"Where are the others now?" Tang Fan asked the man at the official station.
The man said: "Yang Yushi is in the official post, and he has never been out. I am preparing for you to come back to see him, and let Xiao wait here. If you see him coming back, he will come over and ask first. If he wants to see him, Xiao Xiao I'll go and invite Yushi Yang here."
Tang Fan nodded: "Go and invite him over."
Compared to Chen Luan, Yang Ji is a little bit unattractive.
He is less than forty years old, but his hair is already half-white, but this is not tiring. Some people are born white as teenagers, but because Yang Ji is small and thin, he has added a lot of vicissitudes.
"Yang Ji, the censor Yang Ji, the inspector of the Southern Zhili inspector, meets the censor Tang of Zuoqiu." Yang Ji saluted.
"Yang Yushi is exempted from the ceremony." Tang Fan waved his hand. "Please take a seat. San'er, serve tea."
Tang Fan and Yang Jisu had no friendship, and were not going to talk nonsense in circles. When the two were seated separately, he asked, "Yushi Yang, is this something important?"
Yang Ji sat on his side and cupped his hands, saying, "Xiaguan went to Kunshan County to inspect before, but I couldn't meet the adults, so after I came back, I heard that the adults had looked for Xiaguan, so I came to see them, but I didn't expect the adults to go again. Wujiang County, fortunately I didn't miss it again this time. The lower official knew that your lord is here to inspect the famine in Wujiang, and he was about to report the matter to your lord."
Tang Fan took a sip from the tea cup, nodded and said, "Just say it."
Yang Ji said: "Xiaguan was ordered to be stationed in Suzhou Mansion. Last year, Taihu Lake was flooded, and there was a famine in Wujiang and Wuxian. Many people were killed. After Xiaguan rushed to those places, he found that the situation in Wujiang was the most serious. At that time, Xiaguan was also reckless. After investigation, it was determined that Wujiang Magistrate Chen Luan had neglected his duties and delayed disaster relief, so he was impeached."
After that, he sighed: "It turned out that it was Xiaguan who was wrong."
Tang Fan put down the tea cup and tapped the table with his knuckles: "Oh? Are you wrong? What do you say?"
Yang Ji said: "Chen Luan not only did not neglect his duties, but he did his due diligence and has done his best. He moved all the victims to the south of the city, and resettled many victims from Wu County. Who knows that the food allocated by Suzhou Prefecture is fundamental It was not enough. For this reason, Chen Zhixian had to empty the county warehouse, and even borrowed grain from wealthy businessmen in the city. The lower officials saw it with his own eyes, so he felt that his previous impeachment actions were inappropriate. If Chen Zhixian dropped the black gauze cap for this, Then the lower official will have an uneasy conscience for the rest of his life, and please ask the adults to learn from it.”
Tang Fan snorted: "So, do you think Chen Luan is not only innocent, but also has merit?"
Yang Ji shook his head: "Xiaguan does not dare to judge whether there is merit or not, but Xiaguan hopes that adults can find out the truth and report to the court. Xiaguan is willing to share a name with adults to make up for his previous mistakes."
Tang Fan smiled: "Whether it's a fault or not, there's no conclusion yet. As a censor, you should have impeached hundreds of officials. All officials who are rude, corrupt, corrupt officials and reporters must be unselfish, rectify, treat, and punish them. What's wrong? Is there?"
Yang Ji was stunned: "Sir, what do you mean... Chen Zhixian is still at fault?"
Tang Fan's eyes fell on the color of the tea soup, as if there was a flower blooming there. Yang Ji waited for a long time and couldn't wait for an answer, so he couldn't help but say, "Master? Master Tang?"
He just woke up like a dream: "Huh? Where did you just say?"
Yang Ji: "..."
Tang Fan smiled embarrassedly: "I just came here yesterday, and I went to Wujiang again today. I was a little tired and lost my mind."
Yang Ji looked understanding and said with concern: "Sir, you should take care of your health!"
Tang Fan couldn't help covering his mouth and yawned, and said apologetically, "Sorry, you go on, go on."
Yang Ji had to repeat the question just now: "Your Excellency just now, I don't quite understand what the lower official meant, could you please say it again?"
Tang Fan: "Huh? What did I just say?"
Yang Ji: "...you say whether Chen Zhixian is at fault, it is still unconfirmed."
Tang Fan: "Yeah, is there anything wrong with this sentence? Whether he was at fault or not, it should have been judged by the court. Although I am an imperial envoy, I can only report what I have seen and heard."
Yang Ji really couldn't figure out whether this Tang Fan was really stupid or fake.
He has never dealt with Tang Fan, but the other party has repeatedly solved cases and is famous for solving cases.
Especially in Xianghe County, when a young child died in a well, everyone thought that he fell into the well and died, or was pushed into the well. Only Tang Fan judged from the clues of the corpse that the other party was killed first and then thrown away. Corpse, it was this case that made Tang Fan's reputation even higher.
But now it seems that Tang Fan is obviously more suitable to be a criminal who decides a case, rather than running here to stir up the water.
Yang Ji felt that this person was actually difficult to match with his reputation, and he couldn't help but feel a little contempt.
Just having said that, in this case, a sluggish and indecisive commissioner is obviously more suitable than a shrewd and capable commissioner.
Yang Ji smiled and said, "Your lord is right, but how do you plan to play, can you talk to Xiaguan first, so that Xiaguan can follow you closely, so as not to go the wrong way."
After that, he took out a copy of the memorial from his arms and handed it over with both hands: "This is the memorial that has been re-drafted by the lower official in the past few days. Please read it."
Tang Fan took it and put it aside: "Then let me take a look first. You're fine tonight. If you're fine, let's have dinner together at night and talk about it at the dinner table."
These words were in line with Yang Ji's intention, and his smile became more sincere and sincere: "Then the lower official will be waiting for the summons in the other courtyard."
As soon as Yang Ji was sent away, Lu Lingxi came back.
Tang Fan asked, "Why did you come back so soon?"
Lu Lingxi smiled and said, "I don't dare to stay too long. I'll come back as soon as I find out what's going on. I'm afraid you won't be called upon here."
Before they left Wujiang, Lu Lingxi followed Tang Fan out of the city, but turned around but went back to the city, and came back after doing what Tang Fan explained to him.
Qian San'er pouted: "What do you mean by nobody, I'm not human?!"
Lu Lingxi smiled and said, "But you're not good at it. What if Big Brother Tang is in danger?"
Qian San'er became annoyed: "Who said I'm not good at it, but I learned it from the Fusi Town Master Fusi Town, Jinyiwei Beizhen, do you know who he is!"
Lu Lingxi: "Oh, it turns out that the apprentice of Lord Zhenfu Envoy can't pass three tricks under my hands!"
Qian San'er's heart suddenly shattered.
"Okay, don't make a fuss." Tang Fan picked up the Feng Zuoshu that was placed next to it, opened it, and a piece of paper fell lightly from the inside. Before it landed, it was pinched by Lu Lingxi's two fingers.
"It's a silver note, 10,000 taels." Lu Lingxi said in a stunned manner. He was nurtured since childhood. He was not someone who saw money and could move him. It must be because the denomination on the silver note was huge. "This is still a silver ticket from the Maochang ship. It can be redeemed on sight, and the silver can be withdrawn. It's a big deal!"
Silver notes are more convenient to carry than cash, not easy to be stolen, and are necessary for gifts and bribes. Therefore, following the wisdom of the former Song Dynasty, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of silver notes gradually became popular.
At this time, the bank was backed by big businessmen. It was not a businessman who was running it, but an entire chamber of commerce. For example, the famous Huitong ticket number in the capital had Shanxi merchants behind it, and the backers of Maochang were said to be Yangzhou merchants. .
Each bank has its own unique anti-counterfeiting method. The words on Lu Lingxi's hand are made of ink made of special materials. As long as it is exposed to sunlight, the ink marks of the writing fonts can show the difference from ordinary books. The color of the ink, and there is still half a signature on the silver note, when the time comes, it will be combined with the stub on the bank's side to form a signature, so that it is a match.
Hearing this number, Tang Fan remembered that when he investigated the Marquis of Wu'an case, the Qingzi girl in Huanyilou was worth several thousand taels. So, wouldn't his current worth be worth two Huanyilou? the top card
Thinking of this, Mr. Tang, who was a bit lacking in his brain in some respects, couldn't help laughing.
"Brother Tang, what are you laughing at?" Lu Lingxi asked curiously.
Tang Fan smiled and recalled that incident to them.
But Lu Lingxi said, "Is it the Marquis of Wu'an case? I also have an impression. I heard that there was a lot of trouble back then, and it turned out that there was more than one murderer who killed Zheng Cheng?"
Tang Fan nodded: "To be precise, there are more than one group of people who want to kill Zheng Cheng and have already done it. One is that his younger brother conspired with his concubine, and the other is that his wife bought the prostitute in Huanyilou to start, but After Zheng Cheng died, it was difficult to identify what caused his sudden death. Maybe there were both reasons. It is also a past life's grievance. Not only did his brother want him to die, but even his wife wanted him to die. The situation is really sad.”
Lu Lingxi said excitedly: "It turns out that the case was broken by Big Brother Tang. I heard that in this case, the Marquis of Wu'an thought that Zheng Cheng died from overindulgence. Later, an official insisted that through layers of clues, the two sides were separated. The murderer has been found, but I didn't expect that the official was you!"
This case is the first strange case that Tang Fan has encountered since he entered the official career, but it is not the case on which he became famous. It is not surprising that Lu Lingxi does not know.
Tang Fan shook his head and smiled when he heard the words: "Actually, the Marquis of Wu'an is not as incompetent as you think, he may not know that the cause of his son's death is strange, but he doesn't want to be involved too much, so he just wants to calm down. It was me back then. Young and reckless, he insisted on investigating the case to get to the bottom of the case, and that's why the turmoil behind. The Marquis of Wu'an lost his son and eldest daughter-in-law because of me. I have had many ups and downs in my career, and I can't miss their family's downfall."
Lu Lingxi said, "No matter why the deceased died, or what they did during their lifetime, it is a matter of course to restore the truth. Their attitude does not mean that Big Brother Tang did something wrong. You are not wrong."
Tang Fan watched him deeply for a moment, then nodded with a smile, "You're right, I'm not wrong."
The other party's eyes seemed to contain affirmation of his own attitude, recognition of his own views, and if there were no confidants, which made Lu Lingxi's heart beat faster and his mood instantly soared.
"So people like you are soft on the outside and tough on the inside, soft on the outside and hard on the inside. The more complicated the situation, the more persecuted others will be. Although you seem to be stepping back step by step, you actually have a plan in your heart."
Tang Fan grinned: "Then tell me, what's my plan?"
Lu Lingxi didn't know what was wrong with him. Whenever the other party showed such a smile, he would unknowingly be dumbfounded, and he would not recover until Tang Fan asked again.
"Show weakness, let the other party relax their vigilance, and then secretly go about what they want to investigate."
Tang Fan's eyes showed admiration. He had seen a lot of smart teenagers like Lu Lingxi. Not to mention, his ex-brother-in-law was known as a child prodigy when he was young, and his intelligence must be no less than Lu Lingxi's, but Lu Lingxi's preciousness It is because he has a strong ability to learn and adapt, and because he travels abroad, he is far more insightful than the average scholar who is locked at home.
It's no wonder that Wynn would recommend him to help him. There may not be any desire to ask Tang Fan to help Lu Lingxi. After all, no matter how Wynn gets a holy family, he is just a eunuch, and there are many inconveniences in doing things. Having a relationship with Tang Fan will also help Lu Lingxi's future career development.
No matter what, Tang Fan really had a love for talent.
"That's right," he said no more, "Now it seems that Yang Ji is indeed on the side of Chen Luan, and his words both inside and outside of his words mean to excuse Chen Luan. The official position is not high. Although Jiangnan is rich, Yang Ji is not from a rich family. It is obviously impossible for him to bribe me with 10,000 taels of silver in one breath, so this silver note will only be borrowed from him by Chen Luan. hand to me."
Qian San'er was puzzled: "Since Yang Ji and Chen Luan are in the same group, why are they impeaching each other?"
Lu Lingxi guessed: "Maybe they were not on good terms before, but now they are colluding together? Or maybe they want Big Brother Tang to say good things to himself in front of His Majesty?"
Although he is smart and has seen a lot of the world, after all, he is not a member of the officialdom, and he does not know much about the twists and turns inside.
Tang Fan shook his head: "There is no need to guess from thin air now, Qian San'er will stay at the official post at night, Yiqing, you can accompany me to a place."
Qian San'er scratched his head: "Aren't you going to have dinner with Yang Ji tonight?"
Tang Fan glanced at him: "It's after dinner."
However, Lu Lingxi already understood Tang Fan's plan, and said with a smile, "Brother Tang has a good plan!"
As soon as night fell that day, Tang Fan sent someone to invite Yang Ji over, and then paid for it out of his own pocket, and asked the officials from the official post to buy a good table from outside, and had a drink with Yang Ji alone. As far as Fengyue is concerned, Yang Ji has a reputation for being honest, not good for money, and only loves his name. Tang Fan sees this. Two of the three sentences are inseparable from Yang Ji's love for the public and the people, integrity and uprightness. With the help of the wine, Yang Ji seemed to see that he had become the savior who would pull the people out of the water and put them on the table. Without him, the Ming Dynasty would be in a doomed situation.
However, Yang Ji didn't forget his mission. Taking advantage of the drinking space, he couldn't help but ask Tang Fan, "I wonder if your lord has ever seen Xiguan's Confessions?"
Tang Fan smiled and looked satisfied: "I've read it, it's well written."
Unbeknownst to him, he really thought that the two of them were talking about the sparseness.
In fact, Yang Ji's subtext was, "Have you seen the banknotes in the memorial, do you accept them? Are you satisfied with the amount?"
And Tang Fan's subtext is "Accept, very satisfied."
I only heard Tang Fan say again: "I went to Wujiang to see it in person, Chen Zhixian is indeed doing his duty, but Hu Wenzao, the prefect of Suzhou, has only come to visit once since I first arrived in Suzhou, and even avoided seeing me when I came to the door. , it is especially hateful, the amount of money allocated to Wu Jiang is insufficient, I am afraid that he will not be able to get rid of it."
Seeing his attitude, Yang Ji finally felt relieved: "My lord is wise, the prefect of Hu has only one hand to cover the sky, and he has the final say in Suzhou House. I am a lowly official, and what I can do is limited. As the backbone, the lower officials are willing to play together with the adults, and will never let the adults fight alone."
Tang Fan laughed: "Okay, come, drink, drink!"
In such an atmosphere, a banquet is naturally enjoyable.
Yang Ji's drinking capacity was average, and Tang Fan was pouring wine one after another. Before the dinner was over, he fell down under the table.
Tang Fan staggered to his feet and pulled him: "Brother Huimin?"
Yang Ji hummed inaudibly, without even lifting his eyelids.
Tang Fan stretched out his hand to help the person up, but "accidentally" stumbled, putting most of his weight on Yang Ji's body, but the other party didn't snort a single snort, which showed how drunk he was.
Tang Fan narrowed his eyes and waited for a moment, seeing that he was really drunk into a muddy pool, and then tapped on the table lightly.
After a while, someone pushed the door and came in, it was Lu Lingxi and Qian San'er.
Tang Fan didn't speak, just raised his chin. The two of them understood each other. Qian San'er helped Yang Ji up and walked out, saying, "Sir Yang, I will help you go back to rest!"
Lu Lingxi came over to help Tang Fan, and whispered: "Yang Ji has only one servant, he wants to take care of Yang Ji, he must not have time to take care of us, Qian San'er will also pretend that you are still in the official post. As for the people who follow us, there are only two outside, and it is easy to get rid of them, so we will not go through the back door and go directly over the wall."
Tang Fan's lips moved, and he whispered, "...I won't climb over the wall."
Lu Lingxi squeezed his waist: "It's alright, it's me."
Tang Fan coughed: "Where are your hands, take them away."
Lu Lingxi said innocently: "How can I support you when you bring it, don't talk too much, you are still drunk, be careful to be seen!"
As he spoke, he raised the volume slightly: "Sir, take it easy and be careful with your feet, oh, my lord, I'm not your Chun'er, don't touch my waist, it's itchy!"
Tang Fan couldn't help rolling his eyes.
That night, Tang Fan and Yang Ji got drunk and fell asleep separately until late at night. It is estimated that they would not be able to get up without three poles in the sun the next day.
On the other side, two people disguised as ordinary people left the official post without knowing it and went to Wujiang County.
The gate of the county town is closed at night and will never be opened unless there is an emergency military situation.
Tang Fan and the others have no interest in climbing the city gate to enter. That kind of plot will only appear in the legend of the story. The actual operation is too difficult, and it is easy to be discovered.
So they quietly came out of the city all the way, mixed in with the people who wanted to enter the city early, and quietly waited for the city gate to open.
Both of them are wearing coarse clothes and look no different from ordinary people, but their appearance and temperament will not change because of one's clothes. Standing among ordinary people, their faces stand out from the crowd. I just came to Wujiang during the day, so I'm not sure that the city gate guards still recognize him. For this reason, Lu Lingxi also slightly modified the appearance of himself and Tang Fan. The eyebrows are thicker, the face is sallower, the beard is glued on, and the corners of the forehead and eyes Add a little more wrinkles, so it won't be too conspicuous, and no one will recognize it.
Tang Fan was very new to such a technique: "Is this Yi Rong?"
Lu Lingxi shook his head: "This can't even talk about disguise, it's just a bit similar to women's makeup, the method of disguise is much more clever, in addition to changing the appearance, you can also change the hair, body shape, and even change from male to female. Or changing from a woman to a man, that's the real mystery."
Tang Fan remembered that Li Man had quietly exchanged identities with his son to escape the disaster, and remembered Li Zilong's disguise as Izumoko, so he couldn't help nodding: "It's true."
Lu Lingxi looked at Tang Fan, he changed his skin color and had a beard, but he was more attractive. It is conceivable that when Tang Fan really grows a beard and returns to the appearance of a white-faced scholar, he will definitely be more handsome than now: "But Big Brother Tang, even now, you are still very good-looking."
Tang Fan glared at him: "At a young age, don't always talk frivolously to your elders, I'm your father!"
The two are now pretending to be father and son, Tang Fan has a mature temperament, and with a beard, he can pretend to be a middle-aged man. The sallow complexion made him look two or three years younger, like a poor boy from a poor family who had been malnourished for a long time.
Lu Lingxi smiled when he heard the words, and leaned closer to Tang Fan: "Dad, we even have a green character in the table, isn't it the fate of the previous life?"
They were standing under the wall at this time, and there were other people beside them. In order not to attract attention, the two were very close, and Tang Fan could almost feel the warm breath when he spoke.
This is just naked molestation!
Tang Fan laughed and laughed, and didn't know whether to be angry or laugh.
He stroked his beard and said solemnly: "My dear, it goes without saying that we can both be father and son. Naturally, it's a fate that we cultivated in a previous life. Dad is a little tired from standing, so come and beat your father's legs!"
I thought Lu Lingxi would retreat, but who knew that this guy said hello with a smile, and he actually reached out and rubbed Tang Fan's waist.
Tang Fan slapped his paws away: "It's for beating your legs, not for rubbing your waist!"
Lu Lingxi blinked: "After standing for a long time, your waist is sore, so rub your waist first. Dad, your waist is thinner than mine!"
Tang Fan was simply overwhelmed by his thick skin.
Fortunately, at this time, the city gate finally opened slowly, Tang Fan looked straight, and pulled down the hat on top of his head.
"Time to do the right thing."
"Yes." Lu Lingxi also retracted his hand wisely, picked up the baskets with pears on both sides of the pole, and entered the city with the two behind Tang Fan.
After entering the city, the two found a deserted alley, put the baskets away, and went straight to the west of the city.
Going out from the city gate on the west is the way to Taihu Lake, but Tang Fan has always been in and out of the city gate on the east side. Chen Luan took him to inspect the victims. He was also in the south of the city and never approached the west of the city. Now Tang Fan is hiding it. After passing the eyes and eyes of everyone, I brought Lu Lingxi here, just to personally verify whether Chen Luan was lying.
From a distance, they saw that the gate to the west of the city was closed, and soldiers were patrolling the gate.
The time when he was instructed by Tang Fan to go back again before, Lu Lingxi had already inquired clearly: "The outside of the city should be the real resettlement place for the disaster victims. The city gate is only allowed to go out, not to enter. To avoid infection, Chen Luan ordered all the sick people to be driven out of the city. Together with the victims, they were all placed outside. They could only eat one meal of porridge a day. More and more people died outside. I went out to collect the corpses once. But because I was worried that those corpses would get sick, they were basically burned in one go."
For the disposal of the plague, the government has always adopted the method of isolation. Tang Fan can't fault this point, but Chen Luan, knowing that he came to Wujiang for inspection, refused to take him to see the real resettlement site for the victims, instead he cheated , and sent money through Yang Ji to seal his mouth, which must be something else.
Tang Fan said, "So, it's hard for us to go out of the city to see it?"
Lu Lingxi shook his head: "On the contrary, it's very easy. We can mix with the people who collect the corpse, and the subordinates who are responsible for collecting the corpse usually don't want to take on this errand, and they even pay some people to do it. On the side of the soldiers guarding the city. As long as no disaster victims want to infiltrate the city, they won't care. Come with me."
He brought Tang Fan to the magistrate's yamen, and the two entered the adjacent wing, where a few people were sitting around eating tea and laughing.
As soon as Lu Lingxi entered, he bowed and smiled and said, "Several gentlemen, let's get some errands to do."
One of them nibbled melon seeds: "Is it an errand? There is only one errand, going out of the city to burn the corpse, a trip of thirty cents, do you do it?"
Lu Lingxi hurriedly said: "Go! Go! Thank you for your kindness, sir!"
The other party glanced at Lu Lingxi and Tang Fan, both of them bowed their heads and lowered their eyebrows. He snorted with satisfaction, clapped his hands, stood up, and said to his companion, "You guys talk first, leave me some melon seeds. , don't eat all, I'll come when I go!"
He said to Lu Lingxi and the others, "Come with me!"
Tang Fan, Lu Lingxi and the others followed him all the way to the gate of Xicheng, where they joined the few people who were already waiting there.
Next to them are a few scooters with firewood stacked on them, and a few pairs of cloth covers for the hands.
The county magistrate said to them, "Remember, when dragging the corpse, you must wear a cloth cover, and cover your nose and mouth with clothes. You can't touch the corpse directly. You will come back immediately after burning, and I will give you an hour. If it's too late, the city gate will not be opened."
It's obviously not the first time that the few people next to them have done this kind of errand, and everyone is doing what they should.
The little official left after explaining. Tang Fan and Lu Lingxi pushed one of the scooters and followed the others out of the city.
The city gate is a dividing line. As the city gate slowly opened, Tang Fan saw a world completely different from the city.
In other words, hell on earth.
In the open space outside the city, there were scattered, sitting or lying down, densely packed with people, some moaning from their mouths, some with their eyes closed, but without exception, their faces were completely numb, Even if they saw Tang Fan and the others dragging the bodies of their relatives away, there was no movement at all. They just passed their eyes blankly over them and stayed in the ethereal distance.
This is the real resettlement site for the victims. There are no doctors and no medicine. There are thousands of victims in the two counties of Wujiang and Wuxian, but there are no more than a thousand people at most. It is estimated that many people have died before.
Their only hope is the small amount of rice porridge delivered by the government in hanging baskets from the city gate every day.
But rice porridge is naturally not enough for everyone, so under the competition, those who contract the plague or are weak will first be eliminated and die. Weak hope, many victims have no fighting spirit to smash into the city gate or the idea of leaving, and they can only usher in death while waiting.
The problem is, if there were plenty of rice porridge and medicine, none of this would have happened.
In other words, under Chen Luan's rule, he did not choose to appease the victims, but left them to fend for themselves.
This is the truth he doesn't want Tang Fan to know.
As more and more people die, the traces here will be erased forever soon. Chen Luan deceived the court, Yang Ji helped Zhou, and Hu Wenzao remained silent. If even Tang Fan presented a memorial to the eternal peace, No one will ever know what happened here.
All this in front of him deeply shocked Tang Fan.
He has never seen a local official so daring, while acting in partnership with Yang Ji, trying to create the illusion that he is already doing his best to relieve disasters, but on the other hand, he is massacring the people under his rule without using a knife.