On the second day, he bid farewell to Ouyang Xiu and Xiang Zong. Du Zhongxiao took Shisanlang to inspect Zaoyang's geography and chose a suitable place to open the fields. In order to keep a distance from the place, he specially chose the county magistrate Huang Tianzheng, who could do nothing, as his guide.

As the red sun was rising, Huang Tian was running to the inn with panting and saluting Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's still early, why are you in such a hurry?"

Huang Tianzheng bowed and said, "When the officials returned to the magistrate, they were at this time every day. They went to the yamen to go to the yamen to do it. After six years, they would not fall for a day. I just thought that the magistrate was the same here. After the magistrate was clicked, they rushed over."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "There is no need to be dug every day in the yamen. Who can have nothing to do? The magistrate will be able to be able to be able to be harmonious."

Huang Tianzheng shook his head repeatedly: "The officials have no official duties and have a lot of gossip. If they don't dial in the Mao, they will be afraid of deducting money and food."

Du Zhongxiao smiled. This person is honest. He became an official just to get the money and food every month. As long as the money and food are obtained, he doesn't care about anything else. In six years, he didn't land in the yamen for a day. This is the first time that Du Zhongxiao met such an official. Most county yamen, Dianmao is signed by subordinate officials. As long as the matter is not missed, the magistrate will not care about these things.

Seeing that it was getting late, Du Zhongxiao stood up and said, "Today we will go north to see the surrounding geography. There are many idle fields here, but there are many lakes and swamps, so it is not suitable for opening fields everywhere. You can lead the way, let's take a look."

Huang Tianzheng agreed respectfully.

Taking the entourage out of the inn, Du Zhongxiao asked Huang Tianzheng who was standing: "Didn't you ride a horse? Why don't you bring your entourage?"

Huang Tianzheng bowed: "When the officials have no duty, how can they have entourage? The family rented a few acres of vegetable gardens to survive, but they were just food and clothing. Where can I have money to buy a horse? If I have to ride a horse, the officials will rent a horse in the city."

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, but he didn't expect that he would be so miserable. He said to Shisanlang: "You go to the county government and borrow a horse."

Huang Tianzheng shook his hands repeatedly: "There is no need for luck. There are only a few official horses in the county government. Yesterday, one of them got sick, and the remaining one was the magistrate who wanted to ride, and another county magistrate Pan wanted to ride on the countryside. There were really no horses."

Du Zhongxiao was speechless for a moment, not expecting that this small place would be so desolate. However, a horse costs dozens of stagnant coins in this place, not a small amount, and it is normal for the county to not afford it. He asked the entourage to give up a horse and let Huang Tianzheng ride it.

The money and grain collected by the county must be transferred to the state, except for the Dai salary of several officials. Apart from that, there is no income or ministerial money. There is no business here in Zaoyang, and the only commercial taxes such as restaurants have a fixed quota. Several officials, except for relying on their salary to support their families, do not have money. Welcoming and sending, all kinds of daily expenses have always been distributed by the public servants who handle it.

If you are in developed areas such as the Central Plains and Jiangnan, you can also use various miscellaneous donations to dig out some money from local people. In Zaoyang, there are not many people in the city, and the places are full of wealthy families. Ordinary officials do not have any special means, so where can they find money? Not to mention the fact that their vocational land cannot be rented out. They rely on their family to farm, and the amount they collect is calculated as much as they collect.

Strictly speaking, the county has no fiscal revenue and does not allocate funds. The people cannot pay money. That's how it is. The county magistrate who destroys the family and the magistrate who destroys the family must have strength. In the entire county, except for a few officials, all the public officials and servants came out of those big households. The strong men in the countryside are almost all their patrons, and what does the county rely on to fight them?

This is a common thing for officials in small places, and it would be better if they get used to it. If not, when there is a good place, officials in the capital can break the head. When Du Zhongxiao left Yongcheng, the ministers in the court argued for the county magistrate. It would be a big difference to be a member of one in such a place and be a member of Yongcheng after Du Zhongxiao left.

After leaving the inn, I arrived at the Wuhe Ferry shortly after heading north. There was not much population here, and the ferry did not come for a while, and everyone was waiting.

Huang Tian was pointing at a not far away and said, "Yun Judgment is the vegetable garden rented by the government. This is the time to collect vegetables."

Du Zhongxiao smiled and said, "How much does it earn if you rent a land to grow vegetables? Since you are the county magistrate of this county, who dares to collect your rent!"

Huang Tian Zhengtian shook his hand repeatedly: "Don't say that, the official has been growing vegetables there for several years, but he has never owed money to rent a land! Although it is not easy to plant the five acres of vegetable fields, it is barely enough for my family to make a living. Most of the small county towns buy my vegetables."

In such a small county town, five acres of vegetable fields accounted for almost all the market, and Huang Tianzheng still took advantage of being an official.

After crossing the river and not far from the county town, there were no other people's houses. I saw weeds, mixed trees, and all the desolate scenes. From time to time, there were sweet oranges and other things on the roadside, and there were occasionally big mulberry trees, jujube trees, flowers, and mulberries all over the trees.

Date and mulberry are not allowed to be cut down, and the punishment is extremely severe. Without the village, these trees still live there, telling the prosperity of the past.

While walking, Huang Tian said, "Fortune judgment, there is a good tree of loquats in front of you, so it is better to pick some. It is difficult to leave the city and you cannot go back empty-handed. If you are in the city, you need money to eat them."

Du Zhongxiao said: "Since it is a fruit tree, if it has a master, how can you pick it?"

Huang Tianzheng shook his head: "The nearest one is Shi Yuanwai Zhuangzi, and there are still more than a dozen roads away. There are no one in this area, they are all unparalleled things."

After hearing this, Shisanlang said, "Since that's the case, I will pick some of the fresh fruits with Huang County. It's not easy to buy in the city."

Du Zhongxiao looked around and nodded, "Okay, we'll take a break."

After saying that, he got off the horse and sat on a big rock on the side of the road. Shisanlang and Huang Tianzheng went to the loquat tree not far away to pick the fruit.

Hundreds of years ago, there were villages here and there were no idle fields in the fields. These fruit trees may have been left by our ancestors and have been left to the present.

After a while, Shisanlang and Huang Tianzheng came back, one holding a handful of loquats and the other holding a handful of mulberries for Du Zhongxiao to eat.

This is a wild fruit in the suburbs, and there is no need to wash it. Du Zhongxiao took a few fruits and sucked his thirst.

At this moment, a man came out of the woods not far away and whispered loudly: "Where do you come from to pick the fruits from my family to eat!"

Du Zhongxiao looked up and saw a tall and strong boy rolling up his sleeves high, revealing a piece of flower embroidery, pinching a bow in his hand, and shouting at him. Behind him, there were five or six men, some holding dogs and some eagles, who were obviously hunting.

When Huang Tianzheng saw this, he hurriedly stepped forward and said, "It turned out to be Shi Dalang. This is the judge of the road. Because the county is in the field, I came to check the geography of this area. I was thirsty on the road, so I picked a few fruits to eat."

Shi Dalang looked at Du Zhongxiao and saw that more than a dozen followers were around him. One of them was very tall and not easy to mess with. Then he handed the bow to the people around him and bowed to Huang Tianzheng: "It turned out to be Huang County Magistrate. Why don't you know when you come to my village?"
Chapter completed!