Chapter 185: Foolish People Seize Power
Everyone gasped, and before they could react, they saw Ming Xiaoshuang draw out a long knife and stab it directly into the man's stomach.
The white knife went in and the red knife came out, and blood gushed out in an instant.
And Ming Xiaoshuang didn't even blink!
The man's eyes widened, as if he had never expected Xu Zhenying to come up and kill people without even saying hello!
What’s more, the person he killed was himself!
The refugees were terrified. Someone screamed, and everyone almost subconsciously took a half step back, looking at the young man sitting in the middle with panic on their faces!
Even Wang Xingye and others were so shocked by Xu Zhenying's methods that they were speechless.
Only the young people around Xu Zhenying, although they looked reluctant, did not try to stop him. They must have agreed that severe punishments should be used to deal with the chaos.
At this moment, there was no sound in the huge square. Even the refugees kept their breathing very low. Only the flickering firelight illuminated everyone's frightened faces.
Everyone then remembered that the city lord was a bandit!
He had been kind and benevolent for so long that everyone had forgotten how he killed the Chen family when he entered the city.
Xu Zhenying's voice was cold. "Food is so precious this year, it's already being sold for ten taels of silver per bushel. The bones of the starving are still lingering in the deep forest, never to be seen. This man, barely two days after eating, dared to set fire to the mountain and destroy our food supply. He deserves death!"
Under the heavy punch, no one dared to speak.
Especially those who had been making trouble with the people who were chopped were so scared that they were trembling and their faces were pale. Some even wet their pants.
Some refugees cheered, "The city lord is right! We can talk about our issues, but setting fire to the mountain is unforgivable! We've just reclaimed this land, we have food nearby, and we have tents by the river. What will we do if it burns down?"
The others were still in shock, seemingly frightened by Xu Zhenying's actions, but some still echoed loudly, "That's right! He shouldn't have set the mountain on fire! We just planted sweet potatoes and are waiting for the first crop to mature so we can store food for this winter! Anyone who dares to touch our food is touching our lives, and they shouldn't be shown mercy!"
Xu Zhenying smiled slightly, feeling a little touched. No matter when, there were always people willing to stand on her side and speak for her.
She looked at the two people who had just spoken and pointed at them. "Okay, you two, come out and talk. As representatives of the refugees, if you have any questions, I'll do my best to solve them for you."
Seeing the two men looking a little embarrassed, Wang Xingye quickly pushed them out and said, "What are you afraid of? The City Lord would never kill innocent people. That man just now brought it upon himself. You haven't done anything wrong, so what are you afraid of?"
The man had a dark face and looked very honest. He had been hiding in the crowd and dared to speak up for justice just now, but now that he was pulled out, he became a little hesitant.
"I...I...I'm uneducated. I can't even speak clearly. What can I say? Brother Wang, you tell me...you know everything."
Wang Xingye couldn't refuse, so he said to Xu Zhenying, "City Lord, let me tell you. They can add more information if there's anything else."
Xu Zhenying nodded.
"City Lord, the refugees didn't intend to cause trouble. It's just that most of the villagers were reckless and provoked each other with a few words. Coupled with the excitement on both sides, they all drew their weapons. You know, the men in the countryside are always ready to bring weapons if something happens in the village. But no one really did anything, and no one hurt any of your men. If you don't believe me, you can ask Master Xiaoshuang."
Ming Xiaoshuang was stunned, but nodded.
Xu Zhenying remembered Wang Xingye. When he represented the refugees to enter the city for negotiations, he found that this person was meticulous and tactful.
Now, he started by dividing these dozen or so troublemakers from the other refugees, obviously wanting to protect the other refugees.
The man who was called out also said anxiously at this moment: "That's right, City Lord, we didn't mean to cause trouble. It was these dozen guys here yelling, saying that the officials were beating people, so we came here with our weapons. When there were too many people, they all squeezed forward. The people behind didn't know what was going on. They just heard someone shouting about beating people. This...it's even more difficult to explain! But we really didn't do anything! If we had known it was these bastards causing trouble, we would definitely fight them back!"
After hearing this, Xu Zhenying roughly understood.
But at the same time, she also thought that the refugees were not on the same page with her, otherwise they would not be so easily instigated to oppose her.
"As soon as he yelled, you rushed forward without knowing right or wrong? Wang Xingye, this shows that you don't trust us..."
At this moment, Wang Xingye actually felt sweat on his forehead when talking to someone like Xu Zhenying.
Although she didn't have a questioning tone, she still sounded aggressive.
The man who was called out immediately dropped his hoe. Once the topic came up, he became eloquent, "City Lord, we're very grateful for giving us a place to stay. But the other day you sent someone to deliver those sweet potatoes, and they're absolutely unplantable! Someone in our team used to grow them back home and said they grow fast, but they suck all the nutrients out of the soil, leaving us with nothing to grow next year! And they're poisonous! Don't eat them! Don't eat them!"
Xu Zhenying frowned, vaguely sensing that something was wrong. "Who told you this thing is poisonous?"
"I heard it from Old Li from our village. Old Li, where is the city lord asking you a question?"
A hoarse voice rang out from the crowd, "I...I don't know either. I also heard it from Old Man Xiao!"
When Old Man Xiao heard this, he got anxious and said, "It's not me, it's not me, I just heard it from others!"
The man was also stunned.
Xu Zhenying laughed, "That's strange. No one can tell where it came from, and everyone is just hearing it from hearsay, but the rumor spreads so clearly."
She looked at Ming Xiaoshuang and said, "Do you have any sweet potatoes left? Give me one."
Ming Xiaoshuang turned around and took a few sweet potatoes and handed them to her.
Xu Zhenying took out the dagger he carried with him and said to the soldier next to him, "Fire closer."
The fire came and became brighter.
Everyone approached, not knowing why.
But Xu Zhenying quickly cut the sweet potato into pieces, and then without waiting for everyone's reaction, he threw a piece directly into his mouth.
Ming Xiaoshuang was shocked: "City Lord!!"
Meanwhile, Xu Yinxi, who was standing beside him, immediately grabbed a piece as well. "I want to try this poisonous sweet potato too!"
The refugees were all stunned. Even Wang Xingye cried out anxiously, "City Lord, the sweet potatoes are really poisonous! Spit them out!"
Xu Zhenying bit into the sweet potato with a crisp, crunchy bite, swallowing it in just a few bites. Then, looking at the stunned crowd, he explained, "Sweet potatoes aren't poisonous, but eating them raw isn't good for your stomach and may cause diarrhea. Once cooked or steamed until soft, they're very filling. A single sweet potato can satisfy your hunger better than a bowl of rice. They also grow quickly, last a long time, and most importantly, don't require high soil fertility. This newly cleared land might not be suitable for growing crops this year, but sweet potatoes are perfectly suitable. If we plant some now, we can harvest them in three months, and we won't have to go hungry this winter."
Seeing everyone's doubts, Xu Zhenying smiled and said, "I've eaten it all, what are you afraid of?"
Wang Xingye was speechless.
He didn't expect Xu Zhenying to test the law and try it himself. Now the refugees had no choice but to believe it.
"City Lord, is this delicious?"
"I can only say that it tastes better when cooked. Not only is it fragrant and sweet, but it's also very soft and tender. It's best for the elderly with bad teeth."
These words made everyone start drooling.
Some brave people started asking questions: "Then...then why do some people say this thing sucks fertilizer from the ground?"
"Didn't we compost the land a while ago? The soil is fertile. I know everyone wants to grow some food, but please think about this. We in Lan County have reclaimed tens of thousands of acres of wasteland, and with a population of over 100,000, how can we feed so many people with just this little bit of wasteland? Besides, the entire Zhou Dynasty had a poor harvest last year. Where are we going to get so many seeds this year? So even if the soil is fertile, we still can't grow food. If we can't grow food, we'll all starve. So what I mean is that we should plant sweet potatoes first this year. We have to get through this winter anyway. When other places recover next year, seeds will naturally come. As long as you can find seeds, you can plant whatever you want next year!"
Xu Zhenying's words were so moving that all the refugees present were moved.
Even the dozen or so people who had caused the trouble were filled with regret. "City Lord, we were wrong. We thought you were deliberately not giving us land and forcing us to grow these poisonous sweet potatoes. We were wrong!"
"Yes, City Lord, I also heard some people instigating me. They said that you don't want to give us land, and only want us to do the labor. After the land reclamation is completed, you will drive us all away!"
Xu Zhenying sighed, "You're truly foolish. You're acting like pawns after being goaded into this. Think about it, I let you in, reclaimed tens of thousands of acres of wasteland, and then drove you away. What am I trying to achieve?"
"That's right. There's so much land. If we let people like us go, who will cultivate the land and grow crops? Wouldn't that be like clearing the land for nothing?"
"That's right, you all shouted so loudly, and you insisted that the officials hit you! I think you jumped the highest!"
"The city lord feeds us three times a day, never cutting back on our food, and even has people teach the children. Even if you were a tenant, you couldn't find such a good owner, could you? Not to mention the city lord has promised to give us land, and yet you guys are running around like monkeys all day, afraid that the city lord will miss out on your food! I'd say you're a bunch of ungrateful wolves!"
"Yes, City Lord, they are not with us! We should drive them away! We don't want these rats in our model village!"
When the troublemaker heard he was going to be kicked out of the model village, he immediately panicked and hurriedly told everything, "City Lord! I didn't say these things, it was Ma Qiang! It was Ma Qiang who said the City Lord wouldn't give us land, and that the sweet potatoes were poisonous and couldn't be eaten! He was the one who instigated us to cause trouble, saying that if we could get the refugees to make trouble, we could seize the opportunity to seize Lan County! That way he could become the City Lord, and appoint us as chief clerks or something like that, which would be better than joining the refugees in opening up wasteland now!"
Xu Zhenying raised his eyebrows.
Wow, it turns out the reason behind these refugees causing trouble is to seize power?
This time, not only Xu Zhenying, but even the Xu family was shocked.
To snatch Xu Zhenying's position as city lord?
This...this...is too...too stupid, right?
Ma Qiang, who was hiding outside the crowd and watching from afar, saw that the situation was not right and was about to leave, but he was caught by the people brought by Qian Zhenniang, who dragged him to the middle of the venue!
Ma Qiang stumbled and rolled right in front of Xu Zhenying. There was a pool of blood on the ground. It was the blood of the man who had set the mountain on fire. Ma Qiang just happened to fall into the blood. The strong and disgusting smell of blood made his scalp tingle!
She raised her eyes and met Xu Zhenying's cold eyes.
Like a goddess, without a trace of emotion, she looked at him as if he were a lifeless object.
Ma Qiang suddenly felt a chill on his back!
Qian Zhenniang was filled with righteous indignation, "City Lord, this bastard was about to escape, but I caught him!"
Xu Zhenying frowned and looked Ma Qiang up and down.
She remembered that this man was the leader of the refugees, and he brought with him 10,000 to 20,000 refugees.
Judging from the way this person speaks and acts, he seems to be just an incompetent person.
Now...any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to take advantage of Xu Zhenying?
"Ma Qiang, it's you!" Wang Xingye's face was filled with rage. "You idiot, you actually instigated the refugees to cause trouble for your own selfish reasons! Do you know that they have gone through countless hardships and dangers to find a place to stay? We have finally had two days of peace and stability, and we are about to settle down in Lan County. But you actually disregarded our lives just to become the city lord yourself!"
Ma Qiang knew he couldn't escape, and he stiffened his neck. "The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit, stop talking nonsense! If you have the guts, just kill me. I've got a big scar on my head anyway! If you don't want to kill me, just let me go!"
"Want to leave?!" Xu Zhenying shouted coldly. She had already killed the leader of the trouble in order to intimidate the disobedient refugees. If she killed more people now, she was afraid that the refugees would be afraid of her. The only way now was to let other refugees speak up to kill, so as to prevent the conflict between her and the refugees from deepening.
But before Xu Zhenying could even open her mouth, the refugees were even more anxious than she was about food. The man who had stepped forward grabbed him and said, "Want to leave? Not so easy! Not only did you instigate them to cause trouble, but you also spread rumors that sweet potatoes are poisonous, causing many people to secretly dig their potatoes out of the ground and throw them away! The city lord's efforts have been ruined by you, a rat! If anyone of us starves to death this winter, it will be your fault, Ma Qiang!"
The troublemaker also got anxious and grabbed Ma Qiang, not letting him leave. "Not only do you want to be the city lord, but you're also trying to get your brothers to join you! You lied to us, saying sweet potatoes are poisonous, and you even encouraged us to set fire to the mountain. How could you be so vicious?"
"That's right! That's right! Just beat this kind of bastard to death! I'm so scared of having this kind of person around!"
"Kill him, kill him! Kill him!"
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
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