Chapter 33: Resolution
“Is Lord happy?” On the city wall, Lu Yun looked at Li Dayin with full sincerity on his face.
“Happy…” Li Dayin replied casually, then shook his head with a bitter smile and said: “But they are not the registered population of this county…”
“Is there a regulation that corvee laborers must come from this county?” Lu Yun looked at Li Dayin strangely.
“Well, no…” Li Dayin shook his head and said: “It’s just that this official has no authority to command them!”
“Lord certainly has the authority.” Lu Yun said seriously: “According to Great Xuan Laws, the county magistrate manages all population within the county borders, including unregistered vagrants.” Then he sighed and said: “To tell the truth, these are all disaster victims who escaped. They are all starving. As long as Lord provides some grain to feed their whole families, they will naturally fight for Lord.”
“This…” Li Dayin was moved. Although the method Lu Yun proposed was something he had never heard of. But after all, he was an old clerk with twenty years of experience, very rich in knowledge. His intuition told him that this matter had extremely high feasibility. Except for one point…
“To be honest with Young Master.” Li Dayin lowered his voice and said: “The grain in the Ever-Normal Granary is stretched thin just to supply the locals of this county. Where is there surplus grain to feed such a large group?”
Lu Yun knew this was no exaggeration. Yongqiu County had a total population of over a hundred thousand, and indeed could not bear such a heavy burden. But he said unhurriedly: “Just have the wealthy families in the city provide the grain.”
“Easier said than done…” Li Dayin said with a bitter smile.
“What’s so difficult about it?” Lu Yun smiled faintly: “You go find those wealthy families and tell them that if they refuse to provide grain, the disaster victims will be let into the city, and they will bear all consequences!”
“Ah!” Li Dayin had been cautious all his life and never had such a crazy idea. He shook his head repeatedly: “No, that’s not appropriate.”
“It’s that you don’t dare, right?” Lu Yun smiled with a hint of sarcasm.
“Indeed, I don’t dare…” Li Dayin said dejectedly: “As Young Master said, this official comes from a humble background and cannot afford to offend those wealthy families…”
“Lord’s head is about to be lost, and you’re still hesitating!” Lu Yun laughed heartily and pointed to the caravan outside the city: “In there is the niece of Pei Clan Leader, the granddaughter of Cui Clan Leader, the nephew’s wife and nephew’s granddaughter of Lu Clan Leader. Now they are surrounded by disaster victims. If Lord delays any longer and something happens, alas…”
“Ah! Why didn’t Young Master say so earlier?!” Li Dayin nearly fainted again upon hearing this. Leaving others aside, the granddaughter of Cui Clan Leader was of the prefect’s kin! The wealthy families in this county were mere country bumpkins compared to the nobles outside the city! How could he not know which was more important?! Calming himself, the county magistrate slapped his thigh and said through gritted teeth: “Anyway, if the corvee laborers aren’t gathered, my hat is gone. I’ll go all out!”
“Lord need not be so tragic.” Lu Yun shook his head with a smile: “I guarantee that after this, you will soar to high officialdom!” Then he lowered his voice: “Opportunities to help Pei Clan, Cui Clan, and Lu Clan don’t come often.”
“Thank you for your auspicious words, Young Master!” Li Dayin shuddered with excitement and said joyfully: “Young Master, rest assured. If those country bumpkins dare to stall, I’ll slaughter them!” With that, Li Dayin called out and was about to lead his men to the wealthy families.
But Lu Yun pulled him back and pointed outside the city. Li Dayin suddenly understood, slapped his forehead, and said: “Right, right! Rescuing the nobles comes first!”
“Also, there’s one more thing. I need to borrow Lord’s official soldiers…” Lu Yun said softly to Li Dayin.
.
The disaster victims outside the city originally thought that even if Lu Yun went and came back, it would take who knows how long. Who knew, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the city gate slowly opened. Coming out with Lu Yun was also an unremarkable middle-aged official.
But no disaster victim dared to underestimate that man, because his official robe was exactly the same as their county magistrate’s! Clearly, this was the local parent official!
“County Magistrate, save us…” The disaster victims kowtowed and begged Li Dayin.
“Everyone, this official is entrusted by Young Master Lu to come and resolve your difficulties.” Facing the common folk, Li Dayin was extremely dignified, completely different from his comical appearance on the city wall. “As long as you follow this official’s arrangements, this official will naturally not let a single one of you starve to death!”
“We’ll all listen!” The disaster victims were overjoyed. In their view, Li Dayin’s promise was far more reliable than Lu Yun’s words. They hurriedly patted their chests: “As long as there’s food to eat, we’ll do anything!”
“Good, these are your words!” Li Dayin nodded and said in a deep voice: “Now, this county needs to gather five thousand corvee laborers to follow this official to the Yellow River breach for duty. As long as you provide able-bodied men, before completion, your entire families will be supported by this county!”
“We’re willing!” The disaster victims agreed without hesitation. They were truly at the end of their rope. The flood came fiercely and swiftly; it was lucky they escaped with their families. Empty-handed, they set off on the road of fleeing disaster. If not for early summer with wild grass everywhere, most would have starved to death already.
Just as Lu Yun said, at such a time, if they could have food for their families, they would do anything. Moreover, only by plugging the Yellow River breach could they return home. Why wouldn’t the disaster victims contribute?
In the blink of an eye, Li Dayin gathered over six thousand able-bodied men. And those thugs hiding among the disaster victims naturally had no interest in laboring on the embankment. They cursed their bad luck under their breath and quietly slipped away amid the chaos.
Who knew, just as they separated from the disaster victims, they were surrounded by Yongqiu County’s official soldiers.
“What are you doing?” The thugs panicked somewhat, hands reaching for the sharp blades in their bosoms.
“You know better than anyone!” The officials raised their weapons. The leading county lieutenant sneered: “You’ve incited disaster victims and robbed passing merchants several times already, right?!” With a wave of his hand, he ordered in a deep voice: “Seize them!”
There were two to three hundred thugs. Seeing their deeds exposed, how could they surrender? The leader drew his weapon and shrieked: “Fight them!”
The official soldiers numbered only two to three hundred in total. The two sides clashed evenly. But soon, the merchant family, Lu Family, and Cui Family guards joined in. They were mostly Yellow Rank experts, and that Huang Ling even had Black Rank strength! Dealing with these thugs who only knew rough fistfighting was naturally no trouble!
The guards had been holding in a bellyful of anger and showed no mercy to these insidious villains. Like chopping melons and vegetables, they killed half the thugs. The rest, seeing no escape even with wings, threw down their weapons one after another and knelt begging for mercy…
Only then did the guards stop. They helped the official soldiers bind the remaining thugs and string them together to escort back to the county city.
The disaster victims, seeing this, knew they had been used by bad people. Now feeling both ashamed and guilty, they wanted to apologize to Lu Yun but really had no face to approach.
At this time, the county assistant also temporarily allocated two carts of grain from the Ever-Normal Granary. Right outside the city, they set up big pots and started boiling porridge.
Seeing this, the disaster victims were completely reassured, and their gratitude toward Lu Yun reached an indescribable level.
Li Dayin respectfully welcomed the caravan into the city to rest and wanted to arrange lodging for the noble guests, but Lu Yun stopped him: “County Magistrate Lord should handle proper business first. Once it’s done properly, then come pay respects—it’ll bring honor to your face.”
“Young Master is absolutely right!” Li Dayin deeply agreed and said through gritted teeth: “This official will go door-to-door to collect the debt!” Pausing, he added: “Oh, right, also need to interrogate those thugs!”
Lu Yun nodded and watched Li Dayin lead men away.
.
After the group settled at the post station, as Lu Yun was about to enter the room, he was stopped by Cui Ninger. Her expressive big eyes rolled up and down, sizing up Lu Yun. “You knew from the start that the disaster victims were incited?”
“I didn’t know.” Lu Yun actually did know, but there was no need to spell it out to her.
“Then why were you always showing goodwill to the disaster victims?” Cui Ninger didn’t believe it. “Don’t say it was a sudden kind heart.”
“Exactly.” Lu Yun said solemnly: “A family that accumulates good deeds will have surplus blessings; good people will have good rewards.”
“Nonsense!” Cui Ninger was somewhat frantic: “Just keep pretending!”
“Can I go in now?” Lu Yun signaled with his eyes for Cui Ninger not to block the way.
“No, I have more questions!” Cui Ninger spread her arms, blocking the doorway. She continued: “How did you know that county magistrate needed to gather corvee laborers?”
“When disembarking in Songzhou,” Lu Yun said faintly: “I happened to overhear it. Since even Songzhou so far away is gathering corvee laborers, Bianzhou is even closer to the Yellow River—there’s no reason it would skip it.”
“How did you know that county magistrate hadn’t gathered enough corvee laborers?” Cui Ninger asked again.
“If he had, he would have sent them to the Yellow River long ago. Why would he still linger in the city?” Lu Yun had to continue explaining. Lu Xin had been a county magistrate, so he naturally knew that for such a major matter, the county magistrate had to personally oversee it, lest others couldn’t command the county’s corvee laborers.
“You have a lot of secrets, don’t you?” Cui Ninger stared tightly at Lu Yun, pressing.
Lu Yun touched his face and looked at Cui Ninger strangely. “Why do you care so much about me? Could it be you’ve fallen for me?”
“I… you…” Cui Ninger’s face flushed red. She stomped in shame and anger and said: “Wishful thinking!” With that, she stomped on the top of his shoe and stormed off.
Lu Yun looked at the black footprint on his shoe and shook his head helplessly.
Just as he was about to bend down to wipe the shoe, his ear was suddenly pinched.
“Elder Sister, let go.” Lu Yun hurriedly called. In this world, only Lu Ying would pinch his ear.
Lu Ying released her hand and smiled ambiguously: “After being kissed by Sister Guo, has Younger Brother gotten too full of himself…”
“Elder Sister, it’s not like that.” Lu Yun actually blushed from the teasing and said lowly: “I always feel this Cui Ninger is a bit strange…”
He originally thought Lu Ying would mock him for making excuses, but she gently nodded: “So you see it that way too…”
Lu Ying then told Lu Yun about the conversation in the carriage, finally commenting: “Those aren’t words from a sheltered young miss. She knows the world.” Then she looked at Lu Yun ambiguously: “Speaking of which, she’s quite like you—both two-faced, with deep thoughts.”
“Elder Sister!” Lu Yun protested helplessly: “Is it appropriate to say that about your own brother?” Naturally, the protest was futile. Lu Yun could only sigh: “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, after entering the capital, just avoid contact with her.”
“Mm.” Lu Ying nodded and said no more.
