He was betrayed at the beginning, from a cake seller to a wealthy person

Chongming County was originally the most fertile county in Youzhou, because the towns under its jurisdiction had high grain output and there was also a coal mine in the county. And because it was close to Liaozhou, the prince would buy grain from Chongming County every year, and the garrison and people in Liaozhou would come to buy things from time to time, gradually forming a small mutual market.

However, due to a snowstorm the winter before last, all ten houses in the entire county were empty, and everyone fled.

Some families in the village dug cellars in their homes, and those who were reluctant to leave their homeland escaped in the cellars. But people in the county had no land to farm, and their houses were collapsed by heavy snowfall. Countless people froze to death. They couldn't wait for the court's rescue, so they packed up their belongings and ran away. The entire county has almost become an empty city.

The snowstorm gradually subsided the following year, and the county gradually returned to its former peace. The county magistrate thought of many policies to resettle the remaining people and recruit new people. After a year of hard work, some of the town's population is willing to move to the county, and the county's population has partially recovered. However, due to Youzhou's geographical location, there are still too few people moving there.

When Lu Yan and others arrived, Hu Zhiguang, the magistrate of Chongming County, was squatting on top of the city wall. Both Lu Sheng and Lu Yan believed that in order to understand the policies and development plans of a place, they had to be accompanied by a local governor, so a few people came over. Lu Sheng had someone bring news to Magistrate Hu. Magistrate Hu knew how many people Come, jog down from the tower to greet him.

Speaking of which, Magistrate Hu and Lu Sheng met for the first time. When the snow disaster last year was discovered, the Holy Emperor directly removed the original magistrate of Youzhou and several magistrates of the disaster-stricken counties, and removed Hu Zhi, who was training in the Hanlin Academy. Guang An came in and missed Lu Sheng. He was already in Youzhou when Lu Sheng entered the Hanlin Academy.

Hu Zhiguang, whose courtesy name is Hongyi, looks quite young, in his twenties or thirties. His face is fair and tender, but he always frowns and has white hair on his temples. Hu Zhiguang came down with his hands folded and said without any courtesy: "What are you doing for these two distinguished guests to come to my poor and remote place?"

The north was bleak, and the weather got colder as we went north. When we arrived at Youzhou, Lu Sheng and Lu Yan were both wearing rabbit fur cloaks. Hu Zhiguang was also wearing a torn cotton robe, which made Lu Yan put on his hands.

Lu Sheng cupped his hands: "Brother Hongyi, to be honest, we came here to find you because we are very curious about Chongming County and want you to introduce it."

Hu Zhiguang smiled bitterly: "Let's go, take a walk and you will know."

Hu Zhiguang led two people for a walk around the city. The entire county was now very empty. The streets in the center of the city were supposed to be lined with various shops. Now half of the houses had their roofs collapsed by the weight of snow and were demolished and left empty. , the owners of half of the houses ran away, leaving them empty. Only a few shops were still open, including the food shop and the shop selling oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.

Hu Zhiguang pointed to the empty houses: "As you can see, there is really nothing I can do."

Lu Yan looked at the empty rooms and felt itchy in her heart. She has high hopes for the future of Chongming County. Her business routes are bound to be connected. Chongming County is an important hub between Youzhou and Liaozhou and has very important strategic significance. It's impossible to just let it go to waste.

Lu Yan finally spoke: "To rebuild Chongming County, are you short of people or money?"

Hu Zhiguang said without hesitation: "They are all missing."

Lu Yan touched her chin and changed the subject: "These houses are now ownerless land, that is, government land? If you want to open a shop here, do you have to rent it from the government?"

Hu Zhiguang nodded: "What, you want to open a shop here?"

Lu Yan also nodded: "Think about it, you only have an empty house, how can you rent it?"

Hu Zhiguang's expression became serious and he opened his palms: "You also know that I am running a deficit right now. If you really want to rent, I won't give you much discount, at least fifteen taels a year."

Lu Yan's eyes almost popped out of her head. Hu Zhiguang was frustrated for a long time and managed to get out fifteen taels. Her shop in Yaoshan County made forty taels a year, which was five taels less than cutting it in half.

Lu Yan held Hu Zhiguang's hand and said, "I am willing to contribute to the revitalization of Chongming County. I will rent ten rooms for ten years."

One room costs fifteen taels a year, ten rooms ten years is one thousand five hundred taels. One thousand five hundred taels sounds like a lot, but in fact, Hot Spring Village and Bu Si Shu's monthly turnover is over a thousand taels, and Lu Yan can save it in two months.

Hu Zhiguang had never seen so much money in the two years since he came to this remote rural area. He was immediately stunned by Lu Yan's lavish spending and could not react with his eyes wide open.

Lu Yan smiled so hard that she couldn't close her mouth and dragged Hu Zhiguang to go to the Yamen to sign the contract. Hu Zhiguang's eyes changed when he looked at Lu Yan, from depressed and indifferent to enthusiastic immediately.

After signing the contract, Hu Zhiguang couldn't help but ask: "Allow me to ask, what are your plans for renting these ten shops? What are you planning to open?"

Lu Yan planned to keep two of them for herself and sublet the other eight when Chongming County developed and become an excellent second-tier dealer. However, she couldn't just say this, so Lu Yan had to keep it secret to deal with it.

Lu Yan wants ten shops next to each other. Some places are empty and need to be built from scratch. The places where houses originally existed also need to be repaired. Lu Yan took out another sum of money and asked Hu Zhiguang to help her hire laborers to build a house.

Hu Zhiguang is so happy that it has not only boosted consumption but also solved the employment problem. It couldn't be better.

When Lu Sheng and Lu Yan left Chongming County, Hu Zhiguang was still standing on the top of the city wall waving desperately in the direction in which the two of them were leaving.

Lu Sheng couldn't help but sigh: "I haven't arrived in Liaozhou yet. I'll spend one thousand five hundred taels first."

Lu Yan corrected: "This is investment. The money you spend will come back again."

Lu Sheng didn't understand that. He only knew that Lu Yan had never lost money in business, so he believed in Lu Yan.

After bidding farewell to Chongming County, we will enter Liaozhou as we head north. Lu Yan finally didn't dare to run around on her own anymore. When the prince's team arrived, she followed them silently and entered Liaozhou together.