I'm Actually The Big Villain In The Book

Chapter 82: Honest Officials and Good Officials

When the sun was setting, Wei Changtian and his party arrived at Zhongling County.

Indeed, as the deputy general said, this county is not that big, the city gates are dilapidated, and moss is still growing on the walls, which is obviously neglected all year round.

There are two reasons for this situation.

1. The people here are too poor.

Second, the officials here are too rich.

Judging from the county magistrate's dilapidated mansion, Zhongling County should belong to the former situation.

"Master Liang, the countryside is really shabby."

During the dinner, the thin county magistrate had a tense expression and said apologetically, "If the food is not to your liking, I hope you don't dislike it."

"Master Wang, what are you talking about? We are all vulgar people who eat and sleep in the open all day. It would be nice to have a warm meal!"

Liang Zhen didn't have any airs, he laughed twice and moved his chopsticks first.

The county magistrate breathed a sigh of relief, with gratitude on his face.

Everyone started to eat one after another. Although there was no good food or wine, it was somewhat better than the meal at the post station at noon.

While eating, Wei Changtian glanced at the thin county magistrate whose clothes were still patched, and thought that he looked like an upright official.

It's just that Zhongling County is located on a major traffic road, and it's not the kind of shitty place, and I don't know why it is so poor under his rule.

Liang Zhen also seemed to have this doubt, so after eating for a while, he casually asked:

"Master Wang, I think the land in Zhongling is considered fertile during this journey, and it is next to a wide river. Why is this county so impoverished?"

"This……"

The thin county magistrate put down his chopsticks guiltily when he heard the words, the old man blushed and was speechless.

Liang Zhen didn't use his official position to suppress him, he only thought that his family had hard-to-recite scriptures.

"Master Wang, don't take it to heart, I'm just asking casually, if you don't want to say it, forget it."

"Ugh……"

The thin county magistrate opened his mouth, and finally heaved a long sigh, as if he wanted to say something but dared not.

But at this moment, Wei Changtian suddenly asked: "Master Wang, the banditry in Zhongling County is probably quite serious, right?"

"This……"

The thin county magistrate was taken aback: "Young master...why did you say that?"

He didn't know Wei Changtian's real identity, and thought he was Liang Zhen's family member or something.

Of course, Wei Changtian will not be idle and introduce himself—I am the son of the Wei family who killed the prime minister, and I just explained while eating:

"We passed several villages along the way, but when we passed the villages, we didn't see a single villager. The doors and windows of every house were closed, but it was obviously not a deserted village."

"It can be seen that these villagers should have hid after hearing the sound of horseshoes."

"Ordinary people are so afraid of horses. I can't think of any other reason except bandits."

"In addition, although today is cold clothes, there are too many people who worship ancestors and burn paper along the way, and those graves are mostly new graves, so I have such a guess."

After Wei Changtian finished speaking a few words, everyone at the table looked at him with a little surprise.

They have seen all these things, but they have never thought so much about it.

The thin county magistrate's expression was also somewhat surprised.

He hesitated for a while, and finally nodded bitterly.

"This young master is right. In recent years, the county has indeed been plagued by banditry, and the people have fled a lot, which is why they are so depressed."

"Since there are bandits, why not suppress them?" Liang Qin wondered.

"Miss doesn't know something, it's not that I don't suppress..."

The thin county magistrate's tone was very painful: "It's really powerless!"

"There have been bandits for years, and a large area of ​​cultivated land has been abandoned, and many farmers have not even paid their land taxes."

"The people are poor, and the yamen are also poor. Where is the money to support poor officials..."

"I'm not afraid of your jokes when I say it... There are less than a hundred arrests and officers and soldiers in the entire Zhongling County, how dare they go to suppress the bandits..."

"Knowing that there are bandits but not being able to suppress them, seeing the hundreds of thousands of people in Zhongling suffering and suffering... I am incompetent, I am incompetent!"

"This……"

Looking at the thin county magistrate who was beating his chest and feet, almost crying, everyone was silent.

This Zhongling County is too miserable, isn't it, such a big place can't even support a hundred officers and soldiers?

"If you can't suppress it yourself, why don't you report it to the state government and ask them to send someone to suppress it?" Liang Qin asked again, frowning.

"Naturally, it is reported, but the expenses required by the state government to send troops have to be borne by the county government. It is really difficult for Zhongling County to raise such a large amount of money."

The thin county magistrate gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and said tremblingly: "Furthermore, it's not enough to just collect enough military pay, and you also need to have money to manage those masters in the state government."

"I, I really..."

"..."

The room was silent, everyone silently looked at the thin county magistrate in rags, not knowing what to say.

Until Wei Changtian suddenly said again: "My lord, no matter how small Zhongling County is, there should be a lot of shops in the city. Asking each of them to donate a little money is almost enough to pay the state government to send troops."

"I haven't tried it anywhere."

The thin county magistrate shook his head: "But except for a few, the others are not even willing to pay a penny."

"They all feel that they are safe hiding in the city, and they don't care about the lives of the people outside the city at all!"

"Don't want to pay?"

Wei Changtian looked at the thin county magistrate like a fool: "Then take a knife and force them to take it out!"

"This……"

The Shou county magistrate was stunned for a moment, and after a long time he could hold back a sentence: "Young master, young master, this is something that is against the law..."

When he said these words, everyone immediately understood why Zhongling County had come to where it is today.

There is no money to suppress the bandits, so the bandits are rampant, so the people flee to death, so there is even less money, so the bandits are even more rampant...

What a vicious circle!

If this continues, the entire Zhongling County will become a den of bandits in a few years.

In fact, the solution is very simple-try to get money, feed the stomachs of the people above, and ask the state government to send troops to suppress the bandits.

As long as the banditry is gone, all problems will be solved.

But the problem is that Mr. Wang is too "clear" and "right".

He is unwilling to spend money to curry favor with the master of the state government, nor is he willing to use "illegal" methods to force merchants to donate money.

The result of this is that the banditry has not been resolved for a long time, and it is getting more and more serious.

Wei Changtian smacked his lips, and suddenly thought of a sentence Kangxi said——

A clean official is not necessarily a good official.

Now it seems that it really makes sense.

...

After the meal, it was a bit dull.

Liang Zhen and others expressed deep sympathy after hearing the situation in Zhongling County, and then continued to eat and drink, without any intention of helping to suppress a bandit.

After all, this is the border of Tanzhou, and he, the general of Shuzhou, led people to suppress bandits on other people's land... Although the county magistrate will definitely be grateful to Dade, it is unknown what the adults in the Tanzhou government will think .

Except for Liang Qin, everyone did not take the banditry in Zhongling County too seriously. After eating and drinking, they left Shou County magistrate's house, went back to the inn to rest, and prepared to get up early tomorrow and continue on their way.

But what everyone didn't expect was...

They didn't want to cause trouble, but the trouble came to them.

That. It seems a bit difficult to complete the five shifts agreed today. I owe a few tickets first, and make up for it later.

(end of this chapter)