Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

Hearing this, Li Mantun was shocked and his face turned pale instantly.

"That thief Cui Geng is here. What should we do?"

"Don't worry, my nephew has his own way to deal with him."

Li Zhen waved his hands, looking calm and composed.

Li Zhen waved his hand, called a man over, whispered a few words, and the man took his orders and left.

Li Zhen waved again, called over another person, whispered a few words to him, and the person took his orders and left.

"Uncle, please stay here and I will be back soon."

Li Zhen said to Li Mantun.

"Captain Cui has many people and is very powerful. Zhen'er, you are alone and alone. Why don't we go together?"

Li Mantun said worriedly.

Li Zhen waved his hand and said, "No need. I can handle that thief Cui Geng by myself."

Li Zhen said goodbye to Li Mantun and headed towards Shenxing Town.

On the way home, Li Zhen got a pot of wine from a tavern beside the road and bought a bag of chicken and put it in his arms.

……

"Bang bang bang!"

Several vicious men were knocking on Li Zhen's door.

Cui Geng yelled at the top of his voice, "Fool Li Zhen, open the door quickly, it's time to pay your debt today, don't hide at home like a coward! And tell your sister and younger sister to get ready, I will take them to my cousin's house to make clothes now."

Several burly men burst into laughter.

"Captain Cui, it's only three o'clock in the morning. My brother has gone to the city to make money and will be back in the evening. You are breaking into a private house. I will report you to the county government and sentence you to exile."

Li Jianing and Li Ru each held a wooden stick to hold the gate.

"Go to the city to make money? Li Zhen has no talent or skills, how can he make money? Don't think of using this to fool me, Master. Open the door quickly, or I'll knock on it!"

"Bang bang bang!"

Several burly men knocked on the door.

The door didn't move at all.

Cui Geng waved his hand: "Don't bump into it, it's blocked inside, climb over the wall and get in!"

"Okay, sir!"

Several big men stopped what they were doing, stacked up in pairs, and climbed over the wall to get in.

Cui Geng walked into the door.

Li Jianing and Li Ru ran to the main room in panic, where Li Xia and Li Li were standing against the wall, trembling like a sieve.

Cui Geng paced leisurely, "My little beauty, your idiot brother ran away because he couldn't pay his debts, but you are still waiting for him wholeheartedly. Why don't you serve me?"

"My brother didn't run away. He will come back. Don't mess around!"

Li Jianing and Li Ru worked together to use the dining table to hold the door.

"What's so good about that idiot? Is it worth you being so devoted to him?"

Cui Geng winked at those burly men.

The big man nodded in understanding and slammed the door hard.

"thump!"

The door knocked the table to the ground, and Li Jianing and Li Ru fell to the ground.

"Work harder!"

Cui Geng had a grim smile on his face.

"Bang! Bang!"

After several hits, the door was knocked open.

Cui Geng approached Li Jianing with an evil look on his face.

"The little beauty is indeed beautiful. Now she is with the third son of the prefect of Chang'an. You are in for a treat. What are you still standing there for? Come over and thank the head of the village!"

Li Jianing gritted his teeth and crawled into the room.

"That little beauty must be anxious. As soon as she heard about Mr. Cui San, she rushed to make the bed!"

The follower next to him said in a flattering manner, with a servile look on his face.

"Not bad, you have good sense. When Mr. Cui gets tired of playing with it, I'll give it to you to play with!"

Cui Geng said with a grim smile.

"Thank you very much for your cultivation, Master!"

The follower knelt on his knees and saluted Cui Geng.

Cui Geng smiled lewdly and reached out to lift the door curtain.

"Whoosh!"

A pair of scissors stabbed at his head, and Cui Geng was so frightened that he stepped back, looking extremely embarrassed.

"call!"

Cui Geng had just taken two steps back when a kitchen knife came down on his head. The blade was so bright that it burned his eyes.

Li Jianing rushed out of the bedroom holding a pair of scissors in both hands, and Li Ru rushed out of the bedroom holding a kitchen knife in one hand.

At that time, women valued their reputation more than their lives. Li Jianing would rather die than let Cui Geng, that old ghost, get involved with her.

"Quick, stop them!"

Cui Geng fled outside in a panic, pissing and shitting all the way.

"Crack! Crack!"

The henchmen stepped forward and swung their sticks, knocking the scissors and kitchen knives out of Li Jianing and Li Ru's hands.

Two henchmen came forward and picked up the kitchen knife and scissors.

Li Jianing and the other two who had lost their weapons covered their wrists and retreated backwards like fish on a chopping board waiting to be slaughtered.

Reaching out to wipe the cold sweat from his face, Cui became even more furious.

He was just satisfying his desire to talk. These two women were specifically requested by Master Cui Wu, and he wouldn't dare to touch them even if he had the courage.

After experiencing this risk, he couldn't help but get angry and shouted loudly.

"Hold them down for me!"

The four followers stepped closer and surrounded him.

"I will never let you wait even if I die!"

Li Jianing gritted his teeth and was about to bang his head against the wall.

Suddenly, more than a dozen neighbors rushed in with sticks in their hands. They were all villagers who had a good relationship with Li Zhen's family.

Someone shouted, "Captain Cui, what are you doing? You are raping a woman in broad daylight. Are there any laws?"

Li Jianing stopped and looked at the villagers in front of her with gratitude.

Wang Qingshan and Wang Hanshan are both brothers of Uncle Wang.

Li Erhai, Li Sanhai and Li Sihai are all brothers of Li Dahai.

The rest were uncles and brothers from the wine-making workshop that Li Zhen had just recruited.

Cui Geng glanced at the villagers and became furious.

"You are still rebelling. Don't you know that in Shenxing Town, I, the village chief, represent the law? Do you want to go to jail? If you want to go, come out and speak up!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they became listless.

Since ancient times, the people have been most afraid of the government and have kept their distance from officials.

Although the village head is not even as good as a petty official, he is the bridge of communication between the government and the villagers.

Cui Geng even lowered the price of rice and secretly replaced the measuring tools when paying taxes. If someone did not pay enough grain, he would notify the elders to have the villagers arrested and thrown into the county jail.

"Cui Geng, do you think you are the county magistrate and can arrest people whenever you want?"

Wang Qingshan said with gritted teeth.

"I don't know how Brother Zhen owed you money, but Brother Zhen opened a shop in the city. My eldest brother followed Brother Zhen to the city to make money, and he will be able to pay off your debt when he comes back."

When Wang Dahai left this morning, he went to Wang Qingshan's house on purpose. Li Zhen was nice to the villagers, so he asked him to be careful and keep an eye on Li Zhen's house during the day to prevent anyone from causing trouble.

"Correct!"

Wang Sanhai held a carrying pole in his hand. Wang Dahai brought home a bag of rice last night and also instructed about it before going to the county town in the morning.

"You want to be tough with me? You peasants, how dare you! Believe it or not, I will kick you ten times when we harvest the crops this summer or autumn!"

Cui Geng grinned.

When the county government collected grain, it had to pile it up in a measuring cup and then kick it until it would fall over. The villagers were not allowed to collect the overflowing grain, so it was divided among the petty officials. This was called "kicking the bucket."

The harder you kick, the firmer the food in the bucket will be, and the more food will overflow.

But the villagers still have to continue licking the grain to pile up the tips.

Therefore, fighting was an important way for the village head who assisted the county government in collecting grain to control the villagers.

"Kick Fight!"

"You black-hearted bastard, you fight several times every year when we collect grain. If you dare to fight ten times, we will not hand over the grain to you and will go to the county government to sue you!"

The villagers were completely outraged.

Cui Geng frowned, these peasants were really tough. He came with fewer people this time and was afraid that he would suffer a loss. However, he could not give in in front of so many people. What should he do?

"Okay, what's all the fuss about?"

Suddenly, the clan leader, Old Lady Li, came over and scolded the villagers.

"If you don't hand over the grain, do you still want to rebel? If you really go to the county magistrate, do you think he will protect you, the peasants?"

The villagers lowered their heads, and most of the anger in their hearts was immediately dissipated. Indeed, generally speaking, the county government was more partial to the village heads who helped them collect grain.

Wang Qingshan said with a stiff upper lip: "We can't leave now. My eldest brother and Li Zhen have gone to the city to make money. As long as they come back, they can pay off this so-called debt."

"Have you ever been to school? Can you do math? Do you know how much five hundred taels of silver is?"

Looking at Wang Qingshan, Old Lady Li smiled contemptuously.

"Let me tell you, one tael of silver is one Guan, or one thousand Wen. Five hundred taels of silver is five hundred thousand Wen. No matter how much money Li Zhen can make, he can't make five hundred thousand Wen in one day. So what can he use to pay back the money?"

Yesterday, Zhang Mingyuan was sent back home by Cui Geng and others. His miserable appearance frightened Old Lady Li. Zhang Mingyuan was her confidant who she had promoted, and now he was treated like that by Li Zhen. She was furious and now wanted to take advantage of Cui Geng's debt collection to make them suffer.

"Five hundred thousand dollars?"

Wang Qingshan's face froze. That was really not something that could be earned in a short time.

At this time, Li Jianing said, "Even if Zhen'er can't make that much money for the time being, I still have fifty taels here. If I borrow some from other families, I will definitely be able to pay the money back."

"Yes, I have fifty taels here, too."

Li Ru also took out the fifty taels of silver that Li Zhen had given her the day before.

"It's ridiculous. Don't you know how to count? Don't you know the difference between fifty taels and five hundred taels? Besides, the bandits just robbed the village. Who has any extra money to lend to you?"

"thump!"

Li Jianing fell down.

The situation is exactly as Old Lady Li said.

Nowadays, every family has trouble even having food, so how can they have extra money to lend them money and pay them back?

The villagers felt very depressed.

Li Zhen's family could not pay the debt, so Li Jianing and Li Xia were taken away by Cui Geng. The rest would most likely become Cui Geng's slaves. They were neither human nor outside.

"Everyone, go away. Li Zhen can't pay back the money. This yard will soon be headed by Cui. What are you doing in someone else's house with sticks?"

Old Lady Li stretched out her hand to drive away the villagers, and nodded slightly to Cui Geng.

As the patriarch of a large family in the town, you must maintain a good relationship with the village head.

That way, when paying taxes in summer and autumn, there would be fewer fights among these petty officials.

When the petty officials had problems, the gentry would help them, even suppressing their own clansmen.

She was also dissatisfied with Li Zhen. Zhang Mingyuan suffered heavy bleeding yesterday. Cui Geng extorted three thousand taels of silver from him and also beat him severely. In the final analysis, it was all Li Zhen's fault, so naturally she had to teach him a lesson.

"Your clan leader has already said that Li Zhen can't pay his debts, so why don't you get out of here right away?"

With the help of Old Lady Li, Cui Geng looked arrogant and scolded the villagers who rushed in.

"It's you who should get out!"

Li Zhen stepped into the courtyard, furious.