After a long wait, the gates of the government office finally opened from the inside.
A yamen runner led the village heads from various places to the backyard of the government office. Everyone waited inside for a while before Magistrate Liu came out.
Magistrate Liu looked rather unwell, with dark circles under his eyes and appearing to have lost a lot of weight.
In the past few months, Magistrate Liu had sent many people to deal with the severe floods in the south. But unexpectedly, his own yard caught fire while he was helping others, as his jurisdiction was experiencing a severe drought.
Countless nights, Magistrate Liu thought that if even a little bit of the rain from the south were to reach Quanzhou, things wouldn't be so miserable.
Without rain, the crops have all died of drought, so how will he pay today's taxes?
Failure to pay taxes means he has no hope of promotion, and the prefect above him will also put pressure on him.
Moreover, if the number of disaster victims increases and there is no way to resettle them, he might as well give up his position as county magistrate.
With the help of Zhang the clerk, Magistrate Liu sat down in a chair with some difficulty.
"I've called everyone here today because there's something important to discuss."
Zhao Tingzhang sat at the very end, because there was a reason for this position.
The village heads sitting at the very front were the ones who paid the most taxes to the government in previous years, and their villages were relatively wealthy. Therefore, they were qualified to sit at the front.
Then they were arranged in order, and finally it came to Zhao Tingzhang.
Their village was the poorest, with a small population. So, his job as the village head was always stressful and tiring, with little to no reward.
Whenever these village heads gathered together, Zhao was always the least popular one. Everyone else was eager to curry favor with the village heads from the wealthier villages.
“Chief Zhang, Chief Cheng… your village used to have the best life. But things don’t always go as planned. Now it’s not just your village that’s suffering; ask the other chiefs here, their villages are also experiencing drought.”
The pavilion chiefs Zhang and Cheng, who were specifically mentioned by Magistrate Liu, along with the other pavilion chiefs, all looked preoccupied, their usual radiance completely gone.
"Magistrate, what are we going to do with my village? The crops were almost ready for harvest, but now they're dying from drought. What are we going to eat?!"
"Our Chengjiazhuang village is the same. Right now, we can still find some food in the mountains. But when autumn and winter come, we won't even have any wild vegetables to eat!"
"Alright, I called you all here today to discuss and see if we can come up with any good solutions." Magistrate Liu waved his hand dismissively, clearly annoyed by the mess he was making of the situation.
Solving the problem is the key now.
Zhao Tingzhang sat alone at the very end, his head down and silent.
However, he was secretly relieved that their village had not yet reached such a difficult situation.
However, we cannot let our guard down. Their village's current situation is the same as Chengjiazhuang's previous situation. If things continue to develop like this, the consequences will be unimaginable.
He suddenly remembered that when he was helping Wanzi's family supervise the construction of their house, Wanzi's mother had specifically asked him to find someone to dig a well in the yard.
At the time, Maruko's mother said that food cooked with spring water from the mountains would taste much better. Unfortunately, the village was too far from the mountain, making it impractical to bring water down.
Therefore, every household had no choice but to drink groundwater.
Magistrate Liu was asking questions, but there was complete silence below. Clearly, no one had a better solution.
Zhao, the village head, had an idea, but he was always timid. He glanced expectantly at Magistrate Liu several times, but their eyes never met.
He was a little hesitant to speak.
"What's wrong? Don't you have any other ideas? Relying solely on the government office won't work. You need to learn how to save yourselves!" Magistrate Liu was clearly dissatisfied with everyone's silence.
"Well... we can't think of a good solution right now."
"Yes, the well water in our village has all dried up. There aren't even any mountains over there, let alone water."
Zhao Tingzhang felt uncomfortable keeping his thoughts to himself, and his face turned red.
Never mind, he was able to come to the government office to find Director Song last time, so what is he afraid of this time!
Thinking of this, Zhao Tingzhang slowly stood up.
"Magistrate, I have a small suggestion."
Magistrate Liu's eyes lit up. "Go on," he said.
Zhao, the pavilion chief, looked around and realized everyone was staring at him. Being stared at by so many unfamiliar people made him feel quite uncomfortable.
“I don’t know about the situation in other villages, so I can only speak based on our village. Our village is mountainous, so if there’s no water, we have to go up the mountain to find water. Although it’s difficult, it’s better than dying of thirst.”
"And the well water that the village drinks now, those wells have been passed down from generation to generation. But no one has thought of digging a new well. Although it costs more, as long as we find an underground water source, it will save the lives of the whole village."
As soon as Zhao finished speaking, he was met with disdain and ridicule from the other village chiefs.
"You're so ignorant. The land in our village is so dry it's cracked. If there were water, how could the land be so dry?"
“Our village doesn’t even have mountains, let alone the means to find water in the mountains…”
Zhao, the pavilion chief, blushed even more and awkwardly shut his mouth.
Magistrate Liu thought about it and realized that this was indeed a solution. After all, the situation in each village was different, and no one had seriously searched every corner.
And those mountains in the village, those mountains that no one has ever been to—who can guarantee there's no water inside? After all, no one has ever been inside!
“This method is indeed feasible, but it requires a lot of manpower and resources. Master Zhang, record the situation in each village, and send people from the government if necessary.”
Master Zhang responded and quickly wrote down everything that had just been said.
As he was leaving, Magistrate Liu couldn't help but glance at Zhao, the village head, one more time. However, he said nothing.
As soon as they left the government office, several village chiefs deliberately approached Chief Zhao to inquire about the situation in Changfeng Village.
But then Zhao Tingzhang suddenly remembered what Zhao Yanniang had said, so he also complained with a sorrowful expression, describing the drought in his village as no different from that in other villages.
At this time, he couldn't flaunt his wealth, lest someone actually come to their village to rob their grain.
As Zhao Tingzhang was walking down the street, he suddenly heard the joyous sound of gongs and drums coming from ahead.
Pedestrians on the street consciously made way and stopped to watch from both sides of the road.
"Good heavens... what joyous occasion is this? And he's even wearing official robes!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Tingzhang also looked over. The man riding a tall, chestnut-red horse, wearing a black gauze hat, seemed somewhat familiar.
He couldn't see clearly because of the distance.
Zhao Tingzhang quickly stepped forward, and only when he got closer could he see the person clearly.
"This...isn't this the Zhao family's kid? What's going on?"
Zhao Yan was dressed in a bright red official robe and wore a black gauze hat. He looked dashing and imposing!
"My goodness! Yan'er has passed the imperial examination and become a scholar!" Zhao Tingzhang exclaimed excitedly, grabbing a man watching the spectacle. "You know what? That scholar is from our Changfeng Village!"
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