Chapter 180
180 An Even More Ruined County Office
There were only a few shops on the street that were open. The shops were cold and empty, and there were no customers. The slightly decent shops were a pharmacy and a medical center.
After walking for 15 minutes, they arrived at the intersection. Li Yu sat in the carriage and saw the layout of the entire county clearly. One could walk through the four dilapidated streets in an hour. There was also the smell of pig feces.
Li Yu and the others observed Qingchuan County. The people of Qingchuan County also leaned in front of the window and looked at the few carriages parked at the intersection. They watched the carriages stop for a while before the passengers slowly walked toward the county office. “Yo! The Imperial Court sent the county magistrate here again. I wonder how long this county magistrate can work for this time!”
Arriving at the Qingchuan County office, everyone looked at the collapsed county office and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Zhou Jia sighed and said, “Ruyi, go and see if there’s anyone inside.”
Ruyi jumped out of the carriage and walked into the hall. She saw a thin old man in a shabby robe. His face was pale and he had a goatee. Ruyi cupped her hands and said, “Sir, do you know where to find the people in the county office?”
The old man narrowed his eyes and looked at Ruyi. He said coldly, “Looking for someone? I’m the only one in the entire Qingchuan County office. Young man, who are you looking for?”
“Greetings, old sir. My young master is the new county magistrate of Qingchuan County. May I know where the official residence of the county government is?”
The old man pointed at the dilapidated walls outside. “That’s it. It’s already collapsed.” With that, he ran out and shouted at the carriage, “The county magistrate is here. That’s great! Quickly give me my salary. I can then go home to buy rice.”
Zhou Jia looked at the thin old man who ran towards Mr. Qian and thought to himself, This is probably the scribe!
Zhou Jia jumped off the carriage and walked toward the scribe. He cupped his hands and said, “Why are you looking for me?”
Scribe Tu spread out his hands and said, “What’s the matter? Give me a salary! I haven’t received a salary in three years. Since you’ve taken office, give me the salary! I’m still waiting for the rice to go into the pot!”
Zhou Jia spread out his hands. “Look, I’ve only just arrived in the county city. I’m not sure about the situation in the county office either. Besides, haven’t you been in charge of the entire county office for the past few years? Why haven’t you received a salary?”
Scribe Tu looked at Zhou Jia and couldn’t say anything. He thought for a moment and said, “Then Lord Zhou can bring over your plaque for verification to carry out your duties!”
Zhou Jia nodded. “Okay, I’ll get it for you now.”
Li Yu looked at it for a while and thought to herself, “Looks like we’ll have to find a place to stay.”
Li Yu said to Ruyi, who was standing behind Zhou Jia, “Ruyi, find a nearby courtyard to rent and settle down first.”
“Yes, I’ll go look for it now.” When the scribe heard Li Yu asking Ruyi to find a place to stay, he hurriedly shouted, “Madam, rent my house. I’m the only one in my house. I can stay in the courtyard.”
Li Yu looked at the old man and smiled. “It’s not impossible to rent from you. I have to take a look first.”
Scribe Tu looked at Li Yu and smiled. “I don’t want to rent money. I just want to eat two meals.”
Li Yu smiled and nodded. “As long as we rent your house, two meals are not a big problem.”
Scribe Tu turned around nimbly and pointed at the house opposite. “Madam, look, my house is opposite the county office. It’s very convenient. Let’s go take a look!”
Ruyi looked at Li Yu, who nodded and smiled. “Alright, Ruyi, go take a look with Scribe Tu!”
Zhou Jia and Mr. Qian looked at the county office which was like a dilapidated temple and smiled bitterly. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to find another county office as dilapidated as this in Great Yong.”
Mr. Qian said with lingering fear, “Sir, the most important thing is still the city wall. Fortunately, Great Qi has not been able to invade in the past few years. If the city wall is not built properly, Great Qi can reach the Qingzhou Prefecture without any effort if they invade.”
“Yes! After I hand over the records, I’ll check if the county office still has any assets.”
Ruyi followed Scribe Tu to the opposite side. Scribe Tu pushed open the door and said to Ruyi, “Little brother, look, my house is spacious, right? It was built by my grandfather when he was alive. It has two courtyards, green bricks, and green tiles. More people can live in it.”
The courtyard was indeed quite spacious. But it was overgrown with weeds and it was dirty everywhere. “The courtyard is so dirty. Don’t you live inside?”
Scribe Tu flung his sleeves and glared at him. “I’m an old man. One room is enough for me. To clean such a big place would tire me out. Go and ask your Madam if she wants to rent it or not.”
“You don’t have to ask my Madam. Let’s make it clear first! Two meals are enough to cover the rent.”
Scribe Tu smiled. “Alright, as long as I have hot food to eat.”
Ruyi ran to the opposite side and reported to Li Yu, “Madam, the courtyard looks quite spacious. It just needs to be cleaned.”
“Alright, then bring the livestock in and unload the luggage!”
They drove the carriage to the opposite side. The scribe had already removed the threshold. The cart drove into the courtyard. Everyone unloaded their luggage and moved it into the backyard. They began to clean the weeds in the courtyard and the dust in the house.
Xiaoyu took the cloth to the kitchen and saw that the pots and pans were still there, but they were already covered in dust. The water vat was covered in dust. The few of them worked for more than an hour before the house was clean.
Ruyi and Xiaoyu brought Yang Wei to the west side of the city and bought some meat. They found a vegetable seller and bought the remaining pumpkins, winter melons, and vegetables. They even booked vegetables and fruits every day with the old man who set up a stall.
The old man couldn’t stop smiling. He whispered to the three of them, “From the looks of it, I know you guys just came to Qingchuan. Remember, don’t go out after it gets dark. The mountain bandits often come down the mountain to enter the city. Those people are unreasonable.”
Ruyi smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Uncle. We’ll be renting rooms with the Tu family opposite the government office. You can just send the dishes over after midnight every day.”
The old man nodded. “Oh! It’s Scribe Tu’s residence, right? I know. Don’t worry, I know him.”
Li Yu and Zhou Jia stood at the entrance of the Tu family’s house and looked at the dilapidated walls opposite. Li Yu pointed at the wasteland beside the broken wall of the county office and said, “Xiao Xi, the city wall and the county office can only wait for you to report it. You can build it when you have money. Ask if the wasteland beside it has an owner. If not, we’ll buy it and build houses and shops.”
Zhou Jia frowned. “Yu’er, we have to start building and reorganizing the city wall as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Great Qi recovers from the drought, we will be in trouble. I plan to ask the Imperial Censor to understand the exact situation in Qingchuan City. Tomorrow morning, I’ll get Xu Chun and the coachman to bring the letter back to Qingzhou and ask Shen Wu and Shopkeeper Chu for help. We’ll borrow some money and manpower first and ask someone to build the city wall. Also, the autumn harvest will start soon. I have to go to the periphery of the county city and spread the news that the Imperial Court has waived taxes.”