Chapter 2950 Spread
Bai Shan was not in a hurry. The people had been caught and the salt field was running smoothly. It was the other party who should be anxious, not him.
Zhu Qi didn't say anything, but his friend couldn't help but said, "Brother Zhu, our third brother fell into the sea and hasn't been rescued yet."
Bai Shan blinked.
Zhu Qi then looked at Bai Shan. The reason he was able to gather so many people was because of his loyalty. He hesitated for a long time, and finally asked Bai Shan: "If I confess, can you send people down the cliff to rescue them?"
Bai Shan raised an eyebrow and said, "If you don't confess, doesn't this county know that you were sent by the Song family?"
Zhu Qi became depressed.
He closed his mouth again.
Bai Shan leaned against the tree trunk behind him and said, "I've already ordered them to go down, but the cliff is steep and no one has ever been there. They may not be able to get down, and..."
Bai Shan gestured for them to wait and see the weather. "It's getting dark, so they can only try tomorrow. We're not sure if we can rescue him, but he's a citizen of this county. Regardless of whether he's a thief or not, if he fell down, we'll search for him, dead or alive."
"This isn't something you can negotiate." Bai Shan raised his chin slightly. "If you confess, this county has its own standards for sentencing. If you don't confess, this county also has its own methods of handling the matter."
He looked at Zhu Qi with a deep gaze and said, "Zhu Qi, you know how important the salt fields are to Beihai County, don't you? Regardless of whether you are acting for profit or justice, anyone who dares to harm the salt fields in this county is my enemy, and the enemy of all the civilians in Beihai County."
Zhu Qi's face was pale and he didn't speak for a long time.
That night, he still said nothing.
Bai Shan didn't care. The next day, he rode a horse and took the eighteen people back to the county government office with the yamen runners.
The people in the county town saw their county magistrate riding a horse with a rope in his hand. Three people were tied behind the rope. There were also six yamen runners behind him holding ropes in their hands. A rough count showed that there were as many as eighteen people tied up.
The people of Beihai County were stunned and couldn't help but discuss loudly, "Another bandit? Why are there so many bandits in our Beihai County?"
When Bai Shan heard this, he turned his head to look at the crowd, pointed his whip at a distance and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Who said they were bandits? They are just hooligans."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and someone asked loudly, "Sir, have you even arrested the scoundrels now?"
Bai Shan led his men and rode his horse to the county government office while answering, "If they behave themselves, I won't arrest them, but if they commit a crime, I will certainly arrest them."
"County Magistrate, what have these people done wrong?"
"Nothing," Bai Shan turned his head and grinned, "I just wanted to get into the new salt field and cause trouble."
The common people didn't know how important the salt fields were to Beihai County, but they knew salt was a good thing, so they said, "That's bad. They should be arrested."
Ordinary people don’t know, but some people do.
Bai Shan's words in the street spread at an extremely fast speed. Mr. Song soon knew about it, and then the students in the county school.
The students in the county school are all between the ages of twelve and eighteen, and are at the age of full of passion. Bai Shan is young and very much to their liking. He has also accumulated considerable reputation among the students when he tried the bandit case before.
They are not Wu Xia A'mon. The previous County Magistrate Lu and the Song family had many conflicts. The key point was the salt field. When County Magistrate Bai took office, this key point naturally did not change.
Originally, many students in the county school had objections to the Song family's control of the salt field. Once this incident happened, public opinion in the county school became even more heated.
While the class was still going on, a student immediately pushed his desk aside, stood up, and walked up to Song Meng to question him, "Song Meng, are you, the Song family, planning to take over the Beihai County Government?"
Song Meng's face turned ugly, and he stood up angrily, "Stop talking nonsense."
"I'm talking nonsense? Otherwise, why would your family send people to destroy the county government's new salt field?"
"Let's not even mention that County Magistrate Bai didn't say that my Song family was responsible. Even if he did, it's just his one-sided statement. You haven't even investigated or collected any evidence, and you're slandering my Song family with just empty words?"
"Yes or no, we all know it. We only have one thing to say to you," one person said, "Song Meng, your Song family is powerful in Beihai County, but not so powerful that you can cover the sky with one hand. If you want to control the county government, you must first ask the people of the county whether they are willing."
"That's right! The salt fields are an important part of Beihai County's finances. For so many years, your Song family has been managing them, but they belong to the imperial court. Now that a new county magistrate has taken office, it's time to return them to him."
Song Meng: "Why? Because Bai Shan comes from an aristocratic family, is the Crown Prince's tutor, and has served as a secretary to His Majesty, you think he has a bright future, so you're vying to please him?"
This statement stirred up a hornet's nest, and everyone began to denounce Song Meng. Naturally, there were also those who stood on Song Meng's side, thinking that the classmates were too arbitrary. "County Magistrate Bai hasn't made a judgment on this matter yet, so how can you conclude that it was the Song family's doing?"
"Who else could it be if not the Song family?"
"That's too idealistic. When investigating a case, we look at the evidence."
There was a commotion in the county school, and in the end there was a fight, which made the school officials very angry. They had to shout at the students to stop while dodging the pens, ink and books that kept flying at them.
When they finally stopped all the students, they could no longer stop the commotion at the county school, so they could only go and apologize to County Magistrate Bai.
Bai Shan had just finished his meal and was about to take a stroll to see the injured Lao Ba when the school official from the county school came hurriedly. He had no choice but to go and deal with the county school's affairs first.
Song Meng ran home angrily. Instead of returning to his room, he lifted up his robe and ran towards the study in the main courtyard.
As soon as he rushed in, Master Song and his son stopped talking. Master Song frowned, and Master Song scolded him, "Why are you running?"
Song Meng straightened his sleeves and stepped forward to salute, "Grandfather, Father."
His face was tense, and he looked at Master Song and said, "Grandfather, people outside are saying that the group of scoundrels that County Magistrate Bai just arrested were sent by our family, right?"
Mr. Song asked calmly, "Where did you hear these rumors? Don't you go to school?"
Uncle Song was very unhappy and scolded him, "That's just someone spreading it deliberately. You just believe whatever they say. Just study hard at the county school and stay out of the outside world."
"That's what's spread in school," Song Meng shouted, "My classmates all say it was our family who did it."
Mr. Song couldn't help but sit up straight and asked, "Is this the master's guidance?"
"No, sir, you wouldn't say anything like that. They're just making wild guesses," Song Meng said. "Grandfather, these people are filthy-minded. Whenever something goes wrong, they always blame it all on my Song family..."
He gritted his teeth and asked, "This kind of thing isn't something our family does, is it?"
See you at 7pm
(End of this chapter)
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