He Cangji coughed softly and said, "Sir, this way please."
Only then did Zhang Zhong turn around and follow him in. When he got closer, he realized why the door was half closed. The door had actually fallen off and was propped up by a stick. If it was opened, it would be too obvious and wouldn't look good.
The group of people walked inside, passing through the lobby in the front, and the courtyard used for doing things at the back. Walking further back, it was the place where Zhang Zhong and his family would live in the future. After turning a small corner, the future home appeared in front of them. Zhang Zhong was dumbfounded.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds. The roof of the dilapidated main house was full of holes. The paper on the windows had long been gone. Only the window frames were left, which were either open or closed. With a clang, a stray cat came out of a hole in the window and meowed at them. It twisted its body and ran away in the blink of an eye.
From this courtyard to other courtyards, there were also houses that were too dilapidated for people to live in. It had to be said that this place was bigger than the courtyard behind the yamen in Sanshui County. Unfortunately, most of the courtyards did not even have a house. There was only a pile of mud piled up there after the snow had melted. There were beams, doors and windows. It seemed that someone had taken it back to use it or used it to make a fire.
Zhang Zhong smacked his lips and asked He Cangji, "This … the previous county magistrate actually worked in such a dilapidated place. He was really a role model for us."
"My Lord, County Magistrate Wen didn't live here in the past. He had a house outside, but it's gone now. It's said that he sold it to someone else and his family moved away. Why don't you buy a house outside?"
He Cangji lowered his voice and said to Zhang Zhong.
"No, this place is fine. My family will find an inn to stay in for the next few days. When it is repaired, we will move back. If we don't live in the yamen, it will be easy for us to get into big trouble."
When Zhang Zhong came, he was already mentally prepared that the yamen would be a little dilapidated. After discussing with his son, he could repair it and not live outside. However, he did not expect it to be so dilapidated. Well, his son liked a big place and his family was not short of money. He could leave it to his son.
"Sir, there doesn't seem to be enough money in the yamen's account to repair the courtyard. If you want to buy it outside, you can find a few local merchants to raise the money." He Cangji had to remind him.
Zhang Zhong smiled. "You don't have to look for others. I still have some money at home. I live in my own house and pay for my own repairs. He Cang Ji, do you know how much money I have in my account?"
"I'm not too sure either. It's true that I'm in charge of the warehouse, but there's not a single grain left in the warehouse. There's not even a single copper coin left. I heard that there's still around 30 strings of coins in the account, which is around 100 silvers."
He Cangji told Zhang Zhong the truth. He wanted to tell him that he was in a deficit now. There was money in the account, but there was no money in the warehouse. He had to find a way to make up for it himself.
At this moment, Zhang Zhong looked at his son. Zhang Xiaobao and Weiwei shook their heads. They meant that they couldn't use their own money to make up for the deficit in the warehouse. Building a house was one thing, but the yamen's affairs were another. They didn't lack money, but they couldn't do that.
Zhang Zhong understood. He said to He Cangji, "There's no hurry now. Let's wait for this year's rent and tax to be collected. By then, we can repair the yamen too."
"Sir, there's no tax this year. We collected this year's tax in advance last year. County Magistrate Wen's case has been jointly reported by the Registrar General and the Deputy Magistrate. Perhaps County Magistrate Wen has been convicted of several crimes. I don't know if he can keep his life." He Cangji brought up another matter.
Before Zhang Zhong could react, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had already understood. When they were greedy, everyone was greedy together. Now, all the blame was pushed to County Magistrate Wen. The Registrar General and the Deputy Magistrate Wen had no responsibility. Naturally, they wouldn't return the money that they had embezzled.
"Good calculation. I like this kind of person." Zhang Xiaobao's lips moved.
Wang Juan glanced at Zhang Xiaobao, "You should think about how to get money. The spring plowing has just ended. The tax that was supposed to be collected in autumn this year will be gone. You can't possibly collect it again, right? I don't know how the people are doing. They have to pay rent for two years a year. Can they still survive? "
"It's a small matter. Take it slow. It's not like the higher-ups don't know what happened here. They just want to see what my father will do. We can only stay outside today. Let my father contact the Deputy Magistrate and the Registrar General first."
Zhang Xiaobao didn't care about this at all. He had lost a little money and collected a year's worth of rent in advance. It wasn't much. In the past, the officials he met could lose a few years' worth of rent and nothing happened to them.
Zhang Zhong had seen the house and was only waiting for the Deputy Magistrate and the Registrar General to come back. He would officially take over after the handover. Before that, he still had something to do. He said to He Cangji,
"Since the yamen is still in deficit, I think the bailiffs are not doing well. I have brought some things. Why don't we get the bailiffs and some people from the yamen here? We can take the things back and deal with them for a few days. What are they again? Xiao Bao, remember what you said before you came. Recite it for me. "
Zhang Zhong really didn't know what his son had brought. He could only let his son recite it himself.
"Father, are you testing me? I remember. A bag of white flour, a bag of rice, a barrel of vegetable oil, 20 kilograms of meat, 2 chickens, and some cucumbers. The bag of rice and noodles are five buckets each. When everyone is here, you can give them to them."
Zhang Xiaobao had to support his father at this time and counted the things at the side.
He Cangji and the two bailiffs were delighted when they heard it, especially the two bailiffs. Usually, they couldn't be greedy and could only bully the common people. The common people didn't have much money at home. It was good enough to get a few eggs. If they were more ruthless, they would catch and kill the chickens and eat them together.
They didn't expect the new county magistrate to give them so many things. The rice was good, the noodles were good, and there was vegetable oil. What the family lacked the most was oil. If there was oil, they could eat some wild vegetables. If there was no oil, they would waste food. With the addition of meat, chickens, and cucumbers, they could make a lot of good dishes.
"Sir, is what you said true? Please wait, I will go and find people. I will find all 67 bailiffs and the rest of the people in the yamen. In total, there are 13 people. "
When one of the two bailiffs heard Zhang Xiaobao's last sentence, he immediately ran out. Zhang Zhong looked at him and didn't say anything. The other 13 people were naturally people like He Cangji.
The deputy county magistrate and the registrar didn't care about these things. It didn't matter whether they came or not. No one knew where they went. Otherwise, how could they not bring the bailiffs with them when they went out to do things? If they did, the bailiffs wouldn't say that they didn't bring all of them.
Zhang Xiaobao originally thought that the two bailiffs could meet his father face to face and sound each other out. Then they would consider whether to confront or compromise. He didn't expect that they would directly use such an unpresentable method to make their intentions clear. In the future, they could only be enemies.
After waiting for the other bailiffs to come back, they began to unload the things from the cart. Half of the twenty guards were divided into two groups to help, and the other half continued to be on guard. Some people from the Zhang family also did the work. Even He Cangji and the rest of the bailiffs didn't stand aside and just watched.
Zhang Zhong, on the other hand, just stood there and watched as the bags of rice and noodles were moved down and put down properly. He also watched as the barrels of vegetable oil were poured out, but he couldn't find a topic to talk about.
Zhang Xiaobao had to help at this time. He said to He Cangji, "When my father came, he said that this is only a part of it. There will be more in the future. In Sanshui County, even the Zhang family can give the bailiffs some things they need, let alone our own people. You have to do a good job. If you don't do a good job, we won't give you anything in the future. "
Zhang Xiaobao deliberately said the last words that could easily offend people. Only in this way could people think that he was a child who didn't know how to behave.
The bailiff who helped to move the things nodded and promised, "I, Qi Dafei, will definitely do a good job in the future. There are so many things to eat for two months. I will sell the cucumbers later. Haha!"
He Cangji was also not angry. He stopped what he was doing and stood there thinking for a while. Finally, he lowered his head and came to Zhang Zhong, saying,
"Sir, to be honest, I didn't go to pick you up today because of anyone's order. I didn't do a good job here at all. I heard that you are capable, so I took the risk to go there. The two of them also did the same. They are usually ostracized. If they can, they will try their best."
When Zhang Zhong heard this, he didn't know whether to believe it or not. The main thing was that his son had used a trick. He guessed that he had arranged for people to be drawn to his side by Jia Shan. What if they were also the same?
So he said, "It doesn't matter. It's not easy for everyone. It will be better if we work together more in the future. If we want to get some benefits, we have to let the people in the county live a good life anyway. This is the case in Sanshui County. Write a few notices tomorrow and let the people in our county know what I, the new county magistrate, am thinking."
"Sir, what are you thinking about?" The bailiff threw the chicken down and asked curiously.
"I am thinking that since the Zhang family can promote Sanshui County to Shang County, Huayuan County can also be promoted to Shang County. Sanshui County has a wharf. Isn't there a wharf in Huayuan County about to be built?" Zhang Zhong repeated his son's words and appeared to be very confident.
He Cangji and the bailiff didn't expect Zhang Zhong to have such a plan. Their eyes lit up at the same time. Zhang Zhong took this topic and continued,
"As long as you do your job well, it won't take long for Huayuan County to change. At that time, the salary that should be increased will be increased and the people who should be promoted will also be promoted. Originally, I could be a sixth-grade official in the capital, but I feel that I should do some things in Huayuan County. When the things are almost done, I will come to the capital. The benefits here will be left to the next one.
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