From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 718: Chapter 720: County Magistrate Kuang

Since it was rare to find a place like this, Gu Wenheng naturally wanted to see it for himself on the ground.

County Magistrate Kuang himself, however, had never been there. Using the excuse of going out to wash his hands, he quickly summoned Chief Chen.

"How is the construction of Xinsheng Village coming along now?"

"Just the usual," Chief Chen replied. "They’ve just finished building the wooden cabins. Normally, they are busy with fieldwork and hunting on the mountain, and they’ve managed to live quite decently.

"I haven’t been there for a few days, so I genuinely don’t know if there have been any changes."

County Magistrate Kuang rubbed his hands together anxiously. "Mr. Gu seems very interested in that village and wants to take a look.

"If those people aren’t living properly and are just doing things half-heartedly, we’re the ones who will take the blame."

Upon hearing this, Chief Chen didn’t seem to care much. "You’re overthinking it, My Lord. It’s a new village to begin with, so it’s perfectly justifiable if some things aren’t set up perfectly yet.

"Mr. Gu probably just wants to see if everyone is actually reclaiming wasteland and farming. He might also want to verify if we really recruited that many bandits to come down from the mountain.

"Since we didn’t falsify anything in this matter, we are absolutely not afraid of him investigating or inspecting it."

Besides, he had exhausted himself over these matters and had already fought for everything he could on their behalf.

It was fair to say he had a clear conscience, allowing him to speak with confidence.

"Then you should head to Xinsheng Village in a moment. Make sure they tidy up the village a bit so they don’t offend Mr. Gu."

Chief Chen disagreed with this approach. "Earlier, I noticed that Mr. Gu didn’t look too pleased. If we overdo certain things, it’ll actually seem unnatural.

"If he wants to go, let him go. The village is going to look roughly the same anyway. When the time comes, I’ll bring the brothers along to protect him and ensure no one offends him."

County Magistrate Kuang felt this made sense. "He definitely won’t be able to go today, as it’s getting late.

"However, it would be best if you sent someone over to inform them. I seem to recall you mentioning that they usually go into the mountains to hunt.

"If the village is completely empty when we arrive, we won’t be able to explain ourselves, no matter how hard we try."

Chief Chen didn’t object to this point. "I’m familiar with the area. I’ll make a personal trip right now.

"If they’ve already gone into the mountains, this will give them enough time to rush back."

County Magistrate Kuang was naturally satisfied with Chief Chen’s capability. After watching him turn and leave, he adjusted his official uniform. He still had many matters waiting for him.

Gu Wenheng went through the case files of Tukeng County and had his subordinates audit all the accounts.

It had to be said that during County Magistrate Kuang’s tenure, he indeed hadn’t made any mistakes.

Gu Wenheng couldn’t help but feel a bit more satisfied. "Lord Kuang has been in Tukeng County for over four years now, so you must know this place very well."

County Magistrate Kuang took the opportunity to express his difficulties. "This subordinate has visited every village and settlement here. It’s just that the commoners live extremely bitter lives. It was truly unavoidable that they failed to pay their taxes in the previous years."

If it weren’t for the fact that the tax silver couldn’t be collected, he wouldn’t have remained stuck in Tukeng County. With his family’s maneuvering, he should have been promoted at least once by now.

"After finally managing to plant some crops, they still have to guard against wild animals coming down from the mountains to ruin everything. Sometimes, when the mountain bandits can no longer survive, they also come down to rob them of their grain. Add to that the heavy moisture in the air here; if someone in the family falls ill, an entire season’s hard work might go down the drain.

"However, thanks to the excellent policies implemented by you, many people now have their own land. This year will definitely be much better than previous years."

Gu Wenheng ignored his later flattery and instead focused on the situation he mentioned earlier.

"They say that those who live near the mountains live off the mountains, and those near the sea live off the sea. Guarding these massive mountains, even if they just gather some mountain produce every year to supplement their income, they should be able to get by."

"There is something you don’t know, Mr. Gu," County Magistrate Kuang replied. "Mountain produce is definitely highly sought after in places like Shangjing, but here, it’s completely worthless.

"Other than gathering a little for their own consumption, every household wouldn’t bother with it on a daily basis."

Gu Wenheng found this a bit unreasonable. "Are there no merchants from other regions coming to purchase it?"

"Even if those merchants bought an enormous amount, they wouldn’t possibly come to our region. It’s simply too remote.

"Moreover, if a poisonous mushroom accidentally got mixed into these fungi, the commoners of this region wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences."

Thinking of the terrain and location of this place, Gu Wenheng lowered his head in deep thought.

"It’s not easy for anyone."

County Magistrate Kuang knew that he had passed this hurdle. The rest would depend on how things went at Xinsheng Village Ming Tian.

The younger generation of the Gu family stayed at the inn, having fully recovered their energy after a night’s rest.

Gu Benluo was now exceptionally enthusiastic about the delicacies of various places. Early in the morning, without needing the County Governor to arrange anything, he led his brothers onto the streets by themselves.

"This place really has nothing at all." Looking at the empty streets, Gu Le Kai felt somewhat disappointed.

"What do you mean there’s nothing?" Gu Le Ping asked. "You’re looking in the wrong place. Don’t forget that when we were at home and wanted something good to eat, we had to go to the market.

"These streets are all just merchant shops. What could they possibly have?"

"But in the previous county towns, didn’t we always find food in the shops?"

Ever since leaving Hong Daya, Gule Shun had become much more cheerful. "It’s still different. Look, there’s only one street here.

"Ordinary people wouldn’t be willing to use a storefront like this to open a snack stall.

"How about we find a local to ask and look around in the market?"

The group was extremely conspicuous walking down the street, especially with their unfamiliar faces.

Gu Benluo politely asked an elderly man passing by, "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me which way to the market?"

The elderly man replied, "...@#々@"

There was absolutely no way to communicate. It seemed this elderly man didn’t speak Mandarin.

Gu Benluo could only smile awkwardly at him before turning to look at the storefronts that had already opened.

He figured that the Shopkeeper here should have some worldly experience and could at least speak a few sentences of Mandarin.

Evidently, his luck was not bad. Through stuttered words combined with wild gesticulations, the other party finally managed to make them understand that the market was further inside.

Anyway, there was only this one street. They would walk to the very end, and then decide whether to go left or right when the time came.

"Let’s move a little faster," Gu Benluo said, glancing up at the sky. "My father also wants to take us to see the bandit village today. If we don’t make it back in time and get left behind, he won’t wait for us."

Gu Wenheng had indeed done such things before; if they moved just a little too slowly, they would be ditched.

Gu Yi suggested, "How about we wait and go take a look when we get back?"

"Are you stupid? By the time we get back, the market will have already dispersed," Gu Le Ping replied. He knew that if he wanted to be a merchant, he had to understand the market, just as Seventh Aunt had said.

Being able to come out with Seventh Uncle this time, he had already made up his mind to thoroughly understand the market conditions in this region.

Aside from the unique local specialties of various places, markets were the best reflection of this.

Gu Benluo glanced at him. Brother Le Ping’s spirits were truly high; every time they went out to walk the streets, he was even more enthusiastic than Gu Benluo himself.

He chimed in, "It’s not far from here anyway. Since we’re already out, if we turn back now, we’ll just have to walk this same path again later."