Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 280: People at the Gate of the City
Qianshan County was built on a hundred-meter-high green mountain. It has been a county for a thousand years. Its terrain is dangerous and the city walls have been repaired several times, but they are still as strong as before.

A wide county road runs directly from north to south of the city. There are still some exquisite ancient buildings in the city. Even though they have been weathered, one can still see the prosperity of the city in the past.

However, Qianshan County has now declined. Although the city is large, there are not many local people and few outsiders coming and going. It has become an inconspicuous place.

In an elegant garden in the city, a fat middle-aged man in casual clothes sat in the garden, leisurely admiring the autumn chrysanthemums, with several servants serving him.

Song Ming held the teacup and sipped the spiritual tea that he had bought from outside at a high price.

"I'm getting old, and my health isn't very good. I don't know why, but I've been having trouble sleeping lately..."

Song Ming, the magistrate of Qianshan County, has been serving as the magistrate here for more than ten years and has never moved away. He has neither been promoted nor transferred.

Upon hearing this, the servant beside him couldn't help but ask, "Master, are you worried that what happened before will happen again? Master, don't worry, the city is now on high alert, and there will definitely be no more assassins..."

Song Ming raised his eyes slightly and said leisurely, "If you hadn't mentioned this, I would have almost forgotten about it. I'm not worried about that kind of thing. I just heard about some things happening in Hongzhou recently, which made me inexplicably worried..."

Although Qianshan County is a bit remote, it is not too far from Hongzhou.

Therefore, some of the things that happened in Hongzhou City also reached Song Ming's ears.

When he thought about the rectification of the atmosphere in Hongzhou, he was afraid that the trend would blow to Maozhou and then to Qianshan County.

Qianshan County is inconspicuous, but he has contacts with officials and families in Maozhou City, and the contacts have never been interrupted.

He doesn't want to get involved in other people's affairs.

It is said that if you do not do anything wrong, you don’t have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door.

However, Song Ming knew clearly what he had done, and hearing about the changes in Hongzhou, he couldn't help but think more.

The servant said with a smile: "Master, why worry? Even if the sky falls, there are people above to hold it up, right?"

Song Ming raised his eyebrows and said quietly, "Come to think of it, if something really happened, the higher-ups would be more anxious than I am."

"We didn't see anyone like that in Maozhou's Autumn Examination this year, and no important figures were transferred here..."

"A small place like Qianshan County wouldn't be the first place to be targeted by anyone."

After figuring this out, Song Ming felt inexplicably relieved.

……

South of the county seat, groups of people were walking on the wide county road, a large black mass, in neat steps heading straight towards Qianshan County.

On the city wall, city guards were patrolling back and forth.

"Hey, that's..."

A guard suddenly noticed the crowd rushing down the mountain and cried out in surprise.

Several city guards took a closer look and found that there were countless black people, many of whom were holding weapons and looked aggressive, as if they were going to attack the city and seize the land.

These city guards have always been lax and usually only bully the people in the city. They have never seen such a big scene.

"Quick, go and inform the county magistrate!"

Someone looked panicked and quickly ordered others, "Close the city gate quickly!"

One man received the order and ran to find the county magistrate as fast as he could.

The city guard was panting all the way. He went to the county government office but didn't see anyone. He ran for a while and finally saw Song Ming.

"Sir...something terrible has happened!"

Cheng Wei was breathing heavily and couldn't even speak clearly.

Seeing his subordinates like this, Song Ming couldn't help but frown, "Why are you so flustered? The sky hasn't fallen yet!"

The city guard sighed and said solemnly, "A large army of rebels has arrived outside the city, at least tens of thousands of them!"

Song Ming was stunned when he heard this, and then his brows furrowed even more tightly. "What nonsense are you talking about? My Great An Kingdom is peaceful and prosperous, and we enjoy long-term peace and stability. Where did this rebel army come from? And why are you running here?"

The city guard quickly said, "I dare not speak nonsense. There really are rebel soldiers, many of them are armed, and they are probably at the gates of the city! Please ask the county magistrate to take charge of the situation."

Song Ming was puzzled. Could it be that the people from some place were really rebelling, but why were they coming here?
He couldn't help but stand up and said calmly, "Come with me to a higher place to take a look."

After saying that, Song Ming left the garden and came to a tall building in the city.

Qianshan City is located on a mountain. If you climb up to a high building and look out, you can see the situation outside the city clearly.

When Song Ming looked towards the south of the city and saw the dark crowd and shining weapons, he could no longer hold back his expression.

"Where did all these people come from? Could it be that Anguo is already in civil strife?"

"No, it's impossible. Hongzhou has just received the grace of a saint, and a member of the royal family has been transferred to serve as a governor. How could someone rebel? Are they tired of living..."

Song Ming muttered to himself, already panicking.

When the people around saw this, they were also shocked and didn't know what had happened.

"Sir, what should we do?" someone asked.

Song Ming had been through a lot, so he quickly calmed down and ordered, "Have the county magistrate and county lieutenant send people to guard the city gate and find out where they came from. Qianshan City has high walls and thick gates, so they won't be able to break in for the time being. Don't panic..."

Song Ming gave a series of instructions, and everyone received the orders and went to do their work with a nervous mood.

Song Ming called his confidants and whispered to them, making sure they had a foolproof plan. If the thieves really broke through the city, he would have no choice but to abandon it and flee.

Outside the city, at the foot of the mountain, thousands of people stopped and looked up at the city in front of them, their expressions changing constantly.

Lu Zheng looked at everyone and said, "Everyone must have been tired from the journey. Rest up. I'll go first."

After saying that, Lu Zheng walked lightly up the mountain and soon arrived outside the city gate.

There was a commotion in the city. Some people saw Lu Zheng coming and became very alert.

Lu Zheng looked at the city guards and said slowly, "Where is the Qianshan County Magistrate?"

A tall man in armor appeared and looked at Lu Zhengdao, "I am the county lieutenant of Qianshan County. Who are you? What brings you here?"

Lu Zheng looked at the county lieutenant and asked, "Where is the county magistrate? Ask him to come out and talk to me."

The county lieutenant frowned, "Your Excellency is an official appointed by the court. How can you risk your life? If you have anything to say, please tell me and I will convey it to you."

Lu Zheng shook his head. "You're not qualified yet. Let him come in person! Or should I go myself? You can't stop me!"

After saying that, Lu Zheng took a step and instantly jumped into the air, standing suspended in the air, and turned to look down at the officers and soldiers on the city wall.

Everyone was slightly surprised when they saw this. They didn't expect that the leader was such a person with great cultivation.

From a distance, Song Ming saw this scene and was shocked.

Lu Zheng glanced across Qianshan County and his eyes fixed on a tall building.

Zhao Ping had described Song Ming's appearance to him before, so Lu Zheng quickly recognized him.

Lu Zheng smiled and bowed towards Song Ming, "Lu Zheng from Kaiyang County, Hongzhou, greets County Magistrate Song!"

As he spoke, Lu Zheng threw his ID card directly to Song Ming.

Song Ming was quick-witted and took the ID card carefully to take a look.

Lu Zheng! Song Ming felt like a thunderbolt had exploded in his mind.

How is this possible... Song Ming was panicked. He had heard rumors about Lu Zheng before, but now that he saw him, he still couldn't believe it.

Lu Zheng stood in the air, staring at Song Ming and said, "Could County Magistrate Song come over and have a chat?"

The person who comes has bad intentions... Song Ming's heart was beating fast.

Although he didn't know the situation, it was obviously not a good thing for him.

Being stared at by Lu Zheng, he had no way to escape.

Seeing this, Song Ming said in a clear voice: "Since Mr. Lu is here, please come into the city and have a chat!"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Please ask County Magistrate Song to come over. Everyone wants to see you. Please return my badge to me."

Song Ming's mouth twitched as he said please, but his tone made it impossible to refuse.

There was no other way, Song Ming could only take a group of guards and go to the city wall.

Once we got our men up the city wall, we were getting closer.

Song Ming looked at the crowd at the foot of the mountain and vaguely saw some familiar faces, especially the woman in the front. He immediately thought to himself that something was wrong.

Seeing Song Ming's expression change, Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Does County Magistrate Song know these people?"

Song Ming restrained his expression and shook his head, saying, "I don't know them! I thought they were some rebel army. I don't know where Mr. Lu gathered so many people from, and what his intentions are."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Really? County Magistrate, please take a closer look. Those people are your people!"

Lu Zheng pointed to a group of tied people.

Song Ming's eyebrows twitched. All his properties were wiped out in one fell swoop!
Song Ming couldn't help but say, "Mr. Lu, you're joking. Qianshan County is such a small place, how can it accommodate so many people? These people have nothing to do with me."

Lu Zheng was not surprised at all when he saw Song Ming refused to admit it.

It would be strange if the other party openly admitted what he had done.

Lu Zheng nodded. "So the county magistrate didn't know. But it doesn't matter. I rescued them and came to the county government to seek justice. I also ask County Magistrate Song to open the city gates and properly resettle these people who have suffered grievances."

Song Ming's expression was stiff. There were so many people, all armed with weapons and with unfriendly looks. How could he dare to let them in?

Song Ming then said, "Almost all the people in Qianshan County are in the city. These people are not from Qianshan County. How can I, an official, redress their grievances and handle their cases? Please, Master Lu, take them somewhere else!"

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly, "Are you sure?"

Song Ming quickly realized that he had said the wrong thing. Given Lu Zheng's personality, he might really have the temper to take people to Maozhou City.

If things get out of hand, he, the magistrate of Qianshan County, will definitely be the first to suffer the consequences.

Song Ming then said, "The people in the city are in a panic, and there's no extra space to accommodate them. Why don't we let them find a place outside to temporarily settle down? I'll send someone to deliver some supplies... As for any grievances, please tell me in detail..."

Song Ming thought of the tactic of procrastination and decided to delay the time, and then write a letter to Maozhou to ask the bigwigs above for advice.

When something like this happened, the officials in Maozhou couldn't just sit back and watch.

(End of this chapter)