My lord, spare his life!

"Take everyone away and put them in jail to await trial."

Xu Jin didn't want to see these faces; they hurt his eyes. Although the evidence was irrefutable, with both witnesses and physical evidence, the proper procedures still had to be followed. The county official, looking troubled, leaned close to Xu Jin's ear and whispered, "But Your Excellency, our jail is almost overflowing."

"Let's just squeeze in for now."

County official: "Waiting for trial is fine, but we'll have to wait for the verdict—"

There was simply no room in the dungeon.

Whose county government dungeon can hold two or three hundred prisoners?

Xu Jin has experience in this area.

"Send them to the neighboring county and borrow them from them. We'll bring them back when our dungeon becomes available or the prisoners have served their sentences."

The county official shrank back: "I was scolded last time."

"What are you cursing about?"

"They said we didn't pay for the meal."

Other county magistrates in Tianyue Commandery also had a temper.

Is Xu Jin the only one who can be a good official?

Xu Jin was merely lucky; he stumbled upon the Prefect, which propelled Weiyin to become the county seat. The majority of the migrant population flowed to Weiyin, with only a small portion ending up in their hands. They secretly competed to achieve political success and maintain order, putting strain on the dungeons of various counties. Xu Jin was sending prisoners from his own territory to them for free, nearly bankrupting the county treasury!

Xu Jin suppressed his emotions: "Here you go!"

The county official remained standing there, motionless, like a stone.

"Just say it all at once."

"...and they still want us to pay jail rent."

"...Are they desperate for money? Have they gone mad with greed?"

Xu Jin subconsciously glanced at the three large boxes of gambling money and swallowed hard.

He flatly refused, saying, "That won't do!"

All of these gambling funds will be confiscated.

The county government kept a portion, and the remainder was sent to the prefectural government.

The prefectural government won't reimburse the county government for this expense; the county government has to solve it itself. All two hundred-plus arrested individuals have been sentenced; how much dungeon rent will they have to pay to the neighboring county? The county government's good days haven't lasted long; they can't afford to be burdened with another mountain of debt because of this.

Being a county magistrate wasn't easy for him either.

Xu Jin was distressed: "The Prefect demands severe punishment. Their crimes include running a private casino, organizing gambling, organizing prostitutes and escorts for illicit transactions, restricting the personal freedom of the victims, and illegally selling several children... None of these can be resolved with just a few months in prison. If we have to pay the dungeon rent in the neighboring county, the county government can't afford it. Forget it, I'll go see the Prefect to find a solution."

The county official couldn't help but smile with delight.

It's much better for Magistrate Xu Jin to step in and solve the problem than to leave his subordinates to worry about a single order. I hate those bosses who only talk the talk but don't walk the walk. If things go well, it's because of his excellent guidance; if things go poorly, it's because the lower-ups are outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant.

They were just ordinary county officials with limited personal abilities. Running errands and doing their assigned tasks was fine, but anything beyond their scope was unacceptable. If their superiors only gave a general outline without specifying what they were supposed to do, they couldn't blame themselves for messing things up.

Xu Jin didn't see Zhang Yang until the evening.

Magistrate Zhang arrested dozens more seemingly honest and simple-minded people from outside the city. Some of them had such kind faces that they practically had "I'm a good person" plastered on their foreheads. Even Xu Jin, with his rich experience in handling cases, couldn't help but wonder to himself, "Magistrate Zhang, are you sure you haven't arrested the wrong people?"

There were also more than a hundred men and women with sorrowful expressions.

The ages range from thirteen or fourteen to thirty or forty.

Zhang Yang pointed to the group in front: "Arrest all of them."

He then pointed to the group behind him: "Have someone take them to the city's traditional Chinese medicine clinic for a checkup; their health isn't very good."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jin roughly guessed the identities of these men and women.

They must be victims secretly controlled and forced into prostitution; judging from their appearance and clothing, they are indeed pitiful.

Xu Jinsheng felt a pang of sympathy and compassion.

The county official was dispatched to the clinic to invite a doctor over.

He rubbed his sleeves sheepishly, saying, "The county government is short-staffed, and even borrowing from the prefectural government isn't enough. If we take them to the clinic, we'll need at least seven or eight people to accompany and care for them. It would be easier to have a doctor come over. But with so many people, the consultation and medicine costs are a considerable expense. The county government's accounts are already fixed, and there's no room for extra funds. I wonder if Your Excellency has any plans?"

"Put it on my tab and have the doctor get reimbursed by the county government."

Xu Jin smiled broadly, then lowered his voice nervously, "This humble official is incompetent, and there is another matter I must trouble you with, Your Excellency. Your Excellency has valiantly arrested more than three hundred people. Although not all of them are major villains, even the least guilty accomplices will have to serve several months in prison..."

Zhang Yang said, "Speak your mind."

Don't beat around the bush; it's hard for her to understand.

Xu Jin put it in the most straightforward and direct way: "The county government has no place to imprison prisoners, nor the money to support them."

He couldn't just kill everyone because the prison was overflowing.

Although prisoners were also forced to do hard labor, some were even conscripted into the battlefield as laborers or cannon fodder, these jobs did not generate profits, and the treasury remained in deficit. Some prisoners could do spinning and weaving, but this was inefficient and yielded low returns.

The county government still needs to provide subsidies.

"How can we be the ones paying to support prisoners?" Zhang Yang was displeased upon hearing this. Not counting the money she gave to the county government, the county government's finances depended on local tax revenue. How could they use their children's hard-earned money to support a group of lawless and criminal scoundrels? Zhang Yang said, "Let their families pay for their living expenses... No, that would easily become extortion by officials against the people. Let's set a limit."

"What if the family members don't pay?"

"Let them earn their own money; they can't just sit in jail."

"To be honest, Your Excellency, this has always been the practice."

"Then how could they still lose money? What are they doing in prison? They are all able-bodied young men who can work, yet they can't even support themselves and need subsidies?" Zhang Yang suspected that there was something wrong with the county government's accounts, that someone was deceiving their superiors and deceiving Xu Jin and himself, profiting from each prisoner.

"Most of the work involves spinning and weaving."

"Anything else?"

Xu Jin: "They pounded rice and milled grain, chopped firewood and fetched water for the county government. If there were any corvée labor in the county, such as repairing city walls, paving roads and building bridges, these prisoners would also be taken there. Weiyin didn't have many mines, so if there were, they would go to mine and forge iron."

Zhang Yang put his hands on his hips and thought for a moment: "Anything else?"

Xu Jin, unaware of Zhang Yang's thoughts, guessed that the other party might be getting impatient, and carefully said, "There are also things like weaving baskets, twisting ropes, mending clothes for the yamen runners, cleaning roadside toilets, and sweeping the prison."

Zhang Yang: "It just didn't make any money."

No wonder the county government is providing subsidies.

Xu Jin: "This humble official is dull-witted; please enlighten me, Your Excellency."

Zhang Yang said, "According to what you've said, it's fine if prisoners only serve a few months in prison, but if they serve several years, they won't have any skills to make a living after they get out, and their wrong ideas won't be corrected. Sooner or later, they'll make mistakes and go back to prison. Making them serve their sentences is to make them pay the price for their mistakes. You can't just make them suffer physically; you also have to make them understand right and wrong from the bottom of their hearts."

Xu Jin nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

He couldn't help but think of Du Fang.

Dongsu not only taught his soldiers to read and write, but also instilled moral principles in them. It seems that prisoners would require similar arrangements. Year after year, day after day, they would be brainwashed; even if they couldn't be completely reformed, they could at least be taught how to behave.

Zhang Yang added, "Those with skillful hands should learn how to carve, whether it's wood carving, stone carving, or jade carving, learn as many patterns as possible. As long as Weiyin remains stable and prosperous, and the people are well-fed and clothed, they will naturally have other needs, such as carving flowers on their tables, chairs, and doorframes. We can let these prisoners practice by starting with the simplest wooden ornaments and then sell them elsewhere at low prices."

"But these skills are family secrets and are not easily passed on." Most carpenters take on apprentices and often boss them around for three to five years or even more than ten years, having someone watch them closely until they are ready before teaching them how to make the simplest tables and stools.

What qualifications do these prisoners have to learn these skills?

Zhang Yang ignored Xu Jin's words.

"Let the prisoners learn needlework, starting with the simplest embroidery. Since they can spin and weave, let them learn how to dye fabric, and even pottery—they can make all sorts of dishes, vases, and decorations! When they're out enjoying nature, let them make kites, which they can sell for money. The simplest thing is cooking; let them learn how to cook. If the prisoners learn how to make noodles, they can set up a small stall to make a living after they're released, right?"

"Those with talent can learn acrobatics and comedic tricks to perform on the streets or tell stories in teahouses. Besides, the county and prefectural governments use cumbersome bamboo slips, and the paper available to the common people is of poor quality and expensive. So we can set up a papermaking workshop and have these prisoners work there. They are not free and cannot reveal the secrets to the outside world. This way, we can also generate revenue."

Xu Jin said solemnly, "This is unfair to ordinary people."

What the Prefect said is something that ordinary people have no way of learning.

How can a group of prisoners have access to learning resources?

If this gets out, people will be cursing it out.

Ordinary people who abide by the law can only tend to their few acres of land and live a peaceful life, while a bunch of despicable people learn skills that can be passed down through generations and make a living from them.

Is there any justice in this world?

Xu Jin knew that these thoughts were not those of a county magistrate, but he was still resentful. Zhang Yang, as an NPC, did not understand Xu Jin's complicated feelings at this moment: "I didn't say that these things could only be taught to prisoners, so naturally anyone who wants to learn can learn them."

Xu Jin: "..."

These words quickly calmed him down.

"But Lord Zhang, these are skills that can be passed down through generations. Even master craftsmen hold back some skills when teaching apprentices, let alone students who aren't apprentices?" Xu Jin wasn't optimistic about this. Some of the skills Lord Zhang mentioned required students to start learning at a very young age.

What can someone who starts learning late in life possibly learn?

Moreover, it's not something everyone can learn.

If everyone goes to learn, who will take care of the farmland?

Xu Jin preferred that those willing to learn should be registered separately, and the land grants should be abolished. Otherwise, they could earn money through their skills and own land, which was unfair to ordinary farmers. As Xu Jin continued thinking along this line of thought, his brows furrowed deeply.

"And they won't let them pass on their best skills."

"We won't teach anything that isn't our specialty."

He didn't mean to discourage Lord Zhang.

Zhang Yang realized that Xu Jin had misunderstood: "I will handle these issues. For example, the papermaking workshops, I know better papermaking techniques than the current ones, and I am willing to teach them. For example, the food, the chefs in the canteen have learned a lot of recipes from me, and I am willing to give them away. Why wouldn't they? The embroiderers with good skills, the pottery craftsmen, the umbrella makers and kite makers, and those who stir-fry tea... I will personally visit them to invite them."

Xu Jin: "..."

Zhang Yang has already said so much, what else can he do?

but--

"Did the Prefect mean there is a better papermaking technique?"

"It should be better, right?"

Zhang Yang wasn't actually sure either.

However, she compared the paper sold on the market and found it to be expensive and of lower quality than what she had made. The game's official team occasionally collaborates with different IPs, and sometimes, in response to official cultural promotion slogans, they release mini-games based on ancient Chinese culture. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and to rekindle hope for human culture in the wasteland, these mini-games are diverse and meticulously crafted to enhance player engagement.

Of course, these are all just wishful thinking on the part of the game's developers.

The actual player—

I was so bored that I asked a game boosting service to help me with a collaboration event.

_ (: 3 "∠) _

Zhang Yang couldn't find a professional player to boost her account, so she had to do it herself.

She has a certain understanding of each step.

It's perfect to send these prisoners to work in the workshop.

Xu Jin knew Zhang Yang wouldn't speak without reason; if the other party said that, there was a 90% chance of success. Thinking of the enormous profits involved, Xu Jin felt his breathing become heavy, and for a moment he forgot about whether he was a criminal or not: "If that's the case, we really can make money."

The prisoners were able to support themselves, and the county government's finances were also more relaxed.

That's definitely killing two birds with one stone!

Zhang Yang: "Speaking of paper, we must mention writing brushes, ink, and inkstones. These can also be taught to be made by prisoners. Currently, the market demand isn't large, but once the world is at peace and more people are learning to read and write, the market prospects in this area will be absolutely considerable—"

Now is the perfect time to enter.

Xu Jin nodded, somewhat understanding.

Indeed, we can expand our thinking around this topic.

Business opportunities are everywhere!

Xu Jin began to understand why Lord Zhang was so wealthy.

If he possessed her wisdom, the county government's finances wouldn't be so strained. He exhaled a breath of stale air, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Hearing your words is more valuable than reading for ten years. I will remember your guidance, Your Excellency, and will certainly not fail to live up to your high expectations."

It's a pity I'm an official, not a merchant. If the Prefect had said these words to a merchant, it would have been tantamount to imparting all his wealth and fortune.

Zhang Yang looked pleased and said, "This child is teachable."

No wonder the observed samples all prefer smart, well-behaved children.

Such children are indeed lovable.

However, plans are plans, and the immediate problem remains unresolved. As Xu Jin was devising a solution, Zhang Yang offered him a suggestion.

"Imprisonment doesn't necessarily mean staying in a dungeon. First, hand these prisoners over to Dongsu. With Dongsu watching them, they won't be able to escape. Then, designate a piece of land near the garrison and build a camp as a temporary prison. Anyone who dares to escape will be executed on the spot."

"Let Higashijuku keep an eye on it?"

"Didn't they say the county government was short-staffed?"

Xu Jin pondered for a moment, then said, "I will do as the Prefect says."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhang Yang with bright eyes.

Zhang Yang, who had never been good at reading other people's expressions, subtly understood what Xu Jin wanted to say at this moment: "I'll give you the plan later."

Xu Jin was overjoyed.

At that moment, he understood the county official's previous feelings.

A charismatic boss should be able to solve problems!

? ?|??w?`)

Xu Jin: I tried to fleece the Lord, but I ended up getting a huge windfall.

PS: By the way, why is the spacing between some paragraphs inconsistent when I open a book on the Qidian app? Does anyone else experience this?