Zhong Niangzi Wanfu

Chapter 20 Changes in the year
一
For several days, Zhong Lai and Shen Feng each performed their duties.

Shen Yan should be on time every day, and leave his duties on time.The county lieutenant inspected the security of a county, and most of the people in Tanlin were peaceful, and nothing major happened.

Zhong Lan bought the land and had a list of farmers that Chang Huan wanted to visit.

She found that although some poor farmers were in their prime, they could not afford land rent and did not have enough to eat all year round. Most of them were exhausted, skinny, and unable to do strenuous work.Youfu disdains to use them, and some can only go begging along the streets.

This played into Zhong Lan's heart. Zhong Lan gathered all these people and hired them to rent the land in the eastern suburbs that Zhong Lan bought.

In order not to attract attention, Zhonglan's salary was less than that of Youfu, which was only enough to make ends meet. However, Zhonglan gave them a glimmer of hope, and most of them were still willing to do so.

In addition to hiring them, Zhong Lan also provided for their food, intentionally or unintentionally adding some white flour buns and meat. After all, they were still in their prime, and their health gradually improved.

Among them, there are also some lazy and lazy people who make trouble, but they are all scattered people.Zhong Lan changed Shen Feng's identity as county lieutenant, so Shen Feng didn't need to personally take action, and everyone was convinced.

Zhong Lan again selected a shrewd and capable woman to be the supervisor.

This lady, whose surname was Qin, had been poor for most of her life. Although she was born into a wealthy family, she was abducted when she was young and married to a poor family in Qin Lin. She gave birth to a daughter. Her husband died early and she and her daughter were dependent on each other.

Mrs. Qin always had some ideas and was a good farmer, but she was looked down upon by others because she was a widow and she had a daughter, so she experienced hardships all over the world.

After Zhong Lan learned about it from Ma Erniang, he asked Madam Qin to be a supervisor, promised wages, and promised to exempt Madam Qin's daughter from studying at Zhongfu Academy.

Zhong Lan's job was long-term. After having Mrs. Qin as the supervisor, he had more time. He often went to several shops to keep accounts, and often chatted with Ma Erniang, and gradually became familiar with Tan Lin.

Shen Feng knew that Zhong Lan was managing Tianlong, but he also understood Zhong Lan's thoughts, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Sometimes when both of them are relaxing at home, they like to move chairs in the courtyard to drink tea and talk about what they have seen today. It is peaceful and peaceful, and Zhong Lan is also very satisfied.

In the twelfth lunar month, the land in the eastern suburbs ushered in the harvest. Naturally, it was not as good as the You family's land in the western suburbs. So Zhonglan distributed part of the grain to the hired families.The poor family didn't mind the grain, and since it was the fruit of half a year's hard work, everyone happily accepted it.

The remaining bells were given to Shen Yan to open a porridge factory.

The porridge factory is usually run by the government government, and the amount of official grain is fixed, especially the price of government grain is expensive, so in the past, Qin Lin's government porridge factory often started hastily.

This year, Shen Feng personally took charge of the matter, starting from the year before to the end of the year.

The people of Qin Lin also began to see the talent and kindness of the new county captain.

The Spring Festival is coming soon. Due to Beizhao's regulations, Shen Feng cannot leave Qin Lin. Zhong Lan is also willing to accompany Shen Feng to stay in Qin Lin for the New Year.

The two prepared New Year's goods early, sent New Year's gifts to both the Zhong Mansion and the Shen Mansion, and celebrated a little at home.

On the early morning of the first day of the first lunar month, as soon as the two of them got up and sat down in the main hall, Jiang Liu and Chang Huan brought a group of servants and envoys to pay New Year's greetings to the two of them to collect rewards.

Zhong Lan took the red envelope and rewarded it with the new year's money, and everyone went to work happily.

Shen Feng looked at Zhong Lai's bright eyebrows and laughed out loud: "What are your plans today, madam?"

Zhong Lan raised his eyebrows and said with some pride: "Although there is no profit from the land in the eastern suburbs, the powder shop and pastry shop have made a lot of profits in the past few months, and the money I lent to the long-term workers in Wuding years ago I also took some back. I will take you out for a good meal today."

"Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

The two of them had packed up. Zhong Lan was wearing a milky white long dress embroidered with auspicious patterns, a maroon coat with a rabbit fur collar and a maroon swastika pattern, and a goose down cloak with a white background embroidered with red plums.

Shen Feng wore a blue-bottomed coat with dark bamboo leaves, a snow-white cashmere cloak, and long black climbing boots. Her elegant face added a bit of heroism.

As soon as he was about to go out, he heard the boy at the door come to report that a woman was crying and begging to see Lord Wei Shen of the county.

The two looked at each other in confusion, and Zhong Lan and Chang Huan retreated behind the curtain.

Shen Feng sat down and let Jiang Liu bring the woman in.

The woman was simply dressed in a brown cotton-padded coat and black trousers. She knelt down as soon as she entered the door and cried bitterly: "I know that during the New Year, I come to your residence to complain about my grievances and bad luck, but now I am desperate. I hope Mr. Shen will uphold justice." ah!"

Shen Feng took a deep breath and stepped forward to help the woman up: "Speak slowly if you have anything to say."

"The woman wants to sue the second young master of You Mansion, You Hanyong, for bullying men and women and taking human life seriously!" The woman clutched Shen Feng's sleeves with a miserable look in her eyes, which was incompatible with the joyful and noisy crowd outside the door.

Shen Feng and Zhong Lan who were behind the curtain were both startled. Shen Feng harmoniously asked the woman to continue speaking.

The woman calmed her thoughts and continued.

The woman's husband's surname was Gao, and he was originally a pancake vendor in the south of Linqin City. They had a girl in their twenties and eighties.The girl is beautiful and was spotted by You Hanyong when she went out to help her parents sell pancakes at the beginning of last year.You Hanyong's servant dumped the Gao family and his wife for 20 taels of silver, and then forcibly kidnapped the girl back to Youfu and took her as a concubine.

When the couple disobeyed, they were beaten up by the servants, especially Gao's father, who was beaten so hard that he could not get out of bed, which cut off the family's livelihood.

Gao's mother had no way to appeal and wanted to die. She found out that the newly appointed county captain had made outstanding achievements in the past six months and was praised by others, so she came to complain.

After sending Gao's mother away, Shen Yan was silent for a long time after hearing the words.

"I often hear that the second son of You Mansion, You Hanyong, is a jerk, and this is somewhat believable." Zhong Yan sighed.

In the past six months, the county magistrates Qin Shen and Youfu have taken good care of Shen Feng, and Shen Feng will help them with some innocuous things, but this is the first time that he has been domineering and careless about human life.

Zhong Lan understood that if he wanted to interfere with this matter, he would be an enemy of You Mansion.

"I'm afraid I can't go out with you today." Shen Feng smiled apologetically at Zhong Lai, "I have to go find Mr. Qin."

Zhong Lan understood Shen Feng's plan. Although he was worried, he still nodded: "There will be more opportunities in the future."

two

As soon as Shen Yan left, Zhong Yan lost the mood to go out and just waited for news at home.

Before noon, Ma Erniang came to visit with her young son to pay New Year greetings.

Seeing that Zhong Yan was in high spirits, he asked his son to go out to play, took her hand and asked why.

Zhong Lan saw that Ma Erniang was not an outsider and had helped him a lot in the past six months, so he simply said.

Ma Erniang frowned after hearing this: "The You family is the richest man in Qinlin and has a close relationship with the county magistrate. It will be difficult for Brother Shen to take care of this matter."

"I also understand this, but as a county captain, he is monitoring the security of Qinlin and protecting the people. If he doesn't care today, how will the people of Qinlin view him in the future?" Zhong Lan retorted.

"Actually, this kind of thing was not uncommon in Qin Lin before. The Youfu family has a great business, and they have relatives in the court to support them. Most of the time, even if people are killed, they are settled by Youfu. Occasionally, one or two requests come to the county government. , will also be suppressed by the county magistrate." Ma Erniang persuaded harmoniously.

"You and Brother Shen have only been here for half a year and Tan Lin still doesn't know about it. The Youfu and the county magistrate have kept silent about this kind of thing. It has become a tacit rule of Tan Lin."

Zhong Lan was frightened for a moment. He knew before that with the presence of Youfu, Tan Lin would have one or two absurd cases, but he didn't expect it to be so dark: "Hasn't this kind of government oppression of the people not been reported to the governor?"

"The Youfu and the county government will not let anyone spread the news to Yong'an, let alone the ears of the governor." Ma Erniang shook her head, "If anyone dares to make trouble, then he will be treated as a slave in Qin Lin. Can’t go down anymore.”

Zhonglan was even more frightened. When he saw Youwei before, he thought she was exaggerating, but now when he heard what Ma Erniang said, it was somewhat true.

After taking some specialties sent by Shen's and Zhong's houses and giving red envelopes to the children, Zhong Lan politely sent Ma Erniang and her son out the door.

Before noon, Shen Feng came back with a lot of worries.

Zhong Lan breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Shen Feng to ask about the Gao family.

"It's the New Year's Day now, so it's not easy to conduct public inquiries, and Mr. Qin is also vague." Shen Feng took the tea from Zhong Lan, "I have made a record for Madam Gao."

"This matter is different from the past sneaky affairs. It concerns the county government and the You family." Zhong Lan hesitated before speaking.

"I see."

"then you……"

"I have to take care of it." Shen Feng looked at Zhong Lan, his eyes flickering, "This kind of thing is not an exception for Tan Lin. Even if Mr. Qin doesn't care, I still have to take care of it."

Zhong Lan lowered his head and said nothing.

Seeing that she was worried, Shen Feng patted the back of her hand: "This matter is complicated and complicated. I will figure it out slowly and I will protect you."

"I'm not afraid of me, I'm worried..." Zhong Lan hesitated before speaking, and raised his eyes to look at Shen Feng worriedly.

Shen Feng's eyebrows remained the same, and after half a year of being an official in Qin Lin, he became more restrained. Although he was still gentle and humble, he no longer looked like the scholar he had been when he first became an official.

Shen Feng's eyes looked soft: "Don't worry."

(End of this chapter)