After the ceremony, Zhao Shouzheng respectfully invited Hai Zhongcheng, Wu Guancha, Cai Zhifu and other dignitaries to board the pleasure boat and have lunch on Cheng Lake.

Hai Rui would naturally not participate, and others also hoped that he would not participate. Otherwise, if he had a King of Hell to guard, even the best food would be tasteless.

Zhao Hao set up a banquet on a white-sailed boat to entertain Hai Rui. Only Secretary Ma served him, and even Jin Xueceng was sent to the pleasure boat.

According to the "Governor-Governor Treaty", there were only two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, a soup, and a bowl of white sauce braised duck noodles per person on the table.

Hai Rui enjoyed the meal very much. After finishing a bowl of noodles, he asked Ma Xianglan for another bowl.

Zhao Hao was affected by motion sickness earlier and had no appetite. He didn't even finish half a bowl of food.

"Don't waste it." Seeing him put down his chopsticks, Hai Rui glared at him and said, "Every meal should be appreciated as it is not easy to come by."

"Heh..." Zhao Hao had no choice but to lower his head and eat, thinking to himself that next time he would not be able to come to my place to improve his life.

Hai Rui took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. He suddenly asked, "You just said that Lin Zhongcheng is awake?"

"Yeah." Zhao Hao responded vaguely and lowered his head to eat noodles.

"Have you reported it to the court?" Hai Rui asked again.

"Hmm~~" Zhao Hao shook his head and continued eating noodles.

"Why didn't you report it?" Hai Rui asked with an apologetic look on his face, "Is it because of what I said?"

"Lin Zhongcheng is still in the recovery period. It's not good to meet people at this time." Zhao Hao reluctantly finished the noodles, took the handkerchief handed to him by Ma Xianglan, wiped the corners of his mouth, took another sip of tea to clear his mouth and said:

"Mr. Hai doesn't need to visit him. This is what Minister Lin meant."

"Alas, I feel so ashamed of Ruoyu." Hai Rui was very troubled. His Yingtian New Deal had just been announced, and he was about to implement it prefecture by prefecture. Meeting Lin Run at this time would make things complicated.

As long as the affairs of the Ming Dynasty become complicated, they will be delayed and then come to an end...

"Mr. Lin also asked me to bring a message to Lord Hai," Zhao Hao said with a faint smile, "I bow deeply to you and thank you for your kindness. I will express my ambition to repay you."

"I will reveal my ambition to repay my confidant..." Hai Rui's eyes suddenly turned red, and he said with deep shame, "I underestimated Lin Zhongcheng. A peerless patriot like him will naturally always put the overall situation first."

"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded and said with a teasing smile: "I got your message. Lord Hai can now go to Songjiang without any worries, right?"

"Haha, you kid, how dare you make fun of me." Hai Rui pointed at him and nodded, "Let's go now."

"Then I wish Zhong Cheng a great victory!"

"No problem."

~~

The governor sailed downstream and arrived at the official pier of Songjiang Prefecture early the next morning.

Zhong Zhengji, Zheng Yue and other officials had been waiting at the dock for a long time and welcomed the Zhongcheng and his entourage into the governor's residence.

In the signing room where Lin Zhongcheng had fought, Prefect Zhong reported to Hai Rui the situation of the siege of Tuisi Garden.

"Since the 17th day of the first lunar month, Tuisi Garden has been surrounded for four days." Zhong Zhenji secretly looked at Hai Rui's expression, but unfortunately he could not see any expression. He could only report as emotionlessly as possible:

"The day before yesterday, I went to mediate with County Magistrate Zheng, but Elder Xu refused to give in, so there was no effect."

Hai Rui thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "After all, Lord Xu is the Prime Minister of two dynasties. Even if the people have grievances, they can't just go around and make a fuss all day long. How can that be decent?"

After a pause, he ordered Niu Chenshi: "Post a notice here, saying that the notice will be issued tomorrow. If the people have any grievances, they can come to me to file a complaint, but you are not allowed to block the houses."

"Yes, I'll do it right away." Niu Mowang responded and was about to leave.

"Master Niu, wait a minute." Zhong Zhenji stopped Niu Chenshi and reported to Hai Rui in a low voice:

"Zhongcheng, please be careful when you announce it in Songjiang City."

"Do you want to teach me how to do things?" Hai Rui glanced at him.

"I dare not. I am only reminding the Minister to beware of the treacherous people!" Zhong Zhenji was so frightened that he shivered and explained hurriedly, "Those who surrounded Tuisi Garden were either small landlords who had previously surrendered to the Xu family, or wealthy families who had sold their land to Xu Jie, or servants of the Xu family, or relatives of the Xu family. In short, they were all treacherous people who sought shelter under the name of Lord Xu in order to evade taxes and labor service. They were not poor people, and they did not have much grievances to speak of."

"Prefect Zhong knows it very well." Hai Rui looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Then why have you been unwilling to investigate? Don't you know that surrendering is illegal?"

"Why does Zhong Cheng ask when you already know the answer? First of all, their contract is solid. If both parties are willing, there is nothing wrong with it just from the document. Secondly, Lord Xu was still in office..." Zhong Zhengji was almost crying because of this.

"Haha, Prefect Zhong has made a very clean push." ​​Hai Rui said sarcastically, "But we can discuss your matter later. Let's finish the important matter first."

As he said this, he glanced at Niu Chenshi and said, "What are you standing there for? Go and file a complaint."

"Yes, Zhongcheng." Niu Chenshi hurried out.

The corner of Magistrate Zhong's mouth twitched. Well, it feels like all his words were in vain.

"Alright, we have received your kindness." Hai Rui softened his tone and said, "Thank you for your reminder."

"I am also worried that too many unruly people will complain, which will damage the reputation of the Minister of Justice and give people something to talk about." Zhong Zhenji reminded him implicitly. He still wanted to persuade Hai Rui to draw a clear line between himself and those unruly people.

Hai Rui knew that he was referring to the one in Tuisiyuan. He could not help but sneer and said, "That's right. This court does not sympathize with those unruly people who voluntarily surrendered themselves and then wanted to regret it after finding that the tax reform was not cost-effective."

He then changed the subject and said, "But I still want the Xu family to return the land!"

"Why is Zhongcheng doing this?" Zhong Zhengji asked in confusion.

"Because no matter it is donation, fraudulent mail, flying or splitting, in the end the ones who suffer are the honest people and the court." Hai Rui said calmly, "So the land must be returned to its owner, so that the taxation is reasonable and does not hurt the people. The Single Whip Law, or the One Rule for Officials and Civilians, will not become an evil law."

"But if this happens, the Zhongcheng will probably give others a chance to criticize him." Zhong Zhenji admired him, but also felt that Hai Gong was a little too hasty.

"Maybe." Hai Rui smiled without commenting. They were not yet familiar enough to open up to each other.

~~

As the saying goes, 'a man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree'. As soon as Mr. Hai's notice was released, those who had been gathering outside the Tuisi Garden dispersed in twos and threes and hurried home to write petitions to file a complaint.

That afternoon, Hai Rui summoned a group of officials and was about to make specific arrangements for the announcement the next day, when Hai An walked in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Hai Rui nodded slightly and said to his subordinates, "Let's go here first."

"Farewell, Zhongcheng." Niu Chenshi and others hurriedly stood up to see him off.

Hai Rui left the signing room and quickly came to the back door of the headquarters, where he saw an inconspicuous sedan chair parked in the yard.

He hurried forward, opened the curtain of the sedan chair himself, and then bowed deeply and said, "Junior respectfully welcomes Master Cun Zhai."

ps. I still owe one more update, I will write it tomorrow, please give me your monthly vote.