Chapter 571

Xu Boyi had a troubled expression as he said to Li Xuancheng, "If this lowly official were to accuse anyone here without any concrete evidence, it would be hard to avoid the suspicion of slandering my colleagues. In my humble opinion, why don't you let this lowly official have a good talk with the Gao and Li stockade chiefs? This lowly official's personal honor is nothing. The dignity of the imperial court is more important.

If this lowly official can successfully convince the two stockade chiefs and ensure that the change of customs can proceed smoothly, it will be a blessing for the country. Furthermore, if someone instigates the Gao and Li stockade chiefs to go back on their word and treat the important matters of the imperial court as child's play, I believe that the Gao and Li stockade chiefs will also reveal the truth. "

Assistant Minister Lin smiled faintly and said, "Then go. This official will say the ugly words first. If this matter is left unsettled in the end, then there must be someone who comes out to take responsibility. As for the crime of deceiving the ruler, I'm sure you know who the culprit is! "

Xu Boyi's heart trembled as he hurriedly bowed and said, "Yes! This lowly official will remember it! "

Assistant Minister Lin waved his hand, and Xu Boyi left.

Li Guojiu thought for a moment, then said to Assistant Minister Lin, "Official Lin, the situation in Gourd County seems to be complicated. It looks like this Xu Boyi is being held back by someone. It's fine if it's a personal grudge, but to treat an important matter of the country as child's play, we can't let it go. If this matter really ends up in a bad situation, in my opinion, we can't just punish County Magistrate Xu and be done with it. We must find the real culprit behind this! "

Assistant Minister Lin smiled and thought, This is nothing. There are many schemes and schemes in the imperial court. The internal strife between these officials in Gourd County is just child's play compared to this. Only a young master like you, who was born with a golden rice spoon in your mouth, would think it's a small matter.

Assistant Minister Lin said to Li Guojiu, "There's no rush. Let's wait and see. I feel that this matter will only cause some twists and turns. It won't affect the overall situation."

Assistant Minister Lin knew much more than Li Guojiu. He knew that Xu Boyi still had a trump card. Once this trump card was used, there really weren't many who could resist it. And once the Gao and Li stockades submitted, the truth would come to light.

Although Assistant Minister Lin admired Ye Xiaotian, Ye Xiaotian had not accepted his offer to recruit him, so he was not one of his people. Thus, if Ye Xiaotian played a bad role in this matter and the truth was exposed, then it would be because his "skills" were not as good as Assistant Minister Lin's, and he only had himself to blame. Assistant Minister Lin had no obligation to help him. This matter involved lying to the emperor, so he could not help.

Xu Boyi opened up another room and invited the two Stockade Masters Gao and Li to go in alone.

At this point, Xu Boyi was still very calm. He knew that because Ye Xiaotian had solved the drought for the Gao and Li Stockaded Villages and pulled the young master of the Gao and Li Stockaded Villages into his sworn brother's carriage and horse trading business, the two sides had a deep friendship and shared interests. However, he had his own ways to convince the Gao and Li Stockaded Villages to side with him.

It was not a betrayal, not because of loyalty, but because the price of betrayal wasn't high enough. If a seventy year old man with no land, no room, and absolutely destitute could marry a sixteen year old, beautiful, and well-off daughter of a rich family, it would be a miracle in the world and incomprehensible.

However, if another seventy year old man was rich enough to rival a country, or was a first-rank official, then many people could accept and understand if he married a beautiful woman with the same qualifications. The difference between being rich enough to rival a country, a first-rank official, and being completely destitute was the weight of a qualitative change. Xu Boyi had this weight in his hands, so he had nothing to fear.

Xu Boyi saw the Gao and Li stockade chiefs enter and said with a smile, "Please sit!"

Stockade Chief Gao said stiffly, "District Magistrate, this is a matter of great importance to the entire stockade. Although I am the stockade chief, I cannot make decisions on my own. There is really no room for discussion."

Stockade Chief Li said, "That's right! We have let you down on this matter, but we did not expect that the people of the stockade would object so strongly. Today, we really cannot represent the entire stockade to agree to your request. "

Xu Boyi smiled wholeheartedly and said, "There are some things that only depend on whether you are willing to do it or not. I believe that the two stockade chiefs are speaking the truth, but I believe even more that with your prestige in the stockade, as long as you are willing to persuade them, no one in the stockade will object. "

At this point, Xu Boyi slowly stood up and took out a roll of yellow silk from his sleeve. His expression was solemn as he said in a deep voice, "Stockade chiefs, the imperial edict is here. Please accept it!"

The two stockade chiefs were shocked. They looked at each other and hesitantly knelt down. Unless Xu Boyi was crazy, it was impossible for him to forge an imperial edict. If the imperial edict was real … For a moment, the two stockade chiefs felt as if they were in a dream. How could the poor and remote mountain people like them receive an imperial edict one day!

…

Hua Qingfeng had just arrived at the relay station, but before he could say anything, he was slapped in the face.

Logically speaking, this era was ruled by civil officials, and the ones who were bullied were the military officials. Civil officials who were two ranks lower would often be arrogant and bossy in front of military officials who were two ranks higher than them. If any military official slapped a civil official, it would definitely cause a huge uproar.

However, there was always an exception to this general rule. The more remote the area, the greater the responsibility of the military officials, and the smaller the influence of the civil officials. During wartime, the status of the military generals in the war zone would be even higher. If they encountered some rough and unrestrained military officials who were neither high nor low in rank, they would not care about the civil officials at all.

Hua Qingfeng was stunned by that slap, and his face immediately turned purple. In the years he had been in Gourd County, although his subordinates did not respect him very much, especially Meng Qingwei, even the domineering and domineering Qi Mu had never slapped him. After all, don't hit someone in the face!

Hua Qingfeng was so angry that his whole body trembled. He pointed at the military official and said, "You … who are you? How dare you hit me!"

The military official rolled his eyes and said rudely, "Hit you? If you don't bring back this batch of supplies, I'll have the heart to kill you. "

He gave a thumbs up and said proudly, "My name is Jing Peng, Chief Qian of Xingdu. If you want to sue me, go ahead. But these supplies were lost in your territory, so you have to be responsible for getting them back! "

Zhao Wenyuan caught up in time and bowed, "Chief Jing Qian, please calm down. Chief Jing Qian, you must not do this. This is my county magistrate."

Jing Peng curled his lips and said with disdain, "What's so great about being a county magistrate? In the naval battle of Guangmen, you defeated the Francis, and I was there! In the naval battle of Fodu Island, you defeated the Wokou pirates, and I was there! Governor of Zhejiang, Lord Zhu Wan, I was there! The current Nanjing Minister of War, Zhang Zhen, I was there! You are just a seventh-ranked county magistrate, how dare you put on airs in front of me! "

Hua Qingfeng was so angry that he was trembling. But when a scholar meets a soldier, there is no way to explain himself. Not to mention that he couldn't roll up his sleeves and rush up to 'reason' with this Chief Jing Qian, even if he was willing, he would only suffer a bit more humiliation. How could he be the opponent of this person? He could only endure this resentment.

Zhao Wenyuan tried his best to persuade the two people into the room. He saw that Chief Jing Qian was blowing his beard and glaring at Magistrate Hua, but he couldn't explain the situation of the supplies being robbed. He could only explain the situation to Hua Qingfeng.

As it turned out, following the development of the war in Yunnan, the transportation of supplies on the relay road suddenly became more frequent. Not only did the government send a large amount of military supplies, but at the same time, a large number of merchants took the opportunity to transport daily necessities to Yunnan. War itself is a kind of destructive act, but everything has its pros and cons. If one could seize this opportunity, one could make a lot of money.

The transportation of a large amount of supplies meant the movement of a large amount of wealth. The relay road was overflowing with wealth. Naturally, it attracted the fierce bandits and mountain bandits from all over Guizhou. These forces were originally small forces, and at the same time, like ants gnawing on an elephant, they were constantly fighting among themselves.

In the process of this internal struggle, the big fish ate the small fish. Gradually, they formed a force that was even bigger than the 'one dragon' group of bandits that specialized in the relay road business. Moreover, this kind of group was a temporary group. If they joined together for a long time, once the war was over, they would not be able to support so many people. At that time, they would inevitably have to return to their respective mountains.

Therefore, they did not have a fixed territory. They only followed along the relay road and continuously sucked blood. If one side attacked fiercely, they would flee to the other side. In this way, it would be even more difficult to eliminate them. After they completed this transaction, it was impossible to know whether they were still within Hulu County.

Jing Qian knew that it was a bit difficult for a county magistrate to catch bandits who dared to rob the army. But although he looked rough, he was not lacking in intelligence. As soon as he understood the situation of these bandits, he knew that they were in big trouble. Asking him to catch bandits was like asking a mouse to pull a turtle — — he had no idea where to start. Therefore, Jing Qian simply pretended to be ignorant and relied on the magistrate of Hulu County.

Even as a professional military officer, Jing Qian had no way to deal with this group of mobile bandits. Magistrate Hua was even more like a dog trying to catch a porcupine with no way to bite. After thinking for a long time, he still could not figure out how to use the county's patrol officers to track down the whereabouts of these complicated bandits. Also, how to use the county's poorly trained and poorly equipped citizens and patrol officers to bring them to justice.

As a result, the mouse pulling the turtle Jing Qian and the dog pulling the porcupine Magistrate Hua could only play Tai Chi and push each other. Shoving each other seriously, from top to bottom, it was difficult for people to advance. No matter how much strength he used to hit me, it was like using four taels to push a thousand catties. The two of them pushed and shoved each other back and forth, having a lot of fun.

It was not strange that Hua Zhi Xian was an expert in martial arts, but Jing Qianzong was a fierce military general like Zhang Fei, yet his martial art skill was not inferior to Hua Zhi Xian's; inevitably people would click their tongues in amazement. Squad leader Zhou watched from the side and couldn't help but secretly sigh: "This is really … before you become an official, you say a thousand things; after you become an official, you are all mediocre, regardless of civil or military officials!"

Magistrate Hua and Jing Qian pushed the responsibility back and forth, unable to come to a decision. Jing Qian became impatient and brought out his rough and unruly temperament from the army, acting unreasonable and shameless with Magistrate Hua. This way, Magistrate Hua couldn't stand it anymore. Squad leader Zhou saw that things were not going well and quickly ran back to the county school to call for reinforcements.

At this time, the two chiefs Gao and Li had just come out from the side hall, their expressions extremely grave. As soon as they appeared, Gao Ya and Li Bohao went up to greet them, quietly asking their father: "Dad, are you alright?"

The two chiefs Gao and Li shook their heads, looking as if they found it difficult to speak, but after a moment of silence, they each let out a long sigh and separately ordered their sons: "You go! Tell Official Ye, just say … this old man has let him down! "