After a flight accident, Li Mo found herself in the Jin Kingdom, where she became a female county magistrate disguised as a man.
Thus began her miserable career as a magistrate.
The family to the east lost a sheep and came to Li Mo. Grinding her teeth, she said, “Find it.”
The couple to the west got into a fight and came to Li Mo. Furious, she beat the man up. “Are you going to fight again?”
A gang of ruffians came to cause trouble in the county. Li Mo led a group of constables and nearly sent them to meet their ancestors going back eighteen generations.
After that, no one dared provoke this magistrate or stir up trouble in Songjiang County.
The unmarried young women swore they would marry Li Mo, threatening to hang themselves if she refused.
Li Mo: “I’d like to marry you too, but this old lady doesn’t have what it takes.”
What could she do when there was no money for development? Rob someone? No, she was a good young person of the May Fourth generation. She couldn’t do that. The landlords could just voluntarily open their purses to support the county’s development.
The landlords wept in secret: “We’re being forced.”
When people refused to follow the rules, Li Mo charged out with a brick. “Let’s see if your head is harder or this brick is. Come fight me if you’ve got the nerve. Damn it, I specialize in dealing with anyone who won’t behave.”
Songjiang County was poor in people, land, mountains, and water. In short, it was poor in every way.
To get rich, first build roads; have fewer children and plant more trees.
So Li Mo led the people of the county in racing down the road to prosperity, only for a certain unscrupulous prince to take notice and insist on bringing her to the capital to serve as an official.
Why go to the capital? Here in the county, she was the boss. Wasn’t living free and easy here much better?
