County Magistrate Lu shook his head. This was a greedy wolf; he even wanted to take the diseased refugees.
But in this world, those who make the most money and live the best are actually the most unscrupulous, despicable, and vicious merchants.
Truman smiled slightly: "Sir, people who are too kind don't make much money; they'll be eaten alive."
County Magistrate Lu thought back to himself, and realized that if it weren't for people like this, he would never have been able to afford a large courtyard house with seven courtyards on his salary alone.
Hehe, the world is like this, and there are more people like this, the better.
At first, Master Jin acted as a background figure, silently adding tea for Chu Men, and then gently coughed once when standing in Lu Chao's room.
But the person seemed not to hear.
Master Jin sighed, "They're courting death."
The short-sighted county magistrate.
Anyone who isn't a fool can see that the plague outside the city is gradually spreading.
At this time, if you allow some merchants who only know how to make quick money to secretly transport refugees into the city, and once the epidemic spreads, I think your job as the county magistrate who allowed them into the city will be over.
That's practically suicide in a latrine.
Ah, it's not the adults' fault, it's just that the silver notes were too tempting.
According to the clerk's monthly salary, it was about 500 cash, and 5 taels a year.
It would take two hundred years to accumulate a thousand taels.
Thinking of this, Master Jin sighed. It was time.
He coughed a few times, his face turning red, and said in a hoarse voice, "Master, I haven't been feeling well these past few days. Could I ask for leave to stay home?"
Lu Chao was taken aback. "Hmm."
"Could the master please... take the wages and use them to buy some medicine?"
Lu Chao nodded and took out five qian of silver from the drawer. After thinking for a while, he changed it to four qian of silver.
He asked seriously, "There are still a few days left in this month, it's not a full month yet, is there a problem?"
Master Jin nodded: "No problem!"
Bullshit.
That son of a bitch is a real bastard.
Lu Chao said calmly, "I am also very frugal, wishing I could stretch every penny I have to be two."
After hesitating for a moment, Master Jin still braced himself and said, "Sir, if nothing unexpected happens, I may not come next time. I have an eighty-year-old mother to take care of, a ten-year-old child to feed, and a seventeen-year-old wife who asks for money. My family situation is complicated."
"Students staying near Dongweng is a waste of rice and water..."
Lu Chao remained silent for a long time before nodding and writing something on his desk that resembled an employment termination certificate indicating the expiration of his contract.
After hesitating for a long time, I still felt uneasy.
"Master, is it really so stifling to stay by my side?"
The clerk knelt on the ground, sobbing, "If it weren't for my family's circumstances, I would have loved to rely on you for the rest of my life. I'm so miserable, sob sob sob..."
A grown man knelt on the ground, crying, looking just like a pitiful little monkey.
Lu Chao simply couldn't bear to look.
He waved his hand and threw the paper on the ground.
The advisor kowtowed and left reluctantly.
Lu Chao suddenly said seriously, "Master, if you really can't bear to leave, there's no need to force yourself. Why not wait until you've recovered and come back?"
The advisor: "?"
"Holy crap, he's got a head!" she said with a shy smile, then replied dryly, "We'll see!"
He coughed deliberately, as if his lungs were about to burst out.
Lu Chao waved his hand dismissively.
...
The next day.
County government office.
Magistrate Su, Assistant Magistrate Lu, Clerk Duan, Registrar Shi, and others sat together.
The merchants stood quietly outside.
Lu Chao: "My lord, there are more and more refugees now, and they are all suffering from disease. Why don't you open the city gates and let those refugees in?"
Magistrate Su calmly looked at the other two: "What do you have to say?"
Shi Lang thought for a while and said carefully, "My lord, I don't know what's going on lately, but when I went down to maintain order, I found that many people were sick. If these refugees enter the city and infect the other healthy people, wouldn't it make things even more chaotic?"
Duan Wangshu pondered for a moment, then echoed, "This humble official feels that the idea of the benefactor coincides with my own."
Su Yong smiled but didn't say anything, just stared at Lu Chao.
It seems like I've said everything, yet it also seems like I've said nothing at all.
Lu Chao glared at the other two men and gritted his teeth, saying, "My lords, I believe that regardless of whether they are from this county or not, they are all citizens of our dynasty and deserve our protection."
We cannot ignore them just because they are refugees. I have heard that many refugees are already resentful that we are not opening the city gates and have begun to complain about the imperial court.
If left unchecked, wouldn't it be easy for unscrupulous refugees to exploit them and become rotten apples that corrupt the court?
Magistrate Su pondered for a moment and said, "There's no need for Assistant Magistrate Lu to worry. Refugees are people, and the people in the city are people too. I cannot, out of kindness, disregard the safety of the people in this city; that would be foolish."
It's even more irresponsible towards the thousands of people in the city.
It was clear that they couldn't reach an agreement.
The Chu family members below began to speak with smiles: "Sir, the Chu family is willing to help the refugees get medical treatment. The Chu family will also follow your example in building the quarantine zone. We will first establish the quarantine zone, and after the patients recover, we will go to other places to help other refugees?"
That's a good idea.
Use refugees to help other refugees.
Shi and Duan nodded repeatedly.
Su Yong calmly asked, "I wonder how much disaster relief money you plan to donate? Does the Chu family own several pawnshops in the city?"
Truman chuckled and said, "Sir, I wonder how much silver the Fu Family Study, which has been making headlines in the city lately, has contributed?"
The people below began to echo this.
Su Yong's expression was serious.
Meanwhile, the clerk coldly rebuked, "What do you know? A bunch of selfish bastards who know nothing but shouting!"
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