Chapter 145 Hexian County

Chapter 145: Heshan County

On the thirtieth day of the first month of the 26th year of Qisheng, after traveling intermittently for over three months, Song Tingzhou and his party finally arrived at their post, Heshan County.

As the carriage drove up to the ancient city gate, there was only one stooped old soldier leaning against the wall, basking in the sun. People were coming and going through the gate, but he didn’t even lift an eyelid.

It wasn’t until Song Tingzhou’s party arrived—with nine full carts of luggage and several people on tall horses—that he rubbed his eyes. "My heavens! What’s all this?"

Watching them approach, the old soldier picked up a rusty spear and hesitated, not daring to step forward or retreat.

"Our master is the newly appointed County Magistrate. No need to stop us—lead the way to the yamen," Xue Sheng said, holding up a document and casually waving it in front of the old soldier. He could tell this old soldier was just a token figure; he probably couldn’t even read.

The five hundred soldiers had been registered with the Xi Wu Prefect, and that wasn’t all—the remaining fifteen hundred were still on the road.

It’s worth noting that a prefecture only had five thousand garrison soldiers total. For Song Tingzhou, a newly appointed county magistrate, to bring two thousand troops from the Ministry of War showed that he was favored by his superiors.

This was precisely why the Xi Wu Prefect had offered Song Tingzhou some advice earlier; otherwise, just sending gifts would have been mere courtesy.

Xi Wu Prefecture was a place that had worn out countless seventh-rank officials. When a new magistrate arrived, Prefect Liu likely didn’t even want to meet him.

The five hundred soldiers did not enter the city with them. Instead, under the command of a Thousand Commander, they temporarily set up camp outside the county seat, waiting for Song Tingzhou to settle in and allocate them a plot of land for farming and daily drills.

The people in the county and towns were Han Chinese, speaking both the local southwestern official dialect and standard Chinese.

Upon hearing that the visitor was the newly appointed county magistrate, the old soldier immediately nodded and bowed. "Yes, yes, please follow me into the city, my lord."

After a brief pause, the carriage moved again. Meng Wan groggily opened his eyes and saw A Xun staring at him with wide, watery eyes.

Meng Wan was still a bit drowsy. He chuckled and asked A Xun, "What is it?"

Just as A Xun was about to answer, Song Tingzhou’s deep voice came from above Meng Wan. "We’ve entered Heshan County. We’ll be getting off soon."

Meng Wan stretched lazily in Song Tingzhou’s arms. Having slept through most of the journey, his entire body felt limp. He lifted the curtain on the carriage window, revealing sparse houses and shops outside. Some were huddled together, while others stood far apart. A few vendors dotted the street; passersby glanced at their wares but rarely bought anything.

Looking at the ground, even in such a large county seat, the roads were still dirt. Apart from being larger than Quanshui Town, it was even less lively than a bustling town.

Heshan County was remote, with few merchants traveling here, so this procession attracted quite a bit of attention. When the carriage stopped at the yamen gate, several low-ranking officials of the eighth and ninth grades were already at the entrance to welcome them.

"This subordinate welcomes the County Magistrate," said three county officials in blue and green robes, bowing to Song Tingzhou as Xue Sheng helped him off the carriage. Noticing that the new magistrate seemed to have a leg injury, they exchanged surprised glances.

Song Tingzhou said calmly, "You are too kind. I’ve just arrived from Shengjing, and I need to settle into the inner residence first."

The lead official smiled. "You must be exhausted from the long journey, my lord. You should rest well."

The others echoed the sentiment. A Constable Zhang, who was perceptive, immediately called a few yamen runners to personally lead Song Tingzhou’s carriage procession toward the side of the yamen.

"My lord, the carriages cannot enter through the main gate. There is another gate beside the inner residence at the back of the yamen, wide enough for carriages. This subordinate will take you there."

Song Tingzhou said indifferently from the carriage, "Much obliged."

The county yamen of Yu was a formal government office. All county yamen across the country were built according to the Ministry of Works’ standards. They typically had four courtyards, faced south, and housed three shifts and six offices.

Although all were four-courtyard structures, sizes varied. Wealthier counties with many towns under their jurisdiction would expand accordingly.

But for yamen like those in Lingnan, the Ministry of Revenue was reluctant to allocate much construction funding. Thus, although also four-courtyard, they were smaller than those elsewhere.

Constable Zhang led them from the east side of the yamen’s main gate, along a road a short distance north, and soon they saw a courtyard gate.

A few bluestone slabs were laid in front of the gate, but they were cracked, with dead grass growing tall from the gaps. The gate wasn’t exactly dilapidated, but it was dusty and covered in cobwebs, clearly uninhabited for a long time.

Constable Zhang produced a key, unlocked the gate, and several yamen runners removed the threshold to allow the carriages to pass.

Aside from the first three carriages rented from other counties to carry people, the remaining nine were laden with goods—and this was after they had reduced their belongings.

Constable Zhang appeared respectful on the surface, but secretly observed the ruts left in the dirt road by the heavily laden carriages.

County magistrates assigned to this area usually came poor, with few assets. This one was different; who knew what sort of figure he was. He would have to report to the Deputy Magistrate soon.

Strictly speaking, the fourth courtyard of the yamen was considered the magistrate’s private domain. However, on the west side of the fourth courtyard were the tax repository, silver bureau, and a flower hall for receiving honored guests.

To the east, a separate small courtyard was considered the inner residence. They entered through the east gate.

The inner residence was not spacious at all: a row of main rooms facing south, with the kitchen next to the east gate, a west flower hall and an archway on the west, and two small storage rooms on the south.

The entire courtyard was smaller than the new house they had built back home; it couldn’t even accommodate a few carriages. Everyone had to disembark first, letting the luggage carriages enter one by one.

It was chaotic outside, so Meng Wan first led them into the main rooms. There were three rooms: one for Chang Jinhua, one for him and Song Tingzhou, and the remaining one to be used as a study—already fully arranged.

The main rooms were relatively spacious. The outer room of Chang Jinhua’s bedroom could accommodate a bed for Bi Yun to stay temporarily.

The two small storage rooms could be tidied up for Xue Sheng and Chu Ci to rest, but there was truly no place for the Miao family. Meng Wan had to ask Xue Sheng to first take them to a nearby inn to stay, while he slowly looked for a rental for them.

This small courtyard clearly couldn’t hold the nine carriages of luggage. Fortunately, the tax repository for storing state taxes was empty. They moved some things into the main rooms and locked the rest in the tax repository, waiting to organize later when free.

Song Tingzhou couldn’t rush about due to his leg injury, and Chang Jinhua wouldn’t allow Meng Wan to exert himself. So she, together with Bi Yun and Xue Sheng, first cleaned and tidied the rooms for them to rest. Chu Ci also helped by wiping cabinets and moving lighter items.

Although Doctor Miao and Qing Xing had found the true antidote and administered it to Chu Ci, he had been poisoned for too long, which had damaged his internals. He would need to recuperate for several years.

Meng Wan sat on the bed organizing clothes and asked Song Tingzhou, who was examining a yellow register, "Did Xue Sheng just bring that over for you?"

Song Tingzhou frowned and nodded. "The records here are not clear. Tomorrow morning I need to go to the Scribe Office to check."

Upon first arriving at a post, the first task is always to ascertain the population and landholdings under Heshan County’s jurisdiction. But the imperial registers recording these were inconsistent. He needed to find the county scribe to ask about local details.

Meng Wan placed a basket on the cabinet at the foot of the bed. The small quilt Bi Yun had sewn along the way, thick and soft, was spread in the basket, where the little white wolf, who had endured the journey through wind and dew, was dozing.

Meng Wan stroked it twice and withdrew his hand, saying, "We’ve just arrived. We don’t know how deep the waters are at the yamen. Just from what we saw, Constable Zhang is a schemer. Since your leg injury hasn’t healed, remember to take Xue Sheng wherever you go…"

Hearing his voice trail off, Song Tingzhou shifted his gaze from the yellow register to Meng Wan. "What’s wrong?"

"Did Prince Qin also obediently return to the camp?" Meng Wan asked thoughtfully.

"Yes. The Thousand Commander assigned ten men under him, and he is now a small squad leader in the camp." Although Qin Jiao had been a bit unreliable in Shengjing, he was dependable enough.

Lingnan was remote, but when the Crown Prince ordered him to come, he obediently came.

Through the entire journey of roughing it, this young master who grew up in Shengjing never uttered a single complaint.

Whenever asked for help, whether willing or not, Qin Jiao would assist.

Although his attitude seemed carefree, Prince Qin was surprisingly responsive in everything and never made mistakes.

After some thought, Meng Wan suddenly smiled. "Prince Qin is of noble status; living in the barracks seems a waste of his talent. Why not invite him to handle official business with you for a while? That way he can gain merit for promotion, and you’ll have a capable confidant by your side. Wouldn’t that kill two birds with one stone?"

After all, the Crown Prince sent him here for experience, but he probably wouldn’t want his brother-in-law to remain a squad leader for three to five years.

Song Tingzhou considered it and found it feasible. "You make a good point. I’ll call his ten men as well, and they can stay temporarily in the official quarters. The inner residence is indeed too small."

Meng Wan thought to himself, "When I'm free, I'll ask around about any vacant houses nearby. Ideally, I'd buy a large residence right next to the county office, so they're connected and make it convenient to live." He also needed to find a storefront for Qing Xing's family.

Everyone was already dead tired. By the time they finally finished cleaning the place, it was nearly dark. Chang Jinhua had Xue Sheng go out to buy some prepared food. They all just grabbed a meal together, washed up, and went to bed early.

The next day, Meng Wan slept in until late morning. Song Tingzhou had already limped off to assume his post. Fortunately, he only had to sit in the county office reviewing documents—much better than being out on the road all day.

Xue Sheng had apparently gone out of town to find Qin Jiao. Chang Jinhua and Bi Yun were busy unpacking, doing laundry, and sweeping the courtyard.

Chu Ci, having gotten some goat's milk from who knows where, was feeding the little white wolf in the yard.

Meng Wan dressed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face in the room. As he went out to toss the washing water, Chang Jinhua spotted him.

"Leave that there. I'll toss it for you, son."

Meng Wan looked at a loss for words. "Mother, there's no need for that. Think about Second Aunt and Sister Chunfang—didn't they all work when they were pregnant? I'll be careful. It's fine."

Chang Jinhua had lived through those days herself—how could she not understand? She just felt bad that Meng Wan hadn't had a moment's peace all the way here. Now that they'd finally arrived at the county seat, she wanted him to rest properly.

"Fine, do it yourself then. What do you want to eat? I'll cook it for you."

Meng Wan patted his empty stomach. "I don't have much appetite this morning. Just some congee to tide me over. For dinner, I'd like the dumplings you make, Mother."

Chang Jinhua liked hearing that. "Alright, I'll go buy some vegetables and meat soon. No need to wait until evening—since you ate little this morning, we'll start cooking soon. From now on, we'll have three meals a day."

Bustling as always, she finished what she was doing and took Bi Yun out with her.

At noon, Song Tingzhou returned from the second hall gate with Xue Sheng. Meng Wan asked him, "Did Prince Qin come?"

Song Tingzhou first took off his official hat, then changed out of his green official robe. "I invited him. He's having lunch in the front courtyard with the others."

"Perfect." Meng Wan was satisfied. Prince Qin really knows how the game is played.

After a while, Chang Jinhua and Bi Yun came back carrying vegetable baskets, looking unhappy.

Meng Wan looked at the pork belly and half-rack of ribs in her basket and the two cabbages in Bi Yun's, and asked, "What's wrong, Mother?"

"There's no wheat flour for sale here! The grain shop only has rice!" Chang Jinhua said incredulously.

"Ah?"

Meng Wan was stunned too. "Only rice?"

Song Tingzhou, however, remained fairly calm. "Hexian County has many mountains and little flat land. Wheat doesn't grow easily. Only rice does reasonably well, but even then, half the grain is transported from other prefectures."

Chang Jinhua had eaten wheat-based foods for most of her life. Learning that she could only eat rice from now on was disappointing. "We still have half a bag of wheat flour left from the journey. I'll go cook now."

Bi Yun followed her to the kitchen, and soon the aroma of meat wafted out.

Meng Wan asked Song Tingzhou, "Is it only rice? With Hexian being so mountainous, I take it the common people don't have abundant farmland?"

Song Tingzhou rubbed his tired, sore eyes. "That seems to be the case." The scribe had claimed illness and stayed home. He had spent the morning sifting through the land registers in the scribe's office, asking a few people about local customs, but they only told him what they wanted to.

Meng Wan could tell that he was finding things difficult as a newcomer. He took Song Tingzhou's hand and placed it in his own palm. "Don't rush. The poverty of Lingnan hasn't been a short-term problem. We'll take it slow. Now that you're the county magistrate of a remote place like this, even if some people harbor ill intentions, they won't be able to stir up much trouble. It's much better than in Shengjing, where every step had to be taken while watching others' expressions."

Song Tingzhou held Meng Wan's hand back, his brow relaxing and a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips. "I understand what you mean, husband, and I'm not impatient."

With his leg injury not yet healed, it was best to let those county officials with their various motives stew for a while. Once his leg was better, he would personally survey Hexian's terrain and landscape.

Chang Jinhua used up all the wheat flour and made two large basins of boiled dumplings. They ate their first meal—and possibly their last wheat-based meal—since arriving in Hexian. Everyone ate plenty.

Meng Wan comforted Chang Jinhua, "Don't worry, Mother. Although Hexian has no wheat flour, Xiwu Prefecture does. We won't go without." It might just be several times more expensive.