In the Ming Dynasty, the rule that officials do not repair the government still exists, and the Xinning County government has gone through three hundred years of wind and rain, during which it has only been roughly repaired a few times, so it looks more dilapidated than the land temple outside the city.

Zhao Yan didn't care about this, he sat down in the hall and glanced at it, there were more than a dozen officials standing in the hall, including the main bookkeeper Cao Fang and the classic history Gu Yuanche, and on both sides stood two rows of officials holding water and fire sticks, thinking that this was all the public servants in Xinning County.

"I've seen the county magistrate."

The officials and officials, including the main book and the history, knelt on the ground to meet Zhao Yan, the new magistrate, this is the rule, and no one can make an exception.

"Get up. In the future, I hope that you will govern the county with one heart and one mind, and if you have the ability to be outstanding, the official will not hesitate to promote it to the court. Zhao Yan knew that he had just arrived, and his face was young and without official authority, but he still had some things to say.

"Obey the instructions of the county lord."

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, people have selfish intentions, and the county officials are very respectful to themselves at the moment, but this is all appearance, if they touch their interests, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no people who want to jump out, and now they are new to the city, it is not appropriate to make any moves, and it is not too late to understand the major and minor affairs in the county in the future.

Zhao Yan had already thought about these things clearly last night, and he looked at the chief bookkeeper Cao Fang and said, "I'm tired of the master bookkeeper Cao, and the hall will introduce you to the official." ”

Cao Fang responded when he heard this, and then introduced them one by one: "Gu Dianshi County Zun has already known, this is the Dianshi Fanghui under the lower officials, this is the Dianshi Li Yang of Gu Dianshi, and this is Qian Fang, the scribe of the six-room Zhongli room......"

Cao Fang introduced all the officials in the hall one by one, but Zhao Yan didn't remember them all, and only picked up a few important scribes and wrote them down.

This meeting was mainly to show his face in front of the officials below, so after Zhao Yan said a few more words, everyone dispersed, leaving only the main book, the canonical history, and the scribes of the six rooms in the hall.

"Qian Fang, you are in charge of the ceremonial room in the six rooms, how is my county doing now?"

Qian Fang, the scribe of the ceremonial room, was a little old man in his fifties, and he didn't want to think about it when he heard the words, so he said: "Yu County Zun, my county now only has three Xiucai, one lifter, and the other county school is in disrepair and has been unusable. ”

For magistrates, educating the people is the most important thing, and the number of scholars in a place is the most important factor in judging the performance of local officials.

"The official knows, Hufang Zhoude, you can tell me how many people there are in this county and how the taxes have been paid over the years."

"Yes." Zhou De stood up and said: "Yu County, there are 9,823 households in our county, totaling more than 20,000 people, and there are many arrears in taxes over the years, taking last year as an example, a total of Ding Yin ...... was levied."

After Zhou De finished speaking, the scribes of the other four rooms in the six rooms were called out by Zhao Yan one after another, and these scribes were clear about the things they were responsible for.

Zhao Yan can't think of anything to do about this for the time being, so he can only put it down for the time being, after all, he has no experience in the ruling party, so he can only slowly figure it out.

After two days of plain and bland, there is a temple fair in front of the pagoda temple today, Zhao Yanjing thought very much, so he left the Zhao Yin brothers to look after the house, and he took Zhao Gou and Zhao Jiu to follow the crowd out of the county seat and walked to the pagoda temple a few miles away.

The pagoda temple was built in an unknown year, because the incense is prosperous, so the monks in it are not short of money, every few years will repair the temple inside and outside, because its inner descendants are quite effective, so it attracts many infertile couples in the county and even in the county to come to burn incense and worship the Buddha, many of them live in the temple for one or two nights, and soon after going back, they were diagnosed with the happy pulse, a spread of ten to a hundred, I heard that even Changsha Mansion has a special trip to ask for a child.

The temple fair in front of the pagoda temple has lasted for several years, once a year, lasts for ten days, it is not a festival like a festival, it is a rare lively and prosperous place in Xinning County, during which the types of goods are slightly monotonous, in addition to eating, drinking and having fun, the others are mostly various local specialties of Xinning, such as fur, herbs and so on.

Zhao Yan is well-informed, he has no interest in it, Zhao Jiu has also been in the capital, although he is young, he is also a person who has seen the world, but Zhao Gou is quite interested after seeing the different customs and customs from his hometown.

Walking along the way of the temple fair, Zhao Jiu has always shown a serious look, although he is a young man and understands many truths in the world, but he is still a child in the end, Zhao Yan does not want his innocence as a young man to be obliterated, so he will tease him from time to time, and he will buy him some fun and delicious food.

At the end of the temple fair is the pagoda temple, the people in front of the temple gate are not less than the people in the temple fair, only a very few of these people are here to ask for children, most of them are still because of the temple descendants of the hall, love the house and Wu, come to ask for peace or give alms.

Zhao Yan led Zhao Gou and Zhao Jiu into the temple, and then saw the short seven-story pagoda in the courtyard at a glance, although its height was only a few zhang, but the appearance was extremely delicate and luxurious, attracting many pilgrims to kneel and pray.

Since ancient times, the Buddha wanted to be dressed in gold, and its appearance was far more luxurious than Taoism, and Zhao Yan was no stranger.

This pagoda temple covers an area of about seven or eight acres, compared to those big temples are not too big, but not small, the temple has the hall of the great majesty, the hall, the hall, the hall, the hall of the Buddha, the hall of the king, the hall of the Buddha such as the hall, and then there is a hall of descendants in the deepest part of the temple, this is the most attractive place in the temple.

Zhao Yan took a few glances outside the descendant hall and found that this descendant hall was not big, and there was only a statue of Guanyin who sent the son inside, although the place was not big, but there were many people who went in to pray for incense.

There is a monk standing at the door of the descendant hall, a couple walked out of the hall, the man bowed to the monk of the guest, and said: "This master, my husband and wife have been married for several years, but nothing has come out. ”

The monk looked at the young woman carefully and then said: "The two donors, if they are sincere in their sons, they need to fast for seven days, then burn incense and bathe, and then live in the clean room behind the hall of the descendants for two nights. ”

The man hurriedly replied: "I heard from my friends that I came to your temple with my insider, and the rules are all understood, and here is the sesame oil money below, and I also asked the master to find a clean room for me and my wife to fast and bathe." ”

The monk took the silver piece handed over by the man and checked it, a smile appeared on his face, and then led the couple to the back of the hall, and while walking, he told the two of them what they should pay attention to in the next few days, Zhao Yan vaguely heard him also asked the young woman about the day of the sunflower.

Obviously what happened in broad daylight, Zhao Yan looked awkward, he didn't know why he felt this way, maybe he didn't like the atmosphere in this temple very much.

"Are you going to worship the Buddha? If it's all right, let's go back. ”

After the three of them returned to the county office, Zhao Yan wanted to practice calligraphy in the back office, but his heart was always calm, after thinking about it, he called Zhao Gou and Zhao Jiu, and told the two of them to go around the pagoda temple again, mainly to inquire about the children and grandchildren in the temple.

The two of them took the order and did not return until it was dark.

Zhao Gouxu was thirsty, so he poured a cup of herbal tea and swallowed it first, Zhao Jiu said on the side: "Childe, I pretended to be brothers with Brother Dog, and lied that Brother Dog and his wife had been infertile for many years, and I came to the Pagoda Temple to inquire about the situation." The two of us walked around inside and outside the pagoda temple for most of the day, and each asked more than a dozen people, many of whom had asked for children in the pagoda temple. ”

Zhao Gou nodded, and continued: "Those people said the same before, first fasting for seven days, and then burning incense and bathing in the clean room behind the descendant hall for one night. These women live in the clean room at night, and their men live in the outer room, and then these women will dream at night, some say that they dream of the Buddha giving children, and some say that they dream of Arhats giving children, that is, no one dreams of Guanyin Niangniang giving children, and in the end, six or seven out of ten of these women have children. ”

Zhao Yan couldn't help but ponder after listening to the news from the two, he was a non-Shen theorist, and he naturally scoffed at the matter of the descendants of the Pagoda Temple asking for a son, but now the people are so ignorant, as long as they don't violate the law, then there is no need to interfere too much, but today I went to the Pagoda Temple for a turn, and witnessed someone go to ask for a son, he always felt that something was wrong, and when he returned to the county office, he remembered that although the monk had thick eyebrows and big eyes, the treasure was solemn with some yin evil color, Especially when he observed the young woman's eyes, he specifically stared at the young woman's face and critical parts, this was not what a monk should do, so he asked Zhao Gou and Zhao Jiu to go to find out the news.

Now considering the news that the two of them heard, Zhao Yan gradually had some ideas in his heart.

The chief bookkeeper Cao Fang hurriedly came to the back office, and when he saw Zhao Yan, he couldn't help but smile with a smile: "I don't know what the county lord summoned the lower officials to send?" ”

Zhao Jiu brought two cups of tea and put them in front of Zhao Yan and Cao Fang.

Zhao Yan motioned for Cao Fang to drink tea, and then said, "This official really has something to ask Master Cao for advice." As far as this official knows, the descendants of the pagoda temple are quite effective in asking for children, and the master of Cao has heard of it? ”