Leng Yi collected the money from those killers. In addition to filling the tax deficit, the rest was given to the maid Cao Sui for medical treatment and to the Li family who was disabled by torture as state compensation. His pocket is now empty.

, only the newly received monthly salary of 3,000 fen. In addition to the 3,000 fen for servant wages, the total is only 6,000 fen.

Leng Yi said to the creditors: "All the money is here, let's see how you divide it."

Those creditors were also embarrassed and apologized repeatedly. Leng Yi's monthly salary was not enough to repay even one creditor. Therefore, after several discussions, the physical objects were left to Leng Yi for the New Year, and another five hundred coins were left.

, they were all divided up to offset the debt.

Mr. Dong helped keep the accounts, sent away several creditors, and then left the inner house to attend to official business. Sister Cheng Luojie and the female detectives helped Leng Yi and Zhuo Qiaoniang carry the distributed items back into the house.

Put it away. Although it is only five hundred coins, there is enough food and cloth to make new clothes. Then I will buy some fish and meat to celebrate the New Year.

Master Dong filed Lin Ling's case and collected all the materials, then sent Zaoli Yamen to escort Lin Ling to Bazhou to report the case. Yin Jiu sent Wei Du to assist Wu Captou in the escort. Nothing happened on the way this time

, and successfully escorted the person to Bazhou.

Leng Yi did not encounter any danger in Yinling. Everything was calm.

As the Spring Festival approached day by day, Leng Yi gradually became familiar with the official duties of the yamen. He was busy with various trivial matters all day long, most of which were trivial matters required by the court and the governor of Bazhou.

On that day, it was snowing heavily, and Leng Yi came back in a sedan chair after doing official business outside. There were few people on the street, and they all hid in their houses to warm themselves by the fire.

Turning a corner, Leng Yi saw several old people shivering in the wind and snow, sitting on the side of the street, folding their arms, squinting their dull eyes, looking pitifully at the pedestrians passing by. A few children, some

There were men and women sitting in front of them. They had straw flags on their heads and were shivering in the cold wind. When they heard Zaoli yelling to clear the way, they hurriedly hid in the old man's arms.

The old man looked at the approaching official's sedan indifferently.

Seeing the grass signs on their heads, Leng Yi knew that these were people selling their children. Seeing the looks in the eyes of a few old people, he realized what it meant to be saddened by death. Yes, having to sell your own children, what kind of a situation is this?

of sorrow.

Leng Yi stopped the sedan chair, lifted up the sedan curtain, and stepped out. He walked up to those people.

The old man quickly got up and pulled the child back to hide. Leng Yi said: "Don't be afraid. This county sees that you are still selling your children at the end of the year, so I came here to ask - which village are you from? Why do you sell your children?"

How much does the child cost?”

A gray-haired old man raised his hands and said: "Reporting to the old man, I am from Bianshi Village, so are the two of them, and the few over there are from Hongsong Village, Paoma Village and Helilan Village. Alas! It's the end of the year, debts

It’s not until the New Year that the old man sells his children as a last resort! Life is hard for them, and it’s not difficult to watch their children starve to death and freeze to death, so they give them a mouthful of food. Sir, please do me a favor and buy some of the children.

Right? Each one only costs 5,000 yuan."

Five thousand coins?! Leng Yi smiled bitterly and glanced at the poor children. He only had five hundred coins for the New Year, which was not even enough for one child. He really couldn't help. He smiled apologetically and said: "Your village,

Are there many who sell their children?”

"Many!" several old men said in unison: "There are at least a dozen families selling their children in one village. Alas, life is difficult and there is nothing we can do!" When they talked about the sadness, they couldn't help but burst into tears.

Leng Yi thought for a while, took off the money bag from his waist, poured out a bunch of money, distributed it to several children, and said: "Master, I don't have much money, so I can't help you more. This is the governance of this county."

It’s because of our incompetence that we let the people suffer like this. I’m so ashamed!”

Several old men hurriedly knelt down, pulled their children to kneel down, and kowtowed to Leng Yi.

Master Dong on the side said: "Dong Weng, this kind of thing happens in every state and county. You don't need to pay too much attention to it. You can't understand it."

Leng Yi didn't answer. He walked back to the sedan chair, got up again and walked back.

Along the way, he saw several places selling sons and daughters, and even wives. Leng Yi shook his head sadly and lowered the sedan curtain.

Returning to the Yamen, he called Master Dong over and asked: "Sir, you are Master Qian Gu. Do you know that for families like this that are extremely poor and have reached the point of selling their sons and daughters, the court has no means of relief?"

?"

"The imperial court has set up Guanghui warehouses in various states and counties for relief. However, it can only be used for relief for people who have lost the ability to work and have no source of resources. For example, the elderly and the elderly who are alone and weak."

"Does this count for them?"

"It's hard to say. In fact, there is no strict limit on whether people need relief. It is ultimately determined by Dong Weng. However, according to the usual practice, the head of the village first reports the list of people in need of relief in the village, and then the household house

Review and determine those who need relief. After being reviewed by the students here, they will report to Dong Weng to finalize the list of relief personnel."

Leng Yi said: "As for the house inspection, does it require on-site inspection?"

"In principle, we won't go." Mr. Dong said: "There are too many affairs, and there are so many people reporting that they need relief. It is almost impossible to verify each family. Moreover, the maximum relief amount distributed to each family is only four hundred.

Wen, one stone of rice is not a large amount, and there is no need to verify it from house to house."

Leng Yi pondered: "Is there any limit on the amount of relief funds our county can distribute?"

"Yes, based on the tax paid that year, we will choose one out of a hundred."

In other words, the maximum relief fund shall not exceed 1% of the current year's tax. This standard is still relatively high. The problem is that if the local tax is not high, there will not be much relief money.

Leng Yi asked: "Is there a limit to the number of people who can be helped?"

"No, this is mainly determined based on the number of people in need of relief in the local area. It can be more or less. You decide the specific amount. The imperial court only requires that each household's relief fund must not exceed a certain standard."

"How many times can we receive relief each year?"

"This is up to you, Dong Weng. Anyway, there is only so much relief money that can be used for relief every year. It can be left over and cannot be overspent. The balance can be transferred to the next year for use."

"I understand, but are there still benefits for this year?"

Leng Yi said: "There are still 30%. At the end of every year, there is a relief distribution. This year's has not been reported yet. However, it will be reported in the next few days."

Leng Yi nodded and asked Mr. Dong to go back. He sat and thought for a while, then called Cheng Luojie in and said, "I have something I want to ask you to help me with. Is that okay?"

Cheng Luojie smiled sweetly, gave him a wink, and said, "If you have any orders from me, just say so."

Leng Yi quickly avoided her gaze and said: "I saw many people selling their sons and daughters on the street. They are all people in my jurisdiction. Life is very difficult, and it has reached the point of selling their sons and daughters. Every year, the imperial court

There are relief funds, but the distribution of relief funds depends entirely on the decision of each village head, and the government office cannot verify it. I have been an official in Bazhou for a few months, and I have not visited villages to understand the people's conditions. I thought

Use this opportunity to go to the villages where the largest number of children are sold and sold. Of course, it is a private visit incognito. Only in this way can we find out the real situation. Before going, I want to find out which villages have the largest number of sold children and sold women.

.”

Cheng Luojie said: "That's it! That's simple. Isn't it enough that the lord sends his servants to find out which villages those people in the city are from who are selling their sons and daughters?"

Leng Yi said: "I don't want the people in the Yamen to know about this, so as not to leak the news, so I want to ask you for help."

"That's it! That's okay, I'll ask."

"We need to know as much as possible before the relief list comes up. Only when we go down to investigate will we know in our minds."

"Understood."

In the next few days, Cheng Luojie wandered around the streets every day and learned all about the situation of selling children and selling women. I really didn’t know if I didn’t ask, but I was shocked when I asked. There are so many people selling children and women. Almost every village

There are all of them. The most concentrated one is the Bianshi Village where the white-haired old man who sold his children was.

A few days later, the relief list was finally posted.
Chapter completed!