Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 756 The Problem at Night

Meng Changqing was processing official documents in the courtyard, while they were reading them.

Meng Changqing went to the warehouse to take inventory, and they followed him to the warehouse to see.

When Meng Changqing went to the construction site to check on the progress, they also followed him in a handcart.

The students were completely confused and didn't understand what was going on.

They finally made it to nightfall, and the kitchen staff came to say that dinner was ready. Meng Changqing then told them to sit down in the reception room, saying, "Eat dinner before you go back."

Meng Changqing acted like a decent person and didn't eat with them, mainly because he still had things to finish dealing with.

After she finished her work and calculated the time, the students had almost finished eating. She quickly ate two steamed buns, rinsed them with tea, and hurried to the reception room.

Sure enough, the students had almost finished eating and were now discussing whether to say goodbye to Magistrate Meng and how to do so.

Meng Changqing's thoughtfulness saved them from this dilemma.

After all, she wouldn't let them go back so easily. They had suffered for a day, so she had to offer them something in return, promise them something rosy, otherwise these kids would think she just liked to torture them.

While this is indeed the case, it cannot be admitted outwardly.

"Have you finished eating?"

As soon as Meng Changqing entered, the students all stood up. The child closest to Meng Changqing felt it was his turn to step forward, so he bowed to Meng Changqing and prepared to say goodbye on behalf of everyone.

But when you're on someone else's turf, you often have to see if they'll give you the chance to speak.

Clearly, Meng Changqing is not giving him that opportunity now.

Before he could even say goodbye, Meng Changqing stepped over him.

"If you've finished eating, I have a few words to say." Meng Changqing came to the main seat. The student who had been sitting there reacted for a moment, then immediately moved aside and moved his bowl and chopsticks to the side.

"You've been following me around for ages, what have you figured out?" Meng Changqing asked.

The students then realized that what they had been looking at for so long was just the question stem, and now the key to the problem was finally here.

The pressure suddenly increased; the atmosphere was just like when they were randomly selecting students to recite texts that morning. Meng Changqing didn't care about the students' initiative or enthusiasm; he directly called on the student closest to him and asked him to answer.

The other students who weren't called on visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

The student who was called on was extremely nervous. He swallowed hard before answering with difficulty, "The master is very busy with official duties and has to deal with many matters every day."

"Please sit down."

The student wasn't sure if his answer was correct, but he vaguely felt that he had escaped a hurdle.

Next came Meng Changqing's voice, as monstrous as a demon from hell, "Don't wait for me to call on anyone, take turns speaking."

The students said similar things: that it was an honor for us students that the adults, despite their hard work and busy schedules, were still willing to teach us.

Meng Changqing told him to sit down, without judging whether what he said was right or wrong, just deliberately making things mysterious.

They are all young children. If we don't explicitly tell them what kind of content they should pay attention to, how will they know?

There is no standard answer to the question that Meng Changqing asked.

“If any of you pass the imperial examinations and enter officialdom in the future, the first official position you will likely get will be a county magistrate like me,” Meng Changqing said. “This afternoon, we’re going to show them what a county magistrate does.”

The matters that a county magistrate needs to handle don't require particularly brilliant strategies, but rather sufficient patience and a firm bottom line.

Meng Changqing asked them, "What is the most pressing issue facing our county right now?"

The students could all answer this question: "The State of Yan is going to attack us."

"Of all the things I dealt with this afternoon, which ones were preparations for war?" Meng Changqing asked, and without waiting for their answer, he continued, "If you were in my position, what would you do?"
"In your opinion, what are our chances of winning a war against the Yan state? Furthermore, how would you define a victory?"

Meng Changqing said, "This is the question you need to think about tonight."

Let me tell you again, you don't need to come to me to answer this question; you can know the answer in your own hearts.

It's up to you whether you want to or not. You can go back and go straight to sleep, or you can think about it carefully.

That concludes today's lesson. Go home now.