Idle game leads to another world.

Chapter 777 Sophistry
The county magistrate of Dingshui was a middle-aged man in his forties with a carefully trimmed mustache and an official robe that made him look quite majestic.

At this time, the county magistrate was writing furiously in the study of the yamen with an oil lamp on, and a pile of waste paper had formed.

There were not many official duties to deal with, so the county magistrate would not be so busy until midnight. What he was writing now was a memorial to his superiors. He did not know what happened today, he was in a state of restlessness, and he was not satisfied with the result after writing it many times, so he procrastinated until midnight.

After a while, the county magistrate tried to put down the brush in one breath, waiting for the ink to dry so that there would be nothing to do today.

He was about to get up to get some hot water when suddenly, a hard object pressed against his back:
"Don't move. Are you the magistrate of Dingshui County?"

Suddenly there is another person in the room out of nowhere, and anyone would be scared.

But the county magistrate was only slightly stunned at first, then he relaxed and replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:
"It's me."

"I ask you, why are you feeding bran to the refugees outside the city? It's obviously for feeding livestock!"

"Hahahaha, you guys are all the same."

The county magistrate was still not afraid at all and even laughed out loud.

"Those are refugees? You are wrong, lady. You know, these refugees are no longer human beings. They are animals. They will do anything for food."

"Stop talking nonsense, I'm asking you!"

Yang Yiyi was almost enraged. With just an impulse, she could smash the county magistrate's head into his chest with the steel mace in her hand.

"Okay, lady, if you want to know, I'll tell you. Without food, we can only feed the refugees with bran."

"Nonsense! The imperial court clearly sent us relief grain!"

"Yes, they have been sent down, but how many people can the food given by the court feed? And how long can it last? Lady, do you know?"

The county magistrate remained calm and said calmly:

"Disaster relief is impossible. The emperor only knows how to distribute food and send people to check on it. He doesn't care whether these people have enough to eat."

"Nonsense! It's obviously you who sold the disaster relief grain!"

"It seems that the lady has asked around in Dingshui. Well, have you found out where I get the bran to feed the refugees?"

Yang Yiyi really didn't know this. She asked around in the city during the day and came in a hurry to question the culprit at night.

"I sold the relief grain, but I bought it back for bran. Otherwise, how would I have had the food to feed the refugees?"

"If there is not enough food, you can ask the court for it. You are clearly trying to profit from it."

"The imperial court? Oh, where does the imperial court have any grain? The harvest has been bad in the past few years, and we can't get any grain anywhere. The little grain we have is barely enough. There was a disaster in Quzhou, and there are disturbances in the north. Although my Yuezhou Kingdom doesn't have to face the northern barbarians, we can't stay out of it. The emperor has also transferred grain and weapons and armor to the north, and even my official warehouse for water management has been diverted to make up for the deficit. How much grain do you think the imperial court has?"

Among the ten states in the Central Plains, only two actually border the North, and Yuezhou is not adjacent to the North.

But everyone knows the principle of "the lips and teeth are interdependent". Normally, the ten countries can fight against each other, but once they encounter foreign invasion, they must work together, otherwise they will be destroyed one day.

Therefore, with the recent unrest in the north, the other eight countries, including Yuezhou, have mobilized food and military equipment to send to the two northern countries in an effort to stop the north.

But it happened that Quzhou was suffering from drought at that time, and a large amount of food was needed for disaster relief, so all the things happened at the same time.

Yang Yiyi had also heard about the unusual movements in the north, and Li Chengxi had specifically told people not to go north, but she had never connected the two events.

She wanted to question the county magistrate, but he sounded a little unconvinced. Then Yang Yiyi thought that no matter what the reason was, the county magistrate must have embezzled a large sum of money. "Yes, I did take advantage of it, and not only me, but everyone from top to bottom took advantage of the relief grain, but so what?"

"How is it? You, a corrupt official, have no shame at all?"

"Why should I be ashamed? One pound of fine grain can be exchanged for five pounds of bran. The food that saves one person can save five people. Why should I be ashamed?"

"Sophistry! You are avoiding the main point. Greed is greed!"

The county magistrate sighed:
"You are a young lady who has not experienced much in the world. It seems that you don't understand the ways of the world. If the officials don't have enough food, who will care about the people below? Yes, there are honest officials, and I admire them, but is being honest enough? Look at the county next door. They have honest officials, and they are upright officials. As a result, most of the refugees died within a month after they arrived there. Many of them fled to my place and are still alive and well."

"An honest official is a question of moral character, not incompetence. We cannot generalize!"

"You're wrong. He's just too innocent. Nothing can go well for him. He doesn't understand the ways of the world."

The county magistrate shook his head and said:
"Lady, do you know why we are called Dingshui? It is because we have suffered from drought for many years and lack water. County magistrates of all generations have always petitioned the court, hoping to get some money to build reservoirs and dig ditches, but it always fell on deaf ears. If I hadn't bribed the court and finally got it to the emperor, how could we have those reservoirs and ditches outside? What does bribery require? Of course it's money. No one will do things for you for free."

It is indeed true. If there is no benefit in doing the job, why would anyone do it for you?
If they don't do it, it's not their fault. In this case, you have to give them benefits.

"No matter how capable you are, you can't erase the fact that you are a corrupt official!"

"I have never said that I am an honest official. Even if the emperor is here, I dare to say that I have done the work and I have taken the money. You can check how many achievements I have made since I became the magistrate of Dingshui County, and you can also check how much money I have embezzled."

"Then can't you be an honest official and petition for the people?"

"You great heroes are so high up that you can talk nonsense. If I am not greedy, where will the money for bribery come from? If I am not greedy, where will the money for favors come from? If I am not greedy, who among the officials inside and outside the government will work for me?"

This person is quite frank.

"I am not a gentleman either. I also want gold, silver and jewelry, and I also want fine clothes and delicious food. Who will give you money if you don't have it?"

"After all, it's all for yourself!"

"Of course, what's wrong with that? If a man doesn't work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. I have studied hard for more than ten years. In order to support my studies, my parents worked day and night to make tofu. After all the hard work of passing the imperial examination, I just want to make a living? Am I wronged?"

When an official does not make the decision for the people, it is better to go home and sell sweet potatoes.

This is too idealistic and too self-righteous.

Just like today's students, they go through six years of elementary school, six years of middle school, four years of university, and they also have to take the postgraduate entrance examination. After more than ten or twenty years of hard study, they finally find a job, but when they count the accounts at the end of the month, they realize that they have worked in vain this month.

Who can accept this?
Yang Yiyi has hesitated. She doesn't understand the ways of the world, but she is not stupid.

I originally wanted to go and question him, but ended up being stunned by what he said.

"Lady, you are where you are today, you must have trained hard for more than ten years. Are you willing to go home and farm? You just want to make a name for yourself. How are you different from me?"

"Nonsense, I am upright and honest, and I am not the same as a corrupt person like you!"

"It's true that we are not on the same path, but you obviously don't understand that a sword can't save the world. Instead, it's a corrupt official like me who saves people."

This sentence is a killer move.

The county magistrate felt the hard object behind him loosen, and when he looked back, he saw no one, only the open window shaking slightly...

(End of this chapter)