Chapter 97
Cultivate sweet potatoes? Can it be done?
Wang Dacai and Wang Facai were instantly baffled.
Back at the entrance of Liujia Village, when Li Jin was speaking with the village chief of Wangjia Village, their minds had been elsewhere. Later, they were called away by Wang Jinhua and hadn’t paid any attention at all.
Unlike her two brothers, who only had a vague understanding of sweet potatoes, Wang Jinhua, after Lan Mingzhou's mention, immediately recalled that Li Jin knew how to cultivate sweet potatoes. She quickly tried to salvage the situation, "Lord, he must have stolen the method from us. You must uphold justice for this humble woman. They are clearly wealthy people yet bully us commoners. It's truly reprehensible for the rich yet not benevolent."
Lan Mingzhou’s face darkened as he looked at Wang Dacai. "Stole it? Then why did he say 'what need is there for cultivation' earlier? Or perhaps... from the very start, you have been trying to fool this official?"
Wang Facai sensed the anger in Lan Mingzhou’s tone and immediately broke into a cold sweat. "Lord, my elder brother just misspoke a moment ago, yes, misspoke, that's why he said that."
Wang Jinhua also chimed in, "Yes, Lord, my elder brother he..."
"Enough!" Lan Mingzhou slammed the gavel heavily. "This official knows the man surnamed Li you speak of. He would never do such a thing. You may leave."
Li Jin, as the Heir of the Prince of Dingbei, had no reason to go to such trouble. If he truly wanted sweet potatoes, he only needed to ask, and someone would surely go to great lengths to find them for him. There would be no need for theft.
"Lord, you... you..."
The three Wang siblings were dumbstruck, never imagining that Lan Mingzhou and Li Jin were old acquaintances.
"What? Would you like to try ten strokes of the yamen rods before you go?" Lan Mingzhou, utterly fed up and unwilling to waste any more time, directly invoked the threat of the rods.
Sure enough, at the mention of the yamen rods, the three Wang siblings immediately lost their nerve. They hastily fled the yamen, terrified that Lan Mingzhou would actually order the punishment. Those rods were a brutal, life-threatening instrument—ten solid strikes could very well be the end of them.
"Elder Brother, the silver I spent to have someone write the plaint is completely wasted," Wang Jinhua couldn't stop lamenting the silver she had pointlessly lost, even thinking privately that if she had known it would turn out like this, she might as well have had her third brother scribble something for the plaint.
However, fortunately, Wang Jinhua didn't voice this thought aloud, or she would have surely earned a scolding from Wang Facai.
According to the laws of Da Xia, not just anyone was permitted to draft a formal plaint. Only those who held an official scholarly rank—at minimum a Tongsheng, meaning one who had passed the county-level imperial examination—were legally authorized to do so. Had Wang Facai, a commoner with no such standing, dared to write it himself, their situation today would have been far graver. Instead of facing only Lan Mingzhou's warning, they would have found themselves truly subject to those ten brutal strokes of the yamen rods.
Wang Facai shook his head. " Sister, there's nothing to be done. The Lord knows that man surnamed Li. What can we do?"
"How utterly despicable."
Wang Dacai cursed under his breath, his heart filled with resentment at the thought of letting a cooked duck fly away.
[煮熟的鸭子飞了 (zhǔ shú de yā zi fēi le): lit. a cooked duck flies away; fig. to lose something certain or within one's grasp]
"Wait a moment."
Suddenly, a servant attending a middle-aged man in fine silk robes called out to stop the three Wang siblings.
Wang Facai had a good eye for clothing and quickly discerned that the attire of the man who stopped them was very expensive. His attitude immediately changed. "Uh... you are..."
The servant replied arrogantly, "My master asks you, what you were saying just now..."
___
The Zhang, Chi, and Lu families quickly took action. To deal with Lan Mingzhou, they unexpectedly raised the price of salt within just two days, immediately making life even more difficult for the already impoverished commoners.
Of course, there was also support from the Lan family behind this; otherwise, it wouldn't have taken so little time to successfully raise the salt price.
In an instant, Lan Mingzhou became the object of resentment for the commoners who didn't know the truth.
"Sure enough, officials are no good. Just as one Chen Manzhou leaves, another even more detestable Lan Mingzhou arrives. I shouldn't have believed he was working for the people back then. These days are getting less and less hopeful, it would be better to just die."
"Yes, he clearly just wanted to win sympathy."
"What can we do? He's the county magistrate, the highest official in Zhuzhou City. We'll just wait until the day we can't hold on and starve to death."
Perhaps because the Zhang, Chi, and Lu families secretly spread the word that all of this was Lan Mingzhou's doing, the commoners became so disheartened, even saying repeatedly that they had trusted the wrong person.
___
Yamen.
Li Jin raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Magistrate Lan, you've decided to start distributing relief grain tomorrow?"
Didn't Lan Mingzhou tell me just yesterday he wanted to wait a while longer? Why has he changed his mind so abruptly... Unless he already knows what’s happening outside?
Li Jin had been having Zhou Yunting keep an eye on events in Zhuzhou City and naturally hadn't missed the fact that Lan Mingzhou was being plotted against by the Zhang, Chi, and Lu families.
Lan Mingzhou smiled bitterly. "Just now, Master Cheng sent someone to tell me that the Zhang, Chi, and Lu families have already begun raising the price of salt. If we don't act quickly, the commoners' lives will become even harder."
Ever since obtaining the relief grain from Tao Yichu, Lan Mingzhou had spent several days thinking about how to distribute it evenly, and also how to distribute it to the commoners outside the city as well. Furthermore, he was also thinking of ways to promote sweet potato cultivation in Zhuzhou. This pile of matters one after another kept Lan Mingzhou so busy he hadn't even had time to leave the yamen, so naturally, he was unaware of the commoners' anger.
Li Jin thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright. You are the Magistrate of Zhuzhou. This matter is for you to decide."
Lan Mingzhou looked at Li Jin in astonishment. "Your Highness doesn't blame me for acting impulsively?"
Before coming, Lan Mingzhou had thought of many things, expecting Li Jin to scold him and then stop his rashness. He never imagined Li Jin would support his decision.
Li Jin chuckled. "You have pledged your service to me, but you only need to assist me when necessary. You don't have to obey me in every single matter."
"Uh..."
Lan Mingzhou was speechless.
"Alright, go prepare quickly. Perhaps this decision of yours can help you reverse the situation."
"Reverse the situation? Your Highness, has something happened outside?"
"Yes." Li Jin curled the corner of his mouth meaningfully. "Something major, concerning whether you can continue serving as Magistrate of Zhuzhou..."
Seeing that the matter was now out in the open, Li Jin simply informed Lan Mingzhou about what the Zhang, Chi, and Lu families had done these past few days, so that Lan Mingzhou would have a clear understanding and wouldn't be caught off guard by the commoners' subsequent actions.
"How dare they... do such a thing."
Lan Mingzhou took a few steps back in disbelief.
"The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. It's not surprising they would do this." Li Jin shook his head. "What's most important for you now is to use this incident to firmly establish your footing in Zhuzhou and earn the trust of its people."
"Yes, Your Highness. This official will not disappoint you."
Lan Mingzhou was no pushover. Since the other party had pushed him to this point, if he retreated again, he would become a coward.
___
Lan Mingzhou was true to his word.
At the break of dawn the next day, he borrowed men from Tao Yichu and moved the counted amount of relief grain to be distributed, piece by piece, to the entrance of the yamen.
Instantly, it attracted the attention of many commoners, who began speculating about what was inside. At the same time, some commoners wondered if Lan Mingzhou was planning some new trick to use against them.
Not long after, as all the relief grain needed was brought out, Lan Mingzhou also made his appearance.
However, as soon as Lan Mingzhou appeared, many Zhuzhou commoners who had believed the false information spread by the Zhang, Chi, and Lu families began to openly accuse Lan Mingzhou.
In the past, they might have held back, not daring to offend. But now they were facing death, so why hold back? Naturally, it was time to repay grievances and settle scores.
"Lan Mingzhou, you finally show yourself! When you first came to Zhuzhou, you said you would be a good official. But now? How long has it been, and you're already colluding with those merchants, raising salt prices to harm us. Are you even human?"
"Magistrate Lan Mingzhou, I was wrong about you back then. The character for 'official' has two mouths. You and that damned previous magistrate are exactly the same."
[官字两个口 (guān zì liǎng gè kǒu): lit. the character for 'official (官)' has two mouths; fig. officials are duplicitous or speak with forked tongue]
Some angry commoners even picked up stones and threw them at Lan Mingzhou. In their eyes, Lan Mingzhou's actions were a blatant betrayal of the trust they had placed in him.
Lan Mingzhou had anticipated this ordeal, so even when hit by small stones, he made no move to avoid them. "Everyone, please hear me out."
"What is there to explain at this point?" A middle-aged man, disguised as a commoner among the crowd, began to pretend to cry. "My poor son went to buy salt today and was beaten nearly to death by the servants of a merchant who's on good terms with Magistrate Lan. He's still lying at home, badly hurt! He's my only son—how am I supposed to go on living?"
"Lan Mingzhou, you beast!"
The middle-aged man's act was quite convincing, causing even those commoners who still harbored doubts about Lan Mingzhou doing such a thing to lose faith in him.
"Lan..."
In the nick of time, just as the middle-aged man was about to intensify the smear campaign against Lan Mingzhou, a young man dressed in coarse clothes walked over, supporting the middle-aged man and saying, "Father, the physician said your illness isn't better. Why did you run out?"
"Uh..."
The Zhuzhou commoners who had intended to stand up for the middle-aged man were dumbfounded, even feeling a sense of being slapped in the face. Wasn't the son said to be beaten and lying severely injured? Who was this before them?
"Who are you? I don't know you at all."
The middle-aged man himself was confused by this stranger who had suddenly appeared and was claiming kinship.
"Father, I'm Da'an. How can you not recognize me?" Hearing the middle-aged man's words, the young man immediately became anxious. "Has your condition worsened? No, Father, you can't be in trouble. Come with me to see the physician. Your illness cannot be delayed any longer. This time, no matter what, I must take you to see a physician."
"Stop talking nonsense... uh..."
As soon as the middle-aged man started to speak, his entire body suddenly stiffened, and he couldn't utter a single word.
What’s going on? I was just fine a second ago… why can’t I speak anymore?
Having never experienced such a thing before, the middle-aged man panicked.
"Father, are you alright? Your son will take you to see a physician right away." Seeing the middle-aged man's condition, the young man quickly hoisted him onto his back and hurried towards the medical hall.
Of course, before leaving, the young man didn't forget to thank the commoners, saying he was grateful they had seen his seriously ill old father.
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