"Come, eat some more, this Bazhen soup is sweet and refreshing, it's just right to eat at this time."

Huo Jing took Lu Weimang around the vicinity of Jincheng, and took her to the restaurant she often came to eat.

He had been here for a while, and this time he took Lu Weimang, which can be regarded as the friendship of the landlord, and took her to see the style of the northwest.

"Well, you eat too."

Lu Weimang didn't raise his head when he ate.

She was eager to understand the local style these days, so she rode around Jincheng with Huo Jing, and this morning, Lu Weimang only laid a cake, and walked around with Huo Jing, and was very hungry at this time.

"Hey, why are you so good at messing with, believe it or not, hit your face full of flowers, let you come here again!"

Suddenly, the voice of an old man outside the store exploded, and everyone eating in the store squatted at the door with bowls, watching the excitement while eating.

"What's the matter, you can't reason with your black heart? You are a short-lived child, you wait, I have to fight with you today! ”

After a short verbal exchange, the two outside the store started fighting.

Lu Weimang couldn't eat this meal, and couldn't help but look out when he heard the violent noise outside and the sound of everyone coaxing.

"What are you doing here?"

Lu Weimang learned the local dialect and muttered.

Huo Jing stopped Lu Weimang, who couldn't sit still, "Qindi is a strong atmosphere. Qinchuan man, bright and fair. Often, something will be solved on the spot, and it will not go to the government. The fierce folk customs, few petty thefts, are street fights, and the victory or defeat is determined by oneself, without the intervention of the government. You are a person in the face of the official, it is not appropriate to show your face and meddle at this time, and it is time for you to come forward when one party loses and sues the government. Otherwise, not only will this matter not be solved, but it will add fuel to the vinegar and make this small local conflict out of control. ”

Lu Weimang only widened his eyes when he heard Huo Jing say this, "Look at it, the head is broken, or is it a skirmish?" ”

Huo Jing smiled, "The local people are fierce, which man doesn't have a scar on his head, just wait for them to finish the fight." ”

Huo Jing said this, Lu Weimang had no choice but to give up, watching the fight outside the window, while eating with relish.

Sure enough, the fight was very fierce, and after the fight, it seemed that the depression in my heart went out, and the two sides began to make peace again, and separated amicably, and went home.

Lu Weimang was dumbfounded.

"This is the Yongzhou ethos, ruling by inaction. The government also has a sense of presence when it collects land taxes every year, and the rest of the time, it doesn't have to worry about it. One is that although the folk customs are strong, they are reasonable. The other is that the local clan is powerful, and the government is strong, but it will be in chaos. ”

Huo Jing explained, "This place is adjacent to the Qiang people, and if it is not strong, the government will not be able to deal with the Qiang rebellion every year." In this way, a small group of Qiang invades, and the villagers on the border can organize themselves and beat them away. They are the natural line of defense for our great cadres. ”

"Oh~"

Lu Weimang understood it and had a new understanding of local folk customs.

"It's just that the fields are weak and the harvest of crops is limited, so I am a little poor."

Hearing Huo Jing say that he was a little poor, Lu Weimang felt strange and looked at Huo Jing, "Poor? ”

"Well," Huo Jing nodded, "Didn't you notice, the whole Golden City turned down, did you see a big manor?" It's not because Jincheng is small, so there are no big households to gain a foothold, but because there is generally no money here, people only fight with the land all year round, struggling to survive, and have no spare energy to build houses and buy property. The yamen is dilapidated, and it is not that there is no chief official, no one cares, or there is no money. It's just that the roof is broken, there is no money to repair it, the official gate is broken, there is no money to repair it, and the officials are two taels a month, and there is no more. ”

Lu Weimang seemed to have just noticed that something was wrong, she always thought that this was a small place in Jincheng that was not famous, so the houses were generally low, but she didn't notice that this was already the main city of Yongzhou, and the main city was still like this, how good could the whole Yongzhou be?

Lu Weimang is like a thunderbolt in the clear sky, she hasn't thought about money for a long time, when she first came to Jincheng, she also saw it fresh when the local characteristic low-rise houses were "tourist attractions", and only then did she realize that she was the governor of this state, and she was poor here, she was poor.

"Didn't you read the official account book?"

Huo Jing's question seemed to be another blow, and Lu Weimang looked at Huo Jing in a daze, "I have only read the governance log of the previous term in the past few days, and I have not seen the specific content of local affairs. ”

Huo Jing sighed, "Let's go back and take a look, I can't say, not only is there no money in the account, but there is also a deficit!" ”

On the second day, Lu Weimang went to the office and found the bottom of a stack of official documents, which was indeed a local account book.

Lu Weimang found Qi Hongxi, held the account book and asked him, "Such an important matter, why don't you tell me first, I look at the account period seems to be these few days, how do you plan to deal with this shortfall?" ”

Qi Hongxi scratched his head and said nonchalantly, "It's just an account period, not a big deal." You just came, I don't know the situation, although we are the state government yamen, but the counties under the bottom of the perennial food grain, can not collect any taxes at all, therefore, our state government yamen from the four counties deducted the fields around Jincheng, the annual field tax, used to pay the expenses of the Jincheng government. By the way, my lord, in a few days it will be pay day, you can prepare our salary in advance, Cheng Wei, the next official monthly salary of five taels. ”

After Qi Hongxi finished speaking, he smiled.

Lu Weimang didn't know that the yamen of a prefecture could be so poor. He only weakly propped his elbows on the table and looked at Qi Hongxi, "You have also read the account books, right?" Our yamen has no money! ”

Qi Hongxi waved his hand nonchalantly, "Xia Guan knows." The annual tax revenue of our state government is only three hundred taels, and the government officials up and down, from Weichen to the government officials, have a monthly salary of five taels per month for the position of official residence, three taels per month for each patrol officer, and more than a dozen people for the government servants and others, two taels per month, so the monthly salary of the yamen is thirty-five taels, and the annual salary is four hundred and twenty-five taels. ”

Listening to Qi Tong's judgment to settle accounts with Lu Weimang, Lu Weimang only heard loudly, "You wait a while, the annual income is only three hundred taels, and the expenditure is at least four hundred and twenty-five taels?" What about the extra ones? ”

Qi Hongxi spread his hands, "In the past, when there was a chief official, it was the chief official who came forward to make a fortune from the big households in the city, or borrowed money from the merchants. Our yamen opens, the merchants have to give some face no matter what, of course, they also occasionally owe the monthly salary of the lower officials, but it must not exceed three months, and the lower officials and others can't always drink the northwest wind, right? A large family points to the monthly salary of the lower officials to live! My lord, before you arrived, the chief officer delayed our salary for two months, and he pulled the famine away, you can't delay it any longer, there is no rice to cook in the official's house! ”

Qi Hongxi cried poorly, Lu Weimang completely opened her eyes, what kind of life is she? How can you be poor where you are?

"Don't worry, your monthly income is indispensable."

Lu Weimang weakly assured his subordinates. When she first came, her eyes were black, and she was all pointing at these subordinate officials to do things, if they ran away from hunger, the yamen of the state capital would also be scattered.

Qi Hongxi listened to Lu Weimang's assurance, his heart was overjoyed, and he tidied up the official uniform on his body that seemed to have a few inconspicuous stains, and saluted Lu Weimang respectfully, "The lower official thanked Lu Zhizhou." ”

Lu Weimang waved his hand, "Yes, where can I let you run errands hungry." You go down first, and tomorrow you will gather the people in the yamen and come to me to receive your salary. ”

Qi Hong was overjoyed, rubbing his hands with a smile on his face, "Hey, the adults are considerate, the lower officials and others have taken it seriously, and they must come early tomorrow." ”

"Well, you go down first, and I'll take a look at this official document."

Lu Weimang waved his hand, lowered his head and flipped out the official document from the bottom, ready to read it first from heavy to light.

"That's right," Qi Hongxi walked to the door of the main hall, as if something suddenly sounded, and patted his head, "The creditor of the former chief official has been entangled with the former government for the past few days, and wants the successor chief official to repay the money for the predecessor." The lower official has blocked you a few times, but today the merchant is determined to persuade him to leave. Lord Lu, when you disperse, be careful, don't let that merchant catch you. ”

(End of chapter)