Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 129

Chapter 129 Six Hundred Bailiffs Arriving This Morning

When Li Xun, Zhang Xiao'bao, and Wang Juan arrived at the place where the wooden houses were built, many people were already busy working.

Zhang Xiao'bao said that he wanted Li Xun to give pointers, but in fact, Li Xun didn't understand anything and could only watch others work. After a while, the people from the Li manor rushed over. Practically everyone in the manor came- men, women, children and elders. Everyone who could work came to help immediately, and those who cannot work watched on the sidelines.

Because Li Xun treated his own manor like how the Zhang and Wang families treated their own manors, every single resident had bright healthy faces and wore uniforms. Compared to the residents of the Zhang and Wang manors, there were no differences.

A lot of people have met each other before at the market. Now that they were working together, they were able to talk amongst each other. Children were more exclusive of others and always had a hostile look in their eyes.

With more people, the working rate was faster. The houses were erected one by one, and the children were running back and forth in the built houses. At one moment, they would poke their head out of one door, and then the next moment, they would show their face at another door. Occasionally, there was some friction between the children of the Zhang and Wang families and the children of the Li family.

Li Xun was still a little dissatisfied with the work speed. There were still some things that were not prepared yet. At noon tomorrow, a meal will be eaten here and then they would leisurely wait for the night to come. At this speed, it seemed a bit unrealistic.

Just when he was about to ask his 200 guards to go help, a group of cavalrymen came over from the small bridge. Seeing this extraordinary arrangement, the 200 guards became nervous and waited until they could see clearly. The people on the horses were all wearing bailiff clothes.

"What's this for? Why have the bailiff all come here?" Li Xun knew that the bailiffs in San'shui County were a little different from those in other places. They were recruited using money, and there were a lot of them. Anywhere in the whole San'shui County, no matter how far away, there would at least be a bailiff patrolling past the area every two hours. This ensured that nothing would happen in the county.

No one dared to do bad things in San'shui County, but why did they all come here today? Are they going to celebrate the New Year together?

When Zhang Xiao'bao saw these bailiffs coming, he felt even more relieved. He said to Li Xun, "Last night, didn't I tell you that there will be something interesting happening? You will get to see it today. There are 600 bailiffs here, and the rest are still patrolling in the county. There are firecrackers, so there's a higher risk for fire accidents. We have to guard against that."

While they were talking, Housekeeper Zhang, who was also waiting here, greeted them. Chen Dong and Song Yang were the leaders of the bailiffs, and Recorder Zhao and Magistrate Assistant Zhang also followed the group here.

"Housekeeper Zhang, everything is proceeding smoothly." Chen Dong said immediately while making a fist and palm salute.

"Good. Thank you everyone. After this incident, the Zhang and Wang families will definitely thank everyone." Housekeeper Zhang was no longer worried. With so many bailiffs, he was not afraid that others would come and cause trouble.

Song Yang dismounted his horse. His face seemed a little unwell, and there was frostbite on his face. He said to Housekeeper Zhang, "Housekeeper Zhang, don't be polite. We all know that our families can live well because we received help from the Zhang and Wang families. This is not a big deal. Anyone who wants to touch the Zhang and Wang families would be obstructing our path."

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"Someone, come. Bring the badger oil1. Bailiff Song got frostbite on his face during the pursuit." Housekeeper Zhang said to the person following him. This person immediately placed a very small jar in Housekeeper Zhang's hands.

Housekeeper Zhang took it, stuffed it into Song Yang's hand, and said, "Song Yang, don't worry, as long as the Zhang family has a bite to eat in the future, they won't let you go hungry. Apply this oil."

Song Yang nodded and didn't say anything even though he knew that this small jar of badger oil would cost more than ten strings of coins.

Li Xun watched Housekeeper Zhang arrange people to enter the built houses to warm up and eat. "Xiao'bao, tell me the truth, is there something wrong?" Li Xun asked Zhang Xiao'bao, who was standing beside him.

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't want to keep things a secret anymore, "It's a small matter. Do you know the new Magistrate Jia? He always wants to take my family's things, including those money-making recipes. His goal for coming to to the San'shui County is to earn a fortune.

My father has already tried to warn him once, and he has given him a lot of benefits. There is no money at the Administrative Office because we're afraid that he will take it away.

But when he saw that he was running out of money, he set his eyes on my family, the wharf at Little Luo'shui, and the land owned by my family. The bailiffs in the county are protecting my family, so he couldn't do anything to us. Were you aware of this? "

"Yes. The bailiffs act like they are raised by your family. If your family hadn't done so many things for the people of San'shui County and offered gifts to the higher ups, my father would really have to think about what to do about your family. Your family is really mystical. You bought a rugged mountain and turned it into a wharf, and you farmed land and sold seeds.

You can make money using just anything. How will there not be people who are jealous? What, the Magistrate Jia's first plan failed, so he came up with another plan? He plans to take action on your family? "

Li Xun's face turned slightly red when he heard Zhang Xiao'bao say that someone was preying on his family. At the beginning, Li Xun had the same thoughts too, but after interacting more with them, he discovered that the Zhang and Wang families did not have any evil ambitions and knew how to conduct themselves. They also made the San'shui County that was once not so good become a lot more prosperous.

When dealing with other people who came to cause trouble, they always took a step back, and then counterattacked when there was no other choice. Of course, these counter attacks were a bit strong. Everything is calm if they don't move, but once they move, it will be like a thunderbolt. They beat the offenders again and again, and it is precisely because of this, his father told him not to carelessly touch this manor.

He told Li Xun to find a way to win them over and try to find the person who is giving instructions in the back. Li Cheng was sent out, and everyday, he played games with the person who might be the mastermind. He became more smart and clever, but unfortunately, he only learned about arithmetic and some ordinary little things.

This was not right. What should be learned should be the ability to think and plan ahead, to strategize from remote locations, and to come up with fool proof plans.

Because of this, he never stopped coming into contact with them, especially the two children, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, who were smart. It must be that the mastermind did not give his all when dealing with Li Cheng, and instead taught Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan his skills.

Because of this, his father permitted the two Zhang and Wang manors to do these things and hoped that Li Xun would have more contact with the people of the Zhang manor, and eventually learn something useful from the mastermind.

Who was the easiest to reach out to? Of course, it was Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan. No matter how the wilderness survival event ended up, it really made him more determined and allowed him to understand a lot of things. In his father's opinion, this was a way for the mastermind to use Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan's mouths to teach Li Xun.

It was also for this reason that he was allowed to return to the Tu'qiao Village during the New Year.

While Li Xun was lost in his own thoughts, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were mouthing words to each other.

"A big tree attracts the wind, Xiao'bao." Wang Juan sighed.

"Small trees will not attract the wind, but there will always be people who will step on it. Unless you are not a part of this society, as long as you are still there, you must interact with people and it's impossible to avoid conflicts. Are normal commoners really that stable?"

Zhang Xiao'bao's thoughts were more thorough. If they develop further, people will scheme against them, but if they don't develop and remain quiet, people from a different level will be schemed. He would rather use a large amount of his effort to go in circles with those people instead of swallowing his voice along with other commoners. At least now he didn't have to worry about the commoners now.

Wang Juan also understands this truth. Not just here, but even at the beginning, nothing happened to some murderers. Especially if the murder victims were ordinary commoners. In some people's eyes, life can be measured by money.

"That's right, then we have to get along well with the Emperor's nephew and his father in the future. We can send some money. That Li Long'ji won't object, right?"

"No, absolutely not. He is looking at how many troops these brothers and their families have, and what officials they come in contact with. As for money, he would like to let his brothers embezzle more. As long as they don't get too involved with politics, nothing will happen."

Zhang Xiao'bao has a good grasp of this aspect, and ordinary people would think the same too

When the two were talking, Li Xun finished thinking and said to Zhang Xiao'bao, "Tell me what Jia Shan is going to do this time, and I will help you. I was scolded by my father last time. Why didn't he drown to death."

"He wants the people from another prefecture to arrest us. We were granted four thousand mu of land and my family and the Wang family occupied four thousand mu of land. However, with the mountains, it's six thousand mu. We didn't occupy the remaining two thousand mu. Magistrate Jia secretly rewrote a copy of the documents we sent, and changed the size of the land.

He let his son take the document with him, and went to the border of San'shui County and Hua'yuan County. He went there himself too, and he sent away all the bailiffs who followed him. Fortunately, the carriage we made for him has a secret compartment at the bottom. There are two people hidden there, and later Song Yang went back after he found a horse. Under the guidance of the two people, he chased after them, and only then did he find out that Magistrate Jia was in contact with the people of Han Manor and Yuan Manor.

There may be a lot of people coming this time. He deliberately wrote a fake letter, and before leaving, he asked the bailiff to gather at Little Luo'shui. No matter which one, the bailiffs will be all sent away. At my manor, there is no one else apart from the residents.

Last night, Bailiff Song came over to tell us, and then went back overnight. Now all 600 people from the bailiff have arrived here. My father is afraid that they will rush over and arrest us and the Wang family."

Zhang Xiao'bao told Li Xun the whole story. At the beginning, Li Xun didn't think much of it, thinking that Magistrate Jia used a small trick, but when Zhang Xiao'bao said that Magistrate Jia had colluded with people from other prefectures and counties to arrest people, his face changed immediately.

"How dare they. How is this arresting you? They are obviously bullying me and my father. Great, great. No wonder you asked me how many men I brought. Don't worry. Even I, a prince, don't bring a single person with me, what can he do? Does he want to rebel now? Xiao'bao, I'll help your family. Who's fault is it that he wants to embezzle money. Let's see if he can keep his life." Li Xun said with a sullen face.

1. Badger oil

Badger oil is made from the fat of Chinese ferret-badgers.