Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 41: Protecting the People Like a Baby

Before dawn the next day, County Magistrate Xie sent a car to the charity cemetery to pick up Mr. Na Yan.

The night fog had not yet dissipated, and the morning breeze was slightly cool. The driver shivered, feeling uneasy. I wondered why he had to come to such a ghost place to pick someone up? The boss had also specifically instructed that the carriages must be covered with black cloth, so that no light could penetrate...

After the doorman informed him, Mr. Chen came out of the charity cemetery a short while later, followed by four tall figures wearing bamboo hats that looked like baskets and covered with black robes.

These four "basket men" not only have strange shapes, but also walk with rigid steps. Their steps seem heavy, but there is no sound at all.

The driver was so scared that he turned his head back quickly, not daring to look again.

"Come on." Mr. Chen opened the curtain, and the four 'basket men' lined up and got on the bus one by one.

Mr. Chen finally took out a handful of paper money from his sleeve and threw it high into the charity cemetery. Then he got into the car and said, "Let's go."

The driver hurriedly drove towards the South Gate.

Not long after, County Lieutenant Xie also came with a team of officials to meet up.

Mr. Chen stuck his head out of the carriage, looked at County Magistrate Xie who was riding on his horse, smiled and said:

"Thanks for the treat, the kids enjoyed playing and eating."

County Lieutenant Xie shuddered, resisting the urge to strangle him to death, and said coldly, "Let's go."

~~
In fact, County Magistrate Xie and Mr. Chen could use armored horses and reach the Immortal Land in just one hour.

But County Magistrate Xie wanted to avoid suspicion, so he led the team to the countryside under the name of "Autumn Patrol".

The so-called autumn inspection means that officials would go to the countryside to visit the fields before the autumn harvest, estimate the harvest, and then finalize the amount with the three elders in charge of taxation.

Taxation is the top priority of the government, and even the only reason for the existence of the county government. Therefore, at this time, the county leaders have to go to the countryside to negotiate with the big dogs. If they don't negotiate, they won't be able to collect taxes at all.

In fact, a young man from the capital like Xie County Magistrate didn't care about his political achievements at all. After leaving the county, he was too lazy to waste time and went straight to visit the fairyland.

Under his constant urging, the group hurried on and actually arrived at Fangxian Town in the afternoon.

At this time, the carriage covered with black cloth had disappeared in the team.

County Magistrate Xie and his entourage walked through the market and arrived at the gate of the township government.

There are three elders in the township, namely, Youzhi, Siefu, and Youjiao, who are responsible for the township's administration, taxation, public security, etc. The township office is where they work.

The miser who visited the fairyland was Feng Shusheng, and the patrol was Liu Dashao. The autumn harvest was approaching, and the two men thought that the superiors would send people to inspect the harvest, so they all stayed in the government office obediently.

Sure enough, they were kept waiting.

Upon hearing the news, the two men hurried out to greet the county lieutenant.

County Lieutenant Xie nodded slightly as a gesture of return, and after looking around, he asked, "Why didn't my cousin come?"

The official who visited Xian Township was none other than Xie Deng. Logically, he should be present there at this moment, so Lieutenant Xie went straight to the township office.

"Ah? Lord Shaofu doesn't know?" Feng Sheng and Liu Shao opened their mouths in surprise.

"What do I know?!" County Lieutenant Xie said unhappily, "Is he sick or dead? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Yes...it's gone." Young Master Liu answered with gritted teeth.

"Bullshit!" County Lieutenant Xie's face immediately changed color, and he cursed: "Don't you know he is my brother? How could I not know whether he is dead or not?!"

"Master Xie is indeed gone." The heads of the township government also testified, "We wouldn't dare to curse him even if we had the guts."

"What? When did it happen? How come I didn't know about it?" County Lieutenant Xie was extremely shocked.

"It's already been July 7th. It's been almost two months..." everyone answered.

County Lieutenant Xie turned his anger on his son Xie Ji, puffing his beard and glaring at him, asking: "Why didn't you tell me?!" "My son doesn't know either." Xie Ji was also confused and said: "No one in the village has come home to report the death."

"Ah, hasn't the death been reported?" The township officials in the north of the township looked at Liu Lizheng and others in the south of the township.

The latter replied awkwardly: "We thought the second young master had announced the death."

"Why is it the second young master who announced the death?!" County Lieutenant Xie frowned and asked, "Could it be that the eldest young master is also dead?"

"You guessed it again." The township officials and village heads replied.

Lieutenant Xie asked in disbelief: "What about the Third Young Master and the Old Madam? They must be alive, right?"

"You guessed wrong this time. They are gone too..." The township officials replied, "Now only the second young master is left in Xiejiazhuang."

County Lieutenant Xie's expression became even uglier than that of Mr. Chen, and his eyes were filled with murderous ferocity!

He did not enter the government office, but turned his horse around and shouted angrily, "Go to Xiejiazhuang!"

A group of local officials were hurrying to ride on their horses, get on the carriages and get on the sedan chairs, and followed behind with a look of trepidation in their hearts.

In fact, the news of Master Xie’s death had never reached the county, and they played an indispensable role.

The reason was simple. After learning that the northern part of the village had suffered a more serious locust plague, Ren Yuan announced that the tax grain in the northern part of the village this year would also be the responsibility of Xiejiazhuang...

The whole village, including taxes and embezzlement, needs about 40,000 dan of rice. No other family in the entire Fangxian Village can afford this. If Xie County Lieutenant, the elder of the Xie family, knew about this, he would most likely stop the second young master from squandering the family fortune.

So after finding out that Lieutenant Xie had gone to the north on official business, they all tacitly forgot to remind the "overly sad" Second Young Master that he should report the death to the county.

They even told the people in each autonomous region not to talk too much when they went to the county, and not to mention anything related to Xiejiazhuang...

Due to common interests, everyone automatically became accomplices and did not even report the news to the county.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. Before the autumn harvest, County Magistrate Xie unexpectedly returned. This time, all the efforts were in vain...

~~
Lieutenant Xie rode forward with a gloomy face.

Although he was in a very bad mood, he still realized that this country road, which he had walked on several times, had become very flat, and drainage ditches had been dug on both sides of the road.

In his memory, this road was always extremely bad, the kind that would make your intestines fall out if you rode a horse. If it had just rained, it would turn into a muddy pond, and the wheels of the car would sink into it.

Lieutenant Xie tried to recall, but he couldn't remember when the county had allocated funds to build this road, and it was better than the official road.

When crossing the Jiuqu River, he saw that the stone bridge that had been destroyed by the flood had been rebuilt. It was even wider than the original one and could accommodate three carriages running side by side.

Looking into the distance, he actually found two newly built stone bridges on the river, and many tall water wheels were built on both sides of the river bank.

Puzzled, County Lieutenant Xie reined in his horse and looked around. He saw many more water wheels and drum carts in the fields and on the terraced fields in the distance.

Lieutenant Xie could not help but open his third eye. After confirming that what he saw was not an illusion, he asked the township officials, "What is going on? Why has it changed so much? When I came here last time, I had never seen these roads, bridges, and water wheels before!"

"This is all thanks to the second young master. He mobilized our entire village to build bridges and roads, and also built many water wheels for the village." Following Ren Yuanjiao's words, Feng Shusheng did not attribute all the credit to himself alone.

"After the autumn harvest, our village is planning to repair water conservancy projects and dig canals. We will try to make use of the winter and say goodbye to relying on the weather for food. By then, our Fangxian Township can become a land of fish and rice!" Young Master Liu said happily.

Everyone who visited the Immortal Village nodded, and everyone was looking forward to that day.

Although County Lieutenant Xie was filled with hatred, he could only force a smile because of his status. "Yes, our Xie family believes in 'protecting the people as if they were our own children'. This is what we should do for the people."

"How kind and righteous!" the township officials and village heads hurriedly echoed.

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(End of this chapter)