county magistrate, assisting the county magistrate in handling various administrative affairs.

In fact, since the Qing Dynasty implemented the “sole appointment system” of the official with a seal, the position of the county magistrate was very embarrassing.

He was often marginalized by the county magistrate and was unable to play the role of assisting him.

The county magistrate has no real power, and some of them are even less important than the unranked staff members around the county magistrate.

Because Tonghua has a vast territory and is located in the frontier, the situation is complex and it is difficult to manage.

At the beginning of spring, the Yalu River Inspection Station and the Badao River Inspection Station were set up to manage local affairs, which were quite effective.

So in the autumn, County Magistrate Chen proposed to the governor to set up a branch defense in Liushuhezi and temporarily let County Magistrate Lin take charge of the affairs around Liushuhezi.

In this way, County Magistrate Lin was sent to Liushuhezi and was therefore not in the county.

When Qu Shaoyang heard this, he secretly felt lucky that he had come to see Cao Zhubu first.

Otherwise, not only might you fail to deliver the gift, but you might even offend someone.

“Thank you very much for your guidance, Lord Cao. I am very grateful.” Qu Shaoyang hurriedly thanked Cao Zhubu.

“Why call me Sir? You and I are of the same rank and not much different in age.

So, from now on, we are brothers. I am older than you, so I am your elder brother.”

Qu Shaoyang is a good person, and Cao Zhubu has gained a lot of benefits, so he must be on good terms with Qu Shaoyang.

The two of them were actually more than ten years apart in age. Cao Zhubu took the initiative to acknowledge Qu Shaoyang as his younger brother, which was to bring them closer. “Then I won’t be polite to you, brother. I will have to trouble you in the future.”

Cao Zhubu took the initiative to show his goodwill, and Qu Shaoyang took the opportunity. The two smiled at each other, and their relationship became closer and closer.

The two chatted for a while, and dinner was ready.

Cao Zhubu had a table prepared for the feast and some good wine, and the two of them drank and talked until quite late, when Qu Shaoyang said goodbye and left.

As soon as Qu Shaoyang left, Cao Zhubu immediately called the servants over and asked what Qu Shaoyang had sent.

The servant hurriedly brought the gift list, and after reading it, Cao Zhubu was very satisfied.

“Wife, this is a New Year gift from Lord Qu, the inspector of the Yalu River garrison.

Please keep the gift list and help me buy a return gift later. Don’t make it too shabby.

Although Mr. Qu is not very old, he is very experienced and capable in his work.

I think this person is not simple, he may be very successful in the future, we should not offend him if we can make friends with him. “

Cao Zhubu took the gift list to the back house, gave it to his wife for safekeeping, and gave her instructions.

The next morning, Cao Zhubu went to the yamen, found County Magistrate Chen, and told him about Qu Shaoyang’s visit to the county.

“Sir, Inspector Qu said that the New Year is coming soon. You are in charge of all the affairs of the county, and your official duties are very busy. I am afraid you don’t have time to buy New Year’s goods.

So I specially prepared some local specialties and wanted to send them to you, adults.

Sir, what do you think is the appropriate arrangement?”

The magistrate is different from the registrar and the chief clerk.

Most of the Dianshi and Zhubu were local gentry, and they had their own houses and mansions in the city.

The magistrate had to be at least a juren, and most of them did not serve in their hometown.

After the term of office is over, if the performance is good, he will be promoted to another position.

Therefore, most county magistrates lived in the back hall of the county government office and very few had their own residences.

If Qu Shaoyang wanted to give a New Year gift to County Magistrate Chen, he couldn’t just give it directly and openly like he did when he went to Cao Zhubu.

Although everyone knows these things, they cannot be made public as it will have a bad impact.

This is what Cao Zhubu asked County Magistrate Chen about. When and how to send the New Year gifts, he had to get County Magistrate Chen’s approval.

“Xiao Qu is a really thoughtful kid.

Where is he now? Living in the inn?
That’s it, Master Cao, please go and ask Xiaoqu to come over. I just have something to talk to him about.

As for the New Year gifts, well, they are nothing special, just send them directly to the back hall and let the lady keep them.”

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Chen laughed and said immediately.

After hearing the magistrate’s words, Cao Zhubu immediately went to the inn to find Qu Shaoyang.

Under the guidance of Cao Zhubu, Qu Shaoyang came to the county government office with the New Year gifts that had been prepared in advance.

Qu Shaoyang held several gift boxes and went directly to see County Magistrate Chen, while Cao Zhubu took his assistants and sent the rest of the New Year gifts to the back court through the hands of the legal advisor.

In the side hall of the county government office, Qu Shaoyang met County Magistrate Chen. After the greetings, Qu Shaoyang presented the gift box in his hand to County Magistrate Chen.

In addition to several valuable items such as ginseng, snow frog, ganoderma lucidum, sable fur, etc., the gift box also contained silver bills.

These are specially given to County Magistrate Chen. As for the other things, they are prepared for the County Magistrate’s family.

These are two different things and should not be confused.

(End of this chapter)