On this day, Ye Lingyue and other members of Huang Quan's team took stock of the grain in the entire granary.
I don’t know if I don’t take inventory. After this inventory, Ye Lingyue quickly discovered the problem.
There is less food in Beicang.
And it's not a lack in the general sense, the grain in the entire North warehouse has decreased by fifty tons.
Fifty dan is not a small amount, in conversion, it is equivalent to five thousand catties of grain.
And what's weird is that these fifty dan were lost not long ago.
Ye Lingyue immediately called the old man who was in charge of Beicang to come and ask questions.
But Ye Lingyue asked several times, and the old man pretended to be deaf and dumb, as if he couldn't hear clearly.
"Old man, you don't need to put on airs anymore. I have observed it a long time ago. You can move freely and your hearing is no problem at all. There are doctors in our team, so it is useless for you to pretend. Tell me, where did the food go? , if you can’t answer, I’ll report to the county magistrate immediately.”
Ye Lingyue frowned, and suddenly shouted angrily.
After drinking this, the old man was so frightened that his knees gave way, and he knelt down with a common sound.
"My lord, my lord, please spare my life. The small one didn't do it on purpose. The small one really had a reason, and those grains were not stolen by a petty black heart. They were all life-saving grains."
After all, the old man kowtowed his head and begged for mercy until his forehead was stained with blood, and he still refused to stop.
The people on behalf of the team saw each other and looked at each other in blank dismay, but senior sister Wan Yun couldn't stand it any longer, she went up and forcibly pulled the old man up, and the old man calmed down after being comforted.
"My lord, it's useless for the little one to talk too much. Please go to a place with the little one. You will understand when you see it with your own eyes."
The old man sighed, and then left Beicang with Ye Lingyue and others.
The old man took Ye Lingyue out of a village about four or five miles away in Fang'e County.
The village is close to the mountain, and there are probably thousands of villagers in the mountain, which is one of the many villages under Fang'e County.
As soon as she entered the village, Ye Lingyue felt something was wrong.
She noticed that the vegetation in the entire village, including the vegetation in the nearby mountain terraces, had dried up.
The animals in the barn were also staggering and looking hungry and thirsty.
The people in the village are all pale and thin.
A few children held a broken bowl in their hands, staring at Ye Lingyue and the others with dark eyes.
"Sister, give me something to eat. I haven't had enough to eat for several days."
A little girl with braids came to Ye Lingyue's side and tugged at the corner of her clothes.
There was a "click" in everyone's heart.
"Old man, what's going on, you stole so much food, why are these children still starving, you can't be filling your own pockets!"
Qin Xiaochuan grabbed the old man who was watching the warehouse and questioned him sharply.
"Xiaoyu, what are you doing here, go away."
A woman heard the movement and ran out of a dilapidated house in a hurry. When she saw Ye Lingyue and others, she picked up the child in her arms and ran away in a hurry.
"What is this for? We are not monsters that can eat people."
Photon was dissatisfied.
He is the pillar of the Moonlight troupe that everyone loves to see flowers bloom. He is not surrounded by a crowd of supporters when he goes there. Why are the people in the village seeing them, and the ground tigers are very scared.
"My lord, don't get angry, put down the little one first, the little one is almost out of breath." The old man begged Qin Xiaochuan with a sad face.
Ye Lingyue gave Qin Xiaochuan a look, and Qin Xiaochuan let go of him.
"These villagers regard you as tax collectors, and the food in the village has not filled their pockets, so they are placed in the village head's house."
The old man shook his head, and led Ye Lingyue to the village chief's house.
In the backyard of the village chief's house, there was indeed a large amount of grain neatly piled up, and upon inspection, there was no shortage of grain.
"Village chief, what is going on here? Why isn't the food in the village distributed to the villagers?"
Ye Lingyue's face was full of anger.
"My lord, you don't know. These grains cannot be moved. These grains are used to pay taxes. If there is a load missing, the whole village will suffer."
The village head was frowning, and then he told Ye Lingyue the whole story.
It turned out that this village was called Pan Village, and the village has lived on planting sorghum rice for generations.
Because the water and soil in this area are very suitable for the growth of sorghum rice, two seasons can be planted a year.
Fang'e County collects a certain grain and rice tax from the village every year.
Originally, there was always surplus food in the village, and after paying the taxes, the villagers could still make ends meet.
But just three or four months ago, the wells and rivers in the village dried up for unknown reasons.
In addition, in the past few months, the weather in Fang'e County has been dry and rainless, and the village does not even have enough water for people and animals, let alone watering the grain fields.
Seeing that in a few months, the village will have to pay the grain tax again. The village chief saw that the village could not produce grain, and was afraid that the county magistrate and others would investigate and the life of the villagers would be worsened, so he had to contact the old man who guarded grain in Fang'e County Liu Tou, let him secretly smuggle some rice grain out from Beicang.
"I didn't intend to take these rice grains privately. These are county grains, and if one is missing, I will lose my head. I just plan to fool around this time. After the drought in the village passes, I will pay some grains privately. "
The village chief sighed.
Guarding the food, but only making the villagers starve, as the village chief, he was heartbroken to see such a scene.
In order to make a living, some young and middle-aged people in the village have already left Pan Village, leaving only a few widowed old people, children and women in the village. As a result, the farmland is even more left unattended.
The villagers have to eat one meal a day, and they are even more strapped for water.
"Grandpa, I'm thirsty."
The little grandson of the village head's family nestled pitifully beside the village head, his lips were already cracked in small holes because of thirst.
The village head's eyes were sour, and a few drops of muddy old tears rolled out of his eyes.
"With such a serious drought, why didn't you tell the county to reduce or exempt taxes earlier?"
After hearing this, Ye Lingyue asked, and took out a few water bags from the storage bag. The little guy's eyes lit up when he saw the water, but he didn't dare to take it.
It wasn't until the old village chief nodded that the little guy hurriedly took the water bag and ran out, presumably to distribute it to his family.
"My lord, you are from a foreign country, so you don't know anything. The county magistrate is a bastard. He used to use his power to force every village to pay taxes on time. If he didn't pay attention, he would beat and kick him. A while ago , but I heard that a team of demon hunters came to the county, and they suppressed the county magistrate. But the county magistrate has become their minion since then. After they came, they levied additional taxes, saying yes What kind of meritorious service do you want to accumulate? In this way, the life of the nearby villages will be even more difficult. If any village fails to pay, it will be imprisoned at least, and its head will be lost at worst."
When the village chief mentioned the monster hunter, his heart palpitated.