Traveling through time with a house, I teach people all over the country how to farm

Chapter 164 Arrival at Qingshui County

Qiuxiang, who was sitting next to the game, was also itching to play: "No, I want to play too. Who wants me to play a few rounds?"

The people playing cards changed to Zheng Sisi, Qiuxiang and Dongzhi, while Rose and Lily watched the game. Rose went to Zheng Sisi to learn the techniques, while Lily went to Qiuxiang to give instructions.

The time passed quickly while playing cards. It felt like we reached our destination in no time.

When the carriage entered the county town and stopped at the gate of the county government office, the people in the carriage realized that they had arrived in Qingshui County so quickly.

Several people got off the carriage, but still felt unsatisfied.

Zheng Sisi saw the three little sisters also got off the bus. They might have recovered their energy after taking a nap in the afternoon. Several people gathered together to look at the county government office and the street.

The county government office must have not been repaired for many years. It is very old, with mottled marks on the walls and even the paint on the gate is peeling. From the appearance, Qingshui County is indeed very poor and can't even maintain the facade of the county government office.

The street in front of the county government office was not wide, and there were not many people walking on the street, but the shops along the street were all open. They probably sold necessities, so there were still people coming in and out to purchase.

Zheng Sisi felt helpless when she saw this situation. She felt that she had a long way to go before she could pay taxes in Qingshui County.

The Third Prince and several others also got off the carriage at the door. The Third Prince had heard that Qingshui County was poor, but seeing the current situation, he felt that it was even worse than he had imagined.

As soon as the car stopped, Qingfeng handed the Third Prince's token to the gatekeeper of the county government office: "Hurry up and report to the county magistrate that the Third Prince and Princess Anping have arrived. Ask him to come out to greet them."

Hearing that the Third Prince and the Princess of Anping County were coming, the two yamen runners guarding the gate looked at each other and one of them ran into the county government office.

Inside the county government office, the county magistrate and his legal advisor were holding the official documents they received yesterday, looking worried.

A bailiff ran in hurriedly, shouting, "My lord, my lord, something bad has happened. The Third Prince and Princess Anping are here."

The county magistrate was in a bad mood. When he saw the yamen runner coming in, he didn't bow and said he was not doing well. He didn't hear the rest of the words clearly, so he shouted, "You are so good, Wang Dazhu. I am fine, how dare you talk nonsense."

The yamen servant Wang Dazhu said, "No, sir, it is the Third Prince and the Princess of Anping County who have come."

County Magistrate Cao Zhenyu stood up and asked, "What did you say?"

Wang Dazhu: "I said the Third Prince and Princess Anping are here."

The master who was sitting next to him also stood up and asked, "Where are they?"

Wang Dazhu: "We have arrived at the gate of the county government office."

Magistrate Cao complained, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Go and tell the people on duty to meet us at the door."

Wang Dazhu ran out again to call for help.

Magistrate Cao straightened his clothes, adjusted his official hat, and said to the lawyer, "Let's go to the door to greet him. I didn't expect him to arrive so soon."

The two walked towards the gate of the government office.

These two men were also brothers in distress. Magistrate Cao was originally the younger brother of Censor Cao in the capital. Censor Cao was stubborn enough to impeach the prince of Prince Jing's mansion for molesting decent women in the street during a court meeting.

Later, he was ostracized by Prince Jing's Mansion and his younger brother was demoted to Qingshui County to be the county magistrate. His legal advisor was his good friend named He Zhizhang, who followed his friend when he saw him in trouble. He was also a juren, so County Magistrate Cao invited him to be his legal advisor.

The former county magistrate had retired to his hometown to live out his old age. Two young men in their twenties came to this poor county government with their wives and children.

Because he has not achieved much in the past year since he took office, and even the tax revenue here is pitifully low.

All the arable land was bought by wealthy families to be used as farms, so they had to pay less taxes. Some farms were registered with officials and did not have to pay taxes.

Apart from these fields, the rest are mountains. There are not many villages, and where there are villages, there are many people and little land, so they have to rent other people's fields to grow crops. This situation has led to the poverty of Qingshui County.