The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 715 - 704: Rob

Chapter 715: Chapter 704: Rob

In a strict sense, this was the first gift Manbao had received from a patient, but this gift was far from simple.

With slumped shoulders and head bowed, Manbao walked in and waved her hand, saying, "I know, Aunt Rong, just keep it if he’s sent it. I’m so hungry, is the meal ready?"

"It’s all ready. You guys go ahead and eat, then wash up," Aunt Rong said with concern, then suddenly remembered her original intention and hastily added, "But the firewood is taking up too much space, and if Master Zhou Si comes back in a few days, there won’t be room for the cart."

Although the weather was starting to get cold and the need for wood was increasing, Aunt Rong still only purchased firewood every three days, stacking it in a designated corner of their home.

Sometimes when Zhou Silang went to the countryside to sell grain, he would bring back a cartload of firewood. Any excess was stored outside against the wall corner, and if occasionally someone stole a handful, it wouldn’t amount to much.

But today’s firewood delivery seemed desperate for acceptance, as it was dropped off with haste, leaving behind only a few words before running off – this happened three times without her getting a chance to say a word.

Manbao and the others glanced at the firewood piled up against the wall, and indeed, it took up quite a bit of space.

Resigned, they set down their things and moved the firewood to an alley outside.

Thankfully, their house was the last one in the alley, otherwise, they definitely wouldn’t have been allowed to place anything outside.

This matter, of course, had nothing to do with Mr. Zhuang, so he left to wash up, while Manbao and the other five moved the firewood outside.

Daji carried two pieces of wood in each hand, moving rather quickly. After Manbao ran back and forth twice, the corner was cleared of firewood.

Without bothering to check the mess they had made at the end of the alley, they hurried to wash their hands and get ready to eat, truly exhausted and famished.

After dinner and washing up, Mr. Zhuang finally called Manbao over to speak, "Today was too busy for me to go and see for myself. Are there still many patients?"

Manbao replied, "Not too many left. We’ve mostly seen to all patients outside each medical tent today, but there might be some returning for follow-ups tomorrow, or perhaps some new patients will show up as well."

Mr. Zhuang nodded.

Curiously, Manbao asked, "Sir, what about County Magistrate Tang? I haven’t seen him."

Mr. Zhuang said with a smile, "Have you forgotten? He’s distributing land to the refugees and is currently supervising the construction of their homes."

Bai Shan, who had been dozing off and listening, perked up a bit and said, "Winter is approaching. If we don’t build houses, with so many people sleeping outdoors, there is risk of them freezing to death."

Mr. Zhuang nodded, "The homes that these refugees were living in before are just remnants from the disaster. At best, some straw was added; they’ve hardly been repaired and cannot keep out the cold."

Knowing that County Magistrate Tang was also busy, Manbao felt at ease.

Mr. Zhuang glanced at her, gestured for Bai Shan and Bai Erlang to leave, and then, pinching her ear, he warned her in a low voice, "I’ve overheard from time to time refugees discussing plans to go try their luck in Luojiang County after receiving medicine and relief porridge and rice. Are you behind this?"

Feeling guilty, Manbao lowered her head and said softly, "Sir, there may not be any wasteland in Yizhou City, but there’s some in Luojiang County. Since there’s a shortage of land here and a lack of people there, I thought letting them go would be a way to give them a chance to survive."

Mr. Zhuang tapped her forehead and said, "You, the issues here are very complex, not as simple as you think."

"Then sir, is this not a way of survival for them?" Manbao argued. "As long as they go there, County Magistrate Yang will definitely take good care of them."

After some thought, Mr. Zhuang, turning a blind eye, replied, "Alright, I won’t interfere. However, you must not bring this up again. Do you think this is truly a good thing for those two officials? There are many ways to make a living, do you understand that you’re blocking their source of wealth?"

Baffled, Manbao responded, "I don’t understand. How have I blocked anyone’s source of wealth?"

Mr. Zhuang hesitated and finally said, "When you grow up a bit more, you’ll understand. Let it be, it’s very late now, and you have to go to the medical tent tomorrow. Go to sleep."

Manbao went back still utterly confused, falling asleep without understanding whose path she had obstructed.

County Magistrate Tang disdainfully took off the dirty outer garment and tossed it aside. The attendant immediately brought hot water forward and placed it on a shelf in the tent.

County Magistrate Tang invited the steward to also wash his hands.

Both sat down at the table. After County Magistrate Tang drank a bowl of soup, he finally felt some relief in his stomach.

From the moment he woke up, he had been busy until now, when he could finally eat some warm food. Brushing his hair back from his chest, he asked his attendant who had saved leftovers for him, "Do you think Yang Heshu can endure such hardship?"

Before the attendant could answer, the steward chuckled softly and said, "My lord, the resettlement of refugees in Luojiang County has been done the best. Otherwise, Lord Yang wouldn’t have been impeached by several counties for poaching people."

County Magistrate Tang sighed, "Settling a group of refugees is truly more tiring than solving a major case. There’s an endless stream of trivial matters and it’s extremely vexing."

The steward smiled and ate quickly, as he too was starving.

Once they had somewhat sated their hunger, they began to talk, "My lord, Principal Clerk Ding has already sold several copies of the registry. Recently, not only have some refugees who did not receive land been recruited by several households, but even some families who did receive land have secretly abandoned their registry to join them. Do you think we need to take action?"

County Magistrate Tang frowned and asked, "Were they taken by force, or did they go willingly?"

"From what I understand, all went willingly. Promised benefits can entice many," was the response.

County Magistrate Tang clenched his fist and said, "Such actions are incessant, but they really are despicable. These refugees have been here for a long time, homeless and hungry. They didn’t care to recruit them before, but now that I’m arranging for their settlement, they’ve started competing with me for people!"

The steward lowered his gaze. With the lord’s intelligence, he must have guessed the underlying reasons.

The flood in Yizhou, three years prior, not only affected Yizhou City but also several towns underneath, leaving nearly every household empty. The remaining ones were likely only inhabited by the lonely and elderly.

The destitute who had no power or influence fled to other lands, and who knew if they were still alive or if they would ever return?

So at that time, anyone with the means hoarded those farmlands washed away by the floodwaters.

Some landlords were merely sneaking around moving boundary stones, or taking advantage of returning refugees to buy land at low prices, but for a few prominent families in Yizhou City, they didn’t even need to pay a low price.

A trip to the government office, a stroke of the pen, and good farmland would turn into wasteland, which would then be registered under their names with just a couple of formalities.

At that time, Yizhou City was in turmoil, everyone from the military governor to a single secretary was arrested, even the Prince of Yizhou was impeached continuously because of the flood.

So by the time County Magistrate Tang received his appointment from the court and arrived in Yizhou City, there were more landlords than poor people. Likewise, those farmlands, whether rightly or wrongly claimed, had been significantly occupied.

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