Taizhou County Government, an uninvited visitor visited today.
Since the beginning of Qingzhang, there have been too many uninvited guests like this, and they didn't come to ask for an explanation. It's just being entrusted by others, or hinting or beating.
But if the other party didn't say it clearly, Fan Jinchuan couldn't understand it.
"Master Fang is really too bold and reckless. He deceived his superiors and his inferiors, brought disaster to the village, threatened the common people, and bullied others with his power. Your lord must not ignore it."
"Feng Jiaoyu, you are really worrying too much. I know what Master Fang is like. He is not this kind of person. He must have offended others because of Qingzhang's affairs and was framed maliciously." Fan Jinchuan said.
This Feng Jiaoyu is more than half a hundred years old, and he is a teacher of Taizhou County. He is responsible for the affairs of the county and teaches local students. Although the official position is no more than eight ranks, it is considered highly respected in the local area.
He had been preaching to Fan Jinchuan for a long time by virtue of his seniority, but when he saw that the other party still refused to listen to others, he said angrily: "If Mr. Fan insists on pampering this person, he may harm himself. Well, I just can't bear my lord's help." Take responsibility for others, since the adults will not listen to advice, then the old man will not say anything."
After speaking, he walked away.
After sending the person away, Xiao Qi walked in and said, "My lord, I sent the person away."
Fan Jinchuan, who was standing in front of the window, looked at the gray sky outside the window, and did not make a sound.
"My lord, don't listen to this old man's nonsense. He must have taken other people's money and deliberately came to you as a lobbyist."
"I didn't listen to him."
"Then why is the young master still looking gloomy? It's clear that Master Fang's side is going very well, why are you unhappy?"
"Brother Fang Xian took all the stigma on himself, but let me stay out of it. I really feel ashamed."
"Master Fang is also for the government affairs of the county, so why should you be so concerned about it? Master Fang, don't you just say that you are the pinnacle of the sea. As long as you trust him and don't waver, he will not be afraid of anything."
"But after all..." Fan Jinchuan sighed lightly, and said, "If you count the days, Brother Fang Xian should be back."
"It should arrive today and tomorrow."
The king of Wei went to Yangzhou again with a secret decree, which touched the hearts of many people in the Liangjiang area.
Not only Du Mingming, the prefect of Yangzhou, but also the governor of Jiangsu, the admiral of Jiangnan, even the governor of rivers, the governor of water transport, and Jiangnan weaving, all came forward. No matter how many people inquired about the news, Zong Yue came to Yangzhou this time, and he came to Daming Temple to participate in meditation with Master Hui Jing.
But in fact, everyone knew that the king of Wei had received a secret decree, which was not a secret to those who cared, but no one knew what the secret decree was.
Due to the gathering of salt merchants, Yangzhou has always been a place where gold and jade are piled up and drunk. Salt merchants have three good things: building gardens, raising actors, and enjoying delicious food. Someone once said: Yangzhou salt merchants are the most extravagant merchants in the world, and those with less than one million are called small merchants. But no matter how big a businessman is, when he meets real relatives of the emperor, he can only kneel down and curry favor.
Knowing that King Wei was coming to Yangzhou this time, they couldn't ask Zong Yue to come before them, so they asked good officials to help them.
This is their consistent method, never giving up any opportunity to cling to the powerful. Seriously speaking, these salt merchants can reach the point where they are rich and powerful, and a large part of them are also able to socialize with the powerful. Otherwise, why the salt merchants can monopolize it, and they can "forever a hundred years, and keep it as a nest",
Just relying on this item of permanent occupation, it is enough for them to become very rich.
This time Zong Yue obviously avoided it deliberately, and still lived in the yard built by the salt merchant. Of course, on the surface, it had nothing to do with the salt merchant. It was Du Mingming's private garden for Zong Yue to live in temporarily.
Unexpectedly, it was only the third day, and beauties sent by salt merchants flowed into the garden.
The beauty in tulle fell to the ground, weeping like weeping. In such a cold day, the charcoal basin outside was not burning well, but no one asked her to leave, and she dared not leave.
Du Mingliang hurried over and saw just such a situation.
He had already fallen asleep at home, and someone came to report that His Royal Highness Wei Wang was angry, and he didn't even put on his hat, so he rushed over.
He didn't bother to see the beauty on the ground, so he asked someone to send a message to see him.
Not long after, Dewang came out from the inside, and said with a wry smile to Du Mingliang, "Master Du, you are here. His Highness is very angry. His Highness plans to go to Master Huijing to attend meditation in two days. He is fasting, and there is such a commotion." As soon as it comes out, you say it's true."
Du Mingming was sweating profusely, and said: "Eunuch De, to tell you the truth, this garden is indeed not the garden of a subordinate official, even with the salary of a subordinate official, he can't afford such a house. There are Shangfeng and imperial envoys coming, and there is no place to entertain and live there. It is not that the Huang family took the initiative to provide a garden, which is usually vacant for entertaining distinguished guests. The officials really did not expect them to be so bold, dare do such a thing."
The two were talking outside, how could Zong Yue inside not hear them.
"Come in!"
The two looked at each other, and Du Mingliang walked in with his head down.
"Forget it this time, I know what their means are, and it has nothing to do with you, but don't reach out to my side again, and next time—"
"Don't worry, Your Highness, there will definitely be no next time, and I will warn them after the officials go down."
Zong Yue nodded, and agreed: "Sit down."
Du Mingliang went to sit on the armchair beside him, and another eunuch served tea.
"Fan Zijin went to Taizhou to be the county magistrate. How is this official doing? Before he left Beijing this time, his father asked him a few words, saying that he has a scholarly temper, more than integrity, not enough worldly knowledge, and he has no knowledge. He is only an idle official It's okay, it's difficult to take on a big responsibility, so he will be sent down to practice."
"This—" Du Mingliang hesitated for a while, and said: "His Royal Highness knows that if the local officials have no official duties, in order to avoid suspicion, they seldom contact them. The subordinate officials have not heard of what happened in Taizhou, so it must be fine. After all, Zijin took office. I brought my master."
Mentioning this master, Dewang subconsciously glanced at Zong Yue.
On the other hand, Zong Yue remained calm, half leaning on the Arhat's bed, holding a Buddhist bead in his hand.
He was wearing a dark blue round-neck uniform, as if he was going to take a rest, and one of the buttons on his collar was unbuttoned. This made his usually cold face a little more casual and approachable.
Zong Yue groaned, and said: "Then the king will go to Taizhou to see Fan Zijin tomorrow, and it was the emperor himself who asked about it."
He stood up, and Du Mingliang hurriedly excused himself. Even if he had any doubts in his heart, he was reluctant to ask.
This trip back to Taizhou, Fang Fengsheng and his party took water.
From Fenglichang to Taizhou City, it will take four or five days on the road, and the road is calm and calm. Seeing that there are still two days left, Feng Sheng is a little uneasy.
This kind of anxiety is unconscious, and most people can't observe it, but Uncle Yu has seen some clues.
"Master, you really don't have to worry. There are several spare ships on board. With me protecting you, nothing will happen."
Feng Sheng took two steps back and forth, and then walked to the table.
There is a simple map on the table. Anyone who is familiar with the terrain of Taizhou should understand that this is the water route near the Chuanchang River.
"From here to here is desolate, and it is the intersection of several waterways. The surrounding lakes are connected, and the terrain is complicated. If they want to do something, they should not let this place go."
But even if they understand, they must pass by here.
If someone really thought Fang Fengsheng would be disadvantaged, taking the dry road was more dangerous than taking the water road, so they gave up the dry road and took the water road instead. But walking by water is almost putting oneself under the nose of the other party. Now it is knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and it is biased towards the tigers.
But Fang Fengsheng can't admit it, because she is a master Fang who bullies others. Such a person, will she be afraid of those people hiding in the dark? If she was afraid, would she force everyone to clean up
She was borrowing the momentum, not only Fan Jinchuan's momentum, but also the inspection department Gou Qing's momentum, so this trip was for Gou Qing to see. Feng Sheng used Qingzhang's prodigal land as a weight to reach a cooperation intention with Gou Qing, but the intention is just an intention, no two or three, who dares to go to Liangshan, so Gou Qing will definitely not let go of the temptation, as long as Fang Fengsheng shows a little timidity, This cooperation may be cancelled.
After all, selling private salt is a major crime of ransacking one's family and exterminating one's family. If you can't even protect yourself, there is no need to cooperate.
"How long will we be here?"
"Half a day."
"In other words, it's night here."
In the dead of night, the people on board had already fallen asleep.
But the boat is still moving forward slowly. For boatmen who often take this waterway, walking at night is something that can be done with eyes closed.
There is a moon in the sky, and it is as cold as water.
The sound of breaking water was faintly heard, the iron eagle claw hook was hanging on the ship's side, and dozens of people in black water jackets climbed onto the boat along the hook rope without a sound. This whole set of movements is like flowing clouds and flowing water, without any surprises, probably only the bow lights on the deck seem to be aware of it.
It wasn't until a miserable howl sounded that it announced the beginning of the massacre in the dark night.
The sound of chaotic footsteps thumped, and the light of torches illuminated the night. The boatman's death and injury were all under control, but when he went to find the master, he found that he was in vain.
"Boss, are you all gone?" A man in black hurried over with a big knife in his hand.
"Not a single one?"
"They seemed to be wary. Before it was dark, the younger one saw through clairvoyance that they were still on the boat."
"He must have run away while it was dark, and he hadn't run far, so let someone chase him!"
"Yes."
…
Private salt dealers in Taizhou have been dealing with water and the government all their lives.
They hate the salt river, but they have to rely on the salt river to get the salt out. The intricate waterways of the Lixiahe Plain are their habitat, and it is a real joke that people can run away in this kind of place.
With an order, dozens of willow-leaf light boats emerged from the reed beaches along the coast. This kind of small boat travels extremely fast, and is most suitable for haunting places with complex terrain like this.
And on the water not far from here, a willow-leaf boat was also sailing. There were only Uncle Yu and Feng Sheng on the boat. Seeing the flames burning on the boat in the distance, they rowed the oars vigorously and moved forward.
"Master, you are still soft-hearted."
"They were raised by my father and mother, and they usually trust me. I don't have the face to use them as bait and run away by myself. Those people won't keep them alive if they catch them."
Uncle Yu sighed and stopped talking.
Feng Sheng pretended to be relaxed and said: "In this way, my heart is at ease, and running a few separate ways can also distract my attention."
Before I could speak, the sound of breaking water and shouting sounded from behind.
The two immediately forgot to speak and rowed forward.
But the two are novices, and there are only two of them, how can they compare with those who live on the water all year round. With the sound of water breaking, a black shadow jumped out of the water, and there was a faint silver light flashing, but it was the other party who slashed over with a knife in the air.
With a sound of "敪", Uncle Yu blocked it with a short knife in his hand, and was already wrestling with the comer.
Seeing that Uncle Yu usually looks not very good, he fought against the opponent with one hand without losing the wind, and with the other hand he held Feng Sheng to prevent her from falling into the water.
With a scream, the black shadow was injured and fell into the water.
But the boat behind was already chasing after him, and there were four or five people on board, rushing towards this side like wolves.
This is the first time that Fang Fengsheng is so close to death, but she doesn't care about fear at all. The boat shakes violently, and a knife blade cuts across her head from time to time. Uncle Yu fights against several people alone, and he has to protect her. The only thing he could do was to pick up the knife from the man just now, and the cat stood behind Uncle Yu, pumping Leng Zi forward to pass the knife.
It seemed that someone had been slashed, but it seemed that she hadn't. There was hot water falling on her face, and she didn't realize it was blood until she smelled the smell of blood.
Suddenly, a light came over.
Very bright light, blinding eyes accustomed to darkness for a while.
The fighting stopped for an instant, and a voice sounded.
"Tsk, so embarrassing!"