Soul echo

Chapter 690 Return to Jingzhou
As Li Tao said, everyone in the prison was bewitched by the Lord of Pleasure, and none of them could refuse.

Even Li Tao himself couldn't refuse, otherwise, he couldn't have aroused people's sympathy with just a few words at the beginning.

The same is true for Shi Wenchang. In the end, his head deformed and spikes grew to attack Zhong Ye. Zhong Ye could tell at a glance that he must have been tempted by the evil god of the abyss, but he didn't expect that Shi Wenchang was not the only one who was tempted. All the officials who were imprisoned became followers of the Lord of Pleasure.

Therefore, Zhong Ye did not continue the trial, and directly killed them all.

If a person falls into a desperate situation, it is easy to perceive the existence of the abyss. These guys should have suffered a lot in the previous day, so they were bewitched by the Lord of Pleasure and became his believers.

No, maybe it wasn't then...

Zhong Ye suddenly remembered Li Tao's previous actions. He was quite moved after knowing his wife and children died, but when he was caught by him, he was still drinking and having fun with other bureaucrats.

Logically speaking, it's impossible for him to hear about the 'destruction of the Li family'. Even if no one spreads it, if he really cares about his wife and children, he will take the initiative to look for them after he leaves prison.

Zhong Ye could feel that when Li Tao was being tried, the emotions he showed were not pretending, he was indeed saddened by the loss of his wife and children.

Therefore, Zhong Ye believed that the Lord of Pleasure's erosion of these officials had already begun, not after they were imprisoned for the second time.

"Go and ask a few Taoist priests or monks to come over and exorcise evil spirits from the prison."

After walking out of the prison and wiping off the blood on his face, Zhong Ye gave orders to the yamen guards waiting outside the door.

Immediately, his gaze turned to those officials whom he had transferred from Jingzhou.

They were half hesitating, half looking at Zhong Ye expectantly - the reason why they gathered here was to confirm whether all the bureaucrats in the prison had died.

"Now Zhijiang is short of a few positions, please report."

Hearing Zhong Ye's words, the heavy weight that was hanging in their hearts finally fell. People couldn't help cheering in their hearts, but they didn't dare to show it too obviously on the surface.

They had prepared the list a long time ago, and when they heard Zhong Ye's inquiry, they answered immediately: "Report to your lord, now fourteen bureaucrats including Zhijiang county magistrate, Tongzhi, master book, and county lieutenant have died, and a total of ten bureaucrats have died. Four official positions have been vacated, and there are several official positions that hold real power, and you need to arrange them one by one."

Zhong Ye nodded slightly, and said again: "Don't whisper, let me ask you, who do you think is the most qualified to be the county magistrate?"

Even though he had expected it, hearing these words with his own ears almost knocked out everyone standing in front of Zhong Ye.

——This is an 'officer'!

However, they all kept their eyes on Zhong Ye, not daring to look left and right.

Because Zhong Ye said that they are not allowed to whisper to each other, obviously they want to directly use this to distinguish which of them is the most popular, or who is the most capable and can convince others.

"Gao Zhengli!"

This was the most popular name, Zhong Ye glanced at him and found that the man's face was flushed, but even at this time, he was able to suppress the ecstasy and acted like he was flattered or humiliated.

It's a bit hypocritical, but it should be enough to convince people.

Zhong Ye nodded, "From now on, Gao Zhengli will be in charge of Zhijiang's official seal, and he will be the county magistrate of Zhijiang."

As he spoke, he handed the official seal and talisman representing 'Zhijiang County Magistrate' to Gao Zhengli. Gao Zhengli took it, bowed to Zhong Ye quite reservedly, and made a big gift.

"I hope you can do your duty faithfully in the future, and don't repeat the mistakes of Shi Wenchang and the others." Zhong Ye patted Gao Zhengli on the shoulder, and warned mercilessly, "The distance between Jingzhou and Zhijiang is too small for me. It's only an hour and a half away."

Before Gao Zhengli could be happy, a basin of cold water was poured over his head, which instantly calmed his mind.

He has seen with his own eyes how "fierce" Zhong Ye is, he is like a demon god from hell, if he becomes a county magistrate like Shi Wenchang...

Gao Zhengli shuddered, and shook his head hastily: "No, no! Of course I wouldn't do that, I was brought out by you, so naturally I wouldn't do that kind of stupid thing! Corruption and bribery are just a momentary pleasure, how can anyone like you Conscientious and conscientious, the refreshingness of leaving a name in history?"

"It's good to know."

Zhong Ye moved his eyes away from Gao Zhengli, and looked at other people.

He followed suit and assigned a few important positions, then waved his hand and said, "You can discuss the allocation of the remaining positions yourself, just don't make a joke, it's getting late today, go to rest quickly, tomorrow I will help you deter Zhijiang tyrants, get the land from the Li family, and then return to Jingzhou."

Having said that, Zhong Ye glanced at those officials, "I don't care what you want to do, because you will be in charge of Zhijiang from now on. I only have one request - don't separate yourself from the people, and think about everything for them. Because although merchants and landlords can get you more taxes, they are nothing without the people, and you are the same.

"The foundation of a dynasty is always the people. Your power comes from the support of the people. If the people don't support you, what can you do?"

Having said that, Zhong Ye didn't say any more, and went back to his room to rest, leaving a group of officials standing on the ground and looking at each other.

…………

Because of yesterday's public trial, coupled with the rumors heard from other people, Zhijiang landlord Hao Qiang knew all about Zhong Ye's ferocity.

When Zhong Ye brought a few newly appointed officials to visit, those landowners and squires were very careful when they spoke, for fear of offending this powerful martial arts master by saying something wrong.

Although the landlords and squires were unwilling to take over the property of the Li family to the government, they did not dare to make mistakes.

After all, no matter how much money you have, it can't compare to your own life!

It only took Zhong Ye one morning to negotiate with all the landlords around Zhijiang. After ensuring that they would not make trouble, he set off directly for Jingzhou without staying in Zhijiang.

As a result, he had just left Zhijiang when he met someone on the way.

"Unexpectedly, you actually destroyed the Li family."

Meng Yusheng was riding a fine horse, and when he saw Zhong Ye, he pulled the rein to slow down the horse's pace, and walked slowly towards Zhong Ye.

Thirty steps away from Zhong Ye, Meng Yusheng dismounted from his horse, his clothes fluttering, looking extremely chic.

It's a pity that there is no one else here except Zhong Ye and himself.

"What are you doing here?" Zhong Ye asked with a frown.

"Come to kill you."

Meng Yusheng took down the long sword hanging on the side of the saddle, turned to look at Zhong Ye, and pulled out the sword loudly, "Even if I risk my life, I will keep you here!"

As soon as the words fell, Meng Yusheng's figure suddenly disappeared.

A cold light suddenly hit from the left side, but Zhong Ye just raised his hand and pinched the blade.

The swiftly moving long sword stopped for a moment, and Zhong Ye didn't even move his body.

Seeing the three fingers pinching the blade, Meng Yusheng's expression changed suddenly, and he slapped Zhong Ye straight to the chest.

Zhong Ye arrived first, and almost poked Meng Yusheng's wrist with his two fingers.

He immediately changed his stance, from a slap to a chop, opened Zhong Ye's palm, and then a leg bounced up suddenly.

The bouncing leg hit the sole of a foot halfway, and if Meng Yusheng hadn't pulled back in time, the force of the sole of that foot stomping on the ground, breaking the ground to pieces, would have broken his leg bones.

Meng Yusheng let go of the long sword with an ugly face, took a step back, suddenly pulled out a musket from his sleeve, and pointed the muzzle at Zhong Ye's face.

boom!
The trigger is pulled, the hammer falls, and the primer is struck. The gunpowder filled in the shell case is instantly excited, and the blazing flame pushes the bullet into a spiral orbit. Driven by the rifling, the bullet spins.

The bullet moved forward at an extremely high speed, and the propellant released its final force at the muzzle, bursting the air while emitting fireworks, and the final thrust was applied to the bullet.

A short distance away, within three feet, a bullet shot at Zhong Ye's body.

The bullet landed on the stellar qi intertwined on Zhong Ye's body surface, and the way forward was immediately changed.

--call out!

Meng Yusheng's eyes widened. Feeling the severe pain from his left ear, he saw a fist the size of a sand bowl rapidly enlarged in his eyes, and his face was hit hard.

The stellar energy directly broke through the protection of the true energy in Meng Yusheng's body, poured into his head, and rushed back and forth in his head.

Zhong Ye withdrew his hand, glanced indifferently at Meng Yusheng who was lying on the ground, didn't bother to say a word, and walked away.

Like this kind of inferior goods, how can you have the guts to say 'I will risk my life to keep him here'?
Zhong Ye didn't kill Meng Yusheng, but just poured Gang Qi into his brain, if nothing else happened, it would make him fall unconscious for several hours.

And a few hours later, he had already returned to Jingzhou.

(End of this chapter)