Most of the grain He Zifeng had collected cost two or three wen. After being stored for a period of time, the grain would lose some moisture and become lighter in weight.
Plus when collecting grain, he still had to pay Shuanzi wages, transportation costs and such. Selling it at five wen per jin, he could only break even on costs.
He still had five thousand jin of grain left. His original plan had been simple – he could use it for soup kitchens. But this winter was too cold, and those who couldn’t get food could basically get their fill as long as they relied on the government-run tofu workshop.
Fewer people came to eat soup at their place.
The county magistrate was a good official who could accomplish real things. When he had originally stockpiled grain, the granary piled up like mountains had shocked him. But since winter began, grain had been consumed rapidly, and the county magistrate frequently worried about grain matters.
Everywhere was severely affected by disaster, and grain prices soared. Even with restraint, they had risen to an alarming figure.
If He Zifeng directly handed over his remaining five thousand jin of grain to the county, it could save even more people!
Originally, the opportunity for the soup kitchen came from digging up gold in the mansion’s cellar. Getting this unexpected wealth, he wanted to do some good deeds.
Now roughly calculating, it could save no fewer than a thousand people.
He Zifeng donated these five thousand jin of grain to the county magistrate without compensation.
The county magistrate was worrying about grain matters right then!
He Zifeng’s arrival immediately relieved the county magistrate’s urgent need, perfectly filling the gap for the grain borrowed by those villagers.
Now even having silver didn’t necessarily mean you could buy grain!
The county magistrate was still very grateful for this favor and said: “Thanks to you.”
The county magistrate had already started thinking – if his three-year term was completed and he was transferred elsewhere, he could take He Zifeng with him. He lacked a reliable person by his side. After observing coldly in the county for half a year, He Zifeng was the most outstanding in the county.
However, he hadn’t mentioned this to He Zifeng yet. There was plenty of time – when it came time to leave, he’d test his intentions.
Having received He Zifeng’s grain donation, the county magistrate was in a very good mood. Looking at the heavy snow outside, he took up his brush to compose a poem.
Although heavy snow was falling, the common people in the county lived and worked in peace, and those disaster victims had also been properly settled. The brick kiln factory would also start operating soon.
With more production there, so many people would need quite a few bricks and tiles for reclaiming farmland and building houses in the future!
Once the kilns opened, they should produce more – having too little wouldn’t be nearly enough.
Without realizing it, he wrote down many arrangements and plans. Then he called He Zifeng and Head Constable Zhu up to discuss.
He Zifeng was fine – he was someone who could work and didn’t mind it. But Head Constable Zhu was used to being idle. Working every day was somewhat exhausting for him. He had hoped to rest for a while during this period, but who would have thought the county magistrate would arrange other things again. He feared only New Year’s Eve would give them a few days off.
The county magistrate had already passed thirty and wasn’t young anymore. How did he have endless energy every day?
But he didn’t dare say this.
The county magistrate talked with them until late at night. Having no choice, they could only make do with sleeping in the county for a while.
Early the next morning, representatives from each village came to collect grain from He Zifeng. They went back to immediately raise money. Now was an emergency time of grain shortage – they were afraid this matter would fall through, but fortunately He Zifeng had already prepared.
They directly weighed the grain, counted out three thousand jin, gave the silver, and hired carts to haul it away.
These past few days of heavy snow had brought dropping temperatures, and there were almost no people on the roads. They left the county by small roads and returned to their villages without attracting much attention!
After these village people transported the grain away, He Zifeng called escort agency people to transport the remaining grain to the granary. He Zifeng had a note from the county magistrate, and this grain was subsequently sealed into the grain warehouse.
Except for some reserve grain for shops, everything at He Zifeng’s place had been transported away. With the cellar empty, his heart was much more at ease.
Then he went to the courtyard to check the pickled vegetables, small preserved vegetables, cabbage, radishes and other winter storage vegetables prepared for winter.
His shop’s meat hotpot sold well every day. At first, everyone only ate large and small portions. Eating meat with every bite, they later got a bit tired of it and started adding vegetables to stew – that tasted good too.
Especially pickled cabbage that absorbed the oil from the meat – it was fragrant and cut the greasiness.
Fortunately, they had stockpiled a lot when winter began, otherwise it wouldn’t be enough to sell.
He Zifeng now saw that about half of the pickled cabbage jar remained. The stockpiled radishes and cabbage were also about half gone.
Fortunately they had stockpiled – it saved quite a bit of silver! He Zifeng planned to give Master Zhang a big red envelope during New Year’s. Since having him, the shop hadn’t required any worry from himself.
Not only dine-in service – what they sold most was Master Zhang’s stir-fried ingredients packed in food boxes and bought by servants from wealthy households.
Wealthy families all had specially made copper pots. Either the whole family gathered to eat, or they invited three to five good friends to enjoy the snow while eating meat. It was more comfortable than eating noisily on the second floor.
Moreover, they used silver charcoal for continuous heating, stewing things more tender. The colder the weather, the more popular the sales.
They heard that wealthy people would even buy ten portions at once. Now in the cold winter, anything left outside would freeze solid in no time and wouldn’t spoil at all. When they wanted to eat, they could use it anytime – when thawed, it was just like newly bought.
Some diners always ate at different times than others. When the whim struck and they wanted this bite, it was already late at night. The shops were all closed, but if they bought it in advance to freeze, even if they woke people up in the middle of the night, they could have a meal.
For delivery now, besides their beef and mutton hotpot being most popular, their pickled cabbage was most famous. The taste was different from what you could eat anywhere else – crisp, refreshing, sour and fragrant. It was especially suitable for adding to this hotpot. If you drizzled on their honey-based spicy sauce, you could eat three big bowls of rice.
He Zifeng had originally started by making spicy sauce. Their hotpot sold well and they hired ten people but were still too busy. They really didn’t want to add spicy sauce, but old customers who had eaten their homemade food came looking specifically for this taste.
Especially in winter when food had no flavor. Scooping up a spoonful of spicy sauce made anything delicious.
He Zifeng directly gave the recipe to Master Zhang. Master Zhang was worthy of being a master chef. When he made it, it tasted even better than the original.
Now they made two hundred bottles per day. Every time people came to the second floor early in the morning, they were buying spicy sauce, buying ten bottles at a time, afraid that buying too little wouldn’t be enough for their master to eat.
He Zifeng saw that today was particularly cold, so he went to the second floor and had them make ten beef hotpots. Put in food boxes – he wanted to take them away.
After returning, he gave one portion to the county magistrate and one to Head Constable Zhu. He sent two portions to the prison. The remaining six portions were divided among the brothers below.
In such cold winter, eating hot hotpot made them feel warm all over.
Soon the entire yamen could smell the fragrance of the hotpot. He Zifeng had good relationships in the county – without needing instructions, his rest room was heated up nice and warm.
He Zifeng lay down on top. Having dealt with the major matter of the grain, he fell asleep in no time.
The next day, He Zifeng was the earliest to go out on patrol. He sent people to relieve the watch. Now those standing guard and defending the city had the hardest job.
Although the watch was changed every two hours, even wearing the thickest cotton pants for two hours was somewhat unbearable. Their bodies were frozen through and through.
He Zifeng said: “Go back and rest quickly. The cook has prepared ginger soup for you.”
The young runner’s face was red from cold. He said: “Thank you, Brother He.” During this period, they had gotten quite a workout. The extravagant and decadent energy they once had was almost completely worn away. Now the runners were supported by the common people.
These young runners often contacted people in the county and now felt very proud. This was something money couldn’t buy. Even if they were assigned to difficult places, they wouldn’t shirk like before.
Even someone like the county magistrate got up early every day to patrol. Head Constable Zhu had also become diligent. Everyone didn’t dare slack off either.
He Zifeng came here to look around. The person who had just taken over the watch said: “Deputy Head Constable, there seems to be a group of people riding horses coming.”
In winter, most people didn’t go out, so the sound of horse hooves became clearly audible.
Hearing this, He Zifeng quickly climbed up the city wall. Looking carefully, quite a few people were coming.
He Zifeng had arrived late, but some of the surrounding runners had been there for years. They recognized at a glance: “It’s Lord Qiu coming.”
That was the county magistrate’s direct superior, the master’s guide.
He Zifeng immediately said: “Go back to the county immediately to report to the county magistrate and Head Constable Zhu!”
“Yes.” The young runner beside him was also very clever.
He Zifeng didn’t know what they had come for and didn’t dare neglect them. He quickly opened the city gate. After about a quarter hour, he saw Lord Qiu Dairen leading twenty sword-bearing subordinates, riding horses into the city. He said: “Where is your county magistrate?”
He spoke arrogantly.
He Zifeng’s heart skipped a beat – the visitors came with ill intent.
He Zifeng said: “The lord is at the county yamen, busy handling some affairs.”
Lord Qiu looked at He Zifeng and said: “You look quite unfamiliar.”
Someone beside him immediately chimed in: “What’s your name? Report it quickly.”
“I am He Zifeng.” He spoke politely and properly.
But this person impatiently waved his hand and said: “Never heard of you.” He didn’t dismount at all.
He Zifeng delayed slightly at the city gate. The county magistrate and Head Constable Zhu hurried over and said: “Lord Qiu, how do you have time to come here? Many of these county runners are new. It’s freezing cold outside – it would be warmer inside the yamen.”
Lord Qiu’s expression improved slightly. He said: “Good.” Then he rode toward the county yamen.
The county magistrate and Head Constable Zhu followed in a horse carriage. Before leaving, they also called He Zifeng along.
They didn’t get off the carriage until reaching the yamen entrance. The group entered in single file, carrying an aura that strangers should not approach.
As soon as they entered, he said: “Do you know your crimes?”
Then Lord Qiu sat in the main seat.
His accompanying people immediately came over to arrest the county magistrate. With He Zifeng and Head Constable Zhu beside him, they naturally wouldn’t let these people succeed.
The county magistrate said: “Lord Qiu, this… what does this mean?”
Lord Qiu looked at the county magistrate and said: “This year’s snow disaster – since you knew in advance, why didn’t you report it early? You’ve caused immeasurable losses to several counties!”
The county magistrate quickly protested his innocence: “My lord, as soon as I learned of this matter, I wrote letters to you and several colleagues, explaining the severity of the situation in the letters.”
Lord Qiu had indeed received the county magistrate’s letter at the time, but dismissed it and set it aside. Who knew that by mid-October it started snowing, and the snow never stopped.
Grain prices went out of control. People froze to death, starved to death, sold their children – it was complete chaos. Even he had to buy grain at high prices.
He immediately wrote letters to the court asking for disaster relief grain. But the court’s disaster relief officials weren’t soft either. They took some old grain, ate and drank here, and entertaining the disaster relief officials cost over five thousand taels of silver. That disaster relief grain seemed like he had bought it with his own money.
Many people died, and surrounding nomads caused trouble. Plus the disaster delays led to impeachment by opponents, leaving him mentally and physically exhausted.
He was an old political fox and knew that at this moment he only needed to push out a scapegoat to resolve the current predicament.
The others were all from his own faction. Only the county magistrate wasn’t – today he came to convict him.
Since Lord Qiu came looking for trouble, he naturally wanted to strike decisively and wouldn’t let him escape easily. He said: “How did you know about the snow disaster?”
When he had received the letter initially, not only him but everyone had dismissed it. It was still some time before winter. They just thought this person was being mystical and didn’t take it seriously.
The county magistrate said: “It was reported by people from the Imperial Observatory to the Emperor. A friend of mine from there told me.”
Lord Qiu’s eyes showed some surprise. He had forgotten to investigate the county magistrate’s background before coming.
He had previously thought that someone who could come to such a poor and remote place couldn’t be someone with backing.
But he actually had friends in the Imperial Observatory – this was somewhat beyond his expectations. Although the people there were all mystics and political troublemakers who were sent there to study celestial books.
People in the Imperial Observatory could see the Emperor.
Lord Qiu said: “Report on your county’s situation.” As long as he couldn’t explain clearly, he’d give him a charge of lax governance.
But since the snow disaster, the county magistrate had personally handled everything. The county’s various measures – building city walls, controlling grain prices, organizing snow-clearing teams, government-run tofu workshops, settling disaster victims, lending grain to rural areas, supporting medicine shops – he could explain every single matter.
Lord Qiu was stunned. He asked somewhat incredulously: “How many deaths did you just say?”
The county magistrate said: “Not one person died from the snow disaster.” Not one local citizen had died because of the snow disaster. This year he had specifically warned the child traffickers not to take advantage of the disaster to buy and sell other people’s children.
A few outside disaster victims had died, but they were already terminally ill when they arrived and didn’t last more than a few hours. The later arrivals were all cared for very well.
It could be said that all of this was promoted by the county magistrate. From above, controlling merchants; from below, spending large amounts of silver directly on the common people.
These young gentleman runners had also been working continuously. Everyone’s hearts were united as one rope. Although life was difficult, everyone was alive.
Hearing this, Lord Qiu was somewhat shocked. Other counties had disaster victims numbering ten to twenty thousand. If such a big hole hadn’t appeared, the higher-ups wouldn’t have held them accountable!
Lord Qiu hadn’t expected the county magistrate could achieve this level, but what he felt more was unease. Having someone too capable under him who wasn’t his person – didn’t this make him look even more incompetent?
Without further discussion, he said: “Control all of them. Place them under house arrest. No one is allowed to go out.”
Hearing this, the county magistrate’s face changed completely. Although he knew they came aggressively, this was the first time he’d seen them being completely unreasonable.
The county magistrate said: “Why?”
Lord Qiu said: “The master’s death was suspicious. After extensive investigation, they say you killed your colleague. To save disaster victims, you emptied the county treasury. Who knows if you were really providing disaster relief or moving things to your own home?”
Once the stain of corruption and bribery was placed on someone, it was an indelible mark: “I want to investigate personally.”
The county magistrate was angered by his shameless and barbaric way of judging cases: “If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext.”
Seeing that they still wanted to resist, Lord Qiu’s twenty subordinates weren’t just for show either. They immediately drew their swords.
Lord Qiu had specifically brought these people who were all highly skilled in martial arts. Those gleaming swords carried a cold light that was frightening just to look at.
Lord Qiu shouted loudly: “What, you won’t even listen to your superior’s words? Do you want to rebel?”
The county magistrate saw that each accusation was bigger than the last. He could only swallow his anger and was locked in a room with He Zifeng and Head Constable Zhu. Another room held all the runners.
Head Constable Zhu’s expression was also somewhat unpleasant. This time Lord Qiu was playing for real. Since he had arrested them intending to find some faults, wouldn’t that be easy? Even if there were none, they could “create” some.
He Zifeng said to the county magistrate: “My lord, will everything be alright this time?”
The county magistrate said: “I was careless.” He just wanted to manage his own jurisdiction well. Who knew that the surrounding county yamens were rotten to the core, not wanting to solve problems but only wanting to pass the blame to each other.
He hadn’t had time to prepare. Now even if he wanted to make plans temporarily, it was too late.
He could only hope that his servants and attendants would notice something wrong and quickly come to rescue them.
Unfortunately, his luck wasn’t very good. Before long, they heard that the attendants and servants came to the county yamen looking for them, but walked right into the trap and were also caught and thrown in with them.
Now they were completely cut off from the outside.
The county magistrate said to them: “So this is where they were waiting for me.” Whether it was reporting the master’s affairs or reporting the snow disaster before, no one had come to investigate. They might have selected them as scapegoats early on.
New Year’s was approaching. Lord Qiu couldn’t drag this out until New Year’s, so the results would probably come out in these few days. They still needed to think of a solution.
He Zifeng said to Head Constable Zhu: “Xie Rui is useful.”
They couldn’t get out now, but Xie Rui was the legitimate son of the Xie family. If he wasn’t at the Xie family, they would definitely be anxious. This would give them a chance to communicate with people outside.
Head Constable Zhu immediately understood He Zifeng’s meaning. But they were imprisoned in two rooms. The rooms were adjacent. He Zifeng liked to carry a silver dagger with him. It looked inconspicuous, hidden in his sleeve, but could save his life at critical moments.
Then they saw He Zifeng start digging a hole with the dagger at the wall cracks. The dagger was very sharp, and soon he dug out a round hole.
Only the width of two fingers, but through the small hole they could already see the other room. There were people guarding outside, not letting them out.
The county magistrate then passed a note through the window.
The other side quickly received the note, and then they heard Xie Rui saying his stomach hurt and he wanted to go out to see a doctor.
This was the critical moment for Lord Qiu to “create” confession letters. What did a small runner’s stomachache matter? Even if he died in the room, they wouldn’t let him out.
Sure enough, soon they heard the guards at the door telling him to be quiet.
Less than two quarters of an hour later, the Xie family indeed sent people looking.
Only then did everyone present learn that the cowardly runner Xie Rui was actually the legitimate son of the Xie family. The Xie and Gong families each controlled half of the county’s business world – they had really underestimated him before.
The person the Xie family sent was quite experienced. He only said that their young master had this diarrhea problem and asked to send a doctor in to care for him.
The subordinates reported to Lord Qiu, who snorted and said: “So much troublesome nonsense.” However, seeing that the other party was sensible and had presented two hundred taels of silver, he said: “Just send the doctor in. Don’t let anyone out.”
This was his most important moment – he couldn’t let word leak out.
“Yes.” The subordinate agreed.
