silence.
The scene was dead silent.
But considering that someone really died, the deathly silence is reasonable.
This was the first time in Phetchabun County that someone dared to attack Songpa. At least half of the people at the scene were shocked.
The other half were planning to exclaim, scold, threaten...
After all, they were also members of the Songpa family. However, after seeing that the 300 Qinghe soldiers had drawn their swords and strung their crossbows, they wisely chose to keep quiet.
It seems that the new county magistrate is not someone who is easy to deal with.
Over the years, there have been county magistrates who have tried to quickly gain public recognition and support by putting on a show in front of the people, demonstrating their irreconcilable feud with the Songpa family.
But the fact is that within less than twelve hours after the show, they would appear at Songpa's farm to offer tea to old man Songpa, and even more severely exploit the remaining self-cultivating farmers.
But no one has ever used a human head called Songpa to prove their point like this.
"Master Zhang..."
The one who spoke was Liu Da.
Liu Da knew that Zhang Mingzhi would definitely give the Songpa family a warning today, but he never expected Zhang Mingzhi to be so radical.
This made him very nervous.
As a local, he was well aware of the power of the Songpa family.
Although Qinghe is more powerful, the ancient saying that a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake has always been a warning to him. Otherwise, the Khmer royal family at that time was far more powerful than the Sompha family. Why did the Sompha family continue to survive for hundreds of years?
"Master Zhang, County Magistrate Liu killed Songpabantou, this..."
Liu Da found that he couldn't find a suitable adjective, so he could only reluctantly say: "Isn't this inappropriate?"
"Suitable? What's inappropriate?"
Zhang Mingzhi still displayed his affable smile as he slowly explained, "I have just dismissed him from his position. He is no longer the county's squad leader, but a member of the Songpa family. Now he is attempting to murder me. County Magistrate Liu stopped his atrocity in time and protected me. He did a great job, and I would like to commend him for his service."
Liu Da was stunned. Even if you just said that you wanted to remove him from his position, it seemed that you didn't go through the formalities. And how could you say it was murder?
Zhang Mingzhi must have seen what Liu Da was thinking. He nodded and said, "You're right. The process is very important."
After saying this, he took a document from the attendant behind him, signed his name, and affixed the official seal made by Shi Ming himself. Then he handed the document, the ink stains still wet, to Liu Da and said, "Take it and file it. This is his dismissal document."
Just as Liu Da took the document in a daze and was looking confused, Zhang Mingzhi took out a dagger from his arms, and without even taking off the sheath, threw it directly on the ground.
"Look, this is the murder weapon he used! If he had succeeded with such a sharp dagger, I would have no chance of survival.
Someone, please seal up the evidence.
By the way, Liu Da."
Zhang Mingzhi turned to look at Liu Da, waking him from his daze:
"You are the county clerk, and you are responsible for all matters concerning the prison. Tomorrow, you will inform the people of the Songpa family that Songpa Huang has been executed for plotting to murder me, but I suspect he has accomplices, and the Songpa family is the most likely suspect. Have them come to the county government office immediately and give me an explanation!"
After finishing speaking, Zhang Mingzhi turned to the people in the county yamen, still smiling amiably, and said:
"I've finished speaking. Who agrees and who disagrees?"
I have to say that Zhang Mingzhi is a democratic person.
He is very tolerant of opposing views.
Under the firelight reflected by Liu Sanwa's straight knife, Zhang Mingzhi patiently asked everyone in the original county government office, asking them about their opinions on the case in which Song Pahuang was dissatisfied with being dismissed from his post and then attacked the county magistrate with a knife.
All we can say is that everyone stood on the side of justice, which had three hundred elite soldiers, sharp swords and crossbows. No matter how Zhang Mingzhi asked over and over again, everyone expressed their opinions clearly.
Then Song Pahuang deserves to die!
That evening, the Beilan County Government issued an official document, the contents of which were roughly as follows:
Song Pahuang, the former head of the third squad of yamen runners in Beilan County, had been supported by the people for many years as a yamen official, but he was not grateful. Instead, he colluded with local tyrants and evil gentry, oppressed the good, bullied men and women, framed people, and took human lives. After the matter was exposed, he attempted to murder his superiors and was executed on the spot.
It has now been found that the case of Songpa Huang is closely related to the Songpa family of this county. Therefore, the county government has ordered that the person in charge of the Songpa family should come to the county government for questioning within three days, and the county magistrate and county lieutenant of this county will lead a thorough search of the Songpa family.
Below the official document are the signatures of all the county clerks who serve as witnesses.
The atmosphere in the entire Beilan County suddenly became tense.
The people who witnessed the whole story that night began to tell each other and passed on various versions of the story.
At the beginning, someone carefully explained how the dagger came about and expressed admiration for County Magistrate Zhang's wit.
But later on, the version gradually became:
Song Pahuang pretended to have something important to tell him and tricked County Magistrate Zhang into coming closer.
Then he suddenly jumped up, holding a sharp knife, and tried to assassinate the county magistrate.
Fortunately, the county magistrate had received the true teachings of the Earl of Qinghe. Not only was he agile, but he also had considerable knowledge of the Golden Bell Cover and Iron Cloth Shirt, so he barely escaped the disaster. Then the newly arrived County Lieutenant Liu fought with Song Pahuang for dozens of rounds, and with the help of many elite soldiers of Qinghe, he finally killed him.
Of course, this is just one version.
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