Captain Xiao was an imperial officer who kept his promises very well. He said he would arrive in the second half of the night, and he really showed up in front of Qinghe's barbed wire just after three o'clock in the morning.
Although Lin Hai asked him to go to the appointment alone, in order to reflect his status as an officer, Xiao Cheng still brought the flag-bearer with him. In his words, the flag-bearer had already made two trips today, so he was not afraid of making one more trip.
However, Lin Hai clearly wanted to negotiate with Xiao Cheng alone. Well, that's not quite accurate; it should be said that the Qinghe group was negotiating with Xiao Cheng alone. As for the flag bearer, Lin Hai casually tossed him another glass bead and told him to rest.
This scene surprised Xiao Cheng very much. Such a crystal clear crystal bead must be worth several taels of silver in Jinguan City. This means that this young man is either too rich or too stupid to reward a soldier with a glass bead.
However, Xiao Cheng would never admit that Lin Hai was a fool, otherwise why would he come running to ask for peace?
Lin Hai didn't make things difficult for Xiao Cheng. After taking his seat, he took the initiative to introduce himself: "I am Lin Hai, the magistrate of Qinghe County. This is Wang Liang, the county lieutenant. Captain Xiao should have met him before. This time, we are the two of us who invited Captain Xiao to come for a face-to-face interview."
"County Magistrate?" Xiao Cheng said with a smile, "You're joking, little brother. I've seen the head of the Qinghe County Magistrate before, and it doesn't look like yours."
"Indeed, that county magistrate didn't look like me. I think it's possible that his appearance was not suitable for being the magistrate of Qinghe County, so he died." Lin Hai didn't care and said lightly.
"Qinghe is now a low-ranking county. The county magistrate needs to be appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. You're calling yourself the county magistrate here. Are you planning a rebellion?" Xiao Cheng ignored Lin Hai's cold joke and continued, "County Lieutenant Wang is a serious county lieutenant, but he's hanging around with you and seems to be following your lead. Is County Lieutenant Wang also planning a rebellion?"
Lin Hai waved his hand, forcing Cheng Guorong, who had already drawn his sword and taken a step forward, to step back. He said, "Guorong, what do you mean? Don't try to threaten Captain Xiao. Captain Xiao is a legitimate imperial officer. He won't be threatened by force. Doing so is meaningless. If Captain Xiao refuses my toast, we can just drag him out and bury him alive if we can't reach an agreement. We need to be polite now."
Cheng Guorong looked at Lin Hai, a sly glint flashing through the eyes of this rugged young man. He immediately bowed and said, "I understand. I'll order someone to dig a pit right away. Otherwise, everyone's asleep, and if I wake them up to dig a pit, they might complain."
After saying that, Cheng Guorong walked out of the tent and started shouting outside, asking them to bring more people and dig the pit bigger. After all, the other party was a thousand households, so they should be treated with some respect.
Xiao Cheng's expression remained calm after hearing this, but unfortunately, the hand holding the teacup began to shake uncontrollably, and the lid of the gaiwan tea bowl kept hitting the bowl, making a very chaotic noise.
For a moment, no one in the tent spoke; everyone drank their tea in silence. Seeing Lin Hai's leisurely appearance, as if he was waiting for the pit outside to be dug, Xiao Cheng stopped hesitating, put down his teacup, pressed his hands firmly on his knees, and tried to control his trembling hands. Then he took a deep breath and said to Lin Hai, "You didn't call me here just to kill me alone, did you? You have plenty of opportunities to kill me, and letting me come here means there's room for negotiation. Tell me, what do you want?"
Lin Hai clapped his hands. "Captain Xiao is a quick-witted man, and I like him very much. Come, let me introduce you to Ling Yang, my deputy. He will discuss the follow-up matters with you. It's late now, and I need to go to bed."
After that, two people came in from outside the tent. One was Ling Yang, and the other came to report that the pit had been dug and asked when Cheng Guorong was buried.
Before Xiao Cheng had time to think about why this pit was dug so quickly, he heard Ling Yang beside him say with a bow: "Anyway, I still have to congratulate Captain Xiao on this expedition. Not only did you quell the rebellious army, but you also wiped out all the bandits along the line from Qiongdu to Qinghe. You have restored peace to Xichuan."
Xiao Cheng had no idea what Lin Hai was up to. Suddenly, a younger boy came in. Although he looked more handsome than Lin Hai and the man with a knife, he was just a "deputy" with no official status. Was he worthy of talking to him?
Seeing Xiao Cheng remained silent, Ling Yang smiled instead of getting angry and said, "Captain Xiao, don't be suspicious. I came to talk to you on the orders of my county magistrate. Don't worry, I have the final say. If you don't believe me, I will order you to be buried alive. Don't worry, the people outside will obey orders directly without asking for permission."
Xiao Cheng complained in his heart: "What kind of decision-making power is this..."
"Well, since you can make the decision, there is no need to ridicule me anymore. I have suffered a defeat, and I will be dealt with according to military law. It is not your turn to interfere." Although Xiao Cheng still had nothing good to say, he seemed to be much more relaxed in his words.
"Captain Xiao, calm down. I wouldn't dare mock you even if I had the guts to. What I just said is the truth. It's the exact same words in the official document my county magistrate has written and is about to send to Jinguan City commending you for your meritorious service."
Ling Yang still had a smiling face, and it was hard to tell that he had just said he wanted to bury the other person alive...
"Oh?" Xiao Cheng became interested and said, "Is your county magistrate really planning to write it like this? What good will it do him?"
When it comes to things like lying about military achievements, Xiao Cheng is very professional. He doesn't believe that Lin Hai has no benefit at all and comes here just to kill a bunch of people and then help him voluntarily.
"Simple. You just said that the county magistrate must be appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. But we have lived in this remote village for a long time, and we don't have the convenience of having connections like Captain Xiao in the court. The county magistrate did this just to hope that Captain Xiao would say a few good words for us in his battle reports. If Captain Xiao could act as a guarantor and recommend that our county magistrate obtain an official document of appointment from the Ministry of Personnel, that would be even better."
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