The First Volume of Qinghe County

  In the hall, two rows of chairs had been placed in advance for the merchants to sit on, but how could most of them sit still? The government's announcement to raise grain and pay taxes was naturally going to make the businessmen bleed.

  Just then, Ximen Qing came in with a swagger, and the merchants suddenly felt they had someone to rely on. Everyone knew that Ximen Qing was now a favorite of Magistrate Zhu, easy to talk to and deal with.

  That old fox Zhu Zhi County, with a smile on his face when talking to you, is probably thinking of ways to swindle more money from you in his heart.

  Without any discussion, all the merchants gave up the best spot with the most sunlight and the most comfortable chair to Ximen Qing, of course, this position was also directly facing Zhu Qian in the middle.

  Ximen Qing sat down casually, and the merchants all turned their bodies to him, like sunflowers facing the sun, turning towards Ximen Qing, each making a gesture of listening attentively, waiting for him to speak.

  Ximen Qing looked at the crowd and couldn't help but feel amused. He touched his jade pendant and cleared his throat, "Which one of you already knows what's going on? Since the county magistrate hasn't arrived yet, let's hear it from someone first. I declare that I don't know anything."

  The merchants looked at each other, and Li, the owner of the grain shop, sighed: "Your Honor, it's just the beginning of spring this year, and the government is already asking us to discuss collecting grain taxes. I wonder which army's grain tax is not enough again."

  "Old Li, your grain shop is the first to be affected. If you don't donate a few hundred bags of grain, can the county magistrate let you off?" The owner of the silk fabric store next door, Zhang, said: "I'm not bothered, anyway the fabrics that have been unsold for years are also going bad in the warehouse, it's just right to take some out and make a contribution."

  "Boss Zhang, don't even think about it. Those moth-eaten fabrics of yours can be considered as grain rations? Are you going to let the soldiers on the front line eat fabric?" A chubby merchant sneered: "Zhu Hu... Magistrate Zhu has specifically stated that he wants cash from you, not your fabrics."

  "Everyone, everyone." Ximen Qing saw that they couldn't get to the point and hastily interrupted: "This is too peaceful, where's the battle?"

  "Our Great Song Dynasty is in a state of unrest." Li Zhuanggui looked worried: "We've been fighting with Western Xia for many years, but there's no end to it. Last winter, even the small town of Jingxia that General Shi Wai Ping had built was completely lost, and not one of the thousands of soldiers inside managed to escape."

  "What?" Ximen Qing suddenly sat up straight: "Have those Western Xia people attacked?"

  "They wouldn't dare." Li Zhuang said, "Jingxiacheng was originally a thorn deep in the territory of Western Xia. After the people of Western Xia pulled out the thorn, they also need to prevent our army from counterattacking. With General Xiao Jing leading the vanguard, even if he just sits there, they wouldn't dare!"

  Li Zhuang then sighed: "It's just a pity that the grain in the northwest is not allowed to be sold, and all of it is used as military rations. I heard that General Xiaozhong is mobilizing troops from various routes, preparing for a counterattack!"

  Ximen Qing muttered to himself, "Little General's tactics are similar to those of the Public Good", and suddenly thought of Hua Yun, a monk who was once called Lu Da in his secular name. Before killing Town Guardian Xi, Lu Zhishen had served as a lieutenant under Little General's command!

  Where is Luda Master now?

  "Isn't this collection of grain and supplies the order of Governor Zhou?" Ximen Qing asked in doubt, "Doesn't the imperial court have any allocated grain and supplies?"

  "The imperial court... humph!" The stout merchant interrupted directly: "Tong Guan has long since swallowed up all the grain supplies, leaving nothing to be allocated. Naturally, each county will have to raise its own funds."

  "That should also be self-raised by the various counties in the northwest, how did it run to our Qinghe County?" Ximen Qing asked.

  "I don't know." The plump merchant thought for a moment: "But I heard that an officer has come, originally from this county, and it's unclear what he means, but the magistrate is still very nervous."

  "Ah." Ximen Qing was thinking about the cause and effect, when Master came in and coughed twice, and behind him, Zhu Zhizhou, that old fox, swayed into the main hall with a swing of his sleeves.

  Everyone immediately stood up and bowed, Ximen Qing also cupped his hands: "At your service, Your Honor!"

  "Everyone's arrived quite promptly." Zhu Zhi County swept his gaze across the room, his expression stern as he abandoned his original smiling and cunning demeanor, gesturing for everyone to take their seats: "You've all probably heard by now, I called you here today to discuss the matter of gathering grain and supplies."

  "This time it's for the northwest army to collect grain and pay, Tong Taishi specially sent a white school lieutenant to supervise, I guess he should be here soon."

  Is his surname Bai? Ximen Qing immediately thought of that scoundrel with the surname Bai and the given name Guang, style name Yaozu. Could he be a relative?

  "Brother! I didn't expect that after fighting in the northwest for two years, you would suffer such injustice!" A military officer with a full set of armor paced back and forth in the backyard of an inn, his face filled with murderous intent: "How can we easily let Ximen Qing off?"

  Bai Taichang's face was filled with anxiety: "Brother, this Ximen Qing is now a county lieutenant and a favorite of the county magistrate. He has the final say in everything. You're just an auxiliary colonel, don't be rash."

  "Hum!" White School Lieutenant shouted, pulling out his waist knife halfway and inserting it again with a vicious look: "Don't look at me, White Song's current official position is not high, but there is the task of supervising grain supplies on my body. To say nothing of a small county lieutenant, even the county magistrate is not worth mentioning."

  "Don't go and get someone killed!" The white doctor hesitated and said: "The county magistrate's face won't look good."

  "Haha. I heard that Ximen Qing is now the richest man in Qinghe, as the saying goes, 'kill a chicken to scare the monkeys!' White Song's eyes gleamed with a green light: 'This time we can use this guy as a scapegoat, and even Zhu Know County won't be able to say anything.'"

  "We're off!" Bai Song flicked his cloak and summoned the two soldiers under him, mounting their horses to head towards the county government's main hall. Along the way, they charged forward recklessly, overturning countless stalls.

  As Bai Cong's elder brother, Bai Taoyi was well aware of his younger brother's temperament, which was prone to violence and killing. So he intentionally provoked him with words, making Bai Cong furious and determined to get rid of Ximen Qing. Only by getting rid of Ximen Qing could he hold his head high again in Qinghe County, rather than hiding in the backyard of this already closed inn all day.

  Bai Taichang gazed at his brother's back, revealing a ferocious expression: "Ximen Qing, you scoundrel! On this day next year, I'll personally send you to your grave!"

  "Here they come!" With a sudden burst of horseshoes, Bai Song led two soldiers onto the main hall with an air of killing intent.

  "Magistrate Zhu, Bai has arrived!" Bai's eyes scanned the crowd and found Ximen Qing in his mind. He didn't even salute Magistrate Zhu, but just slightly waved his hand as a greeting.

  "This fellow is extremely rude!" Everyone in the room felt this way, especially the magistrate sitting on the platform.

  Zhu Zhi County received the official document yesterday and only then did he know that a Xiaowei had come to supervise the grain ration, thinking that it was just a small Xiaowei, seeing himself would certainly be polite, supervising the grain ration could go smoothly.

  Unexpectedly, he rushed into the main hall with a swaggering attitude, completely disregarding Zhu Zhi County.

  Zhu knew Xian was gasping for air when he heard Bai Song shouting a string of: "Who is Ximen Qing! Get out here, old man!"

  "Which one of you is Ximen Qing?"

  "You dare to bully my brother, and now you're backing down?!"

  Ximen Qing immediately understood what was going on, and the white-faced man in front of him was indeed the younger brother of White Light, who had come to take care of his own affairs under the pretext of supervising grain supplies.

  Kidding! I've got a top-notch passive skill: the protagonist's halo. What are you afraid of?

  Ximen Qing gave a few subtle glances, and the surrounding merchants understood his intention, seeing that Bai Cong had an unfavorable attitude, they all knew what Ximen Qing meant.

  Then Ximen Qing led the way, and everyone pretended to be innocent, staring at Bai Song's angry face with a "who is Ximen Qing?" expression.

  "White Bailiff, slow down!" Zhu Zhi County stood up and shouted: "This is the county government's main hall, no shouting is allowed. Whatever the matter is, let the official in charge handle it!"

  Bai Cong turned his head and glared at Zhu Zhi County: "When I, Bai, was killing Xixia people in the northwest, you were sitting here as a county magistrate, very comfortable, weren't you?"

  "You're a corrupt official, and you're in cahoots with Ximen Qing to bully my brother! In my eyes, this county yamen is like an enemy's military camp, only concerned with killing people off one by one. Who recognizes you as an official?"

  "Point out Ximen Qing, that rascal, to me, or I'll beat you up together with this dog official!"

  A few "dog officials" slipped out, and Zhu Zhi County had a urge to overturn the table. Suddenly, he saw Ximen Qing wink at him and coughed, saying tentatively: "Ximen Qing..."

  "Ximen Qing has gone to visit a friend in Hanghai County and hasn't returned yet!" Ximen Qing stood up, picked up Zhu Zhishou's words, and conveniently turned his back to make an "OK" gesture with his hand.

  Although Zhu didn't understand what gesture this was or what Ximen Qing's intention was, he also knew that he should look at Ximen Qing if he made a move.

  "What!" Bai Song furrowed his brow: "What's your name, don't try to deceive me!"

  "Xiaoren's full name is Dongmen, with a single surname and a single given name, Teng. He runs a pawnshop in Qinghe County." Ximen Qing spoke fluently, without batting an eyelid, continuing to spin the tale: "Ximen Qing indeed went to Henghai Prefecture, no sooner had he left than you arrived, General!"

  "General, you don't believe me, just ask around!" Ximen Qing swore with a solemn expression and gestured with his hand: "Old Master Zhang, Manager Li, tell him!"

  All the merchants were old hands at this business for many years. Seeing Ximen Qing talking nonsense, they all held back their smiles and cooperated with him.

  "That's right! I saw him leave this morning!" said Li, the owner of the grain shop, nodding his head.

  "Not a single mistake! I even said goodbye when I left Ximen!" swore Zhang Lao, the owner of the silk fabric store.

  Zhu Zhi County sat back down, smiling as he watched this play unfold.

  Bai Cong heard the merchants all say so, and couldn't help but believe it a bit. Moreover, Ximen Qing's two sentences of "General" flattery made him feel quite proud.

  He himself was just a small military officer, but in Ximen Qing's mouth, he became a general. He really is an unsophisticated country bumpkin who has never seen the world.

  "Ximen Qing that scoundrel, has made me suffer so much! General, you must do justice for me!" Ximen Qing's eyes rolled around, he stomped his feet, and with a resolute expression, showed a determined look of gritted teeth.