After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

Chapter 115 Value

The young man's figure was blocked by the boy. The sergeant, who was of medium height, could not see Gu Lin at all. He looked up at Zheng Hao, and when his eyes met the other's, the sergeant frowned and felt uncomfortable.

If it were anyone else, he would have kicked them long ago, but the boy in front of him was not one of those lowly commoners; a scholar from the prefectural school had to show some consideration.

However, after several months of hardship in the military camp, upon seeing such a lucrative opportunity as Gu Lin, even though the other party's junior was a scholar, the squad leader was still reluctant to let go of this delicacy.

Thinking about what the people around him had said, that the only people in the family were Zheng Hao, the young man, and the elderly couple, did that mean the young man was unmarried or that his husband had run into trouble? The squad leader thought for a moment and, judging from the young man's age of about eighteen or nineteen, he guessed that he had been married before.

Unlike before, when they robbed innocent women, the squad leader suppressed his murderous aura and said loudly, "Last night, disaster victims broke into the prefectural city. We have been ordered to investigate the casualties of the people. The head of each household, please come out and speak."

The higher-ups had indeed given orders to have their men investigate the casualties among the civilians, but this was the task of officials and yamen runners, not the soldiers. However, the sergeant's eyes darted around and landed on Zheng Hao's back. Perfect timing; he could use this opportunity to see if this young man had a husband.

No one doubted the squad leader's words, and the heads of each household stepped forward.

The head of Gu Lin's family is naturally Zheng Hao. Now, Gu Lin can't show his face, and Brother Zhao, being honest and simple, can't handle a group of soldiers.

Upon seeing that the head of the household was the young scholar, the squad leader's face flashed with secret joy, but he said to Zheng Hao, "You are still young and cannot make decisions. Where is the real head of your family?"

Knowing what the other party was thinking, Zheng Hao said, "My father will go first. I am in charge of all important matters in the family. As for human ethics and morality, as well as the laws of the court, I have done nothing wrong in this trip."

Zheng Hao's statement is reasonable. Although men in ancient times came of age at twenty, it was not actually that strict.

In rural areas, a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy is already considered an adult, and a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy is mostly married with children, working in the fields or making a living elsewhere. Some capable boys can even support the whole family, surpassing their parents.

The squad leader smiled dismissively and said, "As expected of a scholar, when we were his age, we were still attracting trouble, but Scholar Zheng was able to uphold the family's reputation."

Zheng Hao said in a calm tone: "Last night, many disaster victims broke into the city. I imagine there were quite a few injured or dead people in the city. The squad leader has a lot of work to do, and we shouldn't delay him."

After saying that, Zheng Hao turned to Niu Qiang and said, "Brother Niu, please inform the squad leader of the number of deaths among the disaster victims and the number of injured neighbors."

Upon hearing this, Niu Qiang stepped forward. His towering figure made the soldiers look like chicks in comparison; he was half a head taller than them.

The squad leader finally understood what it felt like to lift a stone only to drop it on his own foot, but he was also a little annoyed. The only reason he had been able to speak to the other party in a friendly manner was because he was mindful of the other party's status.

However, looking at the tall, fierce-looking man in front of him, and the dozen or so bodyguards behind Zheng Hao who were covered in a bloodthirsty aura, the squad leader dared not make any rash moves.

The ground in front of him was soaked in blood, and the piles of corpses outside were still fresh and warm.

Gu Lin hid behind Zheng Hao without moving. Even if he was slow to realize it, he knew he had attracted a bad romantic interest.

The squad leader thought that since he couldn't get the young man right now, he would first memorize the alleyway and the place where the young man lived, and then come to find him later.

In any case, the garrison will not leave the prefectural city within the next two weeks.

Thinking this, suddenly, there was a commotion outside, followed by the sound of several people walking over.

The squad leader turned his head and saw a handsome young man walking over, followed by two constables.

Then, the handsome young man turned to the direction behind him and said, "Brother Zheng, are you alright? Last night's events happened so suddenly, were you injured by any of the disaster victims?"

Upon seeing Zhen Cheng, Zheng Hao's eyes flashed.

He said, "We were lucky enough to repel the disaster victims without being injured. How are you?"

Zhen Cheng said, "We're fine, let's not talk about this now. Come with me to the government office quickly, my father and Mr. Zhou are waiting for you in the council hall."

Zheng Hao said calmly, "What are your instructions, Prefect? ​​Let me make some preparations in advance."

Zheng Hao was never so indecisive in the past; when his teachers or elders sought him out, he would go immediately.

Zhen Cheng turned his gaze to the soldiers standing in the narrow alley. He had sensed something was wrong when he came in, so he deliberately mentioned that his father and Mr. Zhou were looking for each other in front of everyone.

Zheng Hao took over, and Zhen Cheng continued, "A few days ago, you wrote a strategy for resettling disaster victims at the government office. I don't know if you made a mistake or were dissatisfied with it, but you threw it directly into the wastepaper basket."

While the servants were disposing of waste paper, they carelessly lost some, and coincidentally, yours was found by my father. My father and Mr. Zhou have seen your strategy, but I don't know the specifics. I only know that after the disaster victims were repelled at dawn, my father ordered the yamen runners to come and pick you up. I was worried about you, so I came with the runners.”

"As soon as I arrived here, I saw a large group of you standing outside talking."

Zhen Cheng turned to look at the soldiers again, his face full of confusion, and asked, "I remember you came here to check if any disaster victims are hiding in the homes of the people. The officials are responsible for the casualties of the people. Why have you been here for so long? Have you finished checking yet?"

The squad leader was fierce and brutish, but not brainless. He could tell that the other party was asking the question on purpose, but since the person in front of him was the son of the prefect, he couldn't do anything about it.

After all, his life wasn't even worth the other party's attention.

The squad leader clasped his hands in a salute, but as he lowered his head, he glanced in the direction of Zheng Hao out of the corner of his eye, but still did not see the young man behind him. Greed and reluctance flashed in his eyes.

However, that young man was not someone he could mess with. It was obvious at a glance that this Zheng scholar had a close relationship with the prefect's son. If the prefect's son punished him for the sake of their friendship...

In the end, he led his men away from the alleyway, unwilling to give up.

Seeing this, Zhen Cheng snorted coldly, but ultimately said nothing.

Then, he turned to look at Zheng Hao, his expression unusually serious, and said, "Important matters are of utmost importance. Please come back to the government office with me as soon as possible, Brother Zheng."

Zheng Hao: "Brother Zhen Cheng, please wait a moment."

Then, he turned to face Gu Lin.

Zhen Cheng nodded. It was only right for Zheng Hao to remind his family before leaving home.

Last night, the refugees rioted. Although the city wall guards managed to keep most of the refugees outside the city in time, preventing the city from falling, the refugees who rushed in last night killed many civilians. Even some wealthy families who were not well-prepared suffered considerable damage.

By tomorrow at the latest, Father will report this matter to the capital, and he will certainly be punished for his poor handling of the situation. At this moment, we can only try to minimize the harm and then let the Zhen family in the capital mediate. Otherwise, Father will be demoted or even beheaded. The rebellion in the south has not yet been suppressed, and Father may become the scapegoat of the court.

Although he had not read Zheng Hao's strategy for resettling disaster victims, seeing how much Mr. Zhou and his own father valued Zheng Hao, Zhen Cheng couldn't help but take it seriously.

Zheng Hao didn't say much. He looked at Uncle Gu in front of him and said, "Uncle Gu, I'm going to the government office this time. It will take a few days or half a month. If anything happens at home, please send someone to find me. After that, you must take a bodyguard with you when you go out, understand?"

Gu Lin also heard Zhen Cheng's words. Although he did not know the specific situation of the government office, according to Zhen Cheng, Zheng Hao's trip was likely to help Prefect Zhen solve his problems.

Gu Lin raised his head slightly to look at Zheng Hao: "You focus on handling important matters. I won't put myself in danger."

Having received Uncle Gu's assurance, Zheng Hao immediately turned around and left the alley with Zhen Cheng, boarding a carriage to head to the government office.

The crowd in the alley was astonished and began to discuss it amongst themselves.

This Zheng scholar is no ordinary scholar. They have never seen the prefect send his son and yamen runners to pick up a student to discuss matters. Could it be that this Zheng scholar is really not an ordinary person?

Gu Lin did not respond to the neighbors' astonishment and confusion.

He said, "Everyone has been worried all night, but now that the troops have entered the city, it is safe. Everyone should go back and rest."

After saying that, Gu Lin and Zhao's wife carried the wooden bucket home together.

After finishing these tasks, Gu Lin began to worry about Lin Xiaoyao and the others. He wanted to go out and check on them, but Niu Qiang said, "Zheng Xiucai has also sent people to guard Haoyunlou and Manager Lin's place. Now the soldiers are patrolling back and forth outside, and the situation is chaotic. It would be better for Boss Gu to go out tomorrow."

Although Gu Lin was unaware of the situation outside, he could tell from the attacks on his own people what a living hell it was outside.

He wasn't one to ignore advice, and in the end, he decided to go to Lucky Restaurant the next day.

The carriage sped to the government office, and without needing to announce their arrival, Zheng Hao and Zhen Cheng entered the council hall.

Prefect Zhen had dispatched all his officials, and at this moment, he and Mr. Zhou sat facing each other in the council hall.

Prefect Zhen looked solemn and weathered. From the peasant riots to the near collapse of the city and the loss of lives, the mediocre Prefect Zhen was quite frightened.

Mr. Zhou, as expected of a fourth-rank official, had the same complexion as usual, but if you looked closely at the space between his eyebrows, you would find that the creases were more pronounced than before.

"Mr. Zhou, Father, your son has returned!"

"This student greets Prefect Zhou."

Zheng Hao and Zhen Cheng entered and bowed. When Prefect Zhen saw Zheng Hao, his weathered face softened somewhat.

He said, "Zheng Xuezi, do you still remember the strategy you wrote a few days ago for dealing with the disaster victims?"

Standing before Prefect Zhen and Mr. Zhou, Zheng Hao remained composed under their piercing gazes and said, “I remember that day when you led me to listen to the Prefect and other officials discuss strategies for dealing with the disaster victims, you specially assigned me homework to complete with Brother Zhen Yuan and Brother Zhen Cheng. My initial strategy was unrealistic and too biased, so I rewrote it, and you praised it as appropriate.”

Prefect Zhen shook his head and said, "I'm referring to the initial strategy you wrote for resettling the disaster victims."

Mr. Zhou said, "We both saw the strategy on that piece of scrap paper you wrote before, but for some reason, we did not adopt or implement it."

Zheng Hao remained silent, bowing his head slightly in a respectful manner as he listened attentively.

Mr. Zhou said, "But I didn't want our hesitation to lead to today's situation."

He asked in a deep voice, "Now that the disaster victims have rioted and rebelled, do you have any other solutions?"

Zheng Hao remained silent for a moment, then Prefect Zhen said, "Just tell me. If you do something good, you will be rewarded; if you do something wrong, I will take responsibility. You don't need to be afraid."

Zheng Hao said solemnly, "I am not afraid. It is my honor to be able to share the burdens of the Prefect and the people of the city."

He then said, "The student's plan is the same as the plan in that first piece of waste paper; both will affect the interests of the clan."

Prefect Zhen was unwilling to offend the clans, but only if he could secure his position. Now that his life or death was uncertain, why would he continue to care about the clans?

Prefect Zhen said, "Speak freely."

Zheng Hao spoke up, revealing his strategy in a deep voice: "Use both soft and hard tactics, first with persuasion and then with force."

"The Prefect can cooperate with the garrison commander to send troops to surround the clan's residence. Try to persuade them with courtesy first, then resort to force. If they are still unwilling to hand over money and grain after being persuaded with kind words, then there is no need to show mercy and imprison them."

"Among them, the Prefect must target the clans led by this prefecture. If he starts by targeting some small clans, it will not only alert them, but may even cause a clan uprising. If a clan uprising occurs, their strong servants, when united, will be a considerable force."

Prefect Zhen understood this principle, but he hesitated to target the local powerful families first, because he had a good relationship with these families.

Zhou Zicheng spoke up: "Prefect Zhen, please consider this carefully."

Zhou Zicheng's suggestion of careful consideration was not to ask Prefect Zhen to consider whether or not to implement the law, but rather to prevent the other party from being soft-hearted and hesitant.

Zhen Cheng could also see his father's wavering and hesitation. If his elder brother were here, someone could persuade their father.

Suddenly, Zhen Cheng thought of something and said to Prefect Zhen, "Father, I think Brother Zheng's method is feasible. You may not have received the report from the yamen runners yet. Some of the disaster victims who broke into the prefectural city were carrying iron weapons, not ordinary hoes, but swords."

"What did you say?"

Prefect Zhen suddenly raised his head.

Mr. Zhou also looked at them, his expression slightly solemn.

They have been busy since last night. Because there are too few yamen runners, they have no idea what is happening outside. Later, when the troops arrived, both sides had their own superiors and did not communicate with each other. Therefore, Prefect Zhen and Mr. Zhou did not know that the disaster victims had weapons.

Zhen Cheng nodded, then turned to Zheng Hao and said, "The refugees who attacked Brother Zheng last night were carrying quite a few weapons."

Seeing Mr. Zhou and Prefect Zhen looking at him with solemn expressions, Zheng Hao said, "Last night, there were more than two hundred disaster victims who attacked the students' homes and neighbors. More than fifty of them were armed with iron weapons, but they were made of half wood and half iron."

Zhen Cheng nodded and said, "I also had the yamen runners bring back a few of those weapons."

Upon hearing this, Prefect Zhen immediately ordered his yamen runners to bring in the weapons.

The constables handed the collected weapons to Prefect Zhen and Mr. Zhou. The two men looked at the weapons in their hands. Although they had no special markings, it was no small matter that nearly a quarter of the refugees had iron weapons.

Prefect Zhen said to Zheng Hao and Zhen Cheng, "You don't need to concern yourselves with this matter anymore. These days, you should stay in the prefectural office and work with Yuan'er to deal with the disaster victims and the people."

Nearly a quarter of the people in the disaster camp possessed weapons, a matter that Zheng Hao and Zhen Cheng could no longer interfere with.

If Prefect Zhen hadn't known about this, he could have considered last night's riot by mistake. But with the refugees wielding iron swords, it was clear that someone was hiding behind them, inciting them.

Zheng Hao and Zhen Cheng agreed, then bowed and took their leave.