Hezhou is located in a plain area, with a river running through the whole prefecture. This river has many tributaries, which not only brings abundant rainfall but also fertile soil. It can be said that this is also the mother river of the cradle of Nanzhao State, which has nurtured millions of people.

Hezhou was not the largest state in Nanzhao Kingdom, but it had the largest population.

Because we can afford it here.

Two crops of rice can be harvested here a year, and it is a very famous "granary of the Central Plains" among all countries.

Lin Jiuxi and his group found an inn and bought two kilograms of peach blossom wine for only two taels of silver.

So he invited the beautiful and efficient proprietress to drink with him.

The proprietress was not polite and asked the waiter to bring the beef jerky that was braised on the stove. This thing is the best to go with wine.

"But sister, since the city lord is so outstanding, how come Hezhou has become what it is now?" The current situation cannot be said to be well governed.

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"Who doesn't know that our Hezhou is good? It's called "Sai Shang Jiang Nan" for nothing. With good weather and good harvests for so many years, every household lives a good life. Our children grow up better than those from other places. Sometimes I look at the children from other places. They are short, thin and small. How can they do anything? Our Hezhou guys are tall and strong. They are like calves when they work. They are different from those outsiders." The proprietress is very proud of her hometown and is knowledgeable.

If this was really a capable city lord, would he really be defeated by a drought? Why did he allow the people to wander around and complain bitterly?

"Now? Not now. We only have one young man who can do all the work. In the past, we had people living in the stable and had to pay money to stay there. In my opinion, this is all the fault of the city lord's wife. If it weren't for her, how could our Hezhou have fallen to such a state?" The proprietress was angry when she spoke.

"Don't you understand? Why did he spend money to buy an official? Isn't it just to get more money? Now he has spent two hundred thousand taels of silver to buy a county magistrate. This money comes from the sheep, so naturally he has to get it back from the people in the county, so that he doesn't lose money. They are the most shrewd people who do business!" The proprietress seemed to have forgotten that she was also a businessman, and her words were full of dissatisfaction.

The proprietress sighed, "Oh, don't mention it. It's all the fault of the city lord's wife. She really caused this disaster. The city lord is a good person, but his health is not very good. He has worked too hard. He fell ill a few years ago. This is nothing. Although the officials in Hezhou are not that good, they are almost the same."

"Humph, how could I be wrong? Everyone knows that our city lord's wife is a scourge to the country. God couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to take away this disaster, so there hasn't been a drop of rain in the past six months!" The proprietress widened her eyes and said confidently, "You are outsiders and don't know that our city lord is also a royal relative, good-looking and kind. Under his governance, our Hezhou has been prosperous and nothing has happened. Sometimes we don't even need to lock the door when we go out. Everyone has things at home, so who would want to steal from whom? Besides, even if there are those who are jealous and greedy, the people in the government office are not here for free, and they will definitely arrest these people."

"We don't know how serious his illness is now. We haven't heard from him in the past two or three years. The Zhang family is in charge of everything. They are even willing to sell their official positions for money. Mr. Wang from the street shop can't read a single word, but he spent two hundred thousand taels of silver to buy himself a county magistrate. Tsk tsk tsk tsk, the people in this county are going to suffer." The proprietress's face was full of indignation.

When Lin Jiuxi asked about the customs and culture of Hezhou, the proprietress told him everything she knew.

Lin Jiuxi became interested and asked quickly, "How could the city lord's wife, a mere woman, possibly affect such natural and man-made disasters? Lady boss, are you blaming me wrongly?"

"It's just that the emperor's family seems to be a little too suspicious. When the city lord was here, he didn't feel it. Now that he's sick, it's all revealed. He doesn't dare to hand over power to the officials below, but lets the city lord's wife take charge. The city lord's wife knows nothing when she sees a woman. Besides being greedy for money and power, letting her group of greedy brothers in the family take charge will only increase taxes!" The proprietress cursed with great disgust, "Don't talk about us businessmen, they really can't wait to come every day, just like those street thugs who collect protection fees. Even those who dig for food in the fields, they actually go to ask for things again and again. Now that it doesn't rain and the fields have no harvest, they don't care at all, they just want to pay taxes. Even the tenants in the fields starved to death, they still happily took the land back, it's simply crazy!"

There are actually such consuls who don't care about the people at all and only care about money.

Lin Jiuxi frowned upon hearing this. Logically speaking, the city lord was indeed good, able to manage this place like this. But now, Lin Jiuxi looked at the skinny beggars outside, as well as the refugees from Hezhou wandering around.

"Oh, what do you mean?" Xiaowu and the others listened happily, but they didn't quite understand some things.

Lin Jiuxi and the others were completely stunned after hearing this.

Lin Jiuxi asked in disbelief, "Then the city lord, don't you care about it?"

"So, they probably sold more than one official, right?"

"One? Don't dream. They sold everything they could. For what they couldn't sell, they tried to create. Anyway, those who died were all poor people, and those rich people still had money in their hands. Giving them an official position and a title was enough. Whether it was useful or not was secondary. Originally there was one official, but now, they have been turned into five or six. There is no need to pay silver. To them, more or less makes no difference." The proprietress was indeed knowledgeable and her words were very reasonable.

Even Lin Jiuxi couldn't help but nod after hearing this: "Sister is really knowledgeable, what you said is so reasonable, it really makes me realize it."

The proprietress became even more proud after being praised. Her face flushed slightly after drinking the peach blossom wine. She said proudly, "You, even though our Shibalidian is a remote place, we were quite prosperous in the past two years. Outsiders wanted to come here to do business. They were reluctant to sell this place, so they called in the most greedy Zhang family member. Not only is this man ugly, but he really loves money more than his own father!"