Chapter 232 It's actually the safest and warmest place in the world
Mr. Yu stared at his money, which was put into his sleeve by the new yamen servant, and then looked at the thick stack of notebooks that the yamen servant took out.
The first few cases in this notebook were all from a few years ago, but they still have not been accepted for processing. Most of the cases in the past few days are about the escape of the troublesome slave in the family.
But still nothing was done.
Mr. Yu couldn't help but look up at the lintel of the government office. There were four big characters "Mingjing hangs high" on it, which seemed to convey a strong sense of irony.
He sighed and could only take out another banknote and handed it to the new yamen servant in front of him.
"Sir, please help spread the word that I am the head of the Yu family. This... is just a little filial piety."
Everyone has a price. If it cannot be bought, it is only because the price is not enough.
Looking at the banknote in his hand, the new yamen officer suddenly burst into laughter and said "Alas" in his mouth.
"It turns out to be Mr. Yu, why didn't you tell me earlier? Just wait, I will go and inform you."
What he said was as if Mr. Yu had not revealed his identity earlier.
Soon, the county magistrate knew of Duke Yu's arrival, and summoned Duke Yu to come in.
This county prince is the protégé of Tianjing's eldest princess's consort, and his airs are much higher than those of ordinary county princes.
After hearing the purpose of Mr. Yu’s visit, the county magistrate lay on the Arhat bed and smoked a pipe. In the delicate white smoke, the county magistrate said,
"I understand your purpose of coming, but it will be very difficult to use the government officials to arrest the Yu family's unscrupulous slaves for you, and the government officials will be too busy to leave."
Duke Yu turned around and glanced at a group of government servants sunbathing in the yard. They all yawned in idleness.
He laughed, came forward, lit a cigarette for the county magistrate, and handed over a stack of banknotes.
"Master, please help us. Without these slaves, our Yu family would be in chaos."
"Why did your Yu family get into trouble? Isn't it a good thing? Your Yu family has a lot of money. If you run away a few unruly slaves, just buy a few more~~"
The county magistrate, who was smoking a heavy cigarette, said so without mercy. He took the stack of banknotes that Mr. Yu had placed on the table and put it into his arms.
When Duke Yu saw it, he smiled bitterly and said:
"My lord, I don't know. There are not many people in Hushan County. Now everyone is running to the north. We, we should do something to teach people not to run away anymore."
"Action, what action? I have my own arrangements, and it's not your turn to take action."
The county magistrate snorted, clearly accepting money from Duke Yu, but he had no intention of doing anything for him.
Just when Mr. Yu was sitting beside his bed, wondering what to do, the county magistrate said again:
"Instead of focusing your energy on a few escaped slaves, you might as well go with me to meet a few new officials appointed by the imperial capital. There is no harm in getting to know more people."
Mr. Yu kept saying good things, but he was very anxious in his heart. More and more people in Yujia Village ran away, and in the end the only ones left were some "masters". Sooner or later something would happen if this went on.
But the county magistrate has said this, and others are still under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate, so it is difficult to refuse.
The environment in the dilapidated county town is not generally bad. After all, it has suffered several rounds of looting by Sun Guogong. There are not many people in this so-called county town.
The slightly more popular ones are probably the servants and family members brought by the officials sent by the imperial capital.
Duke Yu was left in the government office by the county magistrate, and it was evening. When the government office became lively, several people wearing red and blue official uniforms came in.
Someone saw Mr. Yu and laughed,
"This is the richest man in our Tianjing Kingdom, Mr. Yu, hahahahaha. Before I left, the prince also specially told me that when I saw Mr. Yu, I must have a chat with him."
This lord is a disciple of the prince.
A hint of vigilance arose in Mr. Yu's heart, and he responded obediently. Another official came forward and raised his hand to him.
"O Duke Yu, your king would like to say hello to Duke Yu..."
The eldest princess, the prince, your king, and a bunch of other powerful disciples came forward one after another and asked Mr. Yu to talk. They all spoke in an official tone, and what came out of their mouths were all high-sounding politeness.
But no one can really solve the problem that Mr. Yu is facing now.
Duke Yu was very anxious and felt that he was wasting his time here, so his aunts carried him here and stayed outside until nightfall, without even having to eat.
These women should not be exposed to the public, but Mr. Yu really has no one to use.
He reluctantly socialized, eating and drinking with the officials from the imperial capital. After drinking for three rounds, the county magistrate put his hand on his and said with a smile:
"Mr. Yu, it's the birthday of the eldest princess recently. Please give me some ideas on what good things to give to the eldest princess to make her smile."
Before Mr. Yu could speak, the county magistrate said again:
"All the rich people in Hushan County have fled. Mr. Yu, I can only count on you."
The meaning of these words is simply to say that Duke Yu has prepared the birthday gift for the eldest princess.
Mr. Yu lowered his head, holding the wine glass tightly in his hand, not daring to raise his head.
He was afraid that when he raised his head, the anger in his eyes would be revealed.
After all, she is the eldest princess, the only eldest princess in Tianjing Kingdom. Can her birthday gift be light? It must be very expensive.
However, before Mr. Yu could digest this matter, the prince's disciple came again. He grabbed Mr. Yu and smiled very amiably.
"Mr. Yu, the prince is about to welcome a new wife, Liang Di. We in Hushan County are not allowed to express our gratitude to the prince..."
Later, your king's disciples also came and asked about Duke Yu's request for one hundred thousand taels of silver. However, he didn't ask your king for anything. He only said sincerely:
"Your recent tax collection has been unsatisfactory, and your palace's treasury is empty. This one hundred thousand taels of silver was borrowed by your king and Yu Gong. When you get through this difficulty, you will definitely return this one hundred thousand taels of silver to Yu Gong. How about that?"
"
Can Mr. Yu refuse?
Looking at the faces in front of him, he suddenly felt fear. They turned into Sun Guogong before his eyes, although they spoke with different accents and had different faces.
But everyone is Sun Guogong.
Duke Yu was frightened in his heart, with a wry smile on his face.
"Sun Guogong has besieged my Yu family for many days. I really have no money left."
"How is this possible? Your Yu family is also the richest family after all. What can a mere Sun Guogong do to you?"
Almost immediately, everyone burst out laughing, seemingly enjoying themselves, but in fact, no one relaxed, allowing Mr. Yu to leave.
If he doesn't come up with the money today, he won't be able to go home.
In this way, Mr. Yu was left in the county government office for one, two, and three days. Every day, officials, big and small, came to take him to eat and drink, and for various reasons, they borrowed money from him or asked him to give money to the imperial capital.
The prince and princess give gifts.
No one spoke to Mr. Yu, and he couldn't get the money, so they kept talking to him every day, which tortured him to the point of exhaustion.
I don’t know how much time passed, but a yamen servant came into the yamen holding the body of Mr. Yu’s youngest son and said with an innocent face:
"I don't know whose child actually starved to death outside the Yamen. Tsk, just throw it away and feed it to the dogs."
"Ah, ah ah ah~~"
The fat man Yu Gong rushed out of the Yamen with his hair disheveled. He hugged the skinny baby and cried,
"Oh my God, my God, what kind of evil is this? My God~~~"
He proposed to leave the government many times, but today he was not staying in one place, and tomorrow he would be staying in that place. Everyone ate and drank, and no one mentioned what happened to Mr. Yu's aunts or his sons.
The last time Mr. Yu saw his aunts was to carry him in a sedan chair to the gate of the government office.
Everyone who wants to talk to Mr. Yu asks for money in a roundabout way.
If he wants to leave, he has to come up with money.
Now he is feasting on meat and fish in the government office, but his youngest son is starving to death outside the door. How can he bear this? God, God!
Heartbreaking pain exploded between Yu Gong's heart and lungs. He hugged his son's body tightly, trembling and kneeling on the ground, shaking his head and muttering something.
When the yamen servant next to him saw his appearance, he thought it was funny and spat in his mouth,
"You have to spend all your money as soon as possible. Is there such a thing?"
Not only did the officials from Tianjing Kingdom come to Hushan County for half of their wealth, but they also came for all of Yu Gong’s family assets.
Since what you want is all of Yu Gong’s family assets, why should you keep his son’s life?
His son didn't have a single copper to inherit.
Hearing that Mr. Yu was still muttering, the Yamen servant leaned over and asked impatiently:
"Master Yu, what are you talking about?"
"...The common people are willing, the common people are willing..."
Mr. Yu's eyes were empty. He hugged his little son tightly.
"The grassroots are willing to give up half of their family assets. Princess Xiao Li, save the grassroots, save the grassroots..."
If he had known this would happen, why would he be holding on to half of the family assets?
He should give it to Hua Jin, and then move the whole family to the north, away from these wolves, tigers and leopards from the imperial capital.
The northern land is so wonderful, with strong soldiers and horses, no one dares to bully it.
Even if you can't go to Beidi, you can even cross a slope and go to the north of Yujia Village. There is another market town there, and the Hushan Army is stationed in the town.
No one will starve to death, and people can receive the cubs of ten cows, sheep, and horses for free... Looking back now, the market town across the hill is actually the most stable and warm place in the world.
Look here again, those officials who look kind on the surface are all devils who eat people without spitting out their bones.
They could actually watch such a young child starve to death in front of the government office.
Even worse than Sun Guogong.
The evil of Sun Guogong was evil on the surface, but the evil of these officials in the imperial capital was evil in their hearts, invisible.
Ahhhhh!
God cannot save Mr. Yu who is trapped in the den of jackals, tigers and leopards. The only person who can protect the Yu family is on his way to Quanshui County.
Hua Jin was sitting in a low-key, spacious and comfortable carriage. Li Yunqing rode outside Hua Jin's carriage and said with a smile:
"In such a hurry to go to Quanshui County? I thought you would stay and wait for Mr. Yu to come back to beg you."
"It is necessary for him to come to beg me, but I don't know whether he should do it sideways or in need."
Hua Jin was sitting in the carriage, reading a book in her hand. At this moment, she didn't want to talk about Mr. Yu at all.
After a while, the door of the walking carriage was opened, and Li Yunqing turned over and sat directly next to Hua Jin.
He fell back and slept behind Hua Jin, his arms resting on the back of his head.
"I'm tired, I, the king, have a rest."
Hua Jin ignored him and just looked at the book in her hand, as if she was concentrating on her career.
Li Yunqing, who said he was tired and wanted to rest, reached out and pulled the silver hair on Hua Mi's back. When she didn't move, he poked her straight lower back with his finger.
"My dear concubine, if you don't care about the Yu family anymore, I'm afraid there won't be much left for you by then."
Li Yunqing knew the character of those wolves, tigers and leopards in the imperial capital. Before he went to the North, those princes and dignitaries would steal his mines from the North in a year.
Just one Yu family is not enough for them to share.
Hua Jin let out a "hum",
"I didn't want the Yu family to come over, right? Everyone is running to the north along the way. If Mr. Yu doesn't come, what can I do?"
The government decree is there. After leaving the Yujia Village and going north, no one can bully the Yujia. But if Lord Yu doesn't come, can Hua Jin be blamed for this?
She put away the book in her hand and looked sideways at Li Yunqing who was lying on the couch.
"This money can't escape. The imperial capital has sent so many officials to Hushan County. Their role is not just to ask for money from Duke Yu."
Saying that, Hua Jin took out another piece of paper from the side, which was a secret note written by Ergou.
She handed the secret fold to Li Yunqing,
"Yu Gong's aunt and two other sons returned to Yujia Village on the night when Yu Gong entered the government office. They packed up all the household items and took their children to the market town of Yao Jun."
"His youngest son was captured by the Imperial Capital on the way to the market town. These beasts from the Imperial Capital starved the child to death and also lost several people from Ergou."
This matter was due to Hua Jin's negligence. She only ordered Er Gou to keep an eye on the Yu family's aunts and Yu Gong's young sons.
But he didn't expect that the imperial capital would kill them and directly send out the Jinyi Guards to hunt down the women and children.
Ergou's people were all helpless civilians, and they lost several lives to protect these aunts and children.
When Hua Jin spoke, her pretty face was as cold as ice,
"People in the imperial capital have no limits on what they can do."
Whether it is the end of the world or in ancient times, people's hearts are actually the same.
However, she has no rules in doing things, so she shouldn't think so well of people. She should have taken this matter seriously early on and sent a few more people with strong martial arts skills to Ergou.
Li Yunqing, who was lying behind Hua Jin, looked at Hua Jin for a short while with his narrow black eyes, then stood up, put his long arm on Hua Jin's shoulder, and half hugged her in his arms.
"You are a person of high rank who cherishes the lives of those at the bottom the most."
He is obviously such a ruthless person, but he can become so angry because of a few common people he has never met.
Looking at Hua Jin's cold and pretty face, Li Yunqing didn't know what to say.
But it is precisely because Hua Jin cherishes the lives of people at the bottom that she is unique. Therefore, no matter how cruel she is to her enemies, she still enjoys an endless reputation among the people.