As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, Zheng Zhibai picked up a piece of green vegetables and put it into his bowl.
Wei Qiuning and others originally thought Zhou Yi's words were just polite, but they didn't expect Zhou Yi to smile sincerely after Zheng Zhibai took the lead in picking up the food.
"Master Wei and Master Fu, you guys should eat too!"
After repeated urging from Zhou Yi, Wei Qiuning, Fu Tongen and others picked up the dish closest to them.
When Zheng Zhibai put the green vegetable into his mouth, he realized something was different. The green vegetable was crisp and delicious, with a slight salty taste.
In the past, when Zheng Zhibai and the others cooked vegetables at home, they could eat them after boiling them with water. The vegetables had no taste at all.
Zheng Zhibai took a closer look and found that there was still a slight sheen on the green vegetables.
Zheng Zhibai's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he thought to himself: "Have these vegetables been cooked with oil?"
How did Zheng Zhibai know that these Zhouyi dishes were not boiled at all, but stir-fried in an iron pot?
"Luxury, luxury! This Zhou Yi Zhou Xingjian even cooked a plate of vegetables with oil and salt. Living such a luxurious life shows that he is very greedy!"
Zhou Yi didn't expect that just a few simple dishes would make Zheng Zhibai label himself a corrupt official in his heart.
Wei Qiuning and the others were indeed hungry, so after they took the first bite of food, they couldn't stop, showing off one bite after another.
Especially the braised beef with potatoes, whether it was the soft and sweet potatoes or the delicious taste of the beef, Wei Qiuning and the others even wanted to swallow it with their tongues after tasting it.
But at this time, Zheng Zhibai put down his bowl and chopsticks and stopped eating.
"Oh? Master Zheng, why did you stop eating? Is it because the food is not to your liking?"
Zheng Zhibai's expression was cold, with displeasure written all over his face: "Master Zhou lives an extremely luxurious life, but I don't know how many people have to be squeezed in order to get such a meal that even includes vegetables with oil and salt!"
Zheng Zhibai, who was looking at Zhou Yi, thought quietly for a while and thought to himself: "Is it because I put oil and salt in my vegetables that this guy mistakenly thought I was a corrupt official?"
After figuring this out, Zhou Yi quickly explained: "Master Zheng may have misunderstood. This oil is extracted from soybeans grown in Pingjiang and Pingliang counties, and the salt is from a salt lake near Shicheng County." The extracted salt can now produce three thousand kilograms of salt per day."
"As for this beef, they are some cattle that were sacrificed when I used the Fire Bull Formation to defeat the Xiongnu and Khitan coalition forces in Pingjiang County. I hid the beef in an ice cellar and left it to the soldiers and the Yongzhou officials to taste it!"
Zheng Zhibai responded with a cold snort.
"As for what Mr. Zheng said about squeezing the people, oppressing the good, and enriching his own pockets, I am not in charge of such things, and I don't even bother to do them."
Hearing this, Zheng Zhibai finally couldn't bear it anymore. He stood up and pointed angrily at Zhou Yi and said: "Zhou Yi, Zhou Xingjian, originally I thought you were a good official after listening to your poem "Some of my county officials in Caozhou, every branch and leaf is always caring", but I thought you were a good official. I didn’t expect that after you reached a high position, you also forgot your original intention and accepted bribes like Ye Guangming. If I hadn’t seen so many people giving you money at the gate of the prefect’s mansion, we would have been deceived by you!”
After Zhou Yi understood the real reason why Zheng Zhibai treated him coldly, he couldn't help laughing.
Everyone present was confused.
Zhou Yi used a wooden spoon to scoop up a large spoonful of beef and potatoes for Zheng Zhibai, and explained leisurely: "Mr. Zheng, have you ever thought about it, if I am really the kind of person you said, why do I only treat you real people like you?" The honest officials keep them in private rooms, but those who give me money and silver are kept in the hall outside the house?"
Zheng Zhibai was stunned on the spot. He had been sulking at Zhou Yi before and had not considered this issue. Now Zhou Yiyi said that it seems to be the truth.
After Zhou Yi gave Zheng Zhibai a large spoonful of potatoes and beef, he gave other officials another large spoonful.
"This...that...who knows what kind of medicine you are selling in your gourd!" Zheng Zhibai replied without confidence at this moment.
Wei Qiuning, Zheng Zhibai's friend for many years, stood up to smooth things over and said, "Brother Zhibai, there must be something hidden in this. Please listen to Mr. Zhou explain it in detail!"
"Yes, those people outside the house did bring me a lot of silver today, but they were not bribes to me, but stolen goods that I asked them to hand over on their own. Now they have handed over the stolen goods and confessed that they have pledged the paintings. I can deal with them anytime I want."
"However, I don't plan to deal with them now!"
As soon as these words came out, the hot-tempered Zheng Zhibai misunderstood and said: "Since they have all confessed and been imprisoned, why not let the court deal with it? To put it bluntly, it's not that you want to keep the stolen money!"
Wei Qiuning and Fu Tongen on the side quickly pulled Zheng Zhibo to sit down and apologized: "Master Taishou, please don't be offended when Master Zheng makes a mistake because he is tired of traveling and traveling!"
Zhou Yi continued indifferently: "Did you know that the Grand Master Wen has returned home begging for his remains? Now the court is dominated by the old thief Yan Song."
"What? I heard that Grand Master is no longer in the court?"
Although Wei Qiuning and Zheng Zhibai were not officials of the same lineage, they sincerely respected Wen Boyue, the old master.
Zhou Yi nodded and continued: "I can still control these Qingliu officials who handed over the stolen goods. If I report them to the court for disposal, then all the officials who come will be Yan Song's party. Then you think Yongzhou What should the people do?"
After listening to these truly honest officials present, they were all thinking about Zhou Yi's question.
Yes, just after killing a group of wolves, another group of tigers came. Wouldn’t it be worth the loss?
"What I can do now is to hold on to Yongzhou for the people and prevent these official positions from being snatched away by Yan Song and his gang of thieves."
Seeing that no one spoke to refute him, Zhou Yi asked Zheng Zhibai again: "Master Zheng, do you still think that I am still an evil official who exploits the people and squeezes out the good?"
Zheng Zhibai was silent for a while, then shook his head clearly and said: "Master Zhou, this official is short-sighted and has misunderstood you!"
"In that case, adults, please hurry up and eat! Zhou guarantees that every grain of food present is clean!"
After Zheng Zhibai heard this, he picked up the bowl and chopsticks again, picked up a piece of soft potato and put it into his mouth.
The juicy taste of beef has been perfectly blended with the soft and sweet potatoes. After taking a bite, Zheng Zhibai slowly shed a tear from the corner of his eyes.
After taking this bite, Zheng Zhibai put down his bowl and chopsticks again.
