After Hai Rui came out of the study, his bodyguard Xiao Er, who had been waiting outside for a long time, and Jiaxiang County Magistrate Zhou Wande immediately came to greet him and saluted him respectfully.
"grown ups!"
"Um."
After Hai Rui responded inaudibly, he immediately looked away from the two of them and said slowly.
"Go back to the hall!"
"Yes, sir!"
After that, the two followed Hai Rui's footsteps and returned to the Jiaxiang County Government Hall after passing through a long corridor.
At this moment, seeing Hai Rui's return, Guan Rui, a member of the Imperial Guards, and Commander Zhang Yuan all stood up from their seats, waiting for Hai Rui's order.
Immediately, Hai Rui came to Guan Rui's side, took the envelope out of his arms quite solemnly, handed it to Guan Rui, and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"Send someone to send this letter and the two confessions to His Majesty as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
Hearing this, Guan Rui cupped his hands, immediately took the envelope from Hai Rui's hand, and gave his assurance.
"Yes, sir, I will definitely send someone to deliver the letter!"
When Hai Rui heard this, he nodded and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, without further ado, let's go now!"
…
On the other side, the Kong family in Qufu, Shandong.
As a descendant of Duke Yansheng, the Kong family has received preferential treatment from the court in all dynasties. After all, no ruler is willing to give up such a golden sign.
Because of this, no matter how turbulent the situation outside is, the Kong family will always stand firm and have been passed down for thousands of years.
At this moment, Kong Shangxian, the 64th generation grandson of Confucius and the contemporary Yanshenggong, was sipping tea leisurely and listening to the butler's report.
"Sir, here are the account books for the past few months. Please check them!"
Upon hearing this, Kong Shangxian immediately reached out his hand, took the account book from the butler's hand, and began to browse it carefully.
Seeing this, the butler spoke carefully after carefully considering his words.
"Master, in recent days, more and more people have come to serve with their land deeds, property, and families. Do you think..."
When Kong Shangxian heard this, he frowned immediately, put the account book aside, and said impatiently.
"Why, do you even want to ask me about such a trivial matter?"
"Since more and more people are coming to join us, we can just raise the threshold and increase the land rent!"
When the housekeeper heard Kong Shangxian's words, he couldn't help but have a look of unbearable expression on his face, and cautiously spoke out his words of admonishment.
"But Master, our current land rent has increased to 37%. If it goes up further, the people who come to pay their dues will have no way of living at all!"
When Kong Shangxian heard this, the expression on his face became even more impatient. He picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and then spoke.
"Hmph, if they want to attach themselves to my Kong family, they will naturally have to pay a corresponding price!"
"If it weren't for the protection of my Kong family, I'm afraid they would have been squeezed by those corrupt officials long ago, and they wouldn't even have any oil or water left. Let alone filling their stomachs, they would be fine if they didn't starve to death!"
"Speaking of which, they still have to thank us. Just do as I say and increase the land rent even more. Do you understand?"
Seeing this situation, the housekeeper could only nod his head in agreement, even though he felt unwilling to do so.
"Yes, sir!"
Shortly after the housekeeper left, Kong Shangxian's wife Yan came in with the support of the maid.
When Kong Shangxian saw Yan's arrival, he quickly got up from his seat, stepped forward to help Yan, sat down next to him, and then spoke.
"Madam, your body is not feeling well yet, you should get more rest!"
When Mrs. Yan heard what Kong Shangxian said, she shook her head and immediately spoke.
"It's okay, it's just that I feel the cold occasionally. I'll get better soon!"
After that, Yan changed the subject, turned his attention to Kong Shangxian, and spoke.
"By the way, my father sent someone to inform me not long ago, telling you to pay more attention to Hai Rui!"
After listening to his wife Yan's advice, Kong Shangxian couldn't help but have a look of surprise on his face.
After thinking about it in his mind for a long time, he spoke slowly.
"Hai Rui, I remember he was sent to Shandong by the imperial court to punish corruption, and along the way he was sent to investigate the White Lotus Sect?"
"Is it possible that there is something fishy behind this?"
When Mrs. Yan heard this, she saw the expression on Kong Shangxian's face and immediately explained.
"Well, having said that, the news sent by my father said that this Hai Rui hates evil and is not afraid of power. Once he gets the handle, he will really get to the bottom of it!"
After hearing what Yan said, Kong Shangxian nodded and responded rather perfunctorily.
"Well, I understand. My husband will pay more attention to this Hai Rui next time!"
Seeing that he had already finished speaking, Yan did not stay in the room at all, but casually found an excuse and left the room.
Kong Shangxian looked at Yan's leaving figure and said with emotion.
"That's great. If there is any trouble in the court, my Kong family will always be the first to know!"
The reason why Yan's information is so well-informed is entirely because she is the granddaughter of Yan Song and the eldest daughter of Yan Shifan.
Just when Kong Shangxian was full of ambition and thinking about the next countermeasures in his mind, he heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, and a servant hurried into the room and reported respectfully.
"Master, someone from the Zeng family has sent here. They said they were ordered by the head of the Zeng family, Zeng Hong, to discuss important matters!"
After listening to the servant's report, Kong Shangxian couldn't help but frown, a look of doubt appeared on his face at the right time, and he spoke subconsciously.
"Isn't the Zeng family busy paying homage to their ancestors recently? Why would they suddenly send someone here at this time?"
"Could it be that something happened to the Zeng family?"
Immediately, Kong Shangxian suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, turned his eyes to the slave, and gave instructions.
"Since he was sent by Zeng Hong, the patriarch of the Zeng family, let him come in quickly!"
After receiving Kong Shangxian's instructions, the servant immediately looked stern and responded respectfully.
"Yes, sir!"
After that, under the guidance of the previous servant, the people sent by the Zeng family finally succeeded in meeting Kong Shangxian.
The moment he entered the room, he knelt on the ground with a thump and spoke respectfully.
"Zeng Xiu, a descendant of the Zeng clan from Wucheng, pays homage to Duke Yan!"
When Kong Shangxian heard this, he waved his hand quite casually and gave instructions.
"Well, get up!"
When Zeng Xiu heard this, a look of gratitude suddenly appeared on his face. After getting up from the ground, he immediately spoke.
"Thank you so much Lord Yansheng!"
Kong Shangxian had no intention of chatting with Zeng Xiu. After looking Zeng Xiu up and down, he chose to get straight to the point.
"Aren't your Zeng family busy paying homage to your ancestors recently? Why would you be sent here suddenly at this time?"
"Tell me, what happened?"
When Zeng Xiu heard what Kong Shangxian said, the expression on his face suddenly became extremely ugly. Immediately, he took a deep breath, and after calming down, he told everything about the incident.
"Mr. Yansheng, the thing is like this. Not long ago, our Zeng family paid homage to our ancestors at the Zongsheng Temple in Jiaxiang County. Later..."
After Zeng Xiu's narration, Kong Shangxian finally understood the ins and outs of the matter, and immediately spoke up to confirm with Zeng Xiu.
"You mean, that Hai Rui personally led troops to surround the Zongsheng Temple when your Zeng family was worshiping their ancestors."
"And using the collusion between the Zeng family and the White Lotus Sect as an excuse to take away all the Zeng family members of your Zeng family, headed by Zeng Xian, and the Nanzong branch for interrogation?"
Hearing this, Zeng Xiu nodded firmly and added subconsciously.
"You are right, Mr. Yansheng. That's what happened. Not only that, our clan leader Zeng Hong was so angry that he was bedridden!"
Kong Shangxian couldn't help but narrow his eyes when he heard this. Soon, he came back to his senses and spoke comforting words.
"This Hai Rui really doesn't know how high the sky is. It seems it's time to teach him a lesson!"
"Don't worry, someone from the DPRK will soon take action to impeach Hai Rui!"
(End of chapter)
