Chapter 173: County Magistrate Cao is punished
County Magistrate Cao cursed Xie Yan inwardly for being stupid. This was such a huge achievement, yet he was pushing it away.
He thought he had figured it out himself, so he didn't do anything. If he had known it was a villager, he would have taken action long ago.
If his son had the credit for growing such high-yield crops and had a waterwheel, he could at least be promoted to a sixth-rank official.
Prefect Xu and the other two had not expected that he was not so greedy for credit, and their eyes were filled with even more admiration.
Lord Han said: "That also requires you to be careful and willing to trust them, otherwise there will be no such results. I will also report your contribution to His Majesty truthfully."
"Thank you, sir." Xie Yan bowed and said, "It's getting late. The three of you are tired from the journey. I have already arranged accommodation for you. Why don't you have lunch first and take a rest? We can talk about other things later."
"good."
Xie Yan raised his hand to invite them in and led them to the flower hall in the backyard.
County Magistrate Cao, who was ignored the whole time, gritted his teeth, but it didn't matter, no one could take away the credit for the waterwheel.
The next day, everyone had a good rest.
After breakfast, I first looked at the thresher.
Xie Yan asked Qingfeng to demonstrate how to use the thresher with straw, while he explained it on the side.
Everyone was amazed at what they saw. With this thing, threshing became much easier.
We went to see the waterwheel in the afternoon, and County Magistrate Cao was very active in demonstrating and explaining it to everyone.
I felt proud when I saw several people nodding in appreciation.
After the demonstration, he said, "My Lords, this waterwheel was created when my son went to the town to visit his classmates and saw the villagers working hard to carry water to irrigate the fields. He was inspired and thought hard after returning home. As a father, I am also pleased that he can think of the people and benefit them."
Xie Yan said: "Master Cao, are you sure that this waterwheel was your son's idea?"
County Magistrate Cao looked at him, his heart skipped a beat, and he nodded calmly, "Yes, didn't I tell you that when I reported it to you?"
Prefect Xu and the other two looked at each other and remained silent.
Xie Yan said: "Sir Cao, when you reported the matter of the waterwheel to me, I had already reported it to the prefect, and the prefect's reply to me was earlier than the date of your report.
I think you were confused for a moment and wanted to earn some credit for your son, but you shouldn't take credit for others' work, and you shouldn't hide it from the prefect and Lord Han and Lord Zheng.
I have warned you and given you a chance, but you were just hoping for the best and wanted to keep it secret."
As he spoke, he took out from his sleeve the letter from Prefect Xu with the date marked on it. County Magistrate Cao was stunned.
When did Xie Yan give himself a chance? Didn't he always praise himself for doing a great job?
So he did it on purpose. He didn't mention it and waited until the adults arrived before bringing it up. He was trying to pull himself down.
County Magistrate Cao's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy: "Please forgive me, sir. I don't know what happened. When I heard my son talking about this waterwheel, I just thought that the people would suffer less when watering the fields. I was happy for a while and didn't check it out, which led to the misunderstanding.
It was my negligence. If I knew the truth, I would never do this. Please understand. "
Prefect Xu had already heard Xie Yan's report, and now that he was listening to County Magistrate Cao clearing himself, the most he could bear was the crime of negligence.
He said: "As a scholar, the son of the county magistrate Cao should know that trust is the most important thing, but he is greedy for merit, deceives his superiors and subordinates, and behaves improperly. He should be stripped of his scholar status, beaten with 20 sticks, and fined 500 taels of silver.
County Magistrate Cao was negligent and failed to supervise. He shall be punished with ten strokes of the cane and fined one year’s salary.”
County Magistrate Cao was taken away with a dejected look on his face.
Lord Han asked, "Lord Xie, I just heard from Prefect Xu that this waterwheel was also made by that villager?"
"Yes."
"Can we meet this villager?"
Xie Yan said: "I can't make the decision for her. I will ask someone and give you a reply later."
A few people laughed and expressed their understanding. After all, ordinary people have a natural fear of seeing officials, so it is understandable that they dare not meet them.
The group returned to the county government office temporarily.
Xie Yan asked Qingfeng to go to Daohua Village and explain the situation to Li Wanyue.
Li Wanyue agreed. She wanted to gain favor in front of the adults, maybe she could get some protection.
The next day, she dressed neatly and asked Li Sandong to take the food she had made to the county government office.
Li Sandong was extremely nervous. He was a high-ranking official, and if he said anything wrong, he might be in trouble.
He didn't want to go at first, but he was afraid that it would be too dangerous for his sister to go, so he plucked up the courage to go with her.
Seeing this, Li Wanyue repeated the words she had said to comfort him last night.
Li Sandong silently clenched his fist to cheer himself up.
In the main hall of the backyard, several people heard that someone had arrived, and they all looked outside the door. They thought they would see a middle-aged man or an old man, but unexpectedly, it was a young girl who came in.
Li Wanyue lowered her eyes, wondering whether to kneel or not.
The answer is: kneel!
This is the rule and there is nothing we can do about it.
Just as she lifted her skirt to kneel, Lord Han said, "Miss, there is no need to be polite. We are not wearing official uniforms yet, so you don't have to bow."
Li Wanyue was delighted and knelt down to salute: "Your Excellency is kind and generous, which is a blessing for the people. I, Li Wanyue, greet you all."
"Get up."
After thanking them, Li Wanyue stood up and looked directly at them.
Several people were also looking at her, and then admiration appeared in their eyes.
He is neither humble nor arrogant, and his manners are generous. His eyes are clear and bright, and he looks intelligent.
"Miss Li, Lord Xie said that the waterwheel, thresher and high grain yield were all your credit. How did you know all this?"
Li Wanyue used the same old excuse again: "Your Excellency, I happened to read a few miscellaneous notes from a traveling merchant, and I read all these in the books."
Lord Zheng asked, "Lord Xie also reported that you used a method to bring a person who had lost his breath back to life. Is that true?"
"Yes, that method is called cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but it is only suitable for emergency rescue of people who have lost their breath within one breath, and it is not always effective. If it exceeds one breath, or the rescuer uses the wrong method, this method will be useless."
"So that's how it is. Since you've made this method public for the sake of justice, I'll have to trouble Miss Li to teach the people we brought with us later. If everyone in Jing Dynasty learns it, it will save many lives."
"Yes." Li Wanyue agreed.
We chatted some more afterwards, but saw that the adults had nothing to talk about and the conversation was about to become dull.
Li Wanyue asked Li Sandong outside the door to bring in the lunch box.
Li Sandong didn't even dare to breathe heavily. He walked forward with his head lowered, bowed, and then handed the food box to Li Wanyue.
Li Wanyue took out the food and said, "My lords, you have come from far away. I brought some food that I made myself. I hope you don't mind."
Put ice jelly, sour plum soup, plum cake, and red bean and date paste cake on the table.
Xie Yan saw that the few people had no intention of moving. He knew the rules well and these people would not eat other people's food casually for fear that it might be poisonous.
He took the lead and picked up a bowl of ice jelly and started eating, saying, "I will try the taste for you gentlemen."
Lord Han didn't wait for him to eat, but picked up the bowl and tasted it.
The other two saw this and tasted it.
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