Winter in Ha Yin begins with the first snow.
The first snow this year came earlier than in previous years. The north wind howled and whistled, and just the sound gave me the illusion of a cold body. Fortunately, the snow was not heavy. . . But there is a chemistry test question that says it well: it is not cold when it snows, but it is cold when the snow melts.
The people had limited warm clothing to carry with them.
There is plenty of food in the valley, but it is not suitable for wintering. Therefore, even though they know that now is not a good time, Shen Tang and Qi Shan discussed with others and decided to lead their troops into Heyin in advance.
After nearly twenty days of secret sweeps, incorporation, and training, the force was barely increased to two thousand men, plus the original ones, and with the one thousand men who came to help out of friendship from Zhao Feng, the size of three thousand was not too shabby and was barely acceptable.
The expected indicators have been initially achieved.
He Yin official road.
On this day, there was light snow falling from the sky.
Near noon, thousands of people appeared on the official road.
There's something strange about these people.
The outermost circle of people were in uniform formation, mostly young and strong men wearing uniform or similar clothing, with a gleam of light in their eyes and a hint of murderous intent on their brows. Some were riding or walking, wearing half-new cloth armor and holding various weapons.
Always be alert to possible unexpected events from the outside world.
The people in the middle circle were thin and haggard old people, women and children, wearing clothes that had been patched many times.
The whole team was like a slowly crawling insect, moving slowly forward on the official road. Apart from the sound of footsteps and horse hooves, there was only the occasional whisper, which was barely orderly. Perhaps because they were about to reach their destination and saw hope, the group of people gradually showed some joy on their faces, and even their heavy and tired steps became a little lighter...
However, this is not the strangest thing.
There were clearly tiny drops of snow, but not a single drop fell on anyone's shoulders; there was clearly a cold north wind, but even the babies in the team didn't feel much of the cold... The snow and wind were all blocked by an invisible force.
Not to mention the ice and snow that were devastating, even the wind blowing on them carried a hint of lazy warmth.
"Hehe, the Word Spirit is really useful."
At the front of the team.
Shen Tang took out a few candies from the purse on his waist and threw them into the air. He tilted his head back, opened his mouth, and swallowed them down.
She popped one into her mouth.
He also generously shared it with Lin Feng and Tu Rong.
"Come, have a taste."
Chu Yao: "Eating too much can easily damage your teeth."
Wu Lang would feed the two children maltose whenever he had time. Which child could resist the temptation of sweets? Even if they used a toothbrush to brush their teeth and rinse their mouths twice a day, it would still cause tooth decay. Shen Tang didn't think so. The two children had to avoid eating this and that during the mourning period. It was okay for them to eat a few more maltose to relieve their cravings.
Even if the teeth are broken—
Perhaps there is a magical word in the world that can cure toothache.
Everything is possible.
The focus of praying for good is not "bad teeth".
"Word spirits are useful, but they are not used in this way."
He discovered that any spiritual words would become "abnormal" in the hands of Young Master Shen. For example, now he actually proposed that several scholars take turns to use spiritual words to maintain the temperature of the marching environment.
Although the team has been shrunk as much as possible to reduce the area in order to ease the pressure on the scholars, the soldiers and civilians still number over 6,000! No matter how much they are reduced, it is still quite impressive.
If Zhao Feng hadn't felt "unbearable" when seeing this situation and hadn't taken the initiative to suggest that the 1,000 men under his command were good at resisting the cold, it would have been really bad.
Shen Tang touched his nose.
Some also feel guilty that they have "exploited" too much.
But she couldn't do anything about it.
Firstly, she was poor and did not have the financial resources to buy thick enough winter clothes; secondly, the elderly, weak, women and children who followed them did not carry many warm clothes. If they did not use this method to maintain the temperature, many people would die just from marching in the snow.
Shen Tang argued convincingly.
"It doesn't matter whether it's a literary or martial word spirit, as long as it can solve the problem, it's a good word spirit. Who said that a word spirit like 'Hi Nuan Feng He' can't be used in this way?"
It’s good that “Even if I have no clothes, I will share my clothes with you.”
Such words as "The warm rain and sunny wind have just broken the frost, the willow eyes and plum cheeks have already felt the spring heart beating", "The late sun makes the mountains and rivers beautiful, and the spring breeze makes the flowers and plants fragrant" are also possible. Consuming some literary energy can save a lot of money on keeping warm, which is very cost-effective.
Qishan: “…”
He already knew Shen Tang's temper and was used to certain things, but Young Master Shen always managed to play with the power of words in new ways.
Qishan knew very well that this would not be the last time.
Haha, his guess was right.
Heyin is a poor and mountainous area with bad water. Shen Tang has no one to use. If he does not expect talented and capable scholars and warriors to work hard, how can he expect the common people who are suffering from hunger and poverty and do not even have the freedom to farm to work
Shen Tang had already figured out how to use Zhao Feng and the others, but she didn't say it, and Gu Chi didn't tell her either.
He Yin is not very large.
Although it is called a county, it is actually only slightly larger than a county.
The seat of government was in a small place called "Fugu".
Shen Tang had already sent someone with his seal to Fugu to inform them. As soon as they entered Fugu, the few officials in Fugu had been waiting for a long time. Compared with the leisure of Shen Tang and others, these officials were actually very nervous.
Ha Yin is isolated from the public.
They don't know much about Shen Tang.
At first sight, several people were puzzled.
Looking at the young scholars beside Shen Tang, he wondered which one of them was the new county magistrate Shen Youli
They each have their own unique temperament, and they all seem to look alike.
Until Shen Tang stepped out and revealed his identity.
Several people: “…”
Shen Tang didn't know what they were thinking, so he said, "No need to be polite, let's find a place to settle these people in my account first."
She looked at the official uniforms of several people, which were starched and bleached, and the clothes were covered with patches of similar colors. She wondered in her heart - Heyin is a poor and mountainous area with bad waters. The place is poor and small, and there are many rich evil people. But isn't it unscientific that the officials are so poor
Several people looked at each other.
Shen Tang saw that they looked embarrassed.
Then he asked, “Is there any problem?”
One of them made up his mind and said, "Mr. Shen, you don't know that Fu Gu's treasury is empty. I'm afraid, I'm afraid that they can't accommodate so many people."
Shen Tang said: "I brought food and fodder."
I thought it was a big deal.
Several people breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
In fact, Fu Gu was even poorer than they said. It would be difficult for her to feed thousands of people, let alone a few hundred.
On the way, Gu Chi and Shen Tang whispered.
He asked with a smile, "My Lord, do you know how poor Fugu is?"
Shen Tang rolled her eyes inwardly. There were a lot of dilapidated houses on the street, and few civilians. Each person had a dozen or so patched clothes, and they had to rely on shivering and faith to keep warm... She was somewhat prepared for how poor it was. Unexpectedly, Gu Chi said, "It's more than that."
oh
Not only that
Isn’t this poor enough
Shen Tang had done some research. She learned a lot about the situation under the jurisdiction of He Yin from Bai Su, especially the jurisdiction of Fu Gu. But after Gu Chi said this, she was worried.
Gu Chi looked determined, with a teasing smile on his face, "These officials will recover from their illness in a few days."
The so-called "transferring illness" means asking for leave due to illness.
Of course, this is a euphemism for resignation.
Shen Tang: “???”
Gu Chi sighed and said, "Three of them haven't received any monthly salary for thirteen months..."
The rest are also miserable.
The family is so poor that they can barely afford to eat.
The only reason I'm still on the job is because of my sense of responsibility.
The treasury was so poor that even mice didn't want to visit.
Some of the petty officials under him have already run away.
These officials planned to try to find out if Shen Tang was willing to help pay off the salary arrears out of his own pocket. No matter how much, they could have a good time when they got it back home. As for "transferring illness", it was because they were too poor and wanted to find other ways to make a living.
In addition, Shen Tang has a lot of people under his command, so there should be someone to take over the work of "transferring the disease", which made them more determined.
Shen Tang: “…”
This is too miserable...
But wait until she sees where she's going to live.
She then realized that she had thought too early.
"Ahem - how long has it been since this place was cleaned?" Shen Tang wiped off a handful of dust. Wow, it was a thick layer.
Look up at the beams again—
“Isn’t this definitely a dangerous building?”
Shen Tang was poor, and his administration was poor.
When these two meet, they become even poorer.
She suspected that if she kicked the pillar, the whole house would collapse and bury them all alive. Shen Tang felt that the most urgent thing was not to think about how to solve the survival crisis, but to find some people and some wood to reinforce the broken house.
Otherwise, she couldn't sleep well at night.
The officials looked at it and were worried.
I was afraid that Shen Tang would be unhappy about this.
"It's really... so poor..." Shen Tang covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves to breathe, and then he felt a little better. He turned around and asked the officials who followed him, "Do you usually handle the government affairs of the government? Do you have the archives and household registers? Where are the keys to the treasury?"
If it were a wealthy place, the new official Shen Tang would want to "seize power" right from the start, and the original team would be somewhat unhappy and would not cooperate in their actions. However, Heyin is too poor, and these officials are eager to escape.
After Shen Tang mentioned this, they handed it over without hesitation.
Then-
Gu Chi heard Shen Tang holding his head and screaming in his heart.
WTF! WTF! WTF!
He subconsciously raised his hands to cover his ears.
But it's of no use.
Gu Chi said: "My Lord!"
Shen Tang's entire appearance was about to fade.
He said listlessly: "Don't bother me???."
She just wants to be alone now.
My goodness, several rooms were filled with unfinished government affairs, and various files and bamboo slips were almost piled up to the beams, leaving almost no room for anyone to step. For a moment, she didn't know whether to be thankful that the beams would not collapse and crush her, or to lament her foreseeable life as a social animal...
She'd better be a bandit.
Hug yourself tightly because of the pain.
Several officials watched Shen Tang's face turn pale and blue, and they were getting nervous, fearing that Shen Tang would make trouble and accuse him of "malfeasance" to establish his authority. They didn't want to do that, but the public security in Heyin was extremely chaotic, with all kinds of things happening every day, and the number of staff in the administrative office was decreasing. They were willing to deal with it but unable to solve it.
It can only pile up day by day.
Then-
The more it piles up, the more it gets.
At present, these are the result of the previous winter being very cold and there being no charcoal to burn, so they secretly took some of it as firewood for heating, otherwise there would be more. Shen Tang just sighed, and that sigh was heavy and sad, with a sad complexity.
"Let's go check the treasury again."
She never gives up.
Maybe even mice don't bother with exaggeration.
However, when she saw the dusty treasury and the stench of long-lost light in the air, she was completely desperate.
this-
It's a complete mess.
Shen Tang held his forehead with his hand.
She felt that she had overthought before. There was no need to go to Heyin to collect bandits first, because poverty was the biggest survival crisis. As the governor of Heyin County, she would not be feared by those noble families in such a poor Heyin.
"Mr. Shen, the account books have been moved."
Bang, bang, bang, bang, several baskets.
Shen Tang knew without even looking that the deficit was a number she couldn't imagine, but she still took a look without giving up - she endured the headache as she looked at the complicated records that she was not used to, and quickly made a rough calculation in her mind - and then, her heart sank even more.
Even the pacemaker doesn't work.
Looking at the despairing Shen Xiaolangjun, Qi Shan comforted him: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Although we are a little poor..."
Shen Tang corrected his wording.
"Not 'a little poor'."
Not only poor, but also in debt.
Qi Shan: "—But think on the bright side, it is precisely because we are poor and have no way out that it is more suitable for us to display our talents."
The only advantage of a place that is so poor that people have to eat dirt is that there are fewer people who make trouble, and more people who can be brought in by themselves. After taking office, various policies can be implemented without obstacles. If you take over a county where there are old people who make decisions, it will be troublesome.
This was the only way Shen Tang could comfort himself.
Anyway, she has no chance to enjoy the good life.
Led by several officials, Shen Tang toured the small Fugu City, silently noting down what needed to be repaired and what needed to be torn down and rebuilt. Soon, a rough outline of the new Fugu City emerged in his mind.
The walls of Fugu were not high, and some of them had collapsed and peeled off, with dead vines and mosses crawling in the cracks. There were only a few gray-haired old soldiers standing guard at the gate. The wind was very cold, and the clothes they wore could not keep them warm, so they could only hide behind the dilapidated door and stamp their feet to keep warm.
When he saw Shen Tang and his group, he was so scared that his face turned pale.
Shen Tang looked at him and didn't speak harshly as he imagined. Instead, she waved her hand and told him to do his own thing. Seeing this, the official believed that Shen Tang was a good-tempered person, but he also felt that she was too young.
Ha Yin's problem is not as simple as being poor.
If it was just poverty, these officials, though mediocre and not rich, would never be so poor. After all, they all came from poor backgrounds and understood the suffering of the common people. They could not bring welfare to the common people, but they would not do evil either.
"Mr. Shen, be careful with your steps."
The steps of the city wall vary in height.
The bricks and stones are still loose in some places.
It is very easy to lose balance once you step on it.
Shen Tang climbed to the highest point easily as if he were walking on flat ground. He looked out over the entire Fugu City which was filled with an atmosphere of poverty and soon noticed that there was something strange about the buildings in the city.
If Fugu City is divided into nine parts with the central axis as the center, the buildings in the northeast area close to the core position have neat and thick eaves and exquisite gate layout.
The long corridor is winding and the rockery and water are gurgling.
A hint of luxury in a low-key manner.
Beyond that, it's messy.
They are clearly two completely different worlds.
Shen Tang had a guess in his mind, but still pointed.
"Where is that?"
Several officials' faces turned pale and they stammered.
Shen Tang said: "There is nothing that cannot be said."
They thought that Shen Tang would know everything about Fugu City sooner or later, and Shen Jun would know it even if they didn't say it.
Then he confessed everything.
However, they also don't want to offend the local bosses.
Worried about retaliation.
Each one of them spoke in a tactful way.
It is said that those families are all wealthy families in Fugu City.
－－－－－－－Off-topic－－－－－－－