"Those common people don't understand what I'm saying? Come out! Otherwise, your house will be burned down!"
The magistrate was surrounded by dozens of officers and soldiers, pointing at the low earthen wall and giving orders to the people gathered in the thatched hut.
"Sir," a thin man with a sallow complexion was pulled out by the army and kowtowed repeatedly in front of the magistrate's horse, "My family of five is living on the fields outside the door and cannot save any food. If I leave here again,
, I really can’t live without working for a few days and traveling continuously!”
"Many fields near the coast have not been cultivated. If you go there, you can cultivate them carefully and wait for the grain to be produced in the autumn. It will not be a problem to feed your whole family. It is really a lazy man's style. He will not be willing to endure a little hardship. At worst, he will be hungry for several days.
, it’s not like he can’t survive!” After saying that, the magistrate waved his hands urgently, and the officers and soldiers climbed over the earth wall and dragged his whole family out of the shed.
They came out and hit them on the back with their guns, forcing them to hurry. After a while, they all arrived at the market in the middle of the street. They looked up and saw that the broad thoroughfare was already crowded with people's teams.
Among them, it was impossible to recognize the roads in all directions. I could only see people walking next to each other, endlessly, and moving in one direction.
This is a village close to the county seat. The old houses are neatly located on both sides of the road, separated by uneven earth walls, backed by thousands of miles of fertile fields. If it was still a few months ago, those bare houses
There must be scattered farmers and plows standing on the fields
The old cows in the field would still have light smoke rising from the roof. But now, although the fields have become green, the doors of the cottages are empty and open, so deserted that there is no human sound. Occasionally, a few cock crows can be heard, but
There is absolutely no trace of life and everything is desolate.
Seeing what the village under his rule had become like, the county magistrate also felt a little embarrassed. But when he thought of the superior's order, it was no longer necessary to reverse the situation. He might as well just keep doing nothing and gain some achievements for himself.
He stroked his horse's bridle and turned to order to the soldiers: "Have everyone arranged to go south? If they all leave, you will tear down all these houses, load the wood and thatch onto the cart, and transport the border guards for war and defense!"
"
The inspectors looked suspicious and held sabers in their hands, but they did not dare to take action immediately; one even stepped forward, controlled his horse and knelt down to admonish: "Sir, these are people's residences. If they are all demolished, when they come back, they will
How should we deal with it?”
The magistrate sighed: "The road is difficult and dangerous, and the war is not over yet, and artillery fire is raging. How many of them can come back safely? We will talk about these things later. First, it is important to transport these things to the front line, build garrison, and defend the sea for the country!"
The inspector had no choice but to obey orders.
The soldiers pushed the carts into the village one by one, used hooks and other objects to lift the thatched roofs, and then used knives and axes to cut down the beams. If they encountered rotten wood, they burned it cleanly, leaving no trace behind until it was completely destroyed.
To level the ground, everyone worked back and forth for an hour and a half. Finally, they loaded several large carts of materials and slowly pushed them back to the county town.
When the county magistrate arrived at the government office, he was not in a happy mood. Instead, he kept frowning and holding the report document in his hand. He felt unsure. A day later, he heard that people in neighboring counties were frequently causing trouble and the implementation of policies was not going smoothly. He was overjoyed.
Submit the documents on hand to the government office.
"You bastard!" The Zhaoqing magistrate slapped the official case angrily, causing the documents and files to fall down and fall to the ground along the brim of the kneeling Magistrate Gao Ming's hat.
"Look at this," he casually copied an official document, "I'm surprised, just you counties can't figure it out after grinding and grinding!"
"Calm down your anger," the magistrate said, looking up, "This is all due to the subordinates' incompetence..."
"I've already remembered you, what Gaoming, Guangning, Heshan...Why do your people there not make the imperial court worry so much!"
"Futai, we can't rush this matter. If we force the people to rebel, it will be a big crime. Please give the villain a few days of grace, and I will definitely persuade them to go south to farm." Gaoming County Magistrate said tremblingly.
"Do you think I am willing to force you?" The prefect looked at him coldly, "It's not that Governor Mu pressed too hard, and he pressed me many times. If you ask for mercy, I will lose my hat!"
The magistrate's face turned pale: "In that case, please allocate some money to them..."
The prefect stroked his mustache tightly and stared angrily: "Don't you understand? I don't have anything here, and I have to leave the money to that Hong political officer to build coastal defenses! I didn't see the Prime Minister yesterday.
Doesn’t the instruction say, ‘Nothing is allowed to be given to the people’?”
The magistrate was so frightened that he cried bitterly and kowtowed loudly twice: "Sir! I also want to share your worries, but if I go too far and force the people to rebel, you can take my head. But
The governor will definitely hold you accountable, and it will affect you! Why not find a way to report the local situation to the court one by one. I believe that there will be many people in the court, not only Niu Yuan, who will oppose this ridiculous move.
of!"
After hearing this, the prefect could not help but hide his face and sigh: "Since I became an official, I have been cautious every year and have never violated the imperial court. How come this happened to me in the end! Alas, I can write a memorial and ask someone to deliver it to me.
We must go to the palace, but the southward journey must not be delayed. If you are short of troops, I can transfer some of them to you to frighten and frighten the mob. If it still doesn't work, prepare for the worst plan."
"Thank you, Lord Futai, for your great kindness!" the magistrate slowly got up and said.
The prefect had planned to tell the truth to Shu, but he was afraid of bringing trouble to himself, so he concealed his name and mixed it with the general documents and handed it over to the governor.
Governor Mu received hundreds of documents every day, which made him physically and mentally exhausted. The words on the official documents were blurred, and he was just too angry to deal with them. That day, he saw the document
He was sparse, but he suddenly became more energetic and stepped forward
He calmly read it over and over again, feeling very happy and thinking: "Niu Yuan has suppressed me and prevented us from breathing for a moment. It is better to report this report as revenge." Without saying a word, he made people happy.
The horse was delivered to the government office and showed it to Hong Lizhen.
Hong Lizhen read the memorial and knew that local officials were not easy to deal with and would have to rely on them to do things in the future. He did not want to push them too hard to prevent them from antagonizing Niu Yuan. So he did not reject it, but instead comforted him with kind words, so that
This memorial reached Zhongshu Province.
"These are all the excuses of the people working below, and Hong Shaobao actually believed them." Niu Yuan gently put down the memorial, smiled and said to his confidant, "I still want to help them hand over the memorial, don't you know?
Destroy my own prestige? I'm too lazy to reply to him, so you can just say..." He stood up and walked over.