On the second day, he bid farewell to Ouyang Xiu and Xiang Zong, and Du Zhongxiao took Thirteen Lang to inspect the geography of Zaoyang and choose a suitable place to open the fields. In order to keep a distance from the place, he deliberately chose the county lieutenant Huang Tianzheng, who had nothing to do, as his guide.

The red sun was rising, and Huang Tian was panting and ran to the post house to salute Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's still early, why are you in such a hurry?" ”

Huang Tianzheng arched his hand and said: "Returning to the judgment of luck, the lower officials are at this time every day, go to the yamen to order something." I've been here for six years, and not a single day has fallen. I just thought that the same was true here, and after the order, I hurried over. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "There is no need to order every day in the yamen, who can have nothing to do?" The magistrate will be accommodating. ”

Huang Tianzheng shook his head again and again: "The lower officials have no ministry, and there are a lot of gossips, if you don't order it, you are only afraid of deducting money and food." ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled. This person is sincere, he is an official just for the little money and food every month, as long as the money and food are in hand, he doesn't care about anything else. For six years, he didn't land at the Yamen for a day, and it was the first time he had seen this kind of official. Most of the county officials and points are signed by their subordinates, and as long as they don't miss something, the county magistrate will not care about these.

Seeing that it was not early, Du Zhongxiao got up and said, "Today we will go north and take a look at the surrounding geography." There are a lot of idle fields here, but there are many lakes and swamps, and not everywhere is suitable for farming. Lead the way, and we'll take a look. ”

Huang Tian respectfully agreed.

Leaving the post house with his entourage, Du Zhongxiao asked Huang Tianzheng, who was standing on the side: "Aren't you riding a horse?" Why not bring an entourage? ”

Huang Tianzheng arched his hand: "Hui Yun Judgment, the lower official has no ministry, how can there be an entourage?" The family rented a few acres of vegetable garden, relying on it to survive, but only for food and clothing, where can I have the money to buy horses? If you must ride a horse, go to the city and rent one. ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect him to be so miserable, and said to Thirteen Lang: "You go to the county government and borrow a horse." ”

Huang Tianzheng shook his hand again and again: "Judgment, no need." There are only a few official horses in the county government, one of them was sick yesterday, and there is only one county official to ride, and another Pan county lieutenant to ride to patrol the countryside, and there are really no horses. ”

Du Zhongxiao was speechless for a while, he didn't expect this small place to be so desolate. However, in this place, a horse costs dozens of yuan, which is not a small amount, and it is common for the county to not be able to afford it. Let the entourage give up a horse and give it to Huang Tianzheng to ride.

The money and grain collected by the county, except for the Dai Lu of several officials, must be sent to the state. Other than that, there was no income, no minister's money, and so on. There is no business here in Zaoyang, and there is only a commercial tax such as a restaurant, and there is a fixed amount to solve the state, and several officials, except for relying on Yulu to support their families, do not have money in their hands. All kinds of daily expenses have always been apportioned by the public servants who handle them.

If it is in developed areas such as the Central Plains and Jiangnan, you can also use various miscellaneous donations to pick out some money from the local people. In Zaoyang, there are not many people in the city, and the place is full of big wealthy families and ordinary officials, and there are no special means, where to find money. Not to mention the science and technology, they can't even rent out their fields, they all rely on their families to farm, and they can earn as much as they want.

Strictly speaking, there is no financial revenue in the county, and there is no allocation of funds from above, and the people can't pick out the money in their hands, that's how it is. The county order that broke the family, the order Yin who destroyed the door, you have to have the power in your hands. In the whole county, except for a few officials, the public officials and servants are all from those big families, and the strong men in the countryside are almost all their villagers, what do the county rely on to fight with them.

Officials in small places, this is a regular thing, and it is good to get used to it. If this is not the case, as soon as there is a vacancy in a good place, the officials in the capital can break their heads. When Du Zhongxiao left Yongcheng, the ministers of the court and the central government had a lot of arguments over the prefect. Being a term in this kind of place is a big difference from being in Yongcheng after Du Zhongxiao left.

Leaving the post house, soon to the north arrived at the crossing of the Huhe River. There is not a lot of population here, and the ferry did not come for a while, and everyone waited.

Huang Tianzheng pointed to a place not far away and said, "Yun Juan, that is the vegetable garden rented by the lower officials." This is the time to harvest the vegetables. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "You rent land to grow vegetables, how is your income?" Since you are the county lieutenant of this county, who dares to come and collect your rent! ”

Huang Tian Zhengtian shook his hand again and again: "Don't say that, Xiaguan has been growing vegetables there for several years, and he has never owed money for renting land!" Although it is not easy to grow those five acres of vegetable land, it is barely enough for my family to make ends meet. In this small county, most of them buy my family's vegetables. ”

In such a small county, five acres of vegetable land almost occupied all the market, and Huang Tianzheng still took advantage of being an official.

After crossing the river, not far from the county seat, there were no people. I saw barren grass, overgrown trees, and all desolate scenes. From time to time, there are sweet oranges and the like on the roadside, and there are miscellaneous roadsides. Occasionally, there are large mulberry trees and jujube trees, jujube trees bloom, and mulberry trees are full of trees.

Jujube and mulberry are not allowed to be cut down, and the punishment is extremely severe. Without the village, these trees still grow there, telling of the prosperity of the past.

While walking, Huang Tian said: "Judgment, there is a good loquat tree in front, it is better to pick some." It's hard to get out of the city, and you can't go back empty-handed. If you're in the city, you need money to eat it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Since it is a fruit tree, when there is an owner, how can it be picked?" ”

Huang Tianzheng shook his head: "The nearest is the historian Wai Zhuangzi, there are still more than a dozen roads away, there are no people in this area, they are all ownerless." ”

Hearing this, Thirteen Lang said: "That is the case, I will go with Huang County Lieutenant to pick some up." It's not easy to buy such a fresh fruit in the city. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked around, nodded and said, "It's okay, let's take a break." ”

After saying that, he dismounted and sat on a big rock on the side of the road. Thirteen Lang and Huang Tianzheng went to the loquat tree not far away to pick the fruit.

Hundreds of years ago, there were villages here, and there were no idle fields in the four fields. These fruit trees may have been left by their predecessors and left to the present.

After a while, Shisanlang and Huang Tianzheng came back, one holding a handful of loquat and the other holding a handful of mulberries, and gave Du Zhongxiao to eat.

This is a wild fruit in the suburbs, and there is no need to wash it, Du Zhongxiao took a few fruits and ate them to quench his thirst.

At this moment, a man came out of the woods not far away, and said in a loud voice: "Where did you come from, pick my fruit and eat it!" ”

Du Zhongxiao looked up and saw a tall and strong young man, with his sleeves rolled up high, revealing a piece of embroidery, holding a bow in his hand, and shouting at himself. Behind him, followed by five or six men, some with dogs and some with eagles, apparently hunting.

Huang Tianzheng saw it, and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "It turned out to be Shi Dalang." This is the transportation judge of this road, because of the county camp, to check the geography of this area. When you are thirsty on the road, pick a few fruits and eat them. ”

Shi Dalang looked at Du Zhongxiao and saw more than a dozen entourages around him, one of whom was extremely tall and not easy to mess with. Only then did he hand the bow to the people around him and arch his hand to Huang Tianzheng: "It turned out to be Huang County Lieutenant, why didn't you know if you would make a sound in my village?" ”

Huang Tianzheng looked at Du Zhongxiao after looking at it: "Da Lang, the judge is just looking around, and he doesn't necessarily go to Zhuangzi in the end." If it is a nuisance, it will naturally send someone to pass it through. Besides, this place is more than ten miles away from your Zhuangzi, and it is still far away. ”

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