Chapter 508 Absurdity

On this day, Ye Lingyue and the rest of Huang Quan's team took stock of the grain in the entire granary.

I don't know if I don't take an inventory. Ye Lingyue quickly discovered the problem.

Beicang has less food.

And it's not a small amount in the general sense. The grain of the entire Beicang has been reduced by 50 dan.

Fifty dan is not a small amount. In conversion, it is equivalent to five thousand catties of grain.

And what's very strange is that these fifty dans were just lost not long ago.

Ye Lingyue immediately called the old man who was in charge of Beicang to come and ask questions.

But Ye Lingyue asked several times, and the old man pretended to be deaf and dumb, and looked like he couldn't hear clearly.

"Old man, you don't need to pretend anymore. I have observed it for a long time. You can move freely and your hearing is completely fine. There are doctors in our team, and it is useless for you to pretend. You say, where did the food go? , if you can't answer, I will report to the magistrate immediately."

Ye Lingyue frowned, and suddenly shouted angrily.

After this drink, the old man was so frightened that his knees softened, and he knelt down with a normal sound.

"My lord, my lord spares my life. It's not intentional for the little ones. The little ones really have difficulties, and those grains are not stolen by the little black hearts. Those are all life-saving grains."

After saying that, the old man kowtowed and begged for mercy until his forehead was covered in blood, and he still refused to stop.

The members of the representative team saw each other and looked at each other in dismay, but Senior Sister Wan Yun couldn't stand it any longer, so she went up to forcibly pull the old man up, and the old man calmed down after a long time to appease him.

"Sir, it's useless to talk too much about the little one. Please ask the adults to go to a place with the little one. You will understand when you see it with your own eyes."

The old man sighed and left Beicang with Ye Lingyue and others.

The old man took Ye Lingyue out of a village about four or five miles away in Fang'e County.

The village is next to the mountains. There are thousands of villagers in the mountains. It is one of the many villages under Fang'e County.

As soon as she entered the village, Ye Lingyue felt that something was wrong.

she noticed,

Vegetation in the entire village, including the nearby mountain terraces, has dried up.

The animals in the barn were also staggered, and they all looked hungry and thirsty.

The people in the village are all yellow and thin.

A few children held a broken bowl in their hands and stared at Ye Lingyue and the others.

"Sister, give me something to eat. I haven't eaten enough for several days."

A little girl with pigtails walked to Ye Lingyue's side and tugged at the corner of her clothes.

There was a "crack" in the hearts of everyone.

"Old man, what's the matter, you stole so much food, why are these children still starving, you won't be full of your own pockets!"

Qin Xiaochuan grabbed the old man who was looking at the warehouse and asked sharply.

"Xiaoyu, what are you doing here, hurry up."

A woman heard the movement and ran out of a dilapidated house in a hurry. Seeing Ye Lingyue and the others, they were so frightened that they hugged the child and ran away.

"What is this, we are not monsters that can eat people."

Photon is not satisfied.

He is the pillar of the Moonlight Opera troupe, where everyone loves flowers and sees flowers blooming. When he gets there, he is not a crowd of supporters, but when people in the village see them, the earth tigers are very scared.

"Sir, don't get angry first, you put down the little one first, the little one can't breathe anymore." The old man frowned and begged Qin Xiaochuan.

With a look from Ye Lingyue, Qin Xiaochuan released him.

"These villagers treat you as tax collectors, and the food in the village is not full, so it is placed in the village chief's house."

The old man shook his head and took Ye Lingyue to the village chief's house.

In the backyard of the village chief's house, a large amount of food was piled up neatly.

"Village chief, what is going on here. Why isn't the food in the village distributed to the villagers?"

A look of anger appeared on Ye Lingyue's face.

"Sir, you don't know something. These grains cannot be moved. These are all grains used for paying taxes. If one load is missing, the entire village will suffer."

The village chief frowned, and then he told Ye Lingyue the whole story.

It turned out that the village was called Pancun, and the village has been relying on the cultivation of sorghum rice for generations.

Since the soil and water in this area is very suitable for the growth of sorghum rice, it can be planted twice a year.

Fang'e County collects a certain amount of grain and rice tax from the village every year.

Originally, there was always surplus grain in the village, and after paying taxes, the villagers were still able to make ends meet.

But just three or four months ago, the wells and rivers in the village dried up for no apparent reason.

In addition, in the past few months, the weather in Fang'e County has been dry and rainy, and there is not enough water for people and animals in the village, let alone watering the grain fields.

Seeing that in a few months, the village will have to pay the grain tax again. The village chief sees that the village can't get any grain, and he is afraid that the county magistrate and others will pursue it. The life of the villagers will worsen, so he has to contact the old man who guards the grain in Fang'e County. Liu Tou, let him secretly smuggle some rice grains out of Beicang.

"I didn't plan to smuggle these rice grains. These are all county grains, and if you lose any of them, you will lose your head. I just plan to fool this time. After the drought in the village is over, I will pay some grains in privately. "

The village chief sighed.

While guarding the food, he could only starve the villagers. As the village chief, he was saddened to see such a scene.

In order to make a living, some young and middle-aged people in the village have left Pancun, leaving only a few lonely old people, children and women in the village. As a result, the farmland is even more unattended.

The villagers had to eat one meal a day, and in terms of water, they were even worse off.

"Grandpa, I'm thirsty."

The little grandson of the village chief's family snuggled pitifully beside the village chief, and his lips were already cracked because of thirst.

The village chief's eyes were sore, and a few turbid old tears rolled out of his eyes.

"With such a serious drought, why didn't you tell the county to reduce taxes earlier?"

Ye Lingyue listened, and while asking, took out a few water bags from the storage bag. When he saw the water, the little guy's eyes lit up, but he didn't dare to take it.

It wasn't until the old village chief nodded, that the little guy hurriedly took the water bag and ran out, thinking that he was sharing it with his family.

"Sir, you are from a foreign country, so you don't know anything. The county magistrate is a bastard. He used to have some power to force every village to pay taxes on time. , but I heard that there was a team of monster hunters in the county, and they suppressed the magistrate. But the magistrate has since become their minion. After they came, they levied taxes and said yes What kind of merit do you have to accumulate. As a result, the life of the nearby villages will be even more difficult. If a village cannot pay, it will be imprisoned at light, or its head will be lost at worst."

When the village chief spoke of the monster hunter, his heart palpitated.