bookcurios Chapter 163 That’s it?
Chapter 163 That’s it?
When the Shen family members looked at the dilapidated city gate of Pushuang County and the sparse crowds on the official road, they knew that Pushuang County was really poor.
Not just poor, but not ordinary poor.
Under normal circumstances, the four gates of the county town should be built with huge stones to serve a defensive purpose.
Especially in a county like Pu Shuang, which is located on the border of the Daqian Dynasty and is often harassed by the Pyu army, is it just this city gate?
Isn’t that someone’s favorite dish to go with rice?
When Shen Laosan saw the city gate, he was petrified.
He wanted to curse in his heart. No wonder Pu Shuang was so poor. Not only was there famine, but it was also unable to stop the enemy. What was Zhao Yide thinking?
Does Zhao Yide want to give Pushuang County to someone else?
Shen Laosan even suspected that if there were no border garrisons, Pushuang County would have been given to the enemy country by Zhao Yide long ago.
Shen Mingzhu was also stunned for a moment. They went from their hometown to the capital, and then from the capital to here, passing through many prefectures and counties. This was the first time they saw such a dilapidated county town and city gate.
A city wall made of mud and a city gate without doors, is this really the county seat of Pushuang County?
Although Shen Mingzhu and the others were shocked, they did not delay for long and rode into the city.
As soon as he entered the city, Shen Laosan was stunned again.
Is this a county town?
Seeing the dilapidated thatched houses and bumpy streets, he thought he was in a slum.
In the entire county town, only the eastern area has brick houses with several courtyards and rows of brick shops.
The areas and streets where civilians live throughout the county are all made of wooden walls and thatched roofs.
This, this is not even as good as Shenjia Village.
Shen Laosan took a deep breath, rode his horse and walked towards the county government office.
Looking at the few pedestrians on the street and people's thin faces, he knew in his heart that this county town was extremely poor.
It was a county town that was extremely poor, so poor that there was not even a single person in it. It really made him feel very disappointed.
No wonder when Shen Laosan left the provincial capital, Zhao Yide looked at him with a gloating expression.
It turned out that she was waiting for him here!
Seeing her father's bad face, Shen Mingzhu smiled and comforted him: "It's okay, Dad, we are here, this county will be greatly changed."
As Shen Mingzhu spoke, she blinked at Shen Laosan. Shen Laosan immediately understood what Shen Mingzhu meant and felt much better.
Isn't it just poverty? They are not short of money now, so what are they afraid of?
If a county develops all its resources, will it still be poor?
At the same time, Wang Mang told his master and the eldest princess at home that he wanted to go to Shuangpu County for training.
After a long time, Ouyang Yunhai finally agreed to Wang Mang's decision to go to Southern Yunnan Province.
The Grand Princess also thought that it would be better to let Wang Mang go out and gain more experience.
Because, in her heart, she always believed that the Golden Phoenix was not a real phoenix, but her disciple Shen Mingzhu.
Shen Ruhai's family can be guaranteed in terms of both talent and character, so it is better for Wang Mang to go out and experience the people's sentiments than to stay in this small mountain village.
In the end, Wang Mang took away Shen Mingshan, Shen Carpenter and his son, as well as Shen Mingzhu's second cousin.
Wang Mang knew very well that Shen Mingzhu and her colleagues had just arrived in Pushuang County and were in dire need of manpower.
People like Shen Mingshan have been brought out by Shen Mingzhu and will be powerful helpers to Shen Mingzhu and the others.
As for Shen Mingzhu's industry in Shenjia Village, it is now on the right track.
The Shen family not only has a housekeeper, but also the village chief and Shen Lao Er, as well as Grandpa Su's family, so there is no need to worry at all.
In Pushuang County, Shen Mingzhu and her friends were so shocked by the dilapidated county government office as soon as they arrived at the gate of the county government office that they opened their mouths wide.
The county government office was in a dilapidated state, if it weren’t for the five big characters “Pushuang County Government Office” written on the plaque at the door.
Shen Mingzhu thought that they had come to a dilapidated temple.
"Is this the county government? My God, there is such a county government in our Daqian Dynasty?"
Yun Hong's face was full of disbelief.
The other servants who followed were also filled with disbelief.
The servants who followed Shen Mingzhu now were basically the ones they brought from the capital.
These servants were either from the Imperial Palace, the Grand Princess's Mansion, or the Duke Zhenguo's Mansion. How could they have ever seen such a dilapidated government office?
Shen Laosan said: "Pushuang County has not had a magistrate for three years, and there have been repeated famines, and there are frequent harassments from the enemy troops of the Pyu Kingdom. It is indeed too poor."
Not to mention those people who came from the capital, even he, a native of the countryside, had never seen such a dilapidated government office.
Shen Mingzhu said: "Let's go in and talk about it!"
So what if it's dilapidated? Just fix it up.
Shen Mingzhu has plenty of money now. Not to mention repairing the county government office, even renovating the entire county town is no problem.
Shen Laosan took Shen Mingzhu and the others off the carriage, leaving a few servants to guard the carriage and horses, while the others walked into the county government office.
What made Shen Laosan speechless was that the county government office was not only dilapidated, but also completely empty, without even a single staff member.
Shen Mingzhu and her companions walked from the gate of the county government office into the lobby. Just as they were about to head to the backyard, a man dressed in yamen runner's clothes suddenly walked out from a nearby room.
He stretched himself and asked listlessly, "What are you doing here? There is no magistrate here."
Shen Lao San asked: "There is no county magistrate here, so are the county magistrate and the chief clerk here?"
The yamen runner Zhao Yong picked his nose and took a look at Shen Laosan and his companions. He saw that Shen Laosan and his companions were wearing silk clothes, had fair complexion and extraordinary temperament.
Looking at the servants following Shen Lao San and his companions, they were very different. He guessed that Shen Lao San and his companions were businessmen who came to the border to do business, so he said:
"Zhao County Magistrate is not here, and Xu Zhubu is not here either."
"Where are they going? Isn't it time for duty now? Why is there no one in the government office?"
Zhao Yong said impatiently, "If you say you're not here, then you're not here. We don't even have a county magistrate here, and the county magistrate and his men won't care. If you have anything to do, go to the provincial government and find someone."
Shen Lao San raised his eyebrows: "In that case, then take me to the backyard! I need to settle down first."
Zhao Yong asked irritably, "Why are you going to the backyard? Is the backyard of the county government your inn? Seriously, I told you, there is no one here. Do you think our county government is a hotel?"
"Go out, go out, you need to settle down and stay at the inn on that street over there."
Shen Lao San asked back: "Isn't the backyard of your county government where the county magistrate lives?"
"What did you say?" Zhao Yong was a little confused.
Shen Laosan took out the appointment document and handed it to Zhao Yong. When Zhao Yong saw the cover of the appointment document, his heart skipped a beat and he dared not slack off.
He hurriedly took the document, and when he saw the red seals on the appointment document, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly saluted Shen Lao San with a respectful attitude:
"Greetings, His Excellency the Magistrate!"
Shen Lao San waved his hand, took back the documents, and asked Zhao Yong: "Can we go into the backyard now?"
Zhao Yong's attitude immediately changed 180 degrees. He smiled and said repeatedly:
"Yes, yes, sir, madam, miss, this way please."
Shen Laosan thought that this yamen runner was quite tactful. When he was talking to him just now, his attitude was not very bad.
Just when Shen Laosan's attitude towards Zhao Yong changed, Zhao Yong, who was leading the way in front, suddenly stopped.
Shen Lao San asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
Zhao Yong touched his nose and said a little embarrassedly:
"Sir, the backyard is where your family lives. But..."
"But what?"
"But the backyard may not be habitable."
"Let's go! Let's go and take a look."
When Shen Mingzhu and his group arrived at the backyard, they finally understood what Zhao Yong meant by saying that it was not habitable.
Where was the yard in front of them? It was a ruined scene of collapsed houses.
Shen Mingzhu was so confused that she thought, what happened to her promise to be a daughter of an official?
That's it?