Chapter 3: Down old yamen and old house

He Cangji coughed gently and said, "Sir, please come in."

Zhang Zhong turned around and walked in. When he got closer, he realized why half of the door was closed. The door had fallen and he was supported by a stick there. If it was opened, it would look too obvious and would not look good.

The group walked in and passed through the lobby in front and the yard for doing things behind. Walking backwards is where Zhang Zhong's family will live in the future. After turning a small corner, the home will appear in front of him. Zhang Zhong was stunned.

There were weeds in the yard, and holes were one after another on the dilapidated main house. The paper on the window had long disappeared, only the window frames were left, either opening or closing, and there was a clang, a wild cat came out of the hole in a window, moaned at everyone, twisted its body, and ran away in the blink of an eye.

Walking from this yard to another yard, there are also broken houses that cannot be occupied at all. It has to be said that the place here is larger than the courtyard behind the yamen in Sanshui County. Unfortunately, most of the yards do not even have a house, leaving only a pile of mud from the snow-shaking mud piled up there, with beams and doors and windows placed, and it seems that someone took them back for use or burning fire.

Zhang Zhong clicked his mouth and asked He Cangji: "This... the previous county magistrate actually works in such a broken place. We are really a role model."

"Sir, County Magistrate Wen used to live here, and there was a house outside. Now it's gone. It is said that it was sold to others and all the people in the family have moved away. Why would the adults buy a house outside?"

He Cangji lowered his voice and said to Zhang Zhong.

"No, it's all here. In the past few days, my family first found an inn to stay in. After repair, it will be moved back. If you don't live in the yamen, if there is an emergency, it will be easy to have major problems."

When he came, Zhang Zhong was mentally prepared. The yamen would be broken and he discussed with his son that he could repair it and not live outside. However, he didn't expect it to be broken like this. It's good that his son likes big places and his family is not short of money, so he gave it to his son.

"Sir, there seems to be no money in the account in the yamen to come to the yard to build the yard. If you buy it outside, you can find a few local merchants to raise money." He Cangji had to remind him.

Zhang Zhong smiled and said, "No need to find someone else. I still have some money at home. I live in my own home and I have paid for it. Can He Cangji know how much money there is in the account?"

"The young one is not too clear. It is true that the small one manages the warehouse, but there is no grain or a penny in the warehouse. I heard that there is still about thirty guan coins in the account, and there are hundreds of stones of millet."

He Cangji told the truth, just to tell Zhang Zhong that it is a shortfall now. He has money in the account, but there is no money in the warehouse. You have to find a way to make up for this money yourself.

Zhang Zhong looked at his son at this time, and Zhang Xiaobao shook his head slightly, saying that the deficit in the warehouse cannot be compensated with his own money. There is something wrong with building a house, and the things in the yamen are another matter. It is not that little money or food, but things cannot be done like that.

Zhang Zhong understood and said to He Cangji: "Don't worry at this time, just wait for the rent and taxes this year to come up, and then the yamen will be repaired."

"Sir, there are no taxes this year. Last year, I collected this year's taxes in advance. The matter of County Magistrate Wen has been reported by the head of Bo and the county magistrate. Perhaps County Magistrate Wen has now been sentenced to several crimes, so I don't know if he can save his life." He Cangji mentioned another matter.

Before Zhang Zhong could react, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan understood that when they were greedy, they were all greedy, and now they put all the responsibilities on the surname Wen. The lord and the county magistrate had no responsibility, so naturally they could not spit out the money they were greedy.

"It's so scheming, I like people like this." Zhang Xiaobao's lips moved.

Wang Juan glanced at Zhang Xiaobao and said, "I'd better think about how to make money. Just after the spring plowing, the taxes collected this year should be gone. You can't collect them again, right? I wonder how the people are doing. Is there still a way out for rent for two years a year?"

"Take it slow, take it slow. It's not that the superiors don't know what's going on here. They just want to see what my father will do. Today I can only live outside and let my father have some contact with the county magistrate and the lord first."

Zhang Xiaobao didn't care about this matter at all. He lost this money and collected taxes for one year in advance, but it didn't have much money. Isn't it okay for the officials I met before to lose money for several years?

After seeing Zhang Zhong's house, he was waiting for the county magistrate and lord who didn't know where to go back. After handing over, he would have to do something before, and said to He Cangji:

"Since the yamen is still a little deficit, I think the yamen runners have not been waiting well. I brought these things, so why don't you find the yamen runners and some people from the yamen? Take the things back and deal with them for a few days. What are you doing? Xiaobao, when you came, you said you wrote them down and recite them for your father."

Zhang Zhong really didn't know what his son brought, so he had to let his son say it himself.

"Dad, are you testing the baby? I remember, a bag of white flour, a bag of rice, a bucket of twenty kilograms of vegetarian oil, twenty kilograms of meat, two chickens, and some cucumbers. The bag of rice and noodles is five dou each, and you can give it to me when you get it."

At this time, Zhang Xiaobao had to hold his father up and count the things on the side.

He Cangji and the two yamen runners were delighted when they heard this, especially the two yamen runners. They were usually not greedy for things and could only bully the people. The people's families did not have much money. It would be good to make a few eggs. If they were more cruel, they would catch the chickens and kill them, and a few people would gather together to eat them.

Unexpectedly, the new county magistrate gave so many things. Rice is good rice, noodles are good noodles, and there is also the kind of vegetarian oil. The most shortage of oil at home is oil. If there is oil, it is okay to eat some wild vegetables. Eating without oil can cost grain. With meat, chicken and cucumber, you can make a lot of good dishes.

"Sir, are you saying true? You are waiting, the younger one will go find someone here, and one of the sixty-seven yamen runners will be found, and there are thirteen other people in the yamen."

One of the two yamen runners heard the words Zhang Xiaobao later, and he could give them when they arrived, and immediately ran out. Zhang Zhong looked at it and didn't say anything. The other thirteen people were naturally people like He Cangji.

The county magistrate and the lord would not care about this little thing, and it doesn't matter whether they come or not. They don't know where to go, otherwise they would not have brought the yamen runners with them when they went out to do things. If they brought them, the yamen runners would not have come to them in a lot of ways.

Zhang Xiaobao originally thought that the two people could meet their father first and test each other, and then consider whether to confront or compromise. Unexpectedly, he directly used this method of being unpredictable. What he meant suddenly was to show his meaning, and he would be able to be in opposition in the future.

Waiting for the other yamen runners to come back, they began to unload things from the car. Half of the twenty guards were separated to help, and the other half continued to be alert. Some people from the Zhang family who followed him were also working there, and even He Cangji and the remaining yamen runners did not just watch.

When he went up to work, Zhang Zhong stood there, watching bags of rice and flour being moved down and put them in place, and then to see buckets of vegetarian oil being rolled up there, and he couldn't find the topic.

Zhang Xiaobao had to help at this time and said to He Cangji: "My father said when he came that this is only part of it. In the future, in Sanshui County, our Zhang family can deliver some things needed to the yamen runners, let alone the people under him? You have to do things well after you take things. Whoever doesn't do it well will not give them anything in the future."

Zhang Xiaobao deliberately said the subsequent words that are easy to offend people. Only in this way can people feel that the child is ignorant.

The yamen runner who helped carry things no matter how ugly this was, nodded and promised, "I, Qi Dafei, will do my best in the future. So many things are enough to eat for two months. I will sell the cucumbers when I turn around, haha!"

He Cangji was also not angry, stopped his movements, stood there for a while, and finally bowed his head to Zhang Zhong and said:

"Sir, to be honest, it was not anyone who ordered me to pick me up today. I went there myself. I did not do well here at all. I heard that the adults have the ability, so I took the risk. The same is true for them. They both usually conquer and exclude them. If they can fight, they will fight."

After hearing this, Zhang Zhong didn't know whether to believe it or not. The main reason was that his son had used a means and probably arranged someone to win over Jia Shan. What if they were the same, he had to say:

"It's okay, it's not easy for everyone. Just work together more in the future. If you want some benefits, no matter what, you have to let the people in the county live a good life. This is the case in Sanshui County. Write a few notices tomorrow so that the people in our county know what I, the new county magistrate, think."

"Sir, what are you thinking?" The yamen runner threw the chicken down and found out curiously.

"What I think is that my Zhang family in Sanshui County can be promoted to Shangxian County, and Huayuan County can also be promoted to Shangxian County. There is a wharf in Sanshui County. Isn't there a wharf in Huayuan County to be built?" Zhang Zhong repeated what his son said, looking very confident.

He Cangji and the yamen runner didn't expect that Zhang Zhong had such a plan, and his eyes lit up at the same time. Zhang Zhong took advantage of this topic and continued:

"As long as you do things well, it won't take long to go, Huayuan County will change. At that time, the salary you should increase will be increased, and those who should be raised will also be mentioned. I could have been a sixth-rank official in the capital, but I felt that I should go down to do something in Huayuan County. When things are almost done, I will go to the capital. The benefits here will be left for the next one and ignore everything else."

Zhang Zhong's words excited He Cangji, looked at the yamen runners, and said, "We must follow the adults to arrange the matters in the county."
Chapter completed!