Xu Mo usually goes to school and goes straight home after class, never lingering outside.
Now that I've become a clerk, even if I can't come back before dark, I should at least return now that it's late at night.
Five children stood at the door, waiting. The street was almost deserted, but Xu Mo was still nowhere to be seen.
Wen Zhiyun, being the most observant, whispered, "I hope something happened to my brother at the county office."
The whole family's hearts skipped a beat.
Bian Wenxuan is here to help Fang Heng and won't harm Xu Mo, but what about the others? What about the Wang family?
Besides, why should they believe Bian Wenxuan, a man who doesn't even dare to reveal the inside story?
Once they understood this, the children couldn't sit still any longer. Fang Heng grabbed a long stick and led the way towards the county government office, with several panting children chasing after him, almost falling over in the process.
Fortunately, Xu Mo was finally spotted around the corner.
"Brother, why are you so late?" Fang Heng grabbed his sleeve. "Did Bian Wenxuan give you a hard time? I'll go find him right now."
Xu Mo quickly stopped his younger brother, who had a bit of a temper.
"I'm fine," he said softly. "Let's go home first."
The sky was completely dark, and two oil lamps were lit in the courtyard, adding an orange-red glow to the night.
The auntie I hired had already left half a pot of rice; it just needed to be heated up before we could eat it.
The eight servants next door, exhausted from their work, were already asleep.
As soon as Xu Mo sat down, Jiang Sheng grabbed his sleeve and asked anxiously, "Big brother, why are you so late? Were you bullied? Did something happen?"
One sentence after another, giving the reader no time to breathe.
Xu Mo knew Jiang Sheng was really anxious, and patted her head apologetically, "It won't happen again next time."
He was simply too shocked to look at the case files for the first time.
In the county of Xiyang alone, tens of thousands of people die of illness or old age every year, while tens of thousands of new lives are born. However, due to the backwardness of medical technology, many villages do not even have doctors, and once someone falls ill, they can only watch helplessly as they die.
If a child dies, the parents can have another child.
When parents die, children become homeless.
If villagers voluntarily report to the county government during this period, the county government will register the newborn and remove the names of the deceased. However, if no one reports, there will be homeless children like Jiang Sheng.
They ate from many families, wore only thin clothes to get through the winter, and if they survived, they grew a year older; if they didn't, they died in the snow.
No one would report it for them anymore, and they themselves dared not report it, because for every person recorded by the government, a person's tax would be required.
Why did Pang Dashan, at seventeen or eighteen years old, still dare not register his household? Because he had no money, he couldn't pay his taxes, and he could only be a nameless vagrant.
“According to the results of the survey in the last decade, there are at least several thousand homeless children in Xiyang County.” Xu Mo’s voice trembled slightly. “They are nameless, have no household registration, cannot work, and cannot go to school. They are beggars when they are young, beggars when they grow up, and die in mass graves when they are old.”
And this was originally Jiang Sheng's destiny.
The night was still dark. The little girl, dressed in a clean dress, sat on a stool, looking blankly at her brothers' suddenly red eyes. She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a handkerchief, but because she didn't know who to give it to, she quietly put it back.
“Big brother, at least Jiang Sheng is alright now.” Zheng Ruqian sniffed. “With us here, she will be even better off in the future.”
“Yes, she just needs to live a carefree life.” Fang Heng turned his head away.
Wen Zhiyun didn't say anything, but quietly took Jiang Sheng's hand.
Changyan then took her other hand.
"Jiang Sheng isn't a beggar anymore," the little girl said happily, blinking her big eyes. "Jiang Sheng has five older brothers."
“But…” Jiang Sheng lowered her head again, “They don’t have five older brothers.”
She was referring to those beggar children who shared her fate and were forced to wander the streets.
This is precisely the key reason for Xu Mo's anxiety.
During the decennial population census, most of these beggars had no money to pay taxes and therefore dared not register for residency. This vicious cycle meant they were destined to remain beggars, living their entire lives without legal status and suffering from hunger and cold.
And this is just one county town in Xiyang County. If we consider the prefectural city and the entire Dayu Dynasty, how many people like this are there?
Chang Yan's hand, which was placed under her sleeve, twitched slightly, and her beautiful eyes remained tightly closed, not daring to open them.
Fengjing was so prosperous that everyone wore gold and silver, and was extremely wealthy. Even the maids wore fine cotton clothes and gold, silver and jade ornaments. Dishes they didn't like to eat were thrown to the dogs, and clothes they couldn't wear were destroyed.
But it turns out that there are people in this world who can't even afford fine flour buns, coarse cloth clothes, fatty pork that they can only dream of, and even vegetable leaves that they have to pick up.
A dynasty that cannot see the lives of the most ordinary people will rise and fall in an instant.
After a long while, Changyan opened his eyes, his dark pupils revealing no emotion.
He hissed, "Brother, could we apply to the prefect to exempt this year's new residents from taxes?"
Give these beggars a year to work, earn money, and pay their taxes for the following year.
From then on, they became people with names and surnames.
They are no longer homeless beggars, subjected to beatings and insults, petty theft, and utterly devoid of dignity.
"It would be best if children under ten were exempt from taxes." Fang Heng frowned. "Children under ten really have no way to work and support themselves."
This undoubtedly increases the difficulty.
But for the sake of thousands of homeless children being able to live with dignity, Xu Mo gritted his teeth and agreed, "I will discuss it with the county magistrate."
He was just a clerk; only Bian Wenxuan could speak directly with the prefect.
Fang Heng had very mixed feelings about the new magistrate, and he turned his head away sullenly whenever the name was mentioned.
Remembering what happened during the day, Jiang Sheng quickly lay on Xu Mo's lap and whispered gossip, "Big brother, why was Third Brother unhappy during the day?"
The others also looked over.
Xu Mo moved his lips and recounted what had happened at the county government office during the day.
Finally, he said softly, "I think Magistrate Bian really has his own difficulties. As long as he is dedicated to the people and does not persecute us, let him be."
Fang Heng remained silent.
Zheng Ruqian also felt uncomfortable with the feeling of the enemy being in the dark while he was in the light, and he absolutely refused to admit that he was acting out of a gossipy mind.
"Shall we go and question Magistrate Bian again?" Jiang Sheng asked softly.
This time, it was Chang Yan who answered. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Have you ever considered that what he doesn't want to talk about might just be something he finds difficult to say?"
Either the relationship is difficult to talk about, or the motivation for doing something is difficult to talk about.
Why would he do this for the Wang family's daughter?
Given Bian Wenxuan's personality, it couldn't be a threat, so it could only be friendship.
What kind of feelings are so hard to express?
Judging from his age and attitude, it can only be that he is doing something shady, something that violates human ethics, and something that goes against morality.
Uncle and sister-in-law.
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