Zhang Zhong continued to walk forward. Sure enough, it didn't take long for a village to appear in front of him. It wasn't like he had imagined, where there were smoke curling up from the chimneys, chickens and dogs chasing each other, and children playing around.
There were some fields outside the village where cucumbers and eggplants were planted. The eggplants had not yet grown, and there were a few cucumbers hanging alone. There was also a fence made of thick wood outside the village.
There was some sand and stones on the road, and there were wild flowers and weeds growing on the side. A river flowed behind the village. The houses in the village were made of mud bricks, and there was some grass growing out of them. There were no children playing outside, but there was no lack of dogs barking. There were no poultry or livestock.
There was no smoke coming out of the chimneys. It was already noon.
"Don't they eat lunch?" Zhang Zhong asked the yamen runner in the inner courtyard.
The yamen runner was also puzzled. Where did all the people go? He shook his head blankly. "Master, I don't know. Why don't we go in and take a look?"
"Let's wait. If there were people in the village, they would have taken a look. Now that we don't see anyone, they might have gone out. The whole village went out. What is going on?"
Zhang Zhong took out the monocular that Zhang Xiaobao had extorted from him and looked at the village. From time to time, he adjusted the distance between the two lenses of the monocular.
The yamen runner looked enviously at the monocular in Zhang Zhong's hand. He had used it once, and it was very useful. It could reach a distance that couldn't be seen normally. He thought for a moment and said, "Master, why don't I take a few people to look around?"
"No, wait. Take this and look at it. If you see a person, just say it. It's the same for beasts." Zhang Zhong handed the monocular to the yamen runner and found a place to sit down. He took out a water bag from his backpack and sipped it.
He was now learning from his son and daughter-in-law. When he went out, he carried a specially made bag. In the county, no one would say that he didn't have good manners. There were some things that could be used at any time in the bag. It was very convenient.
The bailiff excitedly took the binoculars. Under the envious gazes of the other bailiffs, he looked around. He didn't show off and didn't say much. He looked around himself. When the wind blew at some places, he stared at them for a while.
The group of people waited for a full hour. Finally, the yamen runner holding the binoculars shouted excitedly, "Master, there are people. I see people. A large group. A few of them are carrying things."
At his shout, Zhang Zhong stood up, took the binoculars, and looked towards the northeast. He saw men, women, old, and young, laughing and talking as they walked over. There were two places in the crowd that were different from other places. There were a few strong people carrying wooden poles on their shoulders.
From the gaps in the crowd, Zhang Zhong finally knew what they were carrying. It turned out to be two bears. It seemed that someone had hunted the bears and the whole village went to pick them up.
When they got closer, he saw more clearly. The two bears were not small. Their bodies were covered with wounds. He didn't know how the people in the village hunted them.
After a certain distance, the people in the village also noticed Zhang Zhong and his group. They stopped in a panic and didn't dare to come back.
"Two people go over and tell them who I am." When Zhang Zhong saw that the villagers didn't dare to come back, he ordered the person beside him.
The yamen runner from the inner courtyard waved to a person behind him and ran over. The person who was waved by him didn't dare to be negligent. He knew that he was not as valued by the county magistrate as his colleague. The county magistrate was from the inner courtyard of Zhuangzi, but he still had to show off.
The two of them ran in front of the villagers, one in front of the other.
"Everyone, don't worry. Hurry back to the village. We are the county's yamen runners. Look, look at our clothes."
The yamen runner from the inner courtyard said to the villagers in front of him. The villagers didn't look happy because of their arrival. Instead, they looked at them vigilantly. The older people didn't say anything, but the children didn't care.
A little boy about nine years old shouted at them, "Do you know that we hunted two bears, so you want to come and snatch them again?"
The two bailiffs were stunned, especially the one who followed behind. He recalled what had happened in the past, and his expression changed. He had also come to bully the people in the village. Back then, the village had just hunted a fox, and he had helped County Magistrate Wen snatch the fox.
Today, they had just brought back two bears. Suddenly, people from the yamen came again. Anyone would think that they were here to rob them again.
The yamen runner from the inner courtyard had studied for a year and a half, so he knew a lot of things. He quickly said, "Don't think too much. The county magistrate of Huayuan County has been changed. The original one with the surname Wen was arrested and brought to the capital. The one with the surname Xiao was also arrested and his house was confiscated. The new county magistrate is different from the previous one. He loves the people like his own children.
I heard that there are two villages here. I walked here and wanted to see how everyone is living. Our new county magistrate is very powerful. Everyone can wait to live a good life in the future. "
"Who are you kidding? None of the officials are good people. One left, and another one came. Is it because you took a liking to another one and collected taxes for two years? Since you can't get anything good out of it, you're here to steal from us? "The child who spoke just now added.
The two yamen runners looked at the villagers' distrustful eyes and sighed at the same time. It was still the person from the inner courtyard who said, "Whether it is true or not, what's the use of you stopping here? Don't you know the village? Let's talk about it when we are in the village, okay? "
The villagers thought about it and agreed. If they stopped here, the county magistrate would not come. There were more than 20 people, and they could carry two bears. Even if they really came, what could they do?
Under the guidance of the village chief, the villagers continued to carry the two bears to the village.
When they arrived at the village, Zhang Zhong also led people to greet them. He did not have any official prestige. He walked out from the protection of the guards with a smile on his face and said to the leading villager, "You are amazing. You can actually hunt two bears. One bear paw can be sold for a lot of money."
If he was not wearing an official's uniform, the villagers would have thought that he was an errand boy. When did an official smile at ordinary people? His smile was so sincere.
Only those yamen runners knew that as long as they did not do too much, the county magistrate was very easy to talk to. He would even chat with them when he was free. But as long as they did something they should not do, such as bullying the people when they went out, they would be beaten at least 30 times with the rod.
There was a doctor waiting next to them. They did not dare to be merciful even if they wanted to. Not to mention the feeling of being beaten 30 times. After the beating, they had to carry them in front of the people who bullied them for them to see.
If it was a second time, they would be beaten 100 times and then driven away. There was no need for yamen runners. Until now, no one had done it a second time, and no one had done it the first time. After 100 beatings, the person was dead.
The villagers did not know this. Looking at Zhang Zhong's smile, they felt very comfortable. The village chief was not like other places, where the position was held by an old man. The village chief here was a man of 24 or 25 years old. He stood up and said, "You are the new county magistrate?"
"Yes, I am. Why don't you sell your two bears to the county? Sell them to Jinlai Restaurant. Now, Jinlai Restaurant is not owned by that relative surnamed Wen. It is owned by my family. The price given is absolutely fair, and we can even give a little more. After all, my family has many restaurants. If we sell them in the capital, we can make more money."
As Zhang Zhong spoke, he opened his backpack and took out candies from it and handed them to the child next to him. The candies were prepared for himself. When there was no food to eat, he could eat two pieces of candy to make up for it.
The child stared at the candy but did not dare to take it. He looked timid.
Zhang Zhong took the child's hand and stuffed the candy in it. "Take it. Don't worry, I will not take your things for free. I am different from that county magistrate Wen. My family is rich. I don't dare to say too much, but I can easily take out tens of thousands of coins. I am not afraid of not having enough money. How much are your two bears worth?"
"My family's master is the head of Zhangjia Zhuangzi in Sanshui County. He doesn't care about your things. My master has hundreds of restaurants and shops."
At this time, the yamen runner in the inner courtyard helped to speak up. Zhang Zhong turned his head and nodded to the yamen runner with satisfaction.
Some of the villagers who went to trade had heard about Zhangjia Zhuangzi. When they came back, they told the villagers. At this time, when the villagers heard that the new county magistrate was the head of the Zhang family, they were finally not worried.
The child who took the candy stuffed it into his mouth and asked without scruples, "Did you give something to your family's farmer? And build a big house for the farmer? "
"Don't talk nonsense." The farmer's parents said at the same time.
Zhang Zhong did not care. He nodded and said to the child, "I will not give it for free. The farmer has done a lot for the family. It is not right to not give it. Tell me, how old are you?"
"Eight … eight years old." After being scolded by his parents, the child became timid and said timidly.
"Eight years old is not old enough. You can go to school to study. In the future, I will build a school here and find someone to teach you. Two Zhuangzi can take care of you at the same time."
Zhang Zhong thought of his son's plan. He wanted to find a person who could not pass the exam. He believed that the people who came here would not suffer too much and the villagers could take good care of them.
At this time, the village chief also noticed the difference in the new county magistrate. He said, "Sir, are we still collecting taxes this year?"
"Collecting taxes? Didn't you already pay this year's taxes? No, we will collect next year. The two bears are not of much use to you. Send them to Jinlai Lou. One bear is 100 coins. "
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