The group walked for three days before arriving at Baiyang County.

Along the way, Zhang Beichen saw that the territory of the Qin State was almost filled with mourners. Displaced refugees could be seen everywhere. There were no natural disasters this year. These refugees were caused only by man-made disasters.

The double oppression of the war and the landlords left them with no food to eat and no clothing to cover their bodies. But even so, no human corpses were seen on the road. Some were devoured by wild beasts and monsters, and some were torn apart by hungry refugees.

Food.

As a person living in peaceful times, seeing such a scene for the first time, Zhang Beichen felt deeply in his heart.

A group of people came to Baiyang County Government Office. It looked like just a private house, in dilapidated condition.

"Where are the people from the government office?" Hu Cheng shouted outside.

After shouting for a while, an old man came out with two thin and short farmers.

"Who are you? I can tell you, there is nothing in this yamen. If you want to rob, go somewhere else!" The old man looked at them with fear on his face.

Hu Cheng pointed at Zhang Beichen and said, "This is the newly appointed magistrate of Baiyang County, Mr. Zhang Beichen. Who are you?"

"Lord County Magistrate?" When the old man heard this, he quickly knelt down and said, "This villain is Liu Wen, the chief registrar of the county, and these two are county servants."

Zhang Beichen showed him the documents of taking office and confirmed that he was the county magistrate. Liu Wen sighed: "Sir, you are here. If you don't come, this Yamen will be demolished by those unscrupulous people!"

Zhang Beichen sat in the hall, looking at the dilapidated scene in the yamen, and asked: "What is going on?"

Liu Wen explained: "Baiyang County has only been established for three years. It needs money but no money, and it needs people but no one."

"Aren't there any funds allocated from above?" Zhang Beichen asked.

"The Qin State goes to war every year, and every year it has to go to various places to ask for money, food, and people. How can there be any money to allocate to us?" Liu Wen complained, "The income of the county government depends on the county's taxes and the output of the official fields.

.”

"In Baiyang County, we don't receive even a few taels of grain all year round. The official farmland is small and barren. We can't even feed ourselves, let alone find ways to pay taxes."

Zhang Beichen looked through the county documents and asked, "I see that Baiyang County has a large population and a lot of fields. How could this happen?"

Mentioning this, Liu Wen even looked bitter and said, "Yes, there are a lot of fields and people in Baiyang County, but they all belong to the Bai family and the Yang family. Most of the fields in the county belong to them.

private land."

"Taking advantage of their huge power, they pay less taxes every time, and often pay less than one-tenth of the grain! As for the population, most of the people in the county have gone to the fields and become slaves of these two families.

, it is not under our control.”

After Zhang Beichen heard his description, he realized why the Qin State was destroyed in the first few simulations. In this case, if the Qin State is not destroyed, who will be destroyed?

We still need to reform. This kind of slavery is not suitable for agricultural production and must be abolished! But reality is not a simulation, and it cannot be solved in one sentence.

Even if he convinces the Yingyin people to abolish slavery now, he probably won't be able to implement the decree because the old clan is too powerful.

"The first test Ying Yin gave me was indeed not easy." Zhang Beichen also found it tricky, and started in hard mode.

Just as he was thinking about it, there were shouts and shouts outside, and someone was banging on the door of the county government office.

"Who is making the noise?" Zhang Beichen shouted.

I saw two men walking in swaggeringly, and the government officials did not dare to stop them.

One of them looked at Zhang Beichen and asked, "Are you the new county magistrate?"

"I am the county magistrate, who are you who dare to cause trouble in the government office?" Zhang Beichen asked.

The two of them looked indifferent, and one of them said: "I am Master Bai's servant, and Master asked me to tell you. Release our Bai family members immediately. In addition, Master invites you to be a guest at home today."

Another person said: "I am a servant of the Yang family. We, Mr. Yang, also want to invite you to visit us in the mansion. It is best to bring people from our Yang family back."

"Today is our Bai family's treat. Why are you, the Yang family, joining in the fun?" The two actually started arguing in front of Zhang Beichen.

"What's so great about the Bai family? We, the Yang family, are treating guests, and the Bai family will go on their own!"

The chief clerk and the two yamen servants pretended not to see it, probably because they were afraid of being bullied and did not dare to speak.

Zhang Beichen said angrily: "Shut up. What do you two think of the county government? You are lawless!"

"Come here, drag one person down and hit the ten big boards!"

He shouted, but the officials did not dare to take action.

The two men laughed and said: "How dare you beat us? I wonder why there was no county magistrate in the past?"

"What a stupid boy, he doesn't know how powerful our two families are!"

"Ah Da, come on in!" Zhang Beichen saw that shouting could not get anyone, so he called out to the refugees he had raised.

"If you dare to disobey the Lord, I'll get you beaten!" These people listened to Zhang Beichen and immediately swarmed up, captured the two of them, picked up the boards and started beating them.

"Ah, you dare to do it!"

"If you dare to offend our two families, our master will not let you go!" the two shouted.

When Zhang Beichen heard this, he ordered: "Hit thirty more boards to prevent them from getting off the ground!"

"Pa, pa, pa!" The two of them were beaten to pieces.

"You, wait for me!" The two of them rolled and crawled out of the county government office.

Liu Wen looked worried and said: "Sir, if you deal with them like this, the two families will not let it go!"

"This is the effect I want!" Zhang Beichen said coldly, "When I take office, I must rectify this Baiyang County!"

He scolded Liu Wen and several government officials at the same time: "If you continue to pretend that you haven't heard my orders from now on, you will end up like the two people just now!"

"Yes, sir!" Several people said, but they were thinking in their hearts that the new county magistrate has never seen the methods of the Baiyang family, and he is still pretending to be like this. He will know in a few days.

Zhang Beichen continued to understand the situation and asked: "The two people just said they wanted to release them. What happened?"

Liu Wen explained: "When I took office as the county magistrate, he went to mediate a fight between the Baiyang family. As a result, he was beaten to death, which also alerted the elders of the clan. The elder led troops to arrest several people, and they beat the county to death together.

Those who belong to the Grand Master are locked up in the Yamen."

"We can't shut it down or let it go."

"If you kill someone, you must be punished according to law!" Zhang Beichen said coldly.

Liu Wen looked embarrassed and said: "Those are the direct descendants of the Baiyang family. If we really kill them, things will be even more troublesome!"

"Master Liu." Zhang Beichen emphasized again, "After I take office, all laws and regulations must be obeyed by me. If there is any crime in the future, no matter who it is, arrest it first!"

"Yes!" Liu Wen still responded verbally, but he didn't take it seriously in his heart.

Zhang Beichen also knew very well that the local power was too strong. If he couldn't establish his authority, he probably wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.

He then said: "Show me the county records and documents."

Liu Wen handed everything to him. At this time, the description was concise, and Zhang Beichen could finish it quickly. After questioning, he almost understood the situation.

"The fundamental problem of Qin State still needs to be reformed. The old legal system can no longer adapt to the current Qin State, but I don't have the ability and prestige yet. It's better to reform Baiyang County first and establish a new charter." Zhang Beichen thought.

, and began to plan.

…

On the other side, two servants returned to the Bai family and the Yang family respectively with injuries.

At Yang's house, a middle-aged man with a beard was looking at the servant who was kneeling and crying, frowning and said: "That Zhang Beichen, really don't even give him any face?"

He is the head of the Yang family, Yang Shan.

The servant added to the jealousy and shouted: "Master, not only did he not give you face, he also beat me up. He has the final say in Baiyang County from now on, and our Yang family is nothing!"

An angry look appeared on Yang Shan's face, and he cursed: "This kid is really ignorant. In terms of title, I am two levels higher than him! I can't deal with him anymore!"

The local powerful are basically nobles with titles, so they are not afraid of the county magistrate.

On the Bai family side, Bai Liangpu, the head of the Bai family, also knew about this.

"Master, it is said that this new county magistrate was appointed by the king himself. Do you want to inform the eldest master?" the tribesman asked.

The Bai family in Baiyang County is a branch of the Bai family, one of the three oldest clans in Qin.

Their eldest master is the Duke of Qin.
Chapter completed!