After the Fairy Disappeared

  Chapter 158 seems unreasonable, but also seems reasonable

"That's right, civilians shouldn't be under our control." In times of crisis, He Chunhua did not forget to take more than a hundred villagers to flee for their lives. He Chunhua was benevolent. Of course, Wuliu County will take over the follow-up villagers' resettlement. The State Superintendent has nothing to do with it.

   "So the meal of Wuliu county magistrate is also a thank-you banquet. A squire named He invited us to rest in his mansion for a night. My parents have already gone down to wash and change clothes, so don't be late."

  When he was sleeping soundly, He Chunhua not only led the team through Qianteng Town to Wuliu County, but also made friends with the county magistrate and others.

  Papa is really full of energy, He Lingchuan yawned again.

  The carriage had already stopped at the door of He Xiangshen's house, and two servants came up to greet them, and led the brothers to a quiet courtyard.

  The two of them wash up here, and Mama Qian comes over with new clothes and asks them to change out of their old clothes. In particular, He Lingchuan's clothes were stained with blood, mud splattered, and had several holes, so there was a strong fishy smell even if you didn't get close to smell it.

  When Mama Qian was about to help the brothers tie their hair, someone knocked on the door.

  He Lingchuan opened the door and saw that it was Zhu Xiuer.

  Zhu Xiu'er had already finished tidying up and changed into Mrs. Ying's clothes. It is said that people need clothes. Her complexion was dark and her face was red, but after wearing beautiful clothes, the rusticity of the village girl faded a lot, showing a little calm and quiet demeanor.

   Probably this is her background color, which has not been polished by the difficult life so far.

  She smiled slightly at He Lingchuan: "You have few servants, so I'll help Mama Qian."

  He Lingchuan was heartbroken, and took two steps back to let her into the house: "You live here too?"

  He doesn't know how to address Zhu Xiu'er, girl, madam?

   "Yes, Mrs. Ying insists." Zhu Xiu'er raised the wooden grate and signaled him to sit down, "But people in Wuliu County, including the county magistrate and the owner of this house, don't know my origin."

  He Yue answered: "Father has issued a gag order to the entire army, and this matter must not be spread outside. Ms. Zhu will follow us to the north, and she will only say that she is our cousin."

  Concealing what happened to Zhu Xiuer? Not only that, they even concealed the existence of Zhu Xiu'er so that after she returned to the family, rumors that were not good for her would slowly spread here. The behavior of He Chunhua and his wife can be said to be very generous to Zhu Xiuer.

  Zhu Xiu'er untied He Lingchuan's knotted hair, and said: "This kindness, Xiu'er is too hard to repay. In the future, if the He family has something to send, they will not dare to resign!"

   "It's too serious. God saves those who save themselves. We are just following the laws of heaven." He Yue asked her, "You really don't want to go to the banquet with us? It's okay to go as a cousin."

  Zhu Xiuer smiled and said: "I won't go, it's better for me to show up less, and I can rest more."

  He Yue was slightly surprised when he heard her brisk voice, and seeing her light in her eyes, completely relaxed.

  This "cousin" is really like a freshman.

   After packing up, the two brothers went to Hongtai Building for a banquet.

  …

   One meal, the host and guest enjoy themselves.

  He Lingchuan came out with a full belch. The stewed mutton with belly buns here is crispy and delicious, really hot. Officials from the entire Wuliu County came, accompanied by more than a dozen squires.

  They sent He Chunhua's family to the entrance of Hongtai Restaurant and boarded the car. When the carriage left, He Lingchuan could still see their enthusiastic smiles.

  This kind of enthusiasm has long been familiar to him in Heishui City, but it is still very novel to appear on the faces of officials from other places. They walked from Heishui City to Wuliu County. The magistrates along the way were very polite, but not so courteous.

   Well, perhaps flattery is more appropriate.

   "Hey, Dad, what benefits did you give the county magistrate to make him smile?"

   "When I wrote about the suppression of bandits to the capital, I would mention him by the way, saying that he compensated the victims in time and chased down the remaining bandits." He Chunhua was tired after a busy day and night, and leaned on the carriage with his eyes closed to rest.

  He Lingchuan laughed: "Did he chase him?"

"The mountain roads in Wuliu County have to be cleared several times in the future to ensure that there are no remaining thieves. Many people died in Desheng Town and Xianling Village, and it was also related to the rebels. If they are not handled properly, the county magistrate will wear the hat. Unsteady." He Chunhua smiled, "If I make a contribution to him, his merits will outweigh his faults, of course he should thank me."

Mrs. Ying was surprised: "How come there are so many officials in Wuliu County?" From the county magistrate, the county magistrate, to the master book, the head arrester, and the bottom servants, there are more than 30 people, "Master Your original Sheriff’s Mansion didn’t have so many people.”

   "Madam is careful." Madam Ying likes to wear flowers, and He Chunhua pointed to the red rose on her temples, "A flower plate should have twenty-five or six petals, and if you count the calyx, it will be more than that."

   "There are still famous ones." He snorted softly, "There are more unfamous ones."

  He Lingchuan knew that the "fame" he mentioned was the establishment. In fact, the number of officials in the county is very small, no more than seven or eight people at most, but Wuliu County has a total of thirty to forty people, and the extra staff are non-staff personnel. There are all kinds of tax collectors, patrol agencies, household registration agencies, and school agencies, and the county cannot function without them.

  He Yue frowned: "I don't think Wuliu County is rich, how can it afford it?"

  Before the carriage entered the border of Wuliu County, the older brother, who had worked so hard all day, just fell asleep, but he walked and watched all the way.

  Wuliu County is no different from other small rural places, it seems to be a little thinner.

   "There are at least twenty more candidates in this county." He Chunhua explained the routine to him slowly, "It was all bought with money. The big family has face, and the treasury has money. Everyone is happy."

  There are so many non-staff, of course some are recruited by the county itself to do things, and there are also big local households who donate money, which is commonly known as buying an official, setting up an idle official, and putting some money on the face.

   "This place is not far from Woling Pass. It must have been affected by the war between officials and bandits, and people's livelihood will inevitably decline. Now that the finances are tight, do you think the county will tighten its belt and suffer itself?"

  He Yue blinked: "The county doesn't care?"

"Why don't you know the county? It's just a bad rule. When the county runs out of money, it's natural to adapt." He Chunhua laughed, and patted He Yue on the shoulder, "Son, you are too young. Being an official is a discipline. Very profound knowledge." Although the second son is intelligent, he is only fourteen years old after all, and he has not yet experienced the sophistication of human beings.

  He Lingchuan also felt magical when he heard it.

  The county's finances are tight, and the solution that comes to mind is not to streamline the administration and cut expenditures, but to sell jobs outside for money, which makes government personnel more redundant.

   It seems unreasonable, but also seems reasonable.

  He Yue was speechless, and asked after a long time: "Why didn't the people from Zhechong Mansion come to the banquet? I heard that some of them have returned to Qianteng Town."

   "It's probably because Captain Zhao wants to go back to report earlier." He Chunhua said without thinking, "Zhechong Mansion should report this matter to the royal court as soon as possible."

  He Yueruo realized something: "Strive for merit?"

   "Yes, it is related to the important matter of sending troops to suppress the rebellion. Whoever reports to the royal court first may get the benefits first."

   "These are all routine methods." He Chunhua didn't take it seriously, "This Captain Zhechong hasn't moved for many years, and if he doesn't get some credit, he will probably die of old age in a remote area."

  He Lingchuan yelled: "The county magistrate here and the captain of the Zhechong Mansion are all busy playing, so isn't dad afraid of being robbed of his credit?"

  He Chunhua saw that he was aggrieved, so he only smiled slightly: "It should be mine, so naturally it's still mine."

  With a well-thought-out plan, it is natural to not be shocked by honor or disgrace.

   Then, he asked about what happened after He Lingchuan fell off the cliff.

"It's a long story." There were too many things that happened, so He Lingchuan could only vaguely say, "My son fell into the hole under the cliff, which happened to be the lair of the crocodile demon, and rescued Wu Shaoyi who was dying there. He is grateful for his son Ende and wants to Thinking that there is no other place to go in the future, I simply accepted the recruitment!"

   Speaking of this, he remembered: "By the way, where is Wu Shaoyi?"

   "Rest in another private house, and someone will take care of it." He Chunhua praised the eldest son, "You did a good job recruiting Wu Shaoyi, and you did it beautifully!"

  He Lingchuan didn't have much to hide, so he told what happened later, but omitted what he had gained in the fairy cave, and only said that there was nothing in it.

  He Chunhua looked out the window, the carriage had already returned to He Zhai: "It's time to get out of the car, Madam, please rest first, I have something to discuss with the children."

  Mrs. Ying nodded, and took Mama Qian to change clothes.

  He Chunhua took the two brothers through the backyard to the woodshed: "I borrowed the woodshed from Mr. He, it's quiet."

  This house is not comparable to their luxury house in Heishui City. There are several acres of vegetable fields in the backyard, and more than a dozen chickens are raised. The advantage is that the place is large and there are few people.

  The firewood house is remote and few people come near it, but the lights are on at the moment. As soon as He Chunhua and his son approached, the door opened, and Zhao Qinghe stood at the door.

  He Lingchuan walked in and saw a man kneeling in the firewood room, claiming to be Lu Yao's confidant.

   It was this guy that Zhao Qinghe caught in the grove by the side of Zhumapo today. He was also unlucky. Before running away from Lu Yao, the horse accidentally broke his leg.

  He Lingchuan wondered, "Why are you looking for this person?"

  "He claimed to know a lot of inside information about the bandit army, and confessed in order to seek leniency."

   As soon as He Chunhua nodded, the prisoner hurriedly said:

"After the defeat at Woling Pass, the hearts of the rebels were scattered. General Lu gathered more than a thousand people with his power, but he didn't lead them well. Everyone worried about where their next meal would be and whether they would be surrounded by officers and soldiers. General Lu But he was drunk all day long."

"Once we passed by a town, there was a rich man named Zhao. There were so many cattle, sheep, and grain in his village that he couldn't finish it. The gold, silver, and treasures in his family were all piled up into hills. The family volunteered to donate to the general. We don't kill people. The general agreed at the time, but he drank too much wine at night, took a fancy to old man Zhao's little grandson, caught him and roasted him, and even praised him for being soft and tender, so old man Zhao burped his fart that night." He smiled wryly, " Later, the local authorities issued arrest warrants to arrest us, and the officers and soldiers chased us like chicken blood, which made us exhausted. Only then did we know, alas, this old man Zhao was originally a high-ranking official. Retired and returned to hometown. If the local state shepherd does not arrest us, we will not be able to explain it."

   6,000+ words are here, I’m asking for a monthly pass~ I’m going to pick my throat again today, so I’ll take a break from writing.

   The detection point is far away, and the team is long.

  (end of this chapter)