Chapter 255 Stop fighting!
"Official! Hurry up and arrest all the Tangs. They have occupied our Qingxi Village's land and they don't know what's good for them. They even want to build an ancestral hall. How shameless! They even beat people! Look at this, look at how they beat them."
"Bullshit! Who occupied your land? That land was given by the government! If you are not happy, go to the government. Besides, you Jiangs are allowed to build ancestral halls, so why can't we Tangs build one?!"
The crowd, which had just calmed down, started to make noise again, and the sleds and carrying poles in their hands were ready to move.
"Stop arguing! If you continue arguing, I'll go to the Jingzhao Prefecture prison!"
The yamen runners nearby looked at Xie Hui in shock. They couldn't believe that Lord Xie, who was so handsome, would say such things.
Xie Hui looked around the crowd. Although many people were bruised and some were stinking, fortunately no one was seriously injured. So he said to the crowd, "Each of you should choose two people to stay. The rest of you should go back to your homes. If anyone dares to attack again, we will see you in jail."
As soon as Xie replied, both sides stopped arguing and immediately started discussing who should stay.
At this time, Zhou Zhongan also arrived on his big fat horse. After he arrived, he pulled Xie Hui aside and asked him what was going on. After listening, he exclaimed: "I can't believe it, Old Xie, you are quite capable. I was afraid that you couldn't handle it."
“It’s still a long way from being done.”
The conflict between the two surnames is not so easy to resolve. There are more people with the surname Jiang and fewer with the surname Tang in Qingxi Village. Listening to what the villagers say, one can probably tell that the Jiang people are not happy that all the people with the surname Tang occupy the land in their village. The Tang people have also always been dissatisfied with the Jiang people taking advantage of their power to bully others. Over the years, the Jiang people in the village have bullied the Tang people. The grievances between the two surnames have been accumulated for a long time, and the incident this time is just an excuse for the outbreak.
"Let's not talk about it for now." Xie Hui looked over there and saw that the person seemed to have been chosen. He patted Zhou Zhongan and signaled that he could go.
"Where's the fight?!"
General Pan of the City Guards arrived with a large group of soldiers. When he saw the scene, he cursed, "Is this what you told me about the battle that would make the sky dark and the sun and moon invisible? Are you kidding me?"
The sergeant was also vexed, "General, the fight was really fierce just now, even the dogs were being beaten!"
"Why are you looking for me when dogs are fighting? Why don't you look for the dogs?!
Seeing this, Xie Hui temporarily handed the place over to Zhou Zhongan and went forward to apologize to General Pan.
"I'm sorry, General Pan, you made such a wasted trip. The fighting among the villagers has been brought under control for the time being."
In response to Xie Hui, General Pan did not say anything, but nodded and said, "Thank you for your courtesy, sir. I will just take it as a walk. Those who came here before will stay for the time being."
After saying this, he clasped his fists and took his people back.
At this time, the villagers on both sides had already elected representatives. One of the people elected by the Tang family was naturally Mr. Tang. The other one was also quite famous among the Tang people in Qingxi Village. He opened a shop in the county and had some wealth.
After the incident of Li Chang changing his surname, the Jiang people are very cautious in selecting people. They strictly check three generations, even relatives and friends, and make sure there is no one with the surname Tang. Even those who are close to someone with the surname Tang will be excluded.
However, after selecting the people, Zhou Zhongan and Xie Hui did not expect that the first difficulty would be that they could not find a place to hold meetings.
In the past, when there was no conflict between the two surnames, villagers held meetings in the meeting room of the ancestral hall, but this is no longer possible.
"Our Jiang family's ancestral hall is dedicated to the ancestors of the Jiang family. The Tang family is not allowed to enter! From this year on, this will be the Jiang family's ancestral precept!"
"If you don't want to enter, then don't enter! We, the Tang family, don't even want to enter your Jiang family's ancestral hall! And if that's the case, our Tang family paid for the construction of the ancestral hall ourselves, why are you blocking us at every turn?!"
"Enough! I didn't come here to listen to you quarreling." Seeing that they were about to quarrel again, Zhou Zhongan spoke quickly.
"Then why don't we just go anywhere else and talk here. Each of you stand on one side and talk. What do you want?"
But four people spoke at the same time, and I couldn't hear a word of their chatter.
"Stop! If you can't explain it, don't say anything."
Tang Juren immediately spoke first, "Your Excellency, we, the Tang family, only ask to build a Tang clan temple in the village. Apart from that, we have no other requests. There are 263 Tang villagers in Qingxi Village now. We only ask for a corner to worship our Tang ancestors. Please help us."
"Don't talk nonsense, you are the best at pretending. When you were studying, why didn't you say that you would pay money to build your Tang family's ancestral hall? You spent our Jiang family's money to study for the imperial examinations, and this is how you repay us? You have read so much that it's all in vain!"
"Uncle Bang, let's just stick to the facts and not talk about other things."
"Uncle, what the hell! Don't call me uncle. I don't have a nephew like you either, so why can't I say it? Let the two adults hear it. After becoming a procurator, you don't even know your last name when you return to the village. No wonder you've been a procurator for most of your life. Look at these two adults, they're high-ranking officials at a young age, and you're not ashamed."
Mr. Jiang's hair and beard are all white, but when he quarrels, his face doesn't turn red or he doesn't breathe heavily, and he is full of energy.
"Hey! Stop arguing. Let's talk about this from the Jiang family. Why don't you agree with the Tang family building an ancestral hall?"
"This is Qingxi Village. Our ancestors are all surnamed Jiang. What's the point of building another ancestral hall next to our Jiang's ancestral hall? You can build an ancestral hall, but go back to the valley in Tangjiayuan. As for the money this kid spent, we Jiang family members are generous, but we have to choose a new leader."
"Uncle Bang, I may not be the head of this place, but we in the Tang family will not give in to matters concerning the ancestral hall."
"Don't even think about it! As long as there is still someone from our Jiang family in Qingxi Village, you, the Tang family, are not allowed to build any ancestral hall here!"
"Alright, I understand what you are thinking. Let's go back first."
The four of them looked at Zhou Zhongan at the same time, as if to say, it's useless for you to say this.
Zhou Zhongan waved his hands at them, "I will give you an explanation, just go back peacefully. No more fighting, or I will arrest you all!"
After the others left, Xie Hui asked Zhou Zhongan, "How do you plan to solve this matter?"
Zhou Zhongan did not answer, but said: "Let's go to the village and take a look."
On the way, Zhou Zhongan asked Xie Hui, "What will you do about this?"
"What the Tang family did was indeed inappropriate, but the Tang family's request to build a Tang clan temple is not excessive. It's just that most of the villagers are Jiang family members, and when doing things in the village, we have to consider the Jiang family's ideas. If it were me, I would persuade both parties to choose another place to build the Tang clan temple."
"Not bad, it seems that our Xie Shaoyin is now able to stand on his own."
"You said you wanted to go to the village to look around, you just wanted to find a suitable place."
Zhou Zhongan nodded, "Yes, but this is only the first step. After this quarrel, the relationship between the two families will become more delicate. No matter what trivial matters are in the future, we will still quarrel. In the final analysis, we must resolve this matter."