Chapter 216 Little Mengde's First Meeting with Zongze

Zong Ze was dismissed from his post and became unemployed.

He couldn't even become the magistrate of Dengzhou.

The old man, who was almost sixty years old, did not seem depressed at all despite suffering such a blow in his last years.

On the contrary, he optimistically began to reclaim wasteland and cultivate farmland in Dengzhou.

The Zong family was not very wealthy, and could be said to be poor, but they had a tradition of "farming and reading". His father, Zong Shunqing, was a rural intellectual. Zong Ze had participated in labor with his elder brother, Zong Wo, since he was young. During the slack season, he learned to read and write under the guidance of his father and grandfather.

Since I passed the imperial examination at the age of 33, I have experienced ups and downs in my life. What does this little setback matter?

On this day, a group of drug dealers from Yanggu County came to Dengzhou.

Soon, Zong Ze's information was found out.

Although spring has not yet fully arrived in Shandong, the land can be leveled as the temperature rises.

Zong Ze was like an old farmer, working on a piece of barren land that he had reclaimed himself.

When Cao Jie came closer, he stood up straight.

Very tall.

Cao Jie looked intently at this grandfather who was famous in history. Although he was not yet sixty years old, he was not much older. His face was full of wrinkles and ravines, with a white beard floating on his chest, big earlobes, a hanging nose and a wide mouth. His eyes were like bright stars and his gaze was lively. Just looking at his eyes, how could he look old at all?
He was about eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and long arms. Although he was wearing clothes woven from coarse linen, he could not conceal his awe-inspiring air.

"Young man Cao Jie meets Judge Zong Tong."

Zong Ze narrowed his eyes and looked at the group of big men. He was slightly stunned and glanced around, his eyes were fixed on Cao Jie.

He experienced ups and downs in his official career. Although he was unable to make any progress due to his stubborn character, he had come into contact with many people from all walks of life, and his vision was naturally extraordinary.

One can tell at a glance that this group of people have a murderous aura and are not ordinary people.

So he said in a deep voice: "I am no longer a judge, but just an old farmer."

As he said this, he was shocked in his heart: this person was actually a cultivator of the third realm. Although they were sparsely populated, when he stood here, those men who had achieved great success in refining their essence surrounded him. What a bunch of heroes!

"The magistrate was temporarily frustrated, and his reinstatement is only a matter of time."

"Your name is Cao Jie?" Zong Ze thought for a moment and asked, "You must be Cao Jie, the enemy of the king of hell in Yuncheng, also known as Little Mengde in the Jianghu!"

"Exactly boy."

"Heroes emerge in troubled times. The ancients were right!" Zong Ze said with emotion, leaning on the hoe in his hand.

"Not worthy of being a hero."

"That's the traitor... Why are you looking for me?"

"Here to kidnap the gentleman." Cao Jie said bluntly.

"Oh!"

Zong Ze raised his eyebrows and said, "It's interesting. Let me think about it. Although Liangshan has not rebelled, I heard that there are a group of bandits there, and the government dare not set foot there. That must be your territory!"

"What you said is true, sir, but the people on Liangshan are just a bunch of miserable people who can't survive!"

"..."

Zong Ze was silent for a moment. How could he not see the reason for the unrest in the world? But what would it matter if he saw through it?
He can't change anything.

"I heard that there is unrest in Qingzhou again. I think it has something to do with you, little Mengde!"

"Qingzhou?"

Cao Jie smiled slightly. "Commander Qin Ming and Military Commander Huang Xin have already become bandits. The prefect Murong Yanda is just a coward. It will be easy for them to capture Qingzhou."

"What a great ease!" Zong Ze laughed and said, "You are so arrogant, do you really think you can defeat me?"

"Sir, you are both a scholar and a warrior. How dare I offend you?"

Cao Jie bowed again and said, "I just have a piece of news from Liaodong that I want to tell you, sir."

"The Jin Kingdom of Liaodong is a Jurchen. As the magistrate of Dengzhou, how could I not know about this?"

"Then sir, you know that our Song Dynasty wants to form an alliance with the Jin Kingdom and destroy the Liao Kingdom together."

"hey-hey!"

Zong Ze laughed dryly a few times, nodded and said: "You are really a little Mengde, tell me, if the alliance is completed, what impact will it have on our Song Dynasty?"

"The world will never be at peace again. In less than ten years, the Song Dynasty will fall!"

Zong Ze once again looked at Cao Jie seriously and shook his head, saying, "The truth of lips and teeth being cold, the nobles in the court know it, so why do you need to worry about it?"

"But who wouldn't be jealous of the great achievement of recovering Yanyun?"

Cao Jie broke off a branch and drew a map of Song and Liao on the ground, saying, "If we want to form an alliance with the Jin Kingdom, we must cross the sea from Dengzhou to the Jin Kingdom. The Liao Kingdom today has a foolish and tyrannical emperor, political corruption, and people are living in poverty. There is unrest everywhere. And the Jurchens... have you ever seen the Jurchens?"

"Never seen it before."

"hey-hey!"

Cao Jie smiled but said nothing. He then said, "The court ordered that Dengzhou and four other states be promoted to secondary frontier states, and some capable officials be selected to serve as Tongpans. The purpose is self-evident."

Zong Ze's expression gradually became serious: "The world will never be at peace from now on. Isn't this the perfect opportunity for you evil demons to cause chaos?"

"I am not a Jiangnan person who eats vegetables and worships demons. I am rebelling only because there will not be many years of peace in this world. Hebei will definitely be in chaos, Huaixi will definitely be in chaos, and Jiangnan will definitely be in chaos..."

Zong Ze frowned and said worriedly, "I once served as a county magistrate in Longyou, Quzhou. The people there mostly believed in evil religions. Liangzhe called it Muniism, Huainan called it Erjianzi, Jiangdong called it Siguo, Jiangxi called it Vajra Zen, Fujian called it Mingjiao, Jiedi Zhai, etc. Although the names are different, they are related to each other. The believers wear white clothes and black hats, and they form societies wherever they go. They spread false scriptures and evil images, and even in the army and government offices, there are many believers. It's like a sore under the skin. Although it hasn't broken out yet, its momentum has already formed."

"Don't meddle in other people's business if you are not in their position. Sir, no matter how worried you are, there is nothing you can do about it..."

Zong Ze grabbed Cao Jie's wrist, his skinny but steel-like fingers tightly grasped it, and whispered, "What about you? Do you want to cause chaos in Shandong?"

“Why not save Shandong?”

“Hey hey!” Zong Ze’s eyes widened and he shouted, “How can I allow you to be so presumptuous while I’m here!”

"Sir, I invite you to come up to the mountain today. If I do anything to harm the people in the future, you can whip me with an iron whip. If I refuse to change my ways, I will die without a burial place."

"By you?"

Zong Ze's aura suddenly changed, and a vast and overwhelming force enveloped him, like a mountain pressing down on his head, with a force of tremendous power.

In an instant, Cao Jie felt that his soul was suppressed, and his mind was as if stuck in a quagmire, unable to move at all.

"Is this the magical power of Confucianism? Unfortunately, when a scholar meets a soldier, he can't explain himself..."

Cao Jie shook his wrist and broke free from Zong Ze's grasp, saying with a smile, "Please come into the mountain with me, sir."

"Brothers!" Cao Jie shouted again, "Please ask Mr. Zong to go up the mountain."

Be tough when you need to be tough.

If we don't take action when Zong Ze is in decline, it will be too late when the court recovers and he takes control of the army.

"You dare?" Old Man Zong shouted loudly at a group of burly men.

But there is nothing we can do!

(End of this chapter)