Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 536 Choosing a Residence

As soon as they entered the city gate, Pei Zhongsheng, the son of the housekeeper Pei, came to greet them. After greeting each other, he conveyed the words that Pei Jingyang had conveyed to Rong Jin Hualei.

He told them that no matter what time it was, they should go to the county government office to do their business first, and then go to the marquis's house in Mobei to pay their respects after they were done.

Rong Jin nodded, and went into the official registration office of the county government with Hua Lei and Jiang Yunqi. He showed his official seal and transfer letter to the county magistrate at the desk for inspection.

The chief clerks on one side will record it and draw one of the transfer letters, ask the person to sign his or her name in the sign-in book, and they will sign the date of arrival on the back and stamp it with the official seal of the county government, and the registration is completed.

Then he handed each of the three people a wooden sign, which was for people to choose their accommodation. Hualei looked at the sign-in book, and then looked at the wooden signs in the hands of the three of them. Her guess was confirmed that the officials chose accommodation according to the order of first arrival.

After completing the registration procedures, a yamen runner came up to lead Hua Lei and others to choose a place to stay.

Every prefecture and county town in the Great Sheng Dynasty had a similar layout, with the county government as the center and four main streets running horizontally and vertically.

They were also simply and crudely called the East, South, West, and North Streets. Then on each main street, there were vertical and horizontal branches.

What the court said before was that it would arrange accommodation for officials. This means that they would subsidize officials with corresponding amounts of silver based on the size of their official positions, and the subsidies would be paid together with their monthly salaries.

Then, officials choose the accommodation they want in the Mobei town in the order of arrival. Of course, the location of the accommodation is definitely good or bad.

If you choose a place with a good location, you need to pay the price difference. If you choose a place with a bad location, you don't need to pay the price difference.

The price difference also varies according to the location of the house. If you choose a place designated by the government but do not want to live there, you can rent it to someone else or buy or rent a better one.

So overall, it is still very reasonable and humane. On the one hand, it depends on your own strength, and on the other hand, it depends on your own luck.

The residences arranged by the Mobei County Government for officials were located around the county government. At this time, Hua Lei was holding a map of the county government residence layout.

After a careful look, the best location is on East Street, which is full of houses with one or two entrances. The second best location is on West Street, and the worst is the slum on North Street.

Hualei and his friends were very lucky, and they came at a good time. The houses on East Street had already been occupied by the first batch of officials from the Imperial Observatory and the Ministry of Works, so there were no vacancies.

However, because the officials of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory had completed their main work of observing Feng Shui and terrain, some of them had packed their bags and returned to Shangjing City in the morning. Only five or six were left to continue to stay in Mobei to observe the celestial phenomena and guide the farmers in arranging agricultural matters.

Therefore, seven or eight houses were vacant on East Street, and Hua Lei, Rong Jin and Jiang Yunqi could choose one to live together, or they could each choose three courtyards to live separately.

As long as you are willing to pay the difference, it is okay for one person to live in one apartment. After all, officials will definitely have servants with them.

Of course, after you pay the difference, you can rent it out to other officials or use it to curry favor with your boss.

Originally, Rong Jin and Hua Lei only needed to choose one set, but thinking of Pei Rongyu and his wife who had not arrived yet, Rong Jin and Hua Lei decided to choose two sets first. In case Pei Rongyu and his wife couldn't find a good location, they could live there then.

Pei Zhongsheng, who had been following Rong Jin and Hua Lei since the city gate, took out several house deeds from his chest and handed them to Hua Lei.

Hualei was delighted when she saw this. It turned out that Pei, the young butler, had already bought three small houses with two entrances connected to each other on a street behind the government-designated residence. There was only a ten-foot-wide blue brick road between the two rows of houses.

If Hua Lei and her friends choose a place to live designated by the government, then the house opposite the back door will be the house they bought. This is extremely convenient.

So, according to the location of the house they bought, Hualei, Zhenzhu and others chose corresponding three connected houses with two entrances. However, the two houses in front and back were offset by one and a half positions. However, this was not a problem.

After returning to the county government office to handle relevant matters and paying the full difference, Hua Lei received three sets of keys. She then instructed several guards to put all the things in the carriage into the house she had chosen.

The house has the most basic facilities. There is a kang in the bedroom and a small kitchen next to it, but there are no pots and pans. There is also a well in the yard. There is also a toilet in the corner of the small yard.

But there are very few furniture items, only a half-new table in the main room and a few benches. It doesn't matter, I can buy some more when the time comes.

The decision on where to live was made smoothly. After finishing all the things, it was already past noon. When I was looking for a place to have lunch, Li Madam, who was beside Madam Han, came over.

There were several carriages following behind. It turned out that Madam Han had already received the news that Rong Jin Zhenzhu had arrived in Mobei. She also knew that they came directly to the county government office and had no time to eat, so she prepared lunch and sent it over.

This was the best. Hualei, Rongjin, and Zhenzhu didn't hesitate to eat lunch in the house. The maids and servants began to tidy up the house quickly.

There were three connected official residences. Hua Lei chose to live in the westernmost one, so that it was diagonally opposite the easternmost house that her family bought later.

Pearl chose to live in the middle house next to the flower buds, and the house on the east side was left vacant for the time being.

Seeing the maids tidying up their official residence, Zhenzhu also returned to her and Jiang Yunqi's official residence and began to pack her luggage. Hualei couldn't wait to take Pei Zhongsheng to the house she bought.

After walking around the house she bought, Hualei was very satisfied. This location was too good. The yard has two entrances, but in Mobei, where practicality is important, the houses are still slightly different from those in Shangjing City.

The original location of the central hanging flower gate was also built with houses like the main house. Including the back house in front and the main house in the back, there are actually three rows of houses. Including the side rooms on the east and west sides, there are still six rooms, which is actually quite spacious.

Moreover, the rooms at the back can be converted into shops, although the shops are all facing north, which is a bit regrettable. However, the street behind is East Street, the most prosperous street in Mobei Town.

Pei Zhongsheng led Hualei around while explaining. Ever since Pei Jingyang received the letter from Lord Pei saying that Rong Jin and Hualei were coming to Mobei, he began to help Rong Jin and Hualei look for a house.