Wang Yongzuo, the new governor of Yunyang, has always prided himself on being upright, and as early as when he first set foot in the Eun Sea, he set himself a standard and model for his future behavior, that is, he should strive to keep up with his predecessor Xu Guangqi, the Duke of Wending.

Xu Guangqi is a famous minister of Wanli, Tianqi and Chongzhen, Wen Taowu is a masterpiece of the moment, the only pity is that the road to the imperial examination in the early stage was extremely bumpy, and even the township examination took several times to obtain the qualification. Although he still won the jinshi in the end, it was already forty miles away.

Wang Yongzuo, who is now 36 years old in Chinese New Year's Eve, is a fellow villager with Yang Sichang, and his family has a lot of origins, so he worships him as a teacher. He was young and proud, and he had already passed the township examination, but in the next ten years, he participated in the examination and repeatedly failed to be on the apricot list, so he gave up the idea of going further. In the Ming Dynasty, Shilin paid attention to his background, and wanted to be in the center of the mixed center of the capital, not to mention that he had to pass the examination to be qualified, so Wang Yongzuo, who was only promoted, could only serve in the local area for a long time.

Wang Yongzuo is very dissatisfied with his test-taking path, and the role model that has always inspired him not to be discouraged is Xu Guangqi. He believes that the aroma of wine is not afraid of deep alleys, good fate is not afraid of luck to grind, as long as he walks step by step, Xu Guangqi, who finally joins the cabinet, may not be an unattainable goal. Since he was appointed as a military commander in Jingnan, because he had no soldiers, he was temporarily in charge of the army's decrees, and his resolute and resolute style of not favoritism made many people fearful, including not only the young people who tried to bend the law in vain, but also many colleagues who worked under the same roof with him also respected him, and he did not care about it at all. When he overheard a few times that someone secretly claimed that he was the reincarnation of Zhongjie Gong Hai Rui behind his back, although he did not have the pride of being praised as Tang Shunzhi, he would also feel full of joy.

Originally, the candidate appointed by the DPRK to replace Yuan Jixian as the governor of Yunyang was Wan Yuan Ji, but Wan Yuan Ji declined the appointment due to his mother's funeral. When Wang Yongzuo heard about this, he cheekily knocked on the side and hoped that Wan Yuan Ji would recommend him. Wan Yuanji, like many people of insight in the court, believed that Yunyang Mansion was a sinister and wealthy place, and it was by no means a good springboard for official careers.

Speaking of "sinister", Yunyang Mansion is located at the junction of Chu, Henan, Sichuan, and Shaanxi provinces, and its location is extremely important. The terrain of the whole province is almost all mountains, and it has been the hinterland where thieves hide since ancient times, not only are there many thieves, but it is also difficult to suppress. In the more than ten years since the outbreak of the thief rebellion, the military disasters in the house have been in force for many years, and the counties under its jurisdiction are all broken, the ammunition and food have been exhausted, and the troops are weak. It is to operate on this basis, and hardships and hardships cannot be written down in a few words. But on the other hand, if you can clean up the mess and make achievements, the statement will inevitably be greatly boosted in one fell swoop, and it is not impossible to become the next Hong Chengchou, which is the meaning of the so-called "rich land" of the governor of Yunyang.

Wan Yuan Ji and the others are self-aware and don't have the courage to stir up this troubled water, but Wang Yongzuo is very confident and fearless. In other words, in order to get ahead as soon as possible, he can only choose to seize the opportunity and give it a go. The result is undoubtedly very good for Wang Yongzuo, recommended by Wan Yuanji, Emperor Chongzhen's intentional promotion, he successfully won the position of governor of Yunyang, in a short period of time, from the original Yang Sichang from the local summoned to the small staff under the governor jumped several levels, turned into a local member of the Ming Dynasty. He was satisfied, and only in the morning did he receive the appointment sent by the court, and in the afternoon he packed his luggage, bid farewell to the old generals of the Governor's Sect such as Mengruhu, and left the Governor's army stationed in Chengtianfu with only the three companions who accompanied him.

In order to show his ability and courage, Wang Yongzuo did not choose to take the public carriage, but chose to ride a horse to Yunyang. This was learned from Yang Sichang, who was a university scholar and entered Xiangyang alone, which shocked the local officials. However, he did not have the honor of Emperor Chongzhen's gift of a horse, and the horse was also a public family, and the word "out" was printed on his right cheek indicating that he was responsible for transferring the post ride.

He straddled the horse, held the whip in his hand, and galloped around the road, proud of the spring breeze. The three companions who followed him were bitter, and secretly scolded in their hearts that this Shangguan was not in shape, and every time he galloped and disappeared, he had to sweat profusely to find and chase him.

In this way, after walking for two days, the four of them tossed all the way to the border of Xiangyang Mansion. At that time, it was already dark, and several people went to the Qianshan Post in the northeast of Yiyang to stay. The head of the Yishan Post heard the noise and came out with three or five post guards to check. After inspecting the horn talisman issued by Wang Yongzuo as a public inspection, he hurriedly welcomed Wang Yongzuo and others into the post station.

The post station house entered the two entrances, and the post chief first instructed the post keeper to take the three companions who were already tired and half-dead with Wang Yongzuo to the backyard wing room to rest, and personally accompanied Wang Yongzuo into the hall in the front yard.

"Lord Wang has worked hard all the way. Hot water, meals, and beds are all available. The adults will rest in the small post for a night, and tomorrow morning the little old man will change to a good horse, so that the adults can continue to hurry. ”

This post chief is an old man in his early fifties, full of white hair, dark skin, and looks inconspicuous, like an old farmer who cultivates the land between the ridges of an ordinary stock, but he speaks decently and fluently, and does things neatly, and sure enough, he has a set of skills that have been sent to practice for many years.

Wang Yongzuo chatted with him for a few words, hoping to find some valuable clues from the conversation, but what the post chief said was all well-known and nothing unusual. Wang Yongzuo was bored, and he didn't bother to talk to the post chief anymore, so he only said that he was tired, and then he said goodbye and went back to the room.

The post chief diligently sent Wang Yongzuo back to the wing. Wang Yongzuo sent him away with a few perfunctory words, closed the door and entered the house, only to see that the furnishings in the house were simple and simple, but it was still clean, and behind a curtain, there was a large wooden bathtub with half full hot water and steaming steam.

After two days of driving, Wang Yongzuo also felt a little uncomfortable on his body, and he did not hesitate at the moment, he untied his clothes, and took a good bath to remove all the dirt and fatigue on his body.

When he soaked his body in the hot water, Wang Yongzuo couldn't help but snort softly, the water temperature was just right, and it was indescribably happy and comfortable to soak in it.

Wang Yongzuo's upper body leaned against the wall of the barrel, and his hands naturally rested on the edge of the barrel. All around him was steamy, and when he closed his eyes, he felt as if he was drunk, and he couldn't help humming his hometown tune in his mouth.

At this moment, only to hear a "bang", Wang Yongzuo was frightened and suddenly opened his eyes, through the curtain, but saw the door of his wing room wide open, and three figures broke in!

"Who?" Wang Yongzuo shouted in fright, but he couldn't stand up because he was naked, and he was still soaked in the barrel.

The three of them covered their faces with soap cloths, and they couldn't see their faces clearly, and after listening to Wang Yongzuo's questioning, one of them shouted angrily: "Dog official, let you judge the case indiscriminately, and give my eldest brother's life!" This time I will make you pay for the blood debt! ”

"Slow coming! Speak slowly!" Wang Yongzuo's color changed when he heard this, these three people actually came to take revenge! There are countless miscellaneous cases in the army that I want to handle in the overseer, and there are many people who died under their own decisions, but ask yourself, I have always enforced the law impartially, without favoritism, and it stands to reason that there will be no unjust and wrongful cases!

"Today is your time of death! We want to sacrifice your life to my eldest brother's spirit in heaven! The three masked men didn't give Wang Yongzuo any more chance to speak. The first person pulled out a short knife from his ribs, took two steps forward, lifted the curtain, and was about to stab Wang Yongzuo.

At this critical moment, Wang Yongzuo couldn't care about the dignity and image of the court officials, so he jumped up from the bathtub and poured a palm of hot water on the façade of the masked man in the first place.

The masked man raised his hand to cover it, and in the interval, Wang Yongzuo jumped aside.

"Where is the dog officer!" The two masked men in the back each drew their close-fitting daggers and rushed at Wang Yongzuo. In this electric light, Wang Yongzuo did not forget to take a break to pull out the bed curtain, tie it around his waist three or two, and talk about it to cover his shame, for a civil official like him who prides himself on his status, courtesy, righteousness and shame are greater than his life, and he can't die like a dead pig.

At the critical moment, several more people suddenly broke in from outside the door, and when the first person saw that there were three thieves in the house, he actually retreated a few steps, if it were not for the people behind him, I am afraid he would have turned and fled.

Wang Yongzuo looked intently outside the house, it turned out that the post chief had arrived with a few post guards and three of his companions, and hurriedly shouted: "The post chief save me!" ”

The three masked men saw that Wang Yongzuo had a lot of reinforcements, and the situation was not good, but they didn't come hard at the moment. One of them threw his dagger at the crowd at the door. The three masked men looked at each other, leaped out, flashed out of the chamber, rolled with their hands, got up and fled, and soon disappeared into the darkness.

Everyone was shocked and frightened, and when they were stunned, the post chief was calm and sophisticated, and called everyone to go into the house to see Wang Yongzuo's situation.

Wang Yongzuo was stunned, and the pestle remained motionless in place, just panting. When the post chief and the others entered the house again, he still thought it was a thief, and he was so frightened that his body twitched, and then he saw that it was his own person, so he breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a trembling voice: "What about the three thieves?" ”

The post chief bowed and said, "It's already gone." Said with guilt on his face: "Xiaoyi's poor supervision caused the thief to enter, almost injured the adult, please punish the adult, all the blame Xiao Lao'er is willing to bear it." ”

The three companions also stood behind and asked, "The adults are not hurt, are you?" ”

Wang Yongzuo took two long breaths, stroked his chest, and said when his mind calmed down: "These three thieves are here to seek revenge. In the past few months, I want my official to enforce the law impartially, and I have never corrupted my principles because of personal feelings, and many of them have held a grudge because they were rejected for bribing their officials. I'm afraid these are some of those people. As he spoke, the original look of panic on his face was gradually replaced by fortitude.

"The adults are high-spirited and upright, and the little old man admires! The little old man is not effective in preventing thieves, causing adults to fall into danger, which is really incompetent! The postmaster kept bowing and did not dare to get up. There was such a big mess in the post station under his control, and Wang Yongzuo's life was so threatened, if he didn't get Wang Yongzuo's forgiveness, he would be the post chief.

Wang Yongzuo looked at him and thought to himself: "It stands to reason that the defense of Yizhong is not thorough, which caused me to almost lose my life at the hands of thieves, and I should never be forgiven." But I promise myself to be a person with Wen Dinggong, Wen Dinggong has a tolerant personality, and if he is the one who is attacked this time, he will forgive this old man. Besides, this old man was only a little post chief, and he arrived in time to save me and drive away the thief, and I was not injured, and if I continued to deal with him, I was afraid that some people would gossip in the future, which would be detrimental to my reputation! ”

After figuring out this section, he raised his hand to help the post chief, and said kindly: "It's serious, if you hadn't brought someone to arrive in time this time, I'm afraid that this official would have suffered an accident." What are you still doing? ”

Seeing that Wang Yongzuo had no intention of pursuing it, the post chief put his mind at ease, looked up at Wang Yongzuo again, but his face was a little embarrassed. Wang Yongzuo glanced at him, and suddenly remembered that he was naked, and only a broken bed curtain covered his shame. Under the anxious gaze of everyone, Wang Yongzuo's face was already red, and the post chief was a person who knew things, so he hurriedly turned around and said while driving everyone out of the room: "What are you still doing here?" Hurry up and get out and let Lord Wang be alone! ”

After this catastrophe, Wang Yongzuo was completely sleepy, and he didn't dare to stay alone. After changing his clothes, he opened the door and walked out, but he saw the post chief and all the post guards guarding outside with his three companions.

"Your Excellency." The postmaster said carefully, "Why did you get out?" With our vigil, you can sleep in peace. ”

Wang Yongzuo shook his head and said, "I can't sleep, now my heart is in turmoil, it's better to get up and take a walk." In front of these people, he could not say that he was too scared to sleep.

"You might as well sit in the hall." The postmaster asked tentatively. Unexpectedly, Wang Yongzuo agreed, so everyone hugged Wang Yongzuo to the front yard. The post chief sent the post guards to guard the door, and Wang Yongzuo ordered the three companions to wait around. Pity the three companions, who have worked hard for two days, and still can't rest tonight, not to say anything, they have already greeted Wang Yongzuo's eighteenth generation ancestors in their hearts.