Chapter 296 - 290 Shame
Zhao Hanzhang naturally thought the more, the better. She lowered her eyes and flipped through the accounts and the records from the grain depot, which had been checked.
She lightly curved her lips and said directly, "I think the number one thousand stones sounds better."
In the sweltering heat, the County Magistrate’s back was soaked with sweat, and drops of sweat were falling from his forehead. He whispered, "Isn’t that... too much?"
"Too much?" Zhao Hanzhang leaned slightly, staring into his eyes, "Go and tell Mr. Guan, his family is already wealthy enough, but to become richer, countless lives were harmed. Some people would rather die to uphold righteousness. To redeem with just a thousand stones of grain is my lightest sentence. If he is dissatisfied, he can come to the court and argue with me."
The County Magistrate, trembling with fear, agreed and asked even softer, "Then, what about the others?"
"Release them all, and send them home properly," Zhao Hanzhang said. "They’ve been wronged these past days. I don’t have time today, but when I have a moment, I will visit and apologize. Also, thank them for their help in Yu Yang. Without their assistance in checking the grain depot, the county wouldn’t have settled down so quickly."
The County Magistrate waited for a while and saw that she had no intention of extorting those people, so he quietly looked up at Zhao Hanzhang.
Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows at him and asked, "Is there anything else?"
The County Magistrate quickly shook his head, "Nothing."
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, "If there’s nothing, go and send them home properly, oh, leave Mr. Guan for a while, tell him to clean the warehouse. Once the thousand stones are delivered, he can be sent back."
The County Magistrate agreed.
The numerous gentlemen being watched over in the grain depot were restless and did not have a friendly look when they saw the County Magistrate, but soon, their faces were filled with astonishment.
If they were all released equally, their resentment towards Zhao Hanzhang would have surely remained, but now there was an exception.
Mr. Guan not only had to stay detained but also had to produce a thousand stones of grain, while they were respectfully sent home and even thanked...
Though they recognized it might be a scheme by Zhao Hanzhang, they couldn’t help but have a better impression of her and started to make excuses for her in their minds.
"She at least knows manners and acknowledges she’ll visit to apologize later." Mr. Mu mumbled as he took off his wrinkled clothes.
Mrs. Mu: "...But she hasn’t visited yet, haven’t you written home saying she acts like a bandit and to go to Xiping to seek justice from the Zhao Family?"
"Ahem, didn’t know her well then, did they go to Xiping? If not, there’s no need now."
"They went long ago; when the family received your letter, they went immediately, likely reached Xiping by now. Should we send someone to clarify? Say it was a misunderstanding."
"No need, what’s said is said. Actually, the words weren’t wrong either. She indeed acts like a bandit, but she does have principles," Mr. Mu shook his head, "Forget it, forget it. Let’s just take these days of fear as suffering for the people of Yu Yang County. How is the situation there now?"
"Much better," Mrs. Mu said. "The county government is opening the granaries for the poor. They gathered a lot of poor people, each carrying a grain bag for distribution, the streets and alleys have stabilized, not like the chaos before."
After pondering for a moment, Mr. Mu said, "Get a hundred stones of grain from the warehouse, donate it to the county government, and say it’s for the people’s relief grain."
Mrs. Mu was surprised, "Isn’t that too much?"
Mr. Mu shook his head, "Zhao Hanzhang was right; for us, this grain is just wealth, but for those people, it’s a matter of life and death."
Mrs. Mu didn’t persuade further, agreed, and went to prepare.
Zhao Hanzhang was standing in front of the county government watching the officials distribute relief grain to the people.
The relief grain was being distributed yard by yard, with Fu Tinghan having scheduled the time, and the village chief standing by. Each person coming to receive relief grain brought their own grain bag and had their household register, receiving corresponding grain according to the family population.
With neighbors all around and their village chief in front, if anyone tried to claim falsely, and neither neighbors nor the village chief could point it out, they would be penalized together.
Chen Wan and Xiang Yu were keeping watch nearby, from checking the grain out of storage to distribution, each managing two teams, keeping a close watch.
Because of such arrangements, the relief grain distribution was proceeding orderly without any trouble arising.
Once Zhao Hanzhang appeared at the county government’s gate, many people below recognized her.
After all, many were among those surrounding the county government gate that night, so those who recognized her introduced her to those who didn’t. Soon, everyone knew the lady standing above was responsible for distributing the relief grain. She was considered their savior.
As people received their grain, they knelt and kowtowed in the direction of Zhao Hanzhang as they left.
Zhao Hanzhang was surprised and stepped forward. Seeing the man get up and walk away with his grain bag, she stopped. But the person behind him also knelt and kowtowed...
Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes were slightly wet; she turned to return to the government office, only to see Fu Tinghan leaning against the main gate, watching her.
Fu Tinghan smiled at her, stepped forward, held her hand, and led her down. "Since you’re here, why not help out?"
Zhao Hanzhang let him lead her down.
The two of them replaced the officials in the relief grain distribution spot.
Fu Tinghan reached to take the household register handed over and asked, "Are there any children not on the register?"
The person was taken aback by the question and then immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, I have a daughter, just two years old, not yet on the register."
Fu Tinghan turned to ask the village chief beside him, "Is that so?"
The village chief glanced at the man, recognized him, and nodded, "Yes, there is indeed a child not yet registered in his family."
Fu Tinghan, quick at mental calculations, said to Zhao Hanzhang, "Weigh out eighty-five pounds for him."
Zhao Hanzhang, with the help of an official, weighed out eighty-five pounds, filling a bag full.
The person was overjoyed, bowing repeatedly to Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan. Especially to Zhao Hanzhang, before lifting the grain bag, he knelt and kowtowed to her. When Zhao Hanzhang went to help him up, he shouted, "Miss, this bow you deserve, if not for you that night, we might not have starved to death these two days, but we would be dying now."
Zhao Hanzhang, doing all this just to seize control of Yu Yang County, was parched and somewhat ashamed, "I’m unworthy of such, I... I feel unworthy, and it wastes time. Once you’ve received your grain, leave quickly so those behind can move up."
Fu Tinghan smiled as he watched her.
Zhao Hanzhang, with a light blush, said, "Everyone should speed up so those behind can receive theirs sooner, there are some villages waiting in line behind for two days, and they’re hungry."
With these words, the man and those behind no longer dared to kneel and quickly stepped forward to receive their relief grain.