"Give way, everyone, give way..."
In the midst of the angry crowd, the scribe came in with a stack of documents and his head lowered.
Yao Xiaogu bumped into him in front and accidentally caught a glimpse of the object in his hand. He waved to everyone and shouted: "Let this person in! This person is of great use!"
The clerk entered the hall, stepped into the study, bowed to the Suzhou magistrate, and held up the documents.
The inspector saw the magistrate's face looking happy, and thinking in his mind, he put away his sword.
"This is a remonstrance submitted by Kunshan and other counties. I sincerely urge my government to show mercy and give the academy a chance to survive."
The inspector seemed extremely disappointed and remained silent.
The magistrate closed the book and laughed with everyone: "Xia Yuanlong is sensible and specially asked someone to save us face. Secretary Ma, I will ask you to disperse the people and ask their leaders to call the dean of the academy to come to the Yamen for discussion."
"yes."
Ma Shuban took the document and walked out of the yamen. Seeing that Yao Xiaogu and others were still making trouble, he shouted to stop and said with a letter: "Common people, Mr. Futai is not very clear about this matter, but after reading it Only after receiving letters from officials from many places did I realize that the matter was handled too hastily! Li Zhizhong must deal with it again!"
"Is the academy still closed?" someone asked worriedly.
"The last time we withdrew the troops, the matter was over; now we have rushed into the lobby, but since we can make the government correct, the merits and demerits will be equal to each other. If you are still undecided, you can ask your new dean to come out for an interview."
Yao Xiaogu was relieved just now and ordered someone from the academy to hold back his position and go back to find Xia Yuanlong in person.
"Mr. Xia, nice to meet you, nice to meet you." The prefect sat across from him.
"Nice to meet you," Xia Yuanlong said, "Master Futai has investigated the matter thoroughly and begged to reconcile with the academy and absolve the academy of its guilt. After all, it was a good deed done by Li Pheasant. It seems that no one from the academy was involved."
The prefect smiled politely: "Yes, there is no problem for others in your academy. However, Li Zhizhong has just recovered. It is difficult or easier to give orders in a short time. Let me tell you."
Seeing the inspector nodding, Xia Yuanlong suddenly realized something in his heart and said anxiously: "If the official agrees, the people may be restless. I originally came with the intention of protecting the academy, but I don't care much about Dean Li; but The people in the city have been deceived by him, and they are so angry that it is difficult to control them. It will bring disaster to the academy. Then if you don't make any more twists and turns, won't your prestige be further damaged? If you punish Li Zhizhong today, not only will the people hold their foreheads in celebration, but they will also You can also build a reputation, so why not?"
After hearing this, the magistrate brushed his beard and nodded: "Dean Xia is worthy of being a Nanjing minister, and he deserves to be reasonable."
The inspector couldn't help but stepped forward and whispered a few words in his ear, but the prefect shook his head vigorously and whispered to him to leave.
"Someone came and took off Li Zhizhong's official uniform and posted a notice: From now on, the academy will no longer be sealed and Li Zhizhong will be punished according to the original crime."
Xia Yuanlong was sent all the way outside the courtroom by the inspector with such hateful eyes. He was satisfied and exhaled. When he looked back, no one followed him.
"Congratulations to Dean Xia on your return!"
Zhu Che and his colleagues formed a long queue in the front hall and came up together, chatting and laughing to toast Xia Yuanlong, "It's not easy, deputy leader!", "Deputy leader, have a good rest!" A few glasses of wine were drunk.
"You don't need to exaggerate my achievements," he said, feeling that he was not strong enough to drink, pushing away everyone's wine glasses, "it takes a raise of hands, and a raise of hands."
Everyone secretly glanced at each other, but Zhu Che and Song Zhang didn't know it. Yao Xiao didn't see it, so they helped him into the house.
Yao Xiaogu's eyes were flying around, and he caught a glimpse of a scholar behind him grabbing the front of his clothes. When he turned around, the scholar's eyes were glaring, and his eyebrows jumped a few times deliberately.
"Deputy Xia, you still need to work hard in Nanjing. It would be best to leave Suzhou as early as possible." The man boldly suggested to Xia Yuanlong.
Zhu and Song suddenly stopped, glaring with angry eyes, speechless.
Xia Yuanlong slowly tilted his ears and asked after a moment: "What?"
The man felt guilty and took half a step back, but the people behind him pushed him back.
"I don't have any other intentions. I'm just going to travel a long distance and have to work hard. It's quite heartbreaking. I advise you not to stay."
Xia Yuanlong, relying on the strength of his drink, patted his chest vigorously: "I have done my duty all my life, worked hard and never complained. I never dared to mention the word 'hard work'. You guys praise me too much..."
Song Zhang's face turned pale, and he pointed at the scholar and cursed: "What do you mean? Dean Xia is such a person, is it possible that all the princes want to drive him away?"
"This person's intentions are vicious and unreasonable... Of course we all support Dean Xia!" Song Zhang's words indeed forced many people to take a stand.
Xia Yuanlong didn't expect that things would reach this point, and he began to feel regret. This first created a difficult choice: he knew that if he let this person go, there would be resentment in the future, which would undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the academy's reform; if he kicked him out of the academy, it would be too ruthless and he would become authoritarian and domineering. reputation.
He chose not to comment for now.
Zhu Che then said angrily: "I see that when you recommended yourself to post a notice last time, you treated this young man well. Why, have you learned the skills of officials fighting among themselves?"
The man was so criticized that he was speechless. He just stood there pitifully, with his legs nailed there, waiting eagerly for the dean's decision.
"The academy must work together," Xia Yuanlong's eyes suddenly became sharp. "As the dean, I am the leader. Anyone who has questions or opinions can speak freely; but they are not allowed to play tricks behind the scenes or compete for power. You'd better leave, and you'll be removed from the roster."
The man knelt down tremblingly in the cold wind, and Xia Yuanlong left.
"He's still kneeling, Dean Xia." Song Zhang opened the window, his words filled with unbearability.
"Ask someone to take him out, Leng." Xia Yuanlong lit the candle.
"Hey," Zhu Che sighed, "I thought it was just a matter of talking, who would miss you..."
"What did you hear them calling me? It's not 'Dean', it's 'Deputy Leader'."
"This has nothing to do with this matter..."
"Is it irrelevant?" Xia Yuanlong raised his head and saw the color on Yao Xiaogu's face changed, "Mr. Yao, tell me."
"That man was encouraged by others to talk about this matter." Yao Xiaogu looked out the window, and the scholar was already shaking a few times.
"That's right, they are making alliances one after another, waiting for me to get out as soon as possible and choose a local as the dean." Xia Yuanlong sneered, "They see that I am determined to solve the shortcomings here and hinder their freedom, and they hate me. Very hateful."
"But if you want to force me to leave, there is no way. When I leave, I must see an iron-like academy, a place that cannot be struck by lightning or broken by an axe." Xia Yuanlong's eyes widened resolutely.
These three people understood that if Xia Yuanlong wanted to do something, nothing could stop him except himself.
