Chapter 364 Don’t Go Your Own Way

"What are you talking about?" Wang Yannian came in with County Magistrate Hu, Su Ying, Ade and a group of Li people.

"Who are you?" Wang Duanfang saw the three people in the lead. The one who spoke was an eighth-rank official wearing a dark blue brass official robe.

Another person was wearing a seventh-rank official robe with a light green silver belt, and there was also a girl, in her teens, wearing a light green official robe with a brass belt.

"Wang Yannian, the recorder and military officer of Wuzhou!" Wang Yannian bowed.

"Wu County Magistrate Hu Sansi!" "Shaofu Supervisor of Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, Lingnan Brocade Manager Su Ying!" Magistrate Hu and Su Ying bowed.

Wang Duanfang looked at the three people back and forth, and they came with bad intentions!

The small people from Jinfeng Village are really powerful. They collude with so many forces to support themselves!

"So you're the military recorder. How disrespectful! How disrespectful!"

Wang Duanfang forced a smile and greeted them warmly, ignoring County Magistrate Hu and Su Ying.

The rank of a registrar is lower than that of a county magistrate, but he is in charge of the evaluation of all officials in the entire state, and no one will be stubborn enough to challenge him.

As for the magistrate of Wu County, Wang Duanfang did not take him seriously because he came from a poor family with no roots or foundation.

Su Ying? Isn't she the woman whose engagement with Minister Lu was cancelled? The Minister's wife had made such a fuss because she didn't want her second son to marry her.

Unexpectedly, being exiled to Lingnan allowed her to become an official. I wonder what kind of luck she had?

Wang Duanfang sneered in his heart, thinking that he was great just because he was an official, and that he was a top figure!

Come here to support the Li people, wait for a secret letter from this official, and tell all of you Su family to go to Danzhou! Wuzhou is still close!

"County Magistrate Wang, I have a question for you. Jinfengzhai was ordered to open a sugar factory in Rong County. Why did you order people to kill the Li people and rob them of their money?"

Wang Yannian did not exchange pleasantries with Wang Duanfang and questioned him directly.

"Ordering people to kill the Li people and rob their money?" Wang Duanfang looked confused. "I haven't heard of that. How did you know that, sir? I know nothing!"

"Hmph! You're pretending!" Ade said angrily.

Seeing the slightly narrowed eyes and calculating look of this dog official, Ade got angry!

It’s more fun to fight and kill. There’s nothing much to say about this kind of crooked official!

"How dare you! Who are you? How dare you be rude to me!" Wang Duanfang scolded.

"Who is he? It's the bandit leader you sent to arrest! I'm Weade! Come and catch him if you dare! You bastard!"

Ade got angry and cursed at Wang Duanfang.

"How dare you yell at me!" Wang Duanfang was furious. "Come here, take down this bandit leader!"

"Pah!" Wang Yannian put down the teacup heavily and said coldly, "County Magistrate Wang, what an imposing authority!"

When the bailiffs walked to the door, Niu Er and several others were standing at the door with swords in their hands. They were tall and strong, and looked very imposing.

The Rong County yamen runners were embarrassed and didn't dare to go near.

Huang San took away most of the staff from the county government, and there were only a few people at home, so he would not be able to win if he took action.

"Sir, are you going to protect and condone these bandits?" Wang Duanfang was not wrong at all.

Not offending the military clerk does not mean that you are afraid of him. You have already prepared the plan to accuse him.

The Li bandits colluded with many officials from the provincial government and Wu County, worked together to bully the market and monopolize the sugarcane market.

The people of other counties are living in poverty, the county government is in financial distress, the Li people are making a fortune, and the officials of Wu County and the state government are enriching themselves! What a nest of termites!

Fortunately, Wang Duanfang was upright and refused to go along with the corrupt officials. He fought back, captured the bandits, and seized a huge amount of bandit funds!

The mastermind is Wei Ade, the leader of the Jinfengzhai Li people, and his accomplices are Lu Zhaoshi, Wang Yannian, County Magistrate Hu, and the Su family!

Well, that's great. I'll sweep away all the people I dislike at once.

"Shelter? Hahaha!" Wang Yannian laughed out loud.

"You are right, I am going to protect the people from Jinfeng Village!

They were law-abiding, so what was wrong with that? They were opening sugar factories in various counties at the invitation of the provincial government.

It makes it convenient for villagers to sell sugarcane, allowing people to earn money after a year of hard work. The price is fair and it benefits the people. What's wrong with that?

The county governments collected high profits and taxes to alleviate the plight of the household officials. This benefited the country and the county. What was wrong with it?

How did he come to your Rong County, get beaten, killed, robbed of his money, and become a bandit?

"Is County Magistrate Wang trying to rob and enrich himself by this? Isn't he afraid of the people rebelling against him?" Wang Yannian angrily scolded.

"Sir, do not be misled by the common people or those with ulterior motives!

As we are all descendants of the Wang family, I remind you, the military officer, not to confuse right and wrong and go along with the corrupt, otherwise…"

Wang Duanfang looked at Wang Yannian steadily.

"What else?" Wang Yannian smiled faintly.

"It's nothing more than Magistrate Wang having connections in the court who can get his way. He waved his pen and turned right into wrong, turning the tables!"

"You!" Wang Duanfang's face changed, feeling like he had hit a sore spot.

"County Magistrate Wang, I'm here to ask you to return the money you confiscated from the sugar factory, and to compensate the factory for its losses, as well as the Li people who were injured!"

Wang Yannian didn't want to get entangled in the matter any longer. This man was not a pushover and would not give up easily. It was useless to say nice things to him.

The two men came from different Wang families in Taiyuan and were also competitors in private.

"What a joke! What I have confiscated are bandit funds and I will report it to the court. How could I succumb to your strong power?" Wang Duanfang said righteously.

"Wang Duanfang! Don't be so rude!" Wang Yannian didn't expect that this man would be so stubborn.

"Hmph! This county magistrate is a man of steel and is not afraid of power!" Wang Duanfang served tea to see the guest off.

"County Magistrate Wang!" Su Ying, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up. "May I ask, County Magistrate Wang, have you received any official documents from the provincial government?"

Wang Duanfang glanced at Su Ying, "What do you mean by that, Miss Su?"

He called Su "Miss Su" instead of "Sir Su", refusing to acknowledge Su Ying's official status, deliberately belittling her and openly looking down on her.

Manager Jinzuo is nothing, is he qualified to sit here and give me instructions?

“If you received an official document and felt that this move was inappropriate and had objections, why didn’t you submit a petition to the state government to request a suspension or refuse to open a sugar factory in Rong County?

"But you arbitrarily robbed money and killed innocent people?" Su Ying asked.

"Hmph, Miss Su, you are merely the manager of Jinzuo. We have no official or personal connection. I refuse to respond to your words!

Rong County is under my jurisdiction, and I have the right to make decisions on any matter. You have no right to interfere!" Wang Duanfang said contemptuously.

"What a person who has no right to speak! So he doesn't even take the recorder and the military officer seriously?

I advise County Magistrate Wang not to act on his own and destroy the camaraderie between the Han and Li peoples!

If County Magistrate Wang insists on relying on his own strength to plunge Lingnan into a conflict between Han and Li people, His Majesty and the Imperial Court will not show mercy!

Su Ying spoke with great force.

Wang Duanfang stared at Su Ying. He couldn't believe it. This girl was quite capable! She knew how to manipulate people!

He didn't care about anything else. What about plundering? Which noble family didn't do that? Aren't they all fine?

But this girl said something right. If Lingnan is plunged into conflict between Han and Li people, His Majesty and the court will never let it go easily!

Being in the court every day, he naturally knew how angry the court and the emperor would be if the north and the south were in trouble at the same time!

"County Magistrate Wang! I implore you to return the money and property of the Li people in our county! Compensate the sugar factory for the losses, and compensate the injured Li people.

"From now on, our county will no longer pursue any responsibility against Rong County! We will also not open a sugar factory in Rong County!" said County Magistrate Hu.