The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

When the news that General Wenren had driven away the Regent's army reached Chongshui, County Magistrate Zhao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I don’t have to die.

When the people of Hezhou heard that another general had come to take over Hezhou, they were very worried. Could this be another army that wanted to rob food?

"To all the people of Hezhou Prefecture, we are the Northwest Army, under the order of Her Royal Highness the Princess. From today on, Hezhou will be under our control. Each household should go to the government office and report the grain that was stolen from them. We will arrange for the granary manager to return the entire amount to everyone. No more than is allowed. Those who report more will be flogged thirty times and have all their property confiscated."

This news spread in Hezhou Prefecture for three days. At first, some people did not dare to believe it, fearing that their property would be confiscated if they went there. However, some people's food was even stolen, so they had no choice but to go there.

He originally thought he would be whipped, but who knew that the details were all on record. Once he reported it, they checked it and returned the food that had been stolen from his home.

Now more people went to register, and after getting the food, they hurried home. This was enough food for their family for half a year. They could only continue to buy food after they made money this year.

Wen Renqian sent all those incompetent officials to prison. Before he even resorted to torture, some of them had already succumbed to the torture.

"I say, I say, it was the prefect who told us to do this. The regent sent someone to deliver a letter saying that if we don't pay the full amount of grain tax, all of us will be killed, so we must make up for it at all costs."

"Where did all the relief grain in the granary go? Every state would keep some for relief, so that during famine years, it could be used to help the people. We opened the granary and found that not even a piece of linen was left."

"This, this, I dare not say."

"Oh, who else dares not speak up? Tell me your name now."

"You, you are harming loyal people. The grain in the granary is clearly still there, but you are turning the tables on me. I didn't have anyone transport all the grain away." The former governor of Hezhou was shocked when he heard that there was no grain left. In previous years, he sold some secretly and didn't dare to sell it all, but this year he was discovered by his subordinates. Now he began to suspect the people around him.

Did one person participate and sell all the remaining food, or did everyone participate?

"Huang Jue'an, didn't you say that the two of us would only sell a little so that others wouldn't find out? How could you be so ruthless as to sell all the rest?" The Hezhou Tongzhi yelled at the other person.

"Why are you blaming me? It was you who said it, and no one knew about it. You even asked Zhang Shaoqing to remind me to sell them all." The man named Huang Jue'an was also dissatisfied. It was clearly him who said it, so why is he being pushed all onto him now?

"When did I call Zhang Shaoqing here? How could I dare to let anyone else inform you about such an important matter?"

When the two of them were together, they realized something was wrong.

"Hmph, I overheard you guys wanting to sell grain. You're all selling this grain, so why can't I sell it too? At worst, we'll all die together. Look how united we are! We've all sold our grain, and it's all here. At this point, why would we even bother arguing about who got more?"

Before Wen Renqian could continue the interrogation, these people started to fight each other and revealed the whereabouts of the food.

They sold all the grain to the largest grain merchant in Hezhou. The grain merchant was bold and followed the prefect to do this kind of thing every year. In previous years, they would wait to sell it before the New Year, but this year, due to major changes outside, they had no time to sell it.

General Wenren sent people to track down the grain overnight, and finally, all the grain was found. When the man heard that the prefect had been arrested, he was afraid of being tracked down and wanted to transport it out overnight. Fortunately, they still controlled Hezhou, so they caught the man red-handed.

A few days later, the fact that the former Hezhou prefect and his officials colluded with grain merchants to resell disaster relief grain was made public, and everyone was outraged. You know, a group of disaster victims arrived in Hezhou a year ago, but the Hezhou prefect drove them to the county town below.

If too many people gathered, he would not allow people to release the disaster relief money, saying that the disaster relief money was for local people, not for foreign victims. He also forced the wealthy families in Hezhou to take out their food to help the victims.

It turns out that they sold all the grain, and still had the audacity to ask everyone to donate money and grain. They are so shameless.

All the officials' properties were confiscated. Wen Renqian saw that he no longer had to worry about money and food, as these officials were richer than each other.

However, now all the officials in Hezhou have been dismissed. He is better at fighting and does not have more energy to manage such a large provincial capital. Who should be arranged to take over this position?

He decided to write a letter himself and ask the princess for instructions.

Guan Ling received General Wenren's request. She thought about it and had a candidate in mind. However, her cousin knew the local officials in Hezhou better. Even though Mr. Yuan gave her advice, she still wanted to hear her cousin's opinion on these people.

"Princess, Hezhou is now under the control of the Northwest Army. The prefect of Hezhou is indeed an important position. Do you have a candidate in mind?" When Lu Linlang heard the princess ask this, she did not express her opinion first.

"I think the Magistrate of Chongshui County is suitable. He has governed Chongshui very well. Among all the county officials in Hezhou, he has the best reputation among the people. So I want to promote him to be the Acting Prefect of Hezhou. If he manages well, I can remove the word 'Acting'."

"Princess, you have the ability to judge people. The Magistrate of Chongshui County is indeed a man of integrity and uprightness, who is not afraid of power."

"However, for the position of Tongzhi, I think we cannot promote the Chongshui County Magistrate, but choose another candidate." After hearing Lu Linlang's answer, she continued.

"Oh, Princess, who do you think is suitable for this task?"

"Originally, I had two people in mind. One was Master Yun. Although he was born a scholar, if he had the opportunity to take the imperial examination, it would be as easy as taking something from a jinshi bag. However, Master Yun was too young to convince others. The situation in Hezhou was complicated. I thought Master Yun needed more experience.

So I have another candidate in mind, that is Master Li. He was originally exiled here from the capital and has experience in officialdom. He was once the head of the Ministry of Personnel. I think he will be able to be the co-magistrate of Hezhou without any problem. He can also form a check on the prefect. If there is any situation, he can report to us in time.

When Lu Linlang saw Princess Yong'an's transformation in such a short time, she suddenly understood why the emperor chose her as his heir. Her Royal Highness was just trapped in the palace before and had no chance to learn these things, but she was very smart.

She understood everything at once. Even Yun Yi once said that the princess had a photographic memory and could remember every article and word spoken.

"Princess, you have a discerning eye for talent. County Magistrate Zhao and Master Li will surely live up to your expectations if they are favored by you."

"Why are you so polite, cousin? I'm worried that what I'm thinking is wrong and that I might harm the people."

"Princess, this is a sign of responsibility. Now that Hezhou is under the control of the Northwest Army, the princess will no longer have to hide her identity and will be able to openly confront the Regent."

Lu Linlang discovered that after Master Yuan and his wife came, the princess's aura was gradually changing, and she began to possess the majesty of an emperor. She could no longer treat the princess as her cousin as before.

After County Magistrate Zhao and Master Li received the princess's appointment from General Wenren, they reacted surprisingly in the same way even though they were not in the same place. Were they promoted?