Chapter 22 The Governor Visits
When Su Zhizhi was digging wild vegetables and catching chickens in the back mountain, several horse-drawn carriages passed by on the dirt road at the foot of the mountain.
The carriage was neither new nor old. Although it was not as luxurious as the carriages of the nobles in the capital, it was spacious enough and the wood of the carriage was sturdy.
There were yamen runners in front and behind the carriage. They had dark skin and were all wearing swords.
In the front carriage sat Song Ping, the magistrate of Baiyun County, and in the back carriage sat Gu Jing, the governor of Xunzhou.
County Magistrate Song is very young, in his twenties, and was appointed to office last year.
He was very excited when he learned that he was going to Lingnan to serve as a county magistrate.
Although it is remote and the conditions are far inferior to those in the capital, he feels that the more difficult the place is, the more it needs people like him to serve the people and the country and make great achievements.
Governor Gu is old, just over 60 years old, and was transferred to Lingnan to serve as governor last year.
When he heard that he was going to Lingnan, his first reaction was:
Damn it, what bad things did those bastards in the Ministry of Personnel say about him in front of the emperor again?
I was actually transferred to such a remote place!
After coming to Lingnan, I found that the climate was hot and humid, there were many mosquitoes, and there were thieves from time to time.
Fortunately, the people here are tough and the local people can actually catch the bandits themselves, which really saves the government trouble and adds to the government's achievements.
There is a place called Liangmin Village in Baiyun County, where several serious criminals have been arrested.
The most recent time was to rescue the abducted children of wealthy families.
Governor Gu decided to visit Liangmin Village to express his condolences and commend them, and present a plaque to encourage other counties and villages to contribute more to public security.
County Magistrate Song was very excited about this and believed that his efforts to unite with the people were indeed noticed by his superiors.
"Gushi, we're here."
The carriage stopped at the foot of the mountain. County Magistrate Song got off first and went to the back to ask Governor Gu for help.
"Thank you, County Magistrate Song." As soon as Governor Gu lifted the curtain, he saw County Magistrate Song's ambitious smile.
Governor Gu sighed inwardly, as if he saw his younger self in County Magistrate Song.
Full of passion and as upright as a pine tree.
As a result, not only was he driven to a remote area when he was young, but even when he was old, he was exiled to this malaria-ridden place.
Tsk, it’s all tears when I talk too much.
Liangmin Village received the news in advance and made some preparations in advance.
Hao Ren and Bai Xun greeted them at the foot of the mountain.
After the white-bearded Governor Gu got off the car, he saw two men in coarse linen clothes coming towards him.
One of them had a sword on his waist and a sharp brow. He looked very powerful, but he only had one arm.
The other young man was extremely handsome and elegant. If he had not been wearing a half-worn gray coarse cloth and had his hair tied with a hemp rope, Governor Gu would have thought he had seen a young man from a noble family.
"Inspector Gu, this is the head of Liangmin Village, Hao Ren."
Because of the previous case, Hao Ren had been to the county government office several times, and County Magistrate Song knew Hao Ren.
After all, a man with the appearance and demeanor of Hao Ren is unforgettable at first sight.
Hao Ren stepped forward and saluted respectfully:
"Inspector Gu, Magistrate Song, my name is Hao Ren, and I am the head of Liangmin Village."
Governor Gu was really surprised.
He looked at the forest behind him, and at the clothes on Hao Ren, and was actually shocked as if he had seen gold and jade in a dung pit.
Lingnan is very far away from Chang'an, and many people have never been to Chang'an in their entire lives, let alone meet a noble person in Chang'an.
Most of those who were sent to Lingnan to serve as officials could not squeeze into the core circle of nobles in Beijing.
Therefore, Governor Gu and County Magistrate Song had both heard of the name of the talented man from the Pei family before, but had never seen him.
Governor Gu: "Village Chief Hao is a handsome man, but he is a native of Lingnan."
Hao Ren: "My ancestral home is in Hedong. I fled here many years ago."
Governor Gu asked: "Has Village Chief Hao ever been educated?"
Hao Ren's smile showed a hint of shame:
"I can only read a few words. Education is precious and the country folk cannot afford it."
After hearing this, Governor Gu shook his head regretfully.
A person with such a temperament has never been educated. He is just like hay stuffed in brocade, a beautiful big straw bag.
Behind him, a yamen runner took down a plaque from the carriage. It was tied with bright red silk and had three big characters "Liangmin Village" on it.
"Village Chief Hao, this is a plaque written by Governor Gu himself." County Magistrate Song explained.
Hao Ren expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Governor Gu, for the gift of calligraphy."
A group of people walked up the mountain.
Bai Xun walked in front, Hao Ren led County Magistrate Song and Inspector Gu following behind, and at the end were a group of yamen runners.
One of the yamen runners stretched and tried to pick a leaf to play with it, but Hao Ren stopped him:
"Wait a minute!"
Everyone looked at Hao Ren in confusion.
Hao Ren: "This area is full of bandits. To protect ourselves, we villagers have set up traps at the foot of the mountain. Some flowers and plants may appear normal to outsiders, but once touched, they will trigger the traps."
The yamen runner who wanted to pick the leaves silently withdrew his hand.
Governor Gu and County Magistrate Song could not help but look upon this small mountain village with a higher regard.
Although Governor Gu was old, he was still in good health and climbing the mountain was no problem for him. Everyone reached the village entrance at the top of the mountain in one breath.
County Magistrate Song was busy preparing to hang the plaque inscribed by Governor Gu on the gate.
However, County Magistrate Song stopped talking as soon as he raised his head.
The three words "Liangmin Village" are clearly engraved on the gate in front of me.
Flowing like clouds and running water, with iron-like strokes and silver-like hooks.
Governor Gu asked, "Village Chief Hao, I wonder who wrote this calligraphy?"
Hao Ren explained: "The villagers found the characters from other people's calligraphy, drew a model of them, and then asked a stonemason to carve them into the archway."
"Well done!" Governor Gu praised.
At the same time, I felt even more regretful. Why didn’t any of these villagers study and take the imperial examinations?
Many years ago, he was also a poor student from a tight family and had suffered a lot. Later, when he became an official, his situation improved.
In the morning he was a farmer, and in the evening he ascended the throne.
These mountain villagers can only change their destiny by studying.
What a pity for such a talented person.
What a pity.
Governor Gu asked the yamen runners to take down the plaque and hang it somewhere else in the village so as not to cover up the beautiful words on the gate.
County Magistrate Song also admired the words on the gate, but his attention did not stay on the gate for long. He was more curious about the scene in the village.
Following Hao Ren and Bai Xun into the village, I saw that everyone was busy.
The village is very clean, and there are wild flowers growing in front of every house, swaying in the spring breeze.
County Magistrate Song found this very rare.
He visited other villages in Baiyun County and found many of them dirty and haphazard, making it difficult to walk. The doorways of houses were covered with damp moss and weeds, making it easy to slip.
County Magistrate Song looked at Hao Ren and said, "I didn't expect the villagers to be so leisurely and elegant as to plant flowers outside their houses."
Hao Ren laughed: "Those were the seeds sown by my little daughter Zhizhi when she was a child."
When Su Zhizhi was three years old, there was a period of time when she liked to dig out wild flower seeds and scatter a handful of seeds no matter whose house she visited.
The next year, there were clusters of wild flowers in front of every household.
Then, more and more flowers bloomed every year.
Su Zhizhi also doesn't like the ground being dirty. She refuses to walk on it when she sees chicken and duck droppings.
So the villagers spontaneously cleaned the area in front of their doors.
As they continued walking forward, they heard the sound of gurgling water.
Following the sound, I saw a large reservoir.
Several split bamboo poles are placed above the pool, tied one to another, and the ends of the poles are connected to the spring water flowing down from the top of the mountain.
A steady stream of water poured into the pool from the bamboo poles.
"Great! This plan is really great!" County Magistrate Song was excited again.
He wanted to write down this method so that when he went back to other mountain villages next time, he could teach more people this simple and labor-saving way of getting water.
Governor Gu also admired the villagers' wisdom:
"That's right. As long as the villagers are willing to work hard, their lives will get better and better."
This is a cliché he has been saying for many years.
The people who heard these words might not necessarily become better off, but at least they were happy when they heard them.
When Governor Gu turned his gaze towards the valley, he was stunned.
Large fields were opened up in the valley, and every inch of arable land was utilized.
But the person pulling the plow was not an ox or a donkey, but a human!
Governor Gu was deeply moved for a moment, and felt sympathy and compassion in his heart.
What good is a clean and beautiful village? They can't even afford a cow and still rely on people to plow the fields to work tirelessly.
The villagers living in the mountains have a really hard life.
Governor Gu spoke:
"Song County Magistrate, Liangmin Village has made meritorious contributions in apprehending bandits several times, and you should reward them with a few cows."
County Magistrate Song also saw the scene in the fields and frowned and said to Hao Ren:
"Village Chief Hao, life in the village is so difficult, you should have told me earlier."
Hao Ren thanked Governor Gu and said:
"Actually, people don't feel it's hard. Compared to the days of famine and plague in previous years, it's much better."
There was a sense of contentment in his tone, a person who had experienced great adversity.
County Magistrate Song had never experienced the natural disaster in Lingnan. He only heard that the ground was littered with starving people and corpses piled up like piles of bones.
He felt even more sad when he heard Hao Ren say this.
On the other side of the valley, Kong Wu, who was herding cattle and sheep, sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and continued to drive the cattle and sheep to where there was more grass.
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