The wooden door creaked, and Xia Yuanlong stood up with bright eyes.
A group of people walked in outside the door, two or three officials, wearing formal clothes, looking at him suspiciously.
"Who are you?" one of the older ones asked.
"I, I am Xia Yuanlong, the deputy leader of the Nanjing Alliance..." Xia Yuanlong's eyes seemed to be shining with golden light, and he was trembling as he spoke.
After hearing this, those few people all cried with joy and clapped their foreheads in celebration. They quickly and eagerly pulled Xia Yuanlong to sit down and talked about the sufferings of Suzhou these days.
Xia Yuanlong saw that they were so excited that they couldn't even finish a sentence. They just looked at him, suppressed the joy in his heart, and signaled them to calm down: "Time is not waiting for us, the prefect is probably coming. Don't panic, start with your names."
"Okay, okay." The older man pointed to himself, "I am Song Zhang, the governor of Experience Division." He pointed to the two people again, "He is Yao Xiaogu, a professor in Suzhou Prefecture; that is Zhu Che , has no official salary, but is respected by his reputation."
"Are you going to save Dean Li?"
Zhu Che had a look of resentment on his face: "Xia Gong is far away in Nanjing and does not know the power of Suzhou. This Li Zhizhong pursues personal gain and is arbitrary. Who in the academy does not hate him? If Nanjing's intention is this, I am afraid people will be divided."
Seeing the expressions of the two men, Yuan Long also agreed, so he smiled and said: "Brother, I misunderstood. I just asked you with words, and I never meant it."
Yao Xiaogu went on to say: "The plan now is to meet with the prefect first and try not to limit the time of seizure so tightly, leaving some time to win over various ministries and yamen. Especially Brother Song is a scholar in the province. Disciple, if you can win the sympathy of the academic administration, Suzhou will definitely not dare to take action."
The other two people agreed.
At this time, Secretary Ma suddenly came out of the study room opposite and ran towards the door - this meant that the prefect was about to arrive at the Yamen.
Seeing that time was running out, although this method was not the best, it was still feasible, but Xia Yuanlong did not make an answer yet.
Yao Xiaogu winked at Governor Song, obviously uneasy about the level of the deputy leader.
"Everyone," Xia Yuanlong raised his head hesitantly, "I think the academy is in a critical condition. If it is allowed to drag on, although the government cannot seal it immediately, we will not be able to enter the academy, and therefore we will not be able to handle the affairs of the academy. Everyone Seeing that the situation is unfavorable and the seizure is a foregone conclusion, we must remain silent. Who will fight for the various ministries and yamen for us? As a provincial official, even if the governor has such a relationship, I am afraid that he will not be willing to step down to support himself and cause himself a lot of trouble. . If the province is really involved, then we will not be in charge."
"So this matter must be resolved today without delay. In this way, I will first go to see the prefect. After coming out, two officials, Governor Song and Mr. Yao, go in to discuss it. Mr. Zhu and I will take the opportunity to go out and go directly to the academy. Then gather everyone together to stabilize the situation as soon as possible."
After hearing this, Song and Zhu both bowed their hands in admiration and called it true knowledge and insights; only Yao Xiaogu was unhappy and reluctantly praised it.
"Brother Li, the prefect is here."
Ma Shuban knocked on the door.
Xia Yuanlong hurriedly ordered the three of them to be silent. When he walked to the door, he bowed and said to Ma Shuban, "Please lead the way."
Shuban Ma nodded impatiently, and while walking with him, he pointed to the study and said, "The prefect is over there. When you go in, don't be nervous. Speak eloquently, don't ramble, and speak concisely." , never let the prefect do evil. Do you know that?"
"I understand."
Ma Shuban walked to the door and coughed: "Sir, Li Pheasant's brother is waiting here."
"bring it here."
Secretary Ma opened the door and Xia Yuanlong went in. He saw the prefect, who had white beard and hair and a horse face, calmly approving official documents.
The two of them knelt down and kowtowed, and then he turned around, wrote and asked, "What do you have to ask for here? Since Ma Shuban is interceding on your behalf, I will consider it."
Xia Yuanlong bowed and said, "Sir, the younger brother of Cao Min is Li Zhizhong, the president of Sihe Academy. He made some mistakes in moving money and accidentally committed the crime of embezzlement. It was not intended and his term should have been reduced. However, if the academy is closed down, I may be in trouble again." If you don't commit the crime, you will be punished and punished, and you will suffer unjust injustice. I would like to ask you, sir, not to involve my brother in the affairs of the academy. I am willing to go through fire and water, and I will do it for you!"
After he finished speaking, he forced himself to make his eyes red and burst into tears, looking very miserable.
The prefect sighed and asked Secretary Ma: "If the academy is to be closed down, what is Li Zhizhong's crime?"
Secretary Ma bowed his head and replied: "As the dean, Li Zhizhong should be named as the culprit and guilty of neglect of duty."
"Then you should write an official document and instruct the people below not to involve Li Zhizhong, and only go to seal the academy."
Ma Shuban immediately accepted the order.
"Thank you, Master Magistrate..."
Xia Yuanlong came out with tears and runny noses. He glanced at Ma's secretary secretly and saw that although he was trying to comfort him with kind words, he was a little absent-minded.
"Brother Li, I didn't expect you to actually get on the stage..." Shuban Ma's tone didn't sound like a compliment, but more like a test.
Xia Yuanlong suddenly panicked, and then he realized that he had missed this step.
He had no choice but to explain it away with lies: "I have served as a lecturer in the county and have met the county master. Naturally, I don't need to be nervous in front of the county master..."
"This is best." Shuban Ma didn't worry too much.
Yuan Long became suspicious when he saw Ma Shuban, and felt that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so he smiled and said: "Ma Shuban, I have to visit my brother again and give you good news. I won't stay with you anymore, so I say goodbye!"
When Ma Shuban saw him leaving in a hurry, he turned around. Suddenly, a government official came to his ear and said, "I don't think this man's words are right. He is still walking in such a hurry. There must be something wrong in his mind. The secretariat just sends people to follow his movements." See if there are any fabricated lies in his mouth.”
Shuban Ma pondered for several times and clasped his hands behind his back: "That's not appropriate, that's not appropriate." He just shook his head and went back to the study.
When Xia Yuanlong saw Governor Song, he quickly grabbed his hand and told him, "The governor and Mr. Yao are going to the study room. The first thing is to hold the magistrate back. Wait for the good news about me and Mr. Zhu!"
Song Zhang nodded repeatedly and said to Zhu Che: "Mr. Zhu, please don't cause trouble and obey Duke Xia's opinion in everything."
Xia Yuanlong saw that Song Zhang, the oldest, supported him so much, so he didn't need to worry about those two people. The four of them walked to the door, said goodbye, and went their separate ways.
It was already late, and people began to gather outside the academy. The patrolman beside the wall urged his officers and soldiers to wrap up the entire academy like iron barrels and monitor the surrounding situation.
Before he was careful, Xia Yuanlong and Zhu Che were getting closer and closer.
"Who!?" The moment he turned around, he let out a stern shout.
Zhu Che looked at him with cold eyes: "I'm Zhu Che."
The inspector drew his sword and glared.
Zhu Che still showed no fear and walked up swaggeringly. Facing the cold light of the sword tip, he sneered: "If the inspector is from Suzhou, he will not recognize my face."
