23 The Beggar is Coming
◎I don't look rich at all◎
The Yuezhou prefect had reached her current position after naturally working her way up among the cunning men. She had previously been fooled by the three-legged plow cart mentioned by Ye Yunzhao, but now that she has calmed down, her little thoughts are known to everyone.
He knew clearly that Lingnan County did not allow the establishment of a county school, but it took more than ten years of persuasion. Since Ye Yunzhao was willing to sell himself for the county school, don't blame him for asking for a high price.
The Yuezhou prefect's eyes rolled as he remembered something: "You're asking me for money? County Magistrate Ye, you and I are colleagues. How do I look rich to you? And how does Yuezhou City look rich?"
Ye Yunzhao looked up and down at the satin on his body, and thought of the wide and bustling main street in Yuezhou City, where the word "rich" was written everywhere.
The prefect of Yuezhou followed her gaze and looked down at his clothes. He hurriedly stretched twice to cover it up, his arms having nowhere to put them. "Don't underestimate the good material of my clothes. I treat you as one of my own. I only have two sets of clothes, and I change them every day."
"The same is true for Yuezhou City. Where do you think all those bluestone slabs came from? They were all saved up, copper coin by copper coin."
His voice began to tremble as he spoke, and he pretended to wipe away his tears, speaking from the heart.
But Ye Yunzhao is not a fool. After all, she was a minor official in her previous life and can be considered a seasoned veteran.
As soon as the Yuezhou prefect opened his mouth, Ye Yunzhao knew he had a request. Setting up a county school would require a considerable amount of money, and if his request was reasonable, Ye Yunzhao would readily agree.
The two of them were testing each other, which was unnecessary. Although Ye Yunzhao had figured out something, he still pretended not to understand. If his request was unreasonable, Ye Yunzhao could also shirk it:
"Sir, please don't joke with me. Yuezhou City is so prosperous under your governance. Even if a few copper coins slip through your fingers, it will be enough for the people of Lingnan County to live on."
Seeing that she wasn't falling for it, the Yuezhou prefect had no choice but to lay it all out and explain it clearly, fearing that she would play dumb again. The politeness in his previous words disappeared completely:
"Then I'll be frank. There's a group of beggars in Yuezhou City. They're begging on the streets every day, which isn't a good thing. If Lingnan County can take them in, then this money... there's room for negotiation."
Ye Yunzhao snorted inwardly. What did he mean by "there's still room for negotiation?" Could it be that they wanted him to accept these beggars for nothing?
It would have been fine if she had taken in refugees, but she felt a little unhappy about taking in beggars. The reason was simple: most refugees were good families who had fled due to natural disasters or man-made disasters, while many beggars were lazy by nature.
Even if such people were allocated wasteland, they would probably not cultivate it properly, and would only cause more trouble for Ye Yunzhao.
She was thinking this, so her words were naturally unpleasant: "Sir, it's not that I don't want to take them in, but Lingnan County has been in poverty for many years. If we rashly take in so many beggars, wouldn't it be even more difficult to survive the winter? Wouldn't even more people be unable to pay taxes next year?"
The prefect of Yuezhou had heard these difficult questions dozens of times. He had discussed this with five or six county magistrates in the same state, and each of them had used the same excuse to refute them.
But if Lingnan County still doesn't want to, then there's nothing more to ask...
The Yuezhou prefect spoke in a gentle tone, "Don't worry about that. The government will send you plenty of food this winter! As for the tax on beggars, there's a precedent for this. New households are exempt from tax for three years."
"How much is a lot of food?" Ye Yunzhao was a little curious.
Seeing that she was interested, the Yuezhou prefect hurriedly said something nonsense: "Each family can get one dou of soybeans, one dou of old rice, and one dou of miscellaneous grains."
The amount of grain he mentioned was already quite a lot, but Ye Yunzhao didn't believe it at all. If that was true, why wouldn't other counties collect it?
Ye Yunzhao had a conflicted look on his face, as if he was frowning in deep thought.
Seeing hope, the Yuezhou prefect quickly spoke up, "These beggars have all the necessary limbs, so they're not lazy. Last year, someone rebelled and not only lost his own head, but also caused many civilians to flee. They crossed countless mountains and finally took root in Yuezhou."
Talking about this, he sighed and was speechless. How could it take root in his own land?
Ye Yunzhao was pleasantly surprised when she heard this. When she visited every household before, she found that there were many rivers in the East and West Townships. The main embankments were exposed to wind and sun and did not look very strong. They needed a group of people to repair them.
Besides, each family can provide a lot of food, so it should not be difficult to survive this winter. When spring comes next year, everything will be fine.
But she could only take in 200 people at most, and the new households would have to be allocated wasteland. Lingnan County had a rugged terrain, so there wasn't much suitable wasteland.
Ye Yunzhao looked embarrassed: "My Lord, you have thought of everything very carefully, but I don't know how many people there are?"
"Not many, not many, only about a hundred or eighty people."
Ye Yunzhao asked in reply, "Why couldn't a hundred or eighty people stay in Yuezhou City? I see there are many wealthy merchants in Yuezhou, but is there no one who buys slaves or maids?"
The Yuezhou prefect patiently explained, "Becoming a slave or a maid is lowly, how many people would be willing to do that? Perhaps if they starve until winter, they'll change their minds and be willing to serve others, but how can we wait until winter?"
"What do you mean, sir? Could it be that those people are almost unable to survive?"
The Yuezhou prefect hardened his heart and revealed the secret he knew: "I heard that the emperor is going to make a private visit. If these beggars pollute his eyes..."
After hearing this, Ye Yunzhao finally understood why he was so anxious to get rid of this hot potato.
Although the number of people was within Ye Yunzhao's acceptable range, she had not yet asked for the most important money: "What about repairing the county school wall..."
The prefect of Yuezhou was depressed, thinking that Ye Yunzhao was too greedy. He had promised so much food, but he was still not satisfied and wanted to bring up the issue of silver.
He had a cold face and squeezed out a few words.
"What?" Ye Yunzhao didn't hear clearly.
"Ten strings of copper coins..."
"Does your Excellency think that I can conjure a house out of thin air?"
"Fifteen strings of cash..."
"Fifteen taels of silver." Ye Yunzhao said simply.
The Yuezhou prefect was dumbfounded. "How much? You're asking for an exorbitant sum! The average person can't even save 1,500 coins in a year, and yet you're asking for 15 taels of silver!"
Before Ye Yunzhao could speak, he frowned and said, "Five taels at most."
"At least thirteen taels."
"Seven taels at most! There's really no more!"
Ye Yunzhao shook his sleeves and saluted: "Alright then, I'll take my leave."
He turned and left, and just as he was about to step out of the door, the Yuezhou prefect said in despair, "Ten taels at most!"
Ye Yunzhao smiled and said, "Eleven taels, sir, add another tael, and I will take them back to Lingnan County today."
"Okay, okay! I'll give you eleven taels!" The Yuezhou prefect said as he took out a purse from his arms, counted out eleven taels of silver behind Ye Yunzhao's back, put them heavily on the table, and stared at her with a very resentful look.
"Take it, take it, take the person away quickly!"
Ye Yunzhao put the silver into his arms like a treasure, and a bright smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I hope you can write me a voucher, so that I can collect food in winter."
“You! You!”
The Yuezhou prefect was so angry that he couldn't speak, but it was too late to regret now.
She put the money in her arms!
He was furious and hurriedly wrote down the contents of their agreement on a piece of paper and mentioned the name. Only then did Ye Yunzhao smile and nod, folded it very preciously and put it carefully in his arms.
The prefect of Yuezhou randomly found a yamen runner from the government office. After explaining the situation to him, Ye Yunzhao happily went to welcome his labor force.
The two men and the donkey walked for a long time before they saw a few scattered beggars in tattered clothes. As they walked a little further, they saw beggars gathered in groups of three or five, and there were no ordinary people to be seen on the street.
In fact, it is not quite appropriate to call these people beggars. Although they are all thin, their clothes are intact, just very dirty.
Ye Yunzhao counted carefully along the way, and found that there were not just 180 people, but 235 people!
Fortunately, there were only thirty-five more people than she expected.
The yamen runner picked up a gong and banged it vigorously a few times: "Good news! Good news! Those who are asleep, wake up! Those who are awake, listen carefully!"
"What good news?" a beggar asked loudly.
"What good could it be? They're definitely trying to get us to sign an indenture to become servants!"
The beggars near the two men began to whisper.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The bailiff struck the gong three times with great force, causing Ye Yunzhao's ears to hurt.
"Everyone, be quiet! This is the magistrate of Lingnan County, and your great benefactor! Hurry and get up and follow her!"
The yamen runner's words were unclear, and not only were everyone unhappy, but Ye Yunzhao was also unhappy. She waved her hand at the yamen runner, indicating that she should speak.
"Greetings, folks. I am Magistrate Ye of Lingnan County. I have learned that you have been forced to leave your hometowns due to the war. I am deeply saddened."
"Therefore, if anyone is willing to go to Lingnan County, we can help them get a new household registration. They won't have to suffer hunger every day, let alone become lowly people."
"I can guarantee that everyone has some wasteland, and this year I can provide every household with some winter food..."
Before Ye Yunzhao finished speaking, an uproar broke out among the crowd!
There are many smart people among them who can guess that Lingnan County is not very wealthy, but given its current situation, it would be great if they could have a place to shelter from the wind and rain!
So what if I'm not rich? Once I settle down in Lingnan County, I can still make money with my old skills.
The most important thing is the new household registration!
No! They need to express their stance quickly!
"County Magistrate Ye! I'm willing to go to Lingnan County!"
Someone took the lead, and the rest of the people also hurried to speak, standing up one by one. Those who were familiar with each other even suggested that Ye Yunzhao get on the donkey, and everyone led the donkey back. The enthusiasm was so great that Ye Yunzhao was almost overwhelmed.
"If you want, just follow me. We can reach our new hometown by climbing over a mountain!"
Ye Yunzhao led the donkey, followed by a large group of ragged and dusty people, and they walked out of the city gate in a mighty procession.
Many people exuded a faint odor, but Ye Yunzhao pretended not to notice it. He smiled and said, "There aren't many people in Lingnan County, so there's no need to worry about being ostracized. If it does happen, just come to the county office and find me. I'll definitely resolve it."
Everyone smiled and praised him. Ye Yunzhao then introduced the farmland conditions in Lingnan County so that everyone would not be left in the dark.
"Although we can distribute wasteland to everyone, we still need everyone to work together to build houses. If you need any tools, just ask the village head." Ye Yunzhao said apologetically, "But everyone can only temporarily live in the township embankments and county temples."
Her words were like a bucket of cold water poured on them, extinguishing the hope that had been burning in their hearts.
"It's okay. It's good enough that County Magistrate Ye can arrange new household registrations for everyone. It's a place to stay." A clear but somewhat weak voice sounded from the crowd.
Ye Yunzhao looked in the direction of the voice. The man was thin, but his every frown and smile were not like those of an ordinary citizen. It turned out that he might be from a wealthy family. As soon as he opened his mouth, many voices of agreement rose in the silent crowd.
"Xianjiang's words make sense. With so many of us, is it really going to be difficult for County Magistrate Ye to suddenly build over 200 houses?"
"That's right. We've been living outdoors for several months now. If we just hold on a little longer, everything will be different once we move into our new house!"
The crowd became noisy again with these echoing voices. Ye Yunzhao looked at the man called Xianjiang and smiled at him to show his gratitude.
When the group hurriedly arrived at the Lingnan area, they met many farmers from Dongxiang who were tilling the fields. Although everyone greeted Ye Yunzhao with a smile, they always looked at the group of "dirty people" behind her intentionally or unintentionally.
Perhaps it was for this reason that Ye Yunzhao and his group saw a man standing outside the gate before they even reached the county government office.
She looked closely and saw County Magistrate Han with his eyes wide open.
Ye Yunzhao had made the decision to take in the beggar without authorization. She quickened her pace, hurried forward, stood in front of County Magistrate Han, winked at him, and pulled him towards the county government office.
Seeing Liu Mazi, Ye Yunzhao hurriedly said, "Liu Yayi, quickly boil some hot water so that the newcomers from Lingnan County can have a simple bath."
After saying that, he hurriedly pushed Han County Magistrate away. Ye Yunzhao chuckled and took the opportunity to shift the blame: "Don't blame me for this. It was the prefect who gave the order, and I couldn't refuse!"
"Since we are here, we should make the best of it. The prefect has allocated eleven taels of silver for these one hundred and eighty beggars." Ye Yunzhao said as he handed the silver in his arms to him, leaving him speechless.
Ye Yunzhao slipped away immediately, leaving County Magistrate Han standing there alone, with hundreds of horses galloping through his mind:
%&#*/#&%#Are there a hundred or eighty people?!!!
Ye Yunzhao sneezed. She was not idle either. She had important things to do. It would probably be midnight by the time these two hundred people finished bathing.
Ye Yunzhao found two yamen runners and went to the east and west townships respectively. He explained the situation to the villagers and asked them to clean up the ground where the grain was used to dry. If there were any unused hemp mats or thatch mats, they should take them out and let the newcomers use them so that they would have a place to rest for a while.
Fortunately, the chill only came at night these past few days, and even though we didn't have a blanket, we could still get through it by huddling together. If it were winter, without a blanket at night, we'd probably freeze to death the next day.
Housing is one thing, food is another.
Eating is not difficult. When I was a beggar, I must have been hungry for a long time. When I suddenly had to eat at night, I couldn’t eat greasy food, otherwise it would upset my stomach and cause more trouble.
Ye Yunzhao planned to cook some mushroom and multi-grain porridge, mixing old rice with corn and sprinkling it with fresh and fragrant diced mushrooms. It would be filling and delicious.
She skillfully carried her large bamboo basket on her back and was about to leave the county government office when the crowd in the courtyard suddenly became noisy.
Liu Mazi said in a high-pitched voice: "Why are you still pretending now?"
【Author’s words】
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