Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 28 The Treatment of Magistrate Yang

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

The Prime Minister and General Who Conquers the Barbarians of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da, imitated the lame man by using his fingers to pry open the cap of the lighter, lit it, looked at it for a while, and then closed the cap. After repeating this several times, Xu Da smiled and said, "Interesting."

After a long while, Xu Dacai continued, "When you get back, tell Magistrate Yang that I also really like the lighter he made. The craftsmen in the army will make a copy, but they will also buy a batch, so he won't suffer any losses. In addition, I will have someone send him a batch of farm tools and cattle and horses, and I will also ask for credit for him from his superiors."

The lame man bowed and replied, "Yes, I've remembered everything."

Xu Da hummed in agreement and asked, "How are you guys doing in Ningyang County? Are you getting used to it?"

The lame old man blushed slightly and replied, "The brothers are all doing well in Ningyang County, not badly at all."

Seeing the embarrassed look on Limpy Wu's face, and the fact that he was stammering when answering questions, Xu Da instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Is this dog shy?

That's really strange—back when they were fighting Chen Youliang, that scoundrel Limpy Wu became famous for urinating and sunbathing his bird in front of the two armies. What could be so embarrassing for such a seasoned veteran?

Out of curiosity, Xu Da asked with a smile, "Then tell me properly, what exactly makes it 'not bad'?"

Limpy Wu scratched the back of his head, chuckled, and said, "Reporting to the commander, it was Magistrate Yang who said that the young widows in Widow Village are struggling to make a living, and that we brothers are also lacking a loving partner. The magistrate said that if we brothers could marry a young widow, it would be a great deed."

Xu Da paused slightly, then patted the armrest of his chair and laughed, "That Magistrate Yang is quite a remarkable man, not bad, not bad. When you get married, remember to send someone to the army camp to let me know. Perhaps I can even come and ask for a cup of wedding wine."

After saying this, Xu Da had someone bring over a silver ingot: "Take these ten taels of silver back to Magistrate Yang and tell him that this is the deposit I made for him, so that he can produce more lighters. He doesn't need to worry about anyone causing him trouble; I will take care of everything."

……

On the wasteland outside Ningyang County, a dozen or so yamen runners and several dozen young men sat together in twos and threes. In front of each runner or young man was a wooden tray, and each tray was filled with steamed buns. Next to the steamed buns, there was a wooden bowl filled with egg drop soup.

Although the filling for the buns was made with wild vegetables, a lot of oil was added, along with some eggs that had been fried in oil and then chopped into small pieces. Those women used their skillful hands...

Egg drop soup is made by beating eggs into an egg liquid and then pouring it into a pot. A few eggs can make a big pot of egg drop soup. After taking a bite of a bun and a sip of hot soup, most of the fatigue will disappear.

After finishing their steamed buns, the constables and young men drank some water, chatted for a bit, and then went to the fields in twos and threes to continue weeding and turning the soil. The women of the widow's village cleaned up the trays and wooden bowls left behind by the constables and young men after their meal. The elderly and children who had eaten earlier also came over to sort and bundle the wild grass and vegetables.

Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate, was able to enjoy relatively good treatment.

The able-bodied men ate sitting on the ground, while Magistrate Yang Shaofeng had a special wooden round table to place his tray. Next to the round table were several wooden stools about a foot high, allowing Magistrate Yang to sit at the table and eat slowly.

A little further to the side, there was a wooden recliner, which was specially made by the carpenters of Ningyang County so that Magistrate Yang Shaofeng could lie down and rest for a while when he was tired.

Even the girl who tidied up the trays and bowls for Magistrate Yang Shaofeng was a pretty young girl. She was only fourteen or fifteen years old, with a slightly chubby face. Every time he asked her to tidy up the trays and bowls, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng felt guilty for bullying a good girl.

But they couldn't get rid of her. Every time they told the girl to go play by herself, she would ask Magistrate Yang Shaofeng with teary eyes, "Did I do something wrong? Does the magistrate think I'm useless?"

The girl's mother, a robust woman from the widow's village, would also wipe away her tears and say to Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, "We can't do anything else, we just wanted our maid to take care of the master's daily life, but who would have thought that the master would look down on a clumsy country girl..."

Even the old men and women chimed in, saying, "The master is a literary genius, his hands are for writing. How can he be expected to do such menial work as washing dishes? Besides, we all see it. This girl is just helping the master wash dishes, and she's always at home. It won't affect her reputation. When it comes to marriage, as long as she mentions that she washed dishes for the master, the prospective husband's family will think highly of her."

The young girl played the victim, the strong woman played the victim and morally blackmailed her, and the old men and women kept chiming in and morally blackmailing her, even escalating the matter to whether it would affect the young girl's future marriage prospects.

Then, a little tail appeared beside Magistrate Yang Shaofeng. Whenever Magistrate Yang left the city, the little tail would follow him around. He didn't talk much, but he was exceptionally diligent in doing things like washing dishes and serving tea and water.

Then, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, quickly degenerated from a promising young man of the 21st century into an official of the Ming Dynasty, and slowly began to get used to having a maid help him clean up the dishes.

When Limpy Wu hurried along, riding his fast horse from Xu Da's army in Luoyang to the outskirts of Ningyang County, he saw Magistrate Yang Shaofeng resting on a recliner, while a little girl of fourteen or fifteen was tidying up the bowls and chopsticks on the round table next to him.

No, these were originally my Fifth Uncle's business. How come a little girl has appeared and taken over my Fifth Uncle's job so soon after I left?

Looking at the yamen runners weeding and turning the soil in the distance, Lame Wu was completely bewildered.

Well, normally they all have aches and pains in their hands or feet, but now when they're working for the young widows, they can swing the hoes so fast they seem to have inexhaustible strength.

Damn it, if we just let these bastards show off in front of the young widows, what hope will I, the lame Fifth Master, have in the future?

Suppressing his curiosity about the little girl who had taken his job, and his displeasure with those bastard yamen runners, Limping Wu quickly walked up to Yang Shaofeng and said, "Your Excellency, I went to the army of Chang Pingzhang and Xu Xiang and told them about the lighter."

Yang Shaofeng jumped up from the recliner, pulled Limpy Wu to sit down at the round table, and asked, "What did Chang Pingzhang and Minister Xu say?"