She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

In fact, Lian Chengmo was not familiar with the county magistrate in front of him, and he did not expect that the other party knew his grandfather. However, this made things easier and made it easier for him to get information out of him.

When someone offers you a ladder to climb, you should naturally follow it.

"Oh, nephew, may I have something to say?" The county magistrate's expression turned serious as he asked earnestly.

He wanted to do someone a favor, but he couldn't help with everything.

"That's how it was. On our way home, we encountered a chaotic army. Our parents, uncles, and aunts all perished, leaving only my siblings and me to struggle to survive. Fortunately, we were rescued by an uncle who was fleeing famine and was a village head."

"The man behind me is that uncle's son. I'd like to ask Uncle if it's possible to let the whole village settle down near Qingyang County and give them some wasteland to cultivate and grow some food so they can make a living."

"If Uncle can help me with this, I will remember this kindness and repay it many times over in the future."

Lian Chengmo considered his words carefully before delivering the speech he had prepared long ago.

Yao Dahe was stunned for a moment, looking incredulously at the back of the young master's head. He hadn't expected that the young master had always known his father's thoughts.

During his trip to Qingyang County, Yao Dahe even took the initiative to inquire about this matter on their behalf. He had originally planned to ask a yamen runner about it himself later.

Unexpectedly, the young master came to the county government not to inquire about his family's situation, but to help his village find out about household registration.

However, considering the stringent conditions for entering Qingyang County, Yao Dahe looked at the county town with a rare hint of anticipation on his face.

The county magistrate was also taken aback upon hearing this, not expecting that Lian Chengmo had come to see him about this matter.

He turned to look at Yao Dahe. No wonder he had thought the young master's attendant was strange. It turned out that the attendant was not an attendant but a country bumpkin!

He said that the attendants of scholarly families, even if they weren't exactly bookish, were certainly not like Yao Dahe.

This is a difficult situation. This young master has come to him, probably because he doesn't want to pay the money to enter the city. Well, ten or twenty yuan would be fine.

There are at least one or two hundred people in this village, so wouldn't it cost at least one hundred taels of silver?

The county magistrate asked himself honestly, and he knew he wouldn't be willing to spend that money either, but with so many people involved, he couldn't make the decision on his own.

So he asked.

“How many people exactly?”

“About three hundred,” Lian Chengmo replied truthfully.

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate's expression turned even uglier. Three hundred was no small sum, and he couldn't make that decision.

"Young master, with so many people, the cost of entering the city must be considerable," the county magistrate bluntly pointed out.

"However, if they are willing to become military households, they can enter the city. But the resettlement of so many people is a problem, and there is not much wasteland left to allocate."

"But I can try my best to give them more, though they will have to pay some money," the county magistrate said with a troubled expression.

Lian Chengmo's expression turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this. As everyone knows, ordinary people can not only reclaim wasteland without spending money to buy it, but also be exempt from taxes for three years.

Now even wasteland has to be bought with silver. Has King Cheng gone mad with poverty?

"Uncle, whose idea was it to charge money for wasteland?" Lian Chengmo couldn't help but ask directly.

If it were his past life, he would never have asked, but now he is still a ten-year-old child, and it is not wrong for him to be a little angry.

"Well, young master, you'll know once you get home." The county town stroking his beard, eyes downcast, lost in thought.

Lian Chengmo was so angry he almost laughed. Did this mean that the Lian family was the ones who came up with the idea?

"Thank you for informing me, Uncle."

"I have another question, Mo. If we pay silver to enter the city, will we not have to register as military households?" Lian Chengmo pretended to suppress his anger and asked again.

“This doesn’t require registering as a military household, but given the current situation, even ordinary households are being conscripted. Qingyang County is adjacent to the territory of the bandit leader, and is currently even more short of manpower.”

"Does the young master understand what I'm saying?" the county magistrate smiled and replied.

Lian Chengmo nodded, indicating his understanding.

The so-called "Single Thief" refers to Shan Cong'an. As a garrison leader, he rebelled, which made him a traitor in the eyes of the Great Xia royal family.

“Uncle, this matter concerns the development of the entire village. I still need to go back and discuss it with them. I apologize for troubling you today. Don’t worry, I won’t gossip and cause you any trouble.”

"These gifts are a small token of my appreciation, and I hope you will accept them, Uncle." After asking what he wanted to ask, Lian Chengmo prepared to take his leave.

They bought some pastries and a pot of good wine on the way back, and Lian Chengmo quickly left with Yao Dahe, their visit brief and inconvenient.

The county magistrate was somewhat puzzled, unsure whether Lian Chengmo intended to help someone register their household. In the end, seeing a pot of fine wine and several packets of pastries on the table, he happily took them home and gave the pastries to his wife and children.

When his wife asked, he only said it was a gift from a subordinate and did not mention Lian Chengmo.

He heard the young master's last words clearly. If the other party didn't talk about it outside, wasn't that a subtle way of telling him not to talk about it?

Of course, the county magistrate wouldn't normally talk about such back-door deals.

That said, after Lian Chengmo and Yao Dahe left the county government office, they went straight to the inn. Yao Daniu excitedly greeted them, but when he saw that the two looked unwell, his heart sank.

After closing the door, Lian Chengmo whispered to Yao Dahe to discuss the matter.

“Brother Dahe, you heard it too. Qingyang County is not a good place. To be precise, the territory under King Cheng is not suitable for your village to settle down.” Lian Chengmo said seriously with a stern face.

"Young master, what do you mean?" Yao Dahe was a little confused and didn't understand.

“Brother Dahe, I know that your village is full of military households, and right now the King of Cheng is most in need of either food or soldiers.”

"Do you think if King Cheng knew about a village like yours, he would let you farm in peace?" Lian Chengmo put it more clearly.

He wasn't lying when he said that, because in his previous life, Yao Li Village had stood out from the riots, and in the end, all the able-bodied men in the village were recruited into King Cheng's army.

Otherwise, where would so many people from Yaojia Village have come from to achieve great things?

With so many people, all of whom are from military families and have been trained since childhood, surely some of them will become successful?

Lian Chengmo didn't want Yao Li Village to repeat the same mistake. Firstly, Yao Li had been taking good care of them during this time, always protecting them.

Even when they needed to use young girls to fight bandits, they wouldn't let them go forward to risk their lives, but instead would protect them from behind.

All of this is not just because of the money he gave and his status.

Whether Lian Chengmo wanted to use Yao Li Village himself or to save people from dire straits, he was doing his best to help them, and it was up to them to choose.

"Does the young master mean that if our village settles here, all the men will be conscripted into the army?" Yao Dahe understood now, and his face turned pale.

The reason they fled the northern frontier was to escape their status as military households, since their final fate was still to be conscripted into the army.

What's the point of them abandoning their families and traveling thousands of miles south to escape famine?