There was plenty of space on the donkey cart, so Li Xue took the initiative to invite Widow Zhang to ride back with her.
Widow Zhang looked at her patched clothes and smelled a slightly sour odor in her nose, which was the smell of sweat from working hard.
How could she have the nerve to get in the car?
I quickly shook my head and refused: "Thank you for your kindness, I will just walk back."
Li Xue tore off a piece of meat and chewed it, without forcing it.
Because Chu Qi didn't allow eating inside, Li Xue sat in the front seat.
Leaning against Chu Qi's broad chest in a relaxed manner, a fox was in a good mood. The chicken legs tonight were really delicious.
"Husband, do you want to eat?"
She raised her hand and placed the chicken leg precisely to the young man's mouth.
Chu Qi took a small bite just for the sake of politeness.
The one going out this time is Ermao.
The donkey's fur had not been washed and scrubbed yet, and some of the hair was clumping together, making it look very dirty.
Chu Qi called out softly, "Let's go, Ermao."
The donkey moved at the sound, and slowly followed Chu Qi's lead, walking along with Widow Zhang.
Widow Zhang got a good job today. She was so happy that she just wanted to share her joy with her daughter at home as soon as possible.
She walked briskly, as if rarely before, and hurried home.
Her family lives in a slum. The people here are all those with the lowest monthly income. Even the houses they live in are not good ones, they are all thatched huts.
But one thing is consoling, although it is a shabby thatched hut, it belongs to them.
Widow Zhang's thatched cottage was where her relatives let her and her daughter live as "compensation" after they took away the Chunfeng Restaurant, which belonged to her late husband.
But the house still belongs to the relatives, and they only have the right to live in it but no other rights.
When Widow Zhang returned to her home, she suddenly saw a lot of men gathered at the door, and her daughter was being pulled by a thin man.
“What do you want to do!!”
Widow Zhang's face changed drastically and she rushed forward to hug her daughter.
"Mom, you're back..." Zhang Zhizhi's face was full of tears, and her thin body was twitching as she cried.
The thin man who was pulling Zhang Zhizhi spread his hands and said helplessly:
"Widow Zhang, we are not trying to make things difficult for you. You can't pay back the money, and that person can't wait any longer. He wants us to take your daughter back to pay off the debt."
"Here, this is one or two taels for you. Take it and live a good life in the future..."
The thin man took out a silver ingot from his trouser pocket and was about to give it to Widow Zhang.
Widow Zhang didn't answer. "I've found a job that pays more. I can pay back the money in half a year."
"The magistrate ordered me to pay back the money, but he didn't say how long I had to pay it back!"
She pressed her daughter tightly into her arms, as if she was holding a lost treasure that had been found again.
Isn't it true? Now that her husband is dead, her daughter is her only relative.
She couldn't rely on her natal family, and her husband's relatives sucked her blood, stole her husband's things, and drove her out of the house.
"Mom, Zhizhi is scared." Zhang Zhizhi also hugged her mother back tightly.
Hearing this, the thin man said in surprise:
"Where did you find such a high salary?"
If you pay it back in half a year, one month’s salary is not low.
Widow Zhang glared at him and said, "Don't worry about it. I can pay it back anyway. Go back and tell Liu Neng that I will pay him back part of it every month, and I can pay it back in half a year."
The thin man wanted to argue more, but suddenly he glanced at the donkey cart that followed Widow Zhang. He saw the man in the front seat and his pupils shrank.
That's not—
Are you the county magistrate who just arrived in Pingyao County today?
He went along to watch the fun today, and the county magistrate looked very memorable.
This widow actually had the support of the county magistrate.
The thin man didn't dare to argue anymore and ran away with the three servants.
Widow Zhang took her daughter's hand, went into the house to pack her things, and followed the donkey cart back to the county magistrate's mansion.
The next day, Zhuang Qiuyi sat at the door and continued recruiting, and soon recruited the remaining people.
Chu Qi went to work at the county government office.
The emperor is far away and the sky is high, so even a small official can become a local emperor.
Pingyao County is 8,000 miles away from the capital, and is almost on the border of the Qing Dynasty.
Another five hundred miles ahead is where the generals and soldiers stationed on the border are stationed.
However, the northwest region is bitterly cold, and the generals and soldiers don't have a good life.
There is no business here, so it is very poor.
The county magistrate received an annual salary of thirty-six taels, and was eligible to select an aide to assist him in his daily work.
In addition to the staff, there are also twenty yamen runners under him, who also cooperate with the county magistrate in his work on a daily basis.
Among the twenty yamen runners, two servants were selected to serve as jailers, responsible for guarding the prison.
Aides can also be called advisors.
As this was the "property" that the previous county magistrate did not take away, the legal advisor was very worried.
He is just an uneducated and unscrupulous person, and he relies on his family's wealth to buy him an "official position" for fun. He wonders if he will be fired by the new county magistrate?
Chu Qi, wearing a dark blue official uniform, entered the yamen. The lawyer came up to him with a big smile on his face:
"You are here, County Magistrate."
Chu Qi nodded, and then said: "Bring the county's expenditure and income records."
She wanted to see where all the expenses of the county government went. That's why the county magistrate's mansion and the county government were so shabby.
You know, even though there is not much money to be made here because of poverty.
However, as a benevolent ruler of the time, the emperor did not treat his officials harshly.
Not only did the emperor pay the county magistrate an annual salary of thirty-six taels of silver, but he also took care of the salaries of all his subordinates.
In addition, additional silver and money are distributed every year for the maintenance of the county government and local areas. Although the amount is not much, it is at least thirty taels.
The labor cost is not expensive. Thirty taels can at least repair the gate of the county government, right?
When Chu Qi came in just now, he saw that the drum that played the drumming music was in a terrible state and no one knew how to repair it.
And that road should also be repaired...
Yesterday she sat in the front seat of the carriage and was deeply troubled by the bumpy ground. It was like experiencing an advanced version of a rocking car.
Upon hearing this, the lawyer thought to himself that it seemed that the new county magistrate was also a corrupt official.
The first thing you need is the income and expenditure files.
It would be easy to deal with if he is a corrupt official, he can just continue to be his aide by paying him.
He was secretly delighted and hurriedly took the case file and handed it to Chu Qi.
Chu Qi sat in the office study inside the county government office, slowly looking at the notes on it.
Ten years ago, Zhang Sheng, as a juren, accepted an official appointment from the imperial court and came to Pingyao County to serve as the county magistrate.
He served in this position for ten years until Chu Qi came to replace him.
During these ten years, no one knew where Zhang Sheng spent the 30 taels of subsidy he received each year.
Looking at the records above, it was used to build roads, city gates, and government offices; she didn't believe a word of it.
Although thirty taels is not a lot of money, it is completely possible to repair the dilapidated county government office and the dilapidated main road if the labor cost is cheap.
And she observed that there was no sign of repair on the county government office, nor on the road.
After reading the case, Chu Qi held his forehead and said:
"Master, you don't want to lose this identity, do you?"
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