Chapter 43 Breaking into the County Government

After dawn the next day, Lin Qianqian discovered that the trees in the village looked very strange, with almost all their bark stripped off.

It seems that the villagers are really hungry and have to eat tree bark.

Living next door to Old Lady Niu was a little boy of about five or six years old. He was peeling tree bark with an axe that was taller than him. He put the bark directly into his mouth and chewed it. The way he chewed the bark was like he was eating some delicacies from the land or the sea.

Old Mrs. Niu explained, "This is Goudan. All his family members were killed by bandits. He hid in the cellar and escaped."

Zhao Xiaoliu had a low tear point and felt sorry for Goudan, so he cried his eyes out.

"Miss, I will go to Tong County in the name of my master to ask the county magistrate for help."

Lin Qianqian did not stop him. "Okay, go ahead. The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back."

However, she did not hold out too much hope. If the county magistrate wanted to intervene, he would have done so long ago, and Niujiazhuang would not have become what it is now.

Lin Qianqian and Hongdou cooked a big pot of white porridge and fried some egg pancakes.

"Grandma Niu, please call all the villagers to come and eat."

As a result, after going around, Old Lady Niu only brought back more than 30 people.

Everyone was skinny, walked unsteadily, had no strength at all, and looked like they would fall down at any time.

Old Mrs. Niu explained: "There were originally more than 200 people in our village, but most of them were killed by bandits, and some starved to death, leaving only these people."

The people who came over all held broken bowls in their hands, and looked at the big iron pot timidly.

The porridge in the pot is cooked until it is fragrant and thick.

Everything before my eyes seemed like a dream.

They simply couldn't believe this was true. Even the government didn't care about their lives, but there were still people giving them food. Was it sent by Guanyin Bodhisattva?

That’s right, with such a beautiful smile, it must have been sent by Guanyin.

Lin Qianqian quickly greeted everyone, "You must be hungry, eat while it's hot."

The villagers were quite simple and honest. No one wanted to take the egg pancake, thinking it was too expensive. Instead, each person just got a bowl of porridge to take home.

"Thank you for your kindness, young lady. Let's take this bowl of porridge back and add water to cook. It will be enough for at least three days."

Old Mrs. Niu also served a bowl of porridge, but she couldn't bear to eat it, so she placed it in front of several tablets in the main room as a sacrifice.

After paying respects to deceased relatives, the wine is taken to the kitchen and water is added to boil it again.

Eight bowls of water were added at once, and the porridge was so thin that you could look in the mirror.

Lin Qianqian could understand Old Lady Niu. People who had experienced hunger valued food even more.

She talked to Old Lady Niu about the bandits in the mountains.

It was roughly understood that there were several hundred bandits, who usually hid in the nearby mountains.

But this mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, and it would be very difficult to find hundreds of people hiding in it.

Moreover, this group of people is very bold. A few days ago, they even robbed an imperial official.

Those bandits are good at guerrilla warfare, and Lin Qianqian's side is outnumbered, so they will definitely suffer a loss in a head-on fight.

To defeat the larger force with a smaller one, we should fight a guerrilla war like the bandits and defeat them in batches.

At noon, Zhao Xiaoliu came back.

Just as Lin Qianqian expected, Zhao Xiaoliu looked dejected.

"The magistrate of Tong County is too much. The court stipulated that the head fee for entering the city is one cent per person, but Tong County actually charged fifteen cents per person. Ordinary people can't afford to enter the city. And it's even harder to see the county magistrate. As soon as I said I was from the capital, I was kicked out."

Hongdou was furious. "If you are an official who doesn't serve the people, you might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes. Zhao Xiaoliu, aren't you usually very capable? Why don't you go to the county government?"

Zhao Xiaoliu: "The Marquis gave me an order, saying that from now on I belong to Miss Lin and must absolutely obey Miss Lin, so I must ask Miss Lin before I can take action."

Lin Qianqian: "Since you are mine, I must protect you. Let's go, I will go to the Tong County government office to seek justice for you."

Those bandits are numerous and have been able to run rampant in the vicinity for several years, so they must have many spies.

Let those spies see that a fat sheep has entered Tong County. It would be best to lead the bandits to the Tong County Government Office.

"Wait for me, I'll dress up first."

Lin Qianqian quickly changed her clothes and got out of the carriage. She changed from her usual plain look to a long dress with a gold-woven waist, several precious hairpins in her hair, and a thick gold collar around her neck. The collar was inlaid with diamonds, sparkling in the sun.

Even Hongdou had a few golden hairpins on her head.

"Let's go."

Lin Qianqian did not take a carriage, but chose to ride a horse all the way to the gate of Tong County.

The gold and gems on her body sparkled, causing passers-by to look back frequently.

"This little girl is a walking golden man."

"The little girl is inexperienced and doesn't know that the world is full of evil people. Showing off your wealth will get you killed."

When they arrived outside the city gate, while the officers and soldiers were checking, Lin Qianqian specifically asked A Da to take a box out of the carriage and open it in public.

The box was full of gold, silver and other treasures, blinding everyone's eyes.

Lin Qianqian was not only targeted by the bandits, but also by the county magistrate's men.

A soldier guarding the city gate quietly returned to the county office to report to the county magistrate: "County magistrate, a big fat sheep has come to Tong County. She is covered in gold, and even the horse she rides is decorated with gold leaves. She also brought a box of priceless gold, silver and jewelry. She is now heading towards the county office."

The county magistrate's name was Cheng Fa. When he heard the soldier's report, his eyes lit up.

The reason why he was able to maintain his position in such a chaotic small county was entirely due to the monthly bribes he paid to the bandits.

Half of the tax money collected was contributed to the bandits.

Cheng Fa really likes money. As soon as he took office two years ago, he changed the head fee for entering Tong County to 15 cents, which is several times more expensive than entering the capital.

He also added various charging items in Tong County, and all the merchants passing through Tong County were fleeced by Cheng Fa.

When Lin Qianqian arrived at the gate of the county government office, she was stopped by soldiers.

"We are from the capital and would like to pay a visit to the county magistrate."

The guards at the government office looked up at him and said, "It's nothing special for someone from the capital. Our county magistrate is the emperor of Tong County. Not everyone can meet him. If you know what's best for you, get out of here."

Lin Qianqian waved her hand, "If you don't do anything, will you keep him for the New Year?"

Hongdou had been waiting for this sentence for a long time. She took action before Zhao Xiaoliu and threw two punches, leaving one of the guards with a panda eye.

I really like this crazy feeling.

If I see the corrupt county magistrate again, it would be really cool if I could punch him a few times.

The other soldier who was not beaten quickly ran back to report.

"County Magistrate, something bad has happened. The fat sheep I told you about earlier has arrived at the gate of the county government office and said she wants to pay you a visit."

A smile appeared on Cheng Fa's face: he hadn't even gone to look for the fat sheep yet, but the fat sheep actually came to his door.

"This is great news. They've delivered it to my door. Why don't you invite them in? I want to see how rich this big fat sheep is."

"County Magistrate, she was very fierce and beat up two guards."

Cheng Fa didn't care. The Emperor of Tong County was far away and no one here was greater than him.

"Hurry up and bring the person in. Since she beat up one of our people, let her leave all her belongings as compensation."