Chapter 295 - 289 Fear
Chen Wan and Xiang Yu voluntarily entered the prison, although deep down they did not feel that they had done wrong; even if they had to do it again, they would still make the same choice.
But they were impressed by Zhao Hanzhang. In terms of the law, they were wrong, so they voluntarily bound themselves to be imprisoned.
Once inside the prison, they never thought they could leave again, so Zhao Hanzhang’s sudden appearance surprised them a bit.
The two stood up excitedly, "Lady Zhao..."
Zhao Hanzhang asked the prison guard to open the cell door and walked in, looking at the two and sighing, "I come to ask the two righteous men for help."
Chen Wan and Xiang Yu exchanged a glance and immediately clasped their fists, "County Lord, feel free to instruct us."
Zhao Hanzhang was moved, "You two indeed are righteous men."
Zhao Hanzhang seemed not to mind at all their previous act of rebellion, and directly led them out of the prison, treated them to a meal, and assigned some soldiers to them to lead for inspection.
"Inspection?" Chen Wan was surprised.
"Indeed," Zhao Hanzhang said: "I have decided to open the granary to distribute grain and aid the people, but I am not very familiar with Yu Yang County. I cannot ensure the distributed grain will reach every citizen, nor that every citizen in need will receive grain, so I need two people for supervision."
Chen Wan’s eyes lit up brightly and moved, he knelt directly before Zhao Hanzhang and said, "If the lady trusts me, I am willing to dedicate my life for her."
Xiang Yu saw this and quickly knelt down, "I too am willing to dedicate my life for you, Lady."
Zhao Hanzhang hurriedly helped them up, "Good, then let us work together for the people of Yu Yang."
Zhao Hanzhang immediately asked Zhao Ju to assign them two teams of soldiers, each took one, and went to supervise.
"I have already ordered a count of the grain in the warehouse, you start supervising from the source."
Over there at the granary, they were still counting and checking the grain mixed with mud and sand. Fortunately, the grain from the county government’s storeroom had no quality issues, only the numbers seemed off.
So, the grain here could be distributed directly.
The County Magistrate wanted to speak several times, and when Chen Wan and Xiang Yu actually led people to supervise at the storeroom, he finally couldn’t help but say, "Lady Zhao, now that you are opening the granary, what about the taxes for the Inspector Mansion?"
He said, "These are supposed to be the taxes for the Inspector Mansion, County Magistrate Sun is not here now..."
Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Do you think County Magistrate Sun can return to Yu Yang County to continue being the magistrate?"
The County Magistrate fell silent.
Honestly, he found it difficult.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "Don’t worry, you’re just a County Magistrate, the matter of taxes should be the headache of the next County Magistrate, let’s not concern ourselves with it."
"The urgent matter is to appease the citizens, I don’t want them to rebel again," she said, "Honestly, isn’t the loss from a rebellion greater than these taxes?"
The County Magistrate nodded silently.
"So, if Yu Yang County can withstand another rebellion, it can certainly withstand the loss of these taxes."
The words weren’t like that, Yu Yang County could bear it, but the county government couldn’t.
Zhao Hanzhang had already made her decision, when Fu Tinghan handed those data to her, she had already decided.
Although she did not wish to offend He Ci Shi, if the price was to crush the people of Yu Yang with a mountain hanging over their backs, she chose to offend He Ci Shi.
He Ci Shi was not worth her harming innocent citizens, and frankly, there was no one worthy of such actions, including herself.
She was not that important, nor did she have the courage to violate her conscience to do such things.
She had always been decisive, once a decision was made, it wouldn’t change.
The County Magistrate only dared to advise gently, knowing full well the Chief Clerk’s corpse had just turned cold.
Zhao Hanzhang lowered her gaze in thought and said, "Send someone to the Chief Clerk’s house, the embezzled grain from the granary should be returned, the people are waiting for relief."
The County Magistrate inquired, "Are we... confiscating?"
"No, let them tally themselves and return it."
The County Magistrate breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly sent someone to the Chief Clerk’s house to notify.
At the Chief Clerk’s house, mourning was in the air. Zhao Hanzhang had just permitted them to collect the body from the granary today.
Since Zhao Hanzhang announced the Chief Clerk’s crime, no one in the family dared to complain, only sadness prevailed. Upon seeing the County Magistrate and Government Official arrive, they were aggrieved and fearful.
The County Magistrate directly spoke with the Chief Clerk’s father.
"Return the grain? Where can we find the grain to return?"
"The way he embezzled from the granary is the way it should be returned. Uncle, this is already Lady Zhao being lenient," the County Magistrate said, "Originally, such matters warranted full confiscation of family assets..."
The Chief Clerk’s father immediately fell silent.
The County Magistrate quietly said, "In the past, embezzling grain wouldn’t have amounted to such a severe charge, but look at how many died this time, causing a revolt, even Luoyang might have heard of it."
"Not just the Chief Clerk, but County Magistrate Sun probably can’t escape unscathed either..."
The Chief Clerk’s father frowned with worry and finally said, "There isn’t much grain left, it’s all been converted to money, please ask if the money can be used to offset it?"
"Don’t be so foolish, when you have money, can’t you buy grain?" County Magistrate said, "Lady Zhao has asked for grain, then it’s grain she wants. Paying her money instead, if misunderstood, will bring trouble to none other than yourself."
The Chief Clerk’s father heard this, clenched his teeth and agreed, then pulled out money from home to buy grain.
But now the hardest thing to buy in Yu Yang County is grain.
Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t had time to manage grain prices, the grain shops hadn’t been open these past two days, and due to the panic from the rebellion, the grain prices skyrocketed.
The Chief Clerk’s father: ...
And Zhao Hanzhang meanwhile finally had time to attend to this, she ordered, "Let the shops in the county open normally, prices must not differ by more than five percent compared to this time last year, if violated, it will be dealt as inflation pricing, disrupting governances."
Such regulations are very strict for a usual free market, but the County Magistrate didn’t dare to object, in tumultuous times stern measures are needed, the rich are still shut in the granary counting grains, no one dared challenge Zhao Hanzhang’s patience now.
The County Magistrate agreed, hesitated a bit, and still asked, "The gentlemen in the granary are asking if they can return home?"
Zhao Hanzhang lowered her eyes, contemplating without speaking.
The County Magistrate, sweating, said, "They said all grains were accounted for, even grains mixed with sand were sifted, Mr. Guan said there’s a discrepancy in the grain count, their Guan Family is willing to fill some deficit for Yu Yang County."
Zhao Hanzhang’s lips slightly curled, she asked, "How much is he filling?"
Seeing Zhao Hanzhang responding, the County Magistrate quietly breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "He is willing to fill one hundred stones."
Zhao Hanzhang remained silent.
The County Magistrate swallowed, softly asked, "How much does Lady Zhao think is appropriate?"