New and dark light years

Chapter 478 You're just a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong.
Li Lin looked at the furious Magistrate Tian and almost laughed.

The incidents in Luopingjun Town and Dafeng Village have been going on for at least a month, yet Magistrate Tian was completely unaware of them. Regardless of whether he is an honest or good official, he cannot escape the label of "dereliction of duty."

A whole month! Even if information is scarce, it shouldn't be this scarce.

All I can say is... this Magistrate Tian is utterly incompetent.

Li Lin said to Gao Yuan, "Investigate Magistrate Tian and see if he has committed any acts of corruption or abuse of power. If so, hand over the evidence to me."

Now it was Magistrate Tian's turn to laugh.

Li Lin frowned slightly.

Gao Yuan smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "Lord Li, although Magistrate Tian is not good at interpersonal relationships, he is a rare honest official."

Li Lin sized up Magistrate Tian.

At this moment, Magistrate Tian looked completely at ease, even somewhat smug.

Li Lin said to Captain Wu beside him, "Take the children back to rest, and then inform Supervisor Xiao for me to start investigating the past deeds of Tian Wending, the former magistrate of Beishan County. If there is any corruption, record it and give it to me."

"Yes."

Captain Wu breathed a sigh of relief and left with the child.

He was afraid that the prison would have a bad influence on the children.

Li Lin looked at Tian Wending and asked, "I have a question, could Magistrate Tian please answer it?"

"Why would I..." Tian Wending paused, then said, "Alright, ask away."

"I am the military governor, ordered to take over the three prefectures. Why are you obstructing me?"

"Governor Li, don't you know how... disgraceful your reputation is in officialdom?"

Li Lin laughed and said, "But at least I will not harm the people; on the contrary, I will protect them. In this world, without the protection of a powerful figure, how do you think the people would fare?"

"That shouldn't be done by a traitor like you..."

"Can you do it?" Li Lin sneered, "I agree that you are loyal to the Great Qi, but have you protected the people under your rule? Two or three hundred people died in Dafeng Village, and you were completely unaware of the destruction of Luoping Military Town. You are indeed not a so-called traitor. With a person like you, do you deserve to be a local official?"

Putting aside everything else, Li Lin is currently building a Zhenjun Temple in Jin County.

So many people have benefited from this!
Li Lin suppressed the martial arts figures, and the martial arts figures in Jin County kept their tails between their legs, which greatly improved public order.

He further turned the local gentry and elders into cowards, making them dare not be arrogant or domineering.

Tian Wending's expression was extremely unpleasant.

Li Lin continued, "Even if I am a traitor, so what if I killed the Crown Prince? He's just a Gu poisoner. If he really becomes emperor in the future, do you think a Gu poisoner would be of any benefit to the Great Qi?"

Tian Wending was sweating profusely.

"I think I did a good job killing them."

Li Lin smiled, then turned and left.

Gao Yuan stayed there. He looked at Tian Wending and said, "Magistrate Tian, ​​you are really not as good as the military governor. Just look at how he dared to kill the Gu-man prince. How many people in the world have such courage? But half a year ago, Master Pu harmed his servants, and you only dared to fine him and drive him out of Beishan County, just because he has someone behind him."

Tian Wending hung his head dejectedly and argued, "But that was already the best I could do."

"Don't you find it ridiculous?" Gao Yuan laughed. "The people behind Master Pu, would they dare to kill the Crown Prince? You wouldn't dare offend them. Military Governor Li dared to kill the Crown Prince in front of the Emperor and all the officials, yet you are not afraid of him, and even dare to stop him. Why?"

Tian Wending's whole body stiffened.

These words struck at the deepest point of his shame.

"Actually, you know that the military governor is a good person," Gao Yuan sneered. "Just because you think that since he's a good person, he won't be too harsh on you, won't be too demanding of an honest official like you, you seem unafraid of a powerful figure like Military Governor Li, but in reality, you're just bullying the weak..."

"Shut up, stop talking!"

A roar interrupted Gao Yuan's words.

Tian Wending gripped the iron bars tightly with both hands, gritting his teeth and pleading, "Please, stop talking."

Gao Yuan looked at Tian Wending's disheveled appearance, sneered, and turned to leave.

Tian Wending returned to the haystack, dejected, and sat down with a blank stare in his eyes. Li Lin, after being released from prison, sent someone to the street to buy cinnabar, yellow paper, and other such items.

He then drew some talismans and had them sent to Captain Wu.

Now that he has more and more spiritual energy in his body, the talismans he draws are much more effective than they were half a year ago.

These talismans should be able to kill the venomous insects inside the children and restore them to their original state.

Even so, these children will suffer from some health problems and probably won't live very long.

Although Li Lin did not directly take over Beishan County, his orders were carried out without hindrance in Beishan County.

The government troops were divided into several teams and began to investigate the surrounding villages, with Beishan County as the center.

If you don’t check, you won’t know. If you check, you will be shocked.

Besides Dafeng Village, two other villages also suffered.

Including the approximately 500 soldiers in the military town, that means at least a thousand people died tragically.

Upon seeing the report, Li Lin subconsciously rubbed his temples.

"That Tian Wending deserves to die," Li Lin said, somewhat annoyed.

Gui County is now his territory, but he has only just arrived and has already witnessed such a tragic scene. How could Li Lin not be furious?

Three villages were destroyed, and a military town was lost and destroyed. A month has passed, and Tian Wending, the county magistrate, knows nothing about it.

Even if transportation is difficult and information is scarce in this era, this is still going too far.

At this moment, a commander entered and reported, "Sir, we have completed our investigation of Tian Wending, as you instructed. Here are records of his activities over the past few years, as well as an inventory of his family's assets."

Li Lin took the booklet and began to read it.

He finished reading it very quickly.

It must be said that Tian Wending was indeed an honest official.

He did not oppress the people, nor was he greedy for money.

As a county magistrate, his home was a small two-courtyard house. Besides his wife, he only had two concubines and an old steward.

Aside from his salary from the imperial court, he didn't pocket a single extra penny for himself.

He was indeed a very honest and upright official.

But this supposedly upright official was utterly incompetent.

He could neither suppress the influence of local gentry nor govern Beishan County to make it prosperous.

When Li Lin first entered, he noticed that there seemed to be very few people on the streets of Beishan County.

That's because during the years Tian Wending served as the county magistrate, the population of Beishan County continued to flow out.

There's a saying that goes, "Battle reports can be deceiving, but battle lines can't."

Tian Wending was indeed an honest official, but he was very incompetent.

In just the last few years, nearly 30% of the population of Beishan County has flowed out of the county.

Li Lin closed the booklet and said to the commander in front of him, "Go and inform Magistrate Gao to release Tian Wending, strip him of his official rank, and demote him to a commoner."

"Yes." The commander bowed.

As a military governor, Li Lin not only had the power to appoint and dismiss officials below the rank of prefect, but also the power to act arbitrarily.

The reason Tian Wending wasn't killed was because he wasn't a bad person, but it was impossible for him to be given an official position again.

Li Lin had been looking through the case files for a while and was about to go to rest when someone came in to report.

"My lord, a man named Tian Wending is kneeling outside, saying he wants to see you."

(End of this chapter)