After entering the government office, Zhao Shouzheng first bowed to the ceremonial gate, then came to the Jieshi Pavilion and saluted at the stone tablet in the pavilion. There were three powerful large characters "Gong Sheng Ming" on it.

These three words are for the common people to see.

When Mr. Zhao Er got around to the back of the stele, the sixteen large characters there were for the county magistrate to see.

"Your salary is the blood and sweat of the people. It is easy to abuse the people, but it is hard to deceive God!"

These four words of Emperor Taizu's teachings were facing the county hall, and the county magistrate could see them when he looked up during the trial. The purpose was to warn them, "Be honest, I'm watching you!"

In fact, there is a land temple to the east of Jieshiting, which was originally a tourist attraction that the county magistrate had to visit when taking office. Inside, there were several dolls of corrupt officials who were skinned and stuffed with straw by Emperor Taizu hung as a warning to others!

The county did not arrange this thrilling project late at night.

In fact, at this moment, County Magistrate He really wanted to let Mr. Zhao go in for a look, to dampen his arrogance...

But considering that Mr. Zhao already disliked me extremely, I decided to give up.

~~

After paying homage to the Ya God, Mr. Zhao changed into court robes, walked into the hall, faced north, bowed to the gate and thanked the emperor for his grace.

After standing up, the magistrate still had to worship the seal.

County Magistrate Feng, who was about to enter mourning, wore a plain white suit and a horned hat. In his hands he placed a large seal wrapped in red silk, upright on the desk.

Mr. Zhao kowtowed respectfully to the seal again, then stood up and took the bronze seal representing the highest authority of the county from County Magistrate Feng.

From this moment on, power and responsibilities were officially transferred, and Master Zhao truly shouldered the fate of the people of the county.

Then he exchanged greetings with County Magistrate Feng and went to the flower hall to talk.

"I am in deep mourning, so my behavior may be impolite. I hope Brother Gongming will forgive me." Although County Magistrate Feng said this, his expression was much more relaxed than before.

"Brother Yuanshan, please accept my condolences. I was shocked to hear that your late father passed away. I am deeply saddened."

The second master showed sympathy and gave a generous contribution.

"How can this be possible?" County Magistrate Feng felt ashamed. The small treasury he left for Zhao Shouzheng was not as much as the other party's share.

"Brother Yuanshan, you don't have to be polite. I have had no income for three years of mourning, so just give this as a subsidy to the family." Zhao Shouzheng waved his hand. He looked the coolest when he gave money to others.

"Thank you so much, Brother Gongming, for your kindness." County Magistrate Feng was so moved that he felt that he had met Mr. Zhao too late, and even the tone of his voice changed.

"To be honest, I have been an official in this poor place of Kunshan for two years. I can only make enough for daily expenses and have not saved any money. I am worried about how to live in the future."

Zhao Hao, who was standing behind Mr. Zhao Er as a book boy, was a little skeptical when he heard this. No matter how poor the people are, they can't make their elderly parents poor, right?

Unless he is someone like Hai Rui, who doesn't even want the legal and regular silver...

But it certainly can't be compared with other counties in Suzhou.

After a few polite words, County Magistrate Feng took the initiative to introduce the various situations in the county to Zhao Shouzheng. It was probably that the granary was short of grain, the treasury was short of money, and all the county officials, including him, had not received their salaries for two months.

"Ah?" Master Zhao was surprised. He knew Kunshan was poor, but he didn't expect it to be so poor.

He felt very sorry when he thought that County Magistrate He had not received his salary for two months and was being ignored by him.

"This is normal. This happens all the time in our county. Usually, we wait until the summer grain is harvested before paying the arrears." County Magistrate Feng sighed and said, "Seeing that half of the summer grain has gone to waste, I really can't bear to leave this mess to Brother Gongming."

"There's still half of the county that hasn't been flooded, right?" Zhao Shouzheng said with a smile.

"One third." County Magistrate Feng held up three fingers, then curled up two and said, "The area north of Yanglintang is low-lying, and the water from Yangcheng Lake has already submerged it."

Oh no, Zhao Shouzheng felt a chill in his heart. There really is a constant stream of bad news.

"The consolation is that the land in Kunbei was severely flooded and has been abandoned." County Magistrate Feng hurriedly comforted him, "So it's not a big loss."

"Yes." Zhao Shouzheng nodded and smiled, "Originally there is nothing, so where can dust come from?"

"Brother Gongming is really open-minded." County Magistrate Feng praised, and then made plans for Master Zhao Er: "So for now, what we can rely on is the 4,000 hectares of land in the central part. If we can hold out until the summer harvest, we can still collect about 100,000 dan of grain... According to the rules, this year's taxes can be exempted, but don't expect relief from the court... 100,000 dan of grain can feed the victims for three months, and should be able to hold out until the autumn harvest."

"So before the autumn harvest, we must send the victims out to beg for food. If it's too late, they won't get much food." He muttered again with his head down.

Zhao Shouzheng was disgusted when he heard this, thinking to himself, how could he send his own people to beg for food? Isn't this county magistrate too shameless?

Unexpectedly, Magistrate Feng continued with a gloomy look:

"Also, I have to go to the prefectural capital at this time. After begging for a few days, I can finally squeeze out tens of thousands of dan of grain from the prefect. When I come back, I must go to Wujiang County. Those bastards refused to open the floodgates, so they should give our county several thousand dan of grain."

Seeing that County Magistrate Feng had suddenly gone insane, Zhao Hao and his son looked at each other in bewilderment. The job of the Kunshan County Magistrate had actually turned people into perverts.

I only heard him continue mumbling:

"There is also the Songjiang River downstream. If it weren't for the fact that their embankment fields are so strong and the Wusong River flows so slowly, how could we be so flooded? So we have to ask them for money... But the Xu family has always been arrogant, so we have to be tougher. We claim that we have peers in the imperial court and want to impeach them for blocking the river. Usually, in order not to cause trouble for Lord Xu, they will also give a few thousand shi..."

It turns out that in this Hua Kunshan, even the county magistrate has to be a beggar...

"Brother Yuanshan." Zhao Shouzheng almost cried when he heard this. He couldn't bear it and called him softly a few times. "You are already in mourning."

"Uh, oh, ah!" Magistrate Feng's expression changed several times before he understood the situation. Then he shed tears of relief... oh no, pain. "Great... oh, I mean 'Taihao has arrived, but Xuanming has not returned'."

"My son's name is Zhao Hao." Zhao Shouzheng secretly complained and asked Feng Zhixian: "What kind of help can Nanjing provide?"

"Didn't your father serve as the Junior Minister of the Interior?" County Magistrate Feng said with a wry smile, "Brother Gongming should know best how stingy the Southern Ministry of Revenue is."

"Hehe..." Zhao Shouzheng laughed awkwardly and thought to himself, I don't know.

Taking the opportunity of an awkward laugh, he glanced at Zhao Hao again, only to see his son blowing lightly.

Master Zhao immediately understood and asked, "Then may I ask Brother Yuanshan, what is the scenery like here?"

"The folk customs here are simpler than those in neighboring counties, mainly because the smart ones have all moved to neighboring counties and never come back, and the ones left are all stupid." Magistrate Feng hesitated for a moment, but for the sake of his courtesy, he lowered his voice and said, "But the gentry in this county must be extra careful, as there are a few bad guys who are trying their best to go against you."

"Really?" Master Zhao gasped and asked, "Who are they?"

"It's not convenient to name names when it comes to groundless rumors." Magistrate Feng didn't dare to speak directly, but sighed and said, "Our county is surrounded by powerful neighbors. Even those from other prefectures can bully us. It's really too difficult."

"Is that so..." Zhao Shouzheng saw his son droop his eyelids slightly, obviously understanding, so he nodded to indicate that he understood.

P.S. The outline is straightened out. It's a wonderful story. The monk is awesome! I'll write one more chapter to complete today's task...