Chapter 14 Cheap Father-in-law

"Sir, Sir~"

In the county government office, a yamen runner hurried into the back hall.

In the study room in the back hall, Luo Jin, the magistrate of Anning County, was frowning and looking at the documents in his hand. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting and raised his head in dissatisfaction.

"What's wrong?"

Luo Jin was probably in his early thirties, a little thin, and looked a bit like a weak scholar, but he had some official aura without anger. Just three simple words gave people a heavy pressure.

The yamen runner ran in and bowed to report: "Sir, Scar Liu was killed!"

"Scar Liu!" Luo Jin whispered, and then he thought about who this person was.

For the mountain bandits who were causing trouble under his rule, Luo Jin hated them deeply and thought about getting rid of them day and night.

Unfortunately, as a county magistrate, he could not mobilize many soldiers and yamen runners, and could not encircle and suppress those bandits who were roaming around and committing crimes on a large scale.

That's why he didn't hesitate to spend a lot of money and issue a reward in the name of the county government.

"How did he die?" Luo Jin stood up and asked.

"Yesterday, Scar Liu led dozens of bandits to attack Jiangjia Village in Qinghe Town. After Yang Zhengshan, a warrior from Yangjia Village, found out, he immediately went to rescue them. He first killed the bandit leader Scar Liu, then killed more than 20 bandits, and finally Yang Zhengxiang, the head of Yangjia Village, led 20 young men to surround and kill most of the bandits who escaped." The yamen runner reported.

They had already gone to Jiangjia Village to understand the situation. Although they had not seen the battle process with their own eyes, they confirmed the whole process based on the narration of the villagers of Jiangjia Village and Yangjia Village.

Luo Jin's expression immediately became much better after hearing this.

He was not one of those officials who only knew how to plunder the people's fat and blood. He had just passed the imperial examination two years ago and finally got an official position through his family's relationship.

He originally thought that he could show his strength after taking office, but when he came to Anning County, he found that he thought too much.

Anning County is very poor. If it was just poor, it would be fine. The key is that Anning County is still very chaotic.

Anning County is close to the northern border, and there is Changqing Mountain in the territory. There are many arrogant soldiers and brave generals in the northern border, and there are many mountain bandits and vagrants in Changqing Mountain.

He can't control the arrogant soldiers and brave generals, and he can't kill all the mountain bandits and vagrants. In such a situation, how can he show his strength?

Scar Liu was killed. This news should be the best news he has heard in Anning County in the past two years.

"Who is Yang Zhengshan?" Luo Jin suddenly became interested in Yang Zhengshan.

The person who can kill Scar Liu must not be a weak person.

The yamen runner grinned and said, "Sir, I know this person."

"Oh, tell me in detail!" Luo Jin said.

The yamen runner said: "Yang Zhengshan, a villager of Yangjia Village, is 38 years old this year. He served in Jingbian Camp 20 years ago and retired due to serious injuries in the Battle of Heiyun Mountain."

"In addition, he is the brother-in-law of Lu Dianli in the barracks."

The reason why this yamen runner knows Yang Zhengshan so well is because he is familiar with Lu Zhaoqi.

Lu Zhaoqi is Yang Zhengshan's brother-in-law. He serves as a clerk in the county barracks and is considered a civil servant of the county government.

The county government has six offices: Li, Hu, Li, Bing, Xing, and Gong. Each office has one Si Li and two Dian Li. The Bing Office is responsible for the recruitment and training of young men and horses, city defense, bandit suppression, post stations, soldiers, and patrol offices.

The Bing Office is somewhat similar to the Public Security Bureau of a county. Si Li is the director and Dian Li is the deputy director, but they are all low-ranking clerks.

Dian Li like Lu Zhaoqi is naturally not in Luo Jin's eyes, but after the yamen runner mentioned it, he remembered that there was a person like Lu Zhaoqi in the county government.

"Go and call Lu Zhaoqi over!" Luo Jin ordered.

Lu Zhaoqi is 44 years old this year. There is a saying that clerks are permanent but officials are transient. Lu Zhaoqi entered the county government as a clerk at the age of 30. It has been 14 years so far, and he has experienced three county magistrates. However, this is the first time he has been summoned by the county magistrate alone.

Yang Zhengshan naturally didn't know that his brother-in-law had benefited from his help and met the county magistrate alone. At this time, he was carrying a bag on his way to Qinghe Town to visit his cheap father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Yang Zhengshan still respected his father-in-law, well, nominal father-in-law.

Although his original wife had passed away a year ago, he did not ignore this father-in-law.

Lu Songhe was an old scholar. His brother-in-law Lu Zhaoqi was able to work as an official in the county government because of Lu Songhe.

The reason why Yang Zhengshan valued Lu Songhe was not only because he was his cheap father-in-law, but also because Lu Songhe was the person with the highest status among the people he could contact at present.

Yang Zhengshan was not a worldly-wise person. He knew the importance of interpersonal relationships.

Integrating into the Yang family and interacting with Lu Songhe were all things he planned.

Since he wanted to live a good life in this world, he naturally had to take care of these interpersonal relationships.

Lu Songhe lives in Qinghe Town. His mansion is a large courtyard with two entrances. Although he is just an old scholar, he has been doing business in Qinghe Town for decades and his family is very rich.

When he came to the Lu family, it was Lu Wenchun, the eldest grandson of the Lu family, who opened the door for Yang Zhengshan.

"Uncle, why are you here?"

Lu Wenchun was a little surprised to see Yang Zhengshan.

This was the first time Yang Zhengshan came to the door of the Lu family after his wife passed away.

"Are your grandparents in good health?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"Well, everything is fine with grandparents! Uncle, please come in!" Lu Wenchun said as he led Yang Zhengshan into the hall.

After brewing tea for Yang Zhengshan, Lu Wenchun went to invite Lu Songhe.

Before he finished a cup of tea, Yang Zhengshan saw a skinny old man with his hands behind his back coming to the hall.

"Dad!" Yang Zhengshan got up quickly and called.

Calling him dad is good, it makes you look younger.

Yang Zhengshan felt that he was in his seventies or eighties when he was called grandpa and great-grandpa all day long.

Now there is finally someone he can call dad, and he suddenly felt a lot younger.

Lu Songhe was a serious old man, who was not smiling. He just glanced at him lightly and sat in the main seat of the hall.

"Why are you here?"

His tone was neither salty nor bland, which made Yang Zhengshan feel that he was being kept away from him.

However, Yang Zhengshan did not feel disgusted or angry, because he knew that Lu Songhe's attitude towards the original body was like this.

In fact, Lu Songhe loved his daughter very much. In the past, Lu Songhe subsidized the Yang family a lot. Food, clothing, and everything that the Lu family had, he would send some to the Yang family.

Of course, he only loved his daughter. He was full of resentment and dissatisfaction with the original son-in-law.

The original body's marriage was arranged before the original body joined the army. At that time, the original body was a talented young warrior. Lu Songhe was naturally happy to have such a son-in-law.

But later, the original body came back to get married. He was in poor health and was still poor. Lu Songhe was a little unwilling.

It's not that he despises the poor and loves the rich, he just doesn't want his daughter to suffer.

But the marriage contract has been set, and he can only marry his daughter even if he doesn't want to.

Later, the Yang family's life became more and more difficult, and Lu Songhe became more and more dissatisfied with the original body.

The daughter lived a hard life because the original son-in-law was incompetent. It would be strange if he could treat the original body well.

A year ago, his daughter died of illness, and Lu Songhe sent her off with white hair. This made him more resentful. Today, he was willing to meet Yang Zhengshan, which was considered generous.

"Dad, Yan'er made a cotton coat for you and mother! Try it first to see if it fits!" Yang Zhengshan opened the bundle and took out the cotton coat inside.

Lu Songhe looked at the cotton-padded jacket, and his unhappy expression eased a lot.

Yang Yunyan learned needlework from her original wife, and her stitching habits were exactly the same as hers. Even her original wife liked to embroider bamboo leaves on clothes, and Yang Yunyan inherited the same style.