Chapter 248 Lu Da
According to the routines of movies and TV dramas she had seen before, Cui Qingyi instantly thought of many scenes where bullies harmed the village.
But it was overturned in a moment. After all, the former magistrate of Dongping County was Zhou Yanxiu. If there really was such a person, the grass on his grave would have been three feet high long ago.
The dark-faced man wiped his face and said, "A few days ago, a hailstorm destroyed all the rice in the town. It looked like it could be harvested soon. We rely on these two days to have a few full meals all year round, but now the little food that everyone has rushed to harvest may not even make it through this winter.
Village Lord, please save us."
The dark-faced man was almost crying as he spoke. At this moment, even Jing Wei's imposing black face could not make him react. He just stared at Cui Qingyi.
But Cui Qingyi made him more and more confused, "Wait, I think you may have misunderstood something.
Although the imperial court granted me Luhua Town as a fief, according to the system of this dynasty, although I hold the title of Township Lord, I cannot directly participate in the actual management of the local area. If something like this happens, you should go to the county government to find the county magistrate.
As the village chief, she only received a portion of the annual tax revenue from her fiefdom. These people shouldn't have come to her for no reason.
How could the black-faced man know all this? At the beginning of the year, someone from the government came to the headman's house to deliver a message, saying that their Luhua Town would be the fiefdom of the newly appointed Dongping County Lord of the court in the future, and they had to work hard and pay taxes to the township lord's office at the end of each year. What they understood was that they would be under the jurisdiction of the township in the future, so if something happened, they would think of finding the township lord first.
But what did the village chief just say? They had to go find the county magistrate, but he didn't even know which way the county gate faced.
This simple meeting was very awkward for both parties.
After all, they were the people of her fiefdom, and they had come here with great difficulty. Cui Qingyi asked Chen Ma to make a bowl of affordable noodles for them, and then asked her to send them away properly.
Waiting for Lu Shan to go back and tell Lu Da, who was holding a water pipe and was the current head of Luhua Town, about his meeting with the mayor of Dongping Township.
Lu Da raised his eyelids, which had drooped from old age and years of hard work, took two puffs of his water pipe and asked, "What do you think of the village master?"
Lu Shan sipped his two large bowls of dry noodles and nodded affirmatively, "The village chief is a kind-hearted person."
With Lu Shan's words, Lu Da felt relieved. "Go back and have a good rest for the night. Take me to the county town tomorrow. Your aunt and I will go to pay our respects to the village chief."
Their Luhua Town is now the fiefdom of the village chief, so it is reasonable for him, the village head, to bring his family to pay respects to the village chief.
Cui Qingyi never expected that just one night later, people from Luhua Town came again.
Cui Qingyi had a headache. She guessed that these people came because of what Lu Shan said yesterday, but she really couldn't interfere in the local government affairs. If they came to cause trouble, she would just drive them away. But facing those miserable faces, Cui Qingyi couldn't bear to do it at all.
Lu Da brought the old woman into the village chief's mansion. He was almost seventy years old this year. He was hunched over and walked tremblingly with a crutch. Taozhi led the way in front but was also very scared. After all, the old man looked like he would die at any time.
After finally bringing the people to the reception hall, everyone, including Cui Qingyi who was sitting at the top, breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Da was pulling his wife to kowtow to the village chief. Tao Zhi quickly stepped forward and helped them to hold him back. Cui Qingyi said, "Get a stool for Uncle Lu."
Lu Dagang stood firm, the stool had been stuffed under his buttocks, and Taozhi was almost pressing his shoulders: "The village head has given you a seat, Uncle Lu, please sit down quickly."
Aunt Lu sat down next to her old man with some trepidation. She had never been in such a beautiful house in her life, and the village chief above looked like a fairy.
She couldn't help but wonder in her heart, can such a person really help the people of Luhua Town?
Lu Da's face was covered in wrinkles, and the first words he said were filled with bitterness, "Village Master, the people of Luhua Town have a hard time."
People from Luhua Town had come twice, so it was impossible for Cui Qingyi to be unprepared. As early as when the doorman informed her that Lu Da was coming, Cui Qingyi sent someone to the county government office to invite Wang Xiaoqian.
Luhua Town belongs to Dongping County. Since she will receive a portion of the tax revenue from this place every year in the future, it is natural for her to help.
Wang Xiaoqian came quickly, still with Zhou Qi by his side.
When Cui Qingyi saw Wang Xiaoqian again after several months, she almost didn't recognize him. In her impression, Wang Xiaoqian was a pale, slightly gloomy but youthful man. When he first came to the local area to take office, he was full of vigor and vitality.
But it wasn't long before two big dark circles appeared on his still pale and thin face, and he looked dazed and listless, like a modern person with some special hobby.
Wang Xiaoqian accidentally yawned when he entered and nodded to Cui Qingyi. When he sat down, his thin body swayed. If Zhou Qi hadn't supported him from behind, he would have almost fallen to the side.
The person who was waiting finally sat down on the chair and smiled apologetically at Cui Qingyi with two huge panda eyes: "I'm sorry, Village Master. I didn't sleep well last night and I'm a little sleepy."
Cui Qingyi couldn't help but stare at Wang Xiaoqian... Isn't the position of Dongping County Magistrate so easily corrupting? Look at what he's done to such a good and ambitious young man.
Just as Cui Qingyi was lost in thought, Zhou Qi couldn't help but speak, "Village Master, my master has been staying up late lately to patrol the river. What's the matter with you inviting him here?"
The implication is: After finishing his words, the county magistrate has to go back to sleep.
Cui Qingyi: "There is indeed more rain in the county this year. Thank you for your hard work, sir."
Wang Xiaoqian simply didn't have the energy to be polite with Cui Qingyi. Every day after finishing his official duties, he would think, why didn't he stick to the bottom line in the first place? It would have been much better for him to be a coroner quietly, but he had to believe Zhou Yanxiu's words and pursue a career as an official.
Judging from the current situation, before he can realize the great ambitions that Lord Zhou promised him, he will die suddenly from overwork while serving as the magistrate of Dongping County.
There were two ways for officials in the Jin Dynasty to be promoted: one was the imperial examination, and the other was the recommendation system. With the development of the national conditions of the Jin Dynasty and in order to prevent nepotism among ministers, the recommendation system has basically disappeared, and many prerequisites are required to achieve the recommendation.
First, he needed to be recommended by someone with a certain weight in the court as a guarantor, and second, the person being recommended had made outstanding contributions to the court. It just so happened that Wang Xiaoqian met both of these requirements.
The Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty was enlightened and always pursued a strategy of recruiting talents regardless of their background.
When Zhou Yanxiu returned to the capital, it was time to form his own team. Dongping County was the most critical link in his official career and it was still of vital importance even after he returned to the capital.
He could not lose Dongping County, so he needed someone from his own family to take the position of Dongping County Magistrate.
But the facts before him were also cruel. He had been away from the capital for too long. It was easy to return but difficult to gain a foothold. He needed more people to escort him on his path to becoming an official.
Originally, Ji Yunzhi should have been the most suitable candidate for the magistrate of Dongping County, but Ji Yunzhi's value in staying in the capital was far greater than returning to Dongping County.
After thinking about it, Zhou Yanxiu turned his attention to Wang Xiaoqian.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
