"Master in charge, since you have no other instructions, I will set off soon." The clerk put down the kettle, wiped his hands immediately, and turned around to report to Wan Yuzhi.
Yu Zhi looked at the burning flames in the brazier, lowered his eyebrows, and waved his hands: "Wait a minute, I changed my mind. There is no need for the Zhu family to search. Let's get people to withdraw all Runing's soldiers."
"What?" The clerk was shocked, but thinking of the letter that was burned just now, he immediately reacted and replied with a smile: "I'll do it now."
During this period, Zhu Yangrui had been hiding in Queshan, trying to find out about his family, but there was no news. Just when he was at a loss what to do, he suddenly received a letter from home, knowing that Wan Yuzhi had withdrawn his soldiers and received an arrest order, so he was very happy and ordered his servants to pack their bags and plan to return to Runing.
"Brother Xianshi! There's a new situation. It seems you can't leave yet."
Zhu Yangrui looked back and saw that the county magistrate was rushing in from outside the door. His expression suddenly changed, he pulled out a chair and asked him to sit down, and asked why.
The county magistrate sat down and sighed: "A messenger has arrived from Xinyang and said that he wants to ask you to discuss confidential matters. It seems... there is no reason to refuse."
Zhu Yangrui's solemn expression gradually softened and he smiled softly: "What big deal do I think it is? Why should I worry about this? He has already withdrawn his troops and won't do anything to me."
The county magistrate was still worried: "But all the evidence found in the search is in the hands of Wan. Isn't it just a matter of his words to arrest people?"
Zhu Yangrui shook his head: "If they had the idea of arresting people, they would have done it long ago. Bringing up negotiations now only shows that they dare not."
"That's right," the county magistrate nodded, "it seems like Ye Dang is really not that powerful, but he still has some worries."
Yang Rui said: "You realize this too late. Ye Yongjia's black gauze hat was also given to him by the emperor. How can he make the decision in everything? Otherwise he has to follow the rules honestly."
Wan Yuzhi had just lit the second stick of incense on the silver stove when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the window. He quickly blew out the fire, put the stove into the drawer, and while adjusting his clothes, shouted: "Come in."
As soon as the door opened, Zhu Yangrui was brought in by two clerks, bowed to Yu Zhi, saluted, and sat down after greetings.
"Squire Zhu, I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding a few days ago," Wan Yuzhi said, winking at the clerks, and they quickly retreated and closed the door tightly, "I didn't want to be so rude. , But the superiors have their destiny."
"Have you heard? The imperial court has repealed the previous ban and asked me to continue to inspect the fields."
Zhu Yangrui looked at him for a long time before replying: "A little... I heard a little bit."
"Actually, I'm in a lot of trouble," Wan Yuzhi walked to him and sat down. "Master Ye was only thinking about the New Deal and didn't consider the difficulties of implementation at all. He even left the previous arrest document and said that if I didn't take action, I would I will send someone directly to escort you to the capital. But I know that you are famous and powerful in this province. If you use violence to solve the problem, it will only cause chaos."
"I deeply sympathize with your Lordship's experience." Although Zhu Yangrui said this, his expression did not waver at all.
Wan Yuzhi then approached him and said: "So I want to take this opportunity to discuss something with you privately: when you go back, return all the annexed school fields first, so that I can report it to my superiors again, and I can say that you never occupied it." There is no suspicion of illegality in the land, so this matter can be settled and no one will investigate further. What do you think?"
Zhu Yangrui didn't want to believe all his words. He pinched his beard and thought to himself: "Although I don't know much about the Ye Party, the fact that Ye Yongjia can entrust him with such an important job is enough to prove that this person is a loyal confidant." . Furthermore, he can always communicate with Beijing. This may be a trick of the Ye Party...'
He planned to hide some of it, and replied cautiously: "The grassroots have worked hard all their lives, and have kept their ancestral property for generations, and don't want to suffer such a disaster. Fortunately, the Lord came to rescue me, and I can't thank you enough! However, although the grassroots have usurped a few acres of other people's land, the public I would never dare to touch our fields, and the Xuedian field has indeed been donated.”
Wan Yuzhi's face sank: "Squire Zhu, you've reached this point, what are you holding on for? Only by admitting it honestly can I save the lives of dozens of your family members!"
Zhu Yangrui cupped his hands and said: "In the conscience of heaven and earth, ordinary people have never done such a thing. If you ask for it, I can only hand over the annexed private land."
After hearing this, Yu Zhi was about to get up and get angry, but then he thought: 'If he agrees to quit the field, won't it be done? No matter what it is, public or private! He calmed down his emotions a little and asked Yang Rui: "How much can you hand over?"
Yang Rui replied with a flattering smile: "I don't know the specific number. I will have to check it out slowly after I return home. I will know by then."
He did not dare to cheat, so he agreed and ordered his confidants to escort him out of the city. He also warned: "Squire Zhu is my distinguished guest. If you come to Runing, you should inform the local soldiers and do not bully his mansion." Master, otherwise the military law will be questioned." The petty official followed the order and left.
Zhu Yangrui was a sophisticated man, so how could he take Wan Yuzhi's falsehood seriously? As soon as he returned to the mansion, he summoned many minions and asked them to find the documents and lawsuits from previous years and burn them all if they were not beneficial to him; he was also afraid that the Ye Party would do something wrong in the future. After conducting an investigation, he took advantage of the situation to ease and tried every possible means to please the Forbidden Army stationed there. After doing everything possible, he approached a certain officer and asked him to help him forge several fish scale atlases and secretly send them to the government for preparation. unexpected.
"Report to the master in charge," the clerk held a document and walked into Wan Yuzhi's office with his head lowered. "I just came back from Runing. This is the number of acres of farmland that Zhu Yangrui handed over. Please take a look at it."
"What's so interesting about this?" Wan Yuzhi smiled softly, "It's not all that number. Just tell me."
The clerk frowned, glanced at him uneasily a few more times, and then replied in a low voice: "He... only retreated twenty acres."
"How many? How much? Louder!" Wan Yuzhi leaned forward anxiously, sweat dripping down his face.
"Twenty acres."
"Twenty acres?" Wan Yuzhideng stood up from his chair, slapped his hand on the table, and became furious, "Ask him, what did he say!"
The clerk was obedient: "He said that after checking the records for nearly twenty years, these are the few fields that were annexed."
"This old beast has tricked us all!" Wan Yuzhi was trembling with anger.
"Otherwise, I'll be tough and confiscate the Zhu family's property and throw him into prison!"
But Wan Yuzhi sighed heavily: "Why didn't I want to do this! It's just a matter of Xuetian, and it also involves many officials. There are too many people offended. It is not a good idea to arrest them directly. How about this, I will go to Runing in person and question Zhu Yangrui made some observations while observing the situation and walking with his camera."
