"Who just chopped off my butler's hand?"

Zhu Yunwen walked into the courtyard, glanced at the plump Master Zhang, and snorted, saying:

"It's me!"

Master Zhang stared at Zhu Yunwen and said:

"Who are you? Do you know who I am? How dare you order your servants to cut off my steward's hand? Kid, if you don't give me an explanation today, I'll make you regret it."

Zhu Yunwen snorted and said, "How arrogant you are! With that tone, anyone who didn't know better would think you were a high-ranking official in the court."

Master Zhang laughed heartily and said:

"Boy, don't you know what my status and identity are in the surrounding villages? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I'm the local tyrant. You're an outsider, yet you dare to provoke me, meddle in my affairs, and even injure my steward? I think you're tired of living."

After saying that, he didn't want to waste any more words, so he waved his hand at the twenty or thirty burly men behind him and said:

"Give these guys a good beating, beat them half to death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a group of burly men wielding sticks rushed into the courtyard and charged towards the ten Imperial Guard commanders and Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen was so angry he laughed, then put his hands behind his back, ready to watch the show.

After the twenty or thirty burly men rushed into the courtyard, they barely had time to raise their sticks before the ten Imperial Guards commanders rushed forward and subjected them to a brutal beating.

In just a few breaths, the twenty or thirty burly men were lying in the courtyard, groaning in pain with bruises and swelling on their faces.

The expression on Master Zhang's face immediately changed outside the courtyard.

He never expected that the twenty or thirty strong men he brought would be taken down by ten of the other side in the blink of an eye.

This made him somewhat flustered, and he looked at Zhu Yunwen and said:

"Boy, who exactly are you?"

Master Zhang wasn't stupid. If Zhu Yunwen's subordinates were so capable, could Zhu Yunwen be an ordinary person?

But then Zhu Yunwen spoke:

"You'd better not ask who I am; it won't do you any good if you find out. I'm just giving you a few warnings now."

First, from this moment on, immediately stop exploiting the people in the surrounding villages, otherwise you will bring disaster upon yourself sooner or later, and even lose your life.

Second, from this day forward, if you dare to use any means to retaliate against this family, and I find out, I will lead men to storm your mansion and tear you to pieces.

The old man's face was rather unpleasant; clearly, he was somewhat resentful, and he said fiercely:

"What gives you the right to threaten and lecture me here?"

Zhu Yunwen was too lazy to waste words, so he gave a wink to a Jinyiwei centurion.

The Imperial Guard commander stepped forward, took out his commander's token from his person, and held it up in front of Master Zhang.

Master Zhang narrowed his eyes, looked at it carefully, and then suddenly widened his eyes, his body trembling slightly.

And the next moment, his legs buckled and he knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the Jinyiwei centurion and saying:

"I was blind and ignorant, please forgive me, sir."

The commander of the Imperial Guard put away his commander's token.

There are many types of "hundred households". In the general military organization of the Ming Dynasty, the person who manages a hundred people can be called a "hundred household".

A household that manages a thousand people is a thousand households.

Among the many centurions, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were the most prestigious.

After all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was a special group with great power, which made many officials in the court wary of them.

Master Zhang only saw the words "Hundred-Household Officer" on one side of the token, but not the words "Imperial Guard" on the other side.

If he knew that the person standing in front of him was not just a centurion, but a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he would probably wet himself on the spot.

But even though they were just ordinary centurions, they were definitely not people that a mere landlord could afford to offend.

At least he knew in his heart that Zhu Yunwen, who could command these centurions, must have a higher status.

At this moment, Zhu Yunwen slowly walked forward, looked at Master Zhang kneeling on the ground, and said:

"Now, tell me, have you listened to anything I said before?"

Master Zhang quickly kowtowed several times on the ground and said to Zhu Yunwen:

"I understand, I understand! From this day forward, I will never again oppress the people around me, nor will I ever retaliate against the Zhou Dashan family. Please rest assured, sir!"

Zhu Yunwen nodded in satisfaction. He wasn't in a hurry to deal with Master Zhang, as he didn't want to reveal his identity too much right now.

If we deal with this old man, things will escalate.

At the very least, an explanation must be given to the local government; otherwise, it will only cause trouble for the local people.

Of course, this was not the end of the matter. When Zhu Yunwen thoroughly implemented land reform, it marked the beginning of a nightmare for these scholar-officials and wealthy landlords.