The old man's words revealed a profound sense of helplessness.

Zhao Minggeng cupped his hands in greeting, "Then, old man, could you tell me what this Davar city is all about?"

I looked around the city and it seemed almost deserted; most of the shops were locked or collapsed.

The county government office is so dilapidated; could something terrible have happened?

The old man glanced at Zhao Minggeng.

"Hey kid, listen to this old man's advice, hurry up and take your family and leave."

Just two weeks ago, we went through a major battle.

I don't know how those dogs from Northern Mongolia got in. They were discovered while committing murder in the middle of the night.

Thankfully we discovered it early, otherwise they would have attacked from the inside and we would have lost Dawar.

Many civilians were killed or injured; it was a tragedy.

I'm an old man and I don't want to talk about it anymore; it makes me sad just thinking about it.

If my wife hadn't had a stroke and couldn't travel far, I would have left this area long ago.

After listening to the old man's complaints for a while, Zhao Minggeng bowed deeply to the old man.

"Thank you for your kind advice, sir. I am the newly appointed magistrate of Davar. I have brought my family with me to assume my post."

Since the old man is the local registrar, he must be familiar with all the major and minor events in the city.

If you, sir, are willing, I hope you can continue to serve as the registrar.

After hearing this, the old man stared blankly at Zhao Minggeng, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Are you stupid or just plain dumb?"

Didn't they do any research on this place before taking up their post? They're clearly just here to die.

I'm telling you, you heartless idiot! If you're going to die, fine, but why are you taking your family with you? Aren't you just setting people up for failure?

Oh my god, this is infuriating!

You can't be this rip-off!

Hurry up and send your family away. I think those two young masters are quite handsome, and the young lady is even more beautiful.

"Oh dear, sir, I beg you, please don't mistreat the child. Send him away, send him away quickly!"

The Zhao family was initially bewildered by the old man's reaction, but then they realized that he was worried about their safety.

It seems that Davar is indeed frightening.

Now that we're here, how can we just wander off?

Zhao Minggeng now understands that the emperor had no good intentions at all.

He refused to believe that he, as the emperor, wouldn't know what was going on in this place.

This is hardly the kind of place to manage a county town. It's an empty town, and the surrounding villages must have been deserted long ago due to famine.

This was clearly a job assigned to him to guard the city.

The problem he faces is no longer simply attracting the people back.

It's not about solving the agricultural problem, but about first solving the problem of border security.

So the group went directly into the backyard of the county government office.

They selected a few rooms with intact roofs, tidied them up briefly, and prepared to move in.

Staying at an inn is a pipe dream, absolutely impossible.

On the way into town, we passed an inn.

The inn looked like it was about to collapse, and the paper windows had countless large holes.

It must have been deserted long ago.

He asked the clerk to help him find someone to buy bed, broom, firewood, charcoal, and large vat, but he was met with a cold shoulder from the clerk.

He led Zhao Minggeng and the others to a few shops on the street at random.

"Look. The gate is locked. The owner ran away a long time ago. Take whatever you want, as long as you can open the gate. Just make sure to lock the gate after you're done."

Zhao Minggeng touched his nose. "This isn't right. Taking something without asking is stealing."

The registrar really wanted to kick Zhao Minggeng; his eyes were practically rolling to the sky.

"Then how can you bear to let your children and parents sleep in the open?"

Bringing them here has already made them suffer along with you.

You can't even meet your basic living needs, yet you maintain this ridiculous gentlemanly demeanor? I think you're just being pedantic.

No wonder they sent you to this place to die.

Judging from your inflexibility, you must have offended someone.

Oh, what a terrible thing to do…

Zhao Minggeng's face turned red and blue from the scolding.

He wasn't really pedantic; he was just embarrassed to do bad things under the noses of outsiders.

Little Zhao Qingyang took a hairpin off his head, went up to the keyhole, and started fiddling with it.

With a "click," the lock opened.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, you'll find a thick layer of dust inside.

This is a woodworking shop.

The registrar, upon seeing Zhao Qingyang's actions, actually praised them highly.

"Young people should be this carefree and unconcerned with trivial matters."

Don't end up like your father, who, despite being a county magistrate, is inflexible and will eventually become a deliveryman.

Zhao Qingyang understood that the registrar meant well, but he still wanted to make a good impression on his father.

“Grandpa Registrar, actually my father is a good person. He's not really old-fashioned, he's just used to being honest and has never done anything out of line.”

This woodworking shop looks like it hasn't been maintained for quite some time, has it?

The best way to end a conversation is to change the subject.

As expected, Zhao Qingyang led the registrar astray.

He then launched into a long and detailed account of the history of the woodworking shop.

They really left in a hurry.

They quickly found several beds, dressing tables, tables, and stools in the shop, and wooden buckets and basins in a corner.

The Zhao family's carriages all had canopies, so there was no way to transport these things back.

Even though Zhao Minggeng was strong enough, carrying all these things across half the city seemed difficult.

Just as Zhao Minggeng was about to carry the things away himself, the registrar returned with an oxcart.

Upon entering, he said, "The fare is five hundred cash per trip. Please pay it in advance, Your Excellency."

How could Zhao Minggeng dare to provoke this hot-tempered registrar?

Now he's counting on this old man to help his family settle down.

Honestly, he regretted bringing his whole family along.

But apart from his father, the rest of the family members were all eagerly anticipating the annihilation of Northern Mongolia.

What could he say? He couldn't afford to offend his own mother, he couldn't persuade his daughter, and he couldn't control his sons either.

In order not to exhaust the cows belonging to others, four beds, a dining table, five chairs, two dressing tables, three chests of drawers, plus a number of wooden buckets and basins, were set up after three rounds of back and forth.

The coachman heard that the county magistrate wanted to buy blue bricks, so he volunteered to help find some, but of course, he had to get a kickback.

Zhao Minggeng laughed; his job as county magistrate was truly somewhat comical.

However, his daughter said that any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem.

With errand runners, repairing the government office became much easier.

While repairing the government office, Zhao Qingyang and his brother taught the bricklayers who came to help them how to build heated brick beds.

Soon, someone from the border defense battalion learned of this.