BSI Chapter 85 A Reprimand
Chapter 85 A Reprimand
Upon entering the estate, a banquet had already been prepared.
After several rounds of polite refusals, Li Chong took the seat of honor, with the others accompanying him in turn.
Zhu Zhicheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, raised his wine cup and offered a toast: "Your Excellency's victory this time is comparable to that of famous generals of the past. It has truly broadened my horizons. I toast Your Excellency with a cup."
"No problem, no problem." Li Chong raised his glass with a smile. "It's all thanks to everyone's efforts. Come, let's drink together."
Everyone raised their glasses, showering each other with compliments, and Zhu Bingzhong naturally became very quiet, daring not to say another word.
However, after finishing his drink, Li Chong showed a troubled expression and sighed.
"Ugh!"
With a long sigh, Li Chong frowned and shook his head, clearly waiting for someone to ask him something.
Zhu Zhicheng's heart skipped a beat. Was it coming?
Just now, Du Heng clearly intended to identify him. Zhu Zhicheng did not believe that Li Chong would not know. If he really knew nothing, how could he have made such a decision to feign an attack while secretly advancing?
They clearly knew all along that the officers' and soldiers' whereabouts couldn't be hidden, which is why they went into hiding.
Therefore, it can be inferred that Li Chong was probably aware that there were bandits working within the county.
It's hard to say how much he knows.
Li Chong's actions just now were undoubtedly a warning to Zhu Zhicheng.
According to Zhu Zhicheng's own thinking, he was bound to have to bleed a little.
Despite his heartache, he could only make the decision: bleeding is better than losing his family and friends. He just didn't know how much this county magistrate could afford.
Therefore, even though Zhu Zhicheng could tell that Li Chong was putting on an act, he had no choice but to flatter him.
He glanced cautiously at Li Chong: "Such a great victory, why is the county magistrate sighing so deeply?"
"To be honest, Grandfather, we have won, but the aftermath is proving to be a real challenge," Li Chong said, shaking his head with a furrowed brow.
Xue Ming chimed in, "Your Excellency, if you have any difficulties, please speak frankly. My Xue family is quite wealthy, and Uncle Zhu is highly respected. Perhaps our two families can help with the aftermath."
Zhu Zhicheng glanced at Xue Ming and cursed inwardly.
He had originally planned to wait for Li Chong to speak first to test the waters before making a decision, but Xue Ming's words put him in a difficult position, leaving him with no choice but to agree.
"These two bastards must have been in cahoots long ago. They should have targeted the Xue family first!" Zhu Zhicheng thought bitterly.
Previously, Zhu Zhicheng was worried about the great impact, so he had not agreed to let Du Heng and Deng Meng rob wealthy households.
Without an inside accomplice, the two men indeed dared not easily descend the mountain.
Now, Zhu Zhicheng regrets it, but it's obviously too late.
He could only force a smile and say to Li Chong, "Nephew Xue is right. This old man does have some ability, and perhaps I can help the county magistrate."
Li Chong shook his head, saying, "This matter is still difficult. If word gets out, people might say I'm exploiting the people."
But now that things have come to this point, it's clear that Li Chong can't just stop talking.
After much hesitation, Li Chong slowly spoke.
"The people in these mountains are not all bandits; many are civilians who were kidnapped by bandits, so we cannot generalize. But if we were to bring them down the mountain and settle them properly, we fear there would be nowhere for them to go."
Li Chong looked at Zhu Zhicheng and said, "Old man, if we rescue them but don't give them any work to do, they'll just run back into the mountains in a few years. Wouldn't it have been a waste to wipe out these bandits?"
Zhu Zhicheng nodded stiffly.
Li Chong continued, "But this kind of business isn't so easy to find. I haven't been in office for long and I'm not familiar with the terrain of Yanggu. I really don't know where to cultivate fertile land. Moreover, even if we could cultivate some land, we'd already missed the spring planting season. Feeding them until next year would be another expense, and the county treasury has no surplus grain."
"Grandpa, what should we do?"
Li Chong looked at Zhu Zhicheng meaningfully.
Zhu Zhicheng subconsciously avoided Li Chong's gaze, keeping his mouth tightly shut and refusing to respond.
If Li Chong wanted some money, although it hurt, Zhu Zhicheng would grit his teeth and give it to him, considering it a way to avoid further trouble.
But Li Chong was clearly after their family's land, which would be digging up the roots of the Zhu family. Zhu Zhicheng really couldn't make that decision.
Zhu Bingzhong, who was standing to the side, naturally understood the meaning behind the words. Although he was a little scared, he was the kind of person who would risk his life for money and was used to being arrogant.
He immediately slammed his hand on the table and stood up: "Hey Li, what are you trying to do? Believe me or not, I'll report you to the prefecture for robbery! Fine, we'll just go our separate ways. It's not like my family has connections in the prefecture!"
Did the Zhu family have connections in the prefecture? Of course they did.
As the local tyrant of Yunzhou County and a businessman in the medicinal herb business, he knew a few people in the county.
But those people who want to stand up for him need money; they can't help for free.
Those people might even be more greedy than Li Chong.
Zhu Bingzhong's words were simply meant to scare Li Chong away and prevent him from coveting his land.
But his words had the opposite effect.
"Very good, very good." Li Chong clapped his hands with a smile. "Young Master Zhu is quite magnanimous. I was disrespectful. You can go to the prefecture to file a complaint now. However, I hope that by the time you return, I will have already interrogated those prisoners."
"Little Mei, go tell Erlang to have that guy surnamed Du write a complaint, making sure to clearly state every single detail!"
Zhong Mei, who played the maid, had no right to sit at the table and stood behind Li Chong watching the play.
Seeing the distorted expressions on the father and son's faces, she could hardly hold back her anger.
Upon hearing Li Chong's order, she casually curtsied and said, "This servant obeys."
After saying that, she took a few steps outside, but of course she didn't actually go out.
The purpose this time is not really to punish the Zhu family, but to subdue them, so we cannot let Du Heng make the identification.
"Snapped!"
Although Zhu Zhicheng is old, he still has considerable strength in his hands.
After slapping his son, he glared at him angrily: "You wretched beast! How dare you speak so disrespectfully to the county magistrate! How have I raised you?"
Zhu Bingzhong covered his face and looked at his father: "Dad~~~"
"Apologize to the county magistrate now!" Zhu Zhicheng shouted angrily again.
With so many people, including servants and attendants, Zhu Bingzhong was unwilling to lower himself to save face.
He snorted coldly and left without a second thought, giving Zhong Mei a vicious glare before he went.
Seeing that Li Chong was too afraid, he could only threaten his servants.
However, in Zhongmei's eyes, his vulnerable appearance made her even happier.
After his son left, Zhu Zhicheng's old back bent low: "I have failed in my duty to raise my son, and I apologize to everyone for making a fool of myself. On behalf of my son, I apologize to the county magistrate."
As he spoke, the old man made a gesture as if to kneel down.
He thought Li Chong would help him up, even if it was just because of his age, he couldn't really make him kneel down, could he?
But when Zhu Zhicheng was halfway down his knees and saw that Li Chong hadn't even gotten up, he froze.
He was unwilling to actually kneel down.
But if I don't kneel, and I've already said it, it would be too embarrassing in front of so many people.