CHAPTER 310: CHAPTER 304: INQUIRING

At this moment, he could no longer consider whether Zhao Hanzhang and the others had another motive; he reached out and grabbed the cake from her hand, stuffing it into his mouth.

Seeing him eat so ravenously, Zhao Hanzhang feared he might choke, and hurriedly took down the water pouch from her horse and handed it to him.

The young man didn’t even glance at it; his mind was solely focused on devouring the pancake.

He took several bites before finally slowing down a bit.

Zhao Hanzhang pushed the water pouch forward again, and only then did he take it and gulp down several mouthfuls.

After drinking, he looked down at the cake in his hand, pondered for a moment, then tore off a strip along where he had bitten, stuffed most of the remaining cake into his chest, and ate the torn-off strip.

He lifted his eyes to stare at Zhao Hanzhang and mumbled, "What more do the noble ones want to ask? Go ahead."

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow and pointed at his chest, asking, "Are you saving this cake for dinner?"

The young man replied, "I still have parents, a wife, and children at home; this is for them."

He looked a bit sad, sighed, and said, "My parents are old, and my children are still young; they haven’t eaten for a long time."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Hanzhang took two more cakes out of her bundle and handed them to him. "Take these home for them."

The young man immediately took them, put them in his chest, and with tears in his eyes, wanted to bow to Zhao Hanzhang, "Thank you, noble one, thank you."

"What’s your name?"

The young man replied, "I’m called Wu Sheng, second in my family, you can call me Wu Erlang."

"Why did you run when you saw us earlier?"

Wu Erlang said embarrassedly, "You were charging at me on such high horses, I thought you were rioting troops coming again."

Not to mention Zhao Hanzhang didn’t believe this, even County Magistrate Gao didn’t believe it. Where do riot troops come with over twenty orderly riders rather than a chaotic mass?

It was clear at a glance that they were noblemen, and proper noblemen at that!

Zhao Hanzhang skeptically stared at Wu Erlang, "Really?"

Wu Erlang nodded seriously, "Really!"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled, not pursuing it further, and asked, "It’s only mid-July now, still some time away from the autumn harvest, and you’re already low on food, what will you do afterward?"

The young man said, "What else can we do, we’ll have to eat wild grass for now."

Zhao Hanzhang then asked, "How many acres does your family farm? Can you ensure sufficient food at the autumn harvest?"

Young man was glad to answer such a non-confidential question, so Zhao Hanzhang quickly learned how many acres of beans, rice, and previously planted wheat the young man’s family farmed and their yield.

In fact, the situation in Sui Ping wasn’t very good.

The previous year’s chaos caused by the Xiongnu invasion made everyone in the village anxious, either getting robbed or being on the run, which delayed farming seasons. The wheat they planted was not much, nor was it diligently tended.

Weather-wise, this year’s yield per acre was okay, but they couldn’t plant much, and Inspector He imposed heavy taxes.

So when people harvested, they found that after paying taxes, there was hardly any food left at home.

In other words, despite working hard all year, after taxes, their food bins were still empty.

The young man had some resentment, and he vaguely sensed that Zhao Hanzhang and the others were people of high status, so he couldn’t help but express, "What is just a word to the nobles is a matter of spending all our family fortune for us."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in agreement, sighing softly.

Seeing her agreeing and the gentleman beside her showing no opposition, Wu Erlang was surprised and couldn’t help but ask, "What kind of people are the lady and gentleman?"

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, "Just ordinary people. We just came from Xiping, where many people were working in the fields, but there was no one here, so we were curious and wanted to ask you."

Who knew that even before she opened her mouth, she startled him away.

Wu Erlang also realized he’d overreacted earlier and smiled sheepishly.

Seeing it was getting late, he stood up and said, "I have to go home now; my parents and wife and children are waiting for me to bring food back."

Zhao Hanzhang let him go.

After he left, she sighed softly and said to County Magistrate Gao and the others, "Let’s go to Sui Ping County."

However, they slowed down, and Zhao Hanzhang started paying attention to the people on the road and the condition of the crops in the fields on both sides.

The fields as far as the eye could see were about half overgrown with weeds, with many areas left fallow, unplanted.

Seeing this, Zhao Hanzhang sighed deeply, "Even at the autumn harvest, things won’t be much better under such circumstances."

County Magistrate Gao nodded repeatedly, "Because of the early summer tax issue, many people have left home this year, so the fields were left abandoned. They are also scared. They have almost no way to survive if the autumn tax is as heavy as the summer tax, and there may not be many people left in the county by then."

As he spoke, he sneakily glanced at Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him without making any promises and said, "It’s getting late, let’s find a village nearby to stay."

County Magistrate Gao was not discouraged; Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t refused outright, meaning there was hope.

The heavens know how envious he was of Xiping County, where the assigned tax rate was easily reduced on her word.

What are the Prefectural Governors and Deputy Governors for?

Not just to manage and tax the counties under their jurisdiction; they are also obligated to protect the people of each county.

So County Magistrate Gao very much hoped that the previous Deputy Governor would refuse the tax rates set by Inspector He, and he had written about it multiple times, but to no avail.

Not only did the Deputy Governor not lighten the rates, but he increased the taxes on Sui Ping and Shangcai for failing to meet tax quotas.

Now that Zhao Hanzhang had replaced the Deputy Governor, County Magistrate Gao held hope for the autumn tax issue.

Zhao Hanzhang understood County Magistrate Gao’s intention. If it was just one county, she might consider it, but she now oversaw ten counties. If she exempted Sui Ping’s autumn tax, what about the other counties?

She initially thought the situation outside of Yu Yang and Xiping was much better; however, it now seemed she had been overly optimistic.

The devastation was widespread!

Zhao Hanzhang reined in her horse and looked at the dilapidated houses ahead; she turned her head to look at Qiu Wu.

Qiu Wu led some people into the village and soon brought out someone, "Lady, the village head’s home is up there. It belongs to the wealthiest family in the village; their house is in better condition and should be able to accommodate us."

"Yes, yes, yes, the village head’s house is the best," the person said enthusiastically, leading them to the village head’s house, clutching five cents tightly in his hand.

For those five cents, not only did he lead them to the village head’s house, but he also enthusiastically offered to knock on the door for them.

But there was no need; even as Zhao Hanzhang led her horse, she could see through the low wall into the courtyard.

There were quite a few people inside, making it lively—no, noisy—among them was someone who was being pressed down onto the ground, looking very familiar.