After several men who had been kicked down by Meng Huaining got up, they all glared at the Zhao and Zhou families.
That seems to be saying - just wait for me.
Seeing the Cui family's eyes like this, the villagers from both families shuddered out of habit, and the bad images of the Cui family bullying their own family even appeared in their minds.
By the light of several torches around him, Meng Huaining saw the actions of the Cui family at a glance.
He gave orders to the officials behind him.
"These men from the Cui family will each play ten big shots. If they are dissatisfied, they will serve them twice as much."
Among these officials were many who had followed Cui Wen's orders to put pressure on the Zhao and Zhou families.
At this moment, a few of them felt extremely guilty, always looking for an opportunity to express their position to the new county magistrate, so as not to be implicated by the Cui family.
While several officials were thinking about countermeasures, the county magistrate issued an order to slap the Cui family.
Now, their chance to perform finally came.
Several officials who had worked for Cui Wen ran out first and raised their sticks to greet the Cui family.
The Cui family was no stranger to these officials. Seeing it was them, they thought the stick would be lighter when it fell on them.
The result was exactly the opposite. These officials were implicated by the Cui family. It was too late to hate them now, so how could they be so gentle?
If ten sticks can kill someone, they will spare no effort.
The Cui family members cursed loudly as soon as they felt the weight of the board.
"Your grandma's Feng Laowu, when we had a drink together, you turned out to be heartless."
Feng Laowu: Damn you, if you keep talking nonsense, I will beat you to death...
In the same scene, not only this couple, but also two members of the Cui family also cursed.
The result was that the boards that fell on them almost broke their bones.
The ten big boards were played quickly, and the Cui family members who were beaten finally realized how powerful the lesson was. They didn't dare to say more, and they all bared their teeth and begged Meng Huaining for mercy.
Meng Huaining ignored them at all and ordered the officials to keep a close eye on everyone in the Cui family starting from today. No one in the Cui family was allowed to leave Xiling Village until Cui Wen closed the case.
Immediately afterwards, Meng Huaining called the patriarchs of the Zhao and Zhou families.
"The Cui family has committed so many evil deeds that I might not be able to finish the trial even if I don't sleep for a night. Are there any literate people in your two families?"
When it comes to literate people, everyone's attention falls on Zhao Zechuan.
Because of the oppression of the Cui family, they live in poverty. It is already a luxury to not go hungry. How can they have spare money to send their children to school?
The only special case is Zhao Zechuan.
Having been bullied by the Cui family for many years, he wants to get ahead unless there is someone in the family who has a higher position than Cui Wenguan.
For this reason, the Zhao family secretly decided to choose a smart boy to study, and all the family members would donate the tuition fee.
Zhao Zechuan's intelligence was unanimously recognized by everyone.
Therefore, Zhao Zechuan is the only scholar among the Zhao and Zhou families.
When Meng Huaining finished speaking, Zhao Zechuan had already crossed the crowd and arrived in front of him.
"Sir, student Zhao Zechuan is not talented, so he is willing to write this petition."
Seeing Zhao Zechuan calling himself a student, Meng Huaining raised his eyebrows: "Are you famous?"
Zhao Zechuan answered neither condescendingly nor arrogantly: "The student passed the exam to become a scholar last year."
Meng Huaining never expected that such a down-and-out family could produce a scholar.
Moreover, judging from the other party's age, he looks like he is sixteen or seventeen years old at most.
Being able to pass the scholar examination last year is enough to prove this person's excellence.
Thinking of this, Meng Huaining was not in a hurry to talk about writing the pleading paper.
"According to what your clan leader said, the lives of the Zhao and Zhou families are not ordinary difficulties. It is really not easy to be able to provide a scholar."
If what Zhao Hua just said is true, the life of the Zhao family and the Zhou family has become a big problem when they are oppressed by the Cui family.
Meng Huaining was also a scholar himself, and he knew that it would cost a lot to cultivate a scholar.
If Zhao Zechuan cannot explain this issue clearly, it means that what Patriarch Zhao said is not entirely true.
Zhao Zechuan saw the suspicion of the county magistrate, and after bowing, he told the story of the Zhao family's collective support for him to study.
Hearing this, Meng Huaining had to give a thumbs up to the Zhao family for their unity and wisdom.
"In that case, I will give you one day to write out the petition against the Cui family and send it to the county government."
Zhao Zechuan clasped his fists again: "Please rest assured, sir, the students will hand over the papers early in the morning."
Meng Huaining looked at the sky and then asked the two clan leaders Zhao and Zhou.
"I will remove Cui Jiajia from the position of Chief today. I wonder if you two have a suitable new person in mind?"
Speaking of the position of Zheng in Xiling Village, the two clan leaders, Zhao and Zhou, had never thought that as long as the Cui family was around, this position would not be theirs.
But things are different now. The county magistrate took care of Cui Wen on the first day he took office. It must be that the Cui family will not be able to thrive without Cui Wen's support in the future.
Thinking of this, the two clan leaders felt a little anxious in their hearts.
Not to mention the salary of one tael of silver from the government every month, the clan members will benefit a lot from this.
The two patriarchs just refrained from recommending themselves because they did not want to have a tense relationship with each other due to the competition for the position of Li Zheng.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Meng Huaining guessed what they were thinking.
But fortunately, neither of them took the initiative to speak out for this upright position, which shows that they are still caring about each other's feelings.
There is no doubt that the future Li Zheng of Xiling Village will definitely be one of these two patriarchs.
He looked at the two of them and saw that their eyes were clear.
"In this case, the leader of Xiling Village will be Chief Zhao in the future!"
There is no other reason. Patriarch Zhao is younger and has a scholar son at home, so it is convenient to record something.
Patriarch Zhou was just stunned for a moment, and then he raised his hand towards Patriarch Zhao.
"Congratulations to Zhao Lizheng."
The surprise came so suddenly that Zhao Hua was congratulated by Patriarch Zhou before he could even react.
He quickly returned the courtesy and said some polite words. After all, the county magistrate was here and this was not his home court. The two exchanged a few words and then stepped aside.
Meng Huaining's eyes fell on the two of them again.
"I wonder if you two families have any unused yards?"
Hearing this, the eyes of the two clan leaders fell on Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran who had said nothing.
They all knew in their hearts that the reason why the magistrate would ask such questions was because of these new arrivals.
Someone has already asked them today. At that time, because of the Cui family, they did not dare to agree to this matter.
Now that the county magistrate has spoken in person, and after starting to punish the Cui family, they will naturally no longer refuse to rent the yard to those newcomers.
Patriarch Zhao was the first to speak: "Our Zhao family has two free yards, and the area is not small. It is not a problem to accommodate a large family."
Patriarch Zhou also said: "Our Zhou family also has an unused courtyard. There are ten main rooms and side rooms in total. We can rent them all out."
He Zhiran felt that their luck was really good.
The Mo family, the Xie family, and the Fang family all need exactly three courtyards, and there are exactly three here.
Just as she was thinking, Meng Huaining had turned around.
"Brother Mo Jiu, Mrs. Sister-in-law, since the two clan leaders can provide three courtyards, why don't you go check it out now and, if appropriate, move there tonight to avoid freezing your body from sleeping outside."
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran also had such a plan.
"That's very good." After Mo Jiuye finished speaking, he walked towards the two clan leaders.
"Two clan leaders, I wonder if you can take us to see those courtyards now?"
The two clan leaders agreed at the same time: "This is no problem. You can watch it whenever you want."
Meng Huaining's most important matter here had been resolved, and it was already getting late, so he ordered people to take Cui Lizheng and leave Xiling Village together.
Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran sent him and the officials to the entrance of the village before turning back to find the two clan leaders.
Returning to the original location, except for the Cui family who had been driven back to their home by the officials, members of the other two families were waiting there.
The two patriarchs treated Mo Jiuye and He Zhiran very politely.
Patriarch Zhao took the lead and asked: "I wonder what I call this young master?"
Mo Jiuye replied politely: "Chief Zhao, my surname is Mo, and I am the ninth in the family. You can just call me Mo Laojiu."
Immediately, he introduced He Zhiran to them. After all, we will all become neighbors in the future, so it is necessary to get to know each other.
The two patriarchs were indeed simple. They directly called Mo Jiuye and Mo Laojiu, and He Zhiran was called Laojiu’s wife!