Li Ling looked at Fang Jinbo with a calm expression, without seeing any joy or anger, and did not say whether he believed or not. After looking at him thoughtfully for a while, he said leisurely: "I have always seen what he does when I know people, not what he says. Fang, do you understand what I mean?"

"Caomin knows! Because our Fang family has been associated with the Xu family over the years, it has been badly famous in Huating County, so it is natural for the county master to have prejudice against us. But Caomin will definitely use practical actions to make the adults believe that our Fang family has no malice towards the adults and the imperial court."

After pausing, Fang Jinbo looked up slightly: "For example, if the county government lacks money and food, our Fang family is willing to make up for it."

"I am very pleased that the official Fang is so focused on the overall situation. I will discuss this matter with you after careful planning." Li Ling replied without comment, and then smiled, "But since you mentioned the matter of money and grain, I want to ask you a little. As far as I know, the granaries in the yamen were managed some time ago by your Fang family. But when I checked the accounts recently, I found that those granaries were extremely deficient. What do you have to say about this?"

Fang Jinbo's face suddenly looked frightened: "Sir, I know, the people really don't know about this. Although the people who manage the granary are our children, the ones who are in power are all from the Xu family. Our children are just named and receive a share of money."

"Is that true?" Li Ling narrowed his eyes in disbelief, and then turned his eyes on the other two people, "You say." The question was Fang Changgeng, who had never met him.

Fang Changgeng was in his thirties and was very good at dealing with people on weekdays, but today he felt pressured in front of Li Ling, a young man who was more than ten years younger than him. After being named after him, his body was even more shocked. However, the county master asked him to reply, but he dared not refuse to obey, so he carefully said: "When I say to you, everything my father said is true. Our Fang family has been making money by selling salt and opening shops in the county for many years. He really won't make any idea of ​​food."

This is the truth. Relying on its own power, the Fang family monopolized more than half of the official and salt business in the Songjiang Prefecture. As the court's control materials, the profit of this unique transaction is naturally unimaginable, and it is far from comparable to those bulky grains. If it is really comparable, the profit of a stone of salt can almost be worth half a ship of grain. As a businessman, it is very clear how to choose.

But what made Fang Changgeng feel a little uneasy was that Li Ling seemed to be a little unbelievable and still looked at him thoughtfully. This made him feel nervous and he hurriedly said: "Caomin dare not deceive the adults. If the adults don't believe it, you can go and ask the people who were in charge of the granary before. Although the Xu family has died in prison, many people still know that our Fang family is innocent, please give it a clarification!"

A ray of light flashed suddenly in Li Ling's eyes, and then he laughed: "What you said is not unreasonable. If the Fang family is really innocent, I will not wrongly accuse you. However, Fang, this matter is of great importance after all, and I cannot let you go and investigate because of this statement. So I want you to hand over the people who worked in the granaries to the county government. I will ask carefully before making a decision. Are you willing?"

Fang Jinbo nodded quickly and responded: "Of course, as long as the county magistrate says, I will ask the children of the clan to come to the yamen. They are all innocent, and our family is upright and we are not afraid of shadows!"

"I hope this is true," Li Ling smiled, signaled that they could get up, and then said, "It is of great importance. I have to be careful. I hope I will not scare you. As long as I find out next, your Fang family is not doing something to harm the people like the Xu family, I will not only not make things difficult for you, but will also come to you to apologize to you. I hope you can do more practical things for the county in the future."

"I dare not, we should obey the will of the county magistrate, and dare not complain at all." Fang Jinbo took his two sons to salute again, and then with Li Ling's permission, he slowly withdrew from the room.

"Let's go." Just as the few people were about to cross the threshold, Li Ling suddenly spoke again, causing the three of them to froze. When he turned around, he heard him ask again: "I want to ask you something, given your familiarity with the Xu family, if they really embezzle official grain, where will they hide the grain?"

"This..." Fang Jinbo thought about it carefully and finally said: "The grain should be transported to other places for sale through their own channels, right? After all, although the profit of grain is not as good as salt, as long as the quantity is large enough, it is still a considerable income."

"Well, go. I'll send those granary managers tomorrow." Li Ling waved his hand and officially let them go.

The three father and son of the Fang family bowed to Li Ling again and left the public housing. It was not until after leaving the door that Fang Changgeng and others breathed a long sigh. As soon as the pressure on their bodies was gone, they wanted to sigh a few words, but their father stopped them with his eyes.

At that moment, the three of them kept walking and quickly left the county government. Until they entered the carriage, they were a distance from the county government. Fang Jinbo said, "This County Magistrate Li is indeed powerful. He deserves to be regarded as a powerful enemy by the elders in the eye... He had ruined my major affairs in southern Yunnan before, and now he is coming to Jiangnan again. This person must be eliminated as soon as possible, otherwise there will be endless troubles!"

As an important member of the Luotian Sect arranged in Jiangnan, Fang Jinbo's news is quite well-informed. Today, he has learned everything about the new county magistrate Li from the sect through the sect and learned that he had ruined the major events of this sect in southern Yunnan. It is precisely because of this that he tried his best to make the children of the Fang family act in a low-key manner after returning, and no longer have any conflicts with the county government. He also acted extremely obedient when he first met Li Ling.

In the eyes of others, this is a sign that the Fang family was already afraid after seeing the Xu family's fate. Only his father and son knew that all this was just to numb Li Ling and to cover and lay the groundwork for their upcoming plans.

When Fang Changsheng heard this, he immediately became interested: "Dad means, we are going to attack him?"

"Yes, this man is meticulous and ruthless, and he is a real enemy. I can see that as long as he is doubtful about our family, he will take action without hesitation and attack us like attacking the Xu family. Moreover, judging from his methods of the Xu family, he is not as worried as an ordinary official. He will convict by collecting evidence, but will start directly, even if he frames and fights, he will do whatever he wants. Such an enemy is truly terrible!"

When he said this, Fang Jinbo's eyes showed a hint of fear. This was an opponent he had never met before. In the past, those imperial officials were either greedy or upright, so they were bound by rules and regulations, which allowed them to deal with it calmly. However, Li Ling did not find a suitable countermeasure, let alone find a flaw.

"Dad, if you really want to get rid of him, aren't you afraid of attracting attention from the court and ruining the major affairs of the sect?" Fang Changgeng reminded him with concern. As Fang Jinbo's own son and a member of the Luotian sect, he certainly knew what would happen next. The major plan that this sect had planned for many years was about to start. If it was revealed because of one person, it would be too unwise.

"If he is still there, it will bring the biggest obstacle to my major events, so he must be removed before it is launched." Fang Jinbo had his own opinion and his eyes flashed, "And who said that if I attack him, I will definitely attract the attention of other officials?"

"Hmm?" The two sons were stunned at first, and then they guessed the whole story, and each showed a clear smile. Yes, why did they forget this trick and the most powerful secret son?

"There is another point. Even if he is really lucky and dies immediately, the court will only think that it is the Xu family's revenge on him if he wants to investigate. Who told him that he had just destroyed the entire Xu family? Therefore, all of this was chosen by him. He can still forgive the evil committed by heaven, but he can't survive the evil committed by himself!"

After Fang Jinbo said this, the father and son looked at each other and laughed. In their opinion, Li Ling had already become a fish he had held in his hands and could be killed at any time.

...

"The problems of the Fang family are more serious than those of the Xu family."

This is the first sentence Li Ling said when he called Li Moyun and Wan Shenji after sending away the Fang family, but his face became solemn: "Is this a good thing for you to say?"

"First of all, they are too low-key, which is inconsistent with the strength of the forces that are always regarded as equal to the Xu family in this county. If something goes wrong, it is a monster; secondly, it is about food. I don't think they will know nothing about it. It is even possible that the food was not greedy by the Xu family, but them. After all, compared to the Xu family, who only knows how to buy property and get power, their Fang family is the one who is most capable of transporting a large amount of food out of the county. They have their own caravans, ships going to sea, and some are able to hide the food from the government and even the Xu family from the county."

His two inferences have made the faces of the confidants in front of him become more serious, but in fact, this is just a prelude to him, and he still has the biggest doubts he has not expressed.

After sorting out his thoughts, Li Ling said again: "If it was just my judgment before, the flaws they exposed in today's conversation are the reasons why I really had obvious doubts about them. I asked them at that time and felt that if the grain in the official granary was greedy by the Xu family, they would hide it. Then the answer given by the Jinbo Fang was to sell it elsewhere."

"Is there anything wrong with this?" Chang Fan said in confusion.
Chapter completed!