Exiting the county yamen, Steward Qi's face suddenly became very ugly, in fact...... It can't be good-looking, he has been beaten ten big mouths, and now both cheeks are red, and his fingers are crisscrossed on his face. He turned his head to look at the three villagers who were following behind, and scolded: "Killing talents, isn't it for the sake of the three of you killing talents, isn't Lao Tzu humiliated?" ”

The three honest peasants had just been beaten by the board, and now they were scolded by the Qi manager, and they were so frightened that they didn't dare to speak.

Steward Qi turned around again, kicked Yang Chao, and scolded: "You waste, it's useless, you don't know how to worry about me." ”

Yang Yue saw that Qi was in a bad mood, so he didn't dare to speak, and obediently stepped aside.

"Zhu Ba, you are still useful, if it weren't for your last question, I wouldn't know why I was beaten." Steward Qi said with a sad face: "This official's speech is too twisted, how can I understand?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang was expressionless, and he couldn't laugh at this time, otherwise he would be disrespectful to his boss. Nor can it be comforted, because how can a boss need the comfort of a subordinate? This would make him lose his majesty. can't even help him scold the county order, because Qi Guan himself doesn't dare to scold, if you help him scold, you will think that you are not big or small, and you don't know how to be a man.

"How did you come up with the idea of asking such a question?" Qi Guan said strangely.

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low-key manner: "The name of that book is a bit strange, I was obsessed with it, but I don't really understand it, so I happened to ask." After gently bringing this topic over, Zhu Yuanzhang paused, and said in a low voice: "Qi Guanshi, it seems that the last time we went to fight the people of Ren Village, we buried this fruit, and this time they were seized by others to take revenge, and there is only one place I don't understand." ”

Steward Qi frowned and said, "What place?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the high wall and thick door of the county yamen, and said in a low voice: "We obviously know that the people of Ren Village have the county lord of Chengcheng County as the backstage, and the officials protect each other...... Why go and fight each other? Isn't it supposed to get along well? ”

Steward Qi sighed and said, "It was ordered by the second young master, he said...... If the gang of Wang Ba in Ren Village dared to cross the line, they beat them up fiercely, letting them know that our Baishui Ma clan is not easy to mess with, and if something happens, he will come to carry it...... Hey? yes, isn't there something wrong now? Let's hurry up and find the second young master. ”

Steward Qi hurriedly ran home, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed in his heart, according to the information he investigated, this second young master of the Ma family, Ma Zhibin, is completely a spoiled boy, it seems that this fight is completely out of his impulsive nonsense, Steward Qi went back to find Ma Ershao, I don't know what else to happen...... Anyway, I'm afraid that something won't happen, but something will be more beneficial to me!

An hour later, Zhu Yuanzhang followed the Qi steward and ran back to the Ma family compound, Qi Guan sent three honest farmers home in advance, and when the matter was resolved, they came to "trick send", the three peasants were full of sadness, and seemed to be very disappointed in the "trick send", in fact, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that as soon as these three people got out of the Ma family compound, they were going to find the Li family, or the Sun family, or the Zhang family, anyway, they just found a gentry to "send" in, and now the sadness on their faces is all for the Qi steward. They are not as honest as they seem on the surface, if they are really honest, how can they know how to "send" it?

Steward Qi took Yang Chao and Zhu Yuanzhang and walked to the gate of the front yard. This is the main gate of the Ma family, wide and high, painted deep maroon, there is a big plaque on the door, on the book "Ma Fu" two big characters, these two words are scalded with gold edges, highlighting the wealth of the Ma family.

In front of the gate of Mafu, there is also a stone pole up to ten meters high, bluestone is the material, the spire, divided into four sections. This kind of stone pole has a famous hall, called "Jinshi pole", it is not just anyone is qualified to insert, to pass the "Jinshi" test, only to be qualified to insert one at the door. The pole will be engraved with who is who, who has passed the Jinshi in such and such a year. Now this pole is engraved with the name of Ma Tianyuan, the old man of the horse, which belongs to his Jinshi pole, but it is a pity that his two sons did not insert two more for him at the door.

The Jinshi pole is equivalent to a kind of protective umbrella, and if there is such a stick at the door, it means that someone in this family has been an official, or someone is being an official in the court, and the younger generation should not come to provoke the family, otherwise they don't know how to die. Even if the local county magistrate sees this jinshi pole, he has to make a salute to show his respect for his predecessors.

Steward Qi and Yang Chao looked at the Jinshi pole, their faces full of envy, this thing represents the identity of the official master, if only one could be inserted in front of his house...... Gee!

Zhu Yuanzhang followed them with an envious expression, but he didn't think so, in his previous life, he ascended to the throne of the Ninety-Five Supreme as a mere cattle herder, and the Jinshi pole couldn't look into his eyes. Of course, this is not to say that Zhu Yuanzhang does not respect scholars, in fact, he understands the usefulness of scholars, and if you want to rule the world, you must have scholars. It is impossible for this world to be governed by a group of illiterates, and the result of that is the second Yuan Dynasty.

The three of them stood at the door of the front yard, not daring to go in directly, this front yard was originally the office of the eldest young master of the Ma family, and the second young master could only manage the inner courtyard, and now the eldest young master went to Xi'an Mansion to manage the family industry there, and the inner courtyard of the front yard was temporarily handed over to the second young master. Steward Qi smiled at the porter: "Please inform the second young master, just say that I have something urgent to find him." ”

The porter turned in, and after a while, he came back again, and hooked his hand at Steward Qi: "The second young master told you to go in." ”

The three of them entered the gate and walked up the hall. Entering the door is the wide front yard square, there are weapon racks on the side of the field, a few Ma family members in green clothes and small hats are active in the yard, the avenue paved with blue bricks has been paved from the door to the front hall, Steward Qi bowed his head into the hall, and said loudly to the hall: "Second young master, Qi Cheng is here!" ”

"Come in!" The second young master's sluggish voice floated out of the hall, and the three of them walked into the hall, only to see the second young master sitting crookedly on the first seat, and a maid next to him was hammering his feet, and a fruit bowl was placed on the side of the table, and the apple that he had bitten was turning around on the plate.

Steward Qi said with a bitter face: "Second Young Master, our family can't accept the villagers who come to 'trick send' this year, at least we have to harvest a hundred acres of land." ”

"Huh? What did you say? The second young master crossed his legs and said dissatisfiedly: "Why? Are those villagers unwilling to send it to our home? Cut, they don't want to vote, I don't want it yet, just ask me for something. ”

Steward Qi hurriedly said: "It's not like this, it's the Chengcheng Zhang family who made trouble in the middle." He quickly told the story of what happened to the county yamen, and there was no lack of adding fuel and vinegar, saying how he fought on the basis of reason, how he was slapped by the county order, and how he had an idea, thinking that it was the Zhang family who was making trouble...... In short, after telling this story, he described himself as loyal, witty and brave, and as for Zhu Ba reminding him a word, he didn't mention half of it.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened to it funny next to him, but he didn't make a sound, let Qi Guan take over this little thing, anyway, it doesn't matter to himself.

When the second young master heard half of it, he couldn't hold his breath and jumped up, until Steward Qi finished speaking, he was already jumping up and down in the middle of the hall, full of anger: "Chengcheng Zhang's family actually dares to play this hand? Isn't it just a county order? Dare to meddle in our family's affairs, originally a few 'tricks' are dispensable, and I didn't pay attention to the hundred acres of land, since it was Chengcheng Zhang's troublemaker, I really have to do it. ”

Qi is in charge of the sweat, this second young master is young and frivolous, and he is impulsive, he knows it, seeing that the second young master is about to be impulsive again, he hurriedly said: "Second young master, what are you going to do?" ”

"What else can I do? Knock on the door! Second Young Master Ma smiled strangely: "He is an official, he has power, but power is not powerful for fists, we have Wang Er in our family, who can his Zhang family find out to fight the enemy?" Qi Cheng, you take Wang Er, bring more people, go over under the banner of our family, and beat Zhang Douyao into a pig's head, see if he dares to take care of our family's 'trickery'. ”

Steward Khan of Qi: "This...... Doesn't seem right? It is a grave sin to attack an official of the imperial court. ”

"I'm afraid he's a fart." Second Young Master Ma shouted: "My father also served as an official of the imperial court, and the Jinshi pole is still inserted at the gate of the courtyard, his old man's colleagues and students back then, now all of them are important ministers in the court, I made a county order, I don't believe who dares to cure my family's crimes!" ”

"This ...... The old man did serve as an official of the imperial court, and he also had some connections in the court...... However, the lord has already sent a message, this person has gone to tea and cold ......" Qi Steward advised: "I'm afraid some people are not very good." ”

Where is the second young master willing to listen, he snorted: "He asked people to slap you, not just as simple as slapping you, the main purpose is to sweep the face of my Ma family, this face problem, I would rather die than give in, and I will fight back if I say anything." ”

Speaking of which, Steward Qi also knew that he couldn't persuade him, and he was a little scared in his heart, if it was for his own slaps, the second young master would find someone to beat the county order of the neighboring county, but he was afraid that the matter would be big. The result of the big trouble is that it can't be cleaned up, and in the end, the old man went out and saved the second young master with the face of the old jinshi, but he will definitely be thrown out as a scapegoat...... Bitter!

At this time, Yang Chao suddenly spoke: "Second Young Master, take care of things, we can go and beat people with masks, so that he doesn't know who will beat him." ”

"You idiot?" The second young master kicked Yang Chao to the ground: "Beat someone with his face covered, who knows that it was our Baishui Ma clan who beat him?" So how to give face to our parents? ”

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been standing behind him silently, suddenly spoke: "Second Young Master, the cause of this incident is that Steward Qi was beaten, and Steward Qi represents the face of our Ma family. In other words, if we want to sweep Zhang Douyao's face, we don't have to hit him directly. It is a big crime to beat an official of the imperial court, but it is not said in the "Law of the Ming Dynasty" that beating a slave of an official of the court is a big crime, at most it is a trivial matter of fighting privately...... Let's take a vote of people and enter Chengcheng County, and when we see people wearing Zhang's clothes, we will arrest and beat them, and when we see the Zhang family's long-term workers, short-term workers, and bookkeepers, they will all be arrested and beaten...... made the whole Chengcheng County know about it, and no one knew about it, and the custody swept his face so much that he didn't even have a foundation. And he can only treat us with the petty crime of fighting and fighting, and our Ma family can settle the medical expenses with a few dollars of silver. ”

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang came up with this strategy is because he has already seen that Second Young Master Ma is a gentleman who is afraid that the world will not be chaotic, and this kind of person's favorite thing is this kind of nonsense, as long as he brings it up, he will definitely get his approval.

Sure enough, when Second Young Master Ma heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with great joy: "It makes sense, good idea, just do it." You...... What is your name? Quite clever! ”

Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to be shy and said, "Zhu Ba! ”

"Good job, Zhu Ba!" Second Young Master Ma laughed and said, "I just like people like you who are smart and can help me come up with ideas......" He turned his head and said to Qi Guanshi: "You are a good follower, cultivate it well." ”

Steward Qi was also overjoyed in his heart, as long as he didn't fight the county order, this matter would not be a big trouble, and he didn't have to worry about being pushed out as a scapegoat, so he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang with gratitude again, and said in a low voice: "Zhu Ba, you really saved my life this time." ”