Chapter 209 A tough bone to chew

After Lu Zhaoshi made a desperate move and reported to the special envoy Wei Shutong and the court envoy Feng Xu, he felt relieved.

Without waiting, he summoned officials from the state government and arranged for capable personnel to form groups and lead teams to various counties.

First, all land transactions were stopped, and then spring plowing and planting preparations were supervised in all villages and towns.

Wang Yannian led people to various counties to clean up the administration, rectify various chaos, and correct unjust, false and wrong cases.

The action was carried out at lightning speed and was rolled out across the state with great momentum before the end of the year.

The county magistrates who had helped sell the land and profited from it years ago were very dissatisfied. Some of them openly resisted the working group, while others secretly tried to hinder it.

However, they could not stop the determination and actions of the provincial government, so they all complained to the imperial envoy.

The working group posted notices to widely announce the cessation of land transactions, and then went to the countryside to supervise spring plowing to ensure that both rice crops were planted this year.

Su Bucheng was brought by Lu Zhaoshi to help deal with and resolve the conflicts and problems arising from this land transaction.

They were betting that the imperial court would take action. Even if it didn't in the end, they had tried their best and had a clear conscience.

County Magistrate Hu acted quickly. After sending Su Bucheng away, he notified people from all villages and strongholds to come and learn how to open mountains and build roads. He also informed all villages and strongholds that private sale of land was not allowed.

A group of passionate and ambitious low-level officials worked together to do something crazy.

No one knew how things would turn out, but he was so passionate that he gambled his career, just to ensure that the farmers had land to farm and that the fertile land in Lingnan would not be swallowed up.

Back to Huanggou Village, Su Ying went back to hold a meeting with the village elders and told them about the wealthy families coming to buy the land.

"It seems that there is famine somewhere again!" Old man Yang said after a little thought.

"Well, I think the famine is quite severe, otherwise those people would not have come to Lingnan regardless of the miasma!" said Old Man Zheng, stroking his beard.

The other village elders also expressed deep agreement, and were not even surprised.

"How did you deduce that?" Su Ying was surprised.

I only thought about the wealthy and powerful families' greed for two crops of rice, and never thought about this problem.

As expected, the court does not keep idle people. Their abilities may not be that great, but they have the ability to see the big picture from the small details and to know the coming from a single leaf.

"You'll know after seeing so much!" Old Zheng pretended to be profound.

Old man Yang glanced at him and sneered in his heart, aren't these the tricks you five surnames and seven families often use?

In the past, he had to deal with many problems. On the one hand, he was trying his best to raise food for disaster relief, and on the other hand, he had to compete with the wealthy families to buy food before them.

The more active the families are, the more serious the disaster is. I wonder which area will be affected this time?

No matter how terrible the flood is outside, no matter who comes to Huanggou Village, they will not sell their fields.

With Su Bucheng away, Old Man Yang's workload has become much heavier. There is still some time before spring plowing, so it would be better for all the men, women, and children in the village to work together to repair the road.

Su Laoer and Yang Dalang led people to repair from the other end, and sent a message to Jinfeng Village by the way, saying that someone would come to buy land recently, so don't be fooled.

When Jinfeng Village learned that Huanggou Village was in a hurry to build a road, everyone who could come from the village came, and the road was built at a very fast speed.

Su Laoer discussed with Yang Dalang, and Yang Dalang led people to build the road, while Su Laoer and Ah Hei went to survey the road to Jinfengzhai.

Watching Su Laoer survey the road, the people of Jinfengzhai were full of energy. By this time next year, they would also have a wide and flat road.

Ade was even more enthusiastic. Despite his age, he personally took Su Laoer back and forth on the road to Jinfengzhai to discuss the best route.

"Da da da..." Several horses ran towards Huanggou Village along the newly built road.

Lu Jie looked at the new, solid and spacious road and felt confused.

Isn't it called Huanggou Village? How come it's better than the official road? Could it be that someone's tricked me?

Halfway through the journey, we saw a large group of Han and Li people building a road, some were ramming the earth, some were setting up formwork, and some were mixing mortar.

When they heard the sound of horse hooves, they stopped what they were doing and looked at the few people curiously.

"Hey, is that Huanggou Village ahead?" one of them asked, looking down on others arrogantly.

The villagers were silent. How rude! Hey, hey, hey, who are you talking to?

Even the governor was humble and polite when he came, so what are these people?

"Hey, are you deaf or dumb? I'm asking you a question!" Seeing that no one paid attention to him, the man reined in his horse and came to the leader Yang Dalang.

Yang Dalang asked, "Who are you asking?"

"I'm asking you! A bunch of untouchables! It's really a barbaric place. You don't understand human language!" The man said with disdain, "Isn't that Huanggou Village ahead?"

Hoo! A bunch of dogs, running here to act like they're in charge! Dogs who rely on the power of others!

Yang Dalang cursed in his heart, ignored these bastards, and directed everyone to continue working.

"Snap!" A whip came.

Yang Dalang's two coats were torn, revealing cracks from the whip.

"You blind dog! I'm asking you a question!" The man's face was ferocious.

"What are you doing!" Yang Dalang grabbed the whip that the man was about to whip him with.

The villagers surrounded him and asked, "Who are you? You've come to our Huanggou Village to cause trouble!"

"This is a rebellion! You guys dare to attack us. The government will definitely arrest you!" The man was still arrogant.

"Beat him!" The villagers present didn't hear anything. They dragged the man off his horse and beat him up.

Who wasn't a dandy back then? Those dog slaves who boss people around are so arrogant. If they don't teach them a lesson, they'll think they're somebody!

The villagers surrounded Lu Jie and the others and beat them up, and then they heard Hou San's screams from the crowd, "Ouch, ouch!"

"Stop!" Lu Jie shouted!

The villagers stopped, and Hou San, with a bruised face and nose, ran out, "Manager Lu, these untouchables are too arrogant, they must be punished!"

"Shut up!" Lu Jie scolded Hou San.

He forced a smile and bowed, saying, "I'm sorry, everyone. I don't know the rules and I'm sorry for the offense! Is this Huanggou Village?"

"Why didn't you say so earlier? There's no need to be so unhappy." Yang Dalang asked, "Excuse me, sir, where are you from, and what brings you to Huanggou Village?"

"Well, I'm a businessman who travels all over the country. I heard that the vermicelli made in Huanggou Village is good, so I came here to take a look." Lu Jie made up an excuse.

Lu Zhaoshi met with great rebuff, so Lu Jie led his men to various counties, bribed the county magistrates, and used a combination of deception to acquire some fertile land.

Even without Lu Zhao, he could still buy a lot of good farmland! He spent a little money to drag the county magistrate into the water.

With the help of these county magistrates, it is much cheaper than buying land. As long as you like it, you can take it.

Most of it is handed over to the family, and a small portion is kept in one's own pocket.

With the Lu family's big signboard blocking him, who dares to do anything to him?

Knowing that Wu County was the source, Lu Jie followed the clues to find it.

He used the same trick again to drag the county magistrate into the water, but he was rejected several times when he asked for an audience. He also threw away the gifts he gave him, making it clear that he did not want to make friends with him.

I had already liked several pieces of land, agreed on the price, and paid the deposit, but for some unknown reason I changed my mind.

People in the county say that vermicelli was first made in Huanggou Village, and the method of fertilizing the fields was also spread from there. Now the best paddy fields in Wu County are in Huanggou Village.

So he brought his men to Huanggou Village, and he wanted to take over Huanggou Village.

These villagers actually dared to beat him up. He was simply fed up with living, but he was outnumbered and powerless at the moment, so he had to endure it for the time being.

I have been in Wu County for many days but haven't taken over a single piece of land. It seems that Wu County is not an easy place to go and it is a tough nut to crack!