The First Volume of Qinghe County

  "So, this Bai Song is guilty of all evils and deserves to die. Ximen Qing looked at the confession brought by the teacher and felt numb after reading the long confession: "This person is a scourge on earth! Sir, what do you think we should do? Should we execute him on the spot?"

  Bai Song suddenly raised his head, with a nosebleed shooting out a vicious glare: "I was sent by the top, whoever dares to move is not giving face to General Tong!"

  "You two bird-brained people, go back or I'll kill you!"

  "General Tong?" Ximen Qing's eyes shot out cold light: "You, a small attendant general, have you really seen General Tong? Have you ever eaten with General Tong? Has General Tong even looked at you once?"

  "This official doesn't care how much money you spent to get this position. You keep calling yourself Tong Taoyi, but this is what really disgraces Tong Taoyi."

  "With both human and material evidence present, even if Tong Taiwei himself were to come, he wouldn't be able to blame you. On the contrary, they would drag you out and cut you into a thousand pieces, do you believe it or not?"

  "Well said!" Zhu Zhixian, who had been hesitant at first, suddenly became carefree. What did Tong Taoyi matter? He was still a relative of Zhu Taoyi after all: "Come on in!"

  "In!" all the yamen runners shouted.

  "Take these three culprits out and parade them through the streets in their underwear! After the parade, throw them into the large prison. I will report to my superiors and decide on a punishment later!"

  Bai Song's body went limp, and he couldn't lift his head again. He thought about how he had spent dozens of taels to get the position of grain procurer, and had come with great fanfare, planning to make a fortune in Qinghe County. But now, he ended up being paraded through the streets naked, with ironclad evidence against him. Even if Zhu Zhi reported it to his superiors, at best, he would be demoted to the lowest rank in the army and become a stable boy.

  Those days of being oppressed by others, Bai Song was very familiar with, because at that time he was the one oppressing others. Thinking back to the darkness in the army, Bai Song's bare buttocks couldn't help but feel a chill.

  There aren't any women in the army...

  When the cow was led by the yamen runner and almost unable to move, Bai Song and others were taken away. The teacher first asked for leave and sent Li Huiniang back. On the way, he didn't take a little oil, that's not called a teacher. Of course, Li Huiniang was pitiful, with an expectant look in her eyes. If it were Ximen Qing sending himself, Li Huiniang would rather have Ximen Qing send himself directly to bed.

  Ximen Qing was also planning to slip away unnoticed, waiting for Wu Daoyuan's alchemy furnace. Zhu Zhiyuan grabbed Ximen Qing: "Younger brother, don't go yet, is there a convenient place to talk here?"

  Convenient, of course convenient. After the house was searched, Wu's house was empty, except for a few servant girls and family members, there was no one else. Ximen Qing led Zhu Zhikun to the study: "What instructions do you have, sir?"

  "This white tribute has been overthrown, but the grain allowance is still to be collected, so that the superior will not suspect us of doing something because we did not pay the grain allowance." Zhu Xianxian felt more and more that Ximen Qing's ghost idea was really good: "Now all the merchants are looking up to you as a model, brother, give your brother an idea."

  "How much grain is required?" Ximen Qing stroked the sheep fat jade pendant, thought for a moment, and already had some ideas in mind, but most importantly, how many tasks were specified on it.

  "The total is around two thousand taels, the more the better." Zhu, the county magistrate, glanced at Ximen Qing: "If you have a way to get the merchants to donate more, that would be a great achievement."

  Ximen Qing has made so much money, it's time for him to pay out some!

  Ximen Qing understood the implication of this gaze, and this Zhu Zhiyuan really regarded himself as a fat sheep. You old fox took three thousand yuan from yourself, why not donate it?

  Bleeding is inevitable, but if Ximen Qing bears it alone, that would be a big burden.

  "Can they donate and then deduct some taxes, so that it counts as prepaid tax?"

  "It's not feasible, it's not feasible." Zhu Zhi County shook his head like a rattle drum: "There is no precedent to follow, and all taxes must be submitted, this county does not have the right. Younger brother, think again?"

  The amount of tax, that's what matters for the assessment. In this matter, Zhu Zhi County is absolutely not giving in. Donating a little less grain and silver is no big deal, but if he collects less taxes, his superiors will definitely interrogate him. Using his own life to take responsibility for others, Zhu Zhi County doesn't have such noble sentiments.

  "Merit and Virtue Monument." Ximen Qing saw that his first proposal was vetoed by Zhu Zhi County, so he immediately proposed a second opinion without hesitation.

  "Merit tablet? Younger brother, tell me more!" Zhu Zhi County was quite interested in this proposal. At least it didn't sound like they would have to collect less taxes, and the government wouldn't have to put out anything. At most, when setting it up, they could just say a few words of courtesy.

  "Donations of ten taels or more will be inscribed on the stele." Ximen Qing had already prepared a draft in his mind and spoke fluently: "According to the amount donated, list the names on the left and the amounts on the right. Some words of praise can be written on the stele, this can be decided by Master Shi."

  "With the best stone, invite the best craftsmen to carve, and it will not rot for thousands of years. After it's done, we can find a side hall in the Jade Emperor Temple to store it." Ximen Qing said while gesturing: "Your Honor, think about it, spending money can make your name last for thousands of years, and it's in the Jade Emperor Temple, where incense is widely offered. This is such a good thing, I'm afraid people will fight to donate even if they have to crack their heads open."

  "Good idea, brother!" Magistrate Zhu heard Ximen Qing's words and felt an itch in his heart, thinking that he should also spend 50 taels to have a small face on the stone tablet. But after some thought: "If everyone donates 10 taels, it still won't add up to 2,000 taels. After all, there are only dozens of merchants in Qinghe County."

  "Ten taels is the minimum price, with no upper limit." Ximen Qing smiled: "There are only thirty names on the stone tablet, and they will be auctioned off one by one. The highest bidder wins, and the higher the price, the bigger the name will be engraved; the lower the price, the smaller the name will be engraved."

  "High! It's really high!" Zhu Zhixian gave a thumbs up: "In that case, not to mention two thousand taels, even three thousand taels would be more than enough."

  "When necessary, I can also appear and raise prices." Ximen Qing added another sentence.

  "Good trick, younger brother!"

  Zhu and Ximen Qing burst out laughing, a difficult problem was solved effortlessly.

  Some families are happy, some families worry. Zhu Qian and Ximen Qing are enjoying themselves, but the one who is most worried now is Bai Taoyi. He keeps pacing back and forth in the courtyard, waiting for news of his brother Bai Song. He looks up to see that the sun has already slanted to the west.

  "Master, something's gone terribly wrong!" The servant stumbled in, out of breath: "Second Master, he..."

  Bai Taoyi looked at him and almost bit his tongue off. He was met with a slap in the face: "Speak properly! Have you found Second Master?"

  "Master, you'd better take a look! Second Master and those two followers of his have been tied up by the authorities and are being paraded through the streets!"

  "Ah!" Bai Taoyi's heart was racing with anxiety, he pushed aside the family servant and rushed outside: "Quick! Take me to see!"

  Poor Ding had just run out when he was slapped in the face by Dr. Bai, still gasping for breath, and could only hang his head in shame as he followed Dr. Bai back.

  Fortunately, just as they reached the gate, the sound of gongs grew louder and closer. The servant pointed with his hand: "Master, look! They're coming from over there!"

  Bai Taoyi shaded his eyes with his hand and looked in that direction, and indeed a team was approaching gradually. The horseman at the front seemed to be a leader, loudly proclaiming something with gongs, while two large carts swayed behind him, with more than ten yamen runners watching on both sides, and the crowd following the team came over.

  "Go and take a look." Bai Taoyi lifted his robe and ran towards the troops.

  Not yet arrived, heard the crowd's noise constantly, some laughing, some scolding.

  Most of them are children, chasing after cars and running wildly, throwing small stones back and forth for no reason.

  "How embarrassing! Look at this person, they're not wearing any clothes and their butt is exposed!"

  "I heard he's not a good person, throw stones at his JJ!"

  Most adults are prone to loud and abusive language, using all sorts of profanity.

  "How dare you come to Qinghe County to stir up trouble, these few bastards are really asking for death! Chop them off!"

  "Fortunately, there is County Lieutenant Xi Men, who is wise and powerful. Even the killer bees are no match for him, let alone you few insignificant people!"

  "I heard some civilians were bullied by these few bastards, we should find a few donkeys to deal with them!"

  "Castrate them all first, then flay them alive!"

  Bai Taichang was so angry that he ran out of breath, his face flushed with anger as he listened to the insults. He almost fainted, but managed to open his eyes and saw two people on a large cart, stripped naked and tied up with ropes, lying on their backs with their eyes closed, looking like they were waiting for death. From time to time, their faces twitched, apparently hit by stones.

  These two guys looked familiar to Dr. Bai, they were the two soldiers under Bai Song; Dr. Bai anxiously stretched his neck to look at the big cart behind him, and the one tied up like a rice dumpling was his own brother Bai Song.

  Bai Song must have been treated as a public enemy, his body was not only bruised and battered, but even his private parts were swollen, dark purple and almost black. What pained Doctor Bai the most was Bai Song's eyes, which had become empty, dull and lifeless!

  "Brother!" Bai Taoyi rushed forward and tried to block the falling rocks with his back: "Let my brother go!"

  The yamen runners didn't even bother to respond, but the crowd around them reacted and started scolding.

  "This scoundrel is in cahoots with them, sir! Have him arrested!"

  "Smash it! Smash it together!"

  Bai Taoyi climbed onto the carriage with his life on the line and shook his own brother awake: "Brother, wake up!"

  No matter how Bai Taoyi shook, Bai Song's gaze was always empty and staring at the sky.

  As the cart jolted, Bai Taoyi was thrown off and immediately surrounded by an angry crowd.

  "County Magistrate is so kind to you, yet you dare to harm him, how shameless!"

  "Kill this bird man!"

  The white-robed figure on the carriage was out of reach, so the crowd vented their anger on White Taai, who had fallen to the ground. Fists and kicks rained down on him like raindrops. At first, White Taai still struggled to lift his head to watch as the carriage disappeared into the distance, but soon he lay motionless.

  That Ding saw the crowd surrounding his master, rubbing his cheeks and gritting his teeth, turning his head to run back, now going up would be a death sentence.

  "Why don't we go back and bring some good maidservants along, and have a picnic?" The house servant's idea was very simple.

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