Both Ge Chunru and her brother may be lacking in love.

One found a husband who was a dozen years older than herself, and the other found a wife who was a dozen years older than herself.

Shi Qingluo shrugged indifferently, "I don't mind having a young stepfather, and Ge Chunyi shouldn't try to control me."

If Ge Chunyi wanted to take revenge by becoming her stepfather, he would be really wrong.

Niu was only her mother on the surface, but not in spirit, not to mention that their relationship was very bad.

She really didn't care what Niu wanted to do or what kind of husband she would find after being divorced.

Then she stroked her chin and said, "I just wonder if Ge Chunru, the elder sister, would be overjoyed if she knew that her beloved brother had found a younger sibling who was older than her."

"Pfft!" Xi Rui couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Don't be too happy, or you might even feel like crying."

Liang Youxiao smiled evilly and said, "I suddenly want to see Niu calling Ge Chunru sister."

Shi Qingluo chuckled and said, "You snatched away what I wanted to say."

Suddenly I was looking forward to Ge Chunru's "happy" look when she found out she had a "older" brother or sister.

Given the nature of the Niu blood-sucking worm, it would be difficult for Ge Chunru to get rid of it once he got stuck with it.

Ge Chunyi is really smart. He was resentful of his sister, so he did this on purpose.

I'm afraid that Niu and Ge Chunru will have to fight in the future.

Xiao Dalang shuddered when he heard the laughter of several people: "..."

He always felt that they had bad intentions, so he would stay away from these people in the future.

Shi Qingluo looked at Shi Laosan and said, "You don't have to be angry. If you marry another woman in the future, maybe you will have a place for your son."

Shi Lao San was originally very unhappy. It was not because he still missed Niu, but he felt extremely ashamed.

After hearing what Shi Qingluo said, he felt somewhat comforted, "Well, let her be."

Niu has done so many evil things that she doesn't even think about doing good deeds. As a result, she cannot give birth to a son.

He had done his best for her anyway.

The matter between Niu and Ge Chunyi came to an end.

Xiao Hanzheng said to Xiao Dalang: "What's the situation in this county? Tell me about it."

Xiao Dalang thought for a moment and replied, "It's nothing but poverty. Besides, the previous county magistrates all falsely reported the number of households, so there are many empty households."

"On the surface, there are more than 5,000 households in Heyang County, but in reality there may only be more than 3,000 households."

"Our county is also one of the poorest counties in Beicheng Prefecture."

Then he roughly talked about the key points he knew.

In general, it all revolves around one theme: this place is too poor. There are not many rich families in the county town, and many people in the county town are still hungry, not to mention the villages and towns.

There was some resentment in his words, which was directed at his second uncle Xiao Yuanshi.

Not only did they bring them to the northern border, they were also deliberately sent to this poor and cold county.

Xiao Hanzheng took note of the key points after listening.

He asked: "Since the county is so poor, how did the previous magistrate become so corrupt?"

Xiao Dalang reported the county magistrate, so he knew everything. "Before, they said they were going to fight a war, and the money allocated from above to build the city wall and the dam was not built by the previous county magistrate."

"Originally, the imperial court had a policy that families without laborers or disabled veterans would not have to pay taxes, but the county magistrate did not announce it and collected the taxes anyway."

"In the few years when the harvest was good, they even secretly increased the tax by 10%, and did not hand it over to the court, but pocketed the money instead."

"When the harvest was bad, the higher authorities asked him to reduce taxes, but he did not do so. Instead, he reported the reduced amount to the court, and the middle part was eaten up."

In particular, there was one time when he was sent to collect taxes and he saw that many people in the villages were wearing tattered clothes and were almost starving.

Some families are short of labor, but still have to pay so much tax, and they have to kowtow to them to beg for leniency.

He felt very bad at the time, but he didn't know that these people were tax-exempt.

They just watched as the yamen runners forcibly took away the food that was needed for the people's survival as taxes.

He only found out about this when his second uncle's people went to find evidence of the previous county magistrate's corruption.

What Xiao Dalang said not only made Xiao Hanzheng look a little ugly, but also made Xi Rui and others very angry.

"This county magistrate deserves death. He has gone too far."

"They should be taken back and tortured to death."

Shi Qingluo sighed, "What a mess it is."

The previous county magistrate was too cruel. The people in this county have suffered so much.

But now that they are here, they naturally have to change the current situation.

Xiao Hanzheng had been to Northern Xinjiang before, and already had some ideas in mind on how to improve the situation in Heyang County.

He instructed Xiao Dalang, "Today, have someone find all the account books, tax books, account status books, etc. from the county government for the past year. I want to see them tomorrow."

Xiao Dalang was unhappy. He used to be the one giving orders to others, but now he had to be suppressed and listen to the orders of his cousin.

However, no matter how unhappy he was, he didn't dare say it out loud, otherwise he might be punished.

He forced out a smile that was uglier than crying, "No problem, I'm familiar with the county government, leave it to me."

Xiao Hanzheng found it quite good that his scumbag father sent the people from the Xiao family here.

At least it won't be dark for him to come here, and Xiao Dalang can be of use.

He asked, "Did you report the previous county magistrate for losing his job?"

Xiao Dalang smiled awkwardly, "I just can't stand him exploiting the people, that's why I can't report him."

No one present believed this, but no one pointed it out.

Xiao Hanzheng reminded meaningfully, "Your second uncle helped you to pull the people down, but he didn't do anything to make you the county magistrate."

"Nine out of ten times, they are going to leave you for the new county magistrate to use as a tool."

"That's why I came to Heyang County to be the county magistrate. Otherwise, you would have given the new county magistrate a show of power as soon as you arrived."

"But how many county magistrates transferred from the capital are irrelevant?"

"This time, many children of noble families were sent to the Northern Frontier to gain experience. The county magistrate of Lin County is the legitimate son of the Duke's Mansion."

"As a county magistrate, can you really be better than the county magistrate from the capital?"

"Are your hands really that clean?"

"When the new county magistrate has established himself, you will be the first one to be killed as a warning to others."

"I won't bother with you about what happened in the past, so I won't kill you as a warning to others."

He tapped again, "You are a smart man, go back and think carefully about what you should and shouldn't do."

Would his scumbag father be so kind as to help Xiao Dalang eliminate dissidents? What a sweet dream.

The purpose is to send Xiao Dalang to the new county magistrate to be executed.

But his scumbag father probably didn't expect that Prince Jin would come up with a brilliant idea and have the Ministry of Personnel transfer him to this county to serve as the county magistrate.

(End of this chapter)