Chapter 705: Robbery
Strictly speaking, this was the first gift Manbao received from a patient, but the gift was too complicated.
Manbao slumped his shoulders, lowered his head and walked in, waving his hand and saying, "I understand, Aunt Rong. Just keep it if he brings it. I'm so hungry. Is the food ready?"
"It's all ready. You can eat first and then wash up," Aunt Rong said distressedly. Turning around, she remembered her original intention and said quickly, "But this firewood takes up too much space. When Master comes back in two days, Thursday, there will be no place to put the car."
Although the weather is getting colder and the need for firewood is increasing, Aunt Rong still buys firewood only once every three days and piles the purchased firewood in a fixed corner.
Occasionally, Zhou Silang would bring back a cart of firewood when he went to the countryside to sell grain. If there was more, he would put it in the corner outside the wall. Even if someone occasionally came to touch some, they wouldn't be able to take much.
But today, the man who came to deliver the firewood seemed to be afraid that she would not accept it, so he dropped the things down and ran away after leaving only a word. He went back and forth three times and she didn't say a word.
Manbao and the others took a look at the firewood piled in the corner, and it really took up quite a lot of space.
They resigned themselves to their fate, put down their things, and moved the firewood outside to the alley.
Fortunately, their house is the last one in the alley, otherwise they would not be able to let it out.
Of course, this matter had nothing to do with Mr. Zhuang, so Mr. Zhuang went to wash up, while Manbao and the other four dragged the firewood out.
Daji carried a handful of firewood in each hand and moved quite quickly. Manbao only had to run twice to clear all the firewood in the corner.
No one bothered to look at the mess they had made at the end of the alley, and hurried to wash their hands and prepare to eat. They were so tired and hungry.
After finishing their meal and washing up, Mr. Zhuang called Manbao over to ask, "I was so busy today that I couldn't come over to see you. Do you have many patients?"
Man Bao said, "Not many. We've basically seen all the patients in front of the clinic today. But tomorrow there should be some patients coming for follow-up visits, or maybe some new patients."
Mr. Zhuang nodded.
Manbao asked curiously, "Sir, where is County Magistrate Tang? Why can't I see him?"
Mr. Zhuang laughed and said, "You forgot that he wants to distribute land to the refugees and is currently supervising the construction of houses for them to live in."
Bai Shan, who was drowsy listening nearby, became more alert and said, "Winter is almost here. If we don't build houses, so many people will be sleeping outside and I'm afraid they'll freeze to death."
Mr. Zhuang nodded. "The houses these refugees lived in were all left over from the disaster. At most, they had some thatched roofs added to them, but they hadn't been repaired much. They couldn't keep out the cold."
Manbao felt relieved when he knew that County Magistrate Tang also had something to do.
Mr. Zhuang glanced at her, waved Bai Shan and Bai Erlang away, then pinched her ear and whispered a warning, "I occasionally hear some refugees talking about how they're planning to take the medicine and relief porridge and rice and try their luck in Luojiang County. Did you instigate this?"
Manbao lowered his head guiltily and whispered, "Sir, there's no wasteland in Yizhou City, but we have some in Luojiang County. Anyway, we're short of land here and we're short of people there, so let them go. It's a way to survive after all."
Mr. Zhuang tapped her forehead and said, "You, this matter is very complicated. It's not as simple as you think."
"Sir, do you think this is a way out for them?" Manbao said, "If they just go there, County Magistrate Yang will definitely make sure they are settled."
Mr. Zhuang thought about it, then turned a blind eye and said, "Alright, I don't care. But you're not allowed to mention this matter again. Do you think this is really a good thing for the two adults? There are many ways to make a living. You're blocking someone's way to wealth, don't you understand?"
Manbao was confused: "I don't understand, how am I blocking someone's path to wealth?"
Mr. Zhuang hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "You'll understand when you grow up a little. Forget it. It's late today, and you have to go to the medical tent tomorrow. Go to bed."
Manbao went back confused, and didn't realize who he was blocking until he fell asleep.
County Magistrate Tang took off his dirty coat in disgust and threw it aside. The servant immediately brought hot water and placed it on the shelf in the shed.
County Magistrate Tang asked the legal advisor who followed him in to wash his hands as well.
The two of them sat down at the table, and County Magistrate Tang drank a bowl of soup, and only then did he feel better in his stomach.
He had been busy since he opened his eyes, and now he could finally eat a hot meal. He brushed back the hair that had fallen on his chest and asked the attendant who was serving him the meal, "Do you think Yang Heshu can endure this hardship?"
Before the attendant could say anything, the advisor chuckled and said, "Sir, Luojiang County has done the best job in settling the refugees. Otherwise, Sir Yang wouldn't have been impeached by several counties for kidnapping people."
County Magistrate Tang sighed, "Resettling a group of refugees is more tiring than handling a major case. There are so many trivial matters to deal with. There are also many troublesome things."
The master smiled, lowered his head and started eating quickly. He was also very hungry.
After they had eaten their fill and felt less hungry, they began to speak. "Sir, Chief Clerk Ding has sold several copies of the register. Recently, not only have the refugees who didn't get any land been recruited by several families, but even some families who did get land have secretly lost their register and gone to those families. Do you think we should punish them?"
County Magistrate Tang frowned and asked, "Was he captured, or did he volunteer?"
"From what I understand, it's all voluntary. With the promise of benefits, it's natural that many people will leave."
County Magistrate Tang clenched his fist and said, "This kind of thing continues despite repeated bans. But they are really despicable. These refugees have been here all this time, homeless and hungry. They didn't recruit them before, but now I want to arrange for them to go, and now they think of snatching people from me!"
The lawyer lowered his eyes. The master was so smart, there was no way he couldn't guess the reason.
Three years ago, Yizhou was hit by a flood. Not only Yizhou City, but also several towns and villages below it were devastated. Nine out of ten houses were empty, and the remaining households might contain only widows and orphans.
Those powerless and poor people who fled to other places, who knows if they are still alive? Even if they are alive, who knows if they will come back?
So at that time, anyone who was able to do so rushed to stock up the fields that had been destroyed by the flood.
Some landlords just quietly moved the boundary stones, or took advantage of the situation to rob and buy land at low prices from refugees returning home, but several big families in Yizhou City did not even have to pay a low price.
They just had to go to the government office and with a stroke of the pen, the fertile land turned into wasteland, and then the wasteland became land under their name, which only required two procedures.
At that time, Yizhou City was in turmoil. From the Jiedushi to the clerk, everyone was arrested. Even the King of Yizhou was repeatedly impeached because of the flood.
So when County Magistrate Tang received the appointment from the court and came to Yizhou City, there were more landlords than poor people in Yizhou City. Similarly, a lot of land, both those that should be occupied and those that should not be occupied, had been occupied.
The next update will be around 4:00 PM
(End of this chapter)
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