Outrageous! ”

After reading the official document submitted by Liu Bi, the county magistrate of Kunyang County, Li Min, the county guard of Yingchuan, was furious and slapped the table angrily.

Or some of the officials around him were shocked and asked, "Why is the county guard angry?" ”

I saw Li Min slap the official document of Liu County's order on the table, and said with a sullen face: "Recently, Wang Shangde sent a partial general named Ji Rong to Kunyang with 2,000 soldiers, and under unfounded circumstances, he seized a righteous house and ten workshops in Kunyang County, forcing more than 1,000 people to lose their stable errands, resulting in resentment among the people of Kunyang and a great bad public order......

The officials around him were also stunned when they heard it.

Of course he knew General Wang Shangde, and knew that the latter was the general of the garrison of Nanyang County, and to a certain extent, he played the role of the Nanyang County Government, but even so, the general of your garrison in Nanyang sent troops to interfere in the county affairs of his Yingchuan County, what does this mean? Did you, Wang Shangde, ever put him Li Min in his eyes?

Thinking of his anger, Li Junshou didn't care about maintaining his usual elegance, and scolded Wang Shangde, so that the officials in the party room didn't dare to raise their heads, for fear of getting into trouble.

After venting for a moment, Li Min gradually calmed down and began to think about countermeasures.

As Zhao Yu predicted, Li Min sat in the seat of the guard of Yingchuan County, and he must not be able to turn a blind eye to Wang Shangde's move, after all, in a sense, Wang Shangde is challenging his control of Yingchuan County, challenging his authority in Yingchuan County, if he ignores it and allows Nanyang's soldiers to come to Kunyang County, then what face will he have to govern Yingchuan County in the future?

Thinking of this, Li Junshou immediately wrote an official letter, preparing to report Wang Shangde's ultra vires to the imperial court.

But just as he was about to send someone to send this official document to the imperial court, he inevitably hesitated, after all, Wang Shangde and the Wang family behind him both had a lot of energy in the imperial court, if it wasn't for the last resort, Li Min didn't want to offend Wang Shangde and the Wang family.

After repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, Li Min temporarily withheld this official document reported to the imperial court, and instead wrote a letter to Wang Shangde, and immediately summoned Wu Fu, the governor of the western post.

After a while, when Wu Fu, the superintendent of the western post, came to him, Li Min said in a deep voice: "According to the order of Kunyang County, Liu Bi Shangshu County, now there are Nanyang soldiers under the command of Wang Shangde in the name of suppressing thieves, and they have done sabotage in Kunyang, which has seriously affected the public security of Kunyang County, causing resentment among the people, I order you to go to Kunyang immediately with this letter to verify the facts, if there are indeed Nanyang soldiers who are causing trouble in Kunyang, I will order you to stop interfering in Kunyang County politics immediately in my name, and then go to Wancheng and hand over my letter to Wang Shangde in person......"

Wu Fu, the superintendent of the western post, broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this.

The first half was fine, but in the second half, the county guard in front of him actually asked him to go to Wancheng and hand over the letter that he looked like accusing Wang Shangde to the latter, who was a general with 100,000 troops......

To put it mildly, Wang Shangde beheaded him in front of him, and he didn't know if he would avenge him.

Thinking of this, Wu Fu said to Li Min with a pale face: "My lord, I ...... my job."

How could Li Min not guess the thoughts of his subordinates, seeing that Wu Fu showed fear of Wang Shangde, he was even more angry in his heart, and asked angrily: "What? Don't you dare to go? ”

"No, no, it's just...... Adults forgive sins, adults forgive sins. Then Wu Fu begged for mercy.

Seeing this, Li Min became more and more angry.

Wu Fu, as the western governor of Yingchuan County, has accepted bribes from various counties in private over the years, and Li Min is not ignorant of this, after all, he also knows the truth that 'when the water is clear, there are no fish', as long as his subordinates do what he orders, some bad habits, he can tolerate them.

But people are needed at the moment, but this Wu Fu is afraid of Wang Shangde and does not dare to accept this appointment, which immediately caused Li Min's anger.

He immediately cut Wu Fu's official position, ignored the latter's pleas for mercy, and ordered the guards to drive him away.

In addition to being angry, Li Min summoned Xun Yi, the governor of the north.

After Xun Yi came, Li Min told him about Kunyang County, and immediately opened his eyes and asked Xun Yi: "Xun Yi, do you dare to go?" ”

In Zhao Yu's evaluation, Xun Yi is a pedantic and upright official, of course he is not afraid of Wang Shangde, after Li Min ordered him to come down, he bowed his hand, and said: "Since it is the order of the county guard, Xun is willing to go." ”

Hearing this, Li Min was very pleased.

I have to say that Li Junshou also understands Xun Yi's character, and in turn advised: "When you see Wang Shangde, just show my letter, don't provoke him, as long as Wang Shangde sees my letter, he will naturally understand my attitude." ”

"Yes!" Xun Yi bowed his hand.

After receiving the letter delivered to Wang Shangde from Li Min's hands, Xun Yi said goodbye and left.

On the same day, Xun Yi took a carriage to Kunyang under the protection of two guards of the county government.

At this time in Kunyang County, Ji Rongzheng, a partial general, tortured the more than 200 black tiger thief suspects he had arrested, and asked Kunyang County to provide food and baggage for the army under his command, so that he could go to Yingshan in the north of the county in the coming day to encircle and suppress the black tiger thief's lair.

However, the torture of the Black Tiger Thief suspect went very poorly.

First, people like Ma Hong, Chen Cai and others refused to admit that they were black tiger thieves, and second, in the past few days, there were local people outside the county government who gathered to protest almost all the time, demanding that the county government release the innocent Ma Hong, Chen Cai and others, and restrain the Nanyang soldiers.

Even, some of these people shouted the slogan 'Nanyang Army get out of Kunyang'.

Not to mention whether there are black tiger thieves behind this incident, shouting this kind of slogan will undoubtedly offend the Nanyang soldiers led by the partial general Ji Rong, and in a fit of anger, Ji Rong arrested a bunch of innocent people on the charge of 'must be a fellow black tiger thief', which once again stimulated the anger and disgust of Kunyang people towards this Nanyang army.

And when the contradiction between the public opinion of Kunyang and the soldiers of Nanyang became more and more intensified, there were some people who looked at it coldly, such as Zhao Yu, and then Yexian businessmen led by Huang Shao, and even the Kunyang County Ya and the local family in Kunyang.

It's not that these people are on Zhao Yu's side, on the side of the Black Tigers, in the final analysis, it's just that Ji Rong's approach is too radical, and he fell into Zhao Yu's trap unsuspectingly, so that he fell into this passive situation.

Is the fraternity in Kunyang County so easy to pull out?

You must know that since the founding of the Brotherhood, Zhao Yu has attached great importance to the reputation of the Brotherhood, and has attracted public opinion by recommending errands and providing free money loans, which are indeed beneficial to the local people's good deeds, which naturally attracted hundreds of people to join the Brotherhood and become one of them.

Nowadays, at least half of Kunyang County is inseparable from the Brotherhood, but Ji Rong forcibly seized the workshops related to the Brotherhood without any evidence, so that hundreds of people lost the errand they relied on to survive, which can be said to have stabbed the hornet's nest and aroused public resentment at once.

Probably Na Ji Rong also realized that the situation was wrong, and seeing that the people's grievances in Kunyang County were out of control, he immediately asked to see Liu Bi, the county commander, and asked Liu Bi to come forward to appease the people's opinions, or suppress the people's grievances.

But where would Liu Bi pay attention to him?

Not to mention that Liu Binai is one of the internal responses of the black tiger thief, even if he is not, he will not do this thankless thing - it is obviously a mess caused by the Nanyang Army, why should he be asked to wipe his ass?

What's more, looking at the current situation, no matter who comes forward to settle the situation for the Nanyang Army, he will inevitably offend the people in the county, and he Liu Bi still wants to be a good county commander supported by the people.

As a result, the county magistrate simply pretended to be sick and refused to meet Ji Rong, allowing the situation in the county to become worse day by day.

Anyway, he had already informed the county of this, and the county would naturally send someone to investigate.

When the people sent by the county arrive in Kunyang, it will not be too late for him to come forward.

Some people may ask, now that the situation in Kunyang is so grim, isn't Liu Bi worried about the people's riots at all?

In fact, Liu Bi was really not worried, because in his opinion, as long as the matter of Ji Rong and other Nanyang troops was resolved, it would be more than enough to appease the public opinion of the riot with the prestige of the brotherhood and his county government.

Ji Rong didn't know that this Liu County Commander was the Black Tiger Thief's internal response, and mistakenly thought that his arrogance had angered this County Order, which made that Liu County Commander refuse to help today.

Therefore, he decided to lead the army to Yingshan in the north of the county first to exterminate the nest of the black tiger thief, and as for the brotherhood in Kunyang County, wait for a while for the public opinion to calm down.

Therefore, when he couldn't see the county commander Liu Bi, he asked to see the county governor Li Xu and the county lieutenant Ma Gai.

Speaking of which, Li Xu, the county leader, did not have any handle in the hands of the Black Tigers, nor was he the internal response of the Black Tigers, but he also had no good impression of Ji Rong, because he advocated recruiting the Black Tigers, but Ji Rong's indiscriminate seizure of the Brotherhood's related workshops regardless of the situation really affected his Kunyang's recruitment of the Black Tigers.

Of course, although he hated Ji Rong in his heart, considering that the county commander Liu Bi had ordered everything to obey that Ji general, Li Xu did not deliberately make things difficult in this matter.

However, although Li Xu did not make it difficult, it does not mean that others will not make it difficult.

No, the Nanyang army needed grain and grass, and somehow quickly spread throughout the city, so that the indignant people surrounded the county warehouse, crowded with people, that is, deliberately did not let the grain transport team pass, even if Ji Rong sent the army to maintain law and order, there was not much grain transported to the military camp outside the city in these days, but there were conflicts between the local people and the Nanyang soldiers.

Speaking of the conflict between the two, the county officials of the county government acted as peacemakers at first, but gradually, they did not know whether they were condemned by the local people, or the Nanyang soldiers forcibly dispersed the crowd The practice was too radical, and the county soldiers could not stand it, so that the county soldiers gradually stood on the opposite side of the Nanyang soldiers.

Including Ishihara, who is disgusted with black tiger thieves.

On September 26, when the situation in Kunyang County became more and more severe, the Northern Governor Xun arrived in Kunyang County day and night.

Arriving in Kunyang County, seeing the chaotic situation in the city, Xun Yi was really startled.

Because he saw countless local people standing on the streets, denouncing the evil deeds of the Nanyang Army and denouncing the inaction of the county government, the crowd was indignant, and he had been an official in Yingchuan County for more than ten years, and it was really rare to encounter such a grim situation.

He got out of the carriage and asked the people in the street about what had happened.

When he learned what had happened, Xun Yi was shocked and angry.

In his opinion, although the public resentment in Kunyang County was certainly caused by the general named Ji Rong, behind this incident, it was obvious that someone was adding fuel to the fire.

And this mastermind behind the scenes is none other than the leader of the Black Tiger Thief, Zhou Hu!

He had the heart to go to see Zhou Hu immediately and asked Zhou Hu to stop stirring up public opinion, but unfortunately, the Black Tiger Yishe and the Chengnan Brotherhood Workshop were all seized by Ji Rong, and the backbone of the Black Tiger thieves such as Ma Hong and Chen Cai were all imprisoned in the county government.

Without these people arranging on his behalf, Xun Yi would not have been able to meet Zhou Hu, the leader of the Black Tiger Thieves, immediately.

After thinking about it, he immediately drove to the county office and asked to see the county commander Liu Bi.

At this time, Liu Bi was pretending to be sick in the back office, but this was mainly for Ji Rong, and of course he would not refuse to meet Xun Yi.

After all, Xun Yi is a person sent by Yingchuan County on the one hand, and on the other hand, he is still 'his own person'.

However, Liu Bi knew that Xun Yi was his own person, Xun Yi didn't know Liu Bi's identity, and after seeing Liu Bi, Xun Yi blamed with a slightly angry face: "Liu Gong, as the commander of Kunyang County, how can you sit back and watch the situation in the county fall to this point because of your own anger?" Regardless of the behavior of the Nanyang soldiers for the time being, as a county commander, you should appease public opinion, otherwise once the people riot, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

I have to say that Xun Yi has a grudge against Liu Bi, and the reason is the inaction of the county government.

Liu Bi didn't want to argue with this pedantic superintendent, so he explained kindly: "On the day Ji Rong first came to my Kunyang, Liu and Li Xiancheng told him that there is no definite evidence on whether the Brotherhood is a fellow party of the Black Tiger Thief; Second, the brotherhood has a very good reputation in my Kunyang, and it involves the work of hundreds of people, so we should not act rashly. However, Ji Rong was arrogant and arrogant, regardless of the people's feelings, regardless of our persuasion, and eventually caused public resentment, what can the county government do about it? ”

Xun Yi could barely accept this kind of explanation, but he also made a request to Liu Bi: "No matter what, the county government needs to immediately start to appease public opinion and stop the riots, and cannot continue to let the county unrest continue." ”

Of course, Liu Bi was also happy to do so, nodded and said: "Don't be in a hurry to supervise the post, although the situation is serious, the county government has already made arrangements. …… The Brotherhood and others who were arrested by Ji Rong a few days ago, the county government and Na Ji Rong fought with reason, and finally ensured that those people of the Brotherhood were temporarily imprisoned in the prison in the county, and would not be taken to the military camp outside the city by him for torture, and the county government had secretly reached a tacit understanding with those brotherhood people, as long as they could be released, they would cooperate with the county government and appease public opinion. …… The problem is that the release of these people needs the consent of that Ji Bi general, otherwise it will be difficult to explain. ”

Xun Yi thought for a moment and said, "No need, Xun came this time and brought an order from the county guard, and the county guard asked Kunyang to do everything possible to appease the public opinion as soon as possible." …… Ask Liu Gong to immediately release those people from the Brotherhood and order them to come forward to appease public opinion. ”

Liu Bi was so happy that he pushed the boat down the river and said: "Since this is the case, Liu immediately ordered." ”

"Wait."

Xun Yi stopped Liu Bi and said, "The situation is urgent, Xun wants to meet those people from the Brotherhood and make a request in person." ”

Liu Bi was stunned for a moment, as if he had thought of something, and pretended not to know the truth and said, "Of course." ”

Subsequently, under the leadership of Liu Bi, Xun Yi followed him to the dungeon of the county government.

I saw that in the dim and damp dungeon, every cell was full of people.

Among these people, those who seem to be honest and honest can tell at a glance that they are ordinary people, and most of them are panicked; The other group of menacing-looking, or unpleasant ones, reacted calmly, some leaning against their cells, laughing and laughing with each other, while others simply lay on the damp hay and snoozed as if nothing had happened.

Obviously, the former are ordinary people who have been caught by mistake, while the latter is either a black tiger thief or the backbone of the Brotherhood - there is not much difference between the two anyway.

Interestingly, those who didn't know whether it was the Black Tiger Thief or the backbone of the Brotherhood also comforted the ordinary people who were mistakenly arrested: "Don't panic, the county government will definitely help me clear my name and return my innocence. ”

The words of these guys made Liu Bi and Xun Yi feel inexplicably embarrassed.

Perhaps noticing the arrival of Liu Bi and Xun Yi, the prison suddenly became lively, whether it was the ordinary people who were mistakenly arrested, or the backbone of the Black Tiger Thief and the Brotherhood, they all shouted injustice.

Under this movement, Ma Hong and Chen Cai, who were napping in their respective cells, one of the two big leaders of the black tiger thieves, also opened their eyes and looked curiously at Xun Yi beside Liu Bi.

If Ma Hong is not very clear about Xun Yi's identity, but Chen Cai recognizes this northern superintendent, after all, the ten women at the beginning were still selected by him for the Xun superintendent.

"The Northern Governor Xun is different? How did he come to Kunyang? Could it be that he is the person sent from Yingchuan County?"

Lying on a pile of hay with his legs crossed, Chen Cai secretly guessed.

"Ahem, be quiet."

After glancing at Xun Yi, Liu Bi opened his mouth to stop everyone's shouting, and immediately asked, "Chen Cai, Xun Duyou wants to see you." ”

Hearing this, Chen Cai got up and came to the cell in cooperation, looking at Xun Yi with a smile.

may have thought of this Xun Duyou being tied to the boudoir in the Qinglou naked, Chen Cai couldn't help but laugh out loud, and Xun Yi was uncomfortable with a smile.

"Open."

Liu Bi motioned for the jailer to open the cell door.

A moment later, Liu Bi and Xun Yi took Chen Cai to the tortured Xing room, not to torture Chen Cai, but the prison was overcrowded at the moment, and only the torture room was empty.

I saw that in the torture room, Liu Bi pretended not to know and introduced Xun Yi to Chen Cai: "This is the Xun Governor postal ...... sent by the county."

"I know."

Chen Cai chuckled and said, "A while ago, Xun Du Post came to my Kunyang ......."

Xun Yi didn't know that the people present were actually his own people, for fear that Liu Bi would be suspicious, so he coughed and interrupted, and said in a deep voice: "Chen Cai, this time, because Ji Rong seized the workshop of your brotherhood, hundreds of people in the city lost their jobs, and the people were dissatisfied...... I don't care if you have any complaints about this, or if you have any other plans, the county can't continue to mess around! ”

As he spoke, he pointed at Liu Bi and said with a serious expression again: "I have discussed with Liu Gong to release you and everyone else, but you must cooperate with the county government to appease public opinion, and you must not take the opportunity to make trouble!" Otherwise, Xun will never be spared! ”

Looking at Xun Yi and then at Liu Bi, Chen Cai nodded and said, "Of course!" …… My brotherhood is a good law-abiding citizen, and they should cooperate with the county government. ”

"Law-abiding? …… Phew!'

Hearing Chen Cai's shameless words, Liu Bi and Xun Yi secretly sneered, but they didn't say anything.

When the three of them reached an agreement and were about to leave the torture room, Xun Yi took advantage of the fact that Liu Bi, who was walking in front, was not paying attention, grabbed Chen Cai and whispered: "I want to see Zhou Hu tonight, you arrange it for me." ”

Only then did Chen Cai understand why this Xun Duyou came to see him, and he suddenly realized that he nodded slightly.

"Sure enough, ......"

Liu Bi, who was walking in front, glanced behind him slightly, but pretended not to hear anything.

Subsequently, under Liu Bi's order, whether it was the ordinary people who were mistakenly arrested this time, or the black tiger thieves and the backbone of the brotherhood, they were all released.

Chen Cai, Ma Hong and others, who were released, did not take the opportunity to make trouble, and cooperated very much with the county government and immediately started to appease the people in the city.

During this period, Xun Yi took a carriage and went straight to the temporary garrison of the Nanyang Army outside the city, asking to see the partial general Ji Rong.

"The superintendent of Yingchuan County?"

When he learned that Xun Yi was the post supervisor sent by Li Min, the warden of Yingchuan County, Ji Rong frowned, and after a little thought, he still ordered the soldiers to invite Xun Yi to the military tent.

"General Ji."

"Xun Du Post."

After meeting each other and saluting, Xun Yi said unceremoniously: "General Ji, this time Xun was ordered by Li Junshou to meet General Bi and convey Li Junshou's order. Kunyang thieves are in trouble, it is the county government of Kunyang, General Wang is the general of the Nanyang garrison, and he has no right to interfere in the county affairs under the jurisdiction of my Yingchuan County, please drive the troops away! ”

Hearing these unkind words, Ji Rong was furious, and he said angrily: "You are a little superintendent, and you actually speak to me like this? ”

Xun Yi said without being arrogant or humble: "Although Xun has a humble official position, he is a messenger sent by Li Junshou, and what he conveys is Li Junshou's order. General Wang has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of our Yingchuan County, but he sent a partial general, which is a mistake; The general led the troops to Kunyang County, did not ask what was going on, acted recklessly, and caused public resentment, which is a second offense. …… This matter has been reported to the imperial court, and I advise the generals not to be stubborn and cause resentment again! Otherwise, even General Wang won't be able to protect you! ”

Hearing this, Ji Rong glared at Xun Yi angrily, but Xun Yi was unmoved.

After arguing for a long time, Ji Rong frowned and said to Xun Yi: "Kunyang released those suspects of the black tiger thief, Ji has no opinion. I can also restrain my soldiers from entering the county seat, but I ask Kunyang to deliver a sum of grain and grass as soon as possible for us to crusade against the black tiger thieves in the north of the county. …… As for asking me to withdraw the army, Xun Dupost please go to Wancheng to negotiate with the general on his own, without the general's withdrawal order, Ji Mou will never dare to withdraw his troops without authorization. ”

Xun Yi thought for a moment, and felt that this was probably Ji Rong's last bottom line, so he nodded and said, "Okay!" Tomorrow, Xun will go to Wancheng to negotiate with General Wang, and by the way, present a letter from Li Junshou. General Ji is here, please strictly restrain the soldiers, don't cause public resentment again! ”

"Okay."

Since both sides have concerns about the people behind the other, the two finally agree to take a step back.

Although they are each taking a step back, the meaning is very different.

Ji Rong's concession in a sense means that he failed to suppress the thieves this time without a fight - because as long as the brotherhood in Kunyang County cannot be uprooted, it means that the black tiger thief will never be completely eradicated, at most, it will be temporarily defeated to avoid the limelight.

What's the point?

Zhao Yu's goal was achieved.

That night, after receiving Chen Cai's news, Zhao Yu personally went to the post house where Xun Yi stayed and had a conversation with the latter.