Chapter 73: Killing the Chicken to Scare the Monkey

"How dare you, a mere fifth-rank military officer, bully our Li family like this!"

The Li family owns thousands of acres of fertile land outside Chicang County, most of which were bought at low prices from disaster victims during this period.

Now that Lin Chen asked for an inventory of the land, the entire Li family was in an uproar.

The current head of the Li family is surnamed Li, with a single name of Xi and a courtesy name of Cangji.

He passed the imperial examination in the early years, but failed to be sent to an official position, so he came back to become the head of the Li family.

With the status of a juren, even Song Jie, the magistrate of Chicang County, had to consider Li Xi's face.

The wealthy old man sitting in the upper position had no expression of sadness or joy, and did not respond.

This old man was Li Xi.

The old men sitting around were all elders of the Li family.

The one who said Lin Chen bullied the Li family was one of this group of people.

"General Lin said that he would buy it at the same price as we paid before." Li Xi raised his eyebrows and glanced at the elders, his tone was very flat.

"Chief?!" The elders heard something in Li Xi's words, but still asked unwillingly.

"Wait!" Li Xi waved his hand and said, "This time, a certain family has agreed to sell the land to General Lin, you can do whatever you want."

The elders present looked at each other in surprise.

They originally wanted to use Li Xi's official position to resist, but they didn't expect the chief to surrender first.

"Humph! The chief is so weak, how can outsiders see our Li family?"

"That's right!"

An elder stood up angrily and walked out.

Those who agreed followed him out.

"What about you?"

Li Xi glanced at the elders who were still staying but were also fidgeting.

"Chief, let a certain family think about it for a few days." Some people who were undecided also stood up and said goodbye.

"In that case, I won't keep you either."

Li Xi heard this and also stood up and walked to the back hall.

In the back hall.

A young man dressed as a scholar was waiting there.

"Father!" The young man bowed respectfully.

Li Xi's face softened when he saw his son.

This is his eldest son, named Li Cheng'an.

It is a great regret in Li Xi's heart that he only passed the imperial examination in this life.

But his son is at least a seed of learning, so Li Xi naturally values ​​him more and takes him with him to teach on weekdays.

Seeing that his son's shoes were stained with mud, Li Xi couldn't help but smile and said, "Did you go to the high place to see the distance with that cousin of the Pang family today?"

"I can't hide it from my father. My child and my cousin Xunhuan went to Qingsong Temple to watch bamboo." Li Cheng'an scratched his hair and said truthfully.

"Your cousin has a family background and is also very knowledgeable. The three generations and seven Jinshi are far from comparable to the main family of the Li family."

Li Xi thought of something and couldn't help but sigh.

Both families have the surname Li, which shows that their ancestors are related.

Indeed.

They were still a family a hundred years ago.

It's a pity that something happened and the family split up.

However.

Although the family split up, the Pang family Li also settled down in Chicang County.

What people didn't expect was that.

The Pang family Li family is full of literary stars, and seven Jinshi have been born in three generations!

Now the young master of the Li family is even more like a literary star descended to the earth. At the age of only seventeen, he has learned everything from ancient times to the present and has a wealth of talent.

"This young master of the Li family has the potential to be the top scholar!"

"My cousin Xunhuan will definitely be the top scholar!"

Li Chengan also nodded in agreement.

"In that case, what are you doing back?"

Li Xi glanced at his son and spoke a little more seriously.

Hearing this, Li Chengan looked a little annoyed.

You know, he has been learning the knowledge of saints since he was a child.

In Li Chengan's opinion, the disaster year should have been a relief for the hungry, but the Li family was forcing the hungry to sell their land to the Li family at a low price.

Originally, he wanted his father Li Xi to stop it, but he was indifferent to it.

Seeing his son's expression, Li Xi knew what was in his heart, and said helplessly:

"Chengan, your father is the head of the Li family..."

In this big world, there are always things that people have to compromise.

"But." Li Xi changed the subject and talked about Lin Chen's investigation of the land tax.

"Oh?!"

Li Chengan's eyes lit up when he heard it.

"This General Lin is a good official who cares about the people!"

Hearing Li Chengan's naive words, Li Xi couldn't help but hold his head and shook his head.

This General Lin's methods are too tough, and I don't know how many gentry will be willing to hand over the benefits they have obtained.

Well.

Li Xi plans to be a gentry who cooperates with Lin Chen and make a good relationship for his son.

"Father has sent the document to the county government to clarify the land tax."

Speaking of this, Li Xi's eyes flashed with a trace of heartache.

What is a gentry? It means that the ancestors have purchased land and passed it down from generation to generation.

Li Cheng'an was quite happy to hear this.

He hurried home this time to persuade his father not to go against the government.

"Cheng'an, do you know the way of being an official? It is easy to break if you are too rigid."

Li Xi planned to educate Li Cheng'an by using Lin Chen's investigation of the land.

In his opinion.

Lin Chen will definitely be frustrated in this matter.

However!

Before Li Xi and Li Cheng'an could say a few more words, they heard the servants running to report.

"Master! Master, the elders of the clan want to see you!"

Huh?

Li Xi was stunned when he heard this.

Didn't these elders just leave? Why did they come again?

"What are you doing...?" Li Xi went out and saw the elders with panic expressions.

"Chief, a family is willing to cooperate in clarifying the land tax and sell those lands." The elders of the Li family looked horrified and said anxiously. "Please make the decision, Chief!"

Li Xi was incredulous when he heard this.

How come these guys change their faces faster than turning a page.

What's going on? ! !

After a detailed discussion, Li Xi just learned from the elders.

The Zhang family west of Chicang County was raided by Lin Chenjia on the charge of collaborating with the White Lotus Sect!

The three generations of the head of the Zhang family, the mastermind, were beheaded for treason, and the rest were exiled to the border 3,000 miles away, and their property was confiscated.

Hiss!

Such a cruel method made Li Xi look incredulous.

He had previously taught Li Chengan that steel is easy to break, but he didn't know that there is such a thing as a hundred-tempered steel in the world.

Lin Chen looked at the various properties seized from the Zhang family, amounting to more than 300,000 taels of silver, and sighed.

Of course.

The bulk of it was the land deeds accumulated by the Zhang family over the past hundred years.

"Lord Lin."

Mu Guiying came over with a surprised look on her face, holding many letters in her hands.

"Are the gentry in Chicang County willing to cooperate?" Lin Chen asked calmly with a stern heart.

"Yes!" Mu Guiying nodded excitedly.

"Heh..." Lin Chen chuckled, with a hint of coldness on his lips.

It's still necessary to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

Of course.

The Zhang family pushed out by Lin Chen did not actually wrongly accuse the other party.

The Zhang family really colluded with the White Lotus Sect in secret, and he took action only when the evidence was complete.

Lin Chen thought for a while, waved his hand to Mu Guiying and said: "You go and supervise the return of the land of the hungry people by the clerks in Chicang County. If anyone dares to fish in troubled waters..."

"Then I will chop off his head!" Mu Guiying answered without Lin Chen saying anything.

As the saying goes, those who are close to ink will be black, and those who are close to vermilion will be red.

Mu Guiying has been following Lin Chen for so many days, and has also learned some of Lin Chen's ideas for doing things.

……