Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

The magistrate of Jiangfu County locked the patients in the woods.

It was a large forest. You couldn't see anything from outside the forest, but there was an open space in the forest, which was made into a temporary detention point.

Han Zheng had never seen so many patients, at least one or two hundred.

There were men, women, old and young, all looking haggard, sitting together under a few simple thatched huts, leaning against each other.

There were two large pots next to the straw hut. I didn’t know what was in the pots, but it smelled extremely bad.

There were a few chairs placed under the shade of the trees outside the thatched hut. When Han Zheng and Tutor Jiang arrived, several yamen runners were sitting on the chairs and complaining loudly.

"There are so many people in the county government, but they chose us brothers. Isn't it because they think we are easy to bully?"

"If you ask me, it's not because we are easy to bully, but because we didn't give any money."

"It's really unlucky for us to look at these people in the middle of summer."

"I don't know when this kind of life will end. I am so thirsty for wine that I am almost dying."

Several people said without hesitation that they were not feeling well, but one of them had a rosy face and was obviously doing well.

Han Zheng and Master Jiang looked at him and their faces darkened.

After a while, Han Zheng asked Master Jiang: "Shall we go out now?"

Master Jiang looked behind him and asked, "Have your guards arrived?"

Han Zheng: "Everyone is here." Before leaving the city, he followed Master Jiang's instructions and sent a signal to one of the guards. After the other party learned of his request, he sent a message to the other guards.

Not long after he left the city, these people were all around him.

Master Jiang didn't know where Han Zheng's guards were hiding, but knowing there were people there, he felt relieved: "Let's go out now. I want to see how these yamen runners will answer us later."

*

The yamen runners did not notice anyone coming.

So, when a woman knelt before them holding a child who was coughing non-stop and asked them to help find a doctor, the yamen runner closest to the woman raised his whip and swung at him without saying a word.

He tried to beat the woman back, but the whip did not fall on the woman, but was directly grabbed by a hand.

The owner of the hand was tall, wearing brown shorts, his muscles filling out the not-so-loose sleeves.

He was an officer and soldier traveling with Han Zheng and his companions. He was a guard beside General Xiao Liang. This time, he followed Han Zheng and his companions to Jiangfu County.

The bailiff didn't recognize the officer, and his heart skipped a beat. He immediately said in a stern voice, "Who are you? Do you know that if you hinder the officers in their investigation, you will be sent to jail?!"

The officer snorted coldly, "Go to jail? I think it's you who are going to go to jail!"

After saying that, the soldier loosened his whip and stepped aside, revealing Han Zheng and Master Jiang standing behind him.

*

Unexpectedly, there were other people. The bailiff felt uneasy and couldn't help but look at his other companions.

The other yamen runners were equally anxious. Finally, the bravest one among them said, "Who are you? This is a government restricted area. You can't just come in. Leave now, or we'll be rude to you!"

Imperial Tutor Jiang snorted coldly, "This official and Lord Han, one is the Prince's tutor, the other is the Imperial Tutor, and the other is the Disaster Relief Minister appointed by His Majesty himself. How dare you let this official and Lord Han go away?"

After serving as an official for so many years, what Master Jiang hated most was using his official position to oppress others, but facing these people, he couldn't help it.

*

Several yamen runners knew that two officials from the capital had come to Jiangfu County, but they did not expect that they would come directly here.

This place is so hidden that even the locals wouldn't notice it. How did they find it? Could it be that the county magistrate told them?

No, this is not a glorious thing to do. The county magistrate had repeatedly warned them not to reveal the true situation here.

He would never do anything that would slap himself in the face.

That can only be what others say.

It looks like something big is going to happen.

When several yamen runners thought of this, they felt anxious and afraid.

Their faces changed several times, and finally they knelt down together, saluted to Master Jiang and Han Zheng, and apologized for what they had just said.

"Master Taifu, Master Scholar, I was blind and did not recognize a great man. I apologize to you."

These people reacted quickly. Master Jiang snorted coldly and said, "I don't need your apology. I just want to know what happened to the people in the straw hut behind you. Who of you is willing to tell me?"

No one answered.

Master Jiang looked at Han Zheng.

Han Zheng coughed lightly and signaled several officers and soldiers to come forward and tie up the bailiffs.

These yamen runners were used to taking advantage of the power of others, and this was the first time they were caught, so they kept struggling.

Seeing that he could not stop the rioters, an officer drew his sword and put it on the neck of the most noisy runner.

Now, all the yamen runners were quiet.

*

Under the straw hut, the people looked at each other in bewilderment as they watched the yamen runners being subdued.

After a long while, they realized that Han Zheng and his men were different from the runners in the county government office. The numbness on their faces gradually faded away, and they stood up and walked out one by one.

In the end, from front to back, they all knelt down to Han Zheng and Master Jiang.

"Sir, please save us and help us find some medicine."

"We want to go home, can we go home?"

"Sir, we are not sick, really, please let us go home. My mother is already over 60 years old. Without my help at home, she can't get out of bed, can't cook, and will starve to death."

"Please, sir, please..."

The old man who came with Han Zheng and the others had already found his son, daughter-in-law and grandson in the crowd. He also knelt down with tears in his eyes, begging Han Zheng to let them go home.

*

Han Zheng naturally would not deliberately target these ordinary people like the county magistrate of Jiangfu County. After discussing with Master Jiang, he agreed to let them go home.

But he had a condition, which was that these people could not leave now and had to wait until the doctor came to examine them before leaving.

It’s not that Han Zheng doesn’t trust their bodies, but they have been living here for many days while they were sick. It would be bad if they were infected with something and passed it on to their families and other innocent people after returning. It would be better to get checked first.

Being able to walk is good, so no one objects to it.

Following Han Zheng's instructions, they lined up in a long queue, waiting for the doctor to come and diagnose them.

*

At the same time, in the Jiangfu County government office, the Jiangfu County Magistrate was waiting for Master Jiang and Han Zheng to come back for dinner.

In order to leave a good impression on the two of them, he specially asked the county chef to prepare ten dishes and one soup.

In addition to these, there were a few women who were dressed lightly and seductively, and they were obviously from brothels.

Magistrate Jiangfu touched the hand of one of the women and said, "You must serve the two masters well today, understand?"

The women all responded in unison.

Magistrate Jiangfu nodded with satisfaction. At this moment, a bailiff ran to the backyard of the county government in a panic.

"My Lord, something bad has happened."

Jiang Fu County Magistrate's eyelids jumped, "What's going on?"

The yamen runner said with a sad face: "Master Jiang and Master Han have discovered that we have locked up the patient!"