Go straight north from the capital city of Shangqi, pass the northern road pass, and then go further east. Passing through some of the most impoverished areas, you can get a glimpse of Sutai County. As the old saying goes, it is a land of poor mountains and harsh waters, with many stubborn people. It took many years for officials to finally climb to the first-class official rank of county magistrate. If they were ordered to be transferred here, it would usually only take a few months. They would say that they were ill and demoted themselves to one level. It would also take a lot of effort to transfer away from here. . Not to mention that the county is a mixed bag of people, carrying swords, guns and sticks all day long, and there are so many idle vagrants. Even the people who are doing business in the county, the methods they use will give these county officials a headache.
I am afraid that I will not use swords and guns, but I am afraid that the methods used are really unbelievable. Officials who are often based in wealthy areas have never seen such rough people who do whatever they want and only care about harvests. The first two county magistrates failed because of their failure. The three or five wealthy and powerful merchants in the county were tricked several times by these merchants. Taking advantage of the time when the government office was unattended, they sent people to paint many stinking objects, such as half-rotten human hair, on their faces. Or because of the soil and fertilizer used to irrigate the fields, no one in the entire government office dared to approach for six or seven consecutive days. The government officials and officials were all almost breathless from the smoke, and no one dared to come forward.
The most infuriating thing is that these merchants in the county have been accumulating power for a long time. How can ordinary people be willing to confess this matter? Even though everyone can guess who is responsible for such a conspiracy, However, they just couldn't control it. If they were pressed hard, the people who were always willing to wield swords and guns would not only not let go, but would point their noses at the county magistrate's chief clerk and curse him with some rude words. Words are difficult to punish, and difficult to judge. It is really hard to be soft and hard, and it is just a seventh-grade official. It is really worthless to be so angry in such a poor and remote place.
Therefore, in Sutai County, it has always been rare for a few county magistrates to be able to sit firmly for a period of time, and they were rotated frequently, which meant that every county magistrate in that year made all the officials frown.
It was just the beginning of spring last year, and Sutai County was replaced by another county magistrate. When the season was changed, the old magistrate with a strong Qinnan accent almost burst into tears when he saw the change document. It was much more difficult during the family banquet. After drinking a few drinks, he repeatedly said it was a pity to the new young county magistrate, saying that Junyan at his age might really fall into the hands of these unscrupulous people, let alone his success in the future, even if he has ambitions to become an official, I was afraid that it would all be worn out. I repeatedly persuaded the young man that he might as well serve as the county magistrate here for a few months and a half, and then he wrote a letter to his superiors, saying that his body and bones could not bear the torment, and he wanted to live in a quieter place.
Before leaving, the old county magistrate left his Taishi chair in the mansion, and sighed to the young man again, saying that he was obviously a young and promising young man, why did he come here to test the depths, even if he was going to do it? The smoothness of this stubborn stone can be regarded as an excellent achievement. However, no matter how much knowledge there is in the people who come here, they are unable to achieve anything, which makes it difficult for those powerful merchants to settle down. In the end, it was just a basin of cold water poured over my head. It was too ill-considered.
But no one could have imagined that this young man from the capital would actually settle down in Sutai County. To this day, he has stayed there for a full year and is still sitting firmly in his place. Those wealthy businessmen often made troubles and provocations, but except for the initial display of power, they had been quiet for more than half a year. Even the people in the county reluctantly recognized the young county magistrate, and few people made trouble. .
Only the chief clerk who came with the young man knew the twists and turns. Although he always felt that it was quite inappropriate, he still had to admit that this young scholar magistrate was very good at governing the country. People, advance and retreat in a measured manner, and have extraordinary thoughts. Since the county magistrate settled in Sutai County, all the merchants in the county, without exception, have often come to the back of the government office for banquets and drinks. God knows how many young people with great backgrounds there are. He forced several people to take turns toasting, not rejecting anyone who came, and pushed the businessmen with evil faces under the table, and then ordered the government officials to escort them back to the house, but he was not drunk at all. Meaning, sitting alone in the Yamen, playing a chess game without inviting anyone, but talking to the shadow player.
The chief clerk was also familiar with chess, and he often went to watch a few chess games intentionally or unintentionally. Afterwards, he felt uneasy because the young magistrate's moves had clearly never been seen in chess records, but It is a murderous intention at every step. One person is holding two sides, only attacking but not defending. The two black and white dragons are entangled and twisted. Bubu is frightened. He picks up a game at random. Even if you are a chess expert, you may not be able to play such a murderous game. A brilliant chess game.
And the killing intent has never stopped. No matter on the chessboard or in Sutai County, the young people's methods can be said to be brilliant.
Since taking office, Xunzhi County has always been open and honest about tasks such as building bridges and paving roads, repairing government offices, or dredging rivers. He has never concealed anything and handed over all tasks to these merchants. Although there are inevitably some bad rules, this time Such actions really made the government office too clean, and there was never any trouble coming to the door. In the past two or three months, when the government officers came to the government office every time, they were shocked when they saw the streets in front of the door and the exterior walls of the government office were clean and tidy. He even wondered if he was still drunk after drinking too much last night.
In the first move of chess, Xun Zhixian made a smooth and stable move, which was already much better than his predecessors.
But since it is such a stable official recruitment, it is natural that someone has used it before. Among these four merchants, they are all in the same spirit, but there is always one who takes few jobs. At first, he did not worry about it, but as time goes by, There are always a lot of grievances, but he didn't take it seriously with the other companies, but he had a grudge in his heart against the young magistrate. If it goes on like this, one person may be angry and make some slanderous remarks with the other companies, and maybe there will be another one. The fever will get stronger and stronger.
It was like this today. Dong Qiang had been angry at home for a long time. Finally, she couldn't bear the anger and kicked open the door of the house. She was so surprised that the concubine in the house screamed. She turned around and cursed a few words, then picked up a jar of wine by herself. As he rushed to the government office, he heard what the gatekeeper said that the county magistrate was relaxing in the fields. The fire in his chest became even more intense. He snorted coldly and almost threw the wine jar in front of the two government officials, but still He barely held back his anger and left quickly.
Upon seeing this, the gatekeeper waited until the strong man left, smacked his lips and shook his head, poked the waist of the yamen clerk with his elbow, sighed and said, "See, it's so easy for us, the magistrate who has been here for a new year, to exert all his strength." The answer is that everyone has been fed a lot of oil and water, and they have barely managed to live a peaceful life for a year. The crux of the matter now is not worrying about the scarcity but the inequality. Can I sit in the official position in Sutai County for a few more days? , It depends on how the county magistrate will deal with this matter."
The yamen servant on the side looked strange, but he said suspiciously, "You boy can't recognize two big characters, and I don't know if it's one zi when the pole falls to the ground. How come you have learned to chew words now? Besides, whether the county magistrate is here to stay, how can he be compared with low-grade yamen servants like us? What does it have to do with it, why bother with this matter?"
The yamen servant who spoke earlier grinned, "If you chat with the magistrate for a few more months, you can become half a scholar even if you don't know how to write your own name. Let's make a bet. In two years, if Xun Your Excellency has not been promoted, and the Sutai County Magistrate is still Mr. Xun. How about I bet that the altars you have prepared for your daughter to bury for more than ten years when she gets married?"
The yamen servant thought about it carefully, but still didn't dare to answer. He coughed twice, wiped his nose angrily, and didn't want to speak again.
There are good fields outside the county, but most of them are owned by these merchants and dedicated farmers. They can only distribute some money and food at the end of the year. Sutai County is located in the north, and the winter moon is extremely long. Although it is already near the end of March Most of them were still wearing thick robes. It was not yet time for spring plowing, so there were not many people in the fields. However, there was a shepherd boy sitting opposite a young man in a long gown beside the field ridge. They didn’t know what they were chatting about. They saw that it was Dong Qiang Tieqiang. He stepped forward with a rather fearful expression on his face, and bowed deeply to the young man. Although it was awkward, it was clearly very respectful, and then he mounted the buffalo and left slowly.
"Xunzhi County is in a good mood. In such a situation, I did not forget to talk to this shepherd boy. But our family has supported dozens or hundreds of people. If there is no business in the next two months, I am afraid they will all come to the fields to eat. Soil." Dong Qiang sat down unceremoniously, threw the wine jar aside, and squinted at the frail and bookish young man in front of her, quite dissatisfied.
Xun Yuantuo was not annoyed at all, and looked at the man with a slight smile, "It is true. Brother Dong has received the least amount of work this year. At the beginning of the season, I said that the five families should share the work of the government equally. Although there is no guarantee that the amount of money earned by each family is the same, at least everyone has to take care of the inside and outside. But in this case, how can it be so easy? In my younger brother's opinion, Brother Dong is the most sensible among the five families. He is a knowledgeable person in his heart and is definitely not a vulgar person like others think. You might as well think about it carefully. Since the government business business will eventually be handed over to several hands, who is more and who is less. In fact, for this humble official, There really isn’t much difference.”
Dong Qiang's face turned a little brighter, but she was still suspicious, and said in a deep voice, "Since you know this, why do you favor one over the other?"
Xun Yuantuo shook his head and smiled bitterly, picked up a dead branch, drew a circle in the field, and replied sincerely, "To be honest with you, Brother Dong, this square meter of government business is only shared by five families every year. But what if one family or two uses external force?" After saying that, Xun Yuantuo erased two long lines from the round cake that was originally divided into five equal parts. He pressed the holding branch with his left hand and his right hand, and shook it slightly. There were two parts of the same round cake. , but it turns out that one is more and the other is less. The latter certainly looks quite pitiful.
"People's hearts are separated from each other. Originally, several county officials did not know how to advance or retreat. The five families were still in the same spirit. However, I understand that I want to be an official here comfortably without causing trouble. No one has secretly given away his livelihood. However, there are always people who threaten him. Taking away Brother Dong's original position, even if I am determined to argue with those people, it is indeed powerless."
Immediately he stood up and bowed deeply.
"I personally think that in Sutai County, it is best for one family to be the only one."
