Chapter 135

"Of course you didn't notice; Zhang Honghong must have a one-sided crush." Li Xinyue trusted her intuition very much; as a woman, she would always be more sensitive in this regard.

"A one-sided crush?" Jiang Jinshi pondered; then he couldn't help with this matter; he couldn't just tie Tang Lin to Zhang Honghong's bed, could he?

Looking at Tang Lin's appearance, he was afraid he had no interest in matters of the heart; he could only pray for the Old Man under the Moon to tie a red thread for them and see if Tang Lin would ever open up.

Early the next morning, Jiang Jinshi hurried back to Lianhuan Shan.

After taking Jiangcheng, Jiang Jinshi arranged for Wang Xixi to guard Shixian Shan; after all, those were all people from Liu Family Village, and it wouldn't work without a manager to be the backbone, and then he arranged for people to go back to Lianhuan Shan to keep watch.

Now there were still two small squads on Lianhuan Shan changing shifts to patrol; after all, everyone's family members and logistics personnel were still on the mountain, and safety issues could not be taken lightly.

Jiang Jinshi actually wanted to transfer these logistics personnel to the city, but the city was still under construction.

In the future, all the assets and personnel of Lianhuan Shan would be transferred into the city; Jiang Jinshi planned to complete all of this before the new year.

The winter in Beijiang was very cold; it was much more miserable and tiring on the mountain, and the road down the mountain was not easy to walk; how could it be as comfortable as staying in the city!

Jiang Jinshi came to the dungeon; fortunately, the logistics personnel had not forgotten to deliver meals every day, otherwise this little old man should have already starved to death.

Although he hadn't starved to death, the other party's mental state was also not good, hunched over like a twilight old man.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the County Magistrate of Qingcheng was a bit puzzled; wasn't breakfast just delivered? Was it lunch time so soon?

What the County Magistrate of Qingcheng had to admit was that the food at Lianhuan Shan was truly good; there were three meals a day, and the portions were sufficient, and there was even meat.

This was even better than what he ate when he took office as County Magistrate, but he wasn't happy at all.

Thinking that all this food was robbed by hateful mountain bandits, while more common people couldn't even eat a bowl of thin porridge, made him hate this group of mountain bandits to the extreme.

If it weren't for this group of mountain bandits, food prices would have been able to drop somewhat, and the common people wouldn't have been so miserable.

"Little old man, not dead yet?" Jiang Jinshi walked into the dungeon, and seeing the other party not speaking, just closing his eyes there pretending to be mysterious, he couldn't help but tease him.

The County Magistrate of Qingcheng opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Jinshi with some surprise, "How did the Mountain King think of this old man today?"

"Oh! I feel like you eat a bit too much and don't do any work, so I'm preparing to slaughter you to save me some food." Jiang Jinshi walked closer with a smile.

"Want to scare me?" The County Magistrate of Qingcheng was disdainful; even if he died, he would not show the slightest cowardice in front of these mountain bandits.

It was just a pity; he didn't know how Qingcheng was doing now.

The County Magistrate of Qingcheng didn't look at Jiang Jinshi again, his turbid eyes showing a look of recollection.

Thinking back to the beginning, he was high-spirited and went to the capital for the imperial examinations, determined to do something big to benefit the common people of the world, but he didn't expect to hit walls repeatedly.

Everyone advised him to get married and have children, but he responded with a heart full of passion: how could one settle down when the country was not yet stable!

Until this twilight age, he was still just a small County Magistrate, and he couldn't even solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of Qingcheng, and he was even imprisoned in this dungeon by mountain bandits.

He was not afraid of death; it was just a pity that he died without any value; if he could make his blood splash higher and let more people remember him, it would not be in vain for this half-life of persistence.

"Do it!" The County Magistrate of Qingcheng closed his eyes, a mocking smile hanging on the corner of his mouth, perhaps laughing at his youthful solitary courage, or perhaps laughing at his own ordinary life.

Jiang Jinshi leaned against the cell door, "Little old man, what is your name?"

"If you want to kill, then kill; why ask this?"

"Find a wooden board so I can make a tombstone for you."

The County Magistrate of Qingcheng originally wanted to say toughly that it wasn't needed, but thinking that he was about to die and had no children, having a tombstone was better than being a lonely ghost.

"This old man is Feng Nian, courtesy name Chunsheng!"

Jiang Jinshi opened the lock on the cell door and said, "Old Man Feng, I have remembered it."

"Can you write?" Feng Chunsheng was very worried that if he died, the name on his tombstone would be wrong, and then he would truly have come to this world in vain.

"Who are you looking down on? I am also a scholar!" Jiang Jinshi felt insulted; the little old man actually doubted him for such simple characters.

Feng Chunsheng didn't believe it at all, "You? A scholar?"

"If I hadn't studied, could I have become a Mountain King?" Jiang Jinshi asked back, always feeling that this old man looked down on him very much.

"Do you have any scholarly honors?" Feng Chunsheng was suspicious; it was mainly because the other party spoke with such certainty, as if it couldn't be fake, but did a Mountain King also need to study?

"No!" Jiang Jinshi was very honest; with that original owner, he could have a fart of scholarly honors.

Feng Chunsheng laughed, "No scholarly honors and you still dare to call yourself a scholar?"

"Then you are the County Magistrate of Qingcheng; have you let the people of Qingcheng eat their fill?" Jiang Jinshi decided to have a good chat with this old man.

Feng Chunsheng's laughter stopped abruptly; he wanted to say something to explain, but felt that whatever he said was an excuse, so he could only shake his head.

Jiang Jinshi was overjoyed and immediately returned what the other party had said earlier, "The common people who follow you can't even eat their fill; you also dare to say you are a County Magistrate?"

"This County Magistrate... I have indeed done poorly." Even though Feng Chunsheng was helpless, he had to admit this fact.

This made Jiang Jinshi look at the other party with higher regard; Feng Chunsheng didn't explain, and even more so didn't attribute it to natural disasters or the Imperial Court; with such character, he was truly a parent official to the common people.

"I won't kill you; do you want a chance to do practical things for the common people?"

"Yes!" Feng Chunsheng nodded fiercely, thinking that Jiang Jinshi was going to release him back to Qingcheng; he had never been able to let go of the people of Qingcheng, so naturally, he wanted such an opportunity.

Not being afraid of death was not the same as going to die; being able to continue doing things for the common people was the value of his life.

Jiang Jinshi continued, "Then come work for me!"

"Work for you? Then you might as well kill me!" Feng Chunsheng only then realized that he had thought too much; it turned out this Mountain King wanted him to be a mountain bandit together.

"Why? Is working for me not doing things for the common people?" Jiang Jinshi knew that the following argument was unavoidable; whether he could win the other party over depended on his eloquence.

Feng Chunsheng still looked down on Jiang Jinshi, "Is robbing also considered doing things for the common people?"

"Little old man, then let me ask you a few questions!"

"Hmph! Speak then!" Feng Chunsheng was very confident; could he not answer questions asked by a mountain bandit?

"Saving a hundred people by killing one; how is this act?" Jiang Jinshi stared at Feng Chunsheng to see how the other party would answer.

Feng Chunsheng sat up straight and responded calmly, "The Zhenbei Army has guarded the northern frontier for many years, creating benefits for the common people of the entire northern frontier; all the soldiers who died are heroes."

"Then my Yangguangzhai kills corrupt officials, opens granaries, and lets thousands of people eat their fill; naturally, we are also heroes." Jiang Jinshi didn't blush when saying this, all thanks to his thick skin.

Jiang Jinshi knew that to deal with an old stubborn like Feng Chunsheng, he naturally couldn't use conventional methods; since the other party loved the common people, he could only start from there.