The two of them wanted to show off and change the common people's opinion. However, just as they rushed out, Zhang Zhong shouted, "Registrar Zhan, Deputy County Magistrate Xiao, don't be a hindrance. Why are you carrying an empty bucket over there? Is this how you usually do things? Is this how irresponsible you are?
Now is not the time for County Magistrate Wen. I won't allow the people in the yamen to be like before. They can't do anything well and don't think about the common people. Put away your previous practices. Why are you here now? If we were really waiting for you, the house would have been burned down. You can't do anything right but spoil everything. "
Hearing Zhang Zhong's words, Deputy County Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Zhan were stunned. They didn't know what to say. What Zhang Zhong said was like a slap to their faces. Especially the common people who came to help, they all looked at them with disgust. If it wasn't for the light of the fire, they wouldn't have noticed it.
"Lord Zhang, you just came a little early. It's not like we didn't come here. We were sleeping. You can't just wake up every once in a while, right? "Deputy County Magistrate Xiao retorted discontentedly.
"Came a little early? Do you know when I came here? I have been looking at the case files all night. As the deputy county magistrate, you are supposed to help the county magistrate do things. The county magistrate has come here first, but you, as the deputy county magistrate, haven't arrived yet. You sleep, but Bian Ran doesn't sleep. Look at the common people, they don't sleep? Are you a pig? "
At this time, Zhang Zhong could promote his reputation, so he didn't show any mercy and said all the harsh words.
No one could find fault with his words. After all, the common people saw what happened. The common people didn't know that the two of them had just slept and drank some wine. They only saw that when the fire started, the county magistrate rushed out from the courtyard behind Jinlai Building and led people to put out the fire.
The deputy county magistrate and the Registrar didn't appear until now. They woke up later than them. No one knew who started to shout, "County Magistrate Zhang is a good official."
The rest of the people started to shout as well. As they shouted, they tried to put out the fire. The water buckets in the hands of the Registrar Official and the Deputy Magistrate Official were also taken away. The two of them stood there and wanted to say something, but they realized that their words were suppressed by the surrounding voices. No one could hear them.
Zhang Zhong was still there with a simple loudspeaker made of iron sheet, which was large in the front and small in the back. The surrounding people and yamen runners all listened to his orders.
He didn't know how the fire started. Buckets of water were poured in, but it didn't have any effect. After the fire was slightly smaller, it suddenly grew bigger.
When the sun was about to rise, the fire was almost done burning. Only then did it become a little smaller. However, standing here, they could still feel a wave of hot air blowing against their faces.
As the sun rose, Zhang Zhong directly said, "Later on, don't rush back. Come to Jinlai Building to eat something. Thank you for helping to put out the fire at night. Otherwise, the fire might have jumped into the houses. That would be a real disaster."
After working for so long, the common people were already tired and were preparing to go back. When they heard the county magistrate's words, they burst into cheers. Usually, they didn't dare to eat at Jinlai Building. The food there was extremely expensive. Now, they had a chance to go there. All of this was because of the new county magistrate.
"Deputy Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Official Zhan, you two stay here and check how the fire started. You can't just occupy this place and do nothing. The rest of you, follow me."
Zhang Zhong ordered two people with ugly expressions to stay here and investigate. Those yamen runners and common people were called by him to go to Jinlai Building. At this time, Jinlai Building had already prepared some porridge, side dishes, and buns.
The common people and yamen runners crowded around Zhang Zhong and left, leaving Deputy Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Official Zhan there looking at each other. They really didn't understand what happened tonight. The past four hours made them feel like two months had passed.
In the beginning, when their buckets were snatched back, they just wanted to take a look. However, they couldn't stand the disdainful looks of the common people who passed by them after getting water. They had no choice but to find a big wooden basin. They went to the well and waited for others to fill the basin with water so that they could carry it back to put out the fire.
When they were working just now, they didn't notice it. Now that they stopped, they felt uncomfortable all over. They stood there with their eyelids closed and their bodies swayed back and forth. They really wanted to go back and sleep, but they didn't dare to. Only when the cold morning wind blew did they feel better.
"Brother Buyong, what should we do? Zhang Zhong asked us to find the cause of the fire. Where should we start? "Registrar Official Zhan said gloomily.
Deputy Magistrate Xiao also didn't understand. What he didn't understand was not how the fire started, but why did it burn for such a long time. The warehouse was already empty. Why couldn't it be put out after burning for such a long time?
Thinking of this, Deputy Magistrate Xiao said to Registrar Official Zhan, "I'll go to the granary and see what's going on."
After saying this, Deputy Magistrate Xiao directly walked over there. He said that he wanted to go to the granary to see, but in fact, there was no more granary here. It had already been pulled down by someone to put out the fire.
Registrar Official Zhan followed behind. The two of them walked one after another to the place where the heat was still spreading out. When they walked, the sound of water splashing could be heard under their feet. It was obvious how much water had been poured just now.
When they got closer, the two of them were stunned at the same time.
"No wonder the fire lasted for such a long time. Who brought the grain here? No, it's not grain. It looks like straw. Why did they bring so much straw here?"
Deputy Magistrate Xiao finally realized something. The reason why it took so long to put out the fire was that there was a lot of straw in the granary.
After walking around the granary, the two of them found that the fire was still burning. When they were thinking about what to do, a government runner who had just returned from Jinlai Tower came over with a big steamed bun in his mouth. He was eating so happily that Deputy Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Official Zhan couldn't help but feel greedy.
"Officers, you're still here? The food over there is delicious. If you don't believe me, take a look at this steamed bun of mine. It's filled with meat. Why don't you have a taste? " The government runner was concerned about the two of them. He gave the steamed bun to the two of them.
"You can eat it. We're not hungry. Do you know what happened to the straw in the granary?" Deputy Magistrate Xiao really didn't want to eat the food with black handprints. Even if the two of them were hungry, they couldn't eat it.
After hearing this, the man put another steamed bun into his mouth. He chewed hard and swallowed half of it. Then he said, "The straw was sent here by the county magistrate in the middle of the night. He said that the government runners in the yamen don't even have hot water to drink. With these straw, we can cook two meals a day for the government runners in the county.
Officer, now that all the straw has been burned, what can we do in the future? It's a pity. Someone must be up to no good and doesn't want us to eat hot food and drink hot water. "
Deputy Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Official Zhan listened to the government runner's words and felt that their status had dropped a little. They looked at each other and really couldn't figure out how the fire started. These straw were only controlled now. No one knew what was going on inside.
Registrar Official Zhan found a pole that was used to prop up the wall just now and pulled it up among the straw. It was fine if he didn't touch it. Once he touched it, the straw with sparks inside was blown by the wind and burned again.
With the help of the wind, the fire that was put out just now became bigger. The two of them had no choice but to call the government runner who came to watch. The three of them started to put out the fire with water. The government runner had already done a lot of work. Now that he was full, he didn't have much strength when he started to work again. He walked back and forth slowly.
Most of the water was poured by Registrar Official Zhan and the deputy magistrate. The two of them were tired, but they didn't dare to ignore it. If a bundle of burning straw flew up and fell on other houses, their responsibility would be even greater. They were asked to stay here and guard, how could they stay like this?
Fortunately, the surrounding area had been demolished and quarantined. The fire didn't spread to other houses. It only burned in that place. The two of them worked for another hour. Zhang Zhong finally came back with those people who had finished eating.
Once the fire started again, Zhang Zhong first shouted for everyone to help put out the fire. Then he said to Deputy Magistrate Xiao and Registrar Official Zhan, "What else can the two of you do? You can also make the fire start by just watching here. Do you know how to start the fire? "
The Registrar Official Zhan and the deputy magistrate shook their heads lightly. Now the two of them had no mood to refute. They were as tired as two dead dogs. If it wasn't for the fact that they directly collapsed here and didn't want to be seen by the people, they really wanted to sleep and didn't want to care about anything.
Until now, they had not rested for two days and two nights. If they continued like this, they would be exhausted to death.
After Zhang Zhong finished talking to the two of them, he started to give instructions again. After two hours, there were still people turning the straw over and asking people to water it. Finally, the fire was completely put out.
"Alright, let's start to work. We can't do nothing all day. Last night, I looked through the cases of the 120 people and found that some of them shouldn't have been sentenced. The two of you write a document to change the sentence and I will let them go."
Zhang Zhong took out the case files from nowhere and asked the two of them to change the sentence.
"Your Excellency, this can't be done. This can't be changed easily. We have to look through the cases one by one." Registrar Official Zhan said.
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