#145 - Chapter 145 Relief

In the spacious main hall of Qingxi County, Magistrate Liu, a man in his thirties, resembled a plump gourd. His large belly seemed to carry the worries and responsibilities of the entire county. His gaze swept across the hall, landing on the heads of the prominent and influential families of the county.

“Today, I have gathered you all here not for idle chatter,” Magistrate Liu began slowly, his hands hidden within his wide sleeves as if holding the safety of the entire county. “The refugees outside the city are like a tide, suffering from hunger and cold. They urgently need our help. I hope you can all contribute generously, donating silver and grain to appease these refugees and prevent them from storming the city out of desperation, causing unnecessary losses.”

His voice, though not loud, flowed like a clear spring into everyone's hearts, making it impossible to ignore.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, a dissatisfied voice echoed in the hall. The head of a small family stood up, his face filled with bitterness: “Your Honor, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help, but the refugees have been occupying the road to my family’s grain transport for the past few days. Over thirty carts of grain were all robbed, and the servants transporting the grain were beaten black and blue for resisting. I really can’t spare much grain.”

Magistrate Liu frowned slightly. He didn’t respond directly to the family head, but turned his gaze to Lin Xiong, the head of the Lin family, who was seated second from the left.

The Lin family was a family of grain merchants in Qingxi County. Anything related to grain was inseparable from the Lin family. Magistrate Liu understood that the complaint of this small family head was definitely influenced by the Lin family.

He cursed inwardly but remained outwardly gentle: “Family Head Lin, you are the county’s granary. Now that the refugees are rampant, do you have any good strategies?”

Lin Xiong smiled slightly and cupped his fist in salute: “Your Honor, the refugee problem is indeed thorny. However, my Lin family is willing to contribute our meager strength, donating some grain to help Your Honor appease the refugees.”

Magistrate Liu breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression remained stern: “Family Head Lin is indeed righteous.”

Lin Xiong interrupted: “Your Honor, don’t be hasty. I have one condition that I hope Your Honor will grant.”

“Oh? As long as it can solve the refugees’ hunger problem, you can say whatever you need,” Magistrate Liu cursed Lin Xiong for not knowing what was good for him, but his demeanor remained as warm as a spring breeze.

He paused and continued, “Actually, I understand everyone’s difficulties. However, we are all people of Qingxi County and should work together to overcome this crisis. If the refugees storm the city and cause losses, none of us can escape unscathed.”

Magistrate Liu’s words of working together sounded more like a threat, causing the faces of the family heads below to change abruptly.

Lin bowed and said, “Your Honor, I have heard that it is not only the refugees who are robbing grain, but also the bandits of Blackwind Fort. It is one thing for the refugees to run rampant and rob grain, and we may even have some compassion and save a life if we can, but if the bandits of Blackwind Fort continue to rob and recruit refugees, that would be a great disaster!”

Magistrate Liu smiled inwardly. The true motive was finally revealed! So that's what they were waiting for!

“This is my oversight. As for the situation mentioned by that small family head, I will send people to investigate. If it is true, I will definitely send troops to punish them severely. But before that, I hope everyone can temporarily put aside personal grievances and work together to contribute to the safety of the county.”

Magistrate Liu’s words were followed by silence in the hall. Even if they were dissatisfied, the magistrate had already spoken to this extent, so they had no choice but to comply. Subsequently, some family heads expressed their willingness to contribute silver and grain to help the magistrate appease the refugees.

However, Magistrate Liu knew in his heart that this was only a temporary measure. To truly solve the refugee problem, a long-term plan was needed.

Magistrate Liu stood high above, looking down at the bustling scene of paying money and grain. The stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground. He secretly cursed his good-for-nothing brother-in-law: abandoning the good business of trading refugees, he insisted on robbing the road! And he was robbing grain that was related to the people's livelihood! This gave Magistrate Liu a headache.

Half a year ago, his brother-in-law had just received a huge ransom from the Li family's young master. He thought he could rest for a while, but he didn't expect him to start making trouble so soon.

Magistrate Liu shook his head helplessly, thinking: This brother-in-law is really incorrigible!

Speaking of Magistrate Liu's wife, Liu, she was a beautiful and charming woman.

Her skin was as delicate as dewdrops on flower buds, and she was at the age of thirty, as fierce as a wolf, with extremely strong sexual desires.

Although Magistrate Liu had cultivated to the middle stage of Bone Forging, he still felt somewhat powerless in the face of the twenty-eight-year-old Liu, who was as fierce as a tiger. It should be known that Liu was only in the late stage of Blood Refining.

Magistrate Liu sighed inwardly, lamenting that the husband's authority was not strong. If this continued, it would not only affect his cultivation progress but also potentially cause family conflicts. At the same time, he also needed to discipline his restless brother-in-law to prevent him from causing any more trouble.

Therefore, when facing the gentle and considerate but insatiable Liu, Magistrate Liu felt relieved to let her brother go to Blackwind Fort to serve as the chief.

Over the past ten years, this brother-in-law had indeed helped him a lot. However, now that refugees were everywhere, wouldn't it be asking for trouble to highlight him?

It was too reckless!

Magistrate Liu carefully pondered the events of today, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

Could it be that the Lin family had noticed something? It shouldn't be! His methods had always been very secretive, and he had even joined forces with the Li family to set up a trap.

The Li family had even taken out a full two thousand taels of real silver. The Lin family shouldn't have noticed anything. Then, the loophole in the problem was likely to be with Blackwind Fort.

It seemed that he had to discuss it with Liu Dong carefully, and perhaps another bandit escape incident was needed. However, this time, a person with enough weight must be put forward to suppress these people's resentment.

In this way, they could both contribute money and grain, and he could also make a fortune from it. Such good things were rare.

It was noon, and the entire Qingxi County was bathed in warm sunlight.

At the city gate and the inner city gate, a conspicuous notice was firmly posted on the wall. It clearly stated: “From tomorrow onwards, Qingxi County will begin distributing rice porridge and food to help everyone through this difficult time.” This news quickly spread throughout the entire county, attracting widespread attention.

Upon hearing this news, the people sighed at the magistrate's benevolent act. In this difficult time, such measures undoubtedly gave the refugees a glimmer of hope.

However, unlike ordinary people, the wealthy families watched all of this with indifference. They thought to themselves that although this approach could win people's hearts, it did not bring much practical benefit to them. They were more concerned with their status and wealth than with the livelihood of the poor people.

The money has been given,

The grain has been provided.

Now it depends on when the magistrate will suppress the bandits.