It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 284

Jiang Fu brought Gao Ni and Jiang Hu with him. The three of them carried seven or eight taels of silver, a large bag of copper coins and a stack of yellow books. They went straight to the county government with a clear goal to handle the change of identity.

The official assigned to this matter counted the yellow register information and asked in confusion, "There are only fifteen. Where are the others?" The population of Dongshan Village recorded in the booklet at hand was more than this.

Jiang Fu replied, "We need to make seventeen, and two more will be delivered later."

On their way back to the village, everyone kept their yellow books close to their bodies, fearing they might get separated by an accident. Jiang He and Jiang Ju, on business, had been in the county town and hadn't returned home. Yu Qian knew where they would be resting and had someone waiting to get them.

As for why only a little more than half the people came, Jiang Fu added: "Our village doesn't have much money, and we borrowed from everywhere to get this much."

It would be a lie to say that there was not enough money. Although Jiang Yan had fallen back into poverty, the families in the village had not spent much in the past two years. In addition, they sold the gold sand after moving to the mountain stronghold, and bought one or two domestic chickens and eggs before returning to the village. As a result, they had saved up two taels of silver per person.

However, due to the bad weather this year, the threat of famine was always looming over their heads. In addition, the survival principle of not showing off one's wealth has been passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, the elders of Dongshan Village finally decided to deregister the strong laborers and the younger generation in the village first.

It is not certain whether these elderly people in their sixties and seventies can survive this winter, so spending this money is a waste.

The official had a preconceived notion about the poverty of the mountain people. Initially, he had calculated that the best-case scenario would be for six or seven people to pay money to get rid of their status, but seventeen people had already far exceeded his expectations.

And since we were able to gather seventeen people this time, I guess it won't be difficult next time.

While making a new yellow book, he said to Jiang Fu and the other two in a gentle tone: "Don't worry, come to me next time if you need a change." He was happy to do this kind of job that could earn enough hard work fee in one or two times or that had the approval of his superiors.

……

Near noon, this batch of brand new yellow books was successfully delivered to Dongshan Village.

Jiang Fu, Gao Ni and Jiang Hu thanked the clerk again and again. When they were about to leave the county government, they saw Lord Fu An standing at the gate.

When their eyes met, Jiang Fu hurried forward through the small side door.

Jiang Fu clasped his hands together and said sincerely, "Thank you for your kindness in allowing my relatives to redeem me at a low price."

Gao Ni and Jiang Hu, who were lagging behind, followed suit, clasped their fists and bowed their heads in gratitude.

A flicker of confusion flashed across Fu An's eyes, but he quickly reacted to the almost inaudible reminder from the guards behind him. He smiled and said, "No need to thank me. This is the reward you deserve for your meritorious service."

Jiang Fu:? ? ?

The person Fu An was waiting for hadn't arrived yet, so he simply took advantage of the free time to answer, "Last time, someone from your village delivered a clue about the bandit leader to the county government. They did a good job."

Gao Ni and Jiang Hu looked at each other in confusion. Jiang Fu, however, knew a little, "Could it be that those people really have different identities and are not the managers and subordinates of a wealthy family?"

Because those people showed guilty consciences, they were arrested by the village chief and his men and interrogated overnight. He was assigned to help interrogate a few servants, but he really didn't get any key information out of them.

"No." As for the specific details, Fu An would not tell Jiang Fu in detail.

Jiang Fu and Jiang Yan, who stayed obediently in Dongshan Village, naturally had no idea that the steward was actually a subordinate of Governor Lu who had been missing in Heding Prefecture for several months.

Because Lü Wei ordered the poisoning of the water source in Rongyang County before his disappearance, his close followers split into two factions.

After several internal conflicts and dangerous situations in the mountains, Lü Wei, who fled to Xining Prefecture, only had two or three capable subordinates who needed recuperation, so he had to use managers or servants who had been marginalized because of their poor performance or obvious flaws in their actions in the past.

This time, the manager had various problems, such as being easily carried away by flattery, and suddenly becoming confused and only remembering to run when encountering an emergency.