After Shangguan Feiyun learned about the situation, he took An Er and An San directly to the county government office on the fourth day.
"Stop, who are you? This is a restricted area of the county government office, you can't go in." The yamen runners guarding the yamen stopped Shangguan Feiyun.
"How dare you! Is this something you can stop?" An Er kicked the yamen runner away and led the way into the yamen.
Along the way, some constables and yamen runners came out to stop them, but they were all beaten up by An Er and An San, and lay all over the ground.
"What happened? Who is making trouble?" After County Magistrate Gao instigated the villagers to flee famine to Qingshan County, he drank and had fun every day in the yamen, and worked day and night with his concubine.
I just started exercising today and someone interrupted my mood. I was immediately furious.
"Mr. Gao has such a refined taste that he's not afraid of dying in bed from excessive indulgence." Shangguan Feiyun said with a sneer.
How shameless! He is so old but still partying every night.
"Who? Whoever cursed me is courting death. Come, beat that arrogant man to death." County Magistrate Gao was so angry that he put on his clothes and prepared to go out to kill the person who cursed him.
Shangguan Feiyun sat in the inner hall waiting for County Magistrate Gao to come out, and County Magistrate Gao came out soon.
"You bold and unruly people, you actually dare to curse me, you are looking for death, come here... Your Highness Prince Jin, I am here to see His Majesty, may His Majesty live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!" County Magistrate Gao came out of the inner hall and saw a man sitting in a high seat. He was furious and cursed loudly. When he saw who it was, he was so scared that he quickly knelt down to pay his respects.
"Doesn't County Magistrate Gao want to kill me? I'm waiting here." Shangguan Feiyun looked at County Magistrate Gao with a sneer.
"I deserve to die. I am not a human being. Please, Your Highness, be magnanimous and spare me." County Magistrate Gao apologized while holding his mouth.
"I have a small heart, so County Magistrate Gao, please keep talking. You will stop when my anger subsides." Shangguan Feiyun drank the tea brought by An Er and said slowly to County Magistrate Gao.
"Yes, I obey your command." County Magistrate Gao slapped him left and right.
"An San, go call the county magistrate, the chief clerk, the historian, and the legal advisor over here. I have something to ask you." Shangguan Feiyun said to An San.
Soon, the county magistrate and others were brought to the inner hall, occupying half of the space.
"Your humble servant pays homage to His Majesty. May Your Majesty live a thousand years!" The county magistrate led everyone to kneel down and pay their respects to the Prince of Jin.
Shangguan Feiyun didn't let them stand up. He said to them directly, "This king wants to know why the people of Anqiu County fled to Qingshan County. Also, has the drought in Anqiu County been reported to the court? Have you found a way to solve the drought?"
The county magistrate and others were in complete silence. They looked at each other, and no one knew how to respond. The only sounds in the entire inner hall were the sound of County Magistrate Gao slapping his face and his cry of pain.
“It seems that not only have you not reported this to the court, you are also not trying to find a solution.
So you're encouraging the people to flee to Qingshan County and cause trouble for Magistrate Ma, aren't you? You're so bold!" Shangguan Feiyun shouted angrily, slamming the table. The teacups on the table dinged, frightening the county magistrate and others so much that they begged for mercy.
"Your Highness, I was wrong. Please forgive me."
"Come here, take the county magistrate and others to the jail and await their punishment." Shangguan Feiyun shouted.
Soon many constables and yamen runners walked in and were so frightened when they saw Shangguan Feiyun sitting there that they started shaking with fear, not knowing who he was.
"Why don't you do it? Do you want me to do it myself?" Shangguan Feiyun saw the constable and the yamen runners standing there and not listening to his orders, and he was so angry that he kept smashing the teacups beside them.
They are really a bunch of Qiu He scoundrels. Anqiu County is probably rotten from the inside out. This time the county government needs a major overhaul.
This prince? It's the prince. The constable and the yamen runners were so frightened that they quickly saluted.
"Your Highness, I am here to see you! I will take them to jail." said the constable and the yamen runner.
Why do they say they are small and not menial? Because they are extra-staff and not in the mainstream, so they are naturally small.
After saying this, he took the county magistrate and others to the prison. Wherever they passed, they heard the county magistrate and others begging for mercy.
Shangguan Feiyun asked An Er to investigate the people in the county government to see if there was anyone who could be used.
He took An San to the village to see the damage.
The next day, the mayor and village heads of Anqiu County came to the county government office for a meeting. They all heard that a prince had come from above and had imprisoned the county magistrate and others. They were all very happy and felt that they were saved this time.
Shangguan Feiyun told the town mayor and village chief that there would be locusts after the drought, and also told them how to prevent it, asking them to go back and make preparations.
Assure them that the imperial court will definitely provide disaster relief.
The mayor and the village chief left with uneasy feelings. They didn't know how to tell the villagers that the drought had taken half their lives, and the locust plague would really take their lives.
Anyone who is older knows how terrible a locust plague is. Once the locusts come, they will eat everything without leaving a single grain.
An Er also investigated clearly and found that there were only a few people who had not been in cahoots with the corrupt officials and could be used.
Shangguan Feiyun asked An Er and An San to recruit constables and yamen runners at the gate of the county government office.
On the other side, in the imperial palace in the capital, the emperor received memorials from various places, all of which were about the drought. Looking at the data, the emperor felt heavy-hearted, but fortunately he had already sent people to deal with it.
The only thing missing was a memorial from Qingzhou Prefecture. The people of Anqiu County had already fled to Qingshan County, so how could a prefecture government not be aware of this?
The emperor sneered in his heart, thinking that Qingzhou Prefecture might have rotted away.
The emperor remained calm and secretly called three trusted officials to a secret meeting. After the meeting, he quietly asked them to bring their men to Qingzhou Prefecture to take up their posts. This time he wanted to make a major change in Qingzhou Prefecture.
Every morning during the court session, the emperor would talk about the disaster in various places, except Qingzhou Prefecture.
The ministers of the Prime Minister's party also thought that Qingzhou Prefecture was not affected by the disaster. They were happy in their hearts. The entire Jin Dynasty was affected by the disaster, and only Qingzhou Prefecture was not affected. The emperor would definitely reward Qingzhou Prefecture. Many of the Prime Minister's party members were stationed in Qingzhou Prefecture and various county governments.
Only the Prime Minister knew that a drought had also occurred in Qingzhou Prefecture, and Anqiu County was the most serious, but Anqiu County did not report it.
At this moment, Qingzhou Prefecture was in chaos. Prefect Feng of Qingzhou Prefecture received a disaster report from Ma Youcai of Qingshan County, as well as disaster reports from three other counties, but he withheld them and did not report them. Especially when Magistrate Ma said that the people of Anqiu County had begun to flee famine to Qingshan County, he was even more afraid to report it.
He had been waiting for a memorial from Anqiu County, but after waiting for two days, he did not receive any memorial from Anqiu County about the disaster. Instead, he received memorials from various county offices in Qingzhou Prefecture. He knew that the matter was serious. County Magistrate Gao must have concealed something and might have gotten into trouble this time. The emperor would soon find out that Qingzhou Prefecture had not reported the drought and would think that there was no drought in Qingzhou Prefecture. If something went wrong then, he would not be able to escape the blame.
Besides, the disaster-stricken area in Qingzhou Prefecture is so large that he would never be able to provide all the relief even if he spent all the money!
Besides, the disaster situation in Anqiu County had not been investigated at all and was soon discovered. He also sent detectives to investigate and found that the disaster was indeed serious. That was why he was waiting here for County Magistrate Gao to submit a memorial, and then he would report it to the court. However, County Magistrate Gao did not submit a memorial, so he did not report it either... Thinking about being investigated by the emperor, he would be scared to death by the result.
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