"Please take a rest first, and I'll accompany you to inspect tomorrow."

"Well, Lord Xue has a heart."

After Xue Guangju's careful hospitality, Zhu Datong returned to the room satisfied. Whether it is the beautiful maid accompanying him or the large silver ticket in his arms, it makes Zhu Datong feel that the trip is worthwhile.

After Zhu Datong left, Wang Ziwen quietly appeared behind Xue Guangju, "How is it, have you stabilized him?" ”

When Xue Guangju heard this, he immediately turned around and said, "Well, this Zhu Datong is the wife and brother of Ruzhou Tongzhi, and he is still very good at being greedy and lustful. ”

"Well, very good, your task is to stabilize him, let him come and go happily in peace, don't make any trouble, understand!" Wang Ziwen nodded, and then ordered.

"Yes."

Xue Guangju responded immediately, but there was a trace of helplessness and fear in his eyes.

Xue Guangju naturally knew what Wang Ziwen was doing, and he also knew that this was the capital crime of the Nine Clans. But everyone in Qingping County was replaced by Wang Ziwen, and the rest of the heads and brains were also poisoned by him.

Originally, the county Cheng Chen Ming wanted to quietly denounce it, but under the torture of that witch master, he has now become a living dead who is manipulated by others. And after seeing Wang Ziwen's methods, Xue Guangju was even more frightened, and he didn't dare to disobey at all.

Wang Ziwen was clear about Xue Guangju's thoughts, but he didn't care at all. Because the county government is now full of his people, for those county officials who cannot be replaced, Wang Ziwen's monitoring can be described as leaky, and he will not give them any opportunity to make their own decisions.

However, there must be a mistake in the hundred secrets, although Wang Ziwen will operate Qingping County impenetrable, but there is still a trace of flaw, that is, the Dragon Fu Secret Guard!

The Dragon Fu Secret Guard is a secret agency directly under the emperor of the Qianyuan Empire, which is responsible for supervising the hundreds of officials in the court, the world's families, the martial arts sect, and the forces of the rivers and lakes. In order to prevent its conspiracy and collusion, it is a privileged institution for the emperor to monitor the world and maintain imperial power.

And the many abnormalities in Qingping County not only attracted the attention of Ruzhou Mansion, but also attracted the attention of the Dragon Fu Secret Guard.

However, the Dragon Fu Secret Guard is a privileged institution directly under the emperor, and its power is very large, and it is controlled by the emperor alone, and has independent authority to handle cases. Therefore, in any case within the Empire, as long as the Dragon Talisman Secret Guard believes that it will threaten the imperial power, they can directly intervene.

As a spy organization with influence throughout the empire, the Dragon Fu Secret Guard also has branches in Ruzhou Mansion. Therefore, the Dragon Fu Secret Guard investigated the matter of Qingping County, and even the Ruzhou Mansion did not know.

In fact, the Dragon Fu Secret Guards stationed in the Ruzhou Supervision Center did not know about the Vermilion Bird Army, and their energy was more focused on dealing with the Red Lotus Sect. Things like the flow of people, merchants, trade, etc., they are not interested in at all.

It's just that with the abnormality of Qingping County's trade circulation, some new bizarre commodities also have a vague relationship with Qingping County. For example, soap, cigarettes, glass, etc., these things are extremely high-interested, so they aroused the interest of the Dragon Fu Secret Guard.

On Xiguan Street in the county seat, a businessman from other places was sitting in a teahouse drinking tea, followed by a clever little guy. I saw that he was drinking tea and listening to the gossip of the guests, as if he was very interested in these trivial matters of the market.

"Shopkeeper, it seems that this Qingping County is quite lively, we should be able to make a lot of money from this transaction." At this time, the little guy next to him said with a smile.

"Well, it's quite lively, but whether you make money or not depends on luck!" The merchant nodded and replied with interest.

Then they stayed for a while before the master and servant left. I saw them going in and out of various shops, and soon sold their goods, and bought a lot of other goods to make money. During this period, he was exactly the same as other merchants, and he was very skilled in bargaining.

But when he returned to the inn after the transaction, the merchant's face couldn't help but change.

At the same time, the little guy behind him did not have the humble flattery of Fang Cai, "My lord, this Qingping County is really weird, how can a small county have such a large cargo throughput, and this is not a traffic artery." ”

The merchant was Hu Bin, the head of the third team of the Ruzhou Supervision Office of the Dragon Fu Secret Guard, and the little guy was his henchman Zhou Chengtao.

I saw Hu Bin nodding and said: "Not only that, have you noticed, the variety of mountain goods here is very complete and the price is also very cheap, ordinary mountain travelers will never be able to get so many goods!" ”

As soon as Hu Bin finished speaking, Zhou Chengtao's eyes lit up, "My lord, you mean Yueshan people!" ”

"Hmph, who else has such a great ability besides them!" When it came to the mountain man, Hu Bin's expression was slightly disdainful.

And after Hu Bin's reminder, Zhou Chengtao also seemed to understand a little, "That's right, it's true, according to the report, Qingping County's recent transportation of materials such as cotton, cloth, and salt has increased significantly, and who else can digest so many materials except the people of Yueshan." ”

"However, it is impossible to be sure of this, it is impossible for these abnormal local officials in Qingping County not to know, but the Ruzhou Government has never received a report from them, there must be something wrong with this!"

"My lord, do you suspect that the Qingping County government colluded with the Yueshan people? I'm afraid they don't have that much courage! Hearing Hu Bin's suspicion, Zhou Chengtao couldn't help but be surprised.

But Hu Bin looked calm, "There is nothing impossible, you immediately send someone to the official mansion and the mansions of the major officials in the city to touch it!" ”

"No!"

Zhou Chengtao went out after receiving the order, but Hu Bin became more and more uneasy in his heart. Although he had only learned a hint of the problem when he first arrived in Qingping County, even this hint of fur revealed a great amount of information.

Because no matter who colludes with the mountain people behind it, this person is by no means simple.

You must know that it is impossible for ordinary people to be able to conceal this matter without leakage, and to control so many caravans and arrange such a big situation. And it can also influence and control the local government, and the power of the people behind this curtain must be not small!

Later, Hu Bin sent spies to Canglan Mountain, intending to explore the reality of those people who crossed the mountain.

In the afternoon, Zhou Chengtao came to report to Hu Bin, but judging from his expression, what he brought was by no means good news.

"Your Excellency!"

"How did it come to fruition?"

Zhou Chengtao immediately took out the investigation results and handed them over, "My lord, this is the situation that his subordinates sent to investigate, and the problem in Qingping County is probably even more serious than we imagined!" ”

Hu Bin took the investigation and looked at it carefully, but the more he looked at it, the more serious his face became.

After a long time, Hu Bin couldn't help but take a deep breath, he looked at Zhou Chengtao and asked with a serious face: "Is the situation all true?" ”

Zhou Chengtao nodded and replied: "It's absolutely true, I went to the county government in person, except for some team leaders and scribes, all the officials of the county government have changed, and even the people in the patrol battalion have been changed." ”

At this time, the shock in Hu Bin's heart is difficult to describe in words. He never thought that the dignified Imperial County Government would actually let people be set up in secret!

He originally thought that the people in the county government were just bribed, but he didn't expect that the situation was far more serious than he imagined. It is not a big deal to bribe officials to smuggle people from the mountains, but infiltrating the local government is tantamount to rebellion!

At this time, the first force that Hu Bin thought of was the Red Lotus Sect, because of such a bold and reckless thing, except for the Red Lotus Sect, other forces did not have the courage to do so. After thinking of the recent changes in the Red Lotus Sect, Hu Bin seemed to understand a little, they must be plotting some great conspiracy!

However, Hu Bin still didn't understand why the Red Lotus Sect was carrying out a conspiracy in Qingping County, after all, this was just a small and remote county.

Then Hu Bin thought about it for a long time, but he still didn't figure it out.

Qingping County's remote geographical location is also not important, except for the convenience of contact with those barbarians who cross the mountains, there are no other advantages. But those barbarians who crossed the mountains are also a plate of loose sand, and it is really difficult to become a big tool!

"Won't it be for the iron mine in Qingping County!" At this time, Zhou Chengtao said suddenly.

"Iron mines?"

When it came to iron ore farms, Hu Bin remembered that there was a small iron ore mine in Qingping County. It's just that the iron mine is not large and difficult to mine, so Hu Bin has not taken it to heart.

But now that I think about it, the only thing that this Qingping County can worry about the Red Lotus Sect is probably that iron ore field.

So Hu Bin immediately ordered: "Cheng Tao, you immediately go back to Ruzhou to report to Lord Zheng, the Red Lotus Sect has been behaving strangely recently and has set up the Qingping County Mansion, I'm afraid there is some conspiracy!" ”

"No! What about you, my lord? ”

I saw Hu Bin sneer and said, "Hmph! I'm going to have to go to the iron mine to see it myself! ”

Zhou Chengtao returned to Ruzhou and reported the situation to Zheng Feilong, the imperial guard of the Ruzhou Supervision Office, while Hu Bin led people to personally go to the iron mine to investigate.

And the situation was really as Hu Bin expected, because on the way to the iron mine, the patrol battalion set up layers of cards, and the iron mine was surrounded by impermeable. However, this kind of vigilance is okay against ordinary people, but it is useless in front of masters like the Dragon Fu Secret Guard.

So Hu Bin led people through layers of cards, bypassing one dark post after another, and finally successfully arrived at the iron mine. When the entire iron ore mine was taken into view on a ridge, Hu Bin was stunned.

Because the miners in the mine are densely packed, like ants shuttling back and forth. In addition, not far from the mine, there are strange iron-making furnaces, the red flames and rising smoke, even from a long distance, you can still feel the amazing heat.

Although Hu Bin doesn't know how to smelt, just by looking at the many miners and iron-making furnaces, he knows that the amount of iron produced in this iron mine must be not small, definitely more than the amount handed over to Ruzhou Mansion every month, so where does the excess iron go?

After thinking about it, Hu Bin only felt a numb feeling in his back, someone in Qingping County actually made such a big move quietly, but the Ruzhou Supervision Institute didn't find it. If this is investigated, all of them will not be able to get out of it!