Wei and Jin cooks

Shangcai Manor has undergone a major change. Around the Zhao family's manor, houses for long-term workers and tribesmen were built, enclosing the Zhao family's villa and the tenant farmer's village in the middle.

The entire Shangcai is spending the winter quietly, except this area.

It is very lively here every day, with people coming and going to work, and many villagers come from the other side of Shangcai County. Even if they are not paid for wages, but only get two meals a day here, it is still worth their while to work here.

Ji Yuan did all this in an orderly manner, while also dealing with the news from the capital.

Just as Ji Yuan was watching intently, Zhao Tong stepped in quickly and said, "Mr. Ji, Magistrate Chai is here."

Ji Yuan put all the letters on the table into the box and locked it, and asked, "What is he here for?"

Zhao Tong paused and then said: "Looking at his face, he didn't seem happy about it. I asked the people who were following Magistrate Chai and I heard that it was because many people from Shangcai ran away to Xiping County."

Ji Yuan was at a loss for words. He was silent for a while and then said, "Invite people to the front hall. I'll go there right away."

Zhao Tong agreed.

Magistrate Chai County was very unhappy. He had just received news that many people from villages near Xiping County had gone to Xiping County this year, and he didn’t know if they would come back.

Zhao Hanzhang went too far. Not only did he rob Chang Ning, he even wanted to rob the people under his rule.

Ji Yuan represented Zhao Hanzhang in Shangcai, so naturally he could not let the relationship between her and Magistrate Chai deteriorate. He said, "There may be a misunderstanding. How did the magistrate know that they went to Xiping and did not intend to come back?"

Magistrate Chai snorted and said, "That's what their Li Zheng said."

Ji Yuan thought for a while and said: "I wonder if I can meet these Li Zheng. As far as Ji knows, our girls have no intention of taking away people. Nowadays, refugees are everywhere. If Xiping County is short of people, just gather the refugees. Why bother?" Are you having trouble with neighboring counties?"

Magistrate Chai was instantly convinced by him and felt that what he said was reasonable. He immediately took Ji Yuan to see Li Zheng who came to complain.

Li Zhengmen:......

The Chinese New Year is approaching, and winter is getting colder and colder. The Li Zhengs are afraid of freezing to death down there and starving too many people, so they go to patrol the small villages below.

As soon as they entered the village, they discovered that many of the young people in the village were not at home, not even the 12- or 13-year-olds and the middle-aged and elderly people in their 30s and 40s (with tears streaming down their faces). They were frightened at that time, thinking that people in the village had gone out to weed. It's a bandit.

After asking, I found out that he had gone to the next county to work, and that he had been there for a long time.

The Li Zhengs waited for a few days and saw that they did not come back after the day when wages were paid. They became more and more worried, fearing that they would just stay in Xiping County and never come back.

The most terrible thing is that Li Zheng panicked, so he talked to Li Zheng next door about the matter, and then found that many people under Zheng next door also went to Xiping...

So we were looking for one from each other, and we all connected together. We found that there were many people going there, and they were leading one village after another, deliberately avoiding the village where they were.

The most terrible thing is that although they avoided their village, there were people in their village who heard the news and ran away secretly, hiding it from them.

I’m so scared. After the New Year, it’s spring, and when spring comes, it’s time for spring plowing. If they don’t come back, what will happen to the spring plowing?

The county magistrate will definitely have a hard time with the massive loss of population in the area under his jurisdiction, and the county magistrate will have a hard time, can they still have a good time in these areas?

So the Li Zhengs discussed it and went to the county town together to file a complaint.

We have already reported it. Whether we can snatch people back from the hands of Xiping County next door is a contest between your county magistrates.

Ji Yuan felt that they must not have conclusive evidence. Sure enough, when he asked them, they really didn't have any. It was just suspicion.

So Ji Yuan felt relieved, and began to refute them as soon as his face darkened.

Their girl is upright and kind-hearted. Will she be the kind of person who robs the population of neighboring counties?

She just felt sorry for the people in Shangcai County who were suffering in winter, so she recruited them to work so that they could earn some money to support their families.

This is a manifestation of the friendship between Xiping and Shangcai. How can you Li Zheng judge the heart of a gentleman with your villain's heart?

Ji Yuan listed the reasons why Zhao Hanzhang did this with a serious face, "Shangcai, like Xiping, is our girl's hometown. Don't forget, our girl's grandfather is the uncle of Shangcai, and the place where he lives is Shangcai!"

Magistrate Chai's eyes brightened slightly, yes, how could he forget this?

Even Li Zhengren started to doubt themselves. Is it really not just to rob people?

of course not!

Yes, Ji Yuan can also dismiss it for him.

After successfully appeasing Magistrate Chai and all the officials, Ji Yuan went back to the manor to write a letter to Zhao Hanzhang. When he left the Yamen, after thinking about it, Ji Yuan still said: "County Lord, the two tax increases this year have made life difficult for the people. As the New Year is approaching, there are not many people buying new year goods in the market, which shows their hardship. If the county ruler can help a little at this time and continue to show kindness, they will definitely be grateful."

Magistrate Chai County sighed: "Of course I know, but the county government is poor, how can there be anything to provide relief?"

Ji Yuan opened his mouth and wanted to offer suggestions. The county government didn't have any, but he could contact the big players in the county.

But thinking about it, Zhao Hanzhang was the largest business owner in Shangcai County now, so he suppressed his words. He had to ask Zhao Hanzhang about this matter.

So when he returned to the manor, Ji Yuan not only wrote a letter to tell Zhao Hanzhang to take it easy, but also mentioned the matter to Cai, who had already expressed dissatisfaction with her behavior of robbing people.

Zhao Hanzhang had already returned from the gluttonous feast when she received the letter. She agreed to Ji Yuan without thinking, and wrote: "Take the lead in donating some food and cloth. The specific amount can be decided by yourself."

Zhao Hanzhang said: "Don't worry about the competitive relationship between counties. Although I was born in Xiping, my ancestor is Shangcai Bo. Both Xiping and Shangcai are my hometown."

"In fact, you don't even need to care whether you are from the two counties. Our purpose of donating food is more to save people and allow the people who receive donations to spend this New Year happily. It is not because they are from Shangcai or Xiping. So why bother getting hung up on who he is?”

Helping people is a very happy thing, otherwise why would there be so many people willing to help others throughout the ages?

Zhao Hanzhang also likes to help others, and she does not hesitate to help within her ability.

After Zhao Hanzhang finished writing the letter, he dried the ink, read the letter again and then enveloped it. He couldn't help but laugh.

Fu Tinghan, who was sitting on the desk not far away, raised his head and glanced at her when he heard the laughter, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just thought of the joy of helping people."

Fu Tinghan: "...Is it like what you did today when you helped Zhu Chuan at the Taotie Banquet?"

"That's not worth mentioning. What I'm talking about is the joy of donating food to the people." Zhao Hanzhang touched his chin, "Shangcai County has donated food to celebrate the New Year, so shouldn't Xiping County also distribute something to celebrate the New Year? It doesn’t have to be all food…”

Zhao Hanzhang thought about it, she had to put on a show to bring the people under her rule to celebrate the New Year happily.

See you tomorrow