With two people and four good horses, the speed of the return trip was much faster than when they came. Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu basically camped in the wild, fearing that the white lion would bring panic to the people along the way. Although everyone knows that Zhen Guogong has a white lion mount, but who believes that Zhen Guogong will travel without escorts
When passing by a small county town, Fang Jie stopped and looked at the white lion Hundun: "Now the dry food has run out, I'm going to buy some in the city, just stay nearby and don't go far, and don't go into the city."
The white lion has long been used to it, turned around and ran away.
When Fang Jie and Xiang Qingniu reached the edge of the county seat, they were stopped by the officers and soldiers guarding the gate. The leader was a man in his thirties who was dressed casually in the uniform of the Black Banner Army, and he didn't wear a leather helmet because of the hot weather. When they saw Fang Xie and the others coming, those long eyes kept swaying on Fang Xie and Xiang Qingniu's mounts.
"stop."
He came over and stopped at the gate of the city: "Take out the guide, where are you from, where are you going."
Fang Jie said: "Come from Xinyang City and go to Zhuque County."
"From Xinyang?"
Shi Chang took the Lu Yin handed over by Fang Jie and looked at it casually, then suddenly waved his hand: "Take them both!"
A dozen officers and soldiers guarding the gate of the city immediately surrounded them, drew out their horizontal knives and stared at Fang Jie them.
"There is a war going on in Xinyang City. I suspect that the two of you are spies sent by the enemy. It is written on your road that you are a businessman, but you have no goods with you, and you are riding on horses!"
The chief sneered coldly: "Get off the horse honestly and follow me to the yamen!"
Xiang Qingniu was a little annoyed. Just as he was about to speak, Fang Jie waved his hand, took a badge from his waist and threw it over: "The guide I gave you just now was specially issued to avoid trouble. This is my badge."
Shi Chang took it over and took a look, and saw that there were a few characters engraved in seal script on the sign, which he didn't recognize: "How dare you admit that this guide is forged! Come, someone, take them down, and the horses will be given to you!" I sent it to the Lou Zhi County Mansion... No, it was sent to the county government to take care of it, this is evidence!"
Fang Jie's expression changed: "You don't understand my sign?"
Na Shichang casually threw the signboard engraved with the words "Xiao Riding School" to one of his subordinates: "I don't care what brand name you are, now I suspect you are a spy, you just roll off the horse back obediently, and ask Otherwise, I will let you taste the taste of the whip in the hands of the uncle. Seeing that you are also born innocent, it is not expected that you are doing serious things."
Xiang Qingniu's eyes froze slightly, but Fang Jie slowly shook his head. He jumped off his horse and walked slowly into the city gate. Xiang Qingniu didn't know what Fang Jie was going to do, so he got off his horse and walked in.
"This person is really a bitch."
Na Shichang spat behind you: "Damn it, are you really stupid or fake."
A soldier came over and poked Fang Jie: "You are really not a good person. Do you have any silver with you? If you have any silver, show it to show respect. If you have silver, who cares where you come from? Leave it alone." You won’t go on such a bright road, but you want to enter the yamen? Let me tell you, if you enter the yamen, no matter whether you have been wronged for real or not, you have to shed a layer of skin first when you get off the board of Louzhi County.”
"Lou Zhi County?"
Fang Jie couldn't help but ask, "May I ask when did this county magistrate arrive?"
"This Pinggu County has always been Louzhi County. You are an outsider and don't know. Our Louzhi County is a great person. Isn't Luo Yao great? When Luo Yao came, even the governor of Huangyang Road was forced to jump to his death. But Our Louzhi County is doing well. Later when our Zhen Guogong came to Huangyang Road, Louzhi County is still Louzhi County, and I don’t need to say more, it’s better to be smarter than anything else.”
"oh."
Fang Jie nodded: "I don't have any money, I didn't take it with me when I was on my way, why don't you take me to meet your county magistrate Lou who can't be knocked down by anyone."
"Oh shit!"
The soldier scolded: "You don't have to drink a toast, you're fined wine. When you get to the county government hall, I think it's your mouth or your spine. Great."
Xiang Qingniu followed Fang Jie, looked at the soldier with pity, and didn't bother to say anything.
"What a horse!"
Behind Fang Jie and the others, the chief patted the neck of the war horse and praised: "These few good horses will be sent to County Magistrate Lou in a while. County Magistrate Lou has long wanted some good horses for hunting. It is too difficult for Emperor Gao to find a war horse in a place far away today. This time, someone sent it up, so don’t let it go in vain.”
A soldier looked at the sign carefully: "What if it is a big man with some background? The workmanship of this sign is exquisite, and it seems to have some origin."
"who cares!"
Shi Chang made a gesture of wiping his neck: "What if they have a history? It seems that they have no companions, otherwise there is no need to bring two horses each. Since there is no backup, whoever he is. If he dies in the prison, At that time, even if someone comes to investigate, everyone will say that they have never seen it, and they can find nothing."
"I heard that the Xiaoqi School under Lord Zhen Guo is very good at handling cases."
"Amazing ass!"
Na Shichang scolded: "It's all fucking bragging. Let me be the Duke of Zhen, and I don't necessarily have to be poor!"
…
…
county jail
Fang Jie looked around and couldn't help sighing: "I thought that Huangyang Road, the land I ruled, was the best place. After all, I have been running here for several years. I didn't expect that there would be such soldiers as the county magistrate." ...The gatekeeper is so domineering and arrogant, one can imagine the virtues of the county magistrate. The people here must have suffered a lot and suffered a lot."
"Such a small matter, you can just ask someone to deal with it later."
Xiang Qingniu looked at the dirty cell and frowned: "Why do you have to come in and take a look by yourself, hand it over to Chen Xiaoru, and make sure that the eight generations of ancestors of the Lou county magistrate can find out, let alone any bad things they have done. "
"I just want to see how bad the officials under my rule can be."
Fang Jie shook his head and said: "Anyway, it's not too late. I want the people under my rule to have a relatively good life, so the appointment and dismissal of officials from various places specially ordered people to carefully select. This Louzhi County He was already an official here before Luo Yao came, and he is still an official here after a few years. If it wasn't for someone in the camp to cover for him, how could he not be cleaned up? Look at those people wearing my black flag Soldiers in livery!"
A murderous intent flashed in Fang Jie's eyes: "The name of the Black Banner Army will most likely be ruined in the hands of such people. I do ten things for the people, and the people may know my goodness. If a scum in clothes does a bad thing, the common people will remember me as bad!"
Xiang Qingniu sighed and said: "Actually, you don't have to be so angry. Throughout the ages and dynasties, unless the emperor was a fool to a certain extent, most of the decisions made by the superiors were beneficial to the people. In the event of a disaster If the money should be allocated, the money should be allocated. If the army should be sent, the army should be sent. But... when it comes to the government below, this good policy will change its taste. Not a single cent of the money allocated from above will reach the hands of the people."
"How?"
he asks.
Xiang Qingniu found a fairly clean place to sit down: "According to what I know, even during the heyday of the Sui Dynasty, there were a lot of local people's complaints, but the local officials were protecting each other for their own future. Injustice, there is no way to report it.”
"There is no cure."
Fang Jie said: "I once thought about how to manage my officials. Should I use strict laws to restrain them, or use large sums of money to maintain honesty. But these two methods are neither permanent. No matter how strict it is, it can't kill greed. Once it is relaxed a little, it will spread like a plague. Keep honest? Give officials a lot of money, and they will become more greedy!"
"Is there really no cure?"
Xiang Qingniu asked.
"No."
Fang Jie said: "No one can guarantee that they will keep an eye on all the subordinates every day. The emperor owns the whole world, and there are thousands of people in the Central Plains who have reached the seventh rank. Who can guarantee that all of them are good officials? This kind of thing, as long as If there is greed in the human heart, it cannot be stopped."
"what to do?"
Xiang Qingniu asked.
"rule."
Fang Jie said slowly: "Let's spare no effort to cure. If the government governs today and the next generation dies, it will only become more and more rampant. If you can't cure it, you will do your best to cure the symptoms. Kill a batch."
Xiang Qingniu was taken aback by the killing intent in Fang Jie's tone, he saw something cruel and decisive in Fang Jie's eyes.
"Throughout the ages... this matter really cannot be stopped."
Xiang Qingniu dug out the last bit of dry food from his bosom, but gave up the idea of eating it because there was no water: "The county magistrate is broken. If the sheriff is good, it's easy to handle. If a sheriff is broken, then Ten out of ten of the county magistrates under his rule are broken. If a governor is broken, then thousands of officials below are also broken."
"Let Chen Xiaoru separate out a group of people from the Xiaoqi School..."
Fang Jie said: "Specially inspect the four directions, find one to deal with the other. I also need to meet another inspector, who is specially watching Xiaoqi school to inspect the four directions. If the thief becomes a thief, the disaster will be even more serious."
Xiang Qingniu nodded: "Actually, your rule is too stable, the people live well, and they tolerate officials who are greedy. What the people can't bear the most is officials who are greedy and don't do anything."
…
…
As Fang Xie expected, the magistrate of Lou County was not as stupid and idiot as the chief at the gate of the city. He broke out in a cold sweat when he saw the sign, and immediately ran to the prison to apologize and release him. Put the bank note in Fang Jie's hand. Fang Xie looked at the denomination of the bank note, it was quite attractive.
Cong Qipin, the county magistrate of a small county, didn't feel bad for taking out bank notes of several thousand taels of silver at every turn, which shows how much he was greedy in his daily life.
Contrary to Xiang Qingniu's expectations, instead of turning his face on the spot, Fang Jie accepted the money with a smile, and not long after, he became brothers with the Magistrate Lou. Watching the scene where Magistrate Lou gradually let go of his worries and chatted happily with Fang Xie, Xiang Qingniu suddenly felt chills in his heart.
Now Fang Jie, who seems to be smiling brightly, doesn't know how much murderous thoughts have been stirred in his heart.
It only took an hour for Fang Jie to find out from Magistrate Lou's mouth who was covering him and what his relationship with Suzaku Mountain was. Before leaving, Fang Xie even expressed his reluctance to part with him, as if he hated seeing each other late. County magistrate Lou also felt that he had met a confidant, so he sent him ten miles out of the county in person, and sent someone to prepare a lot of food for the road.
After leaving the county seat, Fang Jie blew a whistle, and then the white lion Hun Dun galloped over from a distance.
"Ahead is An County."
Fang Jie glanced back: "Now there are still many Xiaoqi Schools in Anxian County who are handling the case of the Buddha Sect. Let them handle this matter for now. These are just small fish and shrimps. There are a few big ones in Zhuque Mountain. What about the fish. When we go back this time, we need to sweep the courtyard."