Under the persuasion of the county master Yuan Yongcheng, several people accepted the offer in front of them.
It has to be said that this is indeed a great gift. Even the most humble Huixin will get thirty taels of snowflake silver. If it were exchanged for ordinary folk silver, it would be at least more than a hundred taels.
As for Ji Yuan and Zhao Yuansong, they received fifty taels and eighty taels of snowflake silver respectively, apparently including the former's senior fellow apprentices and the latter's junior fellow apprentices.
From this point alone, it is impossible to find fault with this county gentleman.
And from the moment everyone sat down, his speech and behavior made people feel very comfortable. He neither deliberately showed his closeness nor neglected anyone.
Even the boys and girls sitting at the bottom are often taken care of so that they can participate in the conversation without making them feel intrusive.
As for Yuan Yongcheng, he was a Confucian student, and his words and phrases in his conversation were not deliberate, but just right, causing several people to nod their heads.
It was not until more than half an hour later that the chief catcher, who had quietly left at some point, entered with two gloomy-looking catchers, that the group of people stopped talking among themselves.
After a brief greeting, Liu Hongsheng sent his men to the police and reported the injuries to the people and the damage to the houses one by one.
Although Ji Yuan and several others were at the scene and saw the collapsed houses, they did not know the actual situation.
After listening to the chief catcher's story, they had a clear understanding in their hearts.
After knowing the actual situation, several people couldn't help but secretly smacked their lips, and a sense of guilt suddenly arose.
Among them, the civilian casualties were relatively good. Most of them were only slightly injured. Only a few unlucky people were hit on the head by falling tiles and bricks, but they could recover after a period of rest.
However, the damage to the house and the street cost a huge amount of money, at least thousands of taels, to repair everything as before.
"In fact, not many houses were destroyed due to the explosion caused by the monster. However, due to the failure to deal with it in time, the fire spread and completely burned down two streets, which added a lot of losses in vain."
Liu Hongsheng sighed and looked a little ugly. If he could handle it in time, he would have hundreds of taels of silver left.
It's a pity that this kind of thing can only be thought about. Considering the situation at the time, it is a blessing that it did not continue to expand. The loss of property is always much lighter than a human life.
"It's just a few silver taels, it's not a big deal. After I finish the statistics later, I can just ask for it from above."
The county master Yuan Yongcheng waved his sleeves and said nonchalantly: "Ask the squires and powerful leaders in the city to collect a sum of money in the past two days and send it to the county government. Then follow the old rules and settle the suffering people first.
.”
Ji Yuan had also heard of this so-called old rule. It was said to be a common method used by county officials in various places to ask the squires in the city, as well as Jianghu sects, spiritual forces, etc., to first spend a sum of money and resources.
In this way, the suffering people can get help in the shortest time, and those who donate silver can also win a good name in the local area, and even receive awards from the court in person.
When the money from the court for the disaster relief finally comes, they will be able to take back what they originally gave out, which is almost equivalent to getting a lot of benefits without paying anything.
As for if you are too unlucky and fail to get back the original donation from the court's silver, it doesn't really matter. For local forces, sometimes a good reputation is much more important than silver.
A policeman took the order and immediately turned around and left, probably to inform the wealthy gentry and the various forces in the city.
To put it bluntly, those people have been looking forward to it almost every day, waiting for this opportunity to appear. I am afraid that those who have received the news at this time have already prepared donations and are just waiting for people from the county government to come.
"Sir, there is one more thing..."
The other head catcher cupped his hands and glanced at Ji Yuan and the others mid-sentence.
When Yuan Yongcheng saw this, he immediately said: "Just say it, what you are doing is a knight for the common people in the world, there is nothing you can't say to them."
Ji Yuan and the others quickly raised their hands, or made a bow, or put their hands together or put their hands into fists. Although they said "I don't dare to take it seriously", who would not feel deeply affected by such a saying?
If it were an ordinary person, that would be fine, but if the person speaking was a county gentleman, it would be completely different.
Hearing this, the head catcher spoke with confidence and recounted the clues collected by the catchers in detail.
It turns out that most people in the city have heard about the suspected monsters at the bottom of the river, especially those living on both sides of the river. Many of their relatives or ancestors died tragically in the Xiyu River.
As time went by, no one knew who had a surprise glance, or to seek comfort in their hearts, so they set up a temple for obscenity at a corner of the Xiyu River, and it was enshrined for nearly a hundred years.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but shook his head. He finally understood why there was a monster hiding at the bottom of the river for so long. Not only did the government not find any clues, but even the City God didn't sense it at all.
Although this kind of obscene temple is not recognized by the imperial court and does not have the authority of a landscape, it can still receive the power of incense and wishes, as well as the blessing of destiny.
It was precisely the incense and desire of the people on both sides of the Xiyu River and the blessing of luck that the monster had never been discovered for hundreds of years.
Otherwise, the sheer sinfulness of the catfish spirit alone would be enough for heaven and earth to react and impose corresponding punishments.
For example, it happened to be discovered by the government or the city god, and the great monk killed it directly, or an enlightened person happened to pass by and wiped away this sinful monster.
"Right now, there are rumors among the people that some people are greedy for profit and are trying to steal the river god's artifacts, which will make the river god furious and destroy the houses on both sides of the bank."
The catcher said helplessly.
Most of the people are ignorant and follow the wind. No one cares about the truth originally, but some things become more outrageous the more they are spread.
As a county police officer, I have long been accustomed to this kind of thing. After seeing it too much, I naturally lost the idea of going around to clarify it.
On the other hand, Xu Qiqi, who was sitting at the bottom of the table, puffed out her little face angrily, and wanted to scold the people for their ignorance several times, but when she opened her mouth, she felt inexplicably powerless.
"It is said that thousands of years ago, the world was ruled by the ancient divine dynasty. At that time, all the people could speak well, and everyone was comparable to today's scholars and scholars."
County boss Yuan Yongcheng sighed, wondering whether the scenes described in this book could be reproduced in the future.
He rubbed the corners of his eyes and said to the catcher: "I'll ask Master to draft a notice later. You can copy a few copies and post them."
The catcher accepted the order with a wry smile and stepped back with a look of helplessness. It was no big deal to copy the notices. The main purpose was to post them everywhere in the city. They, the catchers and agents, had to bring the small officials from the yamen to stand beside them.
Illiterate people read aloud.
It usually takes an hour or two before I can even think about taking a sip of water and taking a good rest.
"Why do they clearly know that there is a problem in the river, but they are unwilling to report it to the Yamen? Instead, they deceive themselves and others and regard the monster as a river god and build a shrine to it?"
Xu Qiqi couldn't hold back the anger in her heart and asked in a low voice in confusion.
When everyone in the room heard this, they didn't know how to explain it for a while. There are always helpless things in the world that make people don't know how to express them.
For example, even people in the Jianghu community know to go to the local government office when encountering problems, but for ordinary people, they would rather bite the bullet and suffer the situation than go even half a step closer to the government office.
It seems that this is a place that is willing and convenient for the people. It is a dangerous place full of wealth. You have to wait until you have suffered a big loss and have no way out before you think of such a place.
“It’s not because there are too many corrupt officials that people don’t dare to come here at all.”
The young man Jiang He snorted coldly, his brows filled with dissatisfaction, and he had strong hostility towards the official family.
As soon as these words came out, Zhao Yuansong immediately reprimanded him, and then quickly clasped his fists in salute to Yuan Yongcheng, pulling his junior brother to apologize again and again.
After all, the young man's words were almost like a slap in the face of the county master, not to mention that Yuan Yongcheng not only regarded them as guests, but also gave them a substantial gift as soon as he made a move.
However, Yuan Yongcheng's qi-nurturing skills were really good, so his expression did not change. Instead, he comforted the uneasy young man, saying that the young man had a lot of energy and warm blood, which was a harmless thing.
"But this temple may be an opportunity for us."
Ji Yuan suddenly spoke and revealed the boy's offense.
After seeing everyone looking at it, he pondered for a moment, and then thought: "This temple of obscenity is not only the protection and umbrella of the monster, but also the key for us to lure it out again."
The obscene temples erected by the common people have provided this monster with a lot of incense and power, as well as a mysterious blessing of luck.
Among them, the power of incense and wish can make the catfish spirit practice smoothly, and even steal a trace of the power of the landscape, which can better gather the essence of Xiyu River's water transport. As for the protection of luck, there is no need to say more.
But while receiving the benefits, the other party also became connected with this temple of obscenity, and even tied it together. It is not an exaggeration to say that both will be prosperous and both will be harmed.
"What do you mean, fellow Taoist, by destroying the temple of obscenity to force the other party to show up?"
Zhao Yuansong thought: "This is indeed a way. Nearly a hundred years of incense, even some people on both sides of the Xiyu River are enough to make this monster condense a golden body."
Since ancient times, immortality has not been divided into two branches. It seems to be two different inheritances, but in fact, the ultimate goal is the same.
So Ji Yuan just started, and Zhao Yuansong immediately reacted and roughly guessed what he was thinking.
"Regardless of whether the monster has a condensed golden body or not, it has been inseparable from the temple of obscenity for hundreds of years. Once the temple of obscenity is damaged or even destroyed, its foundation will be shaken, and it may even die as a result.
It’s not impossible!”
Zhao Yuansong's eyes became brighter and brighter.
If it were an ordinary monster, it would naturally not have such a fatal flaw, but it would be different if it endured the power of incense. It was equivalent to stepping into the divine way with half a foot.
If this catfish spirit, while receiving incense, can really benefit the people of a certain area and accumulate a thin layer of merit, maybe it will be enshrined by the imperial court and become the orthodox river god of Xiyu River.
In this way, the wild temple, which was originally a temple of obscenity, would be protected by the fate of the Chongqing Dynasty. Even a big monk would never dare to destroy it, otherwise it would be a fate counterattack.
But that monster chose to cause trouble, and was full of sins. Even if the temple of obscenity was smashed, smashed, and damaged, not only would there not be any future troubles, but some merit might be lost. This chapter has been completed!