Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 569 - 568: The Village Chief Who Dared Not Speak the Truth
The prosperity of Tian Peng Village wasn’t entirely due to Tian Peng himself, it was mainly because they were so poor that the County Government Office had abandoned their village.
Originally, the authorities thought to let them fend for themselves, but unexpectedly, they saved themselves and even managed to develop on their own.
Unfortunately, the County Magistrate didn’t even make it to the autumn harvest, the time when he would’ve started demanding money, before he met his own fate.
Indeed, a water channel had been constructed in the village, but it seemed to be poorly engineered, with barely any water flowing through it.
Luckily, the villagers’ daily drinking water came from wells; if they had relied solely on this channel for drinking and irrigation, the village would have been in an even more pitiful state.
Upon seeing the military approach, the villagers panicked and rushed back to their homes, hastily shutting their doors.
The officials from Kaifeng Prefecture were somewhat dumbfounded by this behavior—they hadn’t done anything, so why were the villagers so frightened at their sight? 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"Young man, what on earth is going on?"
Tian Peng, upon seeing the puzzled expression of the official from Kaifeng Prefecture, instantly understood what he meant and quickly explained, "The villagers are probably afraid because they saw us with the military. Please wait a moment longer, sir, once we find their village head, it will be fine."
"But that shouldn’t be the case," said the official from Kaifeng Prefecture, "Logically speaking, they work so hard every day; seeing the military coming to assist them should make them happy, not elicit this kind of reaction."
"Not necessarily," Tian Peng suddenly thought of a possibility, "It’s possible they mistook you for the County Magistrate coming to collect taxes."
As they were talking, an elderly man followed by two robust-looking young men came out from the village.
"Sir, are you from the new County Government Office?"
"No, I am..."
Before the official from Kaifeng Prefecture could speak, the elderly man continued, "Collecting taxes has to wait until after the autumn harvest, we haven’t harvested our crops yet, we don’t have the money to give you."
The two men remained silent; they looked a bit more muscular at a glance.
In fact, looking at their faces, they were quite frail, with dark circles under their eyes and sunken features—a clear sign they had been hungry for a long time.
"We are not here to collect taxes."
The official from Kaifeng Prefecture didn’t know what to say; seeing the commoners in such a state, his heart ached terribly. What kind of life had they endured to be so terrified by the mere sight of soldiers?
Tian Peng knew the official from Kaifeng Prefecture was at a loss for words and, to prevent any misunderstanding by the villagers, quickly took over the explanation.
"Not here to collect taxes?"
The elderly man was taken aback. He looked at Tian Peng and the official from Kaifeng Prefecture and asked, "Then what are you here for?"
"It’s like this, I am here on the Emperor’s orders to investigate Huang’an Town. It has come to our attention that your parental officials have neglected your wellbeing and even maliciously collected taxes; we are here to look into this matter," the official from Kaifeng Prefecture softened his tone.
"Village head, this..." The man who had been following the village head was somewhat pleased to hear this; if it was true, it would be wonderful since their village’s situation could improve significantly.
Whereas that man initially wanted to inform the official from Kaifeng Prefecture about the County Magistrate’s misdeeds, as soon as he began to speak, he was silenced by the village head.
The village head pulled on his garment, signaling him not to speak, then said to the official from Kaifeng Prefecture, "Sir, I’m afraid you have misunderstood; we are doing quite well, and the County Magistrate has been very good to us. It’s just that we are too poor, and the County Magistrate has done his best."
The man, upon hearing the village head’s words, looked baffled and wanted to shake his head in disagreement, but he was stopped by the village head’s stern gaze.
The official from Kaifeng Prefecture had expected the village head to complain about the misdeeds of the County Magistrate, but was taken aback by this unexpected response, leaving him at a loss for words momentarily.
"Elder, you mustn’t lie, we’re here to help you,"
The village chief nodded, "Sir, how could I lie? It’s just that our place is truly too poor, and that can’t be changed overnight."
"What you’re saying, is it true?"
The official from Kaifeng Prefecture turned to look at Tian Peng, finding it very strange.
The man next to the village chief seemed very alarmed, especially since what he had started to say seemed likely to be the same as what Tian Peng mentioned.
It was just that this village chief, even though their village had been troubled by the County Magistrate, was now saying there was nothing wrong.
Tian Peng was also stunned for a moment upon hearing what the village chief said, but given his wide experience, he quickly understood.
The village chief wasn’t really praising the County Magistrate, but rather, he was frightened of him.
It was precisely because he feared the County Magistrate that he dared not speak ill of him.
If he truly spoke ill of the County Magistrate, and once they left, the County Magistrate came back, all they would face was even harsher punishment.
Tian Peng smiled at the village chief and pointed to himself, "Elder, do you recognize me? I’m Zhu Ganglie from the neighboring village."
The village chief looked up at Tian Peng upon hearing this.
It mainly was because Tian Peng always wore the same clothes in the village, making him hard to recognize, but upon hearing him say this and looking closely, it really was Zhu Ganglie from the neighboring village.
"Oh, I recognize you, I recognize you," said the village chief.
"Actually, it’s like this, you don’t have to be afraid of the County Magistrate seeking revenge. This official was brought by me, and what’s more, he’s acting on an edict from the Emperor to investigate the County Magistrate. Now we’ve caught him, and he will even be beheaded later, so you don’t have to worry about the County Magistrate taking revenge."
If the official from Kaifeng Prefecture had said this, the village chief would have found it hard to believe, but since Tian Peng said it, he could actually believe it.
In the past, they had all heard of the deeds of Zhu Ganglie, and his personality was as resolute as his name suggested. Every time the County Magistrate came for tax money, he came away empty-handed.
Moreover, he had declared that the County Magistrate, despite never having done anything for them, still demanded taxes, which was utterly shameless.
Each time, the County Magistrate would bring many people trying to teach him a lesson, but never succeeded. All the surrounding villages knew of him.
Who wouldn’t envy Zhu Ganglie? Living alone, unafraid of retaliation, with a powerful build, not even ten strong men together could be sure to defeat him.
Hearing Zhu Ganglie say this, the village chief was truly persuaded, and looking at Tian Peng with hopeful eyes, he asked, "Is what you say true?"
"Of course, it’s true!" Tian Peng said, thumping his chest, "I’ve brought the official here myself, why would I lie? That County Magistrate, he has no chance of turning things around."
"Can you guarantee it?" The village chief’s primary concern stemmed from being oppressed by the County Magistrate for so long; someone had come to rescue them, but he was still somewhat hesitant to accept it.
"Of course, I can guarantee it," said Tian Peng.
Speaking of guarantees, Tian Peng remembered the County Magistrate had gone mad because of a promise, and couldn’t help but laugh as he told the village chief, "Village chief, you don’t know, but that County Magistrate, he has gone insane."
The County Magistrate was taken aback, "Insane?"
"Yes, and scared into insanity," said Tian Peng, "He swore that he had never done anything against heaven and reason, and if he had, let him be struck by lightning. But as soon as heaven sent down just two bolts, he was scared out of his wits."
