The guards, eager to prove themselves, paid no heed to Errui and Xiaoman's anxiety and led the group into the city towards the county government office.
The raincoat covering the wheelbarrow had been removed, leaving two baskets of fresh corn cobs exposed, drawing gasps of surprise from both sides of the road.
As the guards marched, they shouted, "Look everyone! These people are stealing grain!"
Pedestrians and vendors along the street all looked over, and some immediately shouted curses upon seeing the young corn: "You damned bastards! How could you cut off such tender corn like that! What a sin! Tell the magistrate to chop off their hands!"
Some people were curious: "Really? My corn has just been planted, and they can already eat it? No way, I have to learn!"
Hearing the commotion and discussions in the street, Tian Gui and the others buried their heads in their chests. They couldn't say a word and could only grit their teeth and push the cart forward.
Errui and Xiaoman were in a panic and shouted to the surrounding crowd, "We didn't steal it! It's what we grew ourselves. We wanted to go to the city to exchange it for grain. You've misunderstood!"
"Smack!"
"Shut up, or I'll beat you again. It's grain that's being stolen; who would trade grain for grain?"
As Errui was explaining to someone, he was hit on the back by a soldier's gun barrel. Exhausted from the night, he couldn't take it and was almost knocked to the ground.
Xiaoman grabbed Errui to steady herself, her eyes red with anger: "Don't you know anything? This is tender corn, we didn't steal or rob it, can't we even sell what we grew ourselves? You're hitting people randomly, we're going to report you to the authorities!"
Report this to the authorities!
Well, not only are people stealing grain now, but the thieves are also shouting to report it to the authorities. It's quite a spectacle.
Soon, patrol officers appeared from the crowd and separated the onlookers.
When Xiaoman saw Xiang Dejin nodding and shaking his head at her, her eyes immediately reddened, and she felt so wronged that she wanted to cry.
He almost hit me just now.
Once the yamen runners took over, the city gate guards left, and people were no longer allowed to beat or curse indiscriminately.
As more and more people gathered to watch, the commotion stretched from the city gate to outside the county government office, with a huge crowd following behind, as if half the city had come.
It was only a short time before dawn, and the government office had not yet opened. Zhang Zheng was also invited out from the back residence.
The drumbeats at the front of the court were deafening. Inside the county government office, Wu Hongmao and others had just finished dressing and standing guard when a group of people surged into the office.
Good heavens, the spacious courtyard was instantly filled to the brim, so much so that not even a needle could fit inside.
The yamen runners on duty separated the people, revealing the Xu family villagers pushing a cart inside, looking bewildered and disheveled.
When Zhang Zheng sat down in the main hall, he saw the biggest theft case he had ever seen since he became an official, and he was somewhat taken aback.
Two large baskets of tender corn, weighing probably 300 jin (150 kg), and each ear was neat and beautiful, showing that they had been carefully selected.
"Tell me what happened?" Zhang Zheng suppressed his curiosity and asked seriously.
He had already recognized Xu Errui and Xiaoman, but since they were in the main hall, he couldn't ask them separately in front of everyone.
By this time, the city gate guards had already left after handing the man over to the yamen runners. The clerk then recounted the process of reporting the case and pointed to the two large carts of green grain, saying loudly, "These farmers also said that it was their own corn, and because the village is short of food, they are preparing to sell it in advance to exchange for old grain to tide them over!"
The clerk also knew Xu Errui and his group, and... he had just been entrusted by the head constable and Wu Hongmao, and had also inquired about the details of the matter.
The same meaning, but with a little modification by him, instantly becomes different.
Xujia Village is short of food and urgently needs to exchange green grain for old grain to save its lives.
An uproar erupted in the crowd!
During the lean season, it's common for farmers to eagerly eat green wheat and tender vegetables.
There's no other way; if you live beyond your means, you'll still go hungry in the end.
Some people sighed and expressed their sympathy: "The vegetables on the ground can last for a few days now. If you eat green grains, what will you eat next year?"
"Yes! This is because young people don't know how to live life!"
A person can live a lifetime without going broke from eating or dressing poorly, but without careful planning, one can live a lifetime of poverty! Alas! It's so difficult!
Some people angrily rebuked: "Eating green grains is a sin, an offense against the local earth god, and there will be no harvest in the future!"
In this moment of agitation, Magistrate Zhang must be severely punished immediately as a warning!
When Magistrate Zhang saw Xu Errui and heard his advisor say that he was exchanging old grain for fresh grain to save lives, he understood what had happened.
When the Jiang family signed the agreement with the Huo family last time, they had to pay a sum of money.
He repeatedly emphasized that people's livelihood should be the priority. If the villagers were truly suffering from famine, Jiang, knowing the greater good, would surely use the money to buy grain to provide emergency relief.
Moreover, Jiang also said that Xujia Village practiced two-crop intercropping: one crop to earn money and the other to harvest grain.
He also asked Xu Errui to carefully record the planting process.
This was the first batch intended for exchanging for money, but... before even entering the city, they were caught and mistaken for thieves!
Zhang Zheng understood the situation, but he was also somewhat annoyed.
According to common custom and official laws, it is not permissible to damage grain at will, and there is no explicit provision prohibiting its sale, yet no one actually takes out such large quantities.
Jiang should have consulted me beforehand if he wanted to exchange tender corn for money. Selling it without permission is incredibly audacious!
He was absolutely right.
Jiang Zhi, who was not originally a vendor and whose understanding of commerce was limited to supermarkets and farmers' markets, was used to the abundance of modern goods and knew about the free "green channel" policy for farmers on highways. She had never really thought about such detailed matters.
The villagers in Xujia Village are all farmers, and none of them have experience selling green vegetables.
However, since the deed is done, someone has to clean up the mess.
Zhang Zheng said to Xu Errui, "Since you say it's your own corn, then tell me why some of your corn is ripe now, while others' has only been growing for a short time?"
The fact that they were selling sorghum couldn't be hidden, but there was something even more attractive about it: corn planted two months in advance!
Magistrate Zhang was curious, and the onlookers were even more curious!
This was something the county magistrate already knew, but when asked in court, Xu Errui could only stammer and repeat himself: "My family uses fertile soil to cultivate seedlings in advance... and leaves space in the wheat field for intercropping... In addition to spring sowing, there is also a summer sowing of corn, which will not affect the harvest."
He was so nervous that he spoke incoherently, barely managing to pronounce the word "seed," but some of the terms he used left those around him confused.
What does it mean to raise seedlings in advance in a seedbed? What does it mean to reserve seedlings? And what does it mean to sow corn in spring and in summer?
It sounds reasonable, but I don't quite understand it.
However, I still understood one thing: it was indeed grown by the person themselves, and there were some tricks and techniques involved.
At this moment, half of the people shut their mouths and began to ponder the mystery.
The other half was still yelling, "Even if it's your own, you can't just destroy the grain!"
While this statement is true, it is also somewhat unreasonable.
Human sentiment trumps the law. As they said before, there's a food shortage, and we need to exchange money to buy more. These tender corns won't be enough to feed a few acres of land, and we can't just watch people starve to death.
If we only talk about cherishing food!
Why didn't anyone stop those displaced people and rebel soldiers from destroying grain last year?
Magistrate Zhang didn't want to make a big deal out of this, but he still had to punish the perpetrator.
Since it's not theft, the charge is reduced by half. Besides, it's an emergency, and in urgent situations, one should act expediently. The law can also be flexible.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com