When Yan Qingqing heard the report from the visitor, she was first taken aback, and then patted her forehead.
How could she forget that? The rule was that no outsiders were allowed in, but she hadn't intended to exclude Ling Ziyuan as well.
These villagers are stubborn. He is the official in charge of Chengyang County. They dare to stop him. Aren't they afraid that Ling Ziyuan will settle scores with them later?
In the past, these people would tremble when they saw government officials. Even Li Kaishan almost couldn't stand up when he first met Ling Ziyuan.
Now, it's gotten really bad; anyone dares to stop Magistrate Ling. I don't know who gave them the guts.
If Magistrate Ling heard this, he would definitely scoff at it. Isn't it obvious who gave them the audacity?
They saw Yan Qingqing often, and although Yan Qingqing was a third-rank official, they had never been asked to perform the proper etiquette.
Even if things don't go well, there's still Li Xiangping, a seventh-rank agricultural official, who's on par with Magistrate Ling.
They still call them "uncle" and "elder brother" when they see them.
Magistrate Ling was not a rare visitor to Canghe Village; having seen him so often, they naturally lost their sense of awe.
Yan Qingqing knew that Ling Ziyuan was petty and that she might offend him by saying something wrong.
If we keep him out this time, he might get really angry.
Since we're all officials in the same court, we can't afford to make things too ugly.
Thinking of this, Yan Qingqing quickly put on a thick cloak and went to the village entrance to meet Ling Ziyuan.
When Yan Qingqing arrived, Ling Ziyuan indeed had a sour face.
Yan Qingqing quickly smiled apologetically and said, "Oh dear, Magistrate Ling has come from afar, I am truly sorry for not welcoming you properly."
Ling Ziyuan coldly replied, "I am not worthy of being personally welcomed by Lord Ming Zhaoshuo. I was already turned away at the village gate by these few unruly people. How could I dare to trouble you?"
Several patrolmen were displeased when they heard Magistrate Ling ridicule Yan Qingqing.
You can call them troublemakers, but you absolutely cannot speak disrespectfully to these virtuous and powerful people.
Then Wang Wugang, the leader of the group, said, "Your Excellency, it is the rule of our Canghe Village that outsiders are not allowed to enter."
This has nothing to do with Ming Zhaoshuo. You can call us troublemakers, but you can't speak rudely to Ming Zhaoshuo.
Wang Wugang had been in the patrol team the longest and had the most authority.
He also goes to Yan Qingqing's house to learn some martial arts, and now he is practically the village's head.
Ling Ziyuan gave Wang Wugang a cold look after hearing his words, and Wang Wugang immediately shuddered and shrank behind Yan Qingqing, not daring to say a word.
They were just ordinary people, and they only dared to refute Yan Qingqing because of her influence.
Now that they realized what had happened, they broke out in a cold sweat, realizing they had really lost their minds.
Seeing this, Yan Qingqing said, "Alright, don't make things difficult for them. This matter was decided by me and the village chiefs of several villages."
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
They were just following orders. Besides, we didn't mean to stop you; we just forgot to make it clear when we gave the instructions.
If you have something important to say, you can come in and talk to me. If you don't want to come in, you can talk to me here.
If there's nothing urgent, I'll head back.
Upon hearing this, Ling Ziyuan immediately lost his temper, knowing very well what kind of temper Yan Qingqing had.
She's usually easy to talk to, but once she gets angry, she won't give anyone face.
However, he secretly thought to himself that this woman was too materialistic; she didn't act this way when she needed him.
He'd been wandering around in this cold wind for ages; she could at least say something nice to coax him.
Seeing that Magistrate Ling hadn't replied for a long time, Yan Qingqing turned around and was about to go back.
Upon seeing this, Magistrate Ling disregarded everything else and quickly left Steward Ling behind to follow.
Butler Ling pursed his lips at his master's pathetic state and followed helplessly.
When they arrived at the Li family's house, the gatekeeper saw that Yan Qingqing had returned and quickly took out the prepared alcohol to disinfect them.
Ling Ziyuan was soaked as soon as he entered the door. He was about to get angry, but when he saw Yan Qingqing washing her hands with the liquid, he didn't say anything.
This is probably the disinfection that Yan Qingqing was talking about.
Magistrate Ling followed Yan Qingqing to the flower hall and asked Ruyi to bring over a few more braziers.
Ling Ziyuan felt warm and comfortable under the fire.
He doesn't want to deal with those messy things outside anymore. Why did he have to agree to the emperor's request to become a lowly county magistrate in this place?
But despite the complaints, the things that needed to be done still had to be done.
Magistrate Ling explained the current situation to Yan Qingqing.
Finally, he added, "Sometimes I really want to quit, but I can't just abandon these people and ignore them."
Yan Qingqing comforted her, saying, "Actually, you've done quite well. This matter is inherently difficult, and sometimes you can't just use forceful methods."
These ordinary people are kind-hearted at heart; sometimes, a combination of kindness and firmness to influence them is far more effective than simply issuing orders.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Ling sighed and said, "I know all that you're saying, but how easy is it to change their minds?"
Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "I'm shameless, so I'll volunteer myself and let you use me as a ready-made example."
We must clearly tell the people that only by working together can we overcome this difficult time; even if we have a lot of money, it's all for nothing if we don't live to spend it.
Magistrate Ling was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. What did Yan Qingqing mean by that?
Seeing his confusion, Yan Qingqing told him about her decision to use her family's resources to help everyone get through this difficult time.
Yan Qingqing said, "The embroidery workshop is working overnight to produce masks, and a batch has already been shipped."
Magistrate Ling will send someone to take over and distribute the masks to those who have had frequent contact with the disaster victims, as well as to the victims themselves, to prevent cross-infection.
Then we'll expand this to Chengyang County. Even if each family makes a few masks, it won't use much fabric.
There's also the issue of grain; I've already asked Xiang Ping to go to other counties to purchase it.
He sent word yesterday that he had already contacted a grain merchant and received 200,000 dan of grain.
But this batch of food is for the soldiers who are guarding our northern border.
In addition, I also have a lot of grain in my granary, and I took out more than half of it to distribute porridge to the disaster victims.
Magistrate Ling was shocked to hear this; Yan Qingqing was preparing to go bankrupt!
Two hundred thousand dan of grain would cost a lot of silver; a conservative estimate would be five or six hundred thousand taels.
The Li family has only been in business for less than two years, and five or six hundred thousand is probably all they can come up with.
In fact, Magistrate Ling's guess was correct. This is all the silver the Li family can currently offer.
However, Yan Qingqing and the others had also prepared a backup plan; neither she nor Yuan Huiniang touched their private treasury.
In particular, Yan Qingqing has received quite a few gifts in the past two years, so the family's basic needs such as food, drink, and sanitation are not a problem at all.
After being shocked, Ling Ziyuan stood up and bowed deeply to Yan Qingqing, saying, "Ming Zhaoshuo is a man of great virtue and integrity. I, Ling Ziyuan, have never admired anyone in my life. You are the only one."
Having grown accustomed to Ling Ziyuan's carefree and irresponsible manner, Yan Qingqing felt a little embarrassed to see him so serious now.
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