As deep winter approaches, the weather is getting colder and colder.
The money was delivered from above. In addition to Lu Lin's own salary, there was also money for the yamen runners. The county magistrate's monthly salary was three taels, and he received certain subsidies during festivals. This time, there was also three taels of money for buying charcoal as winter approached.
After becoming the county magistrate, Lu Lin's money kept flowing out. He finally saw some money coming back, and although it wasn't much, it was enough to make Lu Lin happy.
A constable earns one or three hundred coins a month. After Lu Lin arrived, he assigned the Qin family father and son, as well as Wan Li, to the constables. In this way, he no longer had to pay the wages of the Qin family father and son and Wan Li.
Being a county magistrate has many advantages. For example, he can hire twelve yamen runners within his authority. The money for these runners comes from above. If he fabricates a few people, the money can go into his pocket.
The wages for these eight constables were not small.
Because of the presence of patrolmen, Lu Lin has only temporarily assigned a few male members of his household to be yamen runners.
Lu Lin pondered that he should set up the yamen runner team as soon as possible. In any case, he didn't have to pay the yamen runners' wages. The main responsibility of the yamen runners was to assist in the collection of corvée labor and taxes, and secondly, to catch thieves. Since these duties were exempt from taxes, he should be able to assign these runners some miscellaneous tasks once the team was set up. As long as it wasn't too excessive, it shouldn't be a problem.
Time flies, and several days have passed in the blink of an eye.
Lu Lin looked at Ji Yun'an in the courtyard, frowned, and said, "No one has come to claim this kid yet." Chen Xiaomi nodded, somewhat annoyed, and said, "That's right. I was thinking that if someone came, I would ask for a ransom, but no one has come yet."
Lu Lin said somewhat speechlessly, "This guy stays at home every day, it's like we've hired another little helper."
When Lu Lin first captured Ji Yun'an, he thought that the boy's family would come to pick him up soon. However, more than ten days have passed in the blink of an eye, and no one has come yet.
"How could no one know this kid's identity? He couldn't have just popped out of a rock," Chen Xiaomi said. Lu Lin squinted and said, "Yes, Qin Yi said that the kid was wearing a jade pendant around his neck." A jade pendant costs a lot of money, and someone who can afford to wear one can't be an orphan. This kid has been missing for over ten days, and his family isn't worried at all.
"If this guy didn't look like a poor family's child, I would have thought that some family couldn't afford to raise him and deliberately sent him here."
Chen Xiaomi said sullenly, "This guy can really eat."
This kid initially barged in, so first impressions are very important. Chen Xiaomi didn't have a very good impression of Ji Yun'an, and Xiaomai didn't have a good impression of Ji Yun'an either, only giving him a bowl of porridge. However, this kid quickly became familiar with Xiaomai, and Xiaomai was also easygoing, quickly forgetting about this guy's background. Sometimes, when Lu Lin cooked special meals for Xiaocai, Xiaocai would remember to save a portion for that brat, making Chen Xiaomi very worried.
"That kid looks like he's trained," Chen Xiaomi said.
Lu Lin stroked his chin and said, "You mean, you've studied martial arts? Could you be the child of some general?"
As Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi were talking, Chen Chi hurriedly walked in.
"Achi, what brings you here? What happened?" Lu Lin asked, glancing at the flustered Chen Chi.
Chen Chi said excitedly, "The patrol battalion has arrived."
Lu Lin's spirits lifted. The patrol battalion was here? Could they be here to cause trouble? Could that kid really be from the camp? "Why are they here?"
"I've come to buy tofu," Chen Chi said with a strange expression.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "You're here to buy tofu? That's good." As long as they're not here to cause trouble.
His tofu has become quite famous; even the patrol battalion has heard about it.
“That kid who broke in is the nephew of that patrol battalion commander,” Chen Chi said.
Lu Lin frowned and said, "I was wondering why. So it's the patrol battalion. Are they here to take people back?"
Chen Chi shook his head and said, "The people from the patrol battalion said that Ji Yun'an is unruly and incorrigible, and asked our county government to discipline him without hesitation."
Lu Lin frowned and said, "What is this?! Even the patrol battalion can't control this guy, so they're letting them discipline him on their behalf."
"Where are the patrol battalion men?" Lu Lin asked.
Chen Chi blinked and said, "He bought the tofu and left, saying he had official business to attend to and couldn't stay long."
The patrol battalion needed a very large quantity, but Chenchi's stock was limited, so he had to give them all the tofu first. Chenchi thought to himself that he should prepare more next time.
Lu Lin: "..." What is this? The lieutenant general of the patrol battalion is a fourth-rank military officer, much higher than him, a seventh-rank county magistrate. Such a military officer entrusted his nephew to him. Isn't this like entrusting a demon to him? This lieutenant general is not going to leave someone here to monitor him, is he? What use is a little brat? Lu Lin walked into the courtyard and saw Chen Xiaomai sitting opposite Ji Yun'an, holding her face and staring at Ji Yun'an with great curiosity.
Chen Xiaomai looked at Ji Yun'an and said, "Your uncle doesn't want you anymore and dumped you on my older brother. It must be because you're too useless."
Ji Yun'an frowned and glared at Chen Xiaomai, saying, "Don't talk nonsense."
Chen Xiaomai looked at Ji Yun'an and said, "No! I'm telling the truth. I heard from my second brother that the food in your military camp is very poor. You eat a lot, probably because the money is limited and they can't afford to feed you."
Ji Yun'an blushed. Life in the military camp wasn't very good; in comparison, the food at the county magistrate's office was much better.
Ji Yun'an also saw the county magistrate ordering his subordinates to buy eggs from the surrounding villages. If they couldn't buy any, they would go to other villages to buy them. He really didn't treat money like money.
“My uncle is an honest official,” Ji Yun’an said with some pride.
Chen Xiaomai rested her chin on her hand and said, "Brother Lin said that an honest official is not necessarily a good official."
Ji Yun'an asked with some suspicion, "How can an honest official not be a good official?"
“A good official is one who can lead the people of the county to a better life. Simply being honest and keeping the county poor is not enough. The real skill is to enrich the county and then enrich oneself,” Chen Xiaomai said.
Ji Yun'an said sullenly, "Absurd."
Chen Xiaomai said dismissively, "It's true, don't you want to eat something good?"
Ji Yun'an: "..."
Chen Xiaocai walked in, carrying a bundle in her hand.
"Someone just came by and asked me to give you this bundle."
Ji Yun'an looked at the bundle in Chen Xiaocai's hand with a bitter expression, finally realizing that his uncle really intended to abandon him here.
Chen Xiaomai excitedly stepped forward and asked, "What's in the bundle? Is there any food?" Ji Yun'an opened the bundle and looked inside, finding his own clothes and some silver.
The money was given to Chen Xiaocai by the person who came, saying it was for Ji Yun'an's food and lodging expenses. Chen Xiaocai didn't want to accept the money, but the person who came to deliver it disappeared in the blink of an eye. Helpless, Chen Xiaocai put the money into his bundle.
"There's nothing to eat!" Chen Xiaomai said with some disappointment.
Ji Yun'an scratched his head, thinking to himself: The food in this military camp is mostly cornbread and pickled vegetables, much worse than in this county government office. My uncle probably knows the situation here, so he naturally wouldn't bring me any food. "If you have money, you can buy food."
Chen Xiaomai shook her head and said, "This place is too poor; you can't buy much even if you have money."
Ji Yun'an: "..."
Chen Xiaomai sighed and said, "Second Brother said that Brother Lin probably overpaid for this official position. It's a pity that he didn't spend enough money. If he had earned more, he could have bought a high-ranking official position."
Ji Yun'an asked, puzzled, "Why do you have to buy an official position?"
Chen Xiaomai replied matter-of-factly, "Only by buying an official position can you avoid being bullied!"
Ji Yun'an asked, puzzled, "So you were bullied."
Chen Xiaomai nodded and casually recounted how Chen Xiaomi had been wronged, which filled Ji Yun'an with righteous indignation.
When Ji Chengkang saw Liu Yun return, he asked, "Did you see her?"
Liu Yun nodded and said, "I saw him, but the young master was busy pulling the millstone and didn't see me."
"Is that kid alright?" Ji Chengkang asked, still somewhat worried.
"He looks quite well, and even seems to have gained weight." Among the carpenters and blacksmiths working at Lu Lin's house were people who had originally served in the military. If it weren't for these people watching over him, Ji Chengkang wouldn't have felt at ease not going to pick him up for so many days. "I heard that the county magistrate's family has quite a few half-grown boys, and they are all eating very well. The young master has also been eating a lot of good food."
Liu Yun heard the person who came to report mention rice balls, roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), chive pancakes, spring rolls... Although she didn't know exactly what they were, just hearing about them made her mouth water.
Ji Chengkang gave a wry smile and said, "It seems he's doing quite well as a prisoner."
Liu Yun hesitated for a moment and said, "General, is this alright? Just leaving the young master in the county magistrate's office like this?"
"Didn't you say he was doing well there, and that he even looked fat?" Ji Chengkang asked.
Liu Yun: "..." That's true, but
Ji Chengkang sighed and said, "The military camp is full of rough men. Besides, although the war has ended, no one knows when the Liao Kingdom will send troops to attack. It's better to keep him in the county office."
Liu Yun sighed and changed the subject, saying, "General, I've bought the tofu."
Ji Chengkang nodded and said, "I heard this tastes good. Have the cook make it for everyone." With limited military funds, Ji Chengkang tried his best to ensure his men ate well, but with so many people in the camp, it was difficult to provide them with good food.
Liu Yun nodded and said, "That county magistrate is a kind man. He even gave me a few recipes for making tofu."
Ji Chengkang asked with some surprise, "Really? Where's the prescription?"
"here."
Ji Chengkang looked at the prescription, raised an eyebrow, and said, "This prescription was written by the county magistrate."
"good."
Ji Chengkang said with a strange expression, "I didn't expect this magistrate to be literate!" But his handwriting was too ugly. Lu Lin had never thought of taking the imperial examination and embarking on an official career. He was used to using ballpoint pens and fountain pens, so he was really not used to writing with a brush. Although Lu Lin could read, his handwriting was crooked and looked very awkward.
Liu Yun nodded and said, "Although the handwriting isn't very good, the person should be able to read."
Ji Chengkang said with a strange expression, "He's literate, so it doesn't matter if his handwriting is ugly."
The system of buying official positions, established by the imperial court, has always been criticized. While it did have some effect on replenishing the national treasury, many of those who became officials were incompetent fools with money to burn, and quite a few were illiterate.
The camp's cook made Mapo Tofu for the first time and was welcomed by the camp's generals.
Winter is approaching, and eating spicy food warms the whole body. The food at the camp is always the same few dishes, so this Mapo Tofu is a great improvement on the meals.
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