Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

But who would have known that since the year before last, the villagers' harvests in the fields have been declining.

If it was just a decline in harvest, they would not be displaced.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was actually their government. Li Hongmao said that the land tax in their county last year was only 4%!

What does this mean? Last year's harvest could only sustain their livelihood for half a year. After half a year, they could only buy stale rice or dig wild vegetables to eat.

Now that the tax has been increased by 20%, the villagers are complaining even more. They wanted to hold on a little longer, but heavy rains for several consecutive days have flooded all their houses and fields.

They lost their houses and the only crops on their fields, so they had no choice but to ask the county government for help. However, the county government directly denied their existence!

When they took out their citizenship registration documents to prove their identity, they were surrounded by people from the county government office, who told them that they would not be able to leave the office unless they handed over their citizenship registration documents.

How could citizenship be more important than life? In despair, everyone had no choice but to hand over their citizenship. From then on, they became homeless refugees.

Li Hongmao's parents had a son when they were old and had many illnesses. They passed away on the way because their old illnesses relapsed and they could not get treatment.

He was heartbroken, but he couldn't even buy a good coffin for his parents, so he had to bury them hastily.

The rest of them wandered all the way until they arrived in Tongan County a few days ago.

Shen Zheng gritted her teeth when she heard this. She had thought that she was a bad enough county magistrate for not doing anything practical before, but who knew that there were people who were much worse than her.

She slammed the table and said, "That fellow is unworthy of being a parent official! Mr. Li, may I ask which prefecture or county are you originally from?"

Shen Zheng thought to herself that if she could really make something of herself in the future, she would definitely impeach that man!

When Li Hongmao mentioned his original county, he could not help but express hatred: "Lishou County, Hezhou Prefecture."

Lishou County, Hezhou Prefecture, Shen Zheng recited it silently in her heart and she took note of it.

Li Hongmao didn't want to keep immersing himself in those bad memories. Now that they came to Tongan County and met such good people like Mr. Shen and his fellow villagers, they should look forward to everything.

He raised his hand, picked up the bowl and drank a sip of water. After calming down, he asked, "Why did you come to see me today, sir?"

Shen Zheng then remembered the main reason why she came here. She had wanted to ask Li Hongmao about his knowledge. If he was good, she would go to the county government to help them make food coupons.

Now it seems that for a scholar, such small things are easy to accomplish.

She told Li Hongmao what happened yesterday and then invited him: "I wonder if Mr. Li is willing to help me?"

At this moment, Li Hongmao, who was sitting opposite her, was staring at her straight, and he couldn't come back to his senses for a long time.

After a moment, his eyes were red, and he asked in a hoarse voice, "My Lord, you mean that you have already negotiated with the grain shop owner, and the county government will subsidize the price difference, so that the shop owner can lower the grain price to the price of a good year until the autumn harvest?"

Li Hongmao didn't know whether to be sad or happy. He was sad about their previous situation, but happy that they had met such a good county magistrate now.

Only at this moment did he clearly realize that there were indeed differences between officials.

There are corrupt officials who are eager to squeeze all the money out of the people, and there are also good officials who pay out of their own pockets to ensure that the residents in their jurisdiction do not go hungry.

Shen Zheng noticed that Li Hongmao on the opposite side was in a bad mood, but she didn't want to ask more questions, so she just nodded and said yes.

Who would have thought that the next moment Li Hongmao would lift up his robe and kneel on one knee, clasping his fists: "I am willing to serve you with all my heart and soul!"

This action frightened Shen Zheng so much that she quickly stood up. She stepped forward and helped Li Hongmao up: "Mr. Li, there is no need to do this. You have already helped me and the county government a lot by agreeing to this."

Li Hongmao shook his head. Perhaps Shen Zheng in front of him didn't know what having an official like her meant to a county.

......

It was already dusk when the two returned to the county government office. Shen Zheng thought she had missed the lunch time, but when she approached the public kitchen, she saw that everyone was there.

The people who were starving in the public kitchen brightened up when they saw Shen Zheng. Xiao Yuan quickly asked her and Li Hongmao to sit down:

"Sir, you are finally back. Xu Zhubu said you were coming back for dinner, but we didn't dare to pick up our chopsticks!"

Shen Zheng looked at Xu Zhubu who was sitting beside her and felt puzzled. How did this person know that?

However, she did not ask, but raised her hand to introduce Li Hongmao to everyone.

In fact, most of the detectives present had seen him before. Although they didn't know why he came to the county government today, they all greeted him anyway.

The next moment, Shen Zheng dropped a piece of news that shocked them: the county government would subsidize the price of grain until the autumn harvest.

After Shen Zheng told him the price of grain after the subsidy, Xiao Yuan burst into laughter: "What!? Rice is eight cents! Corn is six cents! Old rice and white flour are five cents!"

Food has never been so cheap in recent years!

Zhao Xiu grasped the key point of Shen Zheng's words and asked worriedly, "Sir, our county government doesn't have that much money now, how can we afford this?"

Shen Zheng smiled at him comfortingly: "The hermit has his own ingenious plan, and you will know it when the time comes. You who can read should help Xu Zhubu and Mr. Li during this period of time."

"Yes! Sir."

The three detectives, Zhao Xiu, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Zhan, all smiled happily. Last night they felt that they could not help much, but today the master specifically asked them to help!

The meal was finished while everyone was joking around. After the meal, Shen Zheng asked Zhao Xiu to arrange a room for Li Hongmao, as he would not be able to return to the canal digging team for some time.

Arranging the scholar to dig canals is really a waste of his talent. There are other jobs waiting for him in Tongan County in the future.

......

It was another morning, and Shen Zheng woke up to the sound of detectives practicing martial arts.

Ever since their monthly salary was increased that day, everyone has become more motivated.

Shen Zheng walked towards the public kitchen as usual, but halfway there she met Xu Zhubu who was carrying an oil-paper bag.

This time, Xu Zhubu didn't need to say anything. Shen Zheng turned around and followed him to the book office.

When Shen Zheng ate the hot buns, she suddenly felt sorry for Xu Zhubu's wallet.

Isn't it a bit too much for her to do this?

In her previous life, when she worked part-time, she often encountered bosses who asked her to help bring breakfast. If she dared to refuse, she would be bullied in the workplace.

What she was doing now was no different from those vampire bosses! Shen Zheng was so ashamed that she couldn't even eat the bun in her mouth.

She put the bun in her hand on the table, looked up and carefully examined the expression of Xu Zhubu in front of her.

If you can’t tell whether it’s sad or happy, then that’s sadness!

She actually hurt her subordinates! Xu Zhubu only made a few silver coins a month, not even as much as her own salary. How could she have eaten the buns with a clear conscience a few days ago?

Moreover, Xu Zhubu had said before that this was a steamed bun shop far to the east of the city...

The more Shen Zheng thought about it, the more guilty she felt. She reached into her arms and started taking things out.

But she searched left and right but didn't find a penny!

Xu Zhubu, who was standing opposite, also noticed Shen Zheng's abnormality and asked, "Why don't you eat anymore, sir? Is it because the buns today are not to your liking?"