Chapter 186: Conscription
There were so many people that they could not stand the provocation. One of them said to kill Ma Qiang, and then the shouts of "kill Ma Qiang" echoed throughout the mountains.
The troublemakers naturally wanted to put the blame on Ma Qiang. The refugees hated Ma Qiang to the extreme because he almost burned the food, and the people of the Xu family gradually became murderous because Ma Qiang said he wanted to usurp the throne.
One cry, filled with the thoughts of all kinds of people.
Ming Xiaoshuang received Xu Zhenying's signal and drew his sword again.
Zhou Bo and Lu Fei forced Ma Qiang to kneel down on both sides. Ma Qiang realized that Xu Zhenying was serious at this moment, and his lips trembled with fear. Before he could even say a word of begging for mercy, Ming Xiaoshuang stabbed him through the heart and lungs with a sword.
There was a huge cheer from the crowd.
But some people couldn't stand the bloody scene and took a step back, as if they were afraid that the blood would splash on themselves.
Everyone in the Xu family listened to the roar of the mountains and looked at the figure sitting in the middle without moving, and they were all a little frightened.
Xu Zhenying's methods...are becoming more and more cruel.
Even Xu Degui and Miao were a little scared when they saw Xu Zhenying now.
That daughter seemed to be getting further and further away from them——
Qian Zhenniang, Fang Ningmo and the others showed reluctance on their faces, but Xu Yinxi shouted, "Well done!"
Xu Zhenying's voice was cold and stern, like a heavy drum beating on everyone's heart. "Ma Qiang is not the only one responsible for what happened tonight. You are also responsible. Ming Xiaoshuang!"
Ming Xiaoshuang, who was called, tensed up, put away his sword, and stood respectfully.
He was such a strong man, but now he stood beside Xu Zhenying like a quail.
"You were in charge of the land distribution work in the demonstration village. When such a serious incident happened among your subordinates, you were completely unaware of it. You deserve to be punished!"
Ming Xiaoshuang's face flushed, but he was willing to do it, "I accept the punishment!"
"Immediately remove Ming Xiaoshuang from his position as village chief of the Demonstration Village and suspend all current work for at least two months. He will not be considered for a return to his post until he has completed the elementary and advanced literacy classes."
Everyone gasped!
Xu Zhenying actually dismissed Ming Xiaoshuang from his position!
This punishment is quite severe!
But Xu Zhenying has always been like this. Even if Xu Yinxi and Qian Zhenniang wanted to plead for mercy, they knew that now was not the time.
Ming Xiaoshuang clasped his fists, his face showing no sign of dissatisfaction, "I obey your orders!"
"These dozen or so troublemakers will have their work points deducted for a year! The team leaders responsible for each will have their work points deducted for half a year, and the team members will have their work points deducted for a month!"
Wang Xingye immediately said, "City Lord, they're causing trouble, but the other team members are unaware of it! These work points are crucial to their future land distribution. Please reconsider!"
"Uninformed? There are only twenty people in a team, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating together, yet you turned a blind eye to the abnormalities of those around you. Do you think this is negligence or complicity?"
Those who were about to plead for mercy fell silent.
Xu Zhenying looked around at the dozen or so trembling men in front of him, causing trouble, and said in a cold voice, "In my opinion, I absolutely do not want to keep fools like you who are ungrateful, unable to judge right from wrong, and easily provoked into charging into battle by a few words! But considering that these are first-time offenders and your ignorance, I'll forgive you this time! Teacher Anping!"
A petite girl rushed out from the crowd and came out hurriedly, "City Lord, I'm here."
"These dozen or so people need to be educated. Don't let them farm yet. Start by improving their literacy. Also, write down the names of those who rushed to the front tonight and take them all to class with the other children! Only when they learn the four principles of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame will they be allowed to leave!"
Xu Anping quickly said, "I'll take note of it, City Lord!"
"As for the new village chief..." Xu Zhenying glanced at the people around him and frowned. Almost all the people in the Xu family had been sent out. Most of them were in logistics, and a small number were in land distribution and city defense. The Fang family brothers and sisters were in charge of agriculture and education respectively, so they were really short of people at the moment.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up and fell on Wang Xingye, smiling, "Wang Xingye, it's you. The work of the demonstration village is now handed over to you. Do a good job and don't let me down!"
There were muffled sounds of joy in the crowd.
It can be seen that Wang Xingye enjoys considerable prestige among the refugees.
Wang Xingye was stunned at first, as if he found it a little unbelievable. It wasn't until someone bumped into him that he came to his senses. Then he clasped his hands together without hesitation and said, "Thank you, City Lord!"
"In that case, let's adjourn the meeting!"
Xu Zhenying waved his hand, and tens of thousands of people in the square slowly dispersed. Everyone was discussing what had just happened with lingering fear, while Zhou Bo and others had already led people to clean up the corpses on the ground and wash the ground. After a while, it was impossible to tell what had happened here.
The Xu family members sat on the public carriage going back.
There were no lights in the mountains, so they walked very slowly back.
Xu Zhenying took this opportunity to sound the alarm for the insiders and asked, "What do you think about what happened tonight?"
Xu Yinxi spoke softly, "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Most of the people are ignorant, unable to withstand provocation, and unable to distinguish right from wrong. When you can benefit them, you are the city lord. If the benefits are not enough, you can be expelled at any time. It doesn't matter who is the city lord, whoever can provide them with sufficient benefits is the real one."
Xu Zhenying raised his eyebrows slightly.
She seemed to have recently discovered that Xu Yinxi was going too far in correcting a wrong. This girl had an inexplicable hostility in her heart.
Qian Zhenniang said, "You can't say that. Most refugees know who is good to them. After all, those who caused trouble tonight are a minority. But we should also be prepared for danger. Today's incident may seem like a disturbance by refugees, but in reality, it's Ma Qiang who is trying to usurp the throne. This shows that our work is not done well enough——"
Thinking of Ming Xiaoshuang who had just been punished, Qian Zhenniang felt a little embarrassed. "Brother Xiaoshuang, I don't mean to offend you. I'm just discussing the matter at hand."
Ming Xiaoshuang didn't have the face to argue at this moment, and kept saying "I dare not".
Qian Zhenniang continued, "We still have loopholes in our management of them. For example, so many of them don't want to grow sweet potatoes, thinking they're poisonous. Some even secretly throw them away, and we didn't even notice. This shows that, first, our publicity work wasn't adequate, second, our relationship with the refugees wasn't close enough, and third, they didn't fully trust us. This is truly a mistake on our part."
Ming Xiaoshuang was so shocked that he couldn't even lift his head. Ever since the incident tonight, he had been in a state of panic, as if he had fallen from the clouds. He didn't even dare to look Xu Zhenying in the eye. At this moment, he was even more timid and said, "City Lord, it's my fault. I didn't manage them well."
"As the head of the demonstration village, you do bear an unshirkable responsibility," Xu Zhenying said, bluntly addressing Ming Xiaoshuang's concerns. "However, it's also true that there are too many refugees and a lack of management personnel. We're still in the early stages of our business, so we're short-staffed, so there are bound to be management loopholes. These aren't entirely your fault. Once this batch of intermediate literacy students graduate, the burden on everyone's shoulders will be a little lighter."
Xu Zhenying patted Ming Xiaoshuang again and said, "Management is a very profound subject. You should study hard so that you can serve me better in the future."
Ming Xiaoshuang also knew that punishment was inevitable after making such a big mistake tonight, but he did not expect Xu Zhenying to still give him a chance.
Ming Xiaoshuang thought about how complacent he had been recently, and felt even more guilty. He said sincerely, "City Lord, I'm going to the literacy class and I'm going to study hard and relearn. I'll never mess with you again! I swear!"
Xu Zhenying has been thinking about further subdividing her positions these days. Now she and several other members of the Xu family have to take on multiple roles. Not only are they easily tired, but there are always things they cannot take care of.
There is also Ye County, which has a large population, and she must choose a capable person to suppress it.
However, if her duties and responsibilities are broken down into smaller details, people will inevitably suspect that she has ambitions to dominate the world.
Although she had this plan, she was not strong enough in the early stage, so she could only develop herself.
The carriage moved slowly through the mountains. The people on the carriage had experienced the riot tonight and were still in high spirits.
When passing by the research institute, Xu Zhenying saw what seemed to be lights in the yard.
She couldn't help but be curious and ordered the carriage to stop. "Who is still staying in the institute so late?"
Nobody knows.
Xu Zhenying said, "You all go back. I'll go see who is so diligent."
Maybe we can even capture some strong men.
She likes the King of Curls so much.
Xu Zhenying dismounted, followed by Xu Yinxi and Qian Zhenniang. Then Xu Degui got out and said, "I'll go with you. It's probably not safe for you girls to go out in the middle of the night."
Xu Zhenying smiled: "Dad, there is no place safer than Lan County now."
"That's different. You just killed two people. What if there are still some treacherous and reckless people among the refugees?"
Xu Zhenying thought this made sense, but Mo Jinchun had already gotten off the carriage. "Master Xu, I'll go with the city lord."
Xu Degui also knew that Mo Jinchun was an extraordinary person. "Are you in charge of the daily training of the military camp now?"
Mo Jinchun nodded. "Ever since the land was distributed in Ye County, I've been training soldiers in the barracks."
Xu Degui patted him on the shoulder and said, "Do a good job. The refugees will be recruiting new soldiers this time, and the barracks will be expanded several times. You must quickly select some people and train them to form a personal guard dedicated to protecting the city lord's safety."
Mo Jinchun's face was full of excitement as he gave a standard military salute, "Yes!"
Xu Zhenying didn't refuse.
It would be a good idea to take this opportunity to train a group of special forces soldiers. Besides, they can be transferred to other jobs. After training, the soldiers are all good green leeks, and they will surely be good at other jobs.
"Anping, what are you doing down there?" Fourth Sister-in-law saw Xu Anping also get off the carriage, "Don't delay the city lord's business."
Xu Anping said, "Mom and Dad, most of the people in the institute are my students. I also want to go and see what they are doing so late at night."
"Okay, then remember to follow the city lord back and don't stay outside for too long."
Huang Cui'e was now very good at reading people's expressions. Seeing that the people who came down were all Xu Zhenying's confidants, she immediately kicked Xu Huijia. Xu Huijia was kicked off the horse by her mother unexpectedly. Just as she was about to get angry, she heard Huang Cui'e's slightly flattering voice: "City Lord, my son will go with you too. Let him study hard day by day and see how diligently others study!"
Xu Huijia knew exactly what I was thinking.
She was jealous when she saw that even Xu Anping was highly valued, and she was trying to find an opportunity to get herself in front of Xu Zhenying.
It would be good to show up more often so that Xu Zhenying would always remember that he has such a cousin.
In fact, Xu Huijia also envied Xu Anping. He did not envy Xu Anping's monthly salary of five taels of silver, but envied the fact that no matter where she went, people would recognize her and affectionately call her Teacher Xu.
So he just went with the flow and said, "Okay, then I'll go see how hard these people work."
The others, however, could not bear it any longer. Miao, with a weary look on her face, instructed them, "Come back early and don't stay too long."
When Xu Huijia got off the car, she met Qian Zhenniang who was walking at the back. The two had almost never met in private since they broke off their engagement.
Xu Huijia looked into those clear eyes and felt uncomfortable all over. However, Qian Zhenniang was very graceful and took a half step back, saying neither servilely nor arrogantly, "Please come in."
Xu Huijia didn't know what to say, so she could only hurry and follow their team.
Qian Zhenniang looked at the back, smiled and shook her head.
Looking back at her past self now, she really couldn't understand why she had been so desperate to marry into the Xu family?
Xu Zhenying brought only a few people with her. Xu Anping had the key. When she gently pushed the door open, she found that the lights in the classroom on the right were brightly lit. There was a young man sitting inside with a pencil in his hand, and the floor was covered with manuscripts of experimental records.
Xu Zhenying picked it up quietly and took a look, a little surprised.
Wow, this experimental record looks comparable to what she had back then.
He even took into account the experimental time, touch temperature, weight of materials added to each link, product quality comparison, and even the control variables!
Chinese chives!
Fresh chives!
Xu Zhenying's eyes lit up!
"Luo Qingzhou?" Xu Anping called out with some uncertainty.
The man turned around, seemingly withdrawing from his own world. Seeing so many people standing behind him, he couldn't even speak clearly. "Teacher Xu?"
Then he seemed to see Xu Zhenying, his face flushed, and he seemed a little excited, as if he was about to salute: "City Lord!"
Because Xu Yinxi had taught classes before, people in Lan County called Xu Yinxi "Big Teacher Xu" and Xu Anping "Little Teacher Xu" to distinguish them.
"It's so late, why are you still here?"
"I...I...was just thinking about how we've been researching cement for two months and haven't been able to come up with anything. Mainly because we can't reach the calcination temperature, so I wanted to look through the old experimental records to see if I could find any inspiration."
But Xu Zhenying was reading his manuscript and was fascinated by it.
If we were to say who Luo Qingzhou admires the most, it’s not Xu Anping, nor Xu Yinxi, but Xu Zhenying!
Especially when he knew that the textbooks for the literacy class were all written by Xu Zhenying, he almost reached the point of blind worship for her.
Xu Anping looked at Luo Qingzhou's fiery gaze and couldn't help but teasing, "Xiao Luo, your idol is here. Why don't you talk to him quickly? It might be more effective than looking for the experimental records."
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