I'm the villain in the book

Chapter 82 Integrity and Good Officials

When the sun went down, Wei Changtian and his party rushed to Zhongling County.

Indeed, as the lieutenant said, this county town is not big, the city gate is dilapidated, and there are moss growing on the city wall, which is obviously neglected all the year round.

There are two reasons for this.

[-]. The people here are too poor.

Second, the officials here are too rich.

Judging from the county magistrate's equally dilapidated mansion, Zhongling County should belong to the former situation.

"Master Liang, the countryside is really shabby."

During the dinner, the thin county magistrate was nervous and apologetic: "If the food is not to your taste, I hope you don't dislike it."

"Lord Wang, what are you talking about? We are all rough people who eat and sleep all day long. It would be nice to have a hot meal!"

Liang Zhen didn't have any air, so he took the lead with his chopsticks after laughing twice.

The magistrate breathed a sigh of relief, with some gratitude on his face.

Everyone started to eat. Although there was no good food or good wine, it was somewhat better than the meal they had at the inn at noon.

While eating, Wei Changtian glanced at the thin county magistrate with patches on his clothes, thinking that he looked like an honest official.

It's just that Zhongling County is located on a major traffic road, and it's not that kind of shitty land, and I don't know why it is so poor under his rule.

Liang Zhen also seemed to have this question, so after eating for a while, he asked casually:
"Lord Wang, I think the land in the Zhongling area is fertile, and it is close to a wide river. Why is this county so poor?"

"This……"

Hearing the words, the thin county magistrate put down his chopsticks with some guilt, his face blushed and he was speechless.

Liang Zhen did not take official positions to oppress him, but only had a hard-to-read scripture in his family.

"Master Wang, don't take it to heart, I just ask casually, if you don't want to say it, forget it."

"Ugh……"

The thin county magistrate opened his mouth and finally sighed, as if he wanted to say but didn't dare.

But at this moment, Wei Changtian suddenly asked, "Master Wang, the bandits in Zhongling County are probably serious, right?"

"This……"

The thin county magistrate was taken aback: "This son...why did you say this?"

He didn't know Wei Changtian's true identity, and thought it was Liang Zhen's family or something.

Of course, Wei Changtian didn't take the time to introduce himself - I was the son of the Wei family who killed the prime minister, and he just explained while eating:

"We passed several villages along the way, but when we passed the village, we didn't see a single villager. Every household had their doors and windows closed, but it was obviously not a deserted village."

"It can be seen that these villagers should have hid after hearing the sound of hooves."

"Ordinary people are so afraid of horses, I can't think of any other reason other than mountain bandits."

"In addition, although it's cold clothes today, there are too many people who worship ancestors and burn paper along the way, and most of those graves are new ones, so I have such a guess."

After Wei Changtian said a few words, everyone on the table looked at him with surprise.

They have seen all these things, but they have never thought about it so much.

The thin county magistrate's expression was also somewhat surprised.

He hesitated for a while, and finally nodded bitterly.

"This gentleman is right. In recent years, the county has indeed suffered a lot of bandits, and many people have fled in misery, which is why they are so dejected."

"Since there are bandits, why not suppress them?" Liang Qin wondered.

"Miss doesn't know something, it's not that I don't suppress it..."

The thin county magistrate's tone was very painful: "And it's really powerless!"

"There have been bandits in recent years, large areas of farmland have been abandoned, and many farmers are even unable to pay their land allowances."

"The people are poor, and the yamen are also poor. Where can there be money to support officials..."

"I'm not afraid of your jokes... There are less than [-] officers and soldiers in the entire Zhongling County, so how can they dare to suppress the bandits..."

"Knowing that there are bandits, but not being able to suppress them, seeing the hundreds of thousands of people in Zhongling suffer... It's my incompetence, it's my incompetence!"

"This……"

Seeing the thin county magistrate who was beating his chest and feet and was about to cry, everyone was silent.

This Zhongling County is too miserable, isn't it, such a big place can't even support a hundred officers and soldiers?

"If you can't suppress it yourself, why don't you report it to the state government and let them send someone to suppress it?" Liang Qin asked again, frowning.

"Naturally, it is reported, but the expenses required for the state government to send troops are borne by the county government. It is really difficult for Zhongling County to collect that much money."

The thin county magistrate gritted his teeth, clenched his fists and trembled and said, "Furthermore, it's not enough to collect enough military salaries, and you have to have money to manage those masters in the prefecture."

"I-I'm really..."

"..."

The room was quiet, and everyone silently looked at the thin county magistrate in rags, not knowing what to say.

Until Wei Changtian suddenly spoke again: "Master Wang, no matter how small Zhongling County is, there should be no shortage of shops and shops in the city. If each of them donates a little money, it will almost be enough to invite the state government to send troops."

"I haven't tried it anywhere."

The thin county magistrate shook his head: "But except for a few families, others are not willing to pay even a penny."

"They all feel that they are safe in hiding in the city, and they don't care about the lives of the people outside the city!"

"Don't want to pay?"

Wei Changtian looked at the thin magistrate like a fool: "Then use a knife and force them to dig it out!"

"This……"

The thin county magistrate was stunned for a while, and after a long while he said: "Master, son, this is against the law..."

When he said these words, everyone immediately understood why Zhongling County had come to this point.

There is no money to suppress the bandits, so the bandits are rampant, so the people are running away, so there is no money, so the bandits are more rampant...

What a vicious cycle!
At this rate, it is estimated that it will not take a few years for the entire Zhongling County to become a den of bandits.

In fact, the solution is very simple - find ways to get money, feed the stomachs of the people above, and ask the prefectural government to send troops to suppress the bandits.

As long as the bandits are eliminated, all problems will be solved.

But the problem is that this Lord Wang is too "clean" and too "right".

He is unwilling to spend money to compliment the master of the state government office, and is also unwilling to force merchants to donate money through "illegal" methods.

The result of this is that the bandit problem has not been solved for a long time, and it has become more and more serious.

Wei Changtian smacked his lips and suddenly thought of what Kangxi said——

A clean official is not necessarily a good official.

Now it seems that it really makes sense.

……

After the meal, it was a bit dull.

After listening to the situation in Zhongling County, Liang Zhen and others expressed their deep sympathy, and then continued to eat and drink, not intending to help suppress a bandit.

After all, this is the territory of Tanzhou. He, a general of Shuzhou, led people to suppress bandits on other people's territory... Although the thin county magistrate will definitely be grateful to Dade, but what the adults in Tanzhou Prefecture will think is unknown. .

Except for Liang Qin, everyone didn't take the bandits in Zhongling County too seriously. After eating and drinking, they said goodbye from the Shou County Magistrate's house, returned to the inn to rest, and prepared to get up early tomorrow to continue their journey.

But what everyone didn't expect was...

They don't want to cause trouble, but trouble comes to them.

　That. The five shifts that I agreed on today seem a little difficult to complete. I owe a few pieces first, and I will make up for them later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)