Poor Family

  Chapter 546 A new official takes office

The spring of the third year of Xuanhe has already arrived, and there is a lot of vitality everywhere. From time to time, piles of white clouds like mountains float in the sky, covering the warm sun. In the fields on both sides of the bank, farmers can be seen busily fertilizing and weeding the wheat fields. There are large thick green forests everywhere, and flocks of larks fly over the forests and come towards the river.

This is the Yangtze River in Ezhou. Two thousand-stone ships are sailing slowly on the river. The white sails are hung high and blown by the east wind. Li Yanqing is standing on the bow with his hands behind his back, and the river wind is blowing his clothes. He admired the beautiful scenery on the south bank of the Yangtze River. In the distance, the low mountains were shrouded in hazy mist and rain, just like the rendering of an ink painting. There was a shepherd boy riding on the back of an ox playing the flute horizontally by the river, just like a beautiful pastoral scroll.

Li Yanqing set off from the capital seven days ago. He, his wife Cao Yun, his concubine Guo Sisi, and his younger sister Hu Qing'er took a big boat, while Mo Jun, Liu Fang and other followers took another big boat. They went down from Caihe River. The Huaihe River entered the Yangtze River through Yangzhou, and then went westward against the river. After walking for seven days, it finally entered the territory of Jiayu County, Ezhou.

At this time, Li Yanqing suddenly felt someone put a coat on him. When he turned his head, he saw his newlywed Cao Yun standing behind him. Bright and beautiful, Li Yanqing smiled, and lightly patted Cao Yun's delicate and smooth little hand, Cao Yun pursed his lips and smiled, "It's windy at the bow of the ship, husband, let's go into the cabin!"

  “I really like the scenery here, it feels more vibrant than in the north.”

   "I like it too, especially the mountains over there are like ink paintings, surrounded by clouds and mist, as if there are gods living there. I really want to draw a good one when I have time." Cao Yun pointed to Yule Mountain in the distance.

   "You should have a chance, this is already Jiayu County."

   "Ah! Has it arrived yet?"

  Li Yanqing pointed to the front and said with a smile: "Twenty miles ahead is Jiayu County."

   "It seems that there are not many people. We only saw a few villages."

   "The land here is vast and sparsely populated. Jiayu County is three times larger than Tangyin County, but its population is only 80% of Tangyin County's. Moreover, the transportation is not convenient. Here we mainly rely on boats."

   "Husband, it seems that Huangzhou is nearby."

   "We passed Huangzhou last night, but it's really not far away. It won't take a day's flight, if the lady wants to go to Chibi." Li Yanqing looked at his wife with a smile.

  Cao Yun held her husband's arm, her eyes glistening with joy, "I've been wanting to read Layman Dongpo's Fu on the Red Cliff since I read it."

   "Okay, let's go together when I settle down."

  At this time, a gust of wind from the river blew, and Cao Yun shivered. Li Yanqing hurriedly said: "It's windy here, let's go back to the cabin."

The cabin is very large, divided into upper and lower floors, the upper floor is their sleeping cabin, and the lower floor is the living and resting place. Inside the cabin, Sisi is teaching Hu Qinger how to embroider. When living in Chicang Town, Hu Qinger suddenly fell in love with embroidery for some reason. In addition to practicing flying stones, she also devoted herself to learning embroidery.

  Seeing Li Yanqing coming in, Sisi got up and said with a smile, "Fu Lang, it's almost time!"

  Li Yanqing nodded, "There is still half an hour at most, we can clean up now!"

   "Yunniang, let's go upstairs and pack our belongings!"

  Sisi and Cao Yun went upstairs, Hu Qinger was in a hurry, "Wait for me!"

She hurriedly put away the embroidery frame, and ran out with a blushing face. Along the way, Li Yanqing found that Hu Qing'er had become silent and rarely talked to herself. She didn't know what was on her mind, but if he had a chance, he would ask about it. think.

  At this time, the boss of the boat said at the door: "Report to the officials, we will arrive in Jiayu County in a dozen miles, officials, let's get ready!"

   "Thanks a lot!"

  Li Yanqing walked out of the cabin, he finally saw the county town in the distance, which was built by the river, Li Yanqing heaved a long sigh of relief, and finally arrived.

Jiayu County is an upper county with a circumference of more than 20 miles from the city. There are about 5,000 households and more than 35,000 people in the county. Most of them live in the county seat and the surrounding area within 20 miles. But there are many, and most of them come from slightly remote counties to make a living. The water transportation here is convenient, the commerce is relatively developed, and the conditions are much better than those in remote places.

The former magistrate was transferred away a month ago, and now the county magistrate is vacant. The county magistrate, county magistrate, and chief bookkeeper are in charge of county government affairs. Since the county magistrate in the Song Dynasty had no real power and was even abolished for a time, the county magistrate and chief bookman of Jiayu County are the same people.

  The news that Li Yanqing, the censor, was deposed as Jiayu had already reached the county seat, and the letter of appointment was delivered first.

When Li Yanqing's boat arrived at the riverside wharf, two county magistrates had already heard the news and came out of the city to greet him. At the same time, there were also a large group of county officials, policemen, government servants and more than a dozen squires who came to welcome Xinzhi County. At the order of Yang Ju, the county magistrate and director, the gongs and drums were beating immediately on the bank, and it was extremely lively, and many people also ran out of the city to watch the excitement.

  The boat plank landed on the shore, Li Yanqing walked down quickly, the county magistrate Yang Ju hurried forward and said: "Xiaguan County magistrate Yang Ju sees the county magistrate!"

  Li Yanqing took a closer look at him. This county magistrate was less than thirty years old, with a medium build and slightly dark skin. He looked very smart and capable, but Li Yanqing always felt that he had seen him before.

   "Yang Xiancheng, we seem to have met?"

  Yang Ju laughed, "Xiaguan was also admitted in the same subject as Li Yushi, and there were 122 candidates in the Xiaguan Palace Examination."

  Li Yanqing was overjoyed, "It turned out to be a Jinshi of the same discipline. What a coincidence, I wonder where Yang Xiancheng is from?"

   "Xiaguan, a native of Jiangxia County, has received mercy from the Holy Grace, and I can return to my hometown to serve again."

   "It turns out that I am from my hometown. I will ask the county magistrate to take care of me in the future!"

"sure!"

  Yang Xiancheng introduced Li Yanqing to the county magistrate. The county magistrate was converted from a county magistrate. His name was Zhou Ping. He was about fifty years old and had a big rosacea nose.

   "There is no boss in this county, just a low-ranking official." Yang Xiancheng explained to Li Yanqing with a smile.

  Li Yanqing nodded, at this time, more than a dozen country gentry rushed forward to greet Li Yanqing.

Li Yanqing waved his hands and smiled at everyone: "The so-called benefiting one place in any direction, although I came from the capital, but from today onwards, I will be the parent official of Jiayu County. , not dizzy, not lazy, I hope I can bring a clear and bright atmosphere to Jiayu County."

  Everyone applauded together, and an old squire said: "Today we will cleanse the county king at Wangjiang Tower!"

   "I accept everyone's wishes, and I am also exhausted all the way. I need to settle down first. Let's talk about the wind up later!"

  Yang Ju also said to everyone: "Let the county monarch rest first! Everyone go back, there will be a chance to meet in the future."

Seeing that Li Yanqing refused to go to the banquet, everyone had to disperse, but everyone was not disappointed. All the gentry hoped to come to a clean and honest magistrate, so that their lives would be easier. If a corrupt official came, they would bear the brunt of being skinned and scraped .

At this time, Cao Yun, Guo Sisi, and Hu Qing'er also got off the boat, followed by their respective maidservants. All three of them were wearing veiled hats to hide their faces. .

  Li Yanqing waited until the next boat docked, let Mo Jun and Liu Fang get into an ox cart, and he got on his horse and walked in front of the ox cart towards the county.

Although Jiayu County is far from being comparable to the capital city, the bustle of the county is similar to that of Tangyin County. There are many small shops in the city, and the architectural styles are also different. Tangyin County is mainly flat-roofed, while The houses here are all with sloping roofs, covered with dense black tiles, and Ezhou is rich in lime, so every household has painted the exterior walls white, which looks like white walls and black tiles, quite a southern style.

  In addition, there are obviously more trees than in Tangyin County. Small forests can be seen everywhere in the county, which is also a concrete manifestation of abundant rain and warm climate.

  The main road on the central axis of Jiayu County is called Shayang Avenue, which is the old name of Jiayu County. The main road is quite wide and can accommodate five ox carts in parallel. It is paved with stone slabs and looks relatively clean, with big trees on both sides.

The county magistrate, Yang Ju, also rode a horse, and introduced the situation of the county to Li Yanqing along the way, "Except for a few shops near the north gate, this north-south main road has no shops in other areas, and stalls are not allowed. Basically, there are Official residences and rich families, businesses are on the main east-west road, that’s where it’s called lively.”

   "There is..." Li Yanqing saw a relatively grand building, quite like a temple.

   "That is the Confucian Temple, and it is also the county school."

  Li Yanqing nodded, suddenly remembered something, "Let's have a try this year!"

Yang Ju nodded and said with a smile: "The county exam in June, those who pass the exam will go to Jiangxia County, the state government, to take the Fajie Examination. The specific date for the Fajie Examination has not yet been set, it will probably be in October. After passing the Fajie Examination, next year many scholars My son is about to go to Beijing to catch the exam."

   "How is the level of Jiayu County?"

"It's not bad. There are more than 30 people who have passed the Fajie Examination in each session, accounting for 30% of Ezhou. Last time, there were six Jinshi in Ezhou, and there were three in Jiayu County. The style of study here is very strong. According to the usual practice, the county lord must also Take one day a month to go to the county school to give lectures."

   "Really good!"

  Li Yanqing saw passers-by on the road standing sideways and bowing to him one after another, he couldn't help but secretly nodded, this is a respectful county.

  (end of this chapter)