It was the night of February 23, the eighteenth year of Yongping.

There is only half a month left before the deadline for grain collection given by the imperial court.

On the eighth day of the first month of March, the imperial court escort team of grain and grass will be sent to various parts of Southern Chu to collect grain and escort it to the front line in Liangzhou.

As the saying goes, before the soldiers and horses move, the grain and grass go first, and once the grain and grass are gathered, it is the day when the imperial court sends troops to Liangzhou.

This time, the person who led the grain collection affairs was Zhao Zhe, the current crown prince, who wanted to go down to the fertile land of Jiangnan in person, accompanied by the household servant, and personally escorted the grain and grass in Jiangnan to Liangzhou.

This time, the imperial court levied a total of 800,000 stone of grain from the whole country, and the two places of Liangzhejiang Road and Jiangnan East Road in Jiangnan alone will occupy about four layers, each road will cost 100,000 stones, and the rest of the grain-producing land Xichuan Road is also 80,000 stones, and the rest is the grain to be levied in various places.

Rising up, Jiangnan and Xichuan have borne nearly half of the grain and grass, and the pressure on other places has been reduced a lot.

But this kind of thing did not fall on their heads, and the luck psychology in many people's hearts is still very serious.

Everybody thinks it doesn't matter if they have a little less, one, two, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, more than 10,000, that's a very serious problem. Rongxian alone is a very simple microcosm, and Pingzhou Mansion is still a rich place in the south of the Yangtze River, so you can imagine other places.

The war in Southern Chu is for the southerners, many people have not experienced the pain of displacement caused by the war, so the selfishness in the hearts of many people is inevitably very heavy, after all, there are always people who will think that there is still a large area of land in the north to fight anyway, and the capital is also in the north, and they can't fight in the south.

For them, being able to produce a little food is already considered benevolent and righteous, and those who can hide will also be avoided by all means.

Perhaps only when they really hit their door can they see the cruelty of the war, and the sense of crisis in their hearts will be strengthened.

The north is in the midst of war all the year round, and those people can deeply understand this kind of pain, and when they encounter such a major event as the imperial court's grain requisition, the people in the north are eager to send all the food at home to the battlefield, but they have limited food, and many times they are powerless.

Every time he thinks of this, Zhang Xiang is also helpless.

800,000 stone of grain, enough for the imperial army to fight a war in Liangzhou for half a year, as long as this war is won and Liangzhou is recaptured, at least it can keep Southern Chu undisturbed for a hundred years.

And once lost, Southern Chu not only loses troops and national strength, but also the people of Southern Chu can become the target of slaughter in the south of Northern Liao at any time.

Such a simple truth, but at least eighty percent of people don't understand.

Zhang Xiang really hopes that Nan Chu can win, even if there is little hope, but as long as the fight has not started, then this is a belief in his heart.

That night, Zhang Xiang fell asleep very late.

Not long after he slept, a carriage slowly drove out of the county office, and then came all the way to the door of Shi's house.

Then the door of Shi's house opened, and the man got out of the carriage and went in.

In the dark corner not far away, Li Yanzhi's figure slowly receded.

……

Tongfu Inn is the largest inn in Rong County.

At this time, the inn was already full of people, most of whom were people from all over the south.

In a guest room, the bearded man named Lin Feihong wiped the red tassel gun with a towel, and his deep pupils were like the night sky in the dark.

In another room, the man, who was more beautiful than a woman, released a carrier pigeon, and then opened a note, which read: Zhang Mingheng is a teacher and friend, I don't want to hurt his life, for the teacher is now in Xichuan, it is difficult to help, if he is in trouble, you can help him.

Dugu Liuying turned around and put the note on the candlestick on the table, then burned it to ashes, and then turned back and silently looked into the distance.

In another guest room, Yue Changzhong was drinking stuffy wine, and just now his friends Tao Lin, Han Guangyi and Zhang Zhao all came to call him, hoping that he could go out together to discuss the plan to kill Zhang Mingheng with many people in the rivers and lakes, but he refused under the pretext of being uncomfortable.

Tonight, the Jianghu people in this inn are about to discuss how to kill Zhang Mingheng, and even the Jianghu people who live in other inns have also rushed to the party when they hear the noise, Yue Changzhong knows very well that if these Jianghu people come out of the nest, the horse will be more than lucky.

He was very entangled in his heart at this time, he thought about going to inform the colt to let him leave Rong County first, but once he left, what would the people of Rong County do?

He trusts this Zhang Mingheng from the bottom of his heart and trusts him to be that good person.

But if he doesn't leave, he will be attacked by these rivers and lakes.

What the hell to do, he didn't have anything to do

With his strength, just by coming up with his own ideas, it is impossible for these Jianghu people to believe him.

Yue Changzhong let out a long breath, and after drinking the pot of wine, he got up and walked out.

……

Early in the morning, Li Yanzhi was waiting for Zhang Xiang outside Zhang Xiang's door.

When the slave who came out of the house with a basin of water saw him, he gave him a slight salute and left.

Then Li Yanzhi was also called in by Zhang Xiang.

Zhang Xiang was already fully dressed, sitting at his desk and looking at an ancient book.

Although he didn't understand anything, he could kill time, and he couldn't go out of the county office now, so he couldn't do anything else.

Li Yanzhi gently closed the door and came to him: "Donkey." ”

"What's the matter." Zhang Xiang said slowly.

Li Yanzhi nodded: "I followed Xu Songwen last night and saw him enter Shi's house." ”

"Oh?" Zhang Xiang raised his eyebrows: "This guy finally can't help it." ”

"The colt already knew he had a problem, so that's why I was asked to follow him?" Li Yanzhi's mood was a little complicated, at first he didn't know what Zhang Xiang meant by letting him keep an eye on Xu Songwen, but it wasn't until he saw Xu Songwen enter the Shi Mansion with his own eyes last night that he faintly guessed the clue.

Zhang Xiang put down the ancient book and shook his head: "I'm actually not sure that there is something wrong with him, I still understand this Xu Songwen's ability, do you remember the assassin who assassinated me in Pingzhou City?" The final closing document of the assassin case was written by him, I have read it, he is very thoughtful, knows how to avoid the important and light, and writes this case very well, the news about me is not mentioned a word, and the identity of the assassin is not mentioned a word, but this case is handled as a simple assassination case, and this case did not reach Bianjing in the end, because he knows that if it is transmitted to Bianjing, the court will know, and their Pingzhou Mansion will also be punished, and these assassins dare to kill me, there must be people behind them who they cannot afford to offend, If he stabbed in front of the emperor, he would definitely order a thorough investigation, and it might affect the people behind these assassins, so he withheld the names of all the assassins, so that the case would be handled simply, and it would not be stabbed to the emperor, let alone offend the people behind the assassins. ”

Li Yanzhi was puzzled: "But even so, it doesn't mean that he can handle the matter of requisitioning grain?" ”

Zhang Xiang said slowly: "Before I came to Rong County, I had discussed this Xu Songwen with Zheng Governor's Mansion, Xu Songwen was precisely because of his outstanding ability, so Zheng Governor sent him to Rong County, the most difficult place, he thinks, with Xu Songwen's ability, it is not difficult to deal with the grain collection affairs in Rong County, but there has been no movement for a long time, Zheng Governor's Mansion began to feel strange, he told me, when Xu Songwen was in Pingzhou, he often received gold and silver from many large families, because these big families are thank-you gifts, so sometimes Zheng Governor's Mansion does not care too much. ”

"The imperial court grain collection is a huge fat gap for the local government, simple, is an opportunity to get many benefits, Zheng Zhifu presided over the grain collection in Pingzhou City, at first there will often be large families to send some gold and silver, hoping to exempt these large families from the grain, because most of these large families have been doing business for generations, although there is a lot of silver, but the grain is not necessarily, after this grain requisition, there will be a shortage of food everywhere, maybe there is silver, can not buy food, and this kind of large family every time to raise a lot of people, The consumption of each grain is very huge, and it is often necessary to buy grain from outside, once it is not possible to buy grain, it will be very difficult, therefore, many people would rather pay silver than grain, but the bribes of these large families have been rejected by the Zheng prefect, and the imperial court has a great deal of stakes in collecting grain to fight, and it is not allowed to be sloppy, and not a grain of grain can be missing. ”

"Because of this, I decided to come to Rong County in person after discussing with Governor Zheng, and at first I wasn't sure if this Xu Songwen was such a person, so I could only observe it slowly, let you arrest people secretly, and don't let the county government know. Xu Songwen is a person who attaches great importance to merit, Governor Zheng sent him to Rong County, how can he let go of this kind of thing that can improve his merit? But didn't you notice? Since I came to Rong County, he ignored all the grain requisition, I asked him to go to collect grain every time he went to collect grain, and every time he took someone out for a spin, he did everything perfunctorily, and didn't ask anything, is this normal? It's not normal, Peng Zhixian often comes to ask me if I have any countermeasures, but this Xu Songwen is like no one. ”

finished, Zhang Xiang sighed slowly; "If you don't have a ghost in your heart, how can you ignore such a thing? But he didn't know that it was such a calm state on the surface that exposed the worries in his heart. ”

Li Yanzhi suddenly realized, and said hatefully: "I didn't expect this Xu Songwen to be such a person, he looks righteous and awe-inspiring on the surface, but he didn't expect to secretly be in the same stream with this Shi family." ”

Zhang Xiang pointed to his chest: "This looks at people, don't look at faces, you have to look here." ”

"What do we do next, colt?"

"Don't worry, it's just a suspicion at the moment, there is no evidence to prove that this Xu Songwen and Shi Liangyu had an affair, it is not so easy to convict such a five-grade official of corruption, you will tell Peng Zhixian in a while, I already have the evidence of the Shi family's grain fraud, let him interrogate Shi Meng, that's what I mean, if this Xu Songwen really has a ghost, he should take action tonight."

"Okay..."Li Yanzhi nodded, said goodbye and left.

Then Zhang Xiang came to the back wall of this courtyard, and when he saw that there was no one around, he quickly climbed up the wall and climbed out.

At noon last night, a family sent a letter to him, this letter was sent by Yue Changzhong, and he asked him to see him today, knowing that he couldn't go through the main gate, so Yue Changzhong found him such an excellent wall point.

Following the address of Yue Changzhong's office, Zhang Xiang found a tavern hidden in the alley, which was in the two alleys behind the county office, very close.

Of course, going out from these two alleys, that is, the east and west roads of Rong County, are very obvious, if it were not for the route given by Yue Changzhong, it would be difficult for him to find here. When he came, Yue Changzhong had already drunk half a pot of wine, and it seemed that he had been waiting for him for a long time.

After Zhang Xiang sat down, Yue Changzhong said in a low voice: "There is not much time, I won't say much, those Jianghu people have already discussed the plan to kill you last night, from now on, after leaving the county government gate, the interface of the east, west and south streets will be specially guarded by Jianghu people, as long as you leave the county government, you will be assassinated immediately, so you had better not step out of the county government gate at all." In addition, they also arranged for masters to take turns to spy on the county government every night, and if there is an opportunity, they will also assassinate you in the county office, that is, even if you are in the county government now, it may not be safe at night. ”

"These people are crazy!" Zhang Xiang had a headache.

Yue Changzhong said slowly: "If I can kill you, I will definitely be famous." ”

"Is my life so precious on the rivers and lakes?"

"In the 20 years since the founding of Southern Chu, your father General Zhang lost Liangzhou, and let the Northern Liao people slaughter hundreds of thousands of Liangzhou people is the greatest humiliation of Southern Chu for so many years, for the Southern Chu people, he is the biggest traitor, disaster to the country and the people, you are his son, the most hated by the people of the rivers and lakes is this kind of traitor, cutting the grass and eradicating the roots, and acting for the way is these rivers and lakes, if you live, they will never be able to swallow this breath in their hearts, there are many people on the rivers and lakes who want to kill you, if anyone can kill you, they can be praised by the people in the rivers and lakes."

"Sidewalk?" Zhang Xiang sneered disdainfully; "A group of frogs at the bottom of the well, reckless moves, so capable, why didn't they go to the battlefield to kill the enemy in the first place? It's white, it's just a group of selfish ghosts who rely on their martial arts and value their own fame and fortune. ”

"Actually, I sometimes don't like these rivers and lakes to do things, but that's the case on the rivers and lakes, good and evil are just a thought in their hearts, as long as they think you are good, they will sacrifice their lives for you, and they will smear your liver and brains. But once you think that you are evil, you will chase you to the end of the earth, and you will not hesitate to do it, as for right and wrong, many people are difficult to distinguish. ”

"I just don't have a brain!" Zhang Xiang sneered.

Yue Changzhong said softly: "No matter what, you will be able to do it yourself in the future, and there is only so much I can help you." ”

Zhang Xiang looked at him and suddenly asked, "Brother Yue, can I ask you a question?" Since you think I'm good, why don't you sacrifice your life for righteousness and smear your liver and brain? If I die, the people of Rong County will live under famine for a long time to come, and if you trust me, why don't you help me? ”

Yue Changzhong was silent for a moment, and gently bowed his hand to him: "I am different from them, on the contrary, I am difficult to distinguish between good and evil, but I can distinguish between good and bad, I don't know if you are good or evil, but I know that what you do is a good thing, for the sake of the people of Rong County..."