Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 454 If you relax

"You are just talking nonsense!" Qian Laoliu couldn't help but curse.

Li Erfang looked embarrassed and aggrieved. He whispered to Meng Changqing, "Sir, we came here according to your request, but we can't do anything when we meet unreasonable people."

Meng Changqing asked him back, "Do you know what the original size of the two houses was?"

"I know that."

Meng Changqing immediately asked, "What is it now? If it exceeds later, can you tell?"

Li Erfang hesitated for a long time, "I can see it."

Meng Changqing asked him to look up. "I will ask you again, which of the two families has the problem? Is it Qian Laoliu who is entangled, or is it his neighbor who is occupying the land?"

Li Erfang wiped the sweat off his forehead again, "I... I don't know, I heard it from the two families, I haven't measured it on the spot."

Meng Changqing handed the empty bowl to Laicai and ordered, "Prepare three horses."

Laicai immediately walked towards the stable.

"Li Erfang, since you can't explain it clearly, let's go and take a look together."

While waiting for the horse, Li Erfang said to Meng Changqing, "Sir, there is no need to distinguish this matter so clearly.

Living next door to Lao Liu's house is a widow who lives alone.

She has little strength and no brains, and her life has not been easy. She finally earned some money and wanted to build a sturdier house. I felt embarrassed to make things difficult for her.

Besides, the house is almost completed. Even if she really occupied some land, it would be difficult to ask them to demolish the house again, right?

Having said that, even if they really occupied some of his land, how much of his land could a small house occupy?

Sir, why should we embarrass a widow?"

Meng Changqing just listened to him without expressing any opinion. He knew very well in his heart that this man was obviously fighting for the interests of Qian Laoliu's next-door neighbor.

"Young master, the horses are ready." Laicai shouted at the door of the stable.

"Let's go." Meng Changqing rode a horse alone, while Cheng Guang and Lai Cai took Li Erfang and Qian Laoliu with them respectively.

After they walked for a while, Chu Mufeng followed with two imperial guards.

Soon they arrived at Anxi Village.

When many villagers saw people coming from the county government, they went out and followed Meng Changqing and his party from a distance, wanting to hear what had happened.

The horses stopped directly in front of Qian Laoliu's house.

When Qian Laoliu's wife saw her husband getting off the horse, she thought the county government was here to give them justice. But when she looked again, she saw Li Erfang was also on the horse. Her heart suddenly became so panicked that she didn't know what to do.

Meng Changqing looked next to Qian Laoliu's house and saw that there was indeed a house under construction. Only the roof was left, and the bricklayer was laying bricks on the wall.

"Tell them to stop for a while and stop working." Meng Changqing did not dismount and said directly, "Li Erfang, go home and get the measuring rope."

At this time, someone came out from next door to Qian Laoliu's house. Meng Changqing saw that she knew him.

This person was none other than Wang Lamei who bought the two bunches of flowers from Beishan County.

As soon as Wang Lamei came out, she looked for Li Erfang everywhere. After meeting Li Erfang's gaze, she waved at him, probably wanting to call him over to ask about the situation. Li Erfang winked at Wang Lamei and walked quickly home.

Meng Changqing sat on the horse and saw everything they did clearly.

Seeing Li Erfang walking further and further away, Wang Lamei looked at Meng Changqing and others.

"My dear officials, what brings you here for?" She said this without any confidence.

Meng Changqing got off the horse and asked her, "Is your house built on the land allocated to you?"

Wang Lamei said, "Yes! I am alone and have finally settled down in this village. How dare I cause trouble?" She started to cry, "I really have no choice. The mud house I built before is always leaking and drafty. I finally got some money this year and wanted to build a sturdier house. But I don't know how to offend the family next door. They always come to cause trouble. I really can't understand it."

"If you don't occupy my land, will I say anything to you?" Qian Laoliu pointed at Wang Lamei and shouted, "You have the nerve to cry!"

Hearing Qian Laoliu say this, someone in the audience advised, "Lao Liu, it's not easy for a woman like her, what are you doing?"

"Say less," Meng Changqing said. "Since I'm here, there's no need for anyone else to comment on this matter. I'll find out the facts first. If you have anything to say, you can say it later."

Seeing that Li Erfang was late, Meng Changqing went to urge him to come.

When Laicai was halfway there, he saw Li Erfang carrying a rope and holding a measuring stone in his hand, walking step by step with difficulty. Laicai went over and carried the measuring rope on his shoulders without saying a word.

"Oh..." Li Erfang had no choice but to quickly chase Laicai.

Meng Changqing personally measured, starting from the neighbors on the other side of the two houses, and found out the residential land originally allocated to them.

After some measurements, it was found that Wang Lamei's newly built house occupied the one foot of empty space, so the wall of her new house touched Qian Laoliu's fence.

When Meng Changqing was about to collect the rope, he asked Li Erfang, "Did you see it clearly?"

Li Erfang nodded guiltily.

Wang Lamei interrupted and said, "Look, I didn't occupy his land. I occupied the empty space between the two houses!"

Li Erfang coughed a few times and signaled her with his eyes not to say more.

Meng Changqing ignored Wang Lamei and only asked Li Erfang, "What are you going to do?"

"If there is really no other way..." Li Erfang looked like a good guy who was in a dilemma, "If Qian Laoliu's family refuses to agree, then we can only ask the Wang family to demolish it."

“Why?” Wang Lamei immediately shouted and scolded Qian Laoliu’s wife, “It doesn’t affect your family at all, but you are so overbearing!” She simply sat down on the ground, “Don’t you want me to live? I have built my house, but you want me to tear it down. It’s unfair. Why doesn’t God send down thunder…”

"Shut up!" Meng Changqing shouted.

"The one who made the decision to ask you to demolish the house was not Qian Laoliu's family. Don't scold the wrong person." Meng Changqing looked coldly at the person who was frozen on the ground.

When Li Erfang heard what Meng Changqing said, he was so frightened that he shrank back in place and dared not move.

Meng Changqing said to the crowd, "Just now I heard you guys say that there is no need to ask people to demolish their houses just for this originally empty space.

This place was left vacant to avoid quarrels between neighbors.

If I give in this time, what will some of you do in the future?
You don't follow the rules. Today you fight, tomorrow I fight. Anyway, once you get it, the house is yours. Can the government control you?"

The onlookers fell completely silent.

Meng Changqing shouted again: "The facts are right in front of us. Please judge for yourself. Who is wrong? Speak up!"