At this time, Liuyun Village.
"Brother, now that the higher-ups have sent down another magistrate, I see that this time this person is not a good one!"
Tian Lao Er, with a big knife on his waist, walked in carelessly, with a loud voice on his mouth, and his voice was loud.
Xie Yun, the owner of Liuyunzhai who was sitting in the main seat, looked very refined. Although he looked like a master of martial arts at first glance, he was full of style, and he had the temperament of a refined general.
Xie Yun flipped through the information about Qi Sheng sent to investigate, and couldn't help asking: "Did you see anyone? How about the family and servants?"
Scratching his head, Tian Laoer replied: "There are too many officers and soldiers escorting this time, so I didn't dare to get close to him. I took a closer look at him when he was riding alone, and he looked like a man from a distance!"
Tian Laoer chuckled twice, and said: "As for the servants of the family, there are six carriages in total. I followed for a long time before I found out. Two of them should be the female relatives of the dog official, and one should be the The son of the dog official, there are two carriages that should be filled with luggage, and there are about twenty servants in the house."
"Twenty people? That's not too many." Xie Yun carefully looked at the information in his hand again, and didn't speak for a while.
Tian Laoer couldn't see what Xie Yun was thinking, so he asked, "Boss, why don't we do nothing now? When this person is settled in Ningzhou, we won't be able to do anything to him for a while!"
Xie Yun shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "Stand still and see what kind of person he is. If he is like the dog officer last time, I will kill him myself."
Tian Laoer disagreed: "Why do you say that the higher-ups transferred such a person for no reason? A good official like Mr. Chen, the court doesn't know how to reward and promote, and even transferred someone from another place who didn't understand the situation. I see those A bullshit imperial court, where officials and officials protect each other, and never think about ordinary people like us!"
Xie Yun lowered his eyes and said: "Master Chen is indeed a good person, but unfortunately his ability is mediocre. He has served in Lin County for eight years. Although he loves the people like a son, he still can't change the plight of Lin County. This alone is not enough to make him Promoted to prefect."
Tian Laoer was confused, and asked: "Isn't it enough to love the people like a son? Others are not as good as him!"
Xie Yun was afraid that he would act impulsively, so he explained: "I ordered people to inquire, and it is rumored that Master Qi has transformed Pingzhou, which was a low-level state city, into a high-class state city comparable to canal port cities in ten years. , seven of which were served as county magistrates."
Seeing Tian Lao Er confused, Xie Yun continued: "That is to say, Lord Qi has allowed everyone in Pingzhou to live a good life in just three years. If this person is as rumored, the court will send him It is indeed for the sake of the people of Ningzhou."
Tian Laoer couldn't believe it, and argued: "There is no such good official in this world. I think this dog official probably passed it on to others. There was one like this before. He obviously bullied men and women and did all kinds of evil, but he used his strength to speak out." Bragging about how much he loves the people like a son, bah, he is a deceitful villain!"
Xie Yun frowned, but still ordered solemnly: "Whether you are a good official or not, you will know after a while. We will take a good rest these days, and remember that brothers under your command should not act rashly!"
The group of leaders quietly listening to their argument next to them saw the boss's words and took orders one after another. Although Tian's second son refused to accept, he had no choice but to obey the orders.
Because of Xie Yun's words in Liuyun Village, all the people in the village became more honest. Although some village owners were not as far-sighted as Xie Yun, they didn't want to easily become enemies with the government, so they hibernated one after another.
On the other hand, Qingmu Village, whose strength is only inferior to Liuyun Village, was constantly noisy.
"Boss, we have to give this so-called dog official a good look now, so that he won't put on an official airs to do his best!"
"Yes, Boss, these bastards in Liuyunzhai dare not go to us, we must show some color to this dog official!"
Boss Liu, the owner of the Qingmu village who sat on the top of the head, hesitated, and asked with a frown: "That fellow Xie Yun really intends to stand still? This is not like that kid's style, don't deliberately deceive us again."
The second head of Qingmu village mocked: "I think that little boy is scared, big brother, what do you care about him, let's just kill this dog official, so that the court will know that the people of Ningzhou are not like this Very bullying!"
The third master of Qingmu village agreed: "Second brother is right, Ningzhou should be managed by our own family, how can the people transferred from outside be with us, even if Mr. Chen manages it, he must be better than this person! "
Everyone else agreed, which made Boss Liu a headache.
Having dealt with him so many times, Boss Liu deeply felt that Xie Yun was the kind of person with a crooked stomach. At this moment, he stood still, which really made Liu Dazhuang hesitate.
After thinking for a long time, Liu Dazhuang finally said: "Wait a little longer, wait a few days, now it's autumn harvest, let's go home and harvest the crops first."
The people below curled their lips and complained: "What land do we have? Back then, we slaughtered those dog officials and profiteers, and got some money out of it, but the land has been vacant. I think this is to prevent us from living."
Liu Dazhuang said angrily: "Collect as much land as you have, if you don't collect food, wait for the winter and drink the northwest wind! Hurry up, don't be an eyesore here."
Everyone dispersed after hearing the words, but the second and third leaders who opposed just now looked at each other and left quietly.
There are still ten miles ahead to the next post station, Qi Sheng didn't intend to stop any longer, and ordered everyone to go to the post station to rest, but he felt a little dizzy before he finished speaking.
All the soldiers around him also swayed and fell down together.
"Haha, second brother, it's done!"
It's a pity that before the third master was happy for a moment, he heard the second master's exclamation.
"...Third Brother, be careful, they are cheating!"
The scene was chaotic for a while, and after everyone in Qingmu Village was tied up, Qi Sheng came over to take a closer look.
Wei Qianhu, an officer accompanying the guards, said: "My lord, these are the second and third masters of the nearby Qingmu village. They have been doing evil for many years. Do you think they should be taken back for interrogation or killed on the spot?"
Qi Sheng stepped forward and asked them: "Why did you come here? To rob or kill?"
Pressed to the ground, the extraordinarily strong third leader let out a piss, and said disdainfully: "For a dog official like you, if you kill him, you will act for the heavens, and if you are robbed, you are robbing the rich and helping the poor!"
Qi Sheng smiled: "Not bad, quite educated!"
Seeing that he was dishonest, Wei Qianhu stepped forward and kicked him hard: "Be honest, my lord is kind and spare your lives for a while, if you dare to be disrespectful again, I will punish you now!"
The second boss and the third boss didn't care at all, and yelled at Qi Sheng again, Wei Qianhu was furious, picked up the whip, and lashed at them.
Qi Sheng saw that the two of them were almost done, so he persuaded Wei Qianhu to stop, "Let's do this first, and we'll interrogate them when we get to the mansion."
Wei Qianhu took the order to string up and tie up the people in Qingmu Village, and then led a few soldiers to lead the way.
After getting into the carriage, Liu Shi and Qi Xiuli who were originally sitting in the back carriage also sat in it, and when they saw Qi Sheng coming in, they all looked over worriedly.
Qi Sheng reassured them: "It's all right, it's just small troubles, it will be settled at the next post station, there are some towns ahead, no one will dare to come again."
Seeing his expression unchanged, the three of them relaxed, but they couldn't help but cursed at the robbers who were tied up behind them: "This group of short-sighted people, it's no wonder Ningzhou is so poor, it's all this group of robbers." People are hurt!"
Qi Sheng shook his head, closed his eyes and began to think, now it seems that the matter is more serious than he thought, this group of people even dared to blatantly hack and kill the government, which indirectly shows their hatred for the court officials, Qi Sheng is curious, Ningzhou What attitude should the people have!
Thinking about the time when he left Pingzhou, the people knelt down and saw him off. This Ningzhou is a good thing. Before he took office, he was given such a big gift. It seems that some things have been fixed!
On the second day, the group set off from the post station early and arrived at a nearby town at noon before planning to take a good rest.
Although this is a town, but the shops are scattered and there are few pedestrians on the street, Qi Sheng was a little puzzled for a moment.
Wei Qianhu, however, knew a little about this, and said: "Your Excellency, you don't know that a lot of land in Ningzhou was in the hands of those landlords, wealthy businessmen and corrupt officials. There were several riots broke out here in the past few months, and those landlords were in a hurry. , They would rather leave it unused than hire someone to plant it. Now it’s October. Apart from harvesting some grain in their own fields, the common people are busy planting some long-lived radishes and vegetables, or going up the mountain to dig some wild vegetables to prepare for the winter. "
Qi Sheng understands that, and laments that the life of the people here is not easy. Originally, Ningzhou had little land, and most of it was in the hands of the rich. Now that the officials and bandits are fighting each other, both sides suffer, and the people here are directly receiving even a little food. Not anymore.
Qi Sheng was silent and didn't say any more. When it was time for lunch, the second leader who was tied up almost ran away. Seeing Wei Qianhu's hesitant expression and hesitating speech, Qi Sheng guessed something in his heart.
The bandits are colluding, or these bandits are ordinary people!
Qi Sheng had a headache, the people here are really tough, but he comforted himself, no matter how tough he is, it's just for survival, so he should understand it.
Although Qi Sheng understood them for them, he was not in the mood to stay any longer, and the group hurried on, and finally arrived at the magistrate's office in Ningzhou at Youshi.
Officials who had been waiting for a long time were already waiting here at the gate of the prefect's yamen, after Qi Sheng greeted them, he took his seat and started the banquet.
After sitting down, some officials who shouted for Qi Sheng stood up and scolded: "Your Excellency came all the way to this place, I don't want these unscrupulous people to dare to block the road and rob. Your Excellency, in the opinion of the following officials, we should kill chickens to make an example of monkeys, and let these lawless unscrupulous people come here." Know that my official authority is inviolable!"
Many people in the audience responded, before the gangsters colluded, officials and bandits were incompatible, these powerless petty officials were harassed by those gangsters, now that Qi Sheng came, he wanted to use the new prefect Take a good breath for them.
Qi Sheng smiled and didn't speak, watching them criticize the local people and the local bandits full of evil.
"My lord, the next official is Chen Wenbing, the magistrate of Lin County, and I have a word of advice."
When a group of people were making noise, an official with gray sideburns stood up and bowed his hands to Qi Sheng.
Qi Sheng waved his hand: "Master Chen, there is no need to be too polite. Today's banquet is a feast for me and my colleagues to have a good time with each other. These red tapes will be skipped today."
Everyone flattered Qi Sheng after hearing the words, but Chen Wenbing couldn't see Qi Sheng's thoughts, so he said according to the original plan: "My lord, the lower officials have different opinions. The lower officials think that the government and the people are now in a stalemate. Mostly it is the helpless choice of the local people who can't survive. Although they rebelled, they never hurt innocent people. Now the direct beheading may cause more public grievances. It is better to forgive one or two, so that the people of Ningzhou know that the adults are kind. .”
After Chen Wenbing finished speaking, one person sarcastically said: "Master Chen, I said, why do you still think about these untouchables in everything, but if it weren't for their disobedience and misconduct, your old man might have been promoted and praised by now. This Lin County has been suffering for eight years!"
Chen Wenbing was at a loss for words for a moment, he was a little annoyed that this person exposed the pain in his heart in front of everyone, and he was also a little worried about what Qi Sheng would do.
Qi Sheng looked at the wine in his glass and said with a smile: "I'm not familiar with the place when I come here, so I really can't act recklessly, but I will keep the suggestions of all the ministers in mind, and I will take them into account after a few days. We need to understand the situation in Ningzhou before we deal with it."
After finishing speaking, he picked up the wine glass and said, "Come on, my lords, I won't talk about official business today, let's have a good drink."
Everyone had various thoughts in their hearts, but their immediate boss had already spoken, so they couldn't say any more. They all raised their glasses of wine and chatted with Qi Sheng about the memorable green mountains and beautiful waters of Ningzhou.