Yongcheng, Mangdang stands in the north, Weishui River in the south, Huaixu in the east, Liang and Song in the west, the two rivers are locked in the closed gate, and the throat of Chu in the west is set in danger. Although it is a map of the city, it is the gateway to the east of Henan!
As a strategic place to enter and leave the Central Plains, there are too many historical legends in Yongcheng. The famous old rogue Han Gaozu Liu Bang was here to kill snakes and revolt. Chen Sheng, the leader of the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, is also buried here. The most recent historical legend comes from the equally famous Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. In March of the sixth year of Daye, Emperor Yang of Sui took a dragon boat tour in Jiangdu. Because of the floods in the past years, almost all the cities along the way were flooded. Only Mafu City, the predecessor of Yongcheng Unharmed, Emperor Sui Yang exclaimed: "Floods destroyed many cities in five years, but Mafu is Yongcheng!" So Mafu City was renamed Yongcheng, and Yongcheng County was set up in the land of Lipeng and Sui.
Being a magistrate in such a treasure land of geomantic omens and serving as the governor of a county, Xu Minlian, who came after a famous doctor in the former dynasty, was in pain but also happy. The happy thing is that the geographical location of Qiao County is quite good, and there are Woshui, Huanshui and Suishui in the county. Several large rivers, these rivers will certainly bring endless disasters in the years of frequent rainstorms, but in normal years or droughts, these large rivers are rare treasures, allowing the people to reclaim wasteland and irrigate farmland , fishing, shrimping, and transporting goods, so unless there is a flood, Xu Minlian and Xu Taishou will never worry about insufficient collection of money, food, taxes, and taxes. His political achievements can often surpass other second-class counties. It is a good achievement in collecting money and food.
The Tongjiqu canal is also a major source of taxation for Xu Taishou. This canal was built at the cost of countless money, food and countless lives. During the excavation period, the people of Qiao County were certainly miserable. Ten of the labor migrant workers who participated in the excavation died Four or five, but the predecessors planted trees and the descendants took advantage of the shade. After the Tongji Canal connecting Jiangnan and the two capitals was opened, it became the lifeblood of Xu Taishou's cornucopia. Xu Taishou left some money to buy roads, and the local people can also rely on this canal to make a living. Those who have capital sail for business, and those who have no capital work as coolies to pull fiber and carry goods. Therefore, Xu Taishou, who took office after the opening of the canal, of course loves the canal like his life and is extremely grateful.
Where there is happiness, there is pain. For Xu Taishou, the most painful thing is the rebellion in the territory. He especially hates Tian Heishe, Tian Baishe and Zhang Qian, the big thieves in Qiao County. Instead of doing errands at the docks, he wanted to gather a group of unruly people to rebel and make trouble. He also extended his dirty hands to the Tongji Canal, the lifeblood of Xu Taishou's cornucopia, and robbed the goods of passing merchants and private ships at every turn, making the Tongji Canal difficult. There was a lot of noise on the river, and the merchants in the past were trembling and often suffered heavy losses, which also greatly reduced the income of Governor Xu, so if someone can catch these big thieves in front of Governor Xu, Governor Xu will definitely eat them raw on the spot , You don’t even need to dip in soy sauce!
What made Taishou Xu even more desperate was still to come. What Xu Taishou never imagined in his dreams was that Tian Heishe and Tian Baishe, the rogue brothers who robbed ordinary merchants, even boldly extended their claws to the imperial court's grain storage team. Fu Jiande, the deputy who was in Yongcheng to protect the safety of the canal, was dereliction of duty and incompetent. After the news of the robbery of Caoliang was sent to Yongcheng, the guards spent countless hours and finally found him in the bed of the brothel. Then Fu Jiande hurriedly organized an official dispatch to rescue Caoliang , was attacked head-on by Tian Heishe and Tian Baishe. In the end, Fu Jiande took the lead in fleeing for his life, and more than a dozen boats of grain were successfully snatched by the Tian brothers. When the news was sent to Xu Taishou, Xu Taishou collapsed on the ground on the spot, He couldn't stand up for a long time even if someone supported him.
There is no other way, the fact that the grain was robbed is too great. Even though Xu Taishou is a famous doctor in the former dynasty, he has medical ethics and good temper. Focus on impeachment of the deputy, and put all the blame on the deputy Fu Jiande - in fact, Fu Jiande should bear all the guilt, and then Xu Taishou can only resign himself to fate, waiting tremblingly for the court to punish him.
Fortunately, Emperor Yang Er, who was brilliant and luminous, only issued an order to arrest Fu Jiande for questioning, and he did not pursue the crime of implicating the innocent lying gun Xu Taishou. Xu Taishou heaved a sigh of relief, but the imperial decree' However, Xu Taishou had trouble sleeping and eating, for fear that something big would be revealed that day, which would make Emperor Longyan of Sui Yang furious, and would settle his new and old scores together.
The more they were afraid, the more trouble would happen. After the grain was robbed, the Tian family brothers not only harvested it as soon as it was ready, but also became more and more rampant. They would attack the Tongji Canal almost every three to five days, and every time they would make a mess. One or two lives were lost, and Zhang Qian, the leader of the thieves entrenched in Jishan, also seemed to have taken the wrong medicine. He was also frantically trying to save the Tongji Canal, and the frequency of his shots was not less than that of the Tian brothers. Xu Minlian complained endlessly, wanted to attack but suffered from lack of strength, so he had to hide it as much as he could, and privately ordered Dong You, the county magistrate of Yongcheng, to calm things down as much as possible, and even asked the officials to clean up the scene for the thieves, bury the corpses, and pretend to be peaceful Looks like nothing happened.
Of course Xu Minlian knew that doing so would only make the big thieves more and more rampant, but there was no other way, even if it was drinking poison to quench their thirst, Prefect Xu could only hold his nose and drink this glass of poisoned wine bit by bit, hoping that he would be able to drink it later. Some were poisoned. But at this time, the good news came suddenly. The great and sage Emperor Sui Yang even arranged for the famous young Chen Qingzhi Chen Yingliang to be the Qiaojun Zanzhi to help Xu Minlian suppress the rebellion. He had heard of Chen Yingliang for a long time. When the prefect heard the news, besides laughing three times, he naturally burned incense in the temple to fulfill his vow, thanking the heaven for sending him such a reliable and capable assistant.
The famous little Chen Qingzhi came very quickly. It was only about ten days after Xu Minlian received the news that he was appointed as Zanzhi of Qiaojun. Chen Yingliang had already sent his servants to inform him of his whereabouts and politely asked Xu Minlian for his opinion. Let him take office directly in Yongcheng, where he is stationed? Or come to Qiao County first to meet the Shangguan? As a boss, Xu Taishou can sit at home and wait for his subordinates to come to visit him, but this time is different, like a drowning man seeing a life-saving straw. In the early morning of the third day after two days, I set off for Yongcheng.
Naturally, the land transportation is not as fast as the smooth canal. The world is getting chaotic and he dare not take the night road. He stayed in Feng County for one night. When Xu Minlian arrived in Yongcheng, it was already the afternoon of the fourth day. Yongcheng County Magistrate Dong You Xie Weiping, the palace supervisor of Emperor Yang of Sui’s Yongcheng Palace, led the county officials to greet him outside the city. He pinched his fingers and calculated that Chen Yingliang would arrive in Yongcheng at the latest the day after tomorrow. Xu Minlian did not greet Dong You and others, and asked : "How is it? Has the yamen house in Zanzhi Mansion been cleaned? Chen Zanzhi will arrive in a day or two."
"After receiving the eunuch's order, I immediately sent someone to clean it up." Dong You replied respectfully, "I also informed the people next to Zanzhi's mansion that if Chen Zanzhi brought too many servants, If they can't live in Zanzhi Mansion, they will immediately vacate the house and live in the temple temporarily."
"Good job." Xu Minlian praised, and then remembered that he was so happy that he forgot to ask how many servants and maids Chen Yingliang brought to Qiao County this time. Regretting his carelessness, Xu Minlian asked Dong You again: "In the past few days, what's new about those thieves at Mount Mangdang and Mount Ji?"
Dong You's face was mournful, he looked around, and then he whispered into Xu Minlian's ear, "This morning, the subordinates found six more corpses by the canal, four men and a child. , and another woman, all her clothes were stripped off, and the woman was raped. The lower officials sent people to inquire, and it should be the Tian Heishe brothers who did it again."
Xu Minlian's expression turned ugly, and he asked in a low voice, "How did you deal with the corpse?"
"It's all buried." Dong You replied dejectedly, and then asked in a low voice: "Prefect, will this matter be reported to the imperial court?"
"On the record for the time being, let's talk about it later." Xu Minlian shook his head helplessly, signaling Dong You not to bring up the matter again, then turned to Xie Weiping, the palace supervisor of the Yongcheng Palace, and forced a smile: "Xie Palace Supervisor, long time no see, how is your expression?" So bad? Still sweating? Do you want me to take your pulse?"
"I'm going to trouble Governor Xu." Xie Weiping, who knew Xu Minlian's excellent medical skills, replied with a smile, and the two of them made some polite remarks, and then they went back to the city to talk in the yamen.
Thanks to the Sui Yang Emperor's Palace and the Tongji Canal, Yongcheng is now a fairly large county, and there is also a post house in the city to receive transit officials. It stands to reason that Xu Minlian and his party should also live in the post house, but it is a matter of business. Too many, Xu Minlian did not immediately go to the post house to stay, but chose to go to the county government with Dong You first to discuss business matters. And when he just arrived in front of the county yamen, his trusted followers suddenly came over and whispered beside Xu Minlian: "Master, there are a few young people who have been following us all the way here from outside the city. They may be the eyes of bandits."
"The eyeliner of bandits?" The cowardly and cowardly Governor Xu shuddered, and quickly looked back. After being pointed out by his followers, he saw that his team was followed by several young people with weapons, and the leader was only sixteen or seventeen years old. With red lips, white teeth, handsome features, and a smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he was ready to seduce an ignorant girl at any time, he looked like a frivolous and vain adulterer, Xu Minlian frowned, thinking whether to send someone to torture him ? Even if it wasn't the thieves' eyeliner, the case of molesting widows that happened in Qiao County some time ago was placed on his head
Xu Minlian is still figuring it out here, but the obscene young man who is not a good thing at first glance has already strode forward, and even came straight towards Xu Minlian himself with a horizontal knife. Behind the entourage, he exclaimed: "What do you want to do? Protect me! Protect me!"
Hearing Xu Taishou's words, all the servants next to him panicked, and quickly surrounded the lewd young man in a tight circle. As a result, the lewd young man's companion also panicked, and rushed forward to help, but Dong You was so frightened. He and Xie Weiping also hid behind the yamen servant. Fortunately, the lewd young man waved his hand in time to tell his companions to back off, then cupped his hands to Xu Minlian and said, "May I ask if this lord is Xu Minlian Xu Taishou? I want to talk to you."
"Bold, how dare you call me by my name!" Xu Minlian poked his head out from behind his entourage, and shouted tremblingly, "Who are you? What do you want to discuss with me?"
"This is not a place, please go to the secluded place to discuss business." The lewd young man pointed to the county government office, and said respectfully: "Xu Taishou, how about letting me talk to you in the county government office?"
"To the county office? What do you want to do?" Xu Minlian was taken aback, and asked suspiciously, "Do you want to assassinate this official?"
That obscene young man obviously didn't expect Xu Minlian to be so timid, so he gave a wry smile, and then stretched out his hand into his bosom, scaring the yamen servants around him to raise their knives, who would have thought that the obscene young man took out an official document from his bosom , handed it to Xu Minlian, and said: "Mr. Xu, you can understand this document after reading it, but don't talk, and don't let other people know the content of the document."
Let the entourage step forward to take the official document, and then opened it with doubts. Xu Minlian's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He raised his head and looked at the lewd boy. Just as he was about to shout, the lewd boy had already spoken first, "Mr. Xu, please!" Silence, let's talk in the yamen."
"Hurry up, hurry up, please." Xu Minlian didn't dare to refuse this time, and hurriedly pushed away the surrounding yamen servants, and personally led the lewd boy into the county yamen. In the back hall, all the followers he brought also entered the Yamen. The county magistrate Dong You and the palace supervisor Xie Wei looked at each other, but they didn't know what happened.
What surprised Dong You and Xie Weiping was still behind. After entering the back hall, without waiting to sit down, Xu Minlian knelt down on one knee to the obscene young man, saluted the chief, and tremblingly said: "Chen Zan forgives the crime, I didn't know you just now Your identity has offended you so much, please forgive me."
Chen Yingliang quickly returned the salute to Xu Minlian, and said with a wry smile: "Prefect Xu, are you going to kill me? You are a superior in terms of official position, and you are my senior in terms of age. Why do you salute me in reverse?"
After being reminded by Chen Yingliang, the cowardly Xu Minlian realized that Chen Yingliang should salute to him. Embarrassed, Xu Minlian could only smile wryly and said: "Officials are not judged by age, but by title. Nobility, Chen Zanzhi, you are the Marquis of Xuchang who was conferred by the Holy Majesty, so the lower officials should salute you."
"Fang Xuanling's crow's mouth is really sharp. It's absolutely no problem to deal with this timid guy." Chen Yingliang put aside his worries with a wry smile, and hurriedly got up together with Xu Minlian, and then accepted Dong Youhe who suddenly realized. Xie Wei saluted and met his future colleagues and subordinates by the way.
After greeting each other and taking their seats, Xu Minlian thought of asking why Chen Yingliang suddenly appeared, and asked curiously: "Chen Zanzhi, why did you come today? Didn't your high servant say that you should arrive tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?"
"It's urgent. I had to travel day and night, so I arrived early." Chen Yingliang replied truthfully.
"Travel day and night?" Xu Minlian's complexion changed a little, and he blurted out to complain: "Chen Zanzhi, you are taking a risk. Do you know how chaotic the Tongji Canal is now? How dare you sail at night? If you encounter What about the robbers?"
"I met it, not just once." Chen Yingliang replied lightly: "Last night at the junction of the two counties of Liangqiao, there were two thief ships trying to attack my ship, but they were all beaten away. He hacked to death three thieves who jumped onto the boat."
Xu Minlian was tongue-tied, but Dong You blurted out in shock: "Those three corpses that floated down from the upstream today are the thieves you killed, Zanzhi?"
"I don't know, maybe it should be."
Chen Yingliang answered casually, but Xu Minlian glared at Dong You with a beard and eyes, and said to himself why didn't you report this to me? Dong You also understood Xu Minlian's meaning, quickly lowered his head, and murmured in his heart, "Mr. Xu, it's not that this subordinate is deliberately trying to hide it from you. It's that if this subordinate tells you all about the murder case of the thief in the canal, I'm afraid it will frighten you. His official hat must be gone, too."
"Mr. Xu, County Magistrate Dong, it seems that this section of the canal in Qiao County is not just a mess." Chen Yingliang unceremoniously gave Dong You another knife, and said, "After I arrived at Yongcheng Wharf today, I will inquire about it. After looking at the situation of the canal, I heard that the canal has become very chaotic recently, and there may even be three or four incidents of thieves robbing ships in one day. A small number of merchants have said that they plan to wash their hands and quit. If this continues, the tax revenue of our Qiao County must be hit hard, right?"
County magistrate Dong, who had concealed how many cases of ship robbery he had concealed, lowered his head even lower, and Xu Minlian gave him another stern look, then smiled wryly at Chen Yingliang and said, "Since Chen Zanzhi knows everything, I won't hide it from you. Recently, the Tongjiqu canal has been in a lot of chaos, but now it's all right, with Chen Zanzhi, the famous little Chen Qingzhi sitting in charge, those thieves who heard the news must calm down a bit."
"Thank you prefect for your compliment, a little fame is not enough." Chen Yingliang said modestly, and then said: "However, prefect Xu, I deliberately concealed my identity and talked to you on the street just now, in order to hide my whereabouts and prevent thieves from listening. So I ask Governor Xu, County Magistrate Dong and Xie Gongjian to keep it secret for me, and don’t leak the news that I have arrived in Yongcheng, even to your personal servants. You can call me by my alias Liang Well, just say I’m from Dongdu.”
"Why?" Xu Minlian asked in shock.
"Because I plan to kill the three big thieves, Tian Heishe, Tian Baishe, and Zhang Qian within three days, to combat the arrogance of the rebels in Qiao County." Chen Yingliang replied calmly.
With two bangs, the teacups in the hands of Dong You and Xie Weiping fell to the ground together. Xu Minlian had no teacup to drop, but he shrank in fright, moaning and screaming: "Chen Zanzhi, are you kidding me? You know this How many minions are there in the three big thieves?"
"I don't know?" Chen Yingliang answered calmly, and then asked: "Is there a total of ten thousand people?"
"Ten thousand is not." Xu Minlian said tremblingly: "But there are at least four to five thousand people. I heard that the black and white bandits probably have more than two thousand or three thousand people, and the Zhang Qian thief has about two thousand people."
"Only four or five thousand people?" Chen Yingliang smiled and said, "That's great, I'm more confident this time."
With a loud bang, Xu Minlian fell directly from his chair to the ground. Looking at Chen Yingliang, he screamed in his heart, "This little Chen Qingzhi not only has an astonishing reputation, he is also crazy! There are more than five thousand thieves, More sure? Does he know that there are only a few officers and soldiers in my Qiao County?"