"Sima Zhao, don't talk nonsense. You need evidence." After a moment of silence, the anger in the field rose again.

All the gentry put on a dead mother face, how could he be convicted of the crime of robbing the treasury? Moreover, most of them really did not participate in the robbery, but because there were many people in their families, no one dared to say too much.

"Look, did I say I was going to your place? Why are you all so angry?" Zhao Shouzheng curled his lips. Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, he changed the subject and said, "What about the shocking case of the local tyrants joining forces to besiege the prefect? ​​Li Fuzun is a dignified fourth-rank official, representing the court to guard a region. The Governor's Office sent a large army to escort him to take office, but you dared to set an ambush halfway, causing him to be still missing! You also said that if one more comes, kill one, if two come, kill a pair, are you planning a rebellion? Let me ask, who is the boss of Chaozhou today?!"

Seeing that the accusations had escalated to the level of treason, the wealthy were completely furious.

"Sima Zhao, stop slandering me!"

"We all have imperial hats and robes, how could we have any evil intentions against the prefect?"

"Yes, it wasn't us! We didn't do it!" The gentry's faces turned red and their necks became thick, as if they wanted to eat him.

"Then who do you think did it?" With his guards standing in front of him, Mr. Zhao asked fearlessly.

"Yes... no, why should we tell you?" The rich man almost fell for his trick and braked suddenly, nearly rear-ending his car.

"Even if you didn't do it, you can't escape the charge of not reporting it!" Zhao Shouzheng snorted coldly, quietly downgrading their charges. He was not an imperial envoy, and investigating the case was not his goal. Bringing up the case of Li Zhifu was just a means to subdue these local tyrants and evil gentry.

"..." No one objected. The gentry of this era generally had a big-tail wolf mentality, as if they had to control everything in their hometown. If there was any major event that they didn't know about or control, it would not only be embarrassing, but also show that they had lost control.

Therefore, they would rather bear this minor charge than claim that they knew nothing.

"Don't think that knowing the truth but not reporting it is not a big deal. You knew they were planning a rebellion, but you didn't give them a warning in advance, which led to the prefect being attacked and missing. Afterwards, the government searched for the prefect desperately, but you still refused to provide any clues. Whether according to the Great Ming Law or common sense, you can be charged with conspiracy!" Zhao Shouzheng looked at everyone sternly, and suddenly turned around and asked Pan Zhongzhan, who used to be a doctor in the Ministry of Justice:

"Lord Tianquan, I didn't make up the charges, did I?"

The two Jinshi masters who followed Master Zhao south this time were the two brothers Pan Zhongzhan and Pan Jixun.

The former, because he was reluctant to leave the Old Boys behind bars, took on the task of establishing the Phoenix Academy for Li Zhi and led a dozen of his disciples to the south to run the school.

As for Pan Jixun, he came along to relax. He had a conflict with Gao Gong over the river repair policy at the beginning of the year, and was dismissed from office on the grounds that "the grain transport boats were floating and sinking". Gao Huzi did not even give him a chance to go to Beijing to defend himself, and dismissed him in Xuzhou.

Pan Jijun was so angry that he almost died after being humiliated. When he returned home, he was furious and wanted to kill at any time. Pan Zhongxian saw that this was not going to work. If this continued, his third brother would become a fellow patient with his brother Gao Gong.

After much persuasion, he took his third brother to go south to relax.

In fact, the two brothers are not Mr. Zhao's staff at all. If Zhao Shouzheng only comes to be a deputy-department-level cadre, why would he need such a high-level team to assist him?

However, it is part of the topic to give the boss's father some face.

So Pan Zhongxian nodded in agreement and said in a hoarse voice, "Yes, based on my experience in the Ministry of Justice, this case must be a big deal. If something happens to Li Zhifu, we must open a big case and kill a lot of people. Otherwise, where is the authority of the court?"

"You old man are exaggerating here..." Some people don't like what they hear. They don't dare to confront Zhao Shouzheng directly, but do they dare to confront an old man?

"Oh, isn't this Brother Tianquan?" Liu Zixing, who had been calm all the time, suddenly became excited. He rubbed his dim eyes, stumbled forward and said, "Just now when I heard Sima Zhao call him Lord Tianquan, it sounded familiar to me. I didn't expect it was really you!"

"Haha, brother Jianhu, I hope you are well." Pan Zhongyan also laughed happily.

Both of them were Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing. Although Pan Zhongzhan was ranked fifth in the second class and was selected as a Hanlin official, Liu Zixing was only a third class Jinshi. But they had served in the same official position in Beijing for many years, so their friendship was naturally extraordinary. Now they have both retired for many years, and they thought they would never meet again in this life. Unexpectedly, they met each other this time, and you can imagine how happy they were.

The old couple held hands tightly, both of them burst into tears, and the people around them also sighed for a while, which made the tense atmosphere become more harmonious.

"Brother Tianquan, didn't I hear that you are teaching at the famous Yufeng Academy? How come you have time to come to our small place?" Liu Zixing couldn't help asking again. This question was very important, and it was related to his attitude towards Zhao Shouzheng.

"Hey, I would like to teach quietly, but I can't resist my parents' soft and hard persuasion." Pan Zhongxian looked at Mr. Zhao with a helpless face and said, "They said that Chaozhou's culture and education are weak, which is why the people are uneasy. They asked me to help them build an academy in Chaozhou and promote a local literary style. My parents have said so much, how can I refuse? I had to take a group of backbones from Yufeng Academy and go south with him."

"Oh my!" The eyes of the wealthy families immediately lit up. The name of Yufeng Academy had long been known throughout the country. Who wouldn't want their children to go there for further study? Unfortunately, the number of places in the academy was limited. The scholars in Jiangnan were scrambling for places, and it was not their turn.

Now, Yufeng Academy is going to open a branch in Chaozhou. For the gentry in Chaozhou who have suffered from the imperial examinations for a long time, this is like a long drought and then a rain, or a widow who has been widowed for many years and then met a gangster!

When they looked at Mr. Zhao Erye, the Sima master who came with the "school", their eyes softened immediately.

Needless to say, if this 'schoolmaster' was offended, the Chaozhou branch of Yufeng Academy would definitely be doomed.

As the head of the gentry, Liu Zixing knew very well how much a super academy could improve the local area. After returning home, he also tried to run a school, but unfortunately Chaozhou was so chaotic that it was impossible to recruit famous teachers. How could he, who barely passed the imperial examination, be in charge of running a school? The matter was put to rest.

Now that the Super Academy has come to him, how could he let the opportunity slip away? Liu Zixing tightly grasped Pan Zhongxian's hand, and said to Mr. Zhao Er with a face full of shame: "We are really like a dog biting Lu Dongbin - we don't know how to appreciate a good person. Sima Zhao, just treat these guys as farting, don't take it to heart!"

"Hahaha, you don't just don't know how to appreciate a good heart. You don't even know how to appreciate gold and jade!" Pan Zhongxian continued to flatter Mr. Zhao, "Our old father is definitely 'serving the people and benefiting the people'! Before he took office, 'Beggar Kunshan' was the worst county in Suzhou and even in the south of the Yangtze River. But after he took office, in just three years, he built a long dike of hundreds of miles, which not only stopped floods in Kunshan forever, but also turned it into a land of fish and rice. He also encouraged agriculture and mulberry, encouraged industry and commerce, and made the people's lives improve every year. In three years, all of them achieved food and clothing. Kunshan also became the top county in the country!"

"He also attached great importance to education. In addition to Yufeng Academy, Kunshan County also built primary and middle schools. Not only did he train many scholars, but he also educated the people, causing a great change in the customs of the people. Not only were there very few lawsuits, but people did not pick up things on the road and did not lock their doors at night. It was truly a paradise..."

Mr. Zhao's face flushed when he heard this. It was obviously mostly his son's credit. But fortunately, his son was his own...

Liu Zixing was also stunned. In fact, he knew that Zhao Shouzheng had been ranked first in the country for three consecutive years. But that kind of ranking was too abstract and not very convincing. It was far less shocking than hearing the deeds of Mr. Zhao from the mouths of someone he respected.

After praising Mr. Zhao, Pan Zhongxian dropped another bombshell: "This time my parents came south with the intention of benefiting Chaozhou. In addition to building a school, they also moved my younger brother here, asking him to build water conservancy projects for Chaozhou to solve the chronic problems of uneven drought and flooding and seawater backflow!"

Pan Jixun had a gloomy face and said nothing, but he still took off his bamboo hat and nodded reluctantly.

"Oh, Minister Pan!" Liu Zixing naturally knew Pan Jixun. When he saw his dark face, he was so excited that he almost fainted.

This Sima Zhao is simply a god descending to earth. He has so many big guys protecting him!

It seems that the rumor that he and Grand Secretary Zhang married their children to each other might not just be rumors.

Of course, the rumors about him having an affair with the eldest princess must be just rumors...

Pan Zhongxian also introduced the hospital and agricultural college that Mr. Zhao was going to run, which made Liu Zixing and the group of gentry behind him drool. Such a super capable official is hard to find even with a lantern. Compared with him, even the prefect Hou is much inferior.

Because what Magistrate Hou brought was stability and hope, while what Master Zhao brought was immediate leap and earth-shaking changes!

This is like a free card draw. You draw a four-star card first, but then you lose it. Just when you are feeling sad, you draw a five-star card. If you don’t hold it tightly and upgrade it with all your strength, should you dismantle it?

So they all sincerely admitted their mistakes to Master Zhao, saying that as long as he would forgive their mistakes, they would guarantee to provide all their money, manpower, food and guns, and they would even have no problem going to the top of the city to fight the enemy!

"Hahaha, it's okay, it's okay. Ignorance is not a crime." Master Zhao is completely different from his son. He has never known what holding a grudge means. Of course, he chooses to forgive them.

He also generously stated: "And I have made it very clear that I am borrowing from you, not asking you to give it to me for free. I will repay you with interest afterwards."

As he said this, he asked Liu Zixing with a smile, "Mr. Jian Hu, how much is the interest here? Is nine out and thirteen back okay?"

"Oh, Sima, please don't hit us in the face again." Liu Zixing's old face flushed, "You are defending the city for us. It is our duty to contribute money and labor. How can we ask you to pay back? If you mention this word again, I can only jump off this building. I will not be able to see Sima and the people of Chaozhou again."

"Yes, yes, this is our duty. Sima, please stop being so formal, otherwise we will be criticized by the elders and villagers!" The wealthy families suddenly became ashamed.

"I'll express my stance first. I'll send 200 of my sons and daughters to donate 5,000 taels of silver!" Liu Zixing took the lead again.

"One hundred members of our family have donated two thousand shi of grain." The others followed suit and reported the numbers.

"We will also send out a hundred men and two hundred muskets!"

"We have a cannon at home..."

Mr. Zhao quickly asked someone to write it down to prevent them from denying it later.

He also smiled to Wu Chengen and said, "It's not that difficult to get them to contribute manpower and money."

Wu Cheng'en rolled his eyes.