Can't a girl be a traitor like Cao Cao?

Whether they were ethnic minorities or Han Chinese, they all stared at them with incredibly strange looks.

Even families with children will immediately pull the child inside the door and close it tightly.

This struck Wenren Tianxia as very strange.

"What kind of custom is this place? Why do children have to hide and not be seen by others?"

Upon hearing Wenren Tianxia's words, the garrison commander explained, "Miss, you may not know this, but strange things have been happening in this place recently. I heard that there are witches and ghosts that appear at night, specifically looking for and kidnapping children from house to house."

I heard that in the past two months, hundreds of children have gone missing in the county, causing widespread panic.

Therefore, local residents become very nervous whenever they see strangers approaching.

When we first arrived, the locals mistook us for child abductors, and a fight almost broke out.

Fortunately, Tong, the leader of the alliance, mediated in time, which cleared up the misunderstanding.

However, they remained wary of us and never initiated conversations with us.

Upon hearing this, Wenren Tianxia nodded and said, "No wonder Uncle Tong said earlier that the people here are extremely xenophobic. So that's why."

Then, the group continued walking inside.

Before long, they arrived at a tall stone house built of rocks.

This place looked dilapidated, like a stone temple used for sacrifices, but unexpectedly it was the county government office.

Upon entering through the main gate, one discovers that there isn't even a receptionist present.

Chi Junlin knew that this place was in a remote location and was not the seat of the prefecture.

The person in charge of guarding this place was an eighth-rank county magistrate who had been exiled by the imperial court.

However, I didn't expect that even the county government office was so "simple".

It's heartbreaking to watch.

After the "Stone Temple", you can see a thin middle-aged man dressed in coarse cloth taking care of the flowers and plants.

He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even notice people approaching from behind.

The garrison commander then explained to Chi Junlin, "This man is the magistrate of Baiyue County. He is the only official in the area, with only two yamen runners under him. However, it is currently the beginning of spring, the busy farming season, and the yamen runners have gone back to farm. So, he is the only one left in the yamen."

Chi Junlin nodded upon hearing this.

Then the garrison commander coughed lightly, bringing the "magistrate" back to reality from his reverie among the flowers and plants.

The magistrate turned his head, his expression somewhat strange, as if he couldn't understand who would come to his nominal county office at this time.

But upon seeing the garrison commander's face, his expression immediately turned dark and sour.

Without hesitation, he cursed, "Damn it, how many times have I told you? I have nothing here! If you want a doctor, go somewhere else! Your so-called Zhenbei Army has no jurisdiction over me, get out, get out!"

He then threatened to kick them out.

Upon hearing this, the garrison commander's expression changed, and he immediately roared in anger, "Don't spout such nonsense! Do you know who this person is? She is..."

"Eh."

Chi Junlin raised his hand, stopping the garrison commander from continuing.

Then he looked at the gaunt county magistrate in front of him and said, "You are the county magistrate of this place?"

The magistrate looked at Chi Junlin with some suspicion and nodded.

So Chi Junlin took out a document from his bosom, opened it, and said to him, "Then you should recognize this."

The county magistrate walked over and squinted at the document in Chi Junlin's hand.

He then bowed deeply in shock, saying, "I was unaware of the Imperial Envoy's presence! I have failed to greet you properly! Please forgive me!"

Chi Junlin was very satisfied with the magistrate's attitude and had anticipated this outcome.

Because what she held in her hand was the tax inspection document that Guo Shentong had handwritten for her.

However, after the magistrate knelt down, he felt something was amiss, so he raised his head and looked at Chi Junlin with a slightly puzzled expression.

He was a little puzzled. Why was this imperial envoy a young woman? When did the court introduce a new policy that allowed women to hold official positions?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you really an imperial envoy?"

"No."

Chi Junlin replied immediately.

"then you……"

The magistrate was about to stand up in anger.

"However, I am a trusted confidant of the Imperial Envoy, and he has authorized me to handle all matters in Hunan."

Chi Junlin continued.

The magistrate obediently lowered his head again.

As for whether the official documents in Chi Junlin's possession might be counterfeit, he hadn't even considered that.

Not to mention how serious the crime of impersonating an imperial envoy and forging official documents to commit fraud is, according to the laws of the Great Zheng Dynasty.

So what if Red King's Landing is a fake?

What's the point of using a fake official document to deceive him when Baiyue County is already so impoverished?

What else is there to be scammed out of here?

Chapter 292 Miao Village Leader

After the gaunt county magistrate got up from the ground, he was no longer as arrogant and unruly as before when facing Chi Junlin.

He clearly knew that even if Chi Junlin wasn't a real imperial envoy, or even just a confidant of the imperial envoy, dealing with a lowly eighth-rank official like himself would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Chi Junlin didn't make things difficult for him, but simply asked about the magistrate's life and experiences.

They then learned that this man's surname was Yu. In his youth, he was the chief clerk of a granary under the jurisdiction of the Southern Kingdom, but because he had a bad temper and did not understand human relationships, he offended his superiors.

He was demoted to this place and served as a county magistrate in this godforsaken place for more than ten years.

Although there are Han Chinese people living in Baiyue County, these villages were formed by refugees who fled here during the war years.

Over the years, through intermarriage and integration with the local Miao people, a county town with a mixed Miao and Han population has gradually formed, numbering in the thousands.

However, this place is poor, and the meager tax revenue collected each year is barely enough to keep the county government running.

Even recruiting two more constables wouldn't be enough.

Magistrate Yu personally handled all matters concerning this county.

Whether it was calculating household registration, encouraging farmers, or judging cases, he, as the county magistrate, had to personally take charge.

Fortunately, the area is relatively isolated, and all the families are related, so it is easy to manage without outsiders coming over.

Years of hardship have worn down his spirit.

Now all I do is grow flowers and grass, and support myself with my meager salary, treating this place as my retirement home.

However, a group of martial arts practitioners from the South who arrived here a few days ago disrupted the peace of this place.

Although Magistrate Yu was extremely disgusted with him, the garrison commander did produce the imperial military dispatch order.

So he had no choice but to reluctantly make room for them to set up camp on the mountainside.

But he was truly powerless to do anything else, such as allocating grain or providing support.

Not to mention that there was only so little grain in the county government office, there were two yamen runners who didn't even have enough to eat themselves, so they had to go and cultivate a few plots of government land.

Even if Magistrate Yu wanted to help, he was just a figurehead in Baiyue County.

Those Han people were easy to talk to. After all, as the local official in this remote area, he had accumulated some goodwill over the years by handling cases.

However, the majority of Miao people do not accept the teachings of the king and have their own set of rules here.

The Miao people are ruled by the local Miao chieftain tribe.

Magistrate Yu, being a figurehead official, certainly couldn't command them.

So he said, “My lord, you may not know this, but it’s not that I’m unwilling to treat you all… it’s just that the medical practices of the Central Plains emphasize adapting to local conditions. This place is poor and remote, and many key medicinal herbs cannot be found here. Therefore, even a highly skilled doctor would not be of much use here.”

In the past, if anyone in the family had a headache or fever, they would rely on the local Miao shaman for treatment...

This Miao doctor is not one of my subjects, so I cannot command him.

So the doctor this soldier wanted... I couldn't find him.

Chi Junlin was not angry when he heard Chi Junlin's excuse.

He then said, "Then I'll trouble you, Magistrate, to do me a favor."

"Sir, please speak."

"Please, magistrate, help me arrange to meet the leader of this Miao village. I would like to speak with him in person."

Upon hearing Chi Junlin's words, the magistrate hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Forgive my frankness, but that Miao village chief has a rather bad temper. I'm afraid he might speak recklessly and offend Your Excellency..."

"It doesn't matter."

Chi Junlin looked at him and said, "You just need to arrange for them to come out."

-

Soon after.

After the county magistrate sent someone to contact the local Miao tribes, they quickly agreed to meet.

Then, Chi Junlin and his group, led by the county magistrate, arrived at the territory of the Miao tribe.

Here you can see that the villages inhabited by the Miao people are very different from those inhabited by the Han people.

The Han people used rocks quarried from the mountains for building houses and paving roads. The Miao people, on the other hand, used wood to build their houses.

Furthermore, the Miao people here still maintain the tradition of slash-and-burn agriculture, unlike the Han people who cultivate the land meticulously by weeding and tilling.

Therefore, even though the Miao people owned a larger area of ​​arable land in the mountains and plains, their harvests were not as good as those of the Han people.

As Chi Jun walked through the Miao villages, he saw many primitive totem-like artifacts.

It seems that the Miao people here still maintain some tribal lifestyle.

When Chi Junlin entered the huge house where the Miao village chief lived, he saw a huge round table there.

The clan chief, adorned in gold and silver, sat imposingly around a round table with a group of elders and leaders from the Miao village.

However, Chi Junlin noticed that they didn't seem to be that opposed to Sinicization.

Because the clothes worn by these leaders were different from those worn by the Miao people outside who were covered in animal skins and cloth.

It turned out to be a beautifully designed silk garment.

Especially next to the leader, who was sitting in the center, was a lively and lovely Miao girl.

The jewelry and silk she wore were clearly made by Han Chinese artisans.

When she saw Chi Junlin and the other women dressed in Han Chinese clothing appear, a look of curiosity immediately appeared on her face.

He was clearly extremely interested in them.

At this moment, Magistrate Yu whispered to Chi Junlin, "The one sitting in the middle is the chieftain of this Miao village, a hereditary chieftain official, and a seventh-rank barbarian pacification envoy appointed by the imperial court. He has the power of life and death over the tens of thousands of Miao people here."

Chi Junlin nodded upon hearing this.

Magistrate Yu immediately stepped forward and greeted the Miao village leaders in Miao language.

The chief nodded, then pointed to Chi Junlin and the others, and said something to them in Miao language.

Chi Junlin and the others couldn't understand it at all and could only wait for Magistrate Yu to translate for them.

Upon seeing this, Magistrate Yu explained to Chi Junlin, "He is asking who you are."

After saying that, he spoke a few more words in Miao language to the chief.

After the two talked for a while, the chieftain's expression turned stern again.

After hesitating for a moment, Magistrate Yu said to Chi Junlin, "He...he asked you what rank you are, and whether you are higher than him..."

Chi Junlin laughed upon hearing this, not expecting that this little Miao chieftain, though not holding a high official position, had quite a thirst for power.

So he said to Magistrate Yu, "Tell him that I am a tax inspector sent by the imperial court to Hunan. I have no official rank, but I am more than half a rank higher than the officials I meet."

Magistrate Yu frowned and pondered for a while, seemingly considering how to translate this official title.