"Sir, you are finally back. Where have you been for so many days?" When Lu Qing saw Jiang Tuo at the door of the house, he quickly came out to greet him and held Jiang Tuo's arm, fearing that he would run away.
"Why are you arresting me? Can I still run away?"
"You don't know, these days, we have turned over the brothels in Longxi County and still can't find you!"
Jiang Tuo rolled his eyes and questioned: "In your eyes, I just hang out in brothels all day long, right? Am I that stupid?"
"Not only that, those aristocratic families are also crazy anxious. They have searched through the gambling rooms and prostitution places they have set up privately, but they still can't find you."
"I'd like to reiterate that I, Jiang, am inseparable from gambling and drug addiction. You are questioning my character!"
"In the end, I couldn't find you. I thought you had gone out of town to hunt. We posted a reward notice, but we still couldn't get any news from you."
Jiang Tuo's face turned even darker, and he waved his hands and said, "Okay, okay, stop talking. Do I have such a low image? Either visiting a brothel, a gambling house, or just going out for fun?"
"Then where have you been to be cool these days?"
"I was kidnapped by a woman."
Lu Qing laughed out loud, shook his head and said: "Sir, is the reason you are looking for too lame? In the future, you can go out in style, but you have to let us know where you are going, right?"
"We are very worried about disappearing like this. Besides, you are the governor now and are in charge of all affairs in Liangzhou. You can't go out at will, otherwise there will be trouble down below."
Lu Qing couldn't help but start admonishing. Jiang Tuo nodded and asked, "Is there any trouble in Longxi County?"
"Not really, but the wealthy families in Longxi are panicking. They come to ask for news from you from time to time, and some projects are even suspended. However, now that you are back, they don't have to worry."
"Well, how are the walls, roads, and bridges constructed?"
"It's almost finished, but..."
"But what?"
"During your absence, the wealthy family obviously didn't care that much. They would have paid the people wages, but since the Lord left, they have forced the people to work. If any people disobey the orders, they will whip them .”
"The food provided to the people is also getting less and less. Some people can't bear it anymore and run away privately. But when they are caught by the wealthy families, they will be executed at will."
Jiang Tuo's face suddenly became stern: "You Chu is a man who has nothing to do? Didn't you stop them?"
"Sir You stopped it, but it can't be stopped. After all, you favored wealthy families a few days ago, and there are no laws to restrain them, so they have become more and more rampant in recent times."
Jiang Tuo nodded.
The people of this era have experienced too much pain.
Ever since the aristocratic families took power, they were above the common people and could take away the lives of the common people at will without any consequences.
In the Jin Dynasty, they became even more lawless and began to take Wu Shi San (a hallucinogenic poison). After taking the drug, the scholars ran naked on the streets and fell in love with pigs, cattle and sheep.
They are all performing performance art.
Of course, Five Stone Powder is not cheap. It is only enjoyed by powerful scholars. It is mainly popular in the aristocratic circle. Ordinary scholars cannot afford it, so they can only show off by pretending to take Five Stone Powder.
For a time, the streets were full of naked scholars.
The fabric was severely unsalable.
Lu Qing asked in a low voice: "Sir, when will we take action against them?"
"immediately."
Jiang Tuo thought: "Let's do this. Contact the various wealthy families and ask them to meet tomorrow. Oh, by the way, there is also You Chu. Let him go out with me."
Lu Qingbai retreated, immediately notified You Chu, and then went to contact various wealthy families in Longxi.
When You Chu arrived, Jiang Tuo held him cordially and said with a smile: "Master You, haha, I haven't seen you for a few days, I miss you so much!"
"Sir, where have you been these days?"
"Oh, I just wandered around casually and wasted some time. Please don't take offense, Mr. You."
You Chu was too lazy to joke with Jiang Tuo and said seriously: "Master Jiang, you don't know that these wealthy people are so lawless that they regard Longxi County as their back garden."
"How can Master You say that? They are all our good friends. Even if they make some small mistakes, it won't be so serious. I still trust the ethics of the wealthy family."
You Chu looked at Jiang Tuo warily. Could this kid have betrayed the revolution?
Why did you start telling lies?
"Come on, there is still time today, let's go out for a walk together."
The two of them left the house and walked towards the street. A few months have passed and Longxi County has indeed changed. With the support of the wealthy families and the hard work of the people, houses have been built one after another. Roads were also rebuilt.
“Look at these houses and roads, aren’t they all the work of wealthy families?”
"This is all the blood and sweat of the people."
The two walked all the way to the city wall and saw a densely packed group of people busy in the distance. Some of them were building walls, some were transporting bricks and wood, and some were pounding dust.
They were so thin that in the winter they wore thin clothes that couldn't even be called clothes, just like a ball of linen. Their hair was dirty, the color of dirt, and their bodies stunk.
They carried rocks larger than themselves with difficulty.
On the side, there are overseers composed of wealthy tribes. They hold whips in their hands and watch arrogantly. If they find anyone slacking off or running away, they will whip them mercilessly.
You Chu sighed: "Sir, have you seen it? How miserable are the people in Longxi?"
Jiang Tuo's expression immediately returned from seriousness to smile, he shook his head and said: "For the sake of the future, what's the point of suffering for the people?"
"You can't say that..."
Before You Chu could finish speaking, he saw Jiang Tuo stepping forward. Under his surprised gaze, Jiang Tuo walked up to an old man and asked, "How come you are allowed to work here when there are so many people in your family? "
The old man turned his head and saw Jiang Tuo's clothes. He was frightened and panicked when he learned that he was a noble man. He stammered, "Noble man, I... someone in my family was sick, so I came here."
"Oh, are you tired?"
"It's still bearable. The youngest son in the family is about to get engaged, and he still lacks some money. I heard that I can earn some money here, so I came here. However, the food has been getting worse and worse these days, and I haven't received the promised money yet..."
Seeing Jiang Tuo's good tone, the old man was relieved and started talking with Jiang Tuo.
"I'm pretty good. I heard that those few people were released from prison. They used to be Wei soldiers. Because there is a shortage of manpower now, they are asked to perform meritorious service and come to work."
"Oh." Jiang Tuo nodded, then walked to those people and asked, "How much do you get for working so hard every day?"
"Salary?" Several people looked at each other, then shook their heads.
"There is no salary, so at least there is some subsidy, right?"
"Subsidy? How come no one has ever mentioned it?"
"Then I'll give you food after all, right?"
"impossible."
Jiang Tuo was silent for a while and asked: "Then you..."
"For nothing!"
"oh……!"
Several people nodded, and one person said: "We were originally prisoners and should have been beheaded. Now those wealthy people say that as long as we work well, they will let us live..."
"So that's it."
