Chapter 1262: Chapter 1264: Now we’ve made a big enemy_1
"So, Land Officer embezzled the money that rightfully belonged to the villagers?" Ye Zi’an’s face, which originally had little expression, now grew even more indifferent, and the chill he exuded made even Ye Yi feel uncomfortable.
"Yes, not only did he embezzle that part of the money, but he also didn’t distribute the subsidy for the village’s communal land. According to the rules, the money received for the communal land should be distributed equally among the villagers."
Ye Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, "Initially, the people of Stone Village didn’t know about this. They thought the government subsidy was for inferior-quality land, but some days ago, a villager met someone from Yangdong Village and found out that our subsidy was for top-quality land, nearly double the amount for the inferior-quality land. Once the people of Stone Village heard this, they went back and confronted Land Officer, but he stubbornly insisted that the government subsidy was only for inferior-quality land."
"With Land Officer denying it, the villagers were helpless and secretly united to obstruct our efforts to dig the canal."
"This matter is simple, find Land Officer and make him cough up the money, and also strip him of his title." To dare embezzle such money, he was not thinking clearly.
"But, Young Master, the problem lies in the fact that Land Officer refuses to give back the money and is also being uncooperative with us, claiming he only received money for inferior-quality land. He doesn’t admit that the government gave him more money," Ye Yi thought to himself that people say village folk are honest, but in his view, that’s not always the case. Some are overly naive, while others are excessively cunning.
"Another thing is, I found out that the money he received initially, he’s already spent it. He has a son working in Fushui County who, I heard, broke a jade vase in a shop. The shop demanded compensation, and since he had no money to pay, the Land Officer of Stone Village took the money to cover his son’s mess."
"So that means, even if we arrested Land Officer now, it would be useless; his family has no money, and our county government would have to take out another sum of money?"
Facing the cold air emanating from Ye Zi’an, Ye Yi nodded slightly, also stepping back a bit.
"Very good!" Ye Zi’an tapped on the table and asked, "Is the matter of his son breaking the vase true?"
"Master, you really have a keen insight, truly brilliant," Ye Yi, upon hearing this, started to flatter, "The vase was not really broken by his son. His son was framed. A customer accidentally broke it, but the shopkeeper didn’t dare to ask the customer for compensation, so he set his sights on Land Officer’s son. In the entire shop, he was the only one from Mianyang County, so who else would they bully if not him?"
"They dare bully someone from Mianyang County? They’re bold." Ye Zi’an scoffed and asked, "What’s the deal with Fushan Village?"
"Young Master, the situation with Fushan Village is simpler: the Governmental Office of Fushui pocketed the money, not subsidizing the villagers. The villagers didn’t dare to resist the government; they united in opposition to our digging of the canal instead."
Speaking of this incident, Ye Yi was so enraged he gritted his teeth. Why are some county magistrates so different from others?
Look at their young master, constantly devising ways to let the common people earn more money, whereas the County Magistrate of Fushui is always scheming to scrape money out of the common people’s pockets. How does that saying go—three years as a clean magistrate, one hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver.
"Fushui County, now we’ve got a serious grudge. Bully our people, pocket our money, and still not do our bidding!" Ye Zi’an slapped his hand on the table, startling Ye Yi. He had hardly ever seen the young master this angry before; it was quite frightening.