Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1027

If Wei Wu really died in Suzhou City, then it doesn’t matter whether this matter has anything to do with them.

The result at that time will not be what Bao Guanjiao said. As long as you keep your hands and feet clean, you will be fine.

The emperor, in a rage, will get rid of anyone who is even slightly suspicious.

"We absolutely cannot let these bastards mess around, otherwise I won't be able to escape and will definitely be implicated by them!"

Thinking of this, Zhou Li stood up suddenly and said in front of everyone's surprised gaze:

"Everyone, this matter is not serious enough. Your descendants are only doing corvée labor, not facing life-threatening situations."

"If we let 'them' take action because of this, there will be no room for maneuver in this matter, and it will definitely become a huge incident."

"Think about it, Wei Wu just took your family's young people away, and then something happened. Can you get rid of this suspicion?"

After Zhou Li's words were spoken, they did have some effect. Everyone, including the six families, calmed down a lot.

But there are always some people with unclear minds who don’t understand what others say and make decisions based on their own likes and dislikes.

For example, the Xiong family. The people of this family have the same name as his surname, Xiong. Zhou Li started to refute as soon as he finished speaking.

"No one from your Zhou family has been arrested, so of course you're talking lightly. But if your descendants were arrested, would you be able to remain calm?"

Hearing this, Zhou Li didn't give any face at all and directly started to retort.

"Who can you blame for your descendants being arrested? Why weren't any of us arrested? Isn't this your own fault?"

"When Wei Wu summoned us to the prefectural yamen to discuss matters, everyone went, but you seven families didn't even show any respect."

"Now that your family has been arrested, you're already angry. So let me ask you, what were we doing earlier?"

As soon as Zhou Li said this, the six families immediately became unhappy and prepared to retort.

However, Zhou Li did not give them a chance to speak, and continued before they could open their mouths:

"You guys caused this trouble, so you should bear the consequences. It wasn't a particularly serious matter, and no one was killed."

"But if you want to retaliate, you're forcing us to bear unnecessary risks with you."

"You guys are venting your anger, but let me ask you, is this fair to us?"

As he spoke, Zhou Li looked around and asked everyone present a question.

"Everyone, do you think it's fair for us to do this?"

It has to be said that Zhou Li's words really touched the hearts of most people. It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune.

No one wants to take risks because of someone else's experience, so someone immediately responded to Zhou Li.

"I think what Boss Zhou said makes sense. Things haven't reached that point yet. There's no need for us to take risks. I'm against taking action!"

Once the first person speaks, the second person will naturally follow suit.

"I object too. There's no reason for us to bear the risk for something you six companies have done yourselves."

"That's right, I also think Boss Zhou is right. This is unfair to us!"

"It's not that serious. I don't want to pay for someone else's mistakes, so I'm against taking action."

Just like that, as more and more people spoke up, the wealthy businessmen and gentry in the room gradually split into two factions.

One faction, led by the Zhang family, agreed to take action, while the other faction, led by Zhou Li, opposed the action, but Zhou Li had more people on his side.

After all, there were only seven families targeted by Wei Wu, and most of the remaining people knew how to weigh the pros and cons.

Just as the two sides were arguing, Bao Guanjiao, who had been sitting there without saying a word, suddenly looked at Zhou Li and asked a question.

"Boss Zhou, you've always been resourceful. It was you who came up with the solution for us last time. I think that solution is very good."

"We're all in this together, and the six families have indeed been wronged, so it's normal for them to feel angry."

"Everyone is fighting so fiercely now, which is not conducive to our unity. Why don't you come up with another idea for everyone?"

"See if you can think of a way to bring back those young people who were taken away. That way they'll feel better."

To be honest, Zhou Li was very unhappy with the tone of Bao Guanjiao's speech. It felt like he was the one in charge.

But I have to admit that what Bao Guanjiao said is right. The most important thing now is to make these six families feel better first.

At least let them stop doing anything rash. As long as they don't do anything rash, things won't turn into an unmanageable situation.

So, after Bao Guanjiao finished speaking, Zhou Li lowered his head and frowned in thought. After a while, he slowly spoke:

"Although the conscription of corvée labor was legal and reasonable, Emperor Wu of Wei deliberately overlooked a key point: the use of silver in lieu of labor."

"I don't know if he's being fearless or what, but no matter what, this practice is indeed against the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

"In my opinion, we can send someone to the capital by boat and report Wei Wu's disregard for Ming laws to the court."

Everyone present looked at Zhou Li and felt that what he said made sense, but at this time Bao Guanjiao spoke again.

"As far as I know, His Majesty is quite fond of Wei Wu. What should we do if the Emperor shows partiality?"

Zhou Li understood that Bao Guanjiao was deliberately making things difficult for him, but he didn't care about it now.

As long as these people can be stopped from doing anything wrong, it will be fine. So after Bao Guanjiao finished speaking, Zhou Li immediately shook his head.

"No, I'm not talking about filing a complaint with the emperor. I'm talking about bringing this matter to the court so that the emperor can't be partial."

"Even if the emperor favors Wei Wu, it will be useless. Laws are the foundation of the country, and the civil and military officials will not stand by and watch."

"But if this matter is to succeed, it's not enough to just send any servant to the capital. It must be someone of importance."

After Zhou Li finished speaking, everyone nodded. They also understood what Zhou Li meant. After all, he was looking for someone to help.

If you just send a servant there, he might not even be able to enter the official's house. You have to find someone who is important enough.

But who to find was also a problem, so everyone looked at Zhou again, only to find that Zhou was standing there looking at the Zhang family representative.

As everyone suddenly realized what was going on, Zhou Li also spoke.

"Mr. Zhang Dengyue was a third-class Jinshi in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign. It would be best if he could go in person for this matter."

Seeing everyone looking at him, the Zhang family representative hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"I can't make the decision on this matter... I need to go back and ask the clan leader!"