Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

The head of this village is about fifty years old, with a barrel belly, very kind and polite.He has five children, and their family has been a prominent family in the village for generations. The village chief soon learned of the arrival of a stranger, and had to interrupt his nap to meet the group of uninvited guests, taking with him a man who held a parasol for him. When his eyes met those of the red-eyed baboon, he immediately stopped in shock. "Hello, friends." "You too." Cam replied. "Is this baboon obedient?" "It's a sworn police officer."

"Really... then you are?" "I'm Police Chief Keim, and this is Prime Minister Pazar." The village chief was taken aback, and quickly bowed his stomach and stretched his hands straight to show respect: "It's an honor, what an honor! It's a great honor to have the prime minister come to our small place..." After straightening up, the village chief spouted a series of flattering words, until the baboon let out a low growl, and then hurriedly let it go, and asked Kaim worriedly: "Can you really control it?" "Unless it smells of crime."

"Fortunately, it doesn't exist in my small village." After thinking about it, in fact, this tall, burly, and low-voiced Nubian policeman seemed to be as scary as Fu Fu.The village head had heard before that the police chief completely ignored administrative affairs, but went deep into the people, so that criminals could not escape his grasp.It was no joy to see him in his own place now.As for the Prime Minister, he was too young, too serious, and too inquisitive... Pazar's natural dignity, deep and sharp eyes, and meticulous attitude all carried a little ominous omen. "I'm sorry, but I have the guts to ask: how come you two are so noble, why did you come to this remote village?"

"Your fields are vast," said Cam, "and you're well irrigated." "This is just an appearance. The land in this area is actually not easy to cultivate. It really hurts those poor farmers." "But last summer the river's full tide swelled a lot." "We were unlucky because the water was so strong here that our irrigated depressions were destroyed." "But it's said to be a bumper harvest." "No, much worse than last year." "What about the grape harvest?" "It's even more disappointing! The swarms of vermin are biting the leaves and grapes to pieces."

"But other villages don't have this problem." Pazar's voice was full of doubts, and the village chief didn't expect him to be so straightforward. "Maybe other village chiefs are bragging, or maybe our village is particularly unlucky." "What about the livestock?" "A lot of people died of illness. Although I called a veterinarian, it was too late. This place is too remote, and..." "The road is in good condition." Kem retorted, "The special personnel sent by the Karnak Temple have repaired the road very well." "Although our resources are limited, I hope that the two of you can appreciate it and stay and have dinner together. I also hope that the two of you will see my sincerity and don't mind the simple food that I gave up."

The kindness and hospitality of hospitality has never been tolerated by anyone. Kaim accepted the invitation on behalf of the prime minister, and the village head sent his servants back to inform the cook to prepare. Pazar found that the village was prosperous: several houses had just been repainted white, the donkeys were well-fed, their coats were shiny, and the children were all wearing new clothes.There are statues of gods on well-swept street corners, and a bakery and a mill have recently opened on the square opposite the mayor's office. "Congratulations, it's really well governed," Pazar said. "The villagers are well fed and well-fed. This is the most beautiful village I've ever seen."

"The Prime Minister is too praised, I really dare not be! Please come in!" Regardless of the size of the village chief's house, the number of rooms or the decoration of the house, it is not inferior to the mansion of the nobles in Memphis.The five children of the village chief came to salute the distinguished guests, and his wife also specially put on makeup and put on an elegant one-piece dress before coming out to see the cellar.She bowed her head and placed her right hand on her chest in respect. Sitting on luxurious straw mats, they enjoyed desserts of sweet onions, courgettes, fava beans, garlic, dried fish, grilled steaks, Roquefort, watermelon and carob juice.In addition, there are mellow red wine meals.The mayor's appetite couldn't have been better.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Pazar said. "It is my great honor!" "Can I talk to the land clerk?" "He's gone back to his hometown north of Memphis and won't be back until a week later." "You can always look at the file." "Unfortunately not. His office is locked and I can't..." "I can." "You are the prime minister, of course you can, but will it be a little..." The village chief paused, afraid that he might say something wrong, "After all, Biss still has a long way to go, and the sun goes down early at this time of year, looking at these boring files I'm afraid it will waste your time."

After eating the roast beef, the baboon on the side broke the bone with a "pop!", which shocked the village chief. "Where's the file?" Pazar insisted. "Well... I don't know either. The clerk probably took it away." Suddenly the baboon stood up.Standing upright, it looks like a tall and burly athlete. Its bright red eyes stare straight at the fat village head, making his hands tremble non-stop. "Please tie it up!" "Here's the file." Cam said coldly, "Otherwise, I won't be responsible for what my partner does."

The village chief's wife knelt in front of her husband and begged, "Just tell the truth." "Here I am...the papers are here. I'll get them right away." "The killer and I will go with you, and we can move it for you." After Pazar waited for a while, the village chief spread out the rolls of paper in front of him.The village head muttered, "Everything is in compliance with regulations. These observation reports were completed on time. There is really nothing to look at." "Let me watch quietly," Pazar said. The mayor retreated restlessly, and his wife also walked out of the dining room.

The land clerk, who is almost picky about his work, has come several times to count the number of livestock and grain bags. He clearly recorded the names of the landowners, as well as the type, weight and health of the livestock.The records of vegetable gardens and orchards are also extremely detailed.Finally, he wrote the summary in red ink: the harvest of all crops was excellent, and the harvest volume was above average. Shocked by the result, Pazar simply calculated.With such a large farming area, the harvest of crops can almost make up for Carney's losses. Why is this not recorded in his accounts? "I've always had a lot of respect for other people," Pazar said.The village chief nodded. He continued: "But if others insist on concealing the truth, they no longer deserve my respect. You are not such a person, are you?" "I've already said it all!" the village head said excitedly. "I don't like violence, but judges have to use force in certain circumstances, don't they?" The baboon immediately rushed forward as if he and the prime minister had a heart-to-heart connection, and pulled the village chief's head back forcefully. "Tell it to stop, my neck is going to break!" "Get the other papers out," Cam said in a calm tone. "I'm gone, really gone." Cam turned to Pazar and said, "I think we'd better go for a walk and let the killer interrogate him properly." "Don't leave me alone!" "Other files," Cam repeated. "Tell it to move its claws away first!" The baboon let go, and the village chief kept stroking his painful neck and complained, "You are like barbarians! You can't do whatever you want, this kind of despicable torture of local officials behavior should be condemned." "I'm also going to sue you for forging administrative documents." When the village head heard this, his entire face turned pale. "If I hand over the rest of the documents, I want you to ensure my innocence." "Did you do anything wrong?" "I did it for the benefit of the whole village." He produced a sealed roll of paper from the dish case.At this moment, the originally timid expression on his face suddenly became cruel and cold: "Take it and see!" The document stated that all the assets of the village were sent to the capital of Coptos Province. The land clerk also wrote the date and signed it. "This village is the territory of the Karnak Temple." Pazar reminded. "You are mistaken, Prime Minister." "But your village is indeed listed on the high priest's property list." "That old Carney is as confused as you are, and his list is wrong, the cadastral data is correct. If you look it up in the end, you will find that the economic jurisdiction of my village is under Coptos, not Karnak.The established boundaries can be proved.I want to accuse you of intentional assault and injury. As soon as my complaint is filed, the person who will be tried first may be yourself, Prime Minister Pazar. "