Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 24 Are there really good officials like this lord?

When a dozen or so yamen runners pushed a dozen or so carts to the front, Yang Shaofeng waved his hand to stop the yamen runners and young widows who wanted to bow, and looked directly at Limpy Wu and asked, "How is it? How many more trips will it take to finish moving everything?"

Limping Wu said, "Reporting to the county magistrate, they don't have much property, and they don't have much grain or anything like that. They can move everything in one trip."

Yang Shaofeng nodded, and seeing the sweat beading on the foreheads of the lame Wu and the dozen or so constables, he smiled and said, "This round trip must have been several dozen miles, brothers, you must be exhausted."

Limpy Wu glanced at the young widows discreetly, then straightened his back and said loudly, "Your Excellency, my brothers and I are all men of iron, we're not tired!"

Seeing that Limpy Wu and the dozen or so constables all had "I'm a hero, I'm not tired" looks on their faces, Yang Shaofeng was immediately full of questions.

No, were all the methods of picking up girls in the Ming Dynasty this low-level?

And you young widows, what are you laughing at with your heads down and mouths covered? Is my good brother, Limpy Five, so funny?

Although he was indeed funny!

Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but snort coldly, his face dark as he scolded, "Stop making a fool of yourself here. Quickly send them to the city to settle them down. We'll take them to claim their land tomorrow. Oh, and ask them later if any of them are good at making steamed buns. If so, bring them to the county government office."

Limpy Wu chuckled, shrank his neck, and glanced at the young widows before replying, "Yes, I've got it. I'll send them over right away."

After Limpy Wu and a dozen yamen runners escorted the group of young widows away, Yang Shaofeng said to the old woman next to him who was sorting wild grass, "Auntie, could you please pick out some wild vegetables that can be used for fillings for me? I'll take them back later. Also, could you please get me a little more and have someone deliver them to the county yamen tomorrow?"

Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was still unwilling to give up, the old lady could only smile helplessly. While picking out wild vegetables for Yang Shaofeng, she said, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely have someone pack all the wild vegetables for you separately and send them to you first thing tomorrow morning."

……

Yang Shaofeng arranged two adjacent courtyards for the young widows in the widow village. Each courtyard had a shop facing the street and two-story buildings inside, totaling more than forty rooms for them to live in.

The group of women, led by Zhang Wangshi, looked at each other, unable to believe what they were seeing.

High walls, large courtyards, blue bricks, green tiles, and two stone lions at the entrance of each courtyard. Such magnificent courtyards must have belonged to wealthy and powerful gentry in the past, but now they are being given to widows like us to live in.

Zhang Wangshi looked at the courtyard, then at Lame Wu, and asked hesitantly, "This...this nice courtyard, is it really allocated to us to live in?"

Seeing the group of young widows looking as if in a dream, Limpy Five couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yes, these are the courtyards that the county magistrate has assigned to you. But let me make it clear in advance that these two courtyards are only for you to live in. The courtyards still belong to the county government, not to you. They will only be yours if you make money in the future and buy them from the county government."

"It doesn't matter if you don't make money. The county magistrate said that you can live in these two courtyards as long as you want, but you can't let others live in them, and you can't even think about selling them. If someone remarries in the future, they will have to move out of the courtyards and can't continue to live there."

Zhang Wangshi nodded repeatedly, and Lame Wu continued, "What are you all standing here for? Hurry up and choose the rooms you like. After you've chosen your rooms and put away all the things you brought, I'll take you to the county government to thank the county magistrate."

Zhang Wangshi and the other women were startled by Limping Wu's words and hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, we'll go and put our things away right away. We'll have to go and thank the master later."

After the women got busy, Limping Wu took the opportunity to stop Zhang Wangshi and said, "Sister Wang, I have something to tell you, you must remember it well."

Zhang Wangshi was slightly taken aback and asked, "What did you say?"

Limpy Wu said, "The county magistrate said he would find you a way to make a living. When you come with me to pay your respects to the county magistrate later, he will probably tell you what kind of work you should do."

Madam Zhang was stunned again: "Sir...you've thought of a way for us widows to make a living? Are there really good officials like you in this world?"

Limpy Wu nodded and said, "The magistrate is kind-hearted. Although he often scolds your brother and his fellow villagers for being troublemakers, you should have heard your brother say that it was the magistrate who made them claim the land, and it was also the magistrate who turned the weeds in the land into fodder, allowing your brother and his fellow villagers to make money."

After a slight pause, Limpy Five pointed to the high wall of the courtyard and said, "The two shops in front of these two courtyards were also allocated to you by the county magistrate, so that you could survive without relying on your maternal family. So no matter what the county magistrate says, you must agree properly and never do the same thing as last time."

When Limpy Five said he dared not do it the same way as last time, he was actually referring to Yang Shaofeng's request for Zhang Wangshi and a group of other women to move from the widows' village to the county town. However, Zhang Wangshi and the other young widows refused for various other reasons.

Yang Shaofeng himself probably didn't take the young widows' refusal seriously, but Limpy Wu secretly kept it in mind—the county magistrate had a good temper and was indeed a benevolent official who loved the people, but as the old saying goes, even a clay Buddha has three parts temper. What if these young widows were ungrateful again and refused the job arranged for them by the county magistrate, thus angering him?

As the saying goes, a county magistrate can ruin a family, and a prefect can exterminate an entire clan. If a county magistrate is determined to harm someone, he can make them wish they were dead without breaking any laws. Even a wealthy and powerful gentry would be skinned alive, let alone these helpless young widows.

Madam Zhang smiled awkwardly and said, "Fifth Master, don't worry. Last time, I didn't know the Master's character, so I refused him out of ignorance. Now that I know, I certainly won't do it again like last time."

Limpy Wu then hummed in agreement, and continued, "By the way, is there anyone among you who is good at making steamed buns?"

Zhang Wangshi said, "Yes, yes, all of us can make steamed buns, and some of us are good at it, like Zhao Yushi, Lin Zhangshi, and my husband's niece. Their steamed buns are even better than others."

Limpy Wu nodded and said, "That's good. Call them later and come with me to the county government office."