"I really don't know what kind of drug Zhu Ping'an gave them to make them protect him so much. A small county town can capture 795 Japanese pirates. Isn't it abnormal? But they are so confident in what they say, and we can't even question it..."
As Taizhou prefect Tan Lun and his entourage walked out of the teahouse, an accompanying soldier said indignantly.
"that is."
Another soldier echoed.
"Rewards and punishments must be clearly stated. County Magistrate Zhu defended Jingnan and protected the 50,000 people in Jingnan County. He is a meritorious official. Before it is confirmed that County Magistrate Zhu has killed innocent people to gain credit, you must not offend County Magistrate Zhu or address him by name."
Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, was walking in front. After hearing the indignation of his men, he turned around and spoke softly.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Fu... No, no, the boss is right."
Upon hearing this, the two soldiers nodded hurriedly to admit their mistakes. Of course, they still believed that Zhu Ping'an must have killed an innocent person to gain credit.
"Boss, County Magistrate Zhu defended Jingnan and saved the county from the Japanese pirates. The people in the county are grateful to him and defend him in every way, which is understandable. However, the villages outside the county are different. Many villages outside the county were caught off guard and suffered from the Japanese pirates. I believe that their evaluation of Zhu Ping'an will be much more objective. In addition, I feel that if he wanted to kill innocent people for credit, he should not do it in the county. In order to conceal it and hide it from the public, he should choose a remote village outside the city to do it."
Zuo Zhen thought for a moment, clasped his fists and said to Tan Lun, suggesting that they go to the village outside the city for a secret investigation.
"Well, that makes sense. Let's go out of the city and visit the village below." Tan Lun nodded.
The group turned west and left the city from the west gate. After leaving the city, they asked a few passers-by and headed towards the villages that suffered the most from the Japanese invasion.
Zhangqiu Village.
This is the first stop for Tan Lun and his team.
Before entering the village, we saw the destroyed rice fields in front of the village. The rice fields that were about to mature had already been burned to ashes. As soon as we entered the village, we saw endless white banners. Almost every household had white banners hanging at the door. Broken walls, burned houses... ... The traces of destruction by the Japanese pirates can be seen everywhere in the village.
The village was sparsely populated and felt very deserted. Tan Lun and his companions walked deep into the village before they heard a dog barking. Then they saw a trembling old man walking out of the door with a cane to see what was going on.
"Hello, father-in-law. We are tea merchants from Taizhou City. We are passing by your village. Can we ask for some water to drink?"
Tan Lun stepped forward and clasped his fists.
"Oh, you are from the provincial capital. If you don't mind my dirty and messy house, come in and have a drink of water. There is no wine or meat at home, but there is plenty of water." The old man was old and his legs and feet were a little inconvenient, but he was still sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. After listening to Tan Lun's words, he invited them into the house to have a drink of water.
"Thank you, father-in-law." Tan Lun clasped his fists to express his gratitude, and walked into the yard first. Then he took out two bags of tea from the soldiers' shoulder poles and handed them to the father-in-law. "Haha, father-in-law, these two bags of tea were not well preserved and were soaked by the rain. They are not in good condition and cannot be sold, but they do not affect our drinking. I hope you will not dislike them."
As for the tea being watered by rain, that naturally did not happen. This was a deliberate expression made up by Tan Lun in order to make his father-in-law accept the tea without any burden.
"Look at you guys, why are you being so polite just to drink some water..."
The old man waved his hand and refused to accept the tea leaves. Tan Lun insisted again and again, and the old man finally took the tea leaves after he refused several times.
Although tea leaves are not expensive, the old man usually doesn't want to drink tea, and only buys some tea leaves during the New Year and other festivals. Now, after hearing Tan Lun say that the tea leaves were soaked in water because of the rain, they couldn't be sold, and after repeated insistence, he accepted them. He treasured them and put them in the cabinet, ready to entertain relatives and guests during the New Year or other festivals or when someone came to visit. The old man didn't care whether they soaked in water or not, because tea leaves had to be soaked in water sooner or later.
"We only have these two bowls at home. You can take turns drinking from them."
After taking the tea leaves, the father-in-law picked up a greasy ceramic pot, found two chipped bowls, and prepared to pour water.
"Father-in-law, we can do it ourselves." Tan Lun stepped forward and took the clay pot from the old man's hand.
"Boss... ... wait a moment, I'll wash the bowl again." Zuo Zhen noticed that the kettle was covered in grease, and the bowl was chipped and black, as if it had not been washed clean. He stood up and picked up the bowl, ready to wash it again.
"Oh, that's quite particular... Yesterday, the county magistrate came to our house and drank water directly from this bowl."
Seeing this, the old man put his hands behind his back and snorted, saying, "The county magistrate came to my house yesterday, but he was not as polite as you guys."
"No, this is good enough." Tan Lun waved his hand to stop Zuo Zhen, poured himself a bowl of water, handed it to the old man with both hands, and then poured himself another bowl of water, smiling and saying to the old man, "Father-in-law, are you related to the county magistrate? The county magistrate has been to your house, so we can get some of his wealth."
When Zuo Zhen heard that Zhu Ping'an had been to this village, he could not help but imagine many scenes in his mind...
"How can I be so lucky as to be related to the county magistrate?"
The old man shook his head, and when he talked about rice, flour and oil, the wrinkles on his face seemed to smooth out.
After this topic was brought up, Tan Lun, Zuo Zhen and others started chatting with the old man, talking about Zhu Ping'an, the Japanese invasion, the time when the village encountered the Japanese invasion, the casualties in the village, the 795 heads of Japanese pirates captured in the county, and whether the heads of the dead in the village were cut off... ...
From hinting at the beginning to gradually bringing out the topic, the investigation is to find out whether Zhu Ping'an killed innocent people and took credit for it, or if he did not kill innocent people but took credit for it... ...
"Go away! You are not welcome in my home! I would rather feed this water to dogs than give it to you to drink!"
After hearing Zuo Zhen bring up the topic, the old man suddenly became furious. He snatched the bowls from Tan Lun and others, poured all the water out, and then opened his trembling hands to push Tan Lun, Zuo Zhen and others out of the door.
"Hey, hey, old man, why are you so angry..." Zuo Zhen shouted with a puzzled look on his face.
He was given two packets of tea in response.
"Give it back to you!"
The tea leaves that the old man had just cherished and placed in the cabinet were now thrown into the arms of Zuo Zhen and others like garbage.
"Old man, why are you angry about this?!" Zuo Zhen couldn't help but shouted again.
"You still ask me why I am angry?! I am so stupid that I invite you to come in and have some water! How dare you slander the magistrate like this. I am already old, and I hate people like you the most! You don't do good things yourself, and you can't stand others doing good things, and you throw dirty water on them. Do you know why the magistrate came to our village yesterday? He came to help rebuild our village, repair our houses, and harvest rice for us. He also sent me rice, flour and oil, which is enough for me to eat for half a year... ... Cutting off heads and claiming credit?! Bah! You made it up! The more than 700 heads of Japanese pirates captured in the county were displayed in the Heroes Cemetery and the public offering for two days, offering sacrifices to all the villagers who were killed and commemorating the souls of the villagers in heaven. Everyone saw it. If a villager's head was cut off and claimed credit, the surviving villagers would have recognized it long ago, and there would be no need for you to make it up! Those Japanese pirate heads were obtained by the county magistrate and his fellow villagers at the cost of their lives. Our county finally got a good county magistrate, and we can't let you villains throw dirty water on him..."
The old man was so excited that he kept knocking his walking stick on the ground, and his eyes were full of anger when he looked at Tan Lun and others.
After leaving Zhangqiu Village in embarrassment, Tan Lun and his team visited several more villages. With the lesson learned from Zhangqiu Village, they were much more tactful when investigating and questioning, and they conducted their research in an indirect way.
After visiting several villages, Tan Lun and his companions did not find any clues that Zhu Ping'an had killed innocent people and taken credit for it, and they had to accept the fact that the 795 heads of Japanese pirates captured in Jingnan County were real, and there was no such thing as killing innocent people and taking credit for it.