Chapter 562

Register Wang stroked his beard as he glanced at Xie Chuanfeng's gift. At the very top was a deed to a house. The words were very clear. It was a house in Jinling's Stone City's Wuyi Alley. Any house in that kind of place would cost a fortune. Moreover, from the words, it was clearly a mansion that occupied an area of eleven mu.

Registrar Wang scrutinized the boastful Xie Chuanfeng once more, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You're quite extravagant! Even if a steward were to take advantage of the situation, would he be able to amass so much wealth in just a few short years? "

Register Wang didn't even listen to what Xie Chuanfeng was saying. The key to deciding whether or not he would accept this gift, or whether or not he would agree to be Xie Chuanfeng's backer and help Xie Chuanfeng gain a foothold on the relay road, was not the gift itself, but the identity of the person who gave it.

Register Wang secretly calculated that Xie Chuanfeng being chased away by the Tian family was probably just a cover. It was also a way for the Tian family to clear their name. This Xie Chuanfeng was most likely a pawn that the Tian family had placed in Hulu County. If I accept this gift, then I will be standing on the Tian family's boat.

Register Wang nervously pondered. Zhao Wenyuan was a member of the Bozhou Yang family, Ye Xiaotian was said to be the son-in-law of the Xia family of Red Maple Lake, and this Xie Chuanfeng was a member of the Tian family. It seemed that the tribe leaders had already seen through the imperial court's intentions to use Hulu County as a breakthrough point to expand their control over Guizhou.

The imperial court had watched as these three powers extended their hands into Hulu County. It was clear that their attempts to control Hulu County over the past three years had failed time and time again. Even if they hadn't given up on the idea of controlling Guizhou, at least for now, they could only continue to maintain the Guizhou system that had existed since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. For a country, this could last for eight to ten years, or even fifty to a hundred years. Under these circumstances, what should I do?

Register Wang thought to himself, Originally, Hulu County was divided into three parts. I was able to control one of them because I had a good relationship with the Gao and Li stockaded villages. However, they only tried to rope me in because they hoped that I could be useful in resisting the imperial court's attempts to control Hulu County.

Nowadays, the imperial court rarely makes any moves, and my influence on them is getting smaller and smaller. Most importantly, the Yang, Tian, and Xia families have already begun to meddle in the affairs of Gourd County. My biggest support is no longer enough to be called a support. When the time comes, Magistrate Hua will have the support of the Imperial Court, Magistrate Xu will have the support of the Tian family, and Warden Ye will have the support of the Xia family.

After Xie Chuanfeng finished speaking, he saw that the Registrar Wang seemed to be lost in thought, so he asked tentatively, "Your Excellency?"

"Wang" Xie Xie. Oh! "

Register Wang quickly made a decision. The imperial court has already shown signs of retreating. Once they abandon Hulu County, Hua Qingfeng, who is a double Jinshi and a Rank Seven official, will definitely have other plans. I, Wang Ning, will have to find my own way out. Among the Yang, Tian, and Xia families, only the Tian family has not only fought for the position of County Magistrate, but also sent people to seize control of the relay routes. It seems that they are determined to win. I will rely on the Tian family! "

Thinking of this, Register Wang smiled and said, "Good! Since that is the case, I will agree to your request. Hulu County is small and the people are poor. The relay routes affect the livelihood of many people in the county. Do your best and I will do my best to accommodate you. "

Hearing this, Xie Chuanfeng was pleasantly surprised. He had subtly mentioned that he wanted to sell tea leaves, spices, and jewels, but he did not expect Wang Ning to agree. These goods could be sold at least ten times the profit, but the risk was also high.

The jewels purchased from the south could be transported to the rich areas of Jiangnan through the relay routes that ran through Guizhou, or they could be sold to Xifan through Qu Sichuan. Xifan's Tantric Buddhism loved to decorate their Buddhist statues with precious treasures. The eight treasures were solemn, and incense was burned. This trend had now spread to Taoism. Taoism began to pay attention to gold and jade inlaid in their statues. Since monks were the richest, these exotic jewels had a large market.

As for spices, not only were Buddhism and Taoism in high demand, but the rich people of the Central Plains also had a large demand for spices. These items were extremely profitable, and of course, the taxes were high. Therefore, if they wanted to make more money, they could only smuggle it. To smuggle it, they needed the support of the government.

One of the most important goods was tea leaves. In the Ming Dynasty, tea leaves were regulated as a strategic resource. Because foreign lands did not produce tea, and they were addicted to tea, the imperial court established strict regulations. Tea leaves were used to kill foreign people and strengthen China's defense. Therefore, smuggling tea leaves was a more serious crime than tax evasion.

Xie Chuanfeng had originally proposed this condition to give Register Wang a chance to reject it when he was bargaining. At that time, it would be easier for him to agree to help him smuggle jewels, spices, and other conditions. He did not expect that Register Wang would agree to everything. Naturally, Xie Chuanfeng was overjoyed.

Xie Chuanfeng's goal had been achieved. He thanked Register Wang profusely and took his leave. Register Wang quietly tucked the generous gift into his sleeve and politely saw him out the door. Register Wang had just seen Xie Chuanfeng out the door and was about to return to his office when he suddenly saw a few badly battered constables burst into the courtyard and hurried to the second hall.

The Registrar Wang furrowed his brows and felt a little strange. Ever since the downfall of Qi Mu, the reputation of the Gourd County Constables had greatly increased. They were no longer the street rats they used to be. Why did they beat up constables again today?

Registrar Wang waved his hand to summon a bailiff who was guarding the gate and asked, "What happened?"

When the bailiff heard the Registrar Official's inquiry, he hurriedly replied, "Replying to the Registrar Official, those bailiffs followed County Magistrate Xu into the mountains to mediate the dispute between the Gao and Li stockaded villages. In the end … for some reason, County Magistrate Xu was detained by the Li stockaded village. They fled back, saying that County Magistrate Xu's life was in danger."

"Oh!"

Register Wang's expression changed slightly. He waved his hand and the guard retreated. Register Wang immediately returned to his office and told his chief scribe, Lao Cai, "Someone from my family just reported that my Fourth Madam isn't feeling well. I need to go back and take a look."

Lao Cai agreed. Register Wang returned to his inner room and changed into a set of casual robes. He then hurriedly left the county government.

When Hua Qingfeng heard that County Magistrate Xu was detained by the Li Village, he was dumbfounded. Ever since Ye Xiaotian killed Qi Mu and defeated the number one bully in Gourd County, Magistrate Hua hadn't been in such a state for a long time.

Xu Boyi had entered the mountains to mediate the dispute, so why was he detained by the Li Village? Speaking of which, Xu Boyi could be considered to be quite cautious. After entering the mountain, he first met with the people of the Gao Family who were surrounding the Li Family Village. When the people of the Gao Family Village heard that he was here to mediate the conflict between the two villages, they were quite polite to him. Xu Boyi met with Old Master Gao and listened to him explain the cause and effect of the fight between the two villages. After that, he went to the Li Family Village to understand the situation.

In fact, the whole matter was very simple. Because it hadn't rained for a long time, there was a drought in Gourd County. The Gao Village, which was located upstream of the river, had cut off the river in order to satisfy the villagers' water needs. As a result, the drought in the Li Village, which was located downstream of the Laodao River, became even worse. Both sides failed to negotiate, so one of them used force to dig up the river, while the other used force to protect the river. Thus, a feud was formed.

When Xu Boyi understood the whole story, he gathered the two masters together and said, "Masters, it doesn't matter if you live upstream or downstream. It's all because of this river that your ancestors settled here. The water of this river is a gift from the heavens. The people on both sides of the river, whether upstream or downstream, have the right to enjoy it.

Now that there's no rain, the river has dropped. If both of you use it, although it won't be enough to satisfy the irrigation requirements, it'll be hard for you to survive, but no one will die of thirst or hunger. If you continue to resort to force, there will inevitably be casualties. Don't you understand the importance of this? In my opinion, why don't you divide the water equally? "

Master Gao glared at Xu Boyi and said, "Our village is short of water. The ground is cracked, and the crops are dying. When we pour a ladle of water on them, the ground doesn't even get wet before it disappears. Now that the water is flowing in front of our village, you want us to stop using it? Divide it equally? How are you going to divide it equally? "

Xu Boyi smiled and said, "That's easy. We'll divide it according to the population of your two villages. If your village has fifty percent of the population of the Li Village, then out of the twenty-four hours in a day, there will be sixteen hours for the Li Village. During this time, the Gao Village will not be allowed to use a single drop. For the remaining eight hours, you will be allowed to cut off the river and let the Gao Village use it completely. This is the fairest way. "

How could Master Gao agree to this? In terms of population, their village was twenty percent less than the Li Village. They obviously lived upstream, but they had to give twenty percent more water to the people downstream? It wouldn't even be enough for them to use the entire river! Besides, the Li Village lived downstream. Because they were closer to the mountains, many of their clansmen were migrant workers, so they didn't have as many farmlands as the Li Village did. It was ridiculous that the Li Village would have to give in to the Li Village.

Xu Boyi didn't have any selfish motives in this matter. He wanted to resolve this matter properly and establish his authority in one fell swoop. However, this plan was strongly opposed by the Gao Village, so he adopted another method, which was to divide the water according to the number of acres of land owned by the two villages. Naturally, this idea was also strongly opposed by the Li Village.

Xu Boyi tried his best to persuade them, but he still couldn't come up with a plan that satisfied the people of the two villages. In the end, because the County Magistrate Xu, who was in charge of justice, had come and brought up the deaths and injuries in the fight, Xu Boyi's good temper was gradually worn out. Seeing that the two Village Masters were pushing their luck, he wanted to use his authority to make an example out of them. He wanted to first control the people involved in the case and intimidate the villagers on both sides before discussing the issue of water allocation.

He thought that since there were people from both villages who were going to be arrested, it could be said that he was impartial, so the two Village Masters should have agreed. However, one of them was Li Bohao, and he was Village Master Li's biological son. How could Village Master Li agree? Besides, if the Gao Village didn't cut off the river, would the Li Village participate in the fight?

Xu Boyi's face was incorruptible, but Village Master Li was furious. He immediately ordered his men to arrest Xu Boyi, beat up the bailiffs, and let them out of the mountain. Then, he sent word that the County Magistrate of Gourd County had to give the Li Village a fair explanation. Otherwise, they would directly seek justice from the Imperial Court.

When Hua Qingfeng heard the words' directly seek justice from the Imperial Court ', it was as if a ladle of ice water had been poured over his head. Seek justice from the Imperial Court? How would they seek justice from the Imperial Court? Hua Qingfeng was at a loss. He quickly ordered, "Quickly, go and invite Register Wang over to discuss this matter."

A moment later, the yamen runner reported, "The Registrar's family has some matters to attend to, so he has already left the yamen."

Hua Qingfeng clenched his teeth and ordered someone to go to Wang Ning's house to call for him. In the end, when the yamen runner arrived at the Wang Mansion and inquired, the Wangs said that the Fourth Madam was suffering from an emergency. There were no good doctors in Gourd County, so Register Wang had already taken the Fourth Madam to Tongren Province to find a famous doctor to treat her.

When the yamen runner returned to the yamen, Hua Qingfeng was seething with anger. "That old bastard! That old fox! "

Hua Qingfeng wandered around the two halls for a long time. With no other choice, he ordered, "Go and invite Yeh Dianshi over. I have something to discuss with him."

The yamen runner went to the Warden's office. After a while, he came back and reported, "Master, the Warden Master said that if you need any stationery, you only need to send someone to tell him. No matter how tight the county's finances are, they won't let you have a shortage of the four treasures of the study.

As for other matters, since the Magistrate has already given his orders, the Warden Master can't make any decisions. Since it's an important matter, the Warden Master can't agree to it, so as to avoid delaying your important matters. It's better for you to decide on your own! "

The yamen runner was originally from the Warden's office. He was hastily transferred away by Hua Qingfeng before Ye Xiaotian arrived, so he spoke in a strange tone. Hua Qingfeng was furious when he heard this. He shouted, "Bastard! I summon him for a discussion, how dare he not come? "

The yamen runner said slowly, "The Warden Master also said that if the Magistrate is angry, please let me report back to the Magistrate. Being in the position but not having the power is like not being in the position. Not being in the position but plotting politics is like breaking the law. So … the Warden Master doesn't dare to accept the order!"

Hua Qingfeng was so angry that his eyes were blank. He sat down on the chair. A trace of ridicule flashed through the yamen runner's eyes. He bowed and said, "If Master doesn't have any other orders, then I will take my leave."

Hua Qingfeng ignored him. He stared blankly for a long time. He slowly raised his head, his eyes shining with determination. He said in a low voice, "The most important thing to be an official is perseverance! I will endure! Xu Tu will strive for self-improvement! If you don't come to see me, I will go see you! "

Hua Qingfeng jumped up and walked out in big strides.