The detention room of the headquarters.

Lin Zhongcheng smiled and asked, "How's your progress during the days I've been away?"

"Reporting to Zhongcheng, no matter how hard we try, the 27,000 acres of government farmland have been measured." Zheng Yuanshao's face was dark, and it was obvious that he had been working in the fields under the sun these days.

"Do you still need to measure the government land?" Lin Run said with a somewhat unhappy look, "What we asked you to measure is the private land!"

"I am ashamed. I was just about to apologize to the Minister..." Zheng Yuanshao put the handkerchief back into his sleeve, stood up and bowed, saying, "According to the Minister's instructions, I will lead people to the village the day after you leave to prepare for the land survey."

He said with a face full of shame: "But who knew that we would be stopped by a large group of unruly people. They formed a human wall and blocked the ridges of the fields, not allowing us to measure the land."

Zheng Yuanshao wiped his sweat and said in a trembling voice: "Your subordinate, your subordinate sees that the villagers are very excited and is afraid that Songjiang will also cause a civil uprising. If so, it will be completely impossible to resolve the situation. So we have no choice but to measure the official land first."

"..." Lin Run listened to Zheng Yuanshao's words expressionlessly. After a long while, he said faintly, "So, not even one acre of farmland has been measured?"

"Yes..." Zheng Yuanshao bowed with his legs trembling and sweat dripping down his back, saying, "I am incompetent. Please punish me, Zhongcheng."

"Can the land measurement be completed by punishing you?" Lin Run snorted coldly.

"Of course not." Zheng Yuanshao smiled bitterly and said, "I have been following the instructions of the Minister of Justice and have repeatedly told the villagers about 'equal distribution of grain in Jiangnan, and the rule of officials and civilians being one'. This is of great benefit to the common people. But they rely on the Xu family, and neither do labor service nor pay labor service silver. They simply despise the preferential treatment from the court. They are determined not to allow the land to be measured!"

"So, it's really difficult to deal with them." Lin Run sneered and said, "Tomorrow you take your people to the countryside with me. I want to see with my own eyes how united the people of Songjiang are."

"Yes." Zheng Yuanshao thought it would be good to take a look, and he would give up after seeing it.

The two men exchanged a few more words, and then Zheng Yuanshao withdrew and returned to his official residence.

After a while, one of his relatives casually left the governor's office, walked around the city for a few circles, bought two salted fish at a seafood store, and then returned to the office leisurely.

At the same time, the seafood store clerk also entered the Afang Garden in the west of the city.

~~

In Tuisi Garden in the east of the city, after Xu Fan had taken his old father, who had had enough of theatrical entertainment, to take a nap, he came out of the Mianfeng Pavilion.

Then Xu Ying came back.

Xu Fan signaled his little brother to follow him away from Mianfeng Pavilion and come to the Chaoshou Corridor.

Fang asked in a low voice: "Did Zheng Yuanshao send a letter?"

"Yes." Xu Ying nodded, quickly relayed the news to his eldest brother, and then gave him a thumbs up:

"Brother, this is amazing! Lin Run really suppressed the Suzhou incident."

"Of course. Now the government and the public are increasingly sympathetic to our Xu family. If he rashly attacks without real evidence, he will only suffer a backlash."

Xu Fan stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the withered lotus leaves in the lake and said, "As the saying goes, the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. As long as we can withstand one more wave of his attack, I, the surname Lin, will have to retreat."

"Brother, what do you mean..." Xu Ying's eyes darkened as he asked, "Measurement of the land?"

"Yes, tomorrow's confrontation is crucial. We must let him see the determination of the people of Songjiang." Xu Fan said coldly.

"But Zheng Yuanshao doesn't know which township we should go to for land survey tomorrow?" Xu Ying said worriedly.

"What does it matter?" Xu Fan sneered and said, "Which village is not the territory of my Xu family? When you go back, gather all the managers and ask them to be ready tomorrow. We will jointly defend each other and leave no blind spots!"

"Oh, good." Xu Ying was excited and rubbed his hands, saying, "Tomorrow will be a big event."

"We have to make a big fuss! We have to make him lose all his face!" Xu Fan gritted his teeth and said, "Go back and tell those in charge to fight for me tomorrow!"

"If anyone dies, we will give them silver to bury him. If anyone is injured, we will provide medical treatment. If anyone participates, we will have a buffet in the evening and give them silver and food! If anyone makes the most trouble, we will give him the surname Xu!"

"Hiss..." Xu Ying gasped in pain. The Xu family had been making a fortune for decades, but they had never spent anything. How could they have been so generous?

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing your child, and you can't fight a gangster without sacrificing your wife!" Xu Fan said, suppressing his heartache: "Let him go after this once, and he will never be able to go to the countryside again!"

"Okay, big brother." Xu Ying nodded with difficulty.

~~

Before dawn the next day, Lin Run and Zheng Yuanshao assembled the troops and led the officials of the governor's office to march out in full force.

In order to avoid leaking the news, he did not tell anyone the destination of the journey. He only urged the troops south to the bank of the Huangpu River and then ordered the army to rest for a while at Huangni Temple.

Lin Runze summoned Zheng Yuanshao and other middle and senior officials to assign tasks on the spot. At this time, the officials knew that the governor's first shot was fired at Xujiagang.

Xujiagang is the hometown of Lord Xu. As long as the survey here is completed, the problems elsewhere will naturally be solved.

After he finished mobilizing his subordinates, the civil and military officials quickly called up the soldiers and took action.

However, what no one expected was that as soon as the officials and soldiers left Huangni Temple, they saw that the roads and ridges outside were already full of villagers.

Seeing the soldiers and yamen runners armed with swords and guns coming towards the field ridges, the villagers gathered together and formed human walls to block the soldiers and the field ridges.

"What are you doing?" the guards shouted angrily, "Are you going to rebel? Get out of the way!"

"We are standing on our own fields, what does it have to do with you?!" Someone hid behind the wall of villagers and shouted, "Go away, go away, you are not welcome here!"

The officer gave orders and ordered the soldiers to line up, some drew their swords, some raised their guns, and confront the villagers.

"Listen carefully, we are here to measure the land in the name of the governor. Anyone who dares to stop us will be beheaded on the spot by the king's order!"

"I don't want to listen, you bastard!"

"If you have the guts, kill us all!" The villagers relied on their numbers and were not afraid of the threats from the officials.

~~

Huangni Temple.

Zheng Yuanshao hurried into the hall to report.

"Zhongcheng, the villagers have gathered again and are blocking us from getting close to the fields."

Lin Run's face was as gloomy as water. He walked out of the hall quickly and came to the temple gate on the hillside.

Then we saw at least three to four thousand villagers, young and old, male and female, forming long human walls and confronting the officers and soldiers without giving in to each other.

In addition, countless villagers came from all directions, like a colony of ants that had found food, which made Lin Run's scalp tingle.

"Strange." Lin Run frowned. This action was swift and confidential. How did these villagers get the news and gather here so quickly?

This is unscientific.

You have to know that there are only three or four hundred people in the entire Xujiagang village. Only if all the surrounding villages rush over at the first time can such a large team be gathered.

This is not something that a group of scattered villagers can do spontaneously.

Lin Run realized that he had been tricked again.

ps. Chapter 2. The next chapter has several hundred words.