"Then please wait a moment."
Fang Yun processed the paperwork for a quarter of an hour and found that Ji Zhibai still refused to leave, so he stood up and said, "The paperwork has been processed. I will see you off, Master Ji."
"Please." Ji Zhibai said.
Ji Zhibai was in front, Fang Yun was behind, and other officials followed. They escorted Ji Zhibai out of the hall, around the warning stone tablet, and to the main entrance of the county government office.
As Fang Yun walked, he looked outside and saw many people standing, kneeling or sitting there. When they saw the crowd coming out, they all stood up.
"Ji Qingtian! Lord Ji is here!"
"Thank you, Mr. Ji!"
"Thanks to Master Ji, otherwise our family wouldn't be able to survive!"
Many people cried excitedly as if their parents had died, and it seemed that their whole life was worth it just to see Ji Zhibai.
A few people noticed Fang Yun's presence and looked ashamed, and calmed down a little.
Fang Yun frowned instinctively.
The official who followed Ji Zhibai smiled smugly, bowed to the people, and said, "Don't be like this, everyone. This is what Master Ji should do."
At this time, a lame man came with his family, holding an umbrella for all people, and walked over quickly. He knelt on the ground and cried, "Master Ji! Lord of Heaven! Thanks to your keen insight last year, otherwise our family would have been finished! Our family has set up a longevity tablet for you, and we worship you every day and offer sacrifices to you every year!"
Ji Zhibai was stunned, and quickly stepped forward to help the middle-aged lame man up, and asked happily: "It turns out to be Old Xing, how is your family doing?"
Xing Bozi nodded vigorously. He said, "Thanks to you, our family is living well. Mr. Zhang dare not do anything to us!"
Ji Zhibai nodded and said, "That's good. I am grateful for the kindness of all the elders and fellow villagers. I have no way to repay you, so I bow deeply to thank you all!" After saying this, Ji Zhibai bowed.
"No, no..." Everyone hurried to stop him.
Ji Zhibai stood up, looking embarrassed. He said, "After all, the one in charge of Ning'an County is County Magistrate Fang, so we can't make things difficult for him. Fellow villagers, you should go home. If you encounter problems that you can't solve in Ning'an County in the future, I, Ji Zhibai, will definitely be willing to help you!"
"Thank you, Master Ji!"
"Thank you, Master Ji!"
Everyone looked back every few steps, their faces filled with reluctance.
Some officials sneered unabashedly. Ji Zhibai said this to imply that Fang Yun was not as good as him in governing Ning'an County, and even meant that he might come back to attack at any time.
Fang Yun stood behind the threshold, never went out the door, and just watched coldly.
Seeing that the crowd was almost gone, Fang Yun looked at their backs expressionlessly and said, "Give me more money next time. Your performance was a bit bad."
The officials laughed secretly, thinking that only Saint Fang Xu would say that.
Ji Zhibai's face flushed with embarrassment, and he turned around and said, "County Magistrate Fang, you are the parent official of Ning'an County. I don't want to criticize you too much. But since I am about to take office as the inspector of Mizhou, I have to say a few words."
"Master Ji, what advice do you have for me? This county does not know how to make an umbrella for all the people." Fang Yun said.
Ji Zhibai seemed not to have heard Fang Yun's sarcasm, and said seriously: "There is no problem in governing the county by law, but officials must keep a benevolent and righteous heart. The law is nothing more than human feelings. In some cases, it is good for County Magistrate Fang to abide by the law. But it also leads to a loss of benevolence and righteousness!"
When the officials heard this, they realized something was wrong!
The dispute over etiquette and law has always existed. Ji Zhibai is obviously attacking Fang Yun for favoring the law and ignoring benevolence and righteousness. Once the Hall of Etiquette catches him, even if Fang Yun is a virtual saint, they will not give Fang Yun a good face. The old guys in the Hall of Etiquette are definitely the most stubborn people in Shengyuan Continent.
They dared to punish the Lei family last year, so this year they can target Fang Yun.
Fang Yun was calm and smiled as he said, "Although what Master Ji said is biased, it does make sense. If Master Ji has any advice, please tell me."
Ji Zhibai raised his head and said, "Since County Magistrate Fang is so quick-witted, I will teach you how to be an official..."
Ao Huang was annoyed and said angrily: "Ji Zhibai, be careful, are you qualified to teach Xu Sheng how to be an official?"
Ji Zhibai laughed and said calmly: "No one is born knowing. If you ask me to teach Fang Xusheng the way of poetry, that would be outrageous, but if you teach Fang County Magistrate the way of being an official, that would be natural. Prince Huang, are you going to interfere in the political affairs of Jing State?"
Ao Huang rolled his eyes at Ji Zhibai and snorted, "Be careful with me! You're such a pig-like opponent!"
Ji Zhibai's face flashed with annoyance. He ignored Ao Huang and looked at Fang Yun and continued, "I have heard about the case judged by County Magistrate Fang. I remember that on the fifth day of your appointment, you encountered such a case. A poor farmer felt that a rich doctor treated him recklessly, so he ran to the doctor's house to make trouble. As a result, he was stopped by the doctor's servants. During the quarrel, many expensive medicines were scattered and the farmer was injured. County Magistrate Fang, you, according to the law, make a judgment and let the farmer compensate the doctor for the medicine. But what happened next? The farmer sold his family's thin land to pay for the compensation."
Fang Yun asked: "Is there anything wrong?"
Ji Zhibai shouted, "Of course not! After your judgment, the farmer lost everything and his family lived in misery. As for the doctor? He is very rich and does not lack those dozens of taels of silver. For him, even if the farmer does not pay the money, it is no big deal. You seem to be fair, but you ruined a family! When I was the magistrate of Ning'an County, I also encountered a similar thing. Do you know how I judged it?"
"Just say it." Fang Yun still didn't care.
Ji Zhibai said: "Then I will tell you! You also saw Xing the lame man just now. Do you know how his left leg became lame? His leg was broken by the cow from Mr. Zhang's family!" Having said this, Ji Zhibai deliberately paused and looked at Fang Yun.
Fang Yun thought for a moment and said, "This county knows about this case. It was lame Xing who was idle. When he saw Mr. Zhang's cow grazing, he went to tease the cow. As a result, the cow got scared and knocked him down, breaking his legs. Finally, the cow ran away and disappeared. Afterwards, you ruled that Mr. Zhang was at fault and made him pay for all the medical expenses. Speaking of this, this county will also accuse you of abusing the law and dereliction of duty!"
Ji Zhibai laughed again and said, "Fang Yun, Fang Yun, you are so conceited about your intelligence, but you have no sense of justice. Although Xing Bozi made a mistake, you don't know that he not only has an old mother to support, but also a wife and two young children. If I don't sentence Mr. Zhang to compensate for his medical expenses, but to pay for the ox, the Xing family will probably be ruined! For Mr. Zhang, an ox and those medical expenses are insignificant. Can you watch Xing Bozi's family be ruined because of his minor mistake? Oh, you can, your punishment of that farmer is completely inhumane and without any human feelings! County Magistrate Fang, I tell you that they are people with flesh and blood and emotions, not cold laws!"
Some officials looked worried, Ji Zhibai hit Fang Yun's weakness.
The harsh legalism of the Qin Dynasty, coupled with its tyranny, led to rebellion among the people. Officials in later generations became much more cautious, and overly harsh judgments would inevitably attract criticism.
.(To be continued)