Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

After lunch, everyone started to work. Zixuan drank another bowl of water and then went to work. "Madam, you go back and rest. I will go back in the evening."

Jinghan saw that everyone had finished eating, so she packed up the dishes and chopsticks with the women, put them in the car, and then pushed the car towards the city.

Zixuan was having a great time with the big guy here when he heard someone shouting from a distance, "Sir, Lord Magistrate, someone is coming from the city. The Magistrate has sent someone over."

Zixuan looked up and saw a man from the Yamen running over sweating profusely. "Sir, the prefect sent someone here to see you for something. Please go back quickly." Zixuan and the others are now at the west gate of the county. The prefect sent someone to go through the east gate, so they couldn't meet each other at all. .

When Zixuan heard this, he quickly put down the shovel in his hand, then patted himself twice and got up from underneath. "Okay, I'll go back right now." After saying that, he went back to the county government office with the visitor.

When the two returned to the county government office, they saw County Magistrate Zhao talking with several people. Zixuan stepped forward and asked, "I don't know which one was sent by the magistrate. It's polite to be a lower-ranking official."

There were three people in total. One of them turned around and frowned when he saw Zixuan like this. "Zhixian Lin, what are you doing? The parents of a county magistrate don't sit in the county government office to handle official affairs, and you do this, do you, the county magistrate, still want to do it?"

Zixuan lowered his head and looked at himself. He was dressed in coarse cloth, with his trouser legs still rolled up, and there was a lot of mud on his body, which really didn't look good. However, this person is too arrogant, right? No matter what, speaking like this is quite hard to accept.

The county magistrate Zhao next to him seemed to notice Zixuan's displeasure and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Sir, this is Mr. Huang, the general judge of the government office."

In the past few years since Zixuan came here, he hasn't had much contact with people in the government office. At first, the imperial court exempted taxes, and then the emperor asked the collected taxes to be used directly to rebuild the county seat, so until now, Zixuan has not had much contact with the people in the government office. Zixuan doesn't know these people who came today.

The general judge is the sixth grade, and the county magistrate is the seventh grade. Speaking of which, Zixuan is not as high as this person. But Zixuan is the head of a county, and Tongpan works under the prefect, so they cannot be compared.

Zixuan cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be Huang Tongpan, please sit down." Zixuan said calmly. So what if it's one level higher than myself? It's not like you pointed at him to eat.

When Huang Tongpan saw Zixuan's attitude, his heart suddenly became angry. "President Lin, I am here to convey the wishes of the prefect. The prefect heard that Mr. Lin actually organized people to build dams during a severe drought? It is simply ridiculous. If we don't fight the drought well at this time, what will we do? Dam? There has been drought here for many years. I have never heard of floods. It is simply a waste of manpower and material resources. The prefect said to stop the work immediately and return the money collected from various merchants. Magistrate Lin, you will not wait. It's a big mistake to start work without permission from the prefect. I hope Magistrate Lin will act according to the prefect's wishes. If not, you, the magistrate, will be done." Huang Tongpian said with a cold face. Got a pass.

After hearing this, Zixuan didn't express anything, his expression remained the same. "Building dikes is something that the people of the whole county agree on. I take the lead and the people are united, which is a good thing. In addition, collecting silver from each merchant is what each merchant should do for the safety of the county. As for the prefect's approval, I have submitted the report for almost a month, but I still haven’t seen the prefect’s approval. If I wait any longer, if there is a flood this year, will the prefect be able to take the responsibility?”

Zixuan knew in his heart that he had not given any benefit to the people in the government office in the past few years. Naturally, these people would not miss the opportunity to give him eye drops. As for the prefect, his immediate superior, he has been indifferent to this side for the past few years. What happened this time?

"Bold, Magistrate Lin, are you talking to the magistrate? The magistrate sent us here with good intentions to remind you not to make the people resentful. You must know that your forced expropriation has caused You are dissatisfied. If someone files a lawsuit, it will be detrimental to your career." Huang Tongpian was a little angry and his voice was much higher.

"Lord Tongpan, things are busy here in Xiaguan. If you have nothing else to do, please come back. As for the suspension of work and the return of money, Xiaguan will discuss it with the local people." Zixuan was not polite at all. Now he has seen through it, these people are bullying the weak and afraid of the strong. What he did was obviously good for the country and the people, but just for a few merchants, the prefect could send people to reprimand him and order him to stop work. He really didn't know what he was doing. Even if the county magistrate is wrong, he must finish the matters at hand first.

When I become an official, I don't do it for promotion and wealth, but just for the local people to live a better life. Now that the lives of the local people have obviously improved, Zixuan feels that he has done almost enough. In the past few years, his wife has been troubled and worried about him. If he really wants to stop being an official, he might as well go home and farm with his wife and children and be free and easy.

With this kind of thought in mind, Zixuan didn't need to flatter these people. So with a cold face, he issued an eviction order.

The angry Huang Tongpan's face changed and turned into the color of pig liver. "Okay, you can do it, Lin Zixuan, don't regret it. Just wait, don't think that since you have a backing, the prefect can't touch you, just wait and see." Tongpian's hands started to shake with anger, and then he shook them Sleeves, snorted. "Walk."

The other two people followed Huang Tongpuan and left.

Zhao Xiancheng wanted to step forward and stop them, but failed and could only watch them go. "Sir, what are you doing? If you offend the magistrate, how can you be an official here in the future?" Zhao Xian Cheng said worriedly.

Zixuan waved his hand, "Mr. Zhao, it goes without saying. You know best how many things we have done in the past few years. I am dedicated to the people and have no other ideas. Now the prefect has sent someone to reprimand, which is really disappointing. Chilling. What if I don't become the county magistrate? I can just spend time with my wife and children. However, it seems that the dam must be built quickly. If the magistrate really goes to court for impeachment, I'm afraid it will delay the important matter. , Starting from tomorrow, we will continue to build dams in various places and strive to complete them in mid-June. "Zixuan doesn't know what's going on, and he is really frustrated these days. I really thought that if I could accompany Jinghan, it would be nice to go home and farm.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiancheng sighed. "Sir, you are too upright. In the officialdom, you have to be able to bend and stretch. Forget it, I will arrange the projects in various places first. My lord, you should lead people to repair the moat first." After saying that, he shook his head. He nodded and left.

Zixuan was left alone, sitting there in a daze. Everything he had done in Zhendong in the past few years appeared in Zixuan's mind one by one, and everything Jinghan did for himself appeared clearly in front of him. Zixuan sighed, "Well, if something really happens this time, it's better not to be an official. It's better to go home and set up a school and teach well. It just happens that I can also accompany Jinghan. Over the years, Jinghan has It’s hard work for me.”

With his mind set, Zixuan stopped thinking about it. After leaving the county government office, we came to the West City Gate and continued to repair the moat with everyone.

When Huang Tongpuan returned to the government office, he naturally told the prefect about his experiences there in an exaggerated manner. The magistrate's surname was Fang, a man who was about thirty years old. "This Lin Zixuan is really ignorant. He doesn't even have eyes for me as a Shangguan. Huh, this time, I have to report to the court. He is So what if he has a backer? No matter how strong the backer is, it can't protect him this time."

On the tenth day of June, the emperor went to court early in the morning.

"Your Majesty, the magistrate of Longzhou Prefecture joined Lin Zixuan, the magistrate of Zhendong County, for his willful behavior. During a severe drought, he actually built dams and repaired rivers, which was a waste of manpower and material resources. In addition, Lin Zixuan used the name of repairing rivers to make a clever excuse and arbitrarily reported to the town The taxes levied on merchants in Dongxian County amounted to as much as one thousand taels per household. This alone amounted to more than 100,000 taels. Your Majesty, if you don't punish such corrupt officials, it won't be enough for the people to be angry, and if you don't punish them, it won't be enough to show the imperial court. So majestic." The Minister of Civil Affairs, holding the memorial in his hand, read a copy of Zixuan in the morning.

The emperor was sitting on the dragon chair. When he heard this, he felt a little unhappy. Zixuan had already written a memorial about the construction of the dam and asked Mingyu to hand it over. The emperor quite agreed with this. You know, it's much better to prepare for a rainy day than to do it when it comes.

The emperor looked at the ministers below calmly. These people were all human beings. How could they not understand this truth? It's not that they don't understand, but in the face of interests, they may have selectively forgotten these things and just wanted to get Lin Zixuan away from Zhendong. No one knows the changes in Zhendong over the years. Perhaps one of them has coveted this piece of fat in Zhendong, right?

The emperor snorted in his heart, did he really think he was a fool and could be fooled by others?

"Master Chen, does the prefect have any evidence to prove that Lin Zixuan embezzled the one hundred thousand taels of silver?" Master Lu, the Minister of Revenue, asked before the emperor could speak.

"That's not true, but I think this money must have been pocketed by Lin Zixuan. How has a magistrate seen so much money? How could he not be tempted?" Mr. Chen said matter-of-factly.

"You are talking without any evidence. Mr. Chen, what benefits did the prefect give you, and you just help him discredit the imperial official? Even if Lin Zixuan is really convicted, what good will it do to you?" Mr. Lu doesn't care. Those, asked in front of everyone.