The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1505 Buying and Selling are Equally Punished
"Third Master, you've really had a tough time this time, going ten days and ten nights without sleep. Come, come, on behalf of the people of Chun'an, I'd like to offer you a toast."

Inside the county government office, in the residence of the county magistrate, Tian Youlu had his wife prepare a sumptuous meal to entertain Wang Yan, who had just woken up from a long nap.

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile: "How can one go ten days and ten nights without sleeping? I would have died long ago by now. I did sleep in between. If we're talking about hard work, who in Chun'an isn't working hard? Isn't your Second Master working hard? If it weren't for Second Master's busy efforts in raising money, food and supplies, how could the problem have been solved so smoothly? Second Master is a senior, and I, a junior, should be toasting Second Master."

"Hahaha……"

Tian Youlu laughed happily, clinked glasses with Wang Yan and drank, "Brother, I'm relieved to hear you speak like this. I was just afraid you were some clueless newbie who didn't know anything, who was honest and upright and wanted to stand up for the people."

"Can't make the decision?"

“It can’t be done!” Tian Youlu shook his head repeatedly. “You said it yourself, this territory is ruled by those big shots and those insignificant low-ranking officials. We deal with the higher-ups, and they deal with us. Everyone is confused. We have an explanation to give to the higher-ups, and they have an explanation to give to us.”

"But if the two of us start fighting, we won't be able to explain ourselves to our superiors, nor will we be able to stabilize the situation among those below us. Neither of us will make any money. You passed the imperial examination at such a young age and ran off to become an official; I suppose your family wasn't well-off, so you took a gamble and spent a lot of money, didn't you?"

"Second Master, you can see clearly that I am all alone and have no one to rely on. I have sold all my land in Liaodong, which is why I have taken this job."

"So, my dear Third Master, we brothers should work together to earn a fortune as soon as possible, and then you can take the imperial examination. That will give you a bright future."

"Second Master, I come from a poor family. I studied and took the imperial examinations to improve my own life, which is true. But as the saying goes, geese leave their calls as they fly by, and people leave their names as they pass through life. I can't just let all the knowledge I've gained go to waste. Now that I'm doing well, I want the people to do the same. I can't become an official and have the people pointing fingers at me and cursing me behind my back."

Wang Yan ate his food with a smile, "What do you think, Second Master?"

Tian Youlu took a sip of wine, sighed, and shook his head: "Brother, do you think I want to bear this infamy? But there's nothing I can do. Do you think officials are always in charge wherever they go? You see, if the people below don't cooperate, what we say is worthless. Not only worthless, but if we upset them, even if they kill us, there's nothing we can do."

Moreover, we brothers are junior officers, I'm an eighth-rank official and you're a ninth-rank official. Our words don't carry much weight; it's the seventh-rank magistrate in charge who holds the seal. If they're on good terms with the powerful families, and we oppose them, things will definitely not go well. If they oppose the powerful families, we can't follow suit; we have to be careful, otherwise we'll easily become the chickens used to scare the monkeys. We're caught in the middle, worse off than concubines..."

He waved his hand and said instead, "Let's not talk about that anymore, my dear brother. You know I never intended to harm you. You've seen my family; it's not easy for me either."

"My sister-in-law is virtuous and kind. With her around, what is difficult?"

"You'll understand when you get married."

With a sorrowful expression, Tian Youlu sighed and said, "Brother, do you think Chang Boxi should be beheaded by now?"

"They're probably already beheaded." Wang Yan grabbed a piece of chicken and ate it with his mouth full of oil.

"My brother sees things clearly. It's laughable that Chang Boxi, who prides himself on his intelligence, died so unjustly. What a tragedy..."

Tian Youlu sighed deeply and took a swig of wine. "Brother, you made it sound so easy when you criticized Chang Boxi. But if it really came to that, what would you do? Would you really dare to stand up to the River Conservancy Bureau and the Yan Party?"

"Why don't you understand yet? Is there even a question? Of course we have to stand up," Wang Yan said. "If we don't stand up, we'll die. Chang Boxi's fate is clear."

"But what happens after you take the blame? Your life is over..."

"Then it depends on whether you want to die. Chang Boxi's family members have all been taken away. The women were forced into prostitution and the men were exiled. The lessons of the past are right there. You still think you can't make money in the future? Second Master, greedy people usually don't end up well."

"Those who are not greedy often end up badly! My dear brother, you are too inexperienced and have seen too little of the world. You will understand later. If you want to live well in this world, you must blend in with the world. Otherwise, your career will be difficult, and life will be even more difficult. My dear brother, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's have a drink."

After the two shared a drink, Wang Yan said, "Second Master, we can't keep quiet about this. There are so many refugees affected by the disaster, and now there's a plague. We have to find a way to resolve these issues. Otherwise, if the refugees are all crammed into the city and the plague spreads, all the people of Chun'an might die."

"I know, but what can we do? We have no money, no food, and even if we had great abilities, we would have nowhere to use them."

Tian Youlu said, "Moreover, as you know, my brother, someone from the prefectural government came to inform us that we should stabilize the situation. Soon, someone will come to collect grain and buy land, and the people will naturally get through this ordeal. My brother is skilled in medicine, and the prescription he wrote is very effective. The plague has vanished. Why should we worry about it? Let's drink and sing, and wait for the new magistrate to come. He will take care of things."

Wang Yan shook his head repeatedly: "You only want to make money, not get promoted. I'm still young and want to work hard. Right now, everyone's eyes are on this side, including the Emperor. There are countless spies in the region reporting the situation. If I perform well now, I might catch the Emperor's eye and win his favor, and then I'll have a chance to rise in rank."

Tian Youlu blinked his beady eyes, his face saying, "Keep dreaming."

He certainly wouldn't say that, but he smiled at Wang Yan and invited him to continue drinking...

The next morning, Wang Yan arrived at the county government office dressed in light clothing. Compared to his last visit, this time he received more attention and superficial respect from the people there.

The main reason, of course, is Wang Yan's decisiveness and reasonable handling of many things and various problems that he had demonstrated in the previous period.

For example, if someone is incompetent, they will be dealt with directly; if someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble and incites the people to make a fuss, they will be beheaded on the spot. All the things that have happened in the past ten days have built up the prestige of Wang Yan today.

Tian Youlu stopped offering his opinion. Seeing that Wang Yan really wanted to die, and considering how fierce Wang Yan was, he simply decided not to oppose him. He would just do whatever Wang Yan said, and he would use the passive-aggressive attitude to suppress Wang Yan's anger...

The seat in the hall that belonged to the county magistrate was empty. The seat to the left was Tian Youlu's seat, and Wang Yan, the third-in-command, naturally sat opposite the county clerk.

With a flick of his sleeve and a slight lift of his robe, Wang Yan settled into his seat.

"How's the clearing of the floodwater and silt in the city going?"

"Reporting to Third Master, the clearing is complete, and we are currently clearing the area outside the city." The workshop manager smiled obsequiously, bowing and scraping. "Third Master, the more work we do, the more resources we consume. We're out of food."

Seeing Wang Yan looking over, the head of the household affairs office said with a wry smile, "Third Master, there really is no grain left. How much grain is in the Ever-Normal Granary?"

"I remember there were 30,000 shi (a unit of dry measure)?" Wang Yan held up a covered bowl with a smile. "Chun'an County has 45,000 people, and even if you include the elderly and children affected by the disaster, that's just over 40,000. According to our porridge distribution standards, that should be enough to feed people for more than half a month. It's only been five days since the granaries were opened and grain was distributed. You're saying there's no grain left?"

The head of the household affairs office was already contemplating suicide, and he looked to the second master for help.

Tian Youlu coughed twice: "Well... Third Master... the problem with the Ever-Normal Granary is all Chang Boxi's fault. That man is insatiable. He replaced the new rice with old rice long ago, and then resold the old rice again. He's utterly heartless. This time, heaven has finally caught up with him. Chang Boxi deserves to die!"

"Ah, yes, yes, it was all Chang Boxi's doing."

"Chang Boxi deserves to die!" "Good riddance..."

……

For a time, the hall was filled with voices cursing Chang Boxi, a testament to their shared hatred of the enemy.

Wang Yan believed they were speaking the truth; Chang Boxi truly deserved to die, and indeed, he deserved to die. After all, with Chang Boxi gone, much of the county's mess could be pinned on him. The remaining, inexplicable issue was the flood; the flood had swept everything away…

Wang Yan waved his hand to silence the clamoring crowd and said calmly, "Chang Boxi has already lost his head. The problem now is that the grain in the Changping Granary doesn't match the numbers. No matter how capable Chang Boxi was, he couldn't transport tens of thousands of shi of grain by himself."

Before the disaster, it didn't matter. Now that there's a disaster and no food, the victims are waiting outside for food. If they can't get enough to eat, they'll start to riot. If rioting doesn't work, they'll rebel. The people are restless now, and we must stabilize the situation.

What advice does the second master have for me?

"Uh……"

Looking at the quiet crowd, Tian Youlu pondered for a moment and said, "The person in charge of guarding the granary embezzled public grain in collusion with Chang Boxi, causing the people of Chun'an to be so unscrupulous today. Their crimes are heinous and they deserve to be executed!"

Seeing that no one reacted and he didn't hear Wang Yan's reply, he couldn't help but ask, "Third Master... what do you think?"

"This is a capital offense! Stealing and selling tens of thousands of bushels of government grain, profiting far more than sixty taels! If Emperor Taizu were alive, this would be punishable by skinning the person alive. The seller is guilty of heinous crimes and should be executed, but what about the buyer, Second Master?"

Tian Youlu suddenly realized what was happening and glared at Wang Yan: "Brother, have you thought this through? This isn't something that can be done right now..."

"Brother, I'm asking you, how are the buyers counted?"

"Therefore...buying and selling are equally punishable!"

Wang Yan nodded in satisfaction and looked at Zhang Song, the clerk he had slapped earlier.

"Fourth Master? Did you hear that?"

"Yes, yes, I heard you, Third Master. Please don't call me Fourth Master, it scares me." Zhang Song trembled, truly terrified.

He had been slapped repeatedly and kicked away, and he deeply understood how powerful this seemingly thin Third Master was. Coupled with his decisive killing over the past ten days, he was now filled with fear of the Third Master.

Moreover, in this situation, in front of everyone in the county government, they directly fabricated a case against someone else.
"Since you've heard about the disaster, the situation is so dire, and the people are starving, what are you still standing here for? Huh?"

Wang Yan shouted, "Go! Arrest them all! Arrest all the people in the Changping Granary, all the merchants who bought grain, and shut down all their shops!"

"Yes, Third Master!" Zhang Song shouted in response and hurriedly ran out to organize men to arrest the person.

Seeing Wang Yan shake his head with a tsk-tsk sound, Tian Youlu asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Wang Yan glanced at him and said, "Our Fourth Master left without even asking who he was arresting."

"Uh……"

Tian Youlu's power was out again. He awkwardly laughed and explained, "He's a local from Chun'an. There are only so many big families and grain stores here. He's a clerk, so he knows everything."

"I believe it."

Wang Yan nodded solemnly, then looked at the workshop manager, "Now that we have grain, we can last for a while. Next, you organize people to clear the roads and work to collect your grain."

"Yes, Third Master."

"Our task now is to provide disaster relief and rescue the people. Everything must be done to ensure that people survive and restore their previous lives. Everyone must work together and not hinder each other. At this time, everyone must keep their hands off the hook. Anyone who dares to touch a single grain of food, anyone who dares to take advantage of the situation, I will take their head. Nobody will get away with it. I'll stop here for now, so as not to kill without warning. Alright, everyone get to work."

The crowd scattered like birds and beasts, breathing a sigh of relief at their escape. They couldn't understand how Wang Yan, only twenty years old, could possess such imposing presence; his eyes were like knives, cutting painfully.

"My dear brother...you...sigh..."

Tian Youlu sighed, "You know perfectly well that the higher-ups want the people of Chun'an to starve, and you're also going to offend the local powerful families. It's like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. This is truly..."

Wang Yan smiled and said, "Brother, I am new here and do not know many things. I am just doing my best to raise grain for disaster relief. Today's arrest of grain merchants is also due to an old case of stealing government grain. I am acting in the open and aboveboard. Even if this case goes to the Emperor, I will still be in the right."

"Who cares about your reasoning? My good brother, listen to my advice, don't make trouble for yourself."

Wang Yan patted his shoulder: "Brother, I'm glad you can confide in me. But the disaster is urgent and there's no time to lose. You also need to take action and raise as much money and food as possible. I know you've contributed a lot of money, and this is the last straw. Brother, if we don't have enough money and food and the situation becomes critical, then you'll have to fend for yourself."

"you……"

"What you gain, you will lose; how can you gain forever?"

At the time, Tian Youlu did not firmly oppose Wang Yan, but instead allowed Wang Yan to take overall command of the flood relief efforts, effectively sidelining Tian Youlu.

Through his actions over this period, Wang Yan has won the approval of both the common people and officials, and has also gained the support of some people. Regardless of whether others treat him well or badly, he is now the de facto magistrate of Chun'an County.

Sometimes the boundaries of power are very clear, with everyone responsible for something, but other times, it's impossible to specify exactly how far things have come, just like Wang Yan is doing now.

Everyone knows him and obeys his orders, so he naturally has power, though whether that power is secure is another matter...

After giving Tian Youlu a meaningful look, Wang Yan strode out to deal with the disaster victims outside...

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