Li Changan supported the old man and sent him home.
On the way, a policeman from Nanxun Town Fusi brought an oil-paper umbrella.
Li Changan held an umbrella and said to the old man beside him, "Old man, tell me about Magistrate Zhang."
The old man walked fairly smoothly. He thanked Li Changan repeatedly for holding an umbrella for him, and then recalled,
"The old man has lived his whole life in Zewu County. Mr. Zhang is the best parent officer I have ever seen."
"I remember that before Mr. Zhang came to Zewu County, all the officials in the county were preparing to give gifts."
"Even ordinary people like us are required to offer welcome gifts."
"Welcome gift?" This was the first time Li Changan had heard such an expression.
The old man nodded, "We are used to it in all the villages and towns, and it's similar in other counties."
"In order to flatter the county magistrate, we give you a welcome gift so that the county magistrate can have a better impression of us."
"It can be regarded as a blessing for the county magistrate..."
Li Changan couldn't help shaking his head and sneered, "This is interesting."
The old man said with emotion, "Originally, everyone was prepared, but at that time, old man, I was carrying a grass carp and was squeezed to the front."
"Master Zhang took office with his wife, children, and children, but he refused to accept our welcome gift."
"Not only do I not accept gifts from those officials, I don't even accept gifts from us common people."
"In the end, I couldn't bear everyone's invitations, so I had to accept the old man's grass carp, but he gave me ten cents."
Li Changan nodded secretly.
The old man continued, "Everyone thought Master Zhang loved fish, so they all started thinking about getting fish."
"As a result, Mr. Zhang did not eat the fish after he returned."
"Instead, I hung the fish at the door of my yard and let the grass carp turn into dried fish."
"This tells everyone that I will never accept gifts from anyone."
"At that time, everyone secretly called Mr. Zhang the Magistrate of Xuanyu County."
Li Changan was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that County Magistrate Zhang could achieve such an extent.
Once the person in charge expresses a certain preference, the people below will unconsciously act to suit their preference.
If you don't hang this fish, I'm afraid it will really become a mullet fish.
The old man seemed to have opened up his chat box,
"Another time, Mr. Zhang went out to ask for wheat seeds. In the end, he spent ten taels of silver and finally bought a pound of wheat seeds."
"Everyone heard about it and wanted to give him some money. After all, Mr. Zhang has always been relatively poor. These ten taels of silver are quite a big expense."
"So I collected a hundred taels of silver, including broken silver and copper coins."
"But Lord Zhang, I won't take any money from you."
"Everyone tried his best to give him the silver. Mr. Zhang picked up three coins from the pile of copper coins and returned all the rest to us."
"In the end, the three coins are still embedded in a stone tablet."
Li Changan's head moved slightly, "Is that the three-text tablet?"
The old man nodded, his dim eyes seemed to sparkle a little, "That was the first time I planted wheat."
"Master Zhang went down there with us."
"In order to seek good fortune, Mr. Zhang erected a monument. The three cents he took at that time were embedded in the monument to commemorate the wheat cultivation in Zewu County."
Li Changan helped the old man cross the threshold and put away the oil-paper umbrella.
The old man said with nostalgia,
"Master Zhang also said something at that time, and everyone still remembers it to this day."
"He said that the Tao Sage has said that Tao gives birth to one, which gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things."
"I hope this three-character stele can protect the wheat ears of Zewu County and make the house full of crops."
Hearing this, Li Chang'an's mind trembled violently. This was the first honest official he had seen in Jin Dynasty who cared so much about the people.
It is really unimaginable in this filthy officialdom of the Jin Dynasty.
When the old man got home, he started washing rice and preparing porridge.
"I still remember that three years ago, Mr. Zhang's first wife died of illness. But at that time, Mr. Zhang had already spent all his savings for Zewu County and could not even bury her."
"In the end, when the big guys heard the news, they put together a coffin and helped Mr. Zhang bury his wife."
"Master Zhang burst into tears at that time, and the entire Zewu County wore white clothes that day."
"Later, Mr. Zhang pawned the last bit of Susukita in his hometown, and distributed the money from the pawn back to everyone."
At this point, the old man suddenly stopped and was speechless. He couldn't help but take a few deep breaths.
After a long time, the old man calmed down his excitement and asked in a hoarse voice, "Master Li, tell me, is an official like Master Zhang considered a good official?"
Li Changan nodded silently, finding that nothing he said seemed very pale, and finally assured the old man, "Don't worry, old man, I will investigate this case."
"Please also ask the old man to talk to the big guys. If you have any clues, you can come to me at any time."
"I won't be staying at the county government office for these three days, so I will find a place to live in a nearby house. You can find me at any time without worrying about being stopped."
The old man nodded hurriedly, cupped his fists and raised his hands towards Li Changan.
Li Changan left the old man's home, and not long after, several people who looked like ordinary people came over and said, "My lord, thirty members of the spy department have arrived in Zewu County."
Li Changan nodded, pretending to be a cordial greeting, and said, "Go deep among these people and learn about Zhang Weimin's situation."
"In addition, I checked and found out that Zhang Weimin's annual salary is quite large. Why didn't he even have enough money to bury his first wife?"
"Some people have no brains and follow what others say, and some people think that everyone in the world is dirty because they themselves are dirty. They don't believe that there are good officials who will benefit the people."
"Bring out these evidences and I'll stop those guys from letting out a single fart."
"Yes." Several spies nodded and dispersed one after another.
Li Changan returned to the county government, asked someone to find an unoccupied house for him, and then moved there.
He didn't bring any soldiers, not even the officers of the Southern Patrol Division.
"What are you doing, Sir Councilor?" Song Siren asked in surprise.
"It seems that they are investigating the case of Magistrate Zhang." Feng Buyi stood with his arms crossed, "I guess he is worried that many people will not dare to report it since he is in the county government."
"So he moved to a private residence. People can go there anytime they want to find him."
Zeng Shicai looked at Li Changan's back with complicated eyes.
This person can be regarded as a fellow disciple.
This short period of time gave him quite a shock.
Sure enough, the bones are harder than rumored.
Even when facing the third-grade scholar and Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple, he showed no fear and still insisted on interrogating the fourteenth chief official of Yunyang County.
They may even be sentenced to death.
With this kind of courage, there is no one else in his generation.
…
Li Changan moved into a private house and sat in the courtyard of the house, with the courtyard door wide open.
There is a wooden sign hanging at the door.
There are five words written on it, Li Changan is here.
Then he began to re-read the files compiled by Feng Buyi and others, while waiting for news.
There is both spy news and news from ordinary people.
Feng Buyi also checked some people, but when he looked at the files carefully, he only asked them briefly and did not study them in detail.
The case of Zhang Weimin has been investigated from top to bottom, but I am afraid that nothing can be found.
The key to this case can probably only be found among the common people.
——————
Note:
Zhang Weimin's three stories are all stories of upright officials in ancient times.
They are Yang Xu, the governor of Xuanyu; Liu Chong, the governor of Yiqian; and Sima Guang, the governor of Diantian.
But they have all been modified, especially the Sanwen Monument, which has been basically completely changed, but the source of the idea is Yiqian Taishou.
Pay tribute to the upright officials who have served the people from ancient times to the present.