To build her reputation, Zhao Hanzhang personally came to the scene to distribute relief grain to everyone.

The relief grain was distributed by ward. Because the distances varied, the ward chiefs arrived at different times, which conveniently facilitated grain distribution. Not too many people would be crowded together at once, yet there would still be onlookers.

Naturally, the city residents were the first to receive relief grain. As soon as the grain arrived and the county yamen posted its announcement, the ward chiefs from within the city brought their residents to collect relief grain.

Based on the number of households and people they reported, plus the data recorded in the county yamen, Fu Tinghan calculated how much relief grain each ward should receive. Zhao Hanzhang then worked with Magistrate Gao to count it out and personally handed the grain to the ward chiefs.

After they returned, the ward chiefs would distribute it by household.

While distributing relief grain, Zhao Hanzhang told those who came to collect it how much each person should receive, with children under twelve getting half portions. This way, each family could calculate what they should receive.

This was to prevent ward chiefs from embezzling relief grain. Besides this, she would also send Magistrate Gao out to inspect—first to encourage agriculture, and second to prevent such incidents.

Speaking of encouraging agriculture, Zhao Hanzhang was doing exactly that right now.

After counting out the relief grain, Zhao Hanzhang had the able-bodied men carry the grain while she pulled aside the ward chiefs and village elders to talk. “The autumn harvest is imminent. This is when the rice is filling with grain and the beans are just beginning to swell. We absolutely cannot let people eat green crops anymore.”

She sighed, “All the way from Xiping, I saw patches missing here and there in the fields. My heart ached. If this grain were left for another month, who knows how much could be harvested, how many people could be fed.”

The ward chiefs and village elders deeply agreed, immediately promising, “Commandery Administrator, rest assured. We’ll persuade them when we return and prevent them from cutting green crops anymore.”

The village elder said, “It’s because they were too hungry and really couldn’t survive—that’s why they thought to eat green crops. But with hope, who would want to waste grain like that?”

“Fortunately, the Commandery Administrator is kind-hearted and provided relief grain. With this grain, if we’re frugal, we can make it to the autumn harvest.”

The ward chief was more well-informed. Hearing that Quyang was currently offering work-for-relief, he tentatively asked, “Commandery Administrator, might we perhaps take advantage of the agricultural slack to repair water works and such?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Right now, agricultural work should come first. When you return to the villages, have them go to the fields to weed and remove pests. It’s currently the rainy season, which isn’t ideal for building water works. We’ll discuss it after winter sets in.”

Zhao Hanzhang paused, then added, “Tell them not to worry too much about the autumn taxes. Let them focus on the autumn harvest first. I will petition the inspector along with the governor to reduce some taxes for our Runan Commandery this year.”

With these words, not only the ward chiefs and village elders, but even the able-bodied men eavesdropping nearby brightened. They all put down their grain and bowed to Zhao Hanzhang. “Thank you, Commandery Administrator, for this life-saving grace.”

Zhao Hanzhang quickly reached out to support them, sighing, “This is Hanzhang’s responsibility. How could I accept your thanks?”

These words made them even more moved. Even the ward chief couldn’t help but bow deeply. “That we have the lady as our commandery administrator is truly a blessing cultivated over three lifetimes.”

Fu Tinghan had finished verifying the relief grain for one ward. He wrote out a slip and handed it to Wu Erlang, then looked up toward Zhao Hanzhang.

Wu Erlang’s eyes were red-rimmed, also full of emotion and excitement. He said to Fu Tinghan, “Elder Young Master, that I can follow the lady must be because I accumulated great merit in my previous life.”

He had initially thought Fu Tinghan was the master, but had now been assimilated by Ting He. He too now called Zhao Hanzhang “lady” and addressed Fu Tinghan as “Elder Young Master.”

Fu Tinghan’s expression was calm, but looking at Zhao Hanzhang, his eyes couldn’t help but reveal some amusement. She was still like this—perhaps using techniques, including calculation, but there was genuine sincerity as well.

She always made people feel her devotion.

Suiping County seat bustled for several days. Once the ward chief from the most distant ward had also brought able-bodied men to collect relief grain, Zhao Hanzhang decided to leave.

Whenever she and Magistrate Gao had time, they would go down to the villages to inspect, to comfort the people and encourage agriculture.

“There’s still time now for weeding and pest removal. Mobilize everyone’s enthusiasm—even one more pound of grain at harvest time is good.”

Magistrate Gao acknowledged.

As soon as Zhao Hanzhang left, Magistrate Gao brought yamen runners to inspect the villages.

Having received relief grain, the people finally weren’t so hungry they could barely walk. The diligent ones had already started working in the fields. Most people now had energy and were beginning to plan whether they should go weed—after all, their family’s fields did have quite a lot of weeds.

When Magistrate Gao arrived, they immediately got moving. Even just going to the fields for show would be good.

But Magistrate Gao didn’t just glance and leave. Instead, he stood at the field’s edge watching, encouraging them. “The Commandery Administrator said that this year we paid summer taxes with difficulty—everyone worked hard. This year for autumn taxes, she will definitely petition the inspector and governor to reduce some taxes. That way, after the autumn harvest, we’ll only pay a little tax, and the rest of the grain will all be ours. We’ll be able to get through the winter well then.”

“Is what the magistrate said true?”

“Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, surely you believe the Commandery Administrator? She reduced taxes for Xiping when she was just the county magistrate there. Now that she’s the commandery administrator, naturally she can do even more.”

Everyone felt this made sense, so the lazy and perfunctory villagers began to take things seriously. After paying taxes, this extra grain would be theirs!

As long as it wasn’t like the summer taxes where basically all the grain had to be turned over, they still had plenty of motivation.

Suiping County slowly recovered its vitality. Everyone worked hard, wanting to hoe the weeds and catch the bugs before August to harvest more grain.

Things proceeded very smoothly in Suiping County. Zhao Hanzhang went directly to Biyang County.

Biyang County was the county at the southwestern corner of Runan Commandery. The county magistrate’s surname was Hu. Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t notified him in advance. She brought Fu Tinghan and the others toward the county seat all the way, observing the conditions of various villages and fields along the route.

Much like Suiping County, after all, this year Inspector He had levied generally heavy taxes on all counties of Runan Commandery. But there were still some differences.

The common people had no strong feelings about their magistrate. When mentioning him, some didn’t even know his surname.

Because no magistrate accompanied them, Zhao Hanzhang deliberately sought out two ward chiefs to talk with. By chance, she encountered a ward chief’s family brewing wine.

Zhao Hanzhang caught the scent of wine in the air and couldn’t help but look at the ward chief with starry eyes. “Ward Chief, your family is quite prosperous to be able to brew such fine wine.”

In this village where people could starve to death, brewing wine required so much grain and money and influence.

But the ward chief smiled bitterly. “The lady jests. Brewing wine wastes grain. Although my family still has some assets, in these times we’re barely getting by. How dare we claim prosperity?”

“Judging by the old gentleman’s expression, this wine seems to be brewed somewhat reluctantly. Could it be this wine isn’t for your own family?”

The ward chief sighed. “It’s for our magistrate.”

Zhao Hanzhang grew interested and squatted down by the stove with him, asking, “Does Magistrate Hu love wine?”

The ward chief said, “Oh, extremely so. Knowing my family has this brewing skill, he often comes to my house to get wine.”

Zhao Hanzhang instigated, “What if you don’t give it to him?”

The ward chief smiled bitterly. “If I don’t, not only will I lose my position as ward chief, but the people in the village will suffer along with me.”

Zhao Hanzhang narrowed her eyes. “Is this Magistrate Hu of ours so domineering?”

The ward chief smiled bitterly.

Zhao Hanzhang: “You brew wine for him—does he pay for the wine?”

“Forget payment—it would be good enough if he gave me some grain for brewing.” The ward chief complained, “When I first brewed wine for him, he did send grain. But after doing this twice, each time he only sent a servant to fetch wine, with no grain to be seen.”

Zhao Hanzhang frowned. “Didn’t the old gentleman decline?”

“Of course I declined—I even declined to his face. But he said nothing at the time. That same year, though, he increased our village’s corvée labor. The next year when collecting summer taxes, the yamen runners were especially harsh. When collecting grain tax, the measuring bucket had to be heaped three-tenths higher to count.”

Tears fell from the ward chief’s eyes. “Because of me, I caused everyone to suffer together. My heart was truly uneasy. Since then, my family hasn’t dared refuse to brew wine for him.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s smile slowly faded. If at first she had been listening with skepticism, by now she believed the old man three-tenths.

She carefully observed the ward chief’s expression, then asked, “Old gentleman, you trust me so much—aren’t you afraid I’m someone from Magistrate Hu’s side, or that I’ll report you for profit?”

The ward chief looked at her with clear eyes and smiled gently. “The lady clearly has a kind and upright character. Moreover, anyone who can command over twenty servants naturally wouldn’t be someone Magistrate Hu could order around.”

Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow. “Then why does the ward chief tell me about this Magistrate Hu’s conduct?”

The ward chief said calmly, “Our magistrate loves elegance and is keen on making a name for himself. When he does good deeds, he proclaims them openly. Naturally, when he does bad deeds, they shouldn’t be hidden either.”

“Ha ha ha…” Zhao Hanzhang laughed until tears came. She slapped her thigh and laughed heartily. “The ward chief is right. Good deeds should be proclaimed to educate the people, and bad deeds should naturally also be proclaimed so he can reap what he sows.”

Zhao Hanzhang stood up. “I’ve taken this story to heart. It’s a very good story. I’ll help you spread it.”

The ward chief’s nose stung as he rose to bow to Zhao Hanzhang.

But Zhao Hanzhang stopped him. “Old gentleman, no need to be polite. I have one more matter to ask your help with.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on the wine barrel. “I’d like to buy a jar of wine from you.”

The ward chief’s smile fell away, the warmth completely vanishing. He said coldly, “Not for sale!”

In the end, Zhao Hanzhang paid a high price to buy a jar of wine. The ward chief had firmly refused to sell it to her. Unfortunately, her offer was simply too much.

With this money, he could buy quite a lot of grain—at least enough to offset this brewing session.

Each brewing session could yield about ten jars. The ward chief gave Magistrate Hu three jars each time. The brothers had already divided the household, so brewing once could supply him three times. The remaining jar would either be sold to recoup some grain, or consumed at home.

The ward chief had never sold wine at such a high price before, but he wasn’t particularly happy.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan were clearly people of noble status. Seeing them inquiring about agricultural matters in the fields, he had thought they were different.

That’s why he spoke so extensively about Magistrate Hu’s misdeeds, hoping these people of noble status might take pity on them and perhaps even replace their magistrate if possible.

He hadn’t expected the other party to be just like Magistrate Hu—someone who loved cups and wine.

The ward chief stood at the village entrance watching them leave in the distance, shook his head, and turned to go home. His young grandson supported him, asking, “Grandfather, will they report us to Magistrate Hu?”

“Although they’re not the good people I initially thought, they probably aren’t tattletales either.” The ward chief sighed deeply. “Besides, things are already like this. If I can’t continue as ward chief, then I won’t. Continuing like this, the village won’t have many people left anyway, and our family can always move somewhere else to make a living.”

But if possible, who would want to leave their homeland?

What the ward chief never imagined was that before long, news would spread from the county seat that their county was getting a new magistrate.

Zhao Hanzhang traveled incognito all the way toward the county seat. By the time she reached Biyang County seat, she had a general understanding of Biyang County’s situation and, of course, of this Magistrate Hu.

Zhao Hanzhang led her people straight to the county yamen.

When she arrived at the yamen, it was precisely the hour of the Goat—office hours—but the county yamen was very quiet, with hardly anyone inside or out.

Two yamen runners guarding the main gate were leaning against it, drowsing. Hearing the sound of horse hooves, they lifted their eyelids to look.

Seeing so many horses and people suddenly appearing at the yamen gate, they came alert with a start.

They didn’t recognize Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, but they could sense the noble air about Zhao Hanzhang and her party, especially when their faces were solemn.

The two yamen runners exchanged glances, immediately rushed down the steps, and came forward to bow. “What business brings the noble visitors here?”

Zhao Hanzhang sat on her horse, looking down at them from her high position, and asked sternly, “Where is your magistrate? Have him come out to see me.”

The two yamen runners swallowed nervously and said carefully, “Our, our magistrate isn’t here. May we know how to address the noble visitor?”

“Not here at this hour—then where is he?”

Magistrate Hu was currently at a villa not far from here, drinking and making merry. Zhao Hanzhang led her people barging in. When she walked all the way to the back garden of the villa, he was reclining bare-chested on a wooden couch. Two middle-aged men similarly bare-chested were beside him, with many ice basins placed around them.

Zhao Hanzhang had just come striding from the sunlight. As soon as she entered the pavilion, she felt the chill. One could see how cold it was here, yet the three men had flushed cheeks and perspiration on their foreheads.

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, the three were startled but only pulled their robes together slightly, not considering it improper.

Magistrate Hu even happily greeted Zhao Hanzhang. “I didn’t expect Commandery Administrator Zhao to arrive so quickly. Hu and Biyang County are truly fortunate. How many counties has the Commandery Administrator visited?”

Zhao Hanzhang grew even more composed, her lips curving slightly upward, though her eyes showed not a trace of amusement. She walked to the wooden couch and used her long sword to prod the bottles and jars on the table. “Biyang is the second county.”

Magistrate Hu had just taken medicine and was currently dispersing its effects. His senses weren’t very sharp, so he completely failed to detect Zhao Hanzhang’s anger. He still laughed heartily. “The Commandery Administrator’s pace is somewhat slow. You’ve been away from Xiping for so long and have only visited two counties.”