met free Chapter 322 This is what he has been waiting for for a long time
Chapter 322 This is what he has been waiting for for a long time
He was unsure of the young man's thoughts, so he asked cautiously, "We have met once before. May I ask, sir, he is..."
Seeing that Magistrate Zhao didn't look like he was lying to her, Yuan Qing softened her tone and said, "It's like this. I met Village Chief Wang on the path at the entrance of the village yesterday and we hit it off. He told me how much you had taken care of him in the past, so I came here to thank you."
She clapped her hands, and three burly men walked in from outside. Each of them had a sturdy build and was out of place in the small county government office of Yifeng County. It seemed as if they wanted to fill up the place.
When County Magistrate Zhao saw this situation, he suddenly felt weak in the knees.
He was just a diligent minor official, how come he suddenly attracted the attention of the bigwigs in Beijing? He just wanted to be a county magistrate in peace and didn't want to cause any trouble.
Yuan Qing felt like laughing when he saw this.
This County Magistrate Zhao was indeed different from what she had imagined.
It seems that the matter of Wang Fugui or his backer has little to do with him, he just has to hide his head and avoid it.
Yuan Qing pursed his lips and said seriously: "Don't be afraid, Lord Zhao. These are just the people I invited to carry the burden."
The three sturdy men moved aside, revealing three large boxes behind them.
County Magistrate Zhao became even more panicked when he saw this.
Why did they suddenly send him such a big gift? They didn't want him to kill someone, did they? No, he has an 80-year-old mother and a whole family of wives, children and elders at home!
Yuan Qing waved his hand and asked the three big men to leave, leaving himself alone.
"These are just to express my gratitude to you, sir. If the matter is successful, there will be a generous reward."
Magistrate Zhao was confused and asked subconsciously, "What's the matter?"
Yuan Qing glanced around, and County Magistrate Zhao immediately understood what he meant and asked everyone nearby to leave.
Yuan Qing stepped forward, stuffed a bag into Magistrate Zhao's hands, looked at him and said, "You are so smart, you should know what I mean."
County Magistrate Zhao weighed the bag in his hand; it was heavy.
He was also a man of officialdom and knew that what was in the purse represented the true intention of the gift giver.
Those boxes are just to hide people's eyes.
The real purpose is in this bag.
He had seen a lot of things like this, and he immediately figured out the matter.
Naturally he wouldn't refuse. It was just a transfer of one person, and he felt at ease taking the money.
After thinking this through, he put the purse into his sleeve with a smile, "Don't worry, sir, I will do my best."
County Magistrate Zhao watched them leave.
He put away the money bag and then called the people from the county government office in.
He raised his hand and pointed at the boxes on the ground, "Open them."
The bailiffs looked at each other, and no one dared to step forward first.
Magistrate Zhao glared at them and said, "You're not going to do anything, right? Then everything in there will belong to me."
Whenever he had any good things, he would always think of sharing some with them. So even if he was a foolish county magistrate, no one in the county government would go against him.
Since Lord Zhao said so, the yamen runners didn't hesitate and rushed forward to open the box.
The three large boxes contained different things.
What was obviously inconsistent with the big box was that it was completely empty, with only a few pieces of written paper on the bottom layer.
The bailiffs were stunned for a moment, picked up one of the papers and said, "Sir, this... this is..."
"This is a timely help!" Magistrate Zhao stepped forward, took the things in the box in his hands, and said excitedly, "I thought the court had forgotten about us, but I didn't expect..."
Although what that man sent was not real gold and silver, it was closer to people's hearts than real gold and silver.
They don't look worth much, but they are the most scarce things in Yifeng County at present. He can't get these things by himself, and he has been looking forward to it for a long time.
The yamen runners carefully took out the papers inside and passed them around, afraid that they would be torn. They held them very gently in their hands, fearing that they would accidentally tear them.
Few of them could read, so they could only stare in amazement at the densely packed handwriting on the paper.
"Sir, what is this thing? Tell us about it."
By this time, County Magistrate Zhao had calmed down and was ready to take his stand again.
He stroked his beard and said with a smile: "This is a good thing that can help us get through the crisis."
Although Yifeng County belongs to the capital, it is located at the very edge of the capital and close to Tongzhou. Therefore, many residents of Yifeng County are not local people, and most of them are refugees from outside.
Every year, County Magistrate Zhao has to report the settlement situation of foreign population to his higher authorities dozens of times, but no one is willing to take care of it.
As time went by, this place became the largest gathering place for illegal residents in the capital.
If outsiders want to settle down, they have to get married or marry into the local family. If that doesn't work, they can ask the local people to adopt them as their children.
But this can only solve the difficulties of some people, and greater difficulties are still to come.
As the population increases, taxes will also increase.
Many of them could not even go to the city to work, but the small Yifeng County could not afford to support so many people, so County Magistrate Zhao tried every possible means to solve the problem.
The days passed one by one.
County Magistrate Zhao knew clearly that if things continued like this, not only would the entire Yifeng County be dragged down, but even the people here who had no registered permanent residence would face the risk of being expelled at any time.
Being expelled is not a big deal. The most frightening thing is that the authorities above use the excuse of having no household registration to openly commit crimes and exploit the people in Yifeng County.
Under the guise of suppressing bandits, they act like evildoers.
Such things have happened in Yifeng County before. As soon as the news came down, County Magistrate Zhao would urgently notify the people to hide somewhere else.
This has become a concern for County Magistrate Zhao.
Making connections with the rich and powerful is just to seek a better shelter for them so that they don't have to live in hiding anymore.
County Magistrate Zhao was extremely excited.
With these things, he would no longer be restricted in doing things, nor would he be threatened or coerced by those people.
County Magistrate Zhao ordered his men to carry the box to the storeroom and lock it up. He then walked to the back hall alone and took out the things in his sleeve to look at them.
There was a hundred taels of silver, and a piece of paper inside.
There is a picture on it.
It is a young eagle trapped in a cage, spreading its wings as if it wants to fly out, but it is restricted by the iron cage and can only struggle in the small space.
County Magistrate Zhao frowned.
He knew there must be a deeper meaning behind this and did not dare to speculate on his own. He quickly sent someone to call his son-in-law and the county magistrate, hoping that they would help him to solve the problem.
He put the silver away and asked the two men to take the painting away.
Qian Xiucai was the first to speak: "Who painted this? The painting skills are superb, it can be called a masterpiece!"
Magistrate Zhao interrupted him, "Don't just admire it, you have to help me understand what it means."
The county magistrate, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up: "Who gave this painting to me?"