Chapter 608: Inspection (Happy birthday to book friend "Bei Ye Xingchen")
When the Ming governor caught up with the county magistrate Tang, the county magistrate immediately stood aside obediently, and only followed respectfully after the superior walked to the front.
After leaving the palace, the Ming governor said to the Tang magistrate in a dignified manner, "Follow me into the carriage. I have something to tell you."
County Magistrate Tang bowed and replied "Yes".
As soon as he got on the carriage and lowered the curtain, the Ming governor glared at him and said, "You're really getting bolder. Even if it's because of the Yizhou Palace, you should be more tactful."
County Magistrate Tang's face was cold as he sneered, "That's already being polite. Do you know how many people were killed or injured on Main Street today?"
The Ming governor sighed, "There were too many people at the time, so casualties were inevitable."
"It can be waived," County Magistrate Tang said angrily, lowering his voice. "I didn't agree to build the platform in the first place. If we wanted something lively, we could have just invited Nuo opera and held boat races. He insisted on riding floats and building the platform. How much did the Nuo opera and boat races cost? How much did it cost to build the platform and floats for him?"
County Magistrate Tang said with heartache, "Thirteen civilians were trampled to death today, and over a hundred were injured. The pain in Yizhou is barely easing."
The Ming governor also stopped talking.
He was transferred here after Governor Yan was escorted to the capital. He took office three months earlier than County Magistrate Tang. He knew better what the Yizhou city was like after the disaster.
It is no exaggeration to say that nine out of ten houses are empty.
At that time, when you walked on the streets, you would see either dilapidated houses everywhere or a few beggars on the streets. There were very few normal people.
It took him and County Magistrate Tang more than two years to get the fleeing people of Yizhou to return and settle down again. This year, the depressed Yizhou city has finally recovered some of its vitality and has become a place to live in peace.
The Ming governor sighed.
Magistrate Tang rubbed his forehead and covered his red eyes with his sleeve. He said in a hoarse voice, "I have to go back and comfort the people. I also have to comfort the families of the deceased and resettle the villagers trapped in the city. Otherwise, if we really close the city gates for three days, I'm afraid chaos will break out in the city first."
The Ming governor also nodded. "It's been less than three years since the flood in Yizhou ended. It's very easy for unrest to break out. You should be cautious. If you really can't hold on, open a small door, search, and release the people."
Magistrate Tang rolled down his sleeves and asked, "What about the King of Yizhou?"
The Ming governor smiled meaningfully and said, "Master Zhang is there, so we don't need to worry about him."
At this point, the Ming governor could not help but admonish him, "Hey, son of an aristocratic family, control your temper. This is Yizhou City, not the capital. This is the fiefdom of the King of Yizhou. Next time you encounter something like this, you should admit defeat. You, a sixth-rank magistrate, are rushing to offend a prince. You really are..."
"Blame me?" County Magistrate Tang sneered. "The Yizhou Palace took money from the government office, but they hired the Nuo opera in their own name. They were responsible for everything here, and now I'm the one who's responsible for everything. That's fine, but the assassin escaped into Huayang County, and I should have sent people to investigate. But he refused to let me intervene and directly took over the county government, stationed troops, and sent the palace guards to lead the investigation. How do you expect me to respond?"
He was already quite accommodating by saying this. If it were in the capital...
Bah, he doesn't even need to say a word, the censor will drown him with spit.
The Ming governor also felt that the King of Yizhou was going too far, but one had to bow his head under the eaves. After all, this was the King of Yizhou's fiefdom.
The Ming governor sighed, "Yizhou is such a fertile land, why did the late emperor give it away as a fiefdom?"
County Magistrate Tang said nothing.
The Ming governor sent the man to the county office. When he was about to leave after dropping him off, he saw that the office was deserted. He felt sorry for him and lifted the curtain to ask, "Do you want me to transfer a few people to help you?"
County Magistrate Tang waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary.
After he entered, he said to the guards who stayed behind: "Ring the bell and order all the officials outside to come back."
"They all followed the palace guards and when the guards asked..."
"Don't worry, I'll hold up the sky if it falls." And there are two taller people above him.
When the yamen runner heard this, he went to beat the drum.
The officers who were searching house to house heard the sound of a bell from afar and realized it was an urgent imperial decree, so they immediately stopped searching and ran straight to the county government office.
The palace guards were about to stop them, but one of them said, "Forget it, let them go. County Magistrate Tang dared to summon them directly. Perhaps it was an order from the prince."
The guard thought so too.
Not long after the runners left, two of them came back breathlessly, saying, "Lord Tang asked us to assist the guards in the search. We're mainly there to lead the way so we don't miss anyone."
The guards' expressions brightened slightly, and they asked, "Why did Lord Tang summon you back?"
"It seems they are guarding the city gate. There are quite a few people gathered there now, and it's very dangerous."
The guards understood as soon as they heard it. It seemed that the city gate was closed and there was a shortage of manpower over there.
County Magistrate Tang called people back not just to guard the city gates, but also to collect the dead bodies, comfort the families of the deceased, and prevent them from causing trouble.
I also need to make arrangements with all the pharmacies to treat the injured first and advance the medical expenses. In the end, they might be the ones who pay for it...
He also had to go to the city gate to appease the people to prevent anyone from inciting innocent people to do wrong things, and to check for assassins along the way.
County Magistrate Tang felt that half of his head was bald, and tonight would be another sleepless night.
Manbao and the others slept soundly. They climbed into bed as soon as it got dark. They were tired, hungry and scared today, so as soon as they lay down on the bed, Manbao's eyelids became heavy and he fell asleep in a short while.
Manbao felt like she had just closed her eyes and fallen asleep. As she was drifting off in her sweet dream, she suddenly heard a loud "pop" sound. Manbao jumped in her sleep and tried hard to open her eyes, but found it was futile...
Then there was a loud "bang" and Manbao was startled. He jumped up from the bed and covered his pounding heart. Someone outside was shouting, "Open the door quickly! The authorities are conducting a search!"
Manbao had just lifted the quilt when Daji had already opened the door. He bowed and explained in a flattering manner, "The owner of the house has gone to bed, so I really didn't hear it."
Manbao opened the door, and Bai Shanbao next door also opened the door. They saw a team of guards holding torches rushing in, and screams were heard from the next door. It was obvious that the neighbor's house had also been searched.
Mr. Zhuang also opened the door and came out. The leading guard glanced at them and waved his hand, saying, "Search them!"
Zhou Silang saw them rummaging through things roughly and smashing the bottles and jars when they searched the kitchen. He couldn't help but frown.
Bai Erlang sat on the edge of the bed, watching them rummage in a daze, and dragged out the money box he had placed under the bed.
He came to his senses with a start, and immediately held up his money box, saying, "This is my box."
"Let go, I'm waiting to find the assassin."
Bai Erlang looked at the box under his hand, which was only slightly larger than his head, and said speechlessly, "How can such a small box contain an assassin?"
good evening
(End of this chapter)
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