Chaos of Ming 1628

Qin Lao's shout immediately roused the gentry who had gathered together.

Start shouting:

"If you insist on doing this, we will stop doing business and cut off all grain supply to Jiaohe."

Faced with this, Sun Qing's expression remained eerily calm. It was as if what they were saying was nothing more than childish nonsense.

Calmly addressing everyone: "Go ahead!"

Despite all this, Sun Qing felt no tension or fear whatsoever; instead, it caused these people's emotions to explode instantly.

Old Qin's hand, which was leaning on his cane, trembled uncontrollably. He slammed his cane on the ground and said, "Good, good, you're amazing."

"What if all of us gentry withdrew our employees, closed our shops, and shut down the canal transport routes?"

Sun Qing remained calm: "What do you think I built this shop in Botou for?"

Old Qin's expression changed.

All the local gentry looked at Old Qin, their expressions tense.

Having reached their position, they've encountered countless challenges. Dealing with them boils down to money and connections. Yet this sixteen-year-old boy before them seems completely unmoved by any of these tactics.

He's just a minor county magistrate!

Old Qin let out a cold snort in his heart, leaned on his cane, and walked shakily to Sun Qing.

His eyes were terrifyingly sinister, as if issuing an ultimatum: "You were prepared all along; you can keep the entire Jiaohe River system running even without us."

"But Lord Sun, you have crossed the line for the Ming Dynasty. I will unite all the students and scholars to file a petition against you in Hejian Prefecture."

"I'm accusing you of illegally constructing and setting up facilities, inciting unrest, and even suspected of plotting rebellion and hoarding grain."

At this point, the kindness that was unique to the elderly was completely gone from Old Qin's face. Only ferocity and terror remained.

His loose face twitched twice, then he gave a cold laugh: "I'd like to see how many days your tens of thousands of immortals can survive on a strike. And you, my lord."

"Can you bear the weight of these crimes of treason? And does your Gaoyang Sun clan dare to bear them?!"

The scene fell into a deathly silence.

When these policies were introduced, the people, though they didn't understand them, could sense that they were definitely beneficial to them. If they implemented them properly, they could live a life they never dared to dream of.

Is it all going to end before it even began?

Sun Qing's gaze fell on the crowd of people who were gathered in layers not far away.

Most of them were elderly, weak, sick, or disabled. They had initially seen a way out, but now they could only tremble in fear.

Sun Qing sighed, then turned his head and saw this arrogant gentry class. They were deeply entrenched, controlling money, grain, and connections. In many places, this group even held the reins of government power.

At this moment, the common people need a way to survive, while the gentry want power. The two are completely incompatible.

The onlookers were all pale-faced.

An elderly man with some life experience mustered his courage, approached Sun Qing, and said with emotion, "Lord Sun, I know you're doing this for our own good."

"What you've described, we truly hope to see." The old man sighed, "But if you were to do this for us, you would inevitably be locked in a life-or-death struggle with those men."

The old man's voice was hoarse, his voice choked with sobs: "Lord Sun, you are a just and upright official, a dragon king reincarnated. But we cannot bring harm to you!"

"You...you don't need to care about the life or death of us useless things."

The old man was already sobbing uncontrollably as he spoke.

The surrounding people were already tense, and listening to the old man's words, their eyes turned red, and they wiped away tears and choked up.

This beautiful dream, before it even began, was about to end.

The wind was very cold.

Most of them were dressed in thin clothes, and when the wind blew, they quickly shrank their necks and shivered.

Sun Qing suddenly felt a cool sensation on the tip of his nose. He raised his hand to touch it and found it was just melted water. He slowly looked up at the sparse snowflakes falling from the sky and felt a pang of panic.

Snowing!

During the Chongzhen era, countless people froze to death, and the Little Ice Age, which accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty, was about to arrive.

Sun Qing reached out and helped the old man up. He said with emotion, "Grandpa, you can rest assured, once I've made up my mind, I will never change it."

Looking at the group of gentry and wealthy people, Sun Qing sneered repeatedly: "I'm a good person in every way, except for one thing: I can't stand the slightest threat from others."

"If you had reasoned with me properly, I might have been able to discuss things. But as you've done, this matter will not change."

"You're too willful!" Old Qin roared. "You're definitely too young to be an official."

Sun Qing stood there, facing the assembled dignitaries, his expression frank: "The rules you used to talk about were actually just exploiting the people."

"You keep talking about the laws of nature and morality, yet you indulge in wine and meat while they suffer from hunger and thirst, and the sick and weak are left to rot in the wilderness. The lives of refugees are as worthless as grass."

"I do this not to disrupt the government, but simply to ensure the people's survival. If no one else is willing to support the people, then I will."

"You people have no shame or righteousness, yet you gang up on us?"

Sun Qing's words were passionate and inspiring. The common people were moved to tears, but the local gentry and wealthy families still glared at him angrily, wishing they could skin him alive and eat him alive.

Sun Qing wasn't blind to these expressions; rather, he simply ignored them.

His gaze swept over the gritting gentry, and his voice resounded throughout the hall: "Today I'm making my decision clear: this communal dining system is in effect!"

"Do whatever you want!"

"Great!" Meng Zhaoxiang shouted, his eyes fixed on Sun Qing's figure, clapping excitedly.

With this shout, the crowd seemed to regain a sense of reality. The people applauded and cheered, and in an instant, cheers erupted.

This only made the group of gentry appear like clowns.

Old Qin snorted, though angry, he remained calm: "When I came, I knew you would try to argue your way out of line and ignore me."

"I never expected you to be so arrogant. But it doesn't matter, I was prepared when I came!"

The gentry and wealthy were agitated and hurriedly shouted, "Old Qin, do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?"

"On my way here, I had already sent someone on horseback to Hejian Prefecture to invite Lord Shi."

The crowd instantly became excited and shouted, "It would be wonderful if we could get Lord Shi up!"

"I think what can that traitorous villain do now that Lord Shi has arrived?"

As they spoke, someone turned to Sun Qing and sneered, "Sun Qing, it seems your death is near!"

As everyone was talking, the sound of horses' hooves grew louder as they approached.

Everyone turned to look in that direction.

Lord Qin's eyes lit up, and he instantly became excited, shouting, "It's Lord Shi! Lord Shi has arrived!"

"Shi Sanwei!" Meng Zhaoxiang frowned, standing beside Sun Qing with a serious expression. "Why is he here?"

After saying that, she looked at Sun Qing with worry: "Young Master, this is troublesome."

"This Shi Sanwei is a member of the eunuch faction and is related to Old Qin. Originally, Old Qin's daughter married Shi Sanwei when he was down on his luck. Although Old Qin's daughter is no longer alive, Sanwei will still come if anything happens."

This is why the local gentry of Jiahe County placed their hopes on him.

"The most important reason is not just that," Meng Zhaoxiang said with a deep frown and a serious tone, "The eunuch faction has been looking for dirt on the Sun family."

"Our actions now could hardly be denied as treason."

"Once the eunuch faction arrives, I fear even the Sun family of Gaoyang will be implicated, and may even be imprisoned!"

Meng Zhaoxiang was deeply worried. Although Sun Qing had made arrangements in advance and repeatedly instructed that this incident must not be carried out in the name of an individual or the government, but only in the name of the people.

But that's the eunuch faction's usual trick; isn't it just to cause trouble?

Meng Zhaoxiang gritted his teeth, looked at the approaching imperial guards, and shouted, "Young master, if the eunuch faction wants to pin the blame for treason on me, then just push everything onto me!"

"In any case, you must be alright!"