Even if he was suspicious, the government still had to go to summon Li Ling.

The next morning, Li Ling came to the county government early to report. However, as he is now, he naturally couldn't see the fourth master in person. He only met an ordinary clerk in the second hall signing room with a few people from the county who came here, and listened to him making relevant arrangements.

"Niu Dali and Li Shuanzhu, you guys have to repair several leaky houses in the county government before the New Year. If they cannot be made on time, be careful to eat the board!"

"Chen Gui, Yang Fu, you guys go to the riverside wharf to help clean the dredging. You must not be careless. Have you recorded it?"

As he continued to convey his errands, all the men who were conscripted for labor showed bitterness, but they did not dare to complain in front of the county magistrate, so they could only nod and respond.

After a conversation with Gu Yuezi yesterday, Li Ling understood what the situation was. In fact, since ancient times, the people of China have carried two mountains, one is taxes and the other is corvee. Taxes refer to paying money, grain and goods to the government, while corvee is to provide assistance to the government and courts, and they work free of charge, such as building city walls, dredging rivers, etc.

Originally, only those high-ranking officials and powerful officials could be exempted from corvee service, but since the Tang Dynasty implemented the rent-in-one regime, this fair decree has also changed. The word "mediocre" means that rich families can pay for others to serve on their own behalf. This was originally a good policy that was beneficial to the people, but it could not withstand the opportunity of the people below, so the local government had legitimate reasons to interfere in corvee service arrangements and make a fortune. If you don't stuff enough money, even if you give money, your own corvee service will be inevitable.

In the Song Dynasty, in order to improve the status of scholars, the law was issued to exempt those who were fame and fortune from labor service, and this article was inherited by the current Dayue. It can be said that most of the people who were arrested by the government were low-level people without wealth or power, so naturally they could only obey the random arrangements of those officials.

There are also differences in the chores arranged by the government. If you can give money and arrange some light work for you, but if your family is poor and short of money, the chores arranged for you will be heavy and difficult. For example, the two groups of people who are currently arranged to repair the roof and dredge the river are both tiring and meticulous work, and you have to prepare your own tools. If there is a mistake, you have to take it down. It is really a big job.

However, compared to the most serious one, it is still tolerant, that is, escorting supplies to provincial capitals or capitals. Nowadays, there is not as smooth transportation conditions as in later generations. Once you have such an errand, you will not go out for ten days and a half months, but several months or even half a year. And you have to pay for the travel expenses yourself, and it will take no words to do the hard work.

What's even more terrifying is that the things given to you by the government may be broken halfway, or there is something wrong with the thing at the beginning, and then all the responsibilities will be borne by the servant themselves, which is an activity that can force people to death.

Therefore, corvee labor is the most terrifying thing in the world, and it is also a powerful driving force for many poor families to hope that their children can take the imperial examination. After all, as long as they pass the scholar, their family's corvee labor can be abolished.

All the people present were arranged for heavy and harsh errands. Finally, the clerk looked at Li Ling and snorted: "Li Ling, you have been to the Gai Pavilion and the Cushion to sort out relevant documents from today. You must do the errands before the New Year. Have you heard it clearly?"

"Yes." Li Ling hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to respond, but endured the envious and jealous eyes of more than ten people around him. Compared with their errands, he should not be too careless. He does not need to be hit by wind and rain, and it will take less than ten days to get everything done.

Others thought that this was such a job that Li Ling had done by bribing the people in the yamen early in the morning. Only he knew that there was a hidden secret behind this matter, but it was not easy to break it. When the matter was arranged here, he led a servant to Jiageku, located in the northeast corner of the county yamen.

The location here is indeed very remote. There are high walls on the front and right, and a section of the road on the left is the lobby where no one comes in and out on weekdays. In it, there is a sense of loneliness that is abandoned by everyone.

The Jiageku is the place used by the government to store various expired documents and books, in order to facilitate the review of county officials or superiors. Originally, this place was considered an extremely important department, and officials should be kept guarded on weekdays, but the Jiangcheng County Government somehow had the intention of abandoning him. You can see some clues by just looking at it being arranged in such a remote place.

It is called a library here, but in fact it is only a small two-story attic. As the officer creaked open the door, taking advantage of the winter sun, Li Ling saw a row of bookshelfs inside, and there were various documents and books on it, but the top was covered with dust. It seemed that he had not been cleaned for many years.

"Here, you have cleaned up all the relevant documents and other things these days. This is the easiest thing among the errands sent by our county government. Don't mess it up. Also, this place is a major yamen, and no one can enter or exit at will. So from now on, you must not leave without authorization, and sleep here at night." After giving instructions from the official position, the man handed over the key and turned around and left.

Li Ling was stunned on the spot in amazement. Is this the intention of putting himself in the county government? But his current identity could not even protest, so he could only agree quietly, and then glanced around again, but he didn't find anything wrong.

Since you come, you can rest assured and you can't change anything. Then get the job done as soon as possible and leave here. Li Ling cheered himself up, then turned around and entered the Jiageku. As soon as he entered the door, he was blown by the dust inside and couldn't help but cough: "How long has it been since anyone cleaned this place? It seems that he has to clean it first before he can organize the documents..."

Thinking to himself, Li Ling took his breath and looked around. He saw a countertop in the corner with a few unused candles on it. However, on the wall next to it, there were four big words written - Be careful of the candle. There are papers on the top and bottom of the place, so he is most afraid of fire.

However, due to the location, the light in the warehouse was dark, and even during the day, I had to light a candle. Without hesitation, Li Ling lit the candle first, then took it and walked around for a while, and even saw the attic above. Only in this way can he have a certain concept of this cabinet.

The various documents and books piled up here have indeed not been sorted out for many years, and they are all in a mess. It seems that it is impossible to sort out the place in less than ten days and half a month. Fortunately, there are beds on the second floor of the attic, which can be dealt with just by just a matter of time.

The only thing that made Li Ling a little uneasy was Yue'er outside. Fortunately, he greeted Gu Yuezi yesterday. As long as he couldn't go back today, he would take Yue'er to his house and save some worries.

"Since that's the case, let's do it. This is the county government after all, so you can't send a thief to attack me." After muttering softly, Li Ling quickly started to move.

First, he took down all the messy and shaky books, then found whisks and rags, and fetched a large bucket of water from the well next to him, and began to clean the entire house. He was not the nerd who only knew how to study hard, and in his eyes, these housework were as simple as drinking soup.

It took only half a day to go, and the dust on the lower layer had been cleaned up by Li Ling, which made him covered in dust and hunger.

Fortunately, the yamen did not leave him here and ignored him. At this time, someone brought him food, which was the servant who brought him here before. When he saw the much cleaned lower warehouse, he was slightly stunned: "You are so quick..."

"Since it's an official job, the villain should do his best." Li Ling said modestly while eating steamed buns.

The man didn't say much, and just waited for him to finish eating and took away the lunch box, then threw the saying "I'll come back tomorrow," and left in a hurry. But somehow, Li Ling always felt that his eyes were a little complicated, as if he was uneasy, and he felt a little disdainful.

At night, the wind was roaring outside, and only one stove was born in the room and it was not very warm. This made Li Ling, who had been tired for a day, unable to fall asleep for a long time...

...

"You mean he is very quick to do things, and he actually cleaned the warehouse in half a day?"

"That seems that he will start sorting out documents tomorrow. We still underestimate Li Ling's ability."

"Are you worried that he will see something from here?"

"That's not the case. The things above are carefully arranged by a few of us. Can a guy with little knowledge see any flaws?"

"Then what are you worried about?"

"I'm afraid he's going to do things too quickly, so before he can do it, he sorted out the Jiageku. So I have to ask someone to do it early..."

"But this candidate?"

"I'll make arrangements! Don't worry, just a scholar, can you make a fortune?"

"Okay, it will save you from having too many dreams. Then I will make sure to get things done at night two days later. Then I will arrange for those who stay at night to go elsewhere."

"Well, in two days, all disasters will be ashes, and there are people who will scapegoat, so we will naturally be out of the matter!"
Chapter completed!