Chapter 103: Counterattack and New Breakthrough!
Chapter 103: Counterattack and New Breakthrough! (3rd update, please subscribe)
"Someone, come to the court. I want to see how brave he is." County Magistrate Zheng suppressed his anger and ordered people to start the court session.
After shouting "mighty", County Magistrate Zheng looked at the young man in the hall.
"Student Xu Qing, are you the one who wanted to sue my long-time attendant Zheng San?" County Magistrate Zheng slammed the gavel.
"That's right." Xu Qing said calmly.
County Magistrate Zheng looked at him coldly: "You said he stole a chicken from your house, do you have any evidence?"
Xu Qing: "It's written in the complaint. The witnesses and evidence are all there."
County Magistrate Zheng: "Nonsense, he has always been by my side, how could he possibly go to your house and steal something?"
"Sir, please don't forget that he went to Jinguang Temple not long ago." Xu Qing spoke slowly.
County Magistrate Zheng sneered, "As expected, you are here for this matter. Don't make trouble in front of me."
When he saw Xu Qing reveal the truth, he simply stopped pretending.
Everyone has a background.
How could a mere student compare to him, an upright official appointed by the imperial court and a successful candidate in the provincial examination?
Xu Qing has a background, and County Magistrate Zheng has an even stronger background, as the Duke of Wei’s Mansion is behind him.
The Duke of Wei's Mansion played a role in the successful suppression of bandits and establishment of customs by the imperial court.
This incident gave County Magistrate Zheng the confidence to deal with Xu Qing.
The Duke of Wei has already made concessions. To deal with a small student, the people above him have to make concessions as well.
This is the rule of the game among big shots.
This is also the awareness that Xu Qing should have.
No matter how powerful a small person is, he is still a small person.
What the hell is this Jiangning timely rain and Jiangdong fierce tiger.
As Baili Hou, can't he deal with this guy?
Xu Qing smiled calmly: "It's too tiring to stand, sir, bring me a chair."
"Dream on." County Magistrate Zheng said coldly.
However, what he said seemed to be of no use, because as soon as Xu Qing finished speaking, someone brought a chair.
"What are you doing?" County Magistrate Zheng looked at the bailiff in front of him, seemingly in disbelief.
Xu Qing sat on the chair and said calmly: "The Lord favors the students and specially gave me a chair. He was just following orders."
"Nonsense, I never said that."
Xu Qing: "Tell me, did the master say that just now?"
"Yes." All the yamen runners said in unison.
You must be kidding. The magistrate is a temporary official who will leave after a few years, but Xu Sanyuan is a timely help to Jiangning. Now countless people in and outside the city have benefited from Jinguang Temple and Fushe.
They are all locals and know what is important.
What's more, their leader Guo Zhuang has already trained them into obedience.
There is no mountain higher than this one or that mountain in the county government office. There is only one cloud in the sky, and that is Xu Sanyuan.
County Magistrate Zheng had never thought that his words as an official appointed by the imperial court would be useless in his own county office. At the same time, he felt cold all over.
How dare these yamen runners do this?
Some clever yamen runners sighed secretly.
There is nothing to be afraid of if you offend your magistrate. If you offend Xu Sanyuan, the grass will grow again on the graves of Captain Zhao's entire family.
The county magistrate who ruined a family is one thing, but Xu Sanyuan really dared to wipe out an entire family.
Xu Qing looked at County Magistrate Zheng calmly, "Master, everyone is saying this. Think carefully about whether you said it or not."
County Magistrate Zheng's face turned pale, but he did not continue speaking. Instead, he asked, "What do you want?"
Xu Qing's actions reminded Zheng Zhixian of the historical incident of calling a deer a horse. He no longer dared to regard the county government as his own. Instead, he felt like he was in a dangerous place, unable to make any move alone.
However, he took the position of county magistrate as a juren, not relying on his family's influence, but relying on the support of Duke Wei.
If you can't do this job well, forget about your future.
The enemy is very powerful, so we must take a long-term view.
Or maybe they were too hasty in their actions. If he were given a few more months, he would be able to reorganize the county government and would not be in such a passive situation as it is today.
After all, he had only been in office for a month and hadn't even recognized all the people yet.
Xu Qing said: "Xu just wants justice."
"What kind of justice is that? It's just a chicken. I'll take his place and accompany you."
Xu Qing: "Sir, this is not an ordinary chicken. It eats precious medicinal herbs every day. In total, I have spent hundreds of taels of silver on it."
"So you made such a big fuss just for this one hundred taels?"
Xu Qing shook his head: "According to the laws of this dynasty, anyone who steals property worth 100 strings of cash shall be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and exiled 3,000 miles away."
"What? You want me to sentence him to a hundred strokes of the cane?"
"Sir, this is the law of the country. Please sacrifice your relatives for the sake of justice."
"impossible."
"Please, sir, kill your relatives for the sake of justice!"
All I heard was a series of neat words coming out of the mouths of the yamen runners.
"You..." County Magistrate Zheng fell on the table in anger.
He was helpless. Under the current circumstances, he couldn't refuse and could only pretend to faint.
"Qin Dianshi, why are you still standing there? My lord is infuriated by the evil behavior of this humble slave. Please help him use the seal." Xu Qing greeted Qin Dianshi next to him.
"Yes." Qin Dianshi smiled ingratiatingly, moved the county magistrate aside, and enjoyed the treatment of a county magistrate.
The verdict was written with a seal in one go.
When County Magistrate Zheng heard the noise, he was torn between his conscience and his conscience. After finally using the seal, he slowly woke up, looked at the verdict in front of him, and said angrily: "Xu Gongming, don't go too far."
Xu Qing stood up, walked in front of County Magistrate Zheng, and said calmly: "If you want to bully me, you should be the first to do so. Keep your eyes open, the one crossing the river is not a pawn."
He approached County Magistrate Zheng and said softly, "It's a car."
"You have done such evil things, your downfall is not far away." County Magistrate Zheng continued, "Rebellion is a taboo in the officialdom. No one can save you."
Xu Qing sneered. Is it the rule for him to just stay where he is and let others do whatever they want?
What a reason!
"Remember, I am the one who feeds everyone. If I don't have food, then no one else will have any."
"Understand?"
Xu Qing left the county government office with his hands behind his back. As for Zheng San, he had already been controlled. When Xu Qing stepped out of the hall, he was being escorted in for execution.
Guo Zhuang beside him said, "Hit me hard."
In the yamen, "beat really" means hitting hard.
After a hundred blows, ordinary warriors would not be able to withstand it.
Magistrate Zheng looked on with a grim face as he watched the bailiffs executing the man in front of him. He almost couldn't help but step forward and take action, but he held himself back.
He didn't know how courageous Xu Qing was.
If this man really dared to kill him, all his fame would be in vain.
He couldn't bear it.
Even if he fails to do this job well, he will still be a juren after returning home and will have the opportunity to become an official in the future.
At worst, you can still bully the people in your hometown.
He couldn't afford to gamble.
Guo Zhuang followed Xu Qing in small steps. Xu Qing said, "Go to the storehouse and find Chief Dong Cheng to withdraw 500 taels of silver and send it to Jinguang Temple. In the name of the county magistrate, say that the evil slave used his name to do evil things and now the county magistrate has killed his relatives for the sake of justice. The county magistrate feels deeply ashamed, so he decided to take out his own fire consumption to make amends to Jinguang Temple. Things must be done with a bang."
"only."
...
...
Tianxiangyuan, Meixiang Cottage.
"Sir, we have found all the people. Here is the list and their current addresses and whereabouts."
As soon as the incident happened, Su Lianqing, as Xu Qing's top intelligence chief, took quick action. In half a day, she had already found the information of those who spread the rumors.
Xu Qing didn't look at the list and said, "Just deal with it."
"Yes." Su Lianqing hesitated for a moment, then spoke again: "Sir, how are we going to end this with County Magistrate Zheng?"
Xu Qing: "We cannot kill officials appointed by the imperial court directly. We must have a bottom line when doing things."
Su Lianqing: “???”
She wondered if she had some misunderstanding of the meaning of the word "bottom line."
Xu Qing coughed and said, "Anyway, we can't kill him for now."
Su Lianqing looked as if he had realized something, and said, "I'm just afraid that he will cause trouble again. After all, he is the county magistrate. If he really wants to save face and find some local gentry to support him, and the forces behind him continue to send people over, we will still be in a passive position."
Xu Qing is not powerful enough in Jiangning Prefecture, and he is not even a juren yet, so he still lacks a righteousness that can convince people.
This action was actually too intense.
Only when small things are made into a big thing can they have a threatening effect. If Xu Qing endures this time, it will alienate his subordinates and allow the other party to press forward step by step. It is better to strike with one punch to prevent a hundred punches.
No matter how bad his current situation is, it is not as bad as the war to establish his country in his previous life.
That was a head-on clash with the world's most powerful country, whose elite troops had just fought in World War II.
Xu Qing: "Your worries are not without reason. But Magistrate He and my mentor will help me solve the follow-up."
"After making such a big fuss, will they still help you?" Su Lianqing was skeptical.
But she was not afraid. She was a traitor to begin with. If the young master was really in trouble this time, she and the young master would directly set up a new Lotus Sect, and then swallow up the Luo Sect, and kill all the bastards in the Dayu Dynasty.
If the matter fails, it will just be death.
In terms of the determination to follow Xu Qing, Su Lianqing is even better than those around him like Guo Zhuang.
Xu Qing knew clearly that this was determined by his stance.
Therefore, Xu Qing would not hide some important matters from Su Lianqing, and Su Lianqing was also a professional, so he could be an additional person to discuss with and help Xu Qing fill in the details.
He said: "Before I came here, I wrote a memorial about replacing rice with mulberry."
"Change rice to mulberry?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, this will be the next national policy. The pilot program will start in Jiangning Prefecture." Xu Qing gave the general content.
Su Lianqing was quite knowledgeable about these matters and could not help asking, "If we switch from rice to mulberry, what will we do with our food?"
"Go by sea." Xu Qing's decision to get involved in the textile industry was not a random decision, but a well-thought-out one. He used the petition to replace rice with mulberry as bait. No matter how big the outcome of this project was, it did seem feasible.
Moreover, with Jiangning Prefecture as a pilot area, it will not be rolled out all at once. It is a completely compromise approach.
Given the Prime Minister's character, he would not disagree.
Similarly, as a conservative governor, it was difficult for He to refuse this proposal because his family was a major silk producer and could not refuse cheap raw silk.
If he dares to refuse, his family will know about it and move his parents' tablets out of the ancestral hall, and he won't be able to be buried in the ancestral tomb after his death.
Moreover, Xu Qing would definitely hand this matter over to Inspector Wu to handle. Not only could Prefect He not refuse, he had to sign his name jointly.
Since Inspector Wu was the Inspector Censor in charge of supervising Southern Zhili, he saw the benefits of this matter. As a local official, Prefect He did not follow suit. Doesn't that mean he has something against Inspector Wu?
Although Lord Wu cannot control the evaluation of Prefect He in the Ministry of Personnel, he can report him, which is even more terrible!
If we want to successfully switch from rice to mulberry in Jiangning Prefecture, we really cannot do without Xu Qing's help.
Because Xu Qing was not a big landlord in Jiangning Prefecture, his interests would not be harmed by changing rice crops to mulberry crops. As for the other gentry, they were unwilling to change rice crops to mulberry crops.
They control the land, which is essentially how they control the population through food. This is the greatest confidence of the gentry.
If the land is not used to grow crops, the raw silk they grow must be sold instead of being stored. Therefore, they have to rely on the opinions of the court weaving bureau and other big families that control the silk industry.
Wouldn't that make you a beggar?
Without food, there is no direct human support.
Which one is light and which one is heavy, they can tell clearly.
Unless they themselves can become the leaders in the silk business.
However, this kind of interest is not something that the local gentry can easily get their hands on.
Moreover, as the imperial court became stronger, the local gentry had to behave themselves.
Therefore, if Prefect He wants to successfully implement this matter in Jiangning Prefecture, he cannot do without Xu Qing's help.
...
...
"Good article, come and take a look."
County Magistrate Zheng was tricked by Xu Qing and did not dare to look for Xu Qing again. Instead, he came directly to Prefect He to file a complaint.
This is an insult to an official appointed by the imperial court. Prefect He cannot pretend to be blind. He should at least feel some grief for the deceased.
However, after listening for a long time, Magistrate He did not hear a word. Instead, he took out a memorial and showed it to County Magistrate Zheng.
He had no choice but to take it and read it. At first, County Magistrate Zheng didn't take it seriously, but after reading the rest, he couldn't help but tremble all over.
"What a good idea to replace rice with mulberry." County Magistrate Zheng saw it very clearly. Whether this matter would succeed or not was another matter, but once this memorial was sent to the central government, it would definitely become the next national policy.
Xu Qing has this national policy as a talisman. At least before the outcome of this matter comes out, the people above him, including Prefect He, will protect him.
Under the general trend of reform, the importance of this extremely influential national policy is simply not comparable to that of a small county magistrate.
You said you were wronged?
Well, let’s get someone who can endure the injustice.
If you can't solve the problem, then solve the person.
Prefect He smiled slightly and said, "Sir Zheng, you are the magistrate of the imperial court after all, not someone's servant. You should put yourself in the right position. In this matter, you should cooperate with Mr. Xu and don't make things difficult for me."
"I understand." County Magistrate Zheng broke out in a cold sweat.
Prefect He's meaning was very clear. He could choose not to punish County Magistrate Zheng for the sake of the big shot behind him, but County Magistrate Zheng had to cooperate.
He finally understood how Xu Qing got the name "Young Phoenix".
It turns out that there is no wrong nickname.
He had previously thought that the other party was a southern barbarian who only had the courage and strength of a Jiangning tiger, but he never expected that the other party's killer move was here.
No wonder he is so confident in the county government.
A memorial to the emperor reversed the situation in an instant, and with his maneuvers and tricks, he stirred up the turmoil in Southern Zhili in the blink of an eye.
This is the style of the ancient strategists.
In Xu Qing's chess game, even Prefect He became a chess piece.
The key point is that Magistrate He still has to be this pawn.
"He is only fifteen years old." County Magistrate Zheng shuddered, then comforted himself, "Deep love does not lead to longevity, and extreme wisdom will lead to harm. This man is so precocious and wise, and I heard he is also very affectionate and righteous. It seems that he will not live long."
...
...
A storm that could have shaken Xu Qing's foundation was thus settled, but Xu Qing had no intention of letting it go.
"Sir, this is the information about the black and white forces under the Duke of Wei's Mansion. This is all I have found so far." Su Lianqing took out a thick account book with densely packed words on it.
After Xu Qing learned about Duke Wei's Mansion, he instructed Su Lianqing to do this. By now, a lot of information has been collected.
"Since the founding of the Dayu Dynasty, the Duke of Wei's Mansion has taken root in Nanzhili. Over the past two hundred years, the Duke of Wei's Mansion has not only secretly controlled many green forest forces in Nanzhili, but also maintained Taoist temples and Buddhist temples, burned incense and practiced boxing. It also selected talents from these martial artists and opened escort agencies, forming a huge secret force. The Eagle Claw Sect is just one of them, not even a finger..." Su Lianqing talked freely.
Xu Qing flipped through the account book while listening to Su Lianqing's narration.
After Su Lianqing finished speaking, Xu Qing closed the notebook and asked, "Where do you think is a good place to start?"
Su Lianqing pondered for a while and said, "Qingyun Temple."
She took out a piece of straw paper, sketched a map on it, pointed to one of the mountains, and said, "Qingyun Temple is located at the junction of Jiangning Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture. It is quite famous in the South Zhili martial arts world. If the people from the Duke of Wei's Mansion come to cause trouble for you again, they may stop by here to rest. In addition, Qingyun Sect should have accumulated a lot of secret medicines that are useful for the soul and martial arts training by burning incense and practicing boxing. These must be of great use to you."
Xu Qing nodded: "Next, you should focus on collecting information about Qingyun Temple."
"Young Master, you don't plan to take action in the near future?" Su Lianqing saw that Xu Qing's previous movements were so fierce, and thought that the Young Master was going to do it in one go.
Unexpectedly, it seemed that the young master wanted to leave it like this for now.
I really can't guess what he is thinking.
Xu Qing: "If we want to take action, we have to wait until I have mastered the ability to exorcise the creatures, and call Master Yankong to join us."
"Young Master is really thoughtful." Su Lianqing flattered him and thought to herself, "This is too steady." She had seen Xu Qing's fierce counterattack before, and she thought that the young master finally acted like a young man, and her blood boiled.
Unexpectedly, each step forward was so steady.
She couldn't help but feel at ease.
The young master is not lacking in courage and is steady in his work. The chances of him succeeding in the future are really getting higher and higher.
In fact, she had another idea, which was to replace rice with mulberry. Regardless of success or failure, it would create a large number of landless people, and these forces would sooner or later be controlled by the young master.
When she thought about it carefully, she thought that the young master might have the same intention.
...
...
"Guo Li, find a reason to go on an official errand and take my message to King Lin. Tell him to store more food in other places and ship it to me by sea in the next period of time."
The key to changing rice to mulberry is food.
With Lin Tianwang as his channel, Xu Qing no longer has to worry about food sources.
Another advantage of taking over Qingyun Temple is that it is an extremely suitable place for storing food.
He gently stroked the peach wood sword in his hand and seemed to hear the sword trembling.
"Don't worry, you'll bleed soon."
To maintain a sword, one must not only use one's own blood, but also the blood of the enemy.
Xu Qing sat under the sycamore tree in the yard, holding his sword until late at night.
What happened during the day was too exciting and thrilling.
After the matter was accomplished, his thoughts became clear and free.
The moon is waning tonight, and the Ziwei star is extremely bright. This is the perfect time for Xu Qing to open up the Ziwei Emperor Meridian.
It was midnight, when the Yin energy was at its strongest. Xu Qing, who had been holding the sword with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and said softly:
"Break it for me!"
(End of this chapter)