Three days later, it is almost noon.

The small Huating County seems to be no different from the past. It is still dilapidated and calm. There are few people on the streets, and the broken city gate is just open, and even a veteran guarding the gate has never seen it.

Everyone has long been accustomed to this situation. In such a poor small county, which green forest bandits would like to come and rob?

But at this moment, a sound of horse hooves from far to near alarmed many people near the city gate. Everyone opened their eyes with strange eyes and saw a team of horses rumbled, flags fluttering, and many swords and guns flashing in the sun, making people feel tight.

It was not until the team was closer that everyone breathed a sigh of relief, because it was a well-equipped officer and soldier. The man in charge was even wearing a green official uniform, but the officers and soldiers were on the way to the county. After seeing the identity of the visitor clearly and seeing them entering the city, the people reacted again, quickly walked away from both sides, and completely gave up the road.

This army of officials walked past everyone in a swagger, along the straight long street, towards the depths of the county town, and behind it attracted many whispers from the people, guessing their identities and their intentions to come to Huating County suddenly. You should know that as the most inconspicuous small county town in Jiangnan, Huating has not received any decent boss officials for many years.

When Tang Tianyou, the sixth-rank experience official, saw the dilapidated small county government in front of him, his disdainful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth when he saw Huating County Town, but he had no intention of dismounting. He continued to urge the horse to move forward until he arrived at the gate of the county government government and saw several soap-clothed officers looking at him with awe, he stopped the horse and waved the whip in his hand.

His own soldiers spoke: "Mr. Tang, an official from Songjiang Prefecture, was ordered to visit Huating County. Where is the county magistrate of this county? Why don't you come out to greet me?"

Although those servants did not know how high the rank of the officials were, they understood that the other party must be higher than their county magistrates, so they quickly knelt down and greeted each other, then separated one person, turned around and ran into the county government.

These people were just recruited by the county magistrate. They were quite ignorant of many affairs in the yamen, and had never dealt with such a high-ranking official. At this moment, they were worried and just wanted to let the master come to talk to them. So the person who was told to run fast. When he arrived at the Ertang County Magistrate's Office, his breathing was a little rapid, but he still hurriedly said: "Sir, the experience official from the government office came outside and said you were asked to go out to greet him."

Li Ling, who was looking down at a document, raised his head slightly when he heard this, and there was no joy or anger on his face. He just pondered for a moment and stood up: "Is that so? I want to welcome him." As he said that, he got up and walked out until he left the public housing. He looked at his still nervous subordinate, "Why do you look like this? Are you not used to working in the yamen?"

The county master was really nice to him and others. Not only did he not have the slightest airs of Shangguan, he spoke very politely, which made the newcomer respect him even more. At this time, he quickly replied: "I just haven't seen a high-ranking official from the city for many years. I'm just a little scared."

"You mean that our Huating County has not received such superior officials for many years?"

"Yes, I only remember that it was only a few years ago. After the accident between the county magistrate Ren, a senior official from above came to check it out in detail, and no one came again."

"Is that so? It's interesting." Li Ling smiled thoughtfully, but he still sorted out his clothes and turned his head to look at the two public rooms of the two officials who were still closed. The county government office had such major changes, but the county magistrate and the chief clerk had not come back yet. Then he strided forward, left the second hall, passed the lobby, and came to the front of the gate.

"I don't know if the superior official Li Ling is coming, and he is in trouble to welcome him. I hope he will be more grateful." Li Ling smiled on his face. After seeing the official sitting proudly on the horse from afar, he bowed and bowed.

Tang Tianyou was still sitting on the horse's back. Until he saw the young county magistrate approaching, he stretched out his hand: "Mr. Li doesn't have to be too polite. This time I was ordered to come, so I didn't say hello first."

When he stretched out his hand, he wanted Li Ling to help him get off the horse. Originally, he had his own subordinates to serve him, but in order to suppress Li Ling's arrogance, he deliberately made such a move.

But then, Tang Tianyou was a little numb because he suddenly realized that Li Ling had only come to the yamen and had not crossed the high threshold, so he stood there and looked at him with a smile. This made his hand look a little ridiculous, and he could not just turn off the horse so neatly.

Fortunately, the followers around him had enough eyesight to see him. When they saw that his master was a little embarrassed, they quickly stepped forward to support him, and they had slightly relieved Tang Tianyou's siege. However, his face turned a little dark, and he stared at Li Ling: "Mr. Li is really strong."

"My lord has praised it, but the subordinates are just doing things according to the rules." Li Ling replied in a humble manner. There were indeed statements in the officialdom in the past. Officials have their own rules for coming and going. For example, where should the local chief officer stand to welcome the superior? However, these things have been thrown aside as time goes by, and they are more focused on flattery.

"Sir, please, I don't know the name of you, what are you going to explain here?" Li Ling said, and made another invitation gesture, leading Tang Tianyou into the county government.

"I am a Songjiang Prefecture official. This time, he came to investigate some of the evil things in Huating County by Yang Tongzhi." After saying this, he seemed to have a deep look at Li Ling, "Mr. Li, this time someone ran to the city to sue you."

"There is still this? I have only been in Huating for only half a month and have not done a few things. Why are there any troublemakers who dare to sue me for suing me?" Li Ling looked at the other party without any permission, and then took the lead and took him into his public housing.

The two sides sat down separately, and what made Tang Tianyou feel a little uncomfortable was that Li Ling did not give up the main seat above, which made him sit on the side, and no matter how he looked, he was shorter than the county magistrate Li Ling. However, this was impossible. According to the official rules, generally speaking, as long as the imperial envoy was not coming, ordinary officials might not be able to be higher than the main officer when they arrived at the place. Of course, this is just a theoretical statement. In reality, when they saw these superior officials, the local officials would still take the initiative to give up their seats to show respect.

But Li Ling seemed to have just met the door just now, and there was no politeness. This made Tang Tianyou even more dissatisfied. He hummed softly and said, "Mr. Li County, you are just wrong. Since the people have worked hard to come to the government office to sue you, it means you have done something wrong. Moreover, in the eyes of Lord Tongzhi and I, what you did after taking office this time is indeed too bad. In just a short period of time, a large number of elderly people in the county government office were rebelled. Are you not afraid of being disheartened and attracting public discussions? "

After pausing, he looked at Li Ling again and said, "Mr. Li, I know that you are from the capital, so I need to remind you one more thing: governing a place is very different from being an official in the capital. As an official in the local area, you must not only do your best, but also learn to use the right people, otherwise you will only achieve half the result with twice the effort, and even mess up all the errands conveyed by the court, which will bring yourself and various future problems to the court."

Looking at this person who was thinking about you and persuaded himself, Li Ling's lips curled up slightly, and a meaningful smile appeared: "What the lord said is very much, and I think so too. That's why I replaced all the officials from the county government after taking office.

"Master Tang, you are in the capital city, so you don't know about me. It's okay if the officials in the past were not diligent enough in their work. They often acted as evil and bullied the people. Let me ask, if such officials were kept in the county government, wouldn't they be irresponsible to themselves and the court, but would they be poisoning the people under my rule?"

"You..." Unexpectedly, Li Ling not only did not listen to his persuasion, but instead took out such a statement. This made Tang Tianyou's face even heavier and he felt cruel. Then he said, "So, is it that you are determined to change the officials? Do you have to do this?"

"That's right." Li Ling looked at him without any permission, "Since there are worms in the yamen, I, as the county magistrate, have the responsibility to take them out! And those subordinates who do not obey my orders, what's the use of keeping them here?"

"But as far as I know, your actions are mostly caused by personal grievances. Because you have had conflicts with the local prominent Xu family, you drove some people from the Xu family out of the county government. What do you have to say about this?" Tang Tianyou, who was so angry, continued to ask. He really didn't expect that this small county magistrate would give him face so much, and he refused so firmly that he didn't even give him any room for maneuver.

Li Ling narrowed his eyes, but was not in a hurry to answer, but asked, "Which is the Xu family who sued me?"

"Please forgive me for not informing you of this."

"I can't answer your question, Lord Tang." Li Ling replied the same sentence, and then added as the other party changed color: "I am the Huating County Magistrate appointed by the court. Whether it is the county town or the county government, it is up to me to decide. Unless the official made any mistakes, the court can dismiss my official position and seize my power. Otherwise, even the prefect has no right to interfere in how I use people!"

"You..." Tang Tianyou was shocked in an instant. He had never seen a county magistrate with such a strong head and such a brave man. Did this guy really get the courage of the bear heart and leopard?

You should know that there is a saying in the officialdom that one is a senior official and a senior official to kill someone. As a sixth rank, he came on the order of a Tongzhi. He dared to contradict himself like this, wouldn’t he be afraid of using this as an excuse to punish him?

Before he could react, Li Ling's bolder performance came again: "I have said this. If there is nothing else, Lord Tang will invite you back. Come and see off the guests!"
Chapter completed!