Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

Qin Yunhe suddenly remembered something: "Zigao, you said before that you would ask someone when you go back for the New Year to see if Wei Chengji has any plans to return the land. Who did you ask?"

Normally, no one except the people around Wei Chengji should know about this. Normally, even if the people around him knew about it, they would not tell Li Chang the truth.

Li Chang took a sip of tea and said in a profound tone, "Of course he is the one who knows the truth."

Qin Yunhe laughed, why is he being mysterious again?

Li Chang smiled, moved closer to Qin Yunhe, and gently uttered a name.

Qin Yunhe suddenly laughed. This was really both expected and unexpected.

After finishing the business, Qin Yunhe asked about Zhang San and Li Si: "Is Zhang San and Li Si unable to come back for the time being? Why did you send someone to bring back a message?"

"Oh, I'll ask them to rest for a few days after they finish their work, and then pick up my wife."

"Did my sister-in-law agree to come?"

"Hey, she can be comforted with a few words. We had agreed to come after the New Year."

"That's good. Otherwise I'd feel bad keeping Zigao here. Are Zhang San and Li Si injured?"

“It’s definitely painful, but it shouldn’t be too serious.

Liu Piezi looks fierce, but he is actually a man of measure. He is famous for his generosity in Fuyu County. If not for this, we would not have chosen him.

In any case, sir, please prepare the reward money first and wait for Zhang San and Li Si to come back and reward you."

Qin Yunhe smiled and said, "That's natural."

The two talked for a while. Li Chang knew that Qin Yunhe was very busy with official duties these days and he himself had some things to do, so he said goodbye and left.

Zhuzi also came out with Li Chang.

After hearing Li Chang's plan and the painstaking efforts he put into helping the villagers get their land back, Zhuzi was both impressed and grateful.

After leaving the study, Zhuzi bowed deeply to Li Chang and said, "Thank you very much, Third Master, for your help this time. You helped us get the river beach back with your wisdom and foresight.

It's a pity that no one except us knows what the Third Master did. I would like to thank him on behalf of the villagers."

Li Chang waved his hand nonchalantly: "What's the big deal? It's just a small matter. I'm not seeking fame."

Li Chang continued to walk out, and Zhuzi couldn't help but ask his own questions.

"Third Master, wouldn't it seem a bit deliberate for Zhang San and Li Si to suddenly get into trouble at that time, and make the magistrate more suspicious whether it was a deliberate arrangement by the adults?"

Li Chang glanced at Zhu Zi who was following him and said, "At first he will definitely still doubt that it was arranged by the adults, so I said that when he sees with his own eyes that Zhang San and Li Si really have no chance to do it, most of his doubts will be eliminated.

As for the remaining small bit of suspicion, it would naturally be completely dispelled once he found out the person who actually spread the rumor.

I don’t even think that Zhang San or Li Si did it on purpose.”

Fuyu County, County Office

Wei Chengji has been very angry recently.

Originally, he thought that if he could just push the Dianshi out, his responsibility would be less.

Getting reprimanded will affect the exam, and at worst, I won't be promoted in this position.

Unexpectedly, the inspector was so angry that he directly fined him one year's salary.

The loss of the money from the river invasion was already enough to make him heartbroken, and now he was fined one year's salary.

How much money will it take to make up for these losses?

He didn't dare to get angry before the inspector left, but after he sent the inspector away, he could no longer bear it. Everyone in Buyeo County was so irritating.

"Can't you handle this little thing? How long has this robbery been going on? The thief hasn't been caught yet? Who is responsible? Which yamen runner is in charge?

If you fail to catch him within three days, you will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane if you delay for one more day!"

Wei Chengji walked around the study room twice in annoyance and asked again, "Where is the county magistrate? Why hasn't there been any progress on the matter I asked him to handle last time? Call him over here quickly."

"And Xu Li, call them over here! They are such good-for-nothings! They can't do anything right."

The servants around him didn't dare to breathe, and ran out immediately when they heard that he was asked to call for help.

The study became quiet for a while. Wei Chengji had no one to vent his anger on, and he was also tired, so he finally sat down to calm down.

Getting angry is exhausting.

Soon, County Magistrate Yang Shi was invited.

Although Wei Chengji roared loudly when Yang Shi was not around, he would not shout like that when Yang Shi really came.

Now he had pushed the Dianshi he had promoted out to take over. He also didn't want to deal with the legal advisor he had brought with him recently.

The only one I can rely on is Yang Shi.

In particular, he discovered that Yang Shi had no ambition at all and was always very respectful in front of him.

Apart from the two sentences he made in defense of the Dianshi, he basically never expressed his own opinions.

Although the ability of such a subordinate is average, there is no need to worry that he will have any extra thoughts.

"Yang County Magistrate, have you come up with any countermeasures to fill the deficit in the account these days? This matter concerns the entire Buyeo County Government, not just my business."

"Yes, yes. Sir, I have thought about it seriously these days, and I think it is best not to come up with any other ideas for the time being, except for the usual consumption of envoys.

Now that the inspector has just left, I am afraid that something else may happen..."

Alas, this county magistrate is good in everything else except that he is too pedantic and cautious.

It's almost impossible to get him to come up with any ideas.

Wei Chengji shook his head and sighed in his heart, then said, "What do you think of what I said last time about increasing the perfume fees for the temples in the county?"

It's not Wei Chengji's fault that he came up with this idea. He actually found that the temples here are really lucrative.

Why doesn't this make him moved?

Why do people who practice cultivation need so many material possessions?

Yang Shi was in a dilemma: "Sir, I think it's better not to give it up. It's not good to say that I'm greedy for the monks' perfume money. Especially for the Ciguang Temple, Emperor Renzong once issued an imperial decree to reduce the perfume money by half..."

Wei Chengji really wanted to say, His Majesty Renzong, those were all old calendars from a certain era, and it is no longer the Renzong reign, so who would take his words seriously?

But this was so outrageous that I didn't say it.

"His Majesty Renzong decreed that the perfume fee be halved, but it only said that it was halved during Renzong's reign, not that it would be halved for generations to come."

Yang Shi was even more embarrassed: "Even if it is not halved for generations, it is not good to compete with monks for profits... At most, it is just a normal charge."

Tsk!

Wei Chengji looked at Yang Shi with a constipated look on his face. This Yang Shi was really stubborn.

As the two were talking, the squad leader Xu Li was also called over.

"Sir, what do you want from me?"

"Oh, I asked you to investigate the person who spread the rumor. How is your investigation going?"

There was obvious hesitation on Xu Li's face, and he seemed to want to say something but stopped himself several times.

"What? Did you find out?" Wei Chengji's face darkened: "Who is it?"

"Yes...it's the former Dianshi Wu Hui."

Wei Chengji's face suddenly changed, and he flew into a rage: "Wu Hui! It's actually Wu Hui! Where is he? Where is he now?"

"Sir, Wu Hui has been put in shackles and caned, and has been driven out of Buyeo County..."

Wei Chengji launched another violent storm.

Yang Shi and Xu Li carefully retreated from the county magistrate's study, looked at each other, and walked out of the yamen side by side...

----

Perfume money is a tax levied on monks...

Starting from the Tang Dynasty, certain taxes were gradually levied on temples. After the Two-Tax Law, taxes were officially levied on temples.