Yuan Yao, after meeting with Gu Bohai, boarded his carriage and departed towards the north gate of Ruyang.
The Road to the north gate from the west gate took Yuan Yao through some of the most affluent families residing in Ruyang. Some of these families were merchants, some officials, and even some noble families had mansions in Ruyang.
In one of these streets, a young man in scholar's robes seemingly stood aside the road waiting for someone. Yuan Yao, who was curiously watching the surroundings, noticed this scholar and asked Sima Lang a question.
"Boda, Who is this man? Do you, perhaps, know him?"
Sima Lang looked at the man, "That man is a scholar called Luyan Cheng. He is from the Luyan family of Ruyang. People say with him even a mountain of paperwork feels like drinking warm tea in a cool afternoon breeze."
Yuan Yao opened the slit window to talk to the coachman. "Mr. Chefu, would you stop the carriage in front of that scholar?"
The carriage came to a stop in front of the scholar. Yuan Yao opened the door of the carriage and spoke to the scholar.
"May I ask, whom are you waiting for?"
The scholar bowed to Yuan Yao, "I'm called Cheng styled Mozhi, from Luyan of Ruyang. I came to know that son of Yuan Gonglu is visiting merchants." He paused for a second. "If you are visiting merchants you should at least be visiting Gu, and Shang merchants, or so I guessed. That's why I have been waiting by the side of the road."
"Then you won't mind if we continue this conversation on the carriage, don't you?" Yuan Yao extended his invitation for Luyan Cheng to come aboard.
"Not at all." Luyan Cheng boarded the carriage and sat opposite to him.
---------------------------------------------------
The carriage restarted once Luyan Cheng sat inside.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Yuan Yao questioned Cheng.
"I have heard that your father, Lord Gonglu, plans to confer the title of Qianhuhou. If it is true then you would need to appoint Jiacheng, and Shuzi at the minimum. If your title is issued through court or legitimised post-facto through court then you wouldn't need to appoint a Xiang. So, at the moment I'm here to apply for the Jiacheng, and Shuzi positions."
A qianhuhou was a lord of a thousand households. These households would be directly under the qianhuhou and paid taxes directly to him. The Imperial administration then sent an official called Xiang to this Lord's household to manage it. This official would have the same rank as the county magistrate and would not be under the qianhuhou he was sent to serve.
So instead of the qianhuhou collecting taxes, the Xiang would collect it; send the required taxes to the government and give the qianhuhou's cut to qianhuhou.
This system, at least in the arguments put forth by the government, limited the abilities of the qianhuhou to form independent military power and thus reducing the possibility of the rebellion.
With the current situation, Yuan Yao most probably couldn't get the title from the emperor. Rather it would come from his father. In that case Yuan Yao would have some leeway in naming a Xiang himself. With his current relationship with Sima Lang, anyone could guess that would be him.
Jiacheng, and Shuzi were always appointed by the Qianhuhou personally. These were responsible for the personal affairs of the Qianhuhou. While Jiacheng was the chief, Shuzi was his deputy.
A Qianhuhou earned at least 200,000 coins each year. Considering all these, seeking employment under him is not at all unreasonable.
Yuan Yao thought about it deeply, "We are going to Shang Fa next. Show us what you've got."