The sun shone warmly. The deep blue sea pushed towards the shore from afar with layers of waves. Then, it turned light blue and became transparent. There were also some white waves that kept crashing onto the beach, leaving behind bubbles that slowly receded.
Every time the waves hit the beach, there would be countless tide worms that were brought to the shore by the waves. When the tide receded, some of them were brought away by the sea while others quickly burrowed into the sand.
Small crabs did the same. They used the tide to come to the beach and burrowed into the crevices of the reefs. They dug a hole and buried themselves, making small holes on the beach.
Seabirds spread their wings and flew in the sky. Occasionally, they swooped down to the sea and picked up a fish that was struggling to twist its body. They sprinkled a string of pearl-like water droplets.
The life of the world reproduced in this noisy silence. Reincarnation, a thousand years, or yesterday, the sea was still as turbulent as before.
The fishermen who had long been used to such a life would usually catch some small fish and shrimp near the shore and fry them in a dry pot without adding oil or salt.
However, today, there was not a single fisherman in the sea of Ulei County. It was almost noon, and the people in the county all gathered in the direction of the execution field.
Although it was called the execution field, it was actually a wasteland. There was no platform or anything like that. However, the people did not care about that. They just wanted to see the result of the people who had hurt them. Some people even brought the memorial tablets of their dead relatives from home and waited quietly, waiting for the time when the Yang Qi was the most abundant.
Zhang Zhong had already led a group of officials here. There was a table in front of them. The people in charge of the execution kept fiddling with things. As they burned incense, they kept muttering.
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also came here. They squeezed into the crowd and became bystanders, even if they were the ones who planned this. The executioners today were the members of the Zhi Zhuang Protection Team and the Zero Team. Thirty-one people were chosen. No matter how hard they trained, they would always be a little lacking if they had not personally experienced blood.
When the thirty-one bailiffs were brought up, the people around them cheered. No one was sad that the people in front of them were about to lose their lives, because these people had taken the lives of others before.
Amidst the cheers, the sound of crying could be heard. The person holding the tablet cried and said something to the tablet.
When the thirty-one people were forced to kneel on the ground, Zhang Yi finally appeared. He was surrounded by the seventy-one bailiffs who were released yesterday. These bailiffs, who were usually arrogant, did not look like they did today. They looked like shriveled chickens.
The Yushan County Magistrate had also arrived with Zhang Yi. He was the only one who had come. Last night, Zhang Yi had sent someone to find him on horseback, hoping that he would be able to stall them for a while. When the time came, the two County Magistrates could work together to pressure Zhang Zhong. Unexpectedly, the Yushan County Magistrate was already on his way to Ulei County. Otherwise, he would not have arrived at this time.
Nian Wanjiu only brought ten bailiffs with him. He had rushed over for other matters. When he found out that Zhang Zhong was going to kill people, he agreed to oppose with Zhang Yi and save the people.
When the two of them arrived, the preparations were almost done. Zhang Yi looked at the bailiffs beside him, then looked at the two hundred people with crossbows. He suppressed the idea of breaking in and shouted at Zhang Zhong, "Provincial Governor, please wait. I have something to say."
Zhang Yi's voice made the people around him tremble. They looked at the County Magistrate, who also wanted to kill him, and then looked at Zhang Zhong.
"It's already noon. Start the execution. If anyone tries to stop you, kill them!" Zhang Zhong did not pay attention to Zhang Yi and directly gave the order.
The purpose of this was simple. The people who were released yesterday would leave a shadow in their hearts. Even if they came today, they would not be of much use. Zhang Yi had to come. Otherwise, who would dare to work with him in the future? But it was useless even if they came. He wanted to let everyone know that they followed Zhang Yi because he did not have the ability to help them at critical moments.
The two hundred guards with crossbows in their hands shouted in unison, "Kill!"
Looking at the people who unsheathed their swords and loaded their crossbows, Zhang Yi did not know what to do. He gave Nian Wanjiu a look. Just as Nian Wanjiu was about to speak, a guard on the other side turned his crossbow over.
Nian Wanjiu swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. His life was more important. Who knew if they would shoot it?
With a slight delay, the 31 people in the execution field dropped their swords. Among them, 30 people were relatively good. Only one person stretched a little when he used his strength. In the end, his head was not chopped off. This person trembled and was a little scared. But when he thought of what the young lady said, "Cowards should return to the inner court to do chores."
Thinking of this, this person raised his sword and aimed at the place where he had just chopped. No matter how much blood spurted out, he chopped down again. With a thump, this person's head was finally chopped off.
31 people were killed. The surrounding people were silent at first. Then, some people began to cry. They held the memorial tablets and came to the execution field. They knelt there and kowtowed to the memorial tablets. After kowtowing, they turned to Zhang Zhong's direction and kowtowed to him. With this group of people taking the lead, the others who did not hold the memorial tablets also knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Zhong.
No matter how Zhang Zhong asked them to get up, these people did not get up. Just as Zhang Zhong was about to go down and persuade them personally, he turned his head and saw that Zhang Yi had already turned around and was walking back with Nian Wanjiu. He immediately shouted, "Stop right there, Wulei County's County Magistrate Zhang Yi. You told me that you had something to do just now. Why are you leaving now? Are you playing with me? Men, take him away. "
This shout was indeed effective. The commoners stopped kowtowing and the crying people also stopped. They turned their heads to look at Zhang Yi. They slowly stood up, wanting to know what the Provincial Governor wanted to do.
Zhang Yi was too busy being angry. He did not expect Zhang Zhong to find trouble with him at this time. He cursed in his heart. How could Zhang Zhong not know what he was going to say? He had already killed people, and he was still asking him?
Thinking like this, Zhang Yi couldn't say it out loud. Seeing people rushing over, he hurriedly shouted to Zhang Zhong, "Daren, this official was scared just now and forgot about it. After hearing daren's shout, this official remembered. I ask daren to forgive me."
Even if Zhang Yi was unwilling to accept this, he had to admit defeat at this time. He realized that he could not see through Zhang Zhong. After coming here, how was he like the other officials when they were appointed? Usually, when one became an official in a new place, there were only three situations. The first was to know the local officials and get along well with them.
The second was to have ambition. First, they would show weakness and find an opportunity to make a comeback. They might succeed, but they might not. The third was to call the officials under them over and give them a lecture, thinking that everything would be fine. This kind of person would usually come with glory and leave with their tails between their legs.
However, Zhang Zhong was neither of these. When he came, he acted like he was doing official business. He did not hide his actions at all. The first day he arrived, the next day he killed people and captured people. In just three days, 39 lives were lost. However, he asked about the specific matters in the manor, capturing people, killing people, releasing goods and lending money.
What did he want to do? Zhang Yi really could not think of anything. However, he knew that this Zhang Zhong was definitely a person who killed people without batting an eyelid. He could not anger him. Even if he killed him, he would be investigated by the imperial court. However, if he lost his life, would it matter if he was investigated or not?
Zhang Yi thought quickly. He only used a few breaths of time to think it through. When the surrounding commoners saw that Zhang Yi, who had bullied Provincial Governor Shi, had given in, they cheered and cursed.
Zhang Zhong did not stop them. He let Zhang Yi feel the anger of the commoners. With him around, Zhang Yi did not dare to talk back. He also did not dare to stand up, and he did not dare to leave.
The commoners cursed for a while before gradually calming down. They moved to the back and made space for Zhang Yi to stand in front of Zhang Zhong. They waited for Zhang Zhong to deal with Zhang Yi.
The commoners finally found their backbone. The new official had only been here for a little more than three days, but he had already done a lot of good things. The commoners knew clearly that the new official had something to do with the new official. Otherwise, why would they wait for him to come? Especially the loan. The annual interest was only 10%. It was almost the same as borrowing for free.
Zhang Yi walked towards Zhang Zhong first. He did not dare to leave for a long time. He followed behind. The cursing just now also affected him. The two of them were in a very bad mood. However, they had no choice but to squeeze out a smile on their faces. Didn't you see that the four judges who usually cooperated well with them were sitting there obediently and giving them looks?
Zhang Zhong put on airs and sat there. He did not look at Zhang Yi. Instead, he looked in front of him. Zhang Yi endured the sullenness in his heart. He came forward and bowed, "Provincial Governor, this official has something to say."
"Speak ~!" Zhang Zhong lifted his eyelids and uttered a word in a drawn-out voice.
"Yes, Your Excellency. I came here to find you because I want to ask what should we do when the rain gets heavier in two days." Zhang Yi casually picked a topic to ask.
Zhang Zhong noticed that after hearing Zhang Yi's words, the commoners also quietened down. They seemed to be waiting for him to say a solution. He thought for a while and asked, "What did you do in the past?"
"In the past, under the leadership of Sir Shi, we worked hard to improve the irrigation system. We diverted the water from the mountain and the water from the rain into the sea. However, because the magistrate lacked money, we could not do it all. The results were very little."
Zhang Yi explained and pushed the responsibility to the previous Provincial Governor.
"Oh … the magistrate lacked money? I wonder if there is money in the county? When I came here the day before yesterday, I passed by the county magistrate's office. Zhang Yi, your house was built quite well. "Zhang Zhong said lightly.
Zhang Yi's heart skipped a beat. He secretly thought that Zhang Zhong did mention this matter. Fortunately, he already had an explanation. "Sir, the money did not come from the county magistrate's office. It was a gift from this official's friend."
"County Magistrate Zhang Yi, you have such a friend? Call him over and let me see him one day. "Zhang Zhong just happened to have this plan. He wanted to find the person behind this. Otherwise, it would be useless to just deal with the county magistrate.
"If you want to see him, this official will naturally find him. Why don't we meet tonight?" Zhang Yi also found an opportunity.
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