In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

Qin Shaolang's voice was soft, yet it was like a series of heavy blows, making Zhang Wenyuan dizzy and disoriented.

If he doesn't do it...

What will happen if I don't do it?

Qin Shaolang didn't say it, but Zhang Wenyuan had already imagined a million terrible endings.

He had no doubt that if the magistrate dared to say "no," the sky over Lantian County would change color in less than three months! At that time, forget about his official hat, even his head would be in doubt!

"Don't worry, Master Qin! I will definitely... I will definitely convey your words exactly as they were! I'll take my leave! I'll take my leave!"

Zhang Wenyuan could no longer stay there.

He clutched the steel ingot that seemed to pierce his chest, bowed deeply to Qin Shaolang, and then practically scrambled onto the carriage, urging the driver to leave quickly.

His disheveled appearance was even worse than that of Wang Bantou, who had escaped the previous night.

The carriage bumped along the rugged mountain road, and Zhang Wenyuan's heart pounded in his chest, as if it were about to jump out of his throat at any moment.

He leaned against the carriage wall, panting heavily. Cold sweat soaked through his clothes, and a gust of cool mountain wind made him shiver.

He slowly opened his palm, looking at the dark blue steel ingot lying quietly in his hand.

This seemingly insignificant thing contains a terrifying power that could overturn a county or even a state!

He closed his eyes, Qin Shaolang's calm yet oppressive words echoing repeatedly in his mind.

A thousand stones of polished rice!

A continuous supply of iron ore!

Thirty-six legal household registrations!

Each condition was like a knife, precisely piercing the vitals of the county government.

He wants grain, manpower, and official recognition! He's not doing business with the county government; he's issuing orders! He's using an unquestionable stance to bring the entire Lantian County government into his expanding territory!

terrible!

This young man is absolutely terrifying!

His methods, his mind, and his ambition far exceeded the scope expected of a rural doctor or even an ordinary powerful figure.

The more Zhang Wenyuan thought about it, the more terrified he became. He knew that when he returned today, he would bring the county magistrate earth-shattering news that would keep him up all night!

……

The back hall of the Lantian County Government Office.

County Magistrate Li Jian'an was pacing back and forth anxiously.

He had been waiting all morning, and his patience was wearing thin. He thought that with Zhang Wenyuan personally taking charge, carrying the county government's IOU, and using both soft and hard tactics, even the most unruly country doctor would obediently hand over the tiger skin and the tiger bones.

After all, the common people cannot fight against the officials; this is an age-old truth.

"Master! The advisor is back!"

A yamen runner rushed in to report.

Li Jian'an perked up, quickly sat back in his armchair, picked up his teacup, and adopted an air of official authority, asking casually, "Let him in. Did you bring back the tiger skin?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhang Wenyuan walked in, looking utterly dejected.

His face was pale, his lips were blue, his headscarf was askew, and his official robes were covered in dust. He looked as if he had just walked through the gates of hell.

Li Jian'an frowned, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.

"Master Zhang, what is the meaning of this? How can you be so disrespectful!"

"Thump!"

Zhang Wenyuan's legs went weak, and he knelt directly in front of Li Jian'an, his voice trembling with tears: "Master! Something terrible has happened! We...we all misjudged him! That Qin Shaolang is not some country bumpkin doctor at all, he...he's a ruthless and powerful figure!"

Li Jian'an jumped up from his chair, his face ashen.

"You insolent fool! What on earth happened?! I sent you on a mission, and this is how you handle it?!"

"Master, please calm down! Master, please calm down!" Zhang Wenyuan tremblingly pulled the steel ingot from his pocket, held it high above his head, and said, "Master, please look at this!"

Li Jian'an walked forward suspiciously, picked up the dark, unremarkable piece of iron from his hand, weighed it in his hand, looked at it again, and his face was full of disdain.

"It's just a piece of scrap iron. What's your purpose in showing this to me?"

With a mournful face, Zhang Wenyuan recounted everything that had happened at the earthen kiln in detail. From how Qin Shaolang humiliated him by asking if a promissory note could buy rice, to how the other party produced the steel ingot, to how the fine iron dagger was chipped, and finally, even how Qin Shaolang tore up the promissory note and proposed those three conditions that could be considered treason, he dared not conceal anything.

The entire study fell into a deathly silence.

Li Jian'an's face turned from green to white, from white to red, and finally to a liverish color. His hand, holding the steel ingot, trembled slightly.

"Outrageous! Outrageous!!!"

He slammed the steel ingot in his hand hard onto the ground, making a dull thud.

"How dare he! He dares to tear up my official credentials! He extorts money and grain from this county! And he even tries to whitewash the identities of a group of desperados! He's plotting a rebellion! He's openly treasoning!"

Li Jian'an trembled with rage, pointing at Zhang Wenyuan kneeling on the ground, and roared, "Men! Gather all the soldiers in the county! I will personally lead the troops to raze that kiln to the ground! And tear that ignorant Qin Shaolang to pieces!"

He was really angry.

Since taking office, he had never suffered such a humiliation! How dare a peasant like him, an official of the imperial court, defecate on his head! If he didn't kill him to establish his authority, how could he, as the county magistrate, maintain his standing in Lantian County in the future!

"Absolutely not, sir!"

Zhang Wenyuan was so frightened that he grabbed Li Jian'an's leg and cried his eyes out.

"My lord! This man must not be killed! He absolutely must not be killed!"

"Get out of my way!" Li Jian'an kicked him aside. "He's just a bandit; why can't I kill him!"

"Because it's steel! It's steel, sir!" Zhang Wenyuan scrambled to pick up the steel ingot from the ground and presented it to Li Jian'an again, shouting hoarsely, "Sir, please take a closer look! This isn't ordinary iron; this is mass-producible steel!"

"He has a makeshift blast furnace and a group of loyal craftsmen! He can produce one piece today, a hundred tomorrow, a thousand! His thirty-odd fierce soldiers are currently only armed with ordinary iron. But if you give them a month, and have them all wear armor made of this steel, and swords forged from this steel... Sir, do you think our county's hundred-odd garrison soldiers, who can't even afford to pay their wages, can hold them off?!"

Zhang Wenyuan's words were like a bucket of ice water, pouring directly onto Li Jian'an's anger.

He calmed down instantly.

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

He stared intently at the steel ingot in Zhang Wenyuan's hand, his mind racing.

Mass-produced steel...

More than thirty fierce soldiers...

The will of the people...

The combination of these words sent a chill down his spine.

Yes, Zhang Wenyuan is right.

Can we win by force? Even if we can, what price will we pay? What if we push them to the brink and they set the county town on fire? Who will take responsibility for that?