Shipin Dalizheng

Chapter 294: The Best Official

This time, it was a ragtag army versus the legitimate officers and soldiers. The battle was fought back and forth, with both sides suffering losses. Li Dequan was so frightened that his fake beard almost ran away. Just as he was losing hope, thinking Rong Tang was going to make him die in the line of duty, Rong Tang led his men out, pretending to rescue the robbed, and engaging in a scuffle between the two groups, taking the opportunity to let them escape.

Rong Tang asked people to count the spoils. There were more than a dozen carts of food and supplies, which was not a small amount and was enough for the entire army to eat for several days.

The person who was robbed came up with a gloomy face, cursing in his heart, if these people hadn't been so nosy, a group of rabble would have been wiped out by them long ago.

When the two met and asked each other, it turned out that this was the dreaded new army commander Annanbo. County Magistrate Wang was so angry that his nose was crooked. How unlucky he was. He left just to avoid him, but unexpectedly ran into him with the tip of his gun. He even regarded himself as his savior.

Seeing Rong Tang trying to take his belongings as trophies, he held back his anger and said, "Lord Annan, these are my personal belongings."

Many of the confiscated items were from people they had robbed, filling up half a cart. Even with this, Rong Tang felt very embarrassed and said, "Wang County Magistrate, this obviously can't all be yours. How about this? I'll have someone count them. Anything that's yours will be returned to you, and anything else that belongs to someone else will be returned to their owner. Anything that's unclaimed will be considered military supplies."

Li Dequan came back after a walk, changed his clothes, put on a fake beard, washed his face, and became the eunuch Li again. He was then assigned to count the property.

After finishing his work, he came over and looked up and down at County Magistrate Wang. "Sir Wang, where is he going now if he is not in office to appease the people?"

County Magistrate Wang's heart skipped a beat. The people were in chaos, and he was afraid that the refugees would storm the government office and rob it, so he abandoned the county and fled. If this got out, it would be the same as desertion, which is a capital crime.

Thinking about the news he had received, he puffed out his chest again and said, "This official, this official is not running away. I am...I am going to the south to buy food and come back to help the people."

Rong Tang interrupted, "To buy food! I happen to have some. May I ask, is the silver that Lord Wang brought all his personal property? Is it the hard-earned money he has accumulated through years of honest officialdom, never extorting money from the people?"

County Magistrate Wang held back his anger and said, "Yes."

Li Dequan nodded and said loudly, "County Magistrate Wang's belongings are 120 taels of silver, a box of clothes, two carts of grain, five wives and concubines, and eight legitimate and illegitimate children. All of them must be returned."

County Magistrate Wang was furious when he heard this. Apart from anything else, he had more than 100,000 taels of silver and banknotes. This Earl of Annan was so cruel that he didn't even give him one percent.

"Annanbo, what do you mean? These dozen cars are my personal property and should be returned to me. Why do you…"

"You're talking nonsense! How could a county magistrate from a remote village like you have so much gold and silver? This is clearly the blood and sweat of the people that we looted from bandits. We should distribute it back to the people. Eunuch Li, please write a battle report and describe the current situation. When you see His Majesty in the future, you can ask him how much the county magistrate's annual salary is and how many years it would take him to accumulate such a huge fortune."

There was no need to ask this question later. Li Dequan could answer him now, "The county magistrate's annual salary is eighty taels. Even with Lord Wang's five wives and concubines, who are dressed in gold and silver, and eight illegitimate children, who are all beautiful and charming, it's simply not enough to support them."

After the accounts were settled, it was found that County Magistrate Wang's family of fourteen was only given twenty taels of silver, as well as their daily clothes. Even the ornaments on their bodies were taken off and confiscated.

County Magistrate Wang was so angry that he was shaking. "Mr. Annan, please don't push me too far. Why is it only twenty taels?"

"Don't you want to buy grain? I'll sell it to you for one hundred taels a bag."

Then someone threw over a bag of moldy old rice.

"But we have our own food..."

Rong Tang spoke gently, "Lord Wang, these are two different matters. As everyone knows, I am also collecting grain on behalf of Your Majesty, and your two carts of grain have been requisitioned. Now you bought this bag from me, and I will distribute the rest to the people on your behalf."

Lord Wang knew that he would be eaten up completely this time, leaving no bones behind. His eyes were cruel and resentful, "Hello, you..."

This little bit of food and silver was not enough for them to go far. It was meaningless to escape now, so he had no choice but to return.

Seeing that he was about to go back, Rong Tang said, "Sir Wang, please sign the receipt to avoid any disputes in the future.

Magistrate Wang pinched his nose as he wrote his name on the receipt and walked back angrily. Rong Tang praised him from behind, "What a good official! He's honest and considerate of the people. He even saves money to feed the people."

Li Dequan followed up with a few words, "Yes, you are a good official. When I see His Majesty in the future, I will definitely speak well of you."

County Magistrate Wang almost tore his sleeves apart with his shaking.

As the man walked away, Li Dequan collapsed to the ground and roared, "I quit. You've screwed me so much. I'm going to complain to His Majesty."

"Big boss, get up quickly."

Rong Tang helped him up with a smile, "You need to participate more so that you can be like the big guys, right? If you really stay out of this, aren't you afraid that the brothers will be wary of you?"

Li Dequan shut his mouth. He was now really involved in the robbery. In essence, he had the same dirty background as these desperate criminals. From now on, even if it was for self-protection, he had to protect these troublemakers.

"I'm rough..."

Miserable.

Rong Tang walked to a carriage, took out a handful of banknotes from a box and stuffed them into his arms.

Li Dequan blinked, it didn't seem that bitter.

"Alright, let's not talk nonsense. We don't have much time, and the battles we need to fight are almost over. I've received reliable information that the armies of Duke Du and Wang Biao are already at the Yangtze River and are preparing to cross the river. Let's take advantage of these few days to finish what needs to be done. I promise you that I can return to the Northern Dynasty in Shangjing before the New Year."

Li Dequan was no longer angry with him, "You can't cheat me again!"

"Look at what you're saying. When have I ever cheated you? Did you lose a finger? Did you lose a tael of silver? Aside from last night, have you ever not eaten a full meal?"

Li Dequan touched the thick banknotes in his arms. He didn't suffer any loss, but...

"I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat."

The ordinary soldiers cleaning the battlefield heard this and their mouths watered uncontrollably. Meat...

The army's movements were constantly reported back to the imperial capital, which was equivalent to a mobile refugee camp. Except for the people who initially gathered around the imperial capital, most of them were later absorbed and resettled by Rong Tang. He collected almost all the food he could find and concentrated two to three hundred thousand people into a confinement.

Because of his blocking, new refugees flocked to the imperial capital, which invisibly relieved the pressure. The relief agency also sent many people out of the city to help maintain order. There were also many doctors in medical clinics who were willing to go out of the city to treat the refugees.

The valley within a radius of dozens of miles of Fengming Mountain in the east of the city became a place to temporarily accommodate refugees. Although the weather was getting cooler, it was not too cold for the time being, and sleeping outdoors was still bearable.

Deaths occur every day. Basically, apart from hunger, there are more or less other illnesses. There are not many people who die of starvation alone.

If you calculate carefully, the ratio is almost the same as that of the troops in the war, but they are all young and strong, while most of the people in the refugee camps are old, weak and sick.

Therefore, Dr. Mo, who was in charge of the refugees' medical care, lobbied and comforted them every day with great patience, and finally prevented the refugees from rioting out of despair.

That day, Rong Tang personally escorted the grain over. Doctor Mo, who probably knew something about the situation, asked him, "Lord Annan, since you have both grain and silver, why don't you quickly distribute it to the people and let them go home to live their lives? Keeping so many of them in one place like this isn't a long-term solution."

Rong Tang knew what Dr. Mo was worried about. If he didn't want to rebel and become emperor, it wouldn't be a good thing for him to command the people.

Because it will cause fear.