Perhaps it is because there is a Bianhe River in Bianzhou, so in spring, it rained continuously throughout Bianzhou.
During the spring equinox, there is still a bit of winter chill in the air, coupled with the spring rain that is as fine as needles and can penetrate into the bones, it is easy for people to contract diseases such as rheumatism.
But spring happens to be a busy time for farming, so farmers can only hope that the weather will be sunny for a few days, and they can only work in the fields in the drizzle.
The slanting wind and drizzle do not need to return? But in fact, the slanting wind and drizzle cannot return!
Talking about rheumatism and other diseases, they have to wait until old age or winter to attack, but if you don't go to work now, then the whole family will have nothing to eat!
And within Bianzhou, farmers in relatively poor places like Taopu County are even more miserable. The land lord is not willing to give them food, and now even God is unwilling to let them live a good life! So in the fields
In the fields, the most common thing is the farmer carrying a hoe, pointing at the sky and cursing the ground.
In the blink of an eye, it has been half a year since Su Ruyu came to Taopu County. Today is a good day for him because he is going to receive his first salary after taking office.
In fact, the money was not much, only fifty taels! Compared with the money his mother secretly stuffed into his bag when he left the capital, this was not even a drop in the bucket!
But Su Ruyu was always happy in his heart, because he earned this money himself, and he regarded this salary as much more valuable than the large silver notes he took out from home.
According to the Dachu calendar, all registered officials will have a day off in the middle of every month, so they do not have to go to the Yamen to work.
But in fact, there are no government affairs in this small Taopu County that require him, the county magistrate, to be busy. Shi Linwu and the other three will help him handle everything, so that he feels that this trip to Beijing is just for fun.
Already.
After walking out of the place where he currently lives, Su Ruyu raised his head and glanced at the sky, then turned back to get an oil-paper umbrella, then held it and went out.
He didn't ask that guy Su Mo to come with him, because after he received his salary, he wanted to quietly go to the best tavern in the county to have a meal.
If Su Mo, a starving man who had never eaten in three lifetimes, was involved in the matter of eating, I don't know how much his already small salary would have been spent!
Because today is Xiu Mu, the yamen seems a lot deserted. Except for a few on-duty errands, no one else comes here. Shi Linwu's officials, who are eighth or ninth grade according to their grades, deal with farmers all day long.
The guy also enjoyed a rare day of leisure.
"Hey! Mr. Su, why are you here? There is no tea or anything here, so what can I prepare to entertain you?"
The clerk on duty today is named Huang San. He has just turned eighteen. Because he had studied for a few days, he was recruited into the yamen to do some writing and record-keeping work.
But people like Huang San actually have neither rank nor establishment. At most, they can be regarded as a long-term small job in the yamen. But even so, in the eyes of the locals in Taopu County, this is still a glamorous and lucrative job.
errand.
"Huang San, isn't today a salary day? I'm here to receive my salary."
Under Huang San's busy greetings, Su Ruyu put away her oil-paper umbrella and walked into the Yamen.
"Harm! Master Su is here for this matter. Master Su may have just arrived and doesn't understand the situation. We will send someone to your house after we have made the distribution."
Su Ruyu, who was originally smiling, froze in place after hearing Huang San's words. He really didn't know that there were still these circles around when receiving his salary.
Probably because Su Ruyu has been easier to talk to since she took office, Huang San laughed out loud when he looked at the county master who came from the capital.
"Mr. Su, you don't have to worry. Since you've come here, you can't go in vain. I will go to the warehouse at the back to get your salary."
"That's it, then it's hard work!"
Huang San glanced at this gentle young man again before turning around and going in.
The county magistrate actually thanked him personally. This was an extremely shameful thing in Huang San's mind. He could use this to brag to his colleagues after he left work!
After Huang San entered, Su Ruyu stood alone in the lobby of the Yamen. For some reason, he remembered several ridiculous cases that he had handled with Shi Linwu and the others since arriving in Taopu County.
son.
The first time was a fight for water between two villages, for a well with a stable water source that had never dried up. In the eyes of the locals in Taopu County, such a well was more precious than life.
The young adults from the two villages gathered together to quarrel under the leadership of the elders of their respective clans. By the time Su Ruyu learned about the situation and rushed over with people, the two sides were almost about to fight.
Originally, Su Ruyu thought that she could rely on the saint's principles to convince the uncivilized peasants, but the actual effect was that these people thought that a talkative official had come, so they all started crying, making trouble, and hanging themselves.
Each family described their own situation as extremely miserable.
At the back, when Shi Linwu and his men came to rescue him, he was already sweating profusely and in a state of embarrassment.
Su Ruyu will probably never forget the look on Shi Linwu's face when he came to handle the case. Shi Xiancheng, who used to be somewhat gentle in Su Ruyu's eyes, suddenly transformed into an authentic gang brother.
"If any of you keep fucking making trouble, I will have this well filled up and no one will fucking use it anymore."
Although these words are very degrading when spoken by scholars, they are very effective in managing people who are simply illiterate.
Shi Linwu yelled two words, and the two groups of people who were originally noisy immediately fell silent. This surprised Su Ruyu, who had never dealt with this kind of government affairs.
When they came back after handling the matter, Shi Linwu said something to him.
"The truths stated by the saints in the book are naturally correct, but those truths cannot be explained to ordinary people. You should use cunning methods to deal with unruly people!"
…
The second time was a money theft case. A butcher who sold pork said that a carpenter had stolen his money, but the carpenter said that the pork seller framed him, and the money was his!
Because these two people are not considered suspects, they cannot be tortured according to the laws of Dachu. However, there were no witnesses present at the time. In this way, the two of them lingered in the lobby for nearly a while, talking to each other.
Two hours passed, but Su Ruyu still couldn't come up with any solution.
In the end, he had no choice but to invite Shi Linwu out, but when Shi Xiancheng arrived, he did not rush to interrogate him, but ordered the government servants to bring up a stove and a basin of water.
At the beginning, Su Ruyu could not understand what Shi Linwu, who had more than ten years of experience as a county magistrate, was going to do. But when the water boiled and he saw Shi Linwu throwing the string of copper coins into the water to boil, he understood.
Why did Shi Linwu boil water?
The butcher who sells pork needs to cut pork all year round, so his hands will inevitably be stained with some grease. Therefore, the money he takes with his hands should also be stained with grease, so as long as there is blood foam and oily halo after boiling the money.
, then it will be clear at a glance whose money it belongs to.
After a moment and three quarters, blood foam floated on the boiled copper coins, and a case that I didn't know how to solve was easily solved by Shi Linwu!
From these two incidents, Su Ruyu understood a truth. No matter how well educated people are, they may not be suitable for being an official, especially the parents of officials in one county. Without these little tips accumulated from life, they would not be able to be officials.
He could solve these difficult cases, and because of this, Su Ruyu had sincere admiration for that Shi Linwu.
While Su Ruyu was still thinking about these things, Huang San had already taken the silver out of the warehouse for him.
"Master Su, according to past practice, your salary for the past three months totals two hundred and thirty-four taels of silver. You only need to sign here to take away the silver!"
"Two hundred and thirty-four taels!"
Upon hearing Su Ruyu's surprised words, Huang San immediately thought it was because his Su County Magistrate was being too young, so he spoke in a panic.
"This...this, Mr. Su, according to the previous ratio, you really only have two hundred and thirty-four taels. We, the small families in Taopu County, don't have that much money to honor you. This distribution ratio was also determined by the previous adults.
If you want to change the rules, you have to discuss them with Mr. Shi and the others!"
Seeing that Huang San misunderstood what he meant, Su Ruyu immediately explained.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that according to Dachu law, the county magistrate's salary per quarter is only fifty taels! Then why is there as much as two hundred and thirty-four taels now!"
After hearing that Su Ruyu didn’t think it was too little but too much,
Huang San's panic temporarily calmed down.
"So that's the reason. Mr. Su, you don't know. Our salary is indeed only fifty taels, but the rest are tributes from various restaurants in the county. If we divide the dividends according to the proportion, these are all
You deserve it!”
"What?"
Magistrate Su County, who had never spoken loudly in Huang San's eyes, suddenly became angry.
"Huang San, Taopu County is not one of those large counties that are rich in products and have developed commerce. It is already so poor that the people within it can hardly afford to eat. But even at this point, you are still plundering people's wealth. Is it possible?
Your conscience really won’t hurt!”
Huang San looked at the angry Magistrate Su. For the first time, he felt that he couldn't figure out Mr. Su's temper. Is there anyone in the world who dislikes too much money? He really can't understand people like them in the capital.
idea
"But... Su... Mr. Su, filial piety is not forced by Mr. Shi and others, but is given voluntarily by each restaurant. Mr. Shi and others just distribute the money sent to everyone according to a certain proportion!
"
"Nonsense! If you hadn't sent someone to threaten, would they have given you money? They are not fools, how could they give you money for no reason! I, Su, have never been corrupt or bribed, and I only take what I deserve.
share!"
After some impassioned words, Su Ruyu took the banknote and receipt from Huang San's hand, took out a fifty-tael banknote, threw the rest at Huang San, and then took the two hundred and thirty-four tael on the receipt.
Changed it to fifty taels, signed his name and left angrily!
After coming out of the yamen, Su Ruyu was a little confused. Where should he go next? Especially after he and Shi Linwu had a falling out over this matter, could he just run back to the capital in despair? Then he would be too shameless.
Come on!
Wandering aimlessly on the streets, Su Ruyu was disappointed with Shi Linwu, who had always had good senses. Originally, he thought he was an honest official who asked for orders for the people, but he did not expect that he could not escape the gold, silver and jewelry.
This level!
After wandering around, Su Ruyu arrived at the door of the best restaurant in Taopu County. He hesitated in front of the store for a few times, and then he walked in.
To be honest, it is really uncomfortable to drink alone. This can be seen from Su Ruyu who is drinking. He has lost his appetite in front of the table full of chicken, duck, fish and the high-quality bamboo leaves and greens shipped from other places.
It is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away.
Su Ruyu picked up the chopsticks and stirred on the plate for a long time without picking up any food and put it into her mouth, but she wasted all the delicious food.
At this moment, he suddenly regretted why he didn't bring Su Mo over. If he were here, the food on this table might not be enough for him!
"Boy, don't waste the dishes you ordered. If you really can't eat them, you can let me do it for you, old man!"
Very suddenly, an old man's voice came to Su Ruyu's ear. Su Ruyu did not raise her head buried on the table, but just shook it a few times. No one was eating the food anyway, so the old man would be cheaper.
Come on!
The old man who came was not polite at all. After seeing Su Ruyu nod, he sat down on his own, pulled off a leg from a plump roast chicken and put it into his mouth, then took the wine glass and put the three pieces into his mouth.
Two jugs of the fine wine Zhuyeqing filled a cup for myself and took a nice sip.
"What's wrong, young man? Looking at you like this, you can't be sure that your wife has run away with someone else, right?"
When Su Ruyu heard this, she finally raised her head and paid attention to the old man, but after taking one look at him, she stopped paying attention to him.
"Hehe, boy, it's better not to keep some things in your mind and just say them out. No one here will laugh at you anyway. There is a saying that if you want to live a decent life, you must have a little green on your head! You too
Don't be embarrassed."
"You just got cheated! I did it because of other things."
"Because of what?"
Seeing that Su Ruyu had no intention of continuing to speak, the old man continued to ask, and Su Ruyu slowly spoke after looking at him!
After Su Ruyu told the cause and effect of the incident, the old man burst out laughing.
"why are you laughing?"
Su Ruyu was very puzzled by the old man's laughter.
"Boy, don't you understand? An official who is greedy for money can be considered a good official?"