Chapter 530 Appearance
Of course Cheng Yaojin wanted to be a constable, but Qin Qiong was afraid that he would get into trouble and had always refused to agree. Today he really had no choice. If he didn’t send this brother away, all his martial arts masters would be gone.

Cheng Yaojin was overjoyed, “Brother, why are you so kind today and allow me to be a constable?”

Qin Qiong said with a straight face: “I will set three days of rules for you, you must abide by them, otherwise I will send you back home!”

“Brother, just tell me. I will agree to all thirty of them.”

“It’s not about promises, it’s about compliance!”

Qin Qiong glared at him fiercely and said, “First, you are not allowed to oppress the weak people.”

Before Qin Qiong could finish, Cheng Yaojin interrupted him and said, “Brother, don’t you understand me? Although I cause trouble, when have I ever bullied the elderly, women, and children?”

That’s true. Cheng Yaojin’s greatest strength is that he doesn’t bully the weak. Qin Qiong nodded and said, “Second, you are not allowed to offend your superiors, especially the county magistrate!”

“Hey! Don’t worry, big brother. Since I am a member of the government, I will certainly not offend my superiors. The county magistrate is not as good as the current one. I understand this principle!”

Qin Qiong wanted to say, “You know nothing!” But he held back. Forget it, let him do whatever he wants! At worst, the county magistrate can just fire him.

“Article three, you are not allowed to join the National Protection Association privately!”

Qin Qiong has always been the target of the Baohui Society, but he has always refused to join it. He sees through it. After three hundred years of war, the war has finally subsided and the people have lived in peace for thirty years. However, the Baohui Society wants to stir up chaos in the world for its own selfish interests, and the people will suffer. Therefore, he does not agree with the Baohui Society, he does not join the society, and does not allow his martial arts master and disciples to join the society.

Although Cheng Yaojin was a troublemaker, he was not vague about the major issues. He nodded and said, “Don’t worry, big brother. If you join, I will join. If you don’t join, I will never join either.”

“Okay! I’ll take you to report to the county government office now.”

At this moment, there was a roar like thunder and sea outside. Qin Qiong was stunned. What was going on?

Cheng Yaojin knew, and he laughed and said, “There are many farmers gathering in front of the county government office, clamoring to take grain from the charity granary.”

Qin Qiong was also a little confused. He didn’t know who was instigating the chaos. Rumor had it that the charity granaries were empty, causing panic among the people. In recent days, there were riots in all the counties of Qi County, and the farmers were demanding that the grain in the charity granaries be taken out.

“This matter has nothing to do with us, don’t worry about it. I will take you to the county government office first and take your axe and belongings with you.”

Cheng Yaojin wrapped the money around his waist, picked up his 60-jin Xuanhua axe, and followed Qin Qiong to the county government office.

Thousands of farmers gathered in front of the county government office. Every one of them was furious and raised their arms to shout, “Give us back our food! Give us back our food!”

Cheng Yaojin wanted to go and watch the excitement, but Qin Qiong pulled him into an alley next to the county government office and came to the side door of the government office. The main door of the government office had been closed, and everyone was going in and out through the side door. There were two constables standing here. They were both Qin Qiong’s disciples, and they bowed to Qin Qiong together.

“Is the county lord here?”

“The county lord is here, please come in, owner!”

Qin Qiong had a good relationship with the county magistrate Li Hui. He used to be a captain of police and often took on escort business from the county government.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin walked into the county government office. Soon they arrived at the front hall, only to see constables and bailiffs standing behind the gate. They all looked nervous. What were the county magistrate Li Hui and the county magistrate discussing?
“Lord Li!” Qin Qiong shouted.

Li Hui turned around and saw that it was Qin Qiong, and hurriedly said: “Qin Qiong, please help me think of a solution. The situation is urgent now, what should we do?”

“The county lord is referring to the charity granary?”

“That’s right. The charity granaries are almost empty. If the peasants rush in and find that the granaries are empty, they will rebel.” Li Hui’s face was full of anxiety.

Qin Qiong said: “Just explain the reason to them clearly.” “Who cares about your reason! Besides, the charity granary has been in operation for nearly 30 years. How many tricks are hidden here? Who can tell clearly? The peasants only care about their own food. If there is no food, they will cause trouble and rebel.”

Suddenly, a hoarse voice came from the side, “Pile up hundreds of sacks of mud and sand in the warehouse to coax them!”

Li Hui turned around and saw a big man standing not far away. He was extremely ugly and holding a Xuanhua axe. He looked ferocious and scary.

“Master Qin, who is this?”

Qin Qiong said quickly: “This is my brother Cheng Yaojin, he is highly skilled in martial arts and has great strength. He can protect the county lord. Isn’t the county lord looking for a constable? I recommend him to give it a try!”

People rely on opportunities. If it were normal times, County Magistrate Li would have ordered people to drive this ugly man out. But now the county magistrate was in a panic, and suddenly a ferocious man came and could protect him. County Magistrate Li had a different feeling. This man looked ferocious, but he didn’t look that ugly.

“Good! Good! Good! From now on, Cheng Zhuangshi will be the head of my detective team.”

Cheng Yaojin was overjoyed and immediately clasped his fists and said, “I am willing to serve you!”

The county magistrate next to him rolled his eyes and said to the county magistrate, “Captain Cheng’s plan of using someone else’s dead body to replace someone else’s is a good idea. At least it can stabilize the people’s hearts.”

Cheng Yaojin rolled up his sleeves and said, “I’ll go dig sand now!”

The county magistrate said quickly: “Sandbags won’t work, they will be exposed, we have to use real food.”

The county magistrate also reacted, “Are you talking about borrowing grain?”

The county magistrate nodded and said, “Talk to the farmers and have them elect representatives to come check the granary early tomorrow morning. We will borrow grain to fill up the granary tonight, stabilize the farmers first, and then ask Governor Xu for help.”

County Magistrate Li Hui said worriedly, “I’m afraid they’ll come to check the grain today!”

Cheng Yaojin couldn’t help but interrupt again, “I’ll still use my method. First, put sacks of bran on the bottom, and put a few bags of real grain on top. If they want to see it today, we’ll show it to them today. If they want to see it tomorrow, we’ll have time to exchange it for real grain.”

Although Cheng Yaojin’s method was a bit lossy, it was still acceptable. The county magistrate Li Hui asked the county lieutenant to take the yamen runners and constables to the feed store to buy bran and beans. He and the county magistrate were responsible for negotiating with the people.

As expected, the farmers refused to stay overnight and insisted on going to check the grain today. County Magistrate Li Hui had no choice but to let them elect ten representatives first.

At this time, the county lieutenant brought a large number of constables and runners to hire dozens of carts from the mule and horse shop, and pulled thousands of bags of bran and black beans from several feed houses and put them into the charity granary, pressing a layer of grain on the surface. There were originally less than two hundred shi of grain, but the warehouse was full all of a sudden, and it seemed that there were thousands of shi of grain. Although normally there should be tens of thousands of shi of grain, a few thousand shi is better than nothing.

Just as the sorting was completed, the door of the granary slowly opened. The county magistrate and the county magistrate brought ten peasant representatives in to see the grain. The constables quickly formed two teams and stood with their backs to the grain.

The county magistrate said loudly: “I didn’t lie to you! The grain is all there, but I don’t have the power to release it. Please rest assured that if there is a famine, the grain will definitely be used for disaster relief!”

At this time, an old farmer said, “Who knows whether this grain is real or fake? We need to test the grain.”

Cheng Yaojin was furious, and he chopped a bag of grain with his axe. A bag of wheat fell down with a “whoosh!”. He said with his eyes wide open: “Whoever wants to see the grain, come over here. I will show him with my axe.”

Seeing Cheng Yaojin’s ferocity, everyone was frightened and their faces changed. No one dared to say anything. The county magistrate quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, “You are the father and mother of the people. You won’t deceive us. Look, isn’t this wheat? Don’t worry, as long as the court approves, we will release the grain immediately!”

The ten representatives took a look around and then left the charity granary. Thousands of farmers heard that there was grain and gradually dispersed. An hour later, there was no one outside the county government office.

County Magistrate Li Hui breathed a sigh of relief and immediately promoted Cheng Yaojin to deputy chief of police. If he hadn’t been able to calm the situation at the critical moment, something big would have happened today.

(End of this chapter)