Can I become the Yu-Gi-Oh by summoning the Flame Swordsman?

A few days later, rumors of the mysterious disappearance of Xiahe County magistrate Fan Jian in the government office spread among the streets and alleys. There were many different versions about his whereabouts, but nine out of ten speculations pointed to the fact that Fan Jian was no longer alive, the only difference was the way he died.

Although they dared not to be blatant, the atmosphere of joy still quietly spread among the dilapidated houses, celebrating this event in a simple way. The gates of the mansions were closed one after another, and they mourned the wise, brave, and far-sighted county magistrate deep in the courtyard.

Afterwards, Ye Xu gathered the impoverished army of hungry people and broke into the gate of Xiahe County, broke into the government office and seized the granary. A heavy rain made the stored grain smell moldy, but the people who were already starving did not give up and built a stove in the government office to cook porridge.

Ye continued to say that all the people only needed to carry a load of water to the county government every day, and they could get a bowl of thin porridge from the government office. The so-called thin porridge was actually so thin that one could count the grains of rice in the soup, but it was free after all, and the county government office soon became the most lively place in Xiahe County.

Along with Ye Xu, there were also speculative grain merchants like Wu Ji who started selling grain in the city.

Because of the free porridge distributed by Ye Xu, the price of grain was kept very low. Villagers took their few remaining valuables to exchange them, and everything seemed to be moving in a good direction.

Amid the bustling scene, crowds poured into Xiahe County like a tide, while a horse-drawn carriage drove out of the city gate silently.

……

Bai Chu looked out the window at the desolate wilderness, and recalled in his mind the time before he left Xiahe County when Ye Xu reported to him with a bitter face:

“Little brother, it seems that there are far more people in the city than we thought… Even though we have cooked the porridge so thin, we still used up one-fifth of the stored grain on the first day. If this continues, I’m afraid the grain will be gone within three days.

My brothers and I were so tired that we couldn't even speak, but the people scolded us for being so stingy and trying to embezzle the food... I think it would be better to take out all the food and distribute it all at once, so as to save ourselves the trouble and avoid gossip."

Bai Chu had personally supervised the entire process of cooking porridge. Because Bai Chu had specifically instructed that Ye Xu could only arrange the most trusted people to participate in distributing grain for disaster relief, there were not enough people. Bai Chu knew very well that under such circumstances, it would be impossible to cook one-fifth of the grain into porridge and distribute it within a day.

This is the case even when distributing cooked porridge. It goes without saying that if it is replaced with ready-made grain that is easy to hide and store, there will be more cases of dishonesty and the food will be consumed even faster.

Bai Chu didn’t even know whether Ye Xu was trustworthy.

"Ah!"

Caught off guard, Bai Chu almost sneezed out his heart and lungs. He covered his aching chest with both hands, unable to speak for a long time due to the pain.

"Ah——" Qin Liu looked at his hand covered with Bai Zhu's saliva in disbelief. "Bai Zhu, did you do this on purpose?"

"What's wrong?" Bai Chu leaned over. "Hey, it's nothing. Rub your hands together and rub them on your face. It will be evenly spread."

"Are you sick?" Qin Liu wiped his hands with a handkerchief and said with disdain, "I told you that we could rest for two days and leave after you recovered from your cold, but you insisted on leaving right away. As a result, you sneezed all morning and the whole carriage was filled with your saliva."

"This is great." Bai Chu sniffed and said intoxicatedly, "The air has become sweeter."

"This is so disgusting, get out!"

Bai Chu, who was kicked out of the carriage, looked at the coachman and felt indescribable embarrassment.

Bai Chu leaned forward and sat down, and asked, "Uncle, my cold seems to be getting worse. Let's stop at a market town on the way. I'll go find a doctor and get some medicine."

"Master Bai, we will pass Guan'er County in about two hours' walk. It's getting dark, so why don't we rest there for a night?"

"Okay." Bai Chu thought about it, nodded, and suddenly thought of something. "Uncle, Guan'er County is located between Xiahe County and our destination, Wentang County. There have been serious locust plagues before and after, which has led to civil unrest. I wonder what the situation is like in Guan'er County?"

"I have heard of this." The driver said, "When I was in Zijin City, I heard that the locust plague in Fuhai area killed many people and turned many places into a living hell.

However, Guan'er County is the only one that has remained untouched by the silt. Even though it is surrounded by disaster areas, there has been no loss of control. The people continue to live and work in peace and tranquility as usual, just like a paradise on earth."

"Really?" Bai Chu, who had been gloomy for many days, finally smiled. "Since the surrounding areas are plagued by locust plagues, Guan'er County cannot be spared. In this case, the magistrate of Guan'er County is outstanding and has successfully dealt with the locust plague and famine... I want to learn from his experience."

"But..." Bai Chu thought for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the wilderness along the way: "If Guan'er County is really as good as you said, we should be able to see refugees fleeing to Guan'er County along the way. It shouldn't be so deserted, right?"

As the carriage accelerated, the city gate of Guan'er County finally came into view, and Bai Chu's curiosity grew.

As he approached the city gate, Bai Chu noticed a group of soldiers waiting on both sides of the city gate. They gathered around and stopped Bai Chu's carriage. A man in official robes came up to him and said, "Hello, are you Lord Xi?"

Bai Chu looked at the dry-skinned, flattering man in front of him and felt very uncomfortable. He said, "I'm Xian, what do you do?"

"Master Xi, my county magistrate Master Lu has long heard of your great name. He estimated that you would pass through Guan'er County in the near future. In order to show his hospitality, he sent me to wait here day and night. Finally, I saw you." The man bowed again and again. "Master Xi, you have been exhausted from the journey. I will take you to the residence that Master Lu specially arranged for you to stay for one night."

"No, I have my own things to do."

"Where are you going, sir? I can lead the way for you."

Seeing the other party's humble attitude, Bai Chu let down his guard and said, "I've caught a cold recently, I want to get some medicine."

"Yes, sir, I will take you there right away." The man walked to the carriage and said, "I will lead the horse for you, sir."

As the group walked, the man kept talking, "Master Xi, my name is Bai Haisheng, you can just call me Xiaobai. My county magistrate is Lu Hongying, he is the most compassionate and caring official I have ever seen in my life..."

As the group entered the city, Bai Chu noticed something strange. The main road of the city was very flat, without any sign of the disorder of a market. Two-meter-high wooden fences were built on both sides of the road, hiding the appearance of the houses behind the fences. The road extended as far as the eye could see.

Bai Chu took a closer look and saw some murals painted on the wooden fence. He asked, "What are these for?"

Bai Haisheng seemed to have been waiting for Bai Chu to ask, and blurted out: "Oh, Lord Xi, these are those unruly people, bah, those people are grateful for Lord Lu's wise decision and great achievements in dealing with the locust plague, so they made these murals to commemorate Lord Lu.

Lord Lu repeatedly refused. He hated these flashy and empty things the most. But Lord Xi, you know that these people are of low quality and uneducated. They have to do this to express their love for Lord Lu. I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"Oh..." Bai Chu understood something. "To commemorate the contribution of local officials to the local area, I have heard of building temples and ancestral halls, but I have never seen fences and murals. Wouldn't this hinder the people's market? How can the people in the east and west of the city communicate with each other?"

Bai Haisheng hesitated for a second, and soon came up with an excuse: "Yes, that's right, our elders also said that we just need to build an ancestral hall, but the people just don't listen. It costs money to build an ancestral hall and erect statues. Asking these poor guys for money is harder than asking them for their lives."

"That's true." Bai Chu glanced at Bai Haisheng's back meaningfully, "Then what are these paintings about?"

"My Lord, the first painting here shows that Magistrate Lu was concerned about the people's livelihood. He got up at 1:00 p.m. and went to the fields with a lantern to check on the growth of crops. He was the first to discover the locust swarm flying from the direction of Wentang County and issued a timely warning.

The second picture shows Magistrate Lu calling on the people to rush to harvest grain, and Magistrate Lu himself stepped forward, holding a torch to drive away the locusts flying all over the sky. Countless locusts were burned to death and fell to the ground that day, but because the people were too lazy and careless, they only collected a small part of the grain.

The third picture shows that Magistrate Lu knew that burning with torches was not a good solution, so he discussed with his subordinates the design of locust-killing tools and made a capture net himself to kill locusts. After it was put into use, it was indeed very useful. The people also enthusiastically bought Magistrate Lu's capture net, and their enthusiasm for killing locusts was high.

In the fourth picture, famine finally swept across Guan'er County. Seeing that the people were starving, Magistrate Lu was extremely worried. He distributed all the food he had saved from his salary to the people to help them get through the difficult times. However, he could only catch those poisonous locusts to fill his stomach, and his body became thinner and thinner.

The fifth picture shows that the locust plague is over and hope is coming. To encourage the people to resume farming, County Magistrate Lu personally went to the fields to work, sweating profusely and tirelessly. Inspired by this, the people also followed suit, and even the lazy and hooligans in daily life reformed themselves and devoted themselves to labor.

The sixth picture shows that County Magistrate Lu fell ill due to his constant worry about the country and the people. Upon hearing the news of County Magistrate Lu's illness, the people cried and came to visit him. The queue was long, from the gate of the government office to the city gate..."

"Wait." Bai Chu suddenly interrupted Bai Haisheng's intoxicated chatter and asked, "Is Magistrate Lu dead?"

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Xi," Bai Haisheng turned his head and bowed, "Lord Lu has now recovered safely."

"Oh." Bai Chu nodded. "From what you said, I thought he was dead."