Once Magistrate Ma returned to the yamen, he immediately reported to Liu Zhimo about Director He"s situation.This was the last chance that he had been given to Director He, the next time, he would scram.
He wasn"t even afraid of He Zhao, w.a.n.g Lin, and the other three families, so how could he be afraid of Director He?
"Go, let"s go to Wutong Village." Liu Zhimo stood up and touched his official uniform, his hands behind his back, and walked forward.
Magistrate Ma followed closely behind Liu Zhimo, his eyebrows knitted together slightly, worried that their trip to Wutong Village might not go smoothly.
Pah pah pah... The jinx"s beak would definitely go smoothly.
After getting on the carriage, Magistrate Ma glanced at the bodyguard who was acting as the coachman. He turned his head and asked Liu Zhimo.
After those yamen runners were captured and placed in the prison, their seats were always vacant, and no one came to take up their positions.
Seeing that Liu Zhimo had not mentioned this matter before, he did not dare to ask.
No matter what, it was inconvenient for the yamen to have no bailiffs.
If something were to happen, how could he do it without the help of a bailiff?
Liu Zhimo raised his head and looked at Magistrate Ma, and said oh, and asked him if he had a good candidate?
Magistrate Ma"s heart tightened under his gaze, and he fiercely shook his head and said no.
"Magistrate Ma, what kind of good candidate do you have? "I can recommend it."
"Really?" You aren"t lying to him again, are you?
"Did I lie?" Liu Zhimo rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, "Am I that terrifying? You don"t dare to speak the truth in front of me. " He was clearly very gentle, but why was he still so afraid of him? His courage was too small.
Hearing that, Magistrate Ma almost broke his neck, "No, no, no, why would I be afraid of County Magistrate? I am in awe of you, my lord. " He wished that he could swear to the heavens to make Liu Zhimo believe him.
Liu Zhimo snorted, and asked him if he had a candidate.
He asked the village chief to send two people over, the remaining seats had to be filled in at Ninghua County"s place.
He had been busy earlier and had forgotten about this matter. Since Magistrate Ma had asked about it, he might as well put this matter on the agenda.
Magistrate Ma wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and nodded, saying that he knew a person who previously walked on darts. Now, he did not walk on darts.
Darts?
The dartwalkers would usually have some kicks and kicks.
"Sure, ask him to come to the yamen tomorrow and let me see him."
"Alright, alright, alright. Then I"ll go look for him tonight and tell him about this." Being a bailiff was also an honor and he would not reject it.
Liu Zhimo looked at Magistrate Ma in amus.e.m.e.nt, then asked if he only had one choice. Is there anyone else?
He was a little confident in the person that Magistrate Ma recommended.
Magistrate Ma scratched his head, rummaged through his mind, and then shook his head and said, there"s no more.
"Then we"ll post a notice tomorrow and have someone come to apply for a bailiff position."
This idea was not bad, Magistrate Ma nodded his head in agreement.
"Sir, it would be best if the bailiffs knew some kung fu, right?"
"What do you think?"
"..."
wanted to reach out and slap his own mouth, making him have a cheap mouth, and ask such a question?
No wonder he was despised by the adults, wasn"t that obvious?
If he didn"t know how to move his legs, how would he be able to catch a criminal?
"I understand, my lord."
Before Liu Zhimo closed his eyes to rest, he lightly threw down a few words.
"..."
The corner of Magistrate Ma"s mouth twitched. He was clearly so much older than County Magistrate, why … Why is he being lectured by an adult?
He helplessly knocked his head. The next time he spoke, he had to think of something. He could not say it out loud, otherwise, he would be beaten by another adult.
He glanced at Liu Zhimo who had his eyes closed. He quietly stretched his legs and leaned on the carriage wall, then closed his eyes. Recently, he had suffered from a serious lack of sleep, so he wanted to take this opportunity to rest.
When they reached the Wutong Village, the guard called Liu Zhimo softly.
Liu Zhimo suddenly opened his eyes. Those clear eyes, where did he find any trace of having slept?
He looked at the soundly asleep Magistrate Ma, and lightly pushed his shoulder.
Although he was teasing Magistrate Ma from time to time, he was grateful to him in his heart. During this time, he had been busy all the way until midnight before returning home.
After this period of time, he would have a good rest for a few days.
He had finally found a good helper. He could not overuse it, so he had to let him relax in the nick of time.
Magistrate Ma smacked his lips, turned his head and continued sleeping.
"..."
Liu Zhimo glanced at him. Forget it, let him continue sleeping!
He stepped past Magistrate Ma and got off the carriage. He let one of his guards stay on the carriage to guard Magistrate Ma while the other two followed behind him.
When the villagers of Wutong Village saw Liu Zhimo dressed in his official uniform, he was shocked. They were afraid that Liu Zhimo would find them to settle the score.
Someone quickly ran to find the village chief, asking him to meet Liu Zhimo.
When the Village Chief heard that Liu Zhimo had come, he immediately ran out of his house. When he saw Liu Zhimo, he led the villagers of Wutong Village in kneeling down and greeted him loudly.
Liu Zhimo told them to get up.
Only after the village chief led the way did the other villagers dare to stand up.
Seeing that they were being restrained, Liu Zhimo smiled, telling them to do whatever they needed to do, instead of following him, he casually walked around.
The other villagers said a word of thanks and quickly ran away. It was not the village chief who could run away.
He looked at Liu Zhimo nervously, and laughed out loud. "Master, this commoner … This commoner will take you around. " If not for being bewitched by baldy Lai Sha last time, how could he possibly have captured County Magistrate and locked him up in the woodshed?
Fortunately County Magistrate did not punish them afterwards, otherwise …
Liu Zhimo nodded and agreed.
He took this opportunity to ask the village chief about the Wutong Village.
The village chief bent his body and introduced the Wutong Village to Liu Zhimo in a low voice.
Liu Zhimo saw that he was walking so tiredly, so he didn"t need to be so constrained.
The village chief carefully glanced at Liu Zhimo, and seeing that he was not speaking politely, he finally responded respectfully. He slowly straightened his body, walked to the right of Liu Zhimo, and continued to introduce him to the Wutong Village with a normal tone.
Liu Zhimo stood on top of the Tian Ji Sect with his hands behind his back, looking at the ta.s.selled gra.s.s, he asked the village chief, how was the Wutong Village faring? After taxes, is there enough to eat?
He was afraid that the Village Chief would not dare to speak the truth in front of him. Thus, he decided to tell him the truth and not to hide the truth from him.
Hearing this, how could the village chief still dare to hide it? He sputtered like he was pouring soybeans, and after he finished speaking, he looked at Liu Zhimo with a nervous heart, not knowing if he would be angry or not.
Liu Zhimo frowned, and asked: "Why do you have so much tax? Why didn"t you resist? " The Ninghua County"s taxes were at least one-third higher than the taxes of the other counties. Adding the Vampiric Leeches from the w.a.n.g Family, the amount of taxes was even higher.
No wonder the Ninghua County was so poor. So it turned out...
This was even more serious than what he had previously investigated.
The village chief bitterly smiled and said how could the commoners resist? How could he defeat the government? There had been people who had resisted and died, but what about the result? Killed alive.
At this point, they no longer dared to make a sound. The more the officials asked them to hand over, the more they would give up. If they didn"t have enough food, they could only eat wild vegetables and gra.s.sroots.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d …" Liu Zhimo cursed with hatred, he clenched his fists tightly, how could someone who could pressure the commoners be an official?
The Village Chief thought that Liu Zhimo was scolding him and was so shocked that he dropped to his knees and begged Liu Zhimo to spare his life.
Liu Zhimo sighed, he turned around and reached out to help the village chief up, "I am not scolding you, you do not need to be afraid." Pausing for a moment, he gave the Village Head a promise, "I will remember this matter. I will seek justice for you all."
After the village chief heard this, he thanked Liu Zhimo for his help.
"You"re welcome. It"s my duty to decide for the people." Liu Zhimo smiled at the village chief soothingly, "This year"s taxes will be based on the imperial government"s announcement, they will definitely not collect a single grain of rice from the citizens."
"Sir Xie, you are wise." The village chief, with tears in his eyes, kneeled down again, kowtowing to Liu Zhimo a few times. This was a County Magistrate who cared about the common people, why didn"t they meet him earlier?
This year, they saved up a bit of food, so they didn"t have to gnaw on the gra.s.s roots.
The heavens had opened their eyes. They no longer had to suffer.
"Quickly rise, quickly rise." Liu Zhimo helped the village chief up again, telling him not to get too excited.
The Village Chief wiped the tears off his face, continuously saying that Liu Zhimo was their new parents.
Liu Zhimo laughed, and then changed the topic, allowing the village head to continue walking around the Wutong Village.
Halfway through his stroll, he suddenly asked Wutong Village if there was a woman called Wu Mei.
The village chief nodded and said yes, then sighed and said he was a pitiful person.
"Oh? "What"s wrong?"
"Lady Wu"s husband is a hunter in our Wutong Village, and relying on his hunting skills, she managed to make a good living in the Wutong Village. Until a year ago, when her husband was gone, the family couldn"t take it anymore, with a father lying on the bed, and a child crying and feeding on the bed. It wasn"t easy for the family to be supported outside the family by a woman." Thinking of the Ying Family, the village chief sighed and said, "Our village is not rich, we can"t even help if we wanted to."
"How did her husband disappear?"
The village chief glanced at Liu Zhimo and spoke the truth, "Initially, he said that he was killed by someone, but after reporting it, he withdrew his case after a night. He said that he fell down the cliff and died." With that, the village head pointed at the tall Wutong Mountain next to the Wutong Village. "On the side of the Wutong Mountain is a cliff, there are very few people in the village who would dare go there.
At that time, he had his doubts about Jie"s death, but since Great Elder and Lady Wu insisted that he was killed, then he, an outsider, would have nothing to say.
More than a year had pa.s.sed, he did not expect the County Magistrate to bring up this matter.
I wonder what County Magistrate means? Was he trying to overturn the case for Ying Jie?
After Liu Zhimo heard this, he got the village chief to remind the villagers to not run into dangerous places, so he didn"t say anything else.
Seeing Liu Zhimo like this, the village chief denied his guess.
County Magistrate should have asked casually, there was no other meaning.
He thought too much.