Chapter 58: Village Official After Tian Ze left, Guo Yuan glanced at the people behind him, walked up to a dark-skinned young man, smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "Liu Ming, don't feel pressured. The lord is a wise man. You just need to verify and investigate the matter impartially and report it truthfully." Liu Ming's legs trembled slightly, but looking at Guo Yuan's eyes full of trust and encouragement, he suppressed his fear and excitement, and responded with a little excitement: "Yes!" Seeing this, Guo Yuan nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, let's continue..." …… Although Guo Yuan comforted him, Liu Ming was still worried. He forced himself to stay awake and endure the inner pressure to finish the unfinished government affairs. At twilight hour, Liu Ming, who had been busy all day, finally waited for the time to end the court. He absentmindedly ate his meal in the cafeteria in a few mouthfuls, then ran straight to the canal surrounding the village field. Although Guoyuan and his colleagues were aware of the situation, expressed their understanding and comforted him, he was still very worried. Not only was he worried about losing his official position, he was also worried that he had done something wrong and betrayed the trust of his superiors and the people. Liu Ming was originally a refugee from Xuzhou. He was one of the first people to come to Wen County. He was only thirteen years old at that time. Because of his quick thinking and fast learning, he quickly stood out in the school and after several inspections, he was sent for further studies.
Coming from a poor family, he cherished this opportunity very much. He studied hard in the village official school and did not dare to slack off for the slightest. His parents were also extremely excited and noticed smoke coming out of their ancestral grave. The family originally fled from famine, but within less than a year, they had built up a business, and someone in the family was going to become an official. But he felt more guilty. In school, he got a new name, Liu Ming, learned a lot of knowledge, and understood many great principles. This place is different from other places. The officials under Lord Tian are not the masters who enjoy luxury and domineering, but the guides of the people. They play a more important role than the clan elders. Therefore, the quality requirements for all aspects are extremely high. Even a small village official needs to have strong abilities and will be supervised by all parties. Dong Junbu told them that the purpose of being an official is to benefit the people, to repay the kindness of Tian Shijun, and to realize their own value, and they must never become corrupt officials who exploit the people. He agreed with this deeply, and his best classmate Chen Jin also thought so. They all came from poor backgrounds and hated corrupt officials to the core. In the past, when the family members were chatting during the slack season, the people they cursed the most were the officials. They all aspired to become good officials like Dong Junbu. After two years of instruction, they finally passed the assessment and were assigned to various places as village officials. But I found that being a village official is not that easy. Although he was full of enthusiasm, he encountered numerous setbacks when he first arrived. Many things sound simple, and teachers in school explain them in a very easy way, but only when you actually do them yourself will you realize how difficult they are. Fortunately, most of the villagers were simple and honest. Although they did not trust this young boy, they knew that he was kind-hearted, and would usually forgive and help him even if he made some mistakes. Guiding farming, organizing production, propaganda and education, repairing houses and roads, mediating conflicts among villagers, distributing wage subsidies, organizing militia training, and conducting various exercises... Although the village is small, there is a lot to do. There are only four people with him, and five young men are responsible for the management of a village of nearly a thousand people. A lot of trouble occurred during this period, but fortunately they were all resolved with everyone's mutual support.
Although they have their own division of labor overall, they are responsible for everything in actual work. When problems arise, they discuss with each other and seek help from the three elders. If we really can't handle it, we will report it and seek advice at the county's monthly study meetings. In the past few months, he has deeply felt the hardships of being a village official, but at the same time he has also gained a lot of growth in work and study. He has gradually become more adept at various tasks and has carried them out more smoothly, while also training a strong heart. Even though he tried his best, he was often criticized and blamed by some villagers behind his back. Among them there was a small group of villagers who were already bad guys with a bad reputation in the village. He insisted on justice for the benefit of the villagers and quarreled with them many times, so naturally he got nothing good. Most villagers didn't want to provoke them, and they were flamboyant, so they would only behave themselves for a while after being beaten. Some villagers were dissatisfied with his impartiality at times, thinking he was too rigid. After all, it was the government's money and affairs, so why not turn a blind eye and give them more money? He felt aggrieved, but it was understandable. After all, he had not been able to do everything perfectly. There were many things he could not take into account or do. Many times, no matter how he explained, it was of no avail. Just like the issue of the canal, the villagers in the village often had conflicts with the surrounding villages. They would have two fights in three days, and he couldn't persuade them to stop. This is still considered good. In the past, before Tian Shijun became the prefect, the villages would fight each other for water, and many people died. Even though he kept promoting and explaining, the villagers still thought he was not doing enough and felt that their village had less water than other villages because he did not work hard enough for it. But he had already calculated it many times and found that the water volume in their village's canals generally met the county's standards, was not much different from that of other villages, and was fully capable of meeting farming needs. When he learned that the person talking to Uncle Chen was Envoy Tian, he almost fainted. Because he knew too well what kind of person Uncle Chen was. Although his nature was not too bad, he always liked to take advantage of small opportunities and was also a big mouth. In the previous work of the government in promoting literacy and popularizing Mandarin, Uncle Chen had caused him a lot of trouble. He insisted that words and phrases that had been taught were not taught, just to get more rewards for literacy. At that moment, he felt that he was finished. As far as he knows, about 20% of his classmates in school have been dismissed and investigated for crimes such as corruption and malfeasance, and the evidence is solid and they have pleaded guilty. Among them was his best friend, Chen Jin. When the county organized a visit to the Discipline Inspection Commission's prison, he asked his good friend why. Didn't he hate corrupt officials the most? But after hearing Chen Jin and those people's personal accounts, he understood. Some of these people do not hate corrupt officials, but hate that they do not have the opportunity to be corrupt. As for the rest, some were blinded by money, and some were dragged into the situation step by step due to human relationships. Every incident is shocking. After seeing their fate, he, who was already timid, became even more cautious in his words and actions. After all, although he was just a village official, the salary given by Tian Shijun was really not low, and it was not a problem to support his family. Many uncles and aunts in the village wanted to propose marriage to him, and the threshold of his house was almost broken down by people. His parents were both timid by nature and had been quite arrogant for a while. But after he explained some principles and examples around them, they calmed down and became afraid. They told him to stay calm and not do anything stupid, otherwise he would not be able to hold his head up in the village in the future. When he saw the records of Envoy Tian, he felt that he was not far from the Discipline Department's prison. Besides despair and fear, I also felt very sad. Although he wanted to enjoy the good treatment of a county official, he also sincerely wanted to do something practical for the villagers, but he did not expect this would be the outcome. But not only did Tian Shijun not punish him, but he comforted him instead, as if he knew a lot about these things.
At that moment, he was deeply moved. If it were not for the school's clear ban, he really wanted to kneel down to Envoy Tian. Although the Ministry of State and County and his superiors and colleagues all knew the reason, they told him to relax. But he didn't dare take it seriously. After all, the Ministry of Discipline and the Ministry of Agriculture will definitely investigate the matter, so he has to confirm it several times. Moreover, whenever something goes wrong, he cannot escape the blame. The villagers’ reflection on this incident also shows that there must be something wrong with his work, at least he did not do a good job of publicity and explanation. But when he thought of Uncle Chen and those troublemakers in the village, he couldn't help but feel a headache. This group of people are the most difficult to deal with, but they also have the biggest mouths. Most of the troubles in the village are caused by them. It seems that I still have to ask the three elders for advice. Thanks to "种花家兔子" for the reminder. I'm sorry that I accidentally overlooked the issue of Lu Su's age. I have changed the content about Lu Su in the previous and next chapters to Dong Zhao. Everything else remains unchanged. Thank you again. (End of this chapter)
