Chapter 2601 Division of Labor
Censor Liang sat by the fire, stretched out his feet to take off his shoes, and an indescribable smell came over. Bai Shan fanned himself, turned around, changed his seat and sat down.
As a result, County Magistrate Tang also took off his shoes and socks.
Bai Shan looked at them and asked, "Do you still have socks?"
County Magistrate Tang sighed and said, "All the clothes I wore before have been washed and hung up in the city."
Bai Shan frowned, but for the sake of his nose, he gave them three new pairs of socks.
When everyone saw it, they immediately took it with joy and said with a smile, "Master Bai is still very particular."
Bai Shan took things out of his bag and first placed the medicine bag he had been wearing today by the fire to roast it, letting it slowly emit the medicinal smell and drive away the mosquitoes that were buzzing around them.
Then he took out a bottle of ointment, opened it and smelled it.
Tang He took one look and immediately asked, "What is this?"
Bai Shan handed him the ointment and said, "It's refreshing. I'm feeling quite nauseous."
Tang He opened it and smelled it, feeling a lot of coolness, instantly refreshing his mind. He smiled and handed it to Censor Liang and Censor Ren who were watching him intently, saying, "You still have a lot of good stuff on you."
The two imperial censors nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Lord Bai has a virtuous wife."
Bai Shan ignored them. They had been using his things quite a lot in the past two days, and he thought they were really frugal. It was just troublesome for them to carry things themselves, so they would still use them if someone brought them.
Lord Tang walked barefoot on the grass and washed his hands in a puddle. Then he took the baked cake from his attendant, sat down casually on the grass, and asked, "Are we going to the village tomorrow?"
Censor Liang said, "This is a large village, with 167 households. If there weren't so few villages nearby, it could be a large market. Fortunately, the village heads intervened today, otherwise their hoes might have really hit us on the head."
Censor Ren sneered, "Do you think the governor is kindhearted? If we hadn't died, they would have been guilty of treason, and things would have gotten even more out of control. Do you think they would have stopped us?"
He said, "I think the main culprits here are those two village heads. Look, we've visited quite a few villages in the past few days and have been able to appease most of them. Even though they believed the rumors and are dissatisfied with the court, they dare not and are reluctant to uproot the young crops. But look around at this entire village."
Censor Ren was heartbroken. "Such a good seedling, it has grown so tall, and they are willing to pull it out. I don't believe that there is no one who is contributing to the fire."
Bai Shan also took a look at the fields next to him. Although it was dark, the moonlight shining on the water in the fields made it possible to see the situation in the fields clearly. Most of the young seedlings in the fields had been pulled out.
He sighed. If he pulled out the seedlings at this time, he wouldn't be able to replant them.
Lord Tang said while chewing on a piece of bread, "So tomorrow we have to find a way to lure away the two village heads, and then go into the village and talk to the villagers."
Bai Shan asked, "How do you lead it?"
Just as Lord Tang was about to speak, a guard of the Imperial Guards came up and said, "Sir, the two lichangs are here."
Mr. Tang smiled and said, "Isn't it coming now?"
He asked someone to bring up the two village heads.
They did not come alone, they were followed by some young and strong men carrying two large baskets.
Bai Shan sniffed and whispered, "It smells like steamed buns and dumplings."
The two village heads came up at a trot, knelt down in front of Tang He, and kowtowed repeatedly, "I am sorry for scaring you today. I am guilty, a great sin."
Tang He, without even putting on his shoes or socks, quickly stepped forward to help the man up, and said righteously, "What are you talking about, old man? If you hadn't intervened today, I'm afraid we would have been beaten to death by the mob."
He was filled with anger. "How dare a bunch of unruly people attack an official of the imperial court? When I return to the capital and report to His Majesty, I will send the imperial guards to wipe them out."
The two village heads' faces froze, and they quickly said, "Please forgive them, sir. They are ignorant. When they saw you bringing so many officials into the village, they thought you were going to forcibly reclaim the land, and that's why they acted impulsively. Please give us a chance. We would never dare to accuse them of being a mob."
Lord Tang frowned.
The village head immediately moved closer to Lord Tang and calmly stuffed a purse into his hand. He whispered, "Please forgive me, Lord..."
Lord Tang pinched the purse and could feel that it contained silver. It was definitely not copper coins. Such a big piece was not a small amount.
The village head was so generous to him, he seemed to be very rich.
Lord Tang stuffed it directly into his sleeve.
The village head was immediately delighted to see him accept it. He quickly turned around and had two large baskets brought up. He opened the lids, letting everyone see the steaming buns and dumplings inside. He bent down and said, "My lords, I guess you haven't eaten yet. This village is poor, and we don't have much to offer. So I asked my family to prepare some buns and dumplings. I hope you won't mind."
Tang He swallowed his saliva. Although he wanted to eat, he didn't dare to eat it. So he smiled and nodded, saying, "That's great. You can stay."
He said, "Since it's my father-in-law who's pleading for them, I'll give them another chance. So, tomorrow morning, the two of you will come with me back to the Governor's Mansion to meet someone. There will be some documents that need to be signed, so I can have an explanation when I return."
He said with a hint of meaning, "I have come all the way from the capital to perform meritorious service. If I fail to complete my mission, I will make those who do not let me live well suffer."
When the two village heads heard this, they immediately said, "Yes, yes, we understand." But they were secretly complaining, thinking that how could it be a thousand miles from the capital to here when it was only over a hundred miles away?
Lord Tang asked them to leave.
After the people left, a clerk came up with a dog and took out two steamed buns and dumplings from the deep of the two baskets to feed the dog. Everyone closed the lids again and drooled at them.
A secretary from the Governor's Mansion couldn't help but ask, "Sir, are we being too cautious? There are so many of us, and we are all court officials. Do they dare to poison us?"
Lord Tang pulled the purse from his sleeve, tossed it, and tossed it to Censor Ren, asking him to record it. Hearing this, he said, "It's not wrong to be cautious. From my childhood, I've been responsible for so many tragedies caused by such carelessness."
Bai Shanze asked, "Who will enter the village tomorrow?"
Master Tang smiled at him and asked, "What do you think, my junior brother?"
"I can go in," Bai Shan said, "I've taken a rough look today and noted down the main troublemakers. I'll avoid them when I go in next time, but you have to leave the majority of them to me."
Lord Tang looked at the two censors. They came down to continue investigating the affairs of Qizhou and to keep an eye on them, so one of them must stay.
After thinking for a moment, Censor Ren said, "I'll stay."
Lord Tang nodded and said, "Okay, I will only take two guards and my entourage with me, and the rest will be left to you."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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