Chapter 195 Corrupt Officials

Officials came twice, and each time they clashed with the villagers and refused to negotiate.

Blasting up mountains to open roads and provide convenience for passing caravans is a good move to benefit the people. However, the government is acting tyrannically and is trying to force all the villagers to death!

"Thank you, sir. We are not unreasonable. It takes time to give up our ancestors' inheritance. All the houses and fields have been confiscated. If we drive people away without paying a penny, how will the villagers survive?"

The village is very close to the official road. The villagers rely on farming and selling food to passers-by to barely fill their stomachs and do not have much savings.

"If the village is occupied, hundreds of people will have to eat coarse food and become homeless!"

The ancestral tomb is gone, the ancestral hall is gone, and the roots are lost.

After the old man finished speaking, he stamped his feet, beat his chest, and burst into tears.

He was already very old, half buried in the ground, and had no worries.

The old man has made up his mind that if the government insists on having its way, he will take a rope and hang himself in front of the county government office the next morning in protest.

The old man was crying and his face was sad and desperate. The villagers were silent after hearing him, and everyone followed him and wiped their tears.

There were no educated ancestors in the village; they were all honest farmers. When they saw people from the government, they trembled and felt inexplicably shorter than they actually were.

Every time I dealt with him, I would be scolded by the yamen runners before I could even express my demands. My mind went blank and I wanted to argue, but I was too tongue-tied to say anything.

"Thank you, sir. Please help the villagers!"

The old man insisted on kneeling down and kowtow. The villagers behind him knelt down when they saw him, too sad to speak.

They thought that the imperial envoy would definitely come with a grand ceremony, and they had heard rumors about Xie Zhao in the past. Lord Xie was their last hope.

After meeting him today, I never thought that Lord Xie was so clear-headed and a great man worthy of admiration.

"Please stand up quickly, fellow villagers. I cannot take this position."

Xie Zhao once again took a step forward and helped the old man up. His expression was calm, but he exuded a cold yet gentle temperament. It seemed contradictory, but not inconsistent.

The old man straightened up and said sincerely: "There is hot water in the village. If Lord Xie and Madam Xie don't mind, you can go to the village and sit for a while."

There are three or four villages near the official road, where people intermarry and have close contacts with each other.

"The old man's surname is Zhai, and he lives in Zhaijia Village, which is closest to the official road."

Since Old Man Zhai received the news that the mountain was going to be blown up, it was like a bolt from the blue.

He was completely panicked and had to wait on the official road every day.

Going to the imperial envoy to file a complaint was the idea suggested to old man Zhai by a passing caravan.

"I heard that you were passing by. I have been waiting for you for more than ten days. The village has already vacated the house and cleaned it up..."

Old man Zhai pulled at his clothes nervously, fearing that the high-ranking imperial envoy would dislike the conditions in the village.

Jiang Yuzhu looked around and could see the villagers' delight at Xie Zhao's appearance. The long-standing oppression of the government in the hearts of ordinary people made them extremely taciturn.

"Uncle, my husband is an easy-going person, you don't have to worry."

Jiang Yuzhu said a few words of comfort, and she and Xie Zhao came down from the official road and walked into the village along a country road paved with cobblestones.

At the end of September in the lunar calendar, the midday breeze was refreshing, and flowers and plants were planted on both sides of the path, showing the elegance of the villagers.

Although the houses in the village are thatched, every household is tidy.

At the entrance of the village, there were groups of little kids who had no idea what sorrow was like, running and jumping. When they saw unfamiliar faces, they would hide behind their parents and peek.

Seeing Jiang Yuzhu looking at him, the little boy shrank his head shyly.

"Ningxiang, there are cakes and candies in the carriage. Give them to the little kid."

Jiang Yuzhu gave the order and Ningxiang immediately understood.

Although the villagers sound very pitiful, we cannot believe one-sided words. It is relatively easier to find out from the little kid.

After Jiang Yuzhu finished a cup of heat-clearing dandelion tea, Ningxiang hurriedly reported back, "Madam, every word that old man Zhai said is true."

Several surrounding villages are about to be occupied, and the villagers have no choice but to make the worst-case scenario plans.

The most valuable pigs and donkeys in the house were sold for silver, and the chickens and ducks were slaughtered, pickled and dried just to make it easier to take them on the road.

"Those little kids don't understand. After listening to the opera troupe's performance, they want to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."

Ningxiang couldn't help showing sympathy, and her words were full of indignation: "The villagers are bullied because they are too honest. In Ruyang, County Magistrate Cao is a dog official who extorts money from the people. The slightly larger restaurants and hotels in the county are all owned by County Magistrate Cao and his relatives."

Magistrate Cao, relying on his status as the local official, shielded his relatives from doing evil, causing great suffering to the people in the area under his jurisdiction.

"Xiao Tao's father went to work for a wealthy family in the county. He fell off the roof in winter and broke his leg. The wealthy family didn't give him a penny and even deducted his wages, saying it was unlucky. How ridiculous!"

Ningxiang became angrier and angrier as she spoke, "Xiaotao's father went to the government to file a complaint, but he had nowhere to turn to. Instead, he was beaten with a stick."

The wealthy families had close contacts with Magistrate Cao. Whenever the Cao family held banquets, they would bring valuable gifts to visit.

Magistrate Cao has benefited from this and is a powerful protective umbrella for the evildoers.

"Xiao Tao Niang is weak and her father is lame. If the government blows up the mountain, I'm afraid we'll have to rely on begging to make a living."

Ningxiang walked around and exchanged candies for a lot of useful information. She also had a sharp tongue and talked a lot, which made Jiang Yuzhu realize the difficulties of the villagers more deeply.

"There is a wealthy building in the county, which is owned by Magistrate Cao's brother-in-law. He is simply a black-hearted man!"

There is a yin-yang menu in Fugui Building, which is specifically designed to trick passing caravans.

You may get a cheap quote when you dine, but when you finish eating and pay the bill, it is often several times higher.

When the caravan started to cause trouble, Magistrate Cao immediately sent officials to handle the situation.

The people do not fight against the officials, and when a caravan is cheated, they usually just consider it their bad luck.

"I heard that a plate of jade cabbage costs two taels of silver!"

It's just a small place, but the prices are higher than those of the top restaurants in the capital.

Even so, when it was time for dinner, Fuguilou was still packed with guests.

Ningxiang heard from the aunties in the village that Magistrate Cao's brother-in-law would send the shopkeeper to record the identities of the people eating at the restaurant and take care of every transaction he made.

"So if some of the blessed families don't go to Fuguilou to get ripped off for a while, they will be found at their doorstep."

He went there to eat in the name of dinner, but in reality he was giving a gift to County Magistrate Cao.

It's not surprising that a meal costs hundreds of taels of silver.

The merchants are suffering but helpless. If they don't give gifts, they will be in trouble within half a month.

Even if his income was not enough to cover his expenses, he still had to pretend to be rich and feed Magistrate Cao with his own flesh and blood.

In the small place of Ruyang, Magistrate Cao has all the power.

Jiang Yuzhu sent Ningxiang away and subconsciously fiddled with the teapot. After she felt the banknotes hidden inside, she couldn't help but blurt out, "Yuanhe, do you still think that Daddy is a corrupt official?"

Jiang Fulu spent a long time accumulating money and exchanged the benefits he had obtained for silver, just to support the soldiers in the north.

How can a corrupt official like County Magistrate Cao compare with my father Jiang Fulu?

Jiang Yuzhu suddenly admired her father Jiang Fulu very much. She was willing to give everything to a person who loved money. What a noble sentiment!

Xie Zhao closed his eyes, his mind filled with the scene of Jiang Fulu rolling up his sleeves and fighting with Prime Minister Wei in the court. He wished he could drown the other person with his saliva.

He adjusted his mood, raised the corners of his lips, and tried to appear sincere: "Madam is right, my father-in-law is noble and upright, and a pillar of the Qi Dynasty."

After receiving Xie Zhao's affirmation, Jiang Yuzhu's eyebrows relaxed even more, like a lazy cat basking in the sun, and yawned, "So, should my father's noble act be known to the emperor?"

After spending two hundred thousand taels of silver, at least I can get some feedback.

What Jiang Fulu wanted was for the emperor to take a new look at the Jiang family so that he could remove the label of a corrupt official from his name.

Xie Zhao: "..."