Qing Yao

Chapter 289 Lord Zhao also broadened his horizons.

Zhao An was truly angered by this magistrate of Dingyuan County.

To say he knows nothing is an overstatement, yet he possesses a remarkably clear understanding of cannibalism within his own territory. Conversely, to say he knows everything is also an overstatement, yet he considers praying to spirits for rain as a means of disaster relief—how utterly absurd!
Seeing the magistrate still looking like a wronged, submissive wife, the pent-up anger from the disaster over the past few days finally burst forth like a flood. He kicked the "punching bag" magistrate to the ground and shouted, "You worthless wretch! What face do you have to talk about decorum? The people are resorting to cannibalism, and you've long since thrown away all decorum of the court!"

Still not satisfied, he kicked him three more times, nearly suffocating the county magistrate, a third-class Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from the forty-seventh year of the Qianlong reign.

The minor officials of Dingyuan County were stunned to see their county magistrate being "beaten" like this by the provincial governor. Because the one who did the beating was the provincial governor in his yellow jacket, none of them dared to move an inch.

When Magistrate Chen came to his senses, whether he was a stubborn and inflexible person, a man of unyielding integrity, or simply a fool, he did not immediately kowtow and admit his mistake. Instead, clutching his aching chest, he protested, "Your Excellency, even if you are my superior, I am still an official appointed by the court, a legitimate candidate who passed the imperial examinations! I will not accept your beating!"

"Dissatisfied?"

Zhao An, enraged, laughed, “I ask you, since the disaster began, besides going to that shrine to pray for rain, have you opened a single granary? Have you distributed a single grain of rice? Have you visited the countryside to assess the disaster situation and see the victims? What practical things have you done for the people?”

"I did not open the granaries, but the Rites of Zhou states that in times of great famine and drought, punishments should be relaxed. In my view, this disaster is truly caused by a drought demon, a time of divine wrath and popular resentment. How can we rashly open the official granaries?"

Magistrate Chen's answer left Zhao An speechless. He had considered all sorts of excuses the other party had made, but he never expected the other party to explain it in this way, and in such a grand and reasonable manner.

Does he just spout classics? Is he really just a bookworm?

Zhao An was furious: "What a fine 'Rites of Zhou'! I ask you, why are people exchanging children to eat, women selling their babies, and the roads filled with dead victims? Is this divine punishment or is it that the people deserve this great calamity?"

"This"

Magistrate Chen suddenly burst into tears, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and choked out, "How could I not know the hardships of the people? But the Classic of Filial Piety says, 'Of all things in heaven and earth, man is the most precious.' There are tens of thousands of disaster victims in this county. If we rashly open the granaries to distribute grain, it will surely cause starving people to scramble for it, which will only lead to a greater man-made disaster. Therefore, I dare not open the granaries to distribute grain."

Fearing that the starving people would fight over the food and cause even greater disaster, the government refused to distribute the grain, leaving the starving people to starve to death.

What's the point?
Zhao An was speechless.

It sounds absurd at first, but upon closer examination, it seems to make sense.

A truth that makes one hesitant to delve too deeply into it.

If someone in the camp heard the magistrate of Dingyuan County crying and shedding tears, they would think that the magistrate had suffered a great injustice.

After a moment's thought, Chen Zhiyuan's advisor, Lin, stepped forward to speak on behalf of his benefactor, pointing out that the magistrate hadn't done nothing; he had ordered a large quantity of relief pills to be made, and the relief camp outside the city, which could accommodate 10,000 people, was also set up by the magistrate's orders, with porridge being distributed on time every day.

The clerk's mention of the disaster relief pills only fueled Zhao An's anger. He immediately ordered someone to fetch the pills so that the muddle-headed magistrate could have his fill. Suddenly, a refugee forced to sell her daughter stepped forward and knelt before him, crying, "It's true that porridge is being distributed in the camp, but Your Honor, has the magistrate made us, who are so hungry we can barely walk, memorize some 'Standards for Being a Good Student and Child'? He said that only if we can memorize it can we receive porridge, and if we can't, we won't get any porridge at all."

"Yes, sir, my mother starved to death in this camp because she couldn't memorize the 'Standards for Being a Good Student and Child'!"

“We are all illiterate, yet the county is making us memorize books. This isn’t about giving us porridge; it’s about starving us to death!”

"If you could give us a bowl of porridge every day, why would we sell our children and wives!"

"."

If one person comes forward to expose the truth about the porridge distribution, many more will surely stand up and expose it.

By this point, the disaster victims could easily tell that these were officials from the province coming to uphold justice for them.

The disaster victims' words made even the staff of Dingyuan County blush with embarrassment, knowing that the county magistrate's actions were utterly absurd.

Zhao An's brain instantly went blank; he couldn't comprehend such a bizarre act. His gaze shot like an arrow at Chen Zhiyuan: "Dingyuan County, is what the people say true? Such an absurd thing is something even sages taught you to do! You constantly spout sages and classics; come, tell me, which book taught you to treat the people like this!"

The stern voice immediately stopped the sobbing in Dingyuan County, but he still didn't know what he had done wrong. He just argued vehemently, "The Analects says, 'To kill without teaching is cruelty.' I am using the way of the sages to educate the unruly people!"

"Tricky people?"

Zhao An was stunned. "You call people who can't survive 'troublemakers'?"

The magistrate of Dingyuan County nodded and said, "Those who leave their hometowns become unruly, and unruly people inevitably become troublemakers. If they are not educated, they will become rioters. This is my way of preventing problems before they arise."

"."

Zhao An, realizing that Dingyuan County was beyond saving, turned to the other Dingyuan officials who had come with him: "Where is the Chief Clerk of Dingyuan County!"

"The humble position is here!"

A middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed in the robes of an eighth-rank official, quickly stepped out from the crowd. This man was Li Haiwen, the registrar of Dingyuan County.

Zhao An glanced at Li Haiwen and asked, "You are a county clerk. After the disaster, did you request the county to open its granaries?"

Li Haiwen glanced at Magistrate Chen, who was still kneeling on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then said truthfully, "Your Excellency, I requested the county to open the granaries and distribute grain several months ago, but Magistrate Chen said that there is an old saying that 'a high-ranking official should not have private property,' and that it would be an overstepping of authority to open the granaries and distribute grain."

Zhao An then asked, "Has the province and the prefecture allocated disaster relief funds and grain to Dingyuan?"

Li Haiwen nodded and said, "Dialed it."

Zhao An pressed further, "How much was allocated?"

Li Haiwen truthfully replied, "Thirteen thousand taels of silver and six thousand four hundred bushels of grain were allocated."

"Where did the allocated funds and supplies go?"

"As instructed by the magistrate, all of them were stored in the treasury."

"Inventory?"

Zhao An raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to the somewhat uneasy Dingyuan County. His expression was terribly gloomy: "The disaster relief funds and grain are meant for you, the local magistrate, to distribute to the people so they can live. Why are you storing them in the treasury instead of distributing them to the people?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, I stored the money and grain in the treasury for the purpose of defending the city."

As he said this, Magistrate Chen did not dare to look Zhao An in the eye, probably because he was feeling a little uneasy.

"Defend the city?"

Zhao An looked up at the city wall of Dingyuan County.

"Yes, there are too many rioters. If someone with ulterior motives incites them to gather together, I, as the official, have a duty to defend this territory and should live and die with the city. But if there is no money or food, how can I, as the official, defend the city?"

Dingyuan County's response remained reasonable and well-founded.

(End of this chapter)