Under Ling Yunzhi's interrogation, the four robbers confessed all the crimes they had committed in the past few days, which matched the cases in the report files, and also explained the whereabouts of the stolen property.

Some money was used, but the valuables robbed were all hidden, planning to take them to other counties and sell them for money in the future.

Ling Yunzhi asked the government officials to take the four people home and collect all the hidden property back to the government office.

According to the Dongchen Law, the bandits did not hurt anyone or rape women, but only plundered property. They were sentenced according to the value of the looted property. If the looted property could be returned, the punishment could be relatively light.

But it is indispensable for one person to play the fifty-big board. If the fifty-big board is played, the person with weak bones may go directly to see the Lord of Hell.

After the plundered property is brought back and counted, Ling Yunzhi will hold court again to pronounce the sentence.

After handling the previous case, Ling Yunzhi quickly returned to the backyard.

When they saw Shen Wan and his wife, they apologized again for not being well received.

Ling Mengqing also bought vegetables and snacks and came back. She put the snacks on a plate and brought it to the flower hall. Then she took the firewood back with her and packed out the only two rooms for Shen Wan and the others.

After they finished packing, Shen Wan and the others also moved everything on the carriage into the room.

They had originally mentioned staying in an inn, but Ling Yunzhi said that the inn in the county town was not as good as his dilapidated county government office backyard, so they gave up.

When the sun turned west, Ling Mengqing went to the kitchen to get busy. Shen Wan asked Xiao Xing to help. With Xiao Xing's help, Ling Mengqing suddenly felt less busy.

When it got dark, dinner was served on the table. It consisted of six dishes and one soup, three meat and three vegetarian dishes. It was quite a sumptuous meal for the Ling Yunzhi brothers and sisters and Shitou.

After simply picking up the wind, Yun Luochuan stayed in the flower hall chatting with Ling Yunzhi, while Shen Wan took An An down to wash up.

After walking for two days, they didn't take a bath last night. Today they all had to take a good bath and change their clothes inside and outside and wash them.

"Brother Yun, you and the county leader should have seen the situation in Tongyuan County when they entered the city today. I was mentally prepared when I came, but after I came, I found that the situation in Tongyuan County was better than I knew. worse."

"There is not a penny in the county government's account, and it still owes the court tens of thousands of taels of silver. I can't even pay these people in the government office, and I am already stretched thin."

"In order to find a way to get rich as soon as possible for the people of Tongyuan County so that they can afford to pay taxes, I can only shamelessly write you a letter and invite your family to come and have fun." In fact, there is really no such thing as Tongyuan County. What's fun, except for mountains, they are mountains. The people's backbones have been broken by life long ago. Everyone looks numb and lifeless. Just looking at them makes them feel very depressed.

Yun Luochuan smiled, frowned and asked, "Why don't you apply for money from the court?"

Ling Yunzhi said: "Our Yuyuan County is safe from disasters. We don't need to build river embankments or dig mountains to build roads. How can we apply for money from the court? Moreover, because taxes are confiscated, we still owe money to the court."

"The prefectures and counties here in Jiangzhou Prefecture collect all taxes every year, leaving 30% of the taxes to cover the expenses of government operations, including our salary."

"If I hand over Zhezi to ask the court for money to pay for my salary and repair the county government office, I will be beaten back when I get to the state capital Zhezi."

He heard all this from Mr. Wu. The previous county magistrate had submitted coupons for applying for money, but he was beaten back like this every time.

When I went to the state capital to report on my work at the end of the year, I was scolded several times by the magistrate, scolding him for not being able to manage the county from the same source, failing to collect taxes, not mentioning the money he owed the court, and having the nerve to ask the court for money.

The previous county magistrate's family had some wealth, and he spent a lot of money on it.

Yun Luochuan said: "I didn't know that this was the case here in Yunzhou. Brother Ling suffered."

Ling Yunzhi smiled and shook his head, "I used to be a bit hypocritical, thinking that money was just garbage, and it was really vulgar to always ask for money, but now all I can think about is money."

Because he had no money, he couldn't do anything he wanted to do for the people of Tongyuan County. He felt like his hands and feet were tied.

I know that the people are suffering, but there is nothing I can do. I can only sit in this dilapidated county government office, trying some trivial cases, and can do nothing.
Chapter completed!