Chapter 32: 32. Ouyang Rong Treats People with Sincerity (Happy New Year to the brothers!!!)

32. Ouyang Rong Treats People with Sincerity (Happy New Year to the brothers!!!)

Ouyang Rong felt that some people were very respectful, but also very disrespectful.

It seemed that in the eyes of some people in Longcheng, a Grade 7 magistrate of the Great Zhou Dynasty was here to beg for food on his knees.

In the Yuanming Tower hall, the registration maidservant on the fundraising stage announced crisply:

"This fundraising, a total of 13 families, raised a total of 780 strings of cash! Among them, 130 strings of cash were raised for Longcheng water conservancy, and 650 strings of cash were raised for the Magistrate's paper and pen fees."

Under the direct or peripheral gaze of everyone in the hall, Ouyang Rong, who was sitting in the first row, suddenly turned his head.

He didn't look at the gentry and wealthy tyrants in the hall, but at Xie Lingjiang.

And he just happened to bump into her worried gaze.

"Xiao Shimei, it seems the reward for you was still light. You are not only the first donor but also the richest woman in the top list. However, the most valuable thing on me at the moment is that pearl. I'll make it up to you next time."

Seeing the Ru Shixiong's sincere smile, Xie Lingjiang opened her mouth wanting to say something, but couldn't say it, and finally just shook her head:

"I'm fine. As long as Ru Shixiong is fine."

"What could happen to me?" he wondered.

Under the gaze of everyone with different thoughts, Ouyang Rong rubbed his face and stood up, grabbed the hem of his official robe to prevent it from dragging on the ground, and walked slowly onto the stage; Xie Lingjiang didn't look sideways and followed silently.

"Thank you for your hard work, girl."

The young magistrate said earnestly to the registration maidservant. The girl of bean-like age blushed slightly under his gaze, stepped down in a pleasant mood, and thus only the young magistrate was left standing calmly in front of the two fundraising red trays, facing everyone's gaze.

The young magistrate lowered his head to examine them, reached out, first picked up the water conservancy fundraising tray on the left to weigh it, and then picked up the private paper and pen fee fundraising tray on the right to weigh it.

On the left was the heavy weight of 130 strings of cash, and on the right was five times the weight of the left, heavy and solid.

He wasn't angry at all, raised his head calmly as if asking himself:

"So you all think so highly of me. The water conservancy affairs of the imperial court and the county government office are only one-fifth as important as sending gifts to me."

The gentry and wealthy merchants under the stage were all silent, and some silently avoided his gaze.

And Liu Ziwen, with his hands folded, sat in the back row under the stage, staring at the young magistrate on the stage without blinking.

This young head of the Liu family had a harmless and sincere appearance, and his eyes were also mixed with a bit of... worry because his ability was limited and he couldn't satisfy the parent-official.

That's right, sometimes the emotions conveyed by a person's eyes are so rich that you can tell at a glance, just like the tacit understanding of knowing how to change positions after patting the buttocks.

However, Liu Ziwen didn't know that Ouyang Rong, like him, was also a person who "treated people with sincerity."

So this young magistrate stretched out a finger and shook it at the whole scene:

"But among you, there might be a fool who thinks he is smart and got one thing wrong."

After a pause:

"I am not here to beg for food. The ones begging for food are you."

As soon as these words came out, there was dead silence.

The gentry and wealthy merchants under the stage looked at each other.

With a "creak," the young magistrate walked over calmly, dragged a grand master's chair over, sat on the stage by himself, overlooked the whole scene, and said nothing.

And after this rather frightening behavior, there was no other movement on the stage for a long time. Slowly, the mockery in the eyes of many gentry and wealthy merchants looking at the stage increased, and they even began to whisper to each other.

"Cough." Liu Ziwen coughed at the right time, stopping the noise in the hall.

Liu Ziwen looked at the scholar on the stage, sighed lightly, stood up, and said helplessly:

"Reporting to the Magistrate, fundraising is a matter of willingness within one's ability. This year's water disaster was sudden, and everyone is having a hard time, so we have all done our best. However, sharing worries for the imperial court and the Magistrate is the duty of us common people. Our Liu family still has some surplus grain. Next, we will cooperate with the Magistrate to build more porridge sheds in the city to provide porridge."

Ouyang Rong turned a deaf ear. Xiao Shimei was holding a long-spouted teapot, pouring tea into the teacup on the table in front of him. Her hand was extremely steady. Ouyang Rong watched the thin line of water spinning and rising in the boiling tea leaves, feeling quite interested.

Being ignored in public, even Liu Ziwen, who had always been gentle, couldn't help but frown. Giving you a step to get down, yet you still don't hurry down? Could it be that you are really a stubborn elm-headed brain?

"Magistrate?"

"Shh."

Ouyang Rong suddenly stretched out a finger, placed it in front of his mouth, and signaled for silence.

His eyes were focused on the teacup on the table, as if he were paying attention to the dark green tea leaves spinning and rising in the boiling water.

Not only did Liu Ziwen and others under the stage feel he was playing tricks, but even Xie Lingjiang was confused, being made curious, and turned her head to look at what was magical about the water in Ru Shixiong's teacup.

The result was naturally, plain and unremarkable.

Looking at the young magistrate who was motionless on the stage, Liu Ziwen suddenly smiled, shook his head by himself, and turned to signal other gentry colleagues that they could leave.

At the same time, this Liu family young head stood up, went to take the cold tea on the table, and prepared to take one last sip.

But his fingers suddenly stopped in the air, and his eyes were also "nailed" to the water surface in the cup. There were several other younger and sharper gentry and wealthy merchants similar to Liu Ziwen.

All of them stared blankly at the ripples spreading on the water surface in the cup. The ripples seemed to have a pattern.

This is... the earth dragon turning over in the distance? No! It's horse hooves!

Liu Ziwen suddenly raised his head and looked at Ouyang Rong, who was sitting leisurely on the stage.

The latter had already stood up long ago, picked up the teacup, drank it dry, walked down the stage, and warmly pushed open the window of the second floor of the Yuanming Tower for everyone:

The bustling street had been artificially dispersed.

At the end of the empty long street, three hundred iron cavalry arrived. Even if it was the hoof waves that were deliberately lightened, in the field of vision of the gentry on the second floor, they were whistling like a mountain collapse and a tsunami.

But such surging iron cavalry, under the sudden gesture of the leading captain, stopped abruptly in front of the Yuanming Tower, all dismounted, and their movements were neat and uniform.

It's elite! How could he possibly have the power to mobilize troops? Is this rebellion? Liu Ziwen and others' pupils shrank.

Immediately, Yan Liulang, who had disappeared since the fundraising started, brought a heroic captain and went upstairs to the young magistrate by the window.

The captain's face was cold. He clasped his fists and said loudly:

"Magistrate Ouyang, the end general is Qin Heng, the Fruitful Commandant of the Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture. I have led three hundred cavalry here by order to assist in handling the case."

Ouyang Rong seemed to have a draft long ago, pointed directly at the direction of the county government office, and said loudly: "General Qin, go immediately to seal the east warehouse of Longcheng County government office. Without my hand order, don't let a single fly fly in."

"The end general obeys!" Qin Heng went downstairs without any hesitation, not looking sideways, and didn't look at the pile of trembling lambs in the hall.

Several old gentry in the hall who were trembling couldn't help but flatter: "Magistrate, you... you... is this a misunderstanding, haha..."

Ouyang Rong waved his hand and comforted them kindly: "It's a small matter. Just checking the accounts. Elders, please relax. Go back and rest well later, don't let your imagination run wild."

He smiled at Liu Ziwen, who had no expression, and the terrified gentry and wealthy merchants, and turned to go downstairs with the slightly stunned Xiao Shimei. Before leaving the gate, the young magistrate seemed to have remembered something and kindly reminded them:

"Oh right, if there is any non-compliance or tax evasion in the rent, adjustment, and tax account books, I will copy your entire family."

The whole scene was dead silent. ===== CHAPTER 33 =====