Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

"I know." Zhang Yuan said, "The people in Luojia Village want to take advantage of these two days to go to the mountains to cut some firewood. They told me before they went."

"Has anyone told them about the dangers on the mountain?" Meng Changqing asked Zhang Yuan.

There was a moment of guilt on Zhang Yuan's face, "I warned them not to go into the mountains. I saw that there were many of them, and most of them were young men and women, so I didn't say anything about bandits."

The more he spoke, the lower his voice became.

"Captain Zhang." Meng Changqing stood up from behind the desk, "Are you not doing your job with all your heart, or have you made a deal with someone? Can such a thing be ignored? If they happen to encounter bandits today, whose casualties will be counted? Who will harvest during the autumn harvest?”

Zhang Yuan lowered his head and had to admit that he was negligent.

Meng Changqing asked again: "Are the only people from Luojia Village going to the mountain today?"

Zhang Yuan recalled carefully, "Yes, those people on the west side haven't built their houses yet. They have been building their own houses during this time."

"Go and call Luo Sanmu and tell him that I have a gift for him in return."

"Yes."

In Luojia Village, east of the county government office in Beishan County, Luo Sanmu was repairing the table legs at home. His son Luo Shitou came back crazy from outside. When he passed by Luo Sanmu, he cautiously lowered his voice and sneaked into the main room, trying to touch the food in the basket. Eat wild pears.

Unexpectedly, the small half basket of wild pears was hanging from the beam, out of his reach.

At this time, the child always tried every means to eat. He found two stools and stacked them together, trying to get the basket off. But just as he was about to climb up, he saw his father standing at the door.

He was startled, and the unstable stools stacked together immediately fell down.

"Dad." He stepped back guiltily.

"I've already eaten two today, I can't eat any more." Luo Sanmu said: "Don't just think about going out to play all day long. Do something at home when you have time. Your sister is already helping your mother at your age. Make a fire and cook.

You are a boy, and it is normal for you to be playful. I rarely care about you, but you must be sensible one day. This is not the original Luojia Village. If you go crazy, you will not cause any big trouble. At most, you will break things. , bumped into the elders, and was scolded by others.

But this place is different. There is a government office two miles away. If you don't catch those people wearing official uniforms, it will be a slap in the face at least, and the whole family will suffer seriously. "

"I didn't run to the government." Luo Shitou defended himself.

"It's not a matter of whether you run away or not." Luo Sanmu advised earnestly, "If what you say to the children in the village offends the official and is spread to the ears of the government, you will be in trouble.

You forgot that when you first came here, you said something wrong on the road, and the adult leading the way immediately became unhappy.

He probably thinks that you are just a child and doesn't care about it for the time being, but if you say anything to his ears later, will he be able to forgive you? "

Luo Shitou was so frightened that he shrank his shoulders, "I didn't say anything bad."

"You think it's nothing, but the people who listen to me may not think so, and they don't know what's going on with you kid. Your words and actions are not like me at all."

Jiang Chan came over with dinner, "Do you mean to follow me?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant." Luo Sanmu said, "It's my fault for not disciplining him in time."

"If those pears hadn't been given away, you wouldn't have said these things to Shitou."

As soon as he finished saying this, he heard a knock on the courtyard door, and an angry voice outside asked, "Is Luo Sanmu at home?"

Luo Sanmu lowered his voice, "It's over! Why does this voice sound so like that Mr. Zhang? He couldn't hear what I just said, right?"

"What's the use of feeling guilty here? Didn't you just teach Shitou a lesson?"

The knock on the door from outside continued, "Is no one home?" "Yes!" Luo Sanmu responded and went to open the door, regardless of what was waiting for him outside. The courtyard door couldn't stop him anyway. For those who live in government offices, it is better for them to plead guilty than for their whole family to be implicated.

"Master Zhang." Luo Sanmu bent down and smiled to please, "It's so late, what can I do?"

"The county master wants to see you."

Zhang Yuan's expression was quite bad. No matter who was scolded by others, he would not be able to put on a smiling face in a short time, especially when facing someone with a lower status than him. This was especially unnecessary.

Seeing him like that, Luo Sanmu felt that he must have heard those words just now. He felt even more uneasy, but he didn't dare to ask openly.

"The county master wants to see me?"

"Yes." Zhang Yuan said, "Because of the pears you sent, the county master wants to give you a gift in return."

When Luo Sanmu heard about this, his worries subsided a little, "It's just a few wild pears that I picked casually. How dare I ask for something from the county master."

"Whether you want it or not, this is the county master's order. Just go with me."

Luo Sanmu suppressed his panic, pretended to be serious and said to his wife and children in the courtyard, "I'm going out, you can eat first."

He was on tenterhooks all the way, fearing that Master Zhang would ask him about what he said in the yard.

But after entering the county government office, Mr. Zhang still didn't ask. Luo Sanmu was sure at this time that he probably didn't hear.

Following Mr. Zhang into a room of the county government office, he saw the county master was also inside. Luo Sanmu quickly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Sir, people have brought it."

"Thank you, Captain Zhang, please go down and rest first."

Zhang Yuan stepped back, but Luo Sanmu still maintained his kneeling posture.

"Get up, thank you for thinking of the county government and sending pears over."

Although Luo Sanmu stood up, he remembered the words of the clan elders and dared to stand with his back hunched over, not daring to stand up straight. "It doesn't take much trouble for me to pick it back from the mountain."

"Why did you suddenly think of going to the mountains to find firewood?" Meng Changqing asked.

"It is easier to keep warm in the winter with thick wood. There are only small firewoods around, so I thought about going to the mountains to cut some. Although the mountains to the east are far away, I have a cart at home. As long as I pull a few carts, it will be enough. Used in winter.”

"Did you think of going to the mountain yourself? Didn't someone remind you?"

Luo Sanmu thought this was a strange question, but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that it really wasn't something he suddenly thought of. "I don't know if that counts as a reminder. Yesterday afternoon I went to collect hay at my farm and saw my sister-in-law's house. The hay was taken away by a man from the west, so I stopped him and wanted him to return it.

But he said that all the hay here should belong to their west side, and if we want firewood, we can go to the mountains to find it.

After listening to his words, I felt that the hay was indeed not enough to burn, so I asked the villagers to go up the mountain together. "

"Do you know who stole your sister-in-law's hay?"

"I don't know his name. I only heard someone call him Tateyama."

"Ma Lishan." Meng Changqing took the cloth bag from the corner of the table and handed it to Luo Sanmu, "Thank you for the wild pears. This is my return gift to you. You must accept it."

(End of this chapter)