Chapter 2984: I am Sick with Angry (10 more chapters for the reward from the book friend "Murongqingqing")
Bai Shan smiled slightly, picked up the teacup and took a sip. He wanted to tear off a piece of meat from the Song family first, so that other families would take the initiative to cut meat for him.
Mr. Song's heart was bleeding, but he could only force a smile at Bai Shan. The two of them were talking and laughing, and there was no sign of conflict at all.
Mr. Song was troubled and distressed during this birthday, especially his heart. Whenever he thought of the vast fields that had only been cultivated for five or six years, his heart ached.
The fields have been cultivated for five or six years, but they are only just beginning to recover.
Even though the princess and her husband attended this birthday banquet, which was the first of its kind not only in Beihai County but also in Qingzhou City, he really couldn't be happy.
But no matter how unhappy he was, in front of everyone, he still enthusiastically sent the princess, her husband and Bai Shanzhouman to the gate, and watched them leave with tears in his eyes. In the eyes of others, he was reluctant to part with them and had deep feelings for them.
Song Dalang was very sensitive to his father's mood. He reached out to hold his arm and whispered, "Father?"
Mr. Song withdrew his gaze, nodded slightly to Song Dalang and said, "Go and see the other guests off."
Song Dalang agreed and helped Mr. Song to see off other guests.
Others were all amazed at Mr. Song's face and were envious. "Mr. Song is really so prestigious that even the princess came to celebrate his birthday."
"Yes, yes, Mr. Song, when you become rich in the future, please don't forget us fellow villagers."
Mr. Song dealt with the situation with a bleeding heart. After sending everyone away, he returned to the main courtyard and collapsed.
The Song family was shocked and hurriedly helped him to lie down on the bed. Song Dalang turned around and was about to send for a doctor, but Master Song held out his hand and stopped him, saying, "I'm fine, just a little dizzy. Don't forget what Zhou Man does. If you call a doctor now, everyone at the county government will know about it tomorrow."
Song Dalang: "...then our family members won't be able to see a doctor when they get sick in the future?"
"Yes, but not now, not today," Master Song said after taking a breath, "This is not only for County Magistrate Bai to see, but also for the Zhao family and the people of the entire Beihai County to see."
Otherwise, if he fell ill right after seeing off the guests, who knows what kind of rumors would spread outside.
The Song family has already lost its substance, and cannot lose its face as well. It must keep at least one of the two.
Bai Shan returned home refreshed and wanted to invite Bai Erlang and Princess Mingda, "Let's have dinner at my house tonight. I'll be the host and we can order the food directly from the restaurant."
Bai Erlang's eyes lit up slightly, "Happy news?"
Bai Shan nodded reservedly, "Great joy."
After entering his own house, Bai Shan completely relaxed and said to them happily: "I have achieved my goal today. Mr. Song agreed to let the county government buy back some land."
Zhou Man was also very happy. "I have achieved my goal today. I have also invited many people to come to the Medical Bureau to listen to my lectures in a while. Mrs. Song also said that she would donate some medicinal materials to the Medical Bureau."
The two looked at each other and laughed happily.
Bai Erlang couldn't bear to watch this, so he shuddered, touched his arm, and said, "How much have you guys cheated the Song family out of?"
Zhou Man waved his hand and said, "I don't have much. The herbs they donated won't be expensive. But my main purpose is to help people and spread medical knowledge. I don't care about those herbs."
Bai Shankeng had a lot to say. He smiled and said, "What we have agreed on now is about 400 acres of land in 16 villages."
Zhou Man was stunned. "So much land? Was it all reclaimed by their family?"
Bai Shan nodded. "This is just a portion. It's the most I can get. If I get more, the Song family would rather break up with me than give it to me."
So he knows when to stop.
Of course, since the Song family is willing to contribute to Beihai County, the previous matter of controlling the Longchi Salt Field is naturally over.
Bai Shan finally started to deal with the aftermath of the Longchi Salt Field. He closed the salt field directly and sent people to dismantle all the stoves in the salt field. Then he cleaned up all the rooms and warehouses in the salt field so that he could build a ferry and all of them could still be used.
The villagers and farmhands in Longchi never expected that the county magistrate would actually close the salt field. They felt as if they were struck by lightning.
At first they thought he was trying to scare them, but when they saw the yamen runners tear down the stove as well, they couldn't help themselves and ran into the county town to find Master Song. "Master Song, how can you tear down the saltworks? If you do, where are we going to work?"
"Yes, Master Song, we went on strike because you told us to. Now that County Magistrate Bai has demolished the saltworks, what are we going to do? Our families are still waiting for our wages to buy rice."
Everyone started to make a commotion, and Master Song, who had just given away a large piece of his family property, became ill from anger. Song Dalang was also very anxious and asked, "Father, what should we do about this?"
Seeing him like this, Master Song couldn't help but get even angrier. "You're already old, can't you make your own decisions? Ask me what to do? Why don't you ask County Magistrate Bai? He's only a few years older than your son, and he was able to snatch so much land from your father. How come you can't even get rid of a few hooligans?"
Song Dalang: ...
After Master Song finished scolding him, he saw that he was still standing there, so he waved his hand and said, "Drive them away and say that the managers of the salt field have also been dismissed. The salt field belongs to the county government, not my Song family, so naturally, we have to do whatever County Magistrate Bai says."
He paused and continued, "Tell them that our land is still in need of farmhands. If they really can't find work, they can come to our house to work as farmhands. Don't worry, the Song family will pay them well."
It's as simple as giving someone a sweet reward after a beating. Isn't that right?
After Song Dalang understood the situation, he went out to negotiate and sent everyone away before returning to report.
The Song family was not far from the county government office, and street patrols were done by the yamen runners under County Magistrate Dong, so Bai Shan heard about this from County Magistrate Dong not long after.
He touched his chin and said to County Lieutenant Dong, "Tell the yamen runners left at Longchi to spread the word that the county government has other plans for Longchi and will be recruiting a large number of workers. The wages will be quite high."
He was already short of people, so how could he allow the Song family to recruit more people to work as long-term workers?
Even if I want to be a long-term worker, I should work for him and the county government.
County Lieutenant Dong agreed and reported, "There's news from Dajiawa saying that the salt fields guarded by Censor Ning have produced salt, and he wants to take it away."
Bai Shan frowned slightly, then relaxed after a moment, "Let him take it and just keep a record."
It just so happened that he was short of money and urgently needed to sell salt, and it would be even better to have Censor Ning take the salt out to promote it.
Censor Ning did not expect Bai Shan's idea. He carefully packed the salt he had dried into a fine cloth bag, and then asked the guards to carry the salt onto the carriage. After signing and sealing it for Zhou Liwei, he looked up and sizing him up.
He reached out and patted the dark-skinned Zhou Liwei, smiling and saying, "Boy, you're lucky. You have a bright future ahead of you."
Zhou Liwei looked at him blankly.
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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