Sui Ping County is not far from Xiping County, so many news from Xiping can spread to Sui Ping, especially to the villages not far from Xiping.
They all know that last year, Xiping was invaded by rebel forces, resulting in many deaths, and then a female County Magistrate was appointed.
It’s said that the female County Magistrate is very kind-hearted, not only providing them with grain relief but also offering work-for-aid schemes during winter, allowing them to earn money through road and water infrastructure construction. She even managed to lower the grain prices in the county.
It’s heard that some people from a neighboring village, originally from Xiping, secretly went over to work and earned quite a lot of money, buying plenty of grain. This spring, they lived better than the others.
They received the news a bit late and had no way to access the same opportunities, which made them envious. However, eventually, they also formed groups to go to Xiping County.
They went to buy grains.
It’s said that the grain prices in Xiping are much lower than outside.
And indeed, upon arrival, the prices were notably lower.
Life was tough for everyone, and although they envied the people of Xiping County, they too suffered losses last year, with many deaths, making this envy somewhat discounted.
But this envy escalated to jealousy after paying the summer tax. Being all people from Ru Nan County, why should they pay full taxes while neighboring Xiping pays only half?
Originally, they harbored resentment towards County Magistrate Gao, thinking that even a girl like the Xiping County Magistrate dared to pay only half, yet he, a grown man, forced them to pay in full;
But soon, news from neighboring Yu Yang County, with which they share more borders, came. It was heard that their County Governor increased the taxes further and then County Magistrate Sun followed suit by adding more taxes.
This calmed the hearts of Sui Ping County’s people, who then began to lie low, accepting their fate, knowing that at least their County Magistrate wouldn’t increase taxes further. They truly couldn’t afford to pay, and County Magistrate Gao wouldn’t truly imprison them for it.
Such a mindset of "better than some, worse than others" led them to lie flat. But lying flat wouldn’t fill their stomachs; hunger would strike regardless, causing some to leave their homes to wander far away.
They didn’t know if they could survive outside, but they had to try; staying meant certain death;
Some endured the heartache to cut green crops, barely filling their bellies with unripe beans and rice;
More awaited, anticipating August for the crops to mature.
They thought life would just pass , enduring until the autumn harvest, but little did they expect the village chief to return from the county town and say, "Gather the young and strong from the village and follow me to the county government to collect relief grains."
The villagers were stunned and asked, "Does the county government have relief grains?"
The village chief nodded wisely, saying, "Yu Yang rebelled..."
"We know, it’s said the fighting was fierce, and even the County Magistrate was killed."
The village chief: "...The County Magistrate wasn’t killed, it was the County Governor who was."
"Killed or not, what does that have to do with us?"
"Thus, we have a new County Governor," the village chief said, "the new County Governor is the female County Magistrate of Xiping County. She is kind-hearted and seeing our hardships in Sui Ping, she spent quite a lot of money to buy grains for us, now we can go collect the relief grains."
The villagers were astonished and took a while to react, then immediately praised, "The female County Magistrate is truly good-hearted!"
"County Magistrate, what County Magistrate? She’s now the County Governor!"
They quickly corrected themselves, "The female County Governor is truly good-hearted!"
The village chief said, "Our County Governor’s surname is Zhao."
The villagers noted it down, planning to make a good offering to this Zhao County Governor upon reaching the county town.
It’s one village, then another village; when the village chief rushed back from the county government, he encountered several families dragging their entire households, ready to leave for survival. He hurriedly stopped them, "Where are you heading?"
"Going out to survive."
"Your family has planted fields..."
"So my parents didn’t leave. They are old and unable to walk. I cut a bundle of green crops for slow consumption. We can endure for a few days until the beans or rice ripen in August." He said, "We’re young and still able to walk, going out to survive. Keeping the family together is impossible."
Saying this, they were about to leave.
The village chief quickly stopped them, "Wait, there’s relief grain at the county government, stay here."
They looked skeptical, "Village chief, don’t lie to make us stay, we really can’t survive, will you sustain us?"
The village chief responded crossly, "I won’t sustain you, someone else will. Our Ru Nan County has changed to a new County Governor; it’s the female County Magistrate from neighboring Xiping County. She sent relief grains to our county."
Upon hearing this, the villagers turned and left.
The village chief’s eyes widened, "Where are you going?"
"Home!" The leading man shouted towards the sky, "We can survive now!"
Someone beside explained, "We originally planned to go to Xiping County, having heard the female County Magistrate there is particularly kind-hearted, accepting the refugees."
So they envied the people of Xiping County, but now, the female County Magistrate is their County Governor too, and they are all her people now!
With this thought, the villagers’ eyes reddened, filled with complex emotions of sorrow and gratitude.
Young and strong men from every village and radius headed to the county town under the guidance of the village chief. Along the way, villages merged, and people gathered, exchanging various ambiguous information.
"...Heard, Yu Yang County was particularly tragic, with the entire county town perishing. The female County Magistrate arrived with reinforcements, and upon witnessing such devastation, she couldn’t help shedding tears, leading to a furious charge and killing County Magistrate Sun, directly writing to the Emperor to become County Governor, to which the Emperor agreed."
"Did she kill County Magistrate Sun? I heard the female County Magistrate killed the County Governor?"
"The County Governor was killed by the villagers of Yu Yang, right?"
"Ah, forget who killed whom, our County Governor has surely changed."
"Had we known rebellion could change the County Governor, we would’ve rebelled too."
"Don’t, what if the replacement is worse? Our village’s blind old man said it depends on timing; a moment too early or too late won’t work, and only a rebellion by Yu Yang people would be effective."
"No reason, it’s how the heavens arranged it."
Knowing Zhao Hanzhang became County Governor and would distribute relief grains, villagers heading to the county town felt much relieved, unknowingly radiating vitality.
The sharp-eyed village chief sensed this change in the villagers, unable to contain a sigh to the accompanying village elder, "After so many years, everyone finally shows some sign of life."
The village elder’s eyes were moist, "That’s good news."
The village chief nodded, "It is good news."
The people of Sui Ping County easily accepted a girl as County Governor, even rejoicing, heading straight to the county government upon entering the county town.
Ji Yuan had already sent a batch of money, along with the papers, books, and various glass artifacts she wanted.
Zhao Hanzhang smuggled her private goods, with only two books, "Three Character Classic" and "Thousand Character Classic," each printed in one thousand copies.
Her pricing was low, at least compared to other books, quite cheap. But books in this era, however cheap, could not be inexpensive.
With just these two books, she could exchange for quite a bit of grain.