In the early morning of the next day, a group of people left the military village at the right time, and came along the official road to talk about horses, and when they arrived at the city of Duanzhou, the sun was still hanging obliquely in the east sky.

Li Shen's official office was in the north city, and the post house was in the south, so the two separated soon after entering the city. Li Shen resigned and returned to the yamen to handle official business; Shang Cheng didn't have anything important, and he didn't need to meddle in the specific affairs of the place, he originally wanted the two guards to lead the horse back to the post house first, and he took Su Zha and them to walk back slowly, but when he looked down and saw that he was still wearing a brocade robe and official boots with a gold nail belt, he had to dispel this idea of improvisation......

When he returned to the post house, he had just taken off his official uniform and washed his face, and before he could change into his homely clothes, the post man came to tell him that the general judge was coming.

He casually asked, "What is he doing here?" while tying the jacket of his undershirt. ”

Yi Cheng bowed his waist and bowed his head to wait by the door, and when he heard Shang Cheng ask, it took him a long time to realize that he was talking to himself, snorted, swallowed his saliva and said, "Small, small didn't dare to ask." ”

Only then did Shang Cheng realize that he was distracted and asked the wrong person. He didn't speak again, pulled a wide-sleeved Yanju robe from the back of the chair, stretched out his arms and sleeves, and walked out of the room, commanding "Let him go to the upper room to talk", and walked through the porch and through the corner door.

He entered the upper room with his front foot, and the judgment with his back foot arrived, and he stood at the foot of the stairs and raised his voice to sign up for the audience: "Duanzhou will judge Meng Ying, and Jin will see the commander." "This is a short and frustrated black fat man, a body of flesh stretches the blue official robe so that it is almost impossible to see a wrinkle, standing in the courtyard in the sun on a hot day, his face is covered with sweat running down his sideburns, cheeks and neck, and there are already a large wet stains near the neckline of the round-necked robe.

"It's sunny outside, come in quickly." Shang Cheng Dao. He also instructed Yicheng to hurry up and fetch a basin of water to let Meng Ying wash his face, he picked up the teapot and poured him a cup of herbal tea, and when Meng Ying wiped his sweat under the eaves and came in and sat down, he put the teacup in his hand and said, "Drink saliva to quench your thirst." You are a fat man, you can't stand the heat, and I'm not a yamen here, so you don't have to talk about so many rules. It was so hot that I couldn't stand it, so I simply took off my official uniform. As he spoke, he first sat next to Meng Ying with his shirt open, and took a fan to cool off.

"Commander Xie is considerate." Meng Ying arched his hand, picked up the teacup and took a sip of water, but he didn't take off his official uniform, and said, "It's not too hot." It's just that I heard that the Governor is back, so I came in a bit of a hurry......"

"Oh? What happened? ”

Although he had dealt with Shang Cheng many times, Meng Ying was still not used to this kind of easy-going and intimate conversation, he sat in the chair stiffly, holding a teacup in one hand, and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve with the other hand to wipe the dense sweat on his forehead, and replied: "It's not a hurry." …… It's just that the adults are gone for several days, this, this...... I was a little worried. ”

Shang Cheng smiled: "What are you worried about? I just went to see a few military villages around, what is there to worry about? He looked at Meng Ying's unnatural expression and joked, "Maybe I'm afraid that I'll be taken away by wolves?" Before he could finish speaking, he himself was amused by his own joke. Meng Ying was even more uncomfortable, the fat on her cheeks shook twice, squeezed out a smile hard, and said, "My lord said that he was laughing." Tens of thousands of Turks have not been able to leave adults, so what about a few wolves? If there really is an eyeless beast who dares to offend the tiger power of the adult, just let the adult call to make a good robe. ”

Shang Cheng smiled, helped Meng Ying fill the cup with tea, and asked, "You came to me, is there anything urgent?" ”

Meng Ying hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Commander, that's the case, the few things you explained a few days ago, renovating the state city, raising the people, repairing roads, digging wells and building weirs, and the labor army, the state government yamen is already working on it." Shang Cheng nodded and said approvingly, "I already saw it when I entered the city just now." Although the shack outside the city to take in the displaced people is simple, it is well selected, it is a shady place where the sun can't shine, and the shack seems to be built sturdy, and it can also shelter from the wind and rain; You can see that you put your mind into it. However, the situation in the city seems to have not changed, garbage is still littered everywhere, and a few ponds of waterlogged sludge have not been filled. Only a few piles of junk in the back alley of the inn have been removed by you. He raised his head and stared at Meng Ying with a smile, and asked, "One by one, you plan to make a face?" ”

Meng Ying hurriedly stood up and said, "How come? We also want to get things done. We will definitely satisfy adults! ”

Shang Cheng beckoned him to sit down and said, "What's the use of satisfying me?" It's not that I live in Duanzhou City. He knew that Meng Ying had the same straight temper as Zhou Xiang, and it was impossible for him to take time out of his busy schedule to run to greet him, so he asked, "Did you encounter any difficulties?" You talk about it, let's talk about it together. As he spoke, he remembered one more thing and asked, "Do you know that the two brigades of the Right Army have repaired several sections of official roads?" ”

Meng Ying was still hesitating how to say what he meant, and when he heard him suddenly turn the topic to Li Shen inexplicably, he nodded and said, "I know." It's been repaired just after spring. Li Shen said that the roads were not smooth, and the supply of grain and grass and military supplies could not be met, so he took it upon himself to send a few battalions of soldiers to repair a few sections; At that time, Zhou Tuiguan also found two old officials to bring more than a dozen old stonemasons who were building roads to give them guidance. How? Something wrong with the road? He immediately shook his head again and denied his claim. No, it won't. The road was paved with earth and gravel for several layers, and the old craftsmen said that it could be managed for ten or eight years. ”

"Not about that." Shang Cheng pursed his lips and thought about how to open this mouth. In the end, he simply said the truth, "If you can't come, I'll go to you too." I have two things to tell you. One is the matter of the labor army. There is no need to buy sheep, so they will be converted into cash at the market price and sent to the command yamen, and the right army will distribute it itself. The second is the matter of these sections. The official road has always been maintained by the local government, and the government also has special money and food expenditures, so you shouldn't let the guards do this......"

Meng Ying opened her mouth to defend herself: "We didn't want the guards to do it in the first place. It was Li Shen himself who proposed it! If he hadn't said that the most fearful thing about leading soldiers was to let the soldiers be idle, and the soldiers had nothing to do, either smashing pots and bowls or stealing chickens and dogs, how could we have troubled them with local affairs? We can't even hide, how dare we provoke them? ”

Only then did Shang Cheng understand that Li Shen had only spoken half of his words to himself. He thought that the local government was busy with other affairs, and he didn't care about building the road for a while, so he asked the guards to help...... So that's it! He said to Meng Ying with some apologies: "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have been blamed just now. It's all my fault, I won't count you down first if I don't understand the situation clearly......" He ignored Meng Ying's strange appearance of blushing and coarse neck, paused, and said, "But you still haven't done something right, since the right army has solved the problem for the locality, then you should allocate this expenditure to the right army from the main expenditure, even if you don't give the full number, you should symbolically reward the soldiers, right?" He didn't want to ask where the money, which was supposed to be paid to the Right Army, ended up. Because there is no need for that, where else can they go? He just wanted them to take out a part of it to supply the right army, more or less a meaning, not to chill the soldiers. "Otherwise, the local ......"

Meng Ying interrupted him rudely and said, "The Governor probably doesn't know the ins and outs of this matter. Money, the Duanzhou Mansion Yamen has already been allocated to the Right Army Command Yamen. Although Li Sima said that the soldiers are idle, it is better to sell their strength, as long as the local food is enough, but we still pay the money and food according to the wages and meals of the people who are usually recruited! ”

Shang Cheng glared at Meng Ying in surprise, and only after a while did he ask, "What's that...... What did Li Sima say, you didn't pay this money? ”

Meng Ying raised his fat face, which was flushed red, stared straight at Shang Cheng with small eyes sunken in his eye sockets, and said with a sneer: "My lord, if we didn't give Li Shen money, do you think that according to General Li's temperament, would he send troops to surround the Duanzhou Mansion?" If you don't believe what Meng said, you can go to the yamen to check the account books, Zhou Tuiguan, Hu Cao and my signatures are all there, and the receipts of the right army are also there! ”

Shang Cheng smiled bitterly. He had now believed what Meng Ying said. According to his understanding of Li Shen, if it is really the local government that has deducted the wages of the right army, Li Shen may really dare to do something brutal. However, although it is true to say that Li Shen is greedy for money, it does not mean that this person has no brains. In fact, as long as money is involved, this person has always been resourceful, and his best trick is to fish in troubled waters; Just like the thing he did in Nanguan, Yixian County, he was greedy for so much money and food, and in the end, didn't he get through the test without substantiation?

He was about to say a few words to persuade Meng Ying, who was angry, but Meng Ying slapped his thigh in the seat, and with a few clicks, the teacups and teapots resting on the next table fell to the ground one after another, along with the black lacquered wooden trays. The two guards on duty outside the house immediately walked to the door to check what was going on, but Shang Cheng waved them away. Meng Ying didn't notice that the hem of his official uniform and even his silk pants had been soaked with tea stains, frowning and regretting it, clenching his fists in circles around the room, chanting like a sutra: "Oh no, no, no! It's over, it's over! What can I do? What to do? ”

“…… What's going on? Shang Cheng asked.

Meng Ying sat down in the chair with his ass, like a deflated pig's urine, and became extremely aggrieved, and only after a long time did he open a pair of small eyes that even the brilliance was and said: "This money, because it is the guards who build the road, not the people, so it is miscellaneous expenses, and the subjects of the labor army are listed......" He shook his head painfully and sighed long. "Alas, I was tricked by Li Shen again!"

Shang Cheng looked at Duanzhou Tongju with a complicated mood. He didn't expect Li Shen to be so bold and play such a trick in order to make some money. He can't blame Meng Ying, nor can he blame Zhou Xiang, who is directly responsible for this matter; They just didn't expect Li Shen to be so cunning, even more difficult to deal with than an old ink official. Now, he has to think carefully about how to deal with this matter, one by one, neither to prevent Li Shen from coming to power, nor to teach the Duanzhou Mansion to suffer this loss......

Trouble!

He stroked the scars on his face, anxiously thinking of possible solutions. In fact, there is no need to worry about either aspect, as long as he holds up the admiral's shelf, three or two sentences can calm things down. However, since the matter has been exposed, the fire cannot be contained in the paper, and sooner or later it will be spread, and Li Shen will be ridiculed and ridiculed at that time. He didn't want to see his old boss fall into such a field, and he couldn't let such a thing happen, if such a scandal really spread, it would be a shame not only for Li Shen, but also for the Yanshan Guards!

No, he would not tolerate such a thing! He must protect Li Shen, he must cover up this matter!

He quickly made up his mind, so he pretended to be relaxed and said to Meng Ying: "I thought it was something that made you rush like this." I've known this for a long time. Some time ago, the Right Army sent a submission to both the Wei Mansion and the Admiral's Mansion, and this is what he said. As magistrates, you can always think about the Wei Army, and General Li and I, as well as General Zhang Shao of the Wei Mansion, are very happy and grateful. General Li also suggested in the official document that the Wei Mansion should send an official letter to the Yamen of the Inspection Department, and that this matter be included in the annual examination as your political achievement. General Zhang Shao has agreed, and it is estimated that there will be results soon. He paused, licked his dry lips, and thought about what the "result" was. “…… Zhou Tuiguan's transfer to the Health Department was actually because of this matter. In addition, after he left, there was also a vacancy in the local magistrate of Duanzhou, and after examining several candidates, the Admiral's Office finally decided that you would take over this position. He looked at Meng Ying, who couldn't close his mouth, with a smile on his face, and said, "Originally, I didn't want to tell you about this before the official document of the Ministry came back, but I want to hear your opinions on this one by one," he called Meng Ying's words to express affection and trust, "Do you have the confidence to be a good official in Duanzhou?" ”

Shang Cheng's words were full of loopholes, but Meng Ying, who was dizzy by the sudden good news, still had the heart and time to carefully deliberate, the short and fat Duanzhou Tongju sat on the seat, his mouth was already grinning to the back of his head, and his hands were tugging at his official uniform, trying not to let himself lose his temper in front of the admiral. He didn't know what he had said to Shang Cheng in surprise......

"Okay, okay, I remember." Shang Cheng has been sending Meng Ying to the second gate. When they broke up, he repeatedly told Meng Ying that he must not let the news out. He said, "Cunzhi, you must not tell anyone before the appointment of the ministry, otherwise the Health Department will be embarrassed ......."

Meng Ying nodded desperately: "Commander, don't worry, I won't say it!" ”

"That's good. In addition, local public affairs should not be slackened. You know, the better you do, the more confident the Health Department will be to speak up on this personnel appointment and dismissal! ”

"You can rest assured ......"

Seeing Meng Ying jumping out of the post house with a pair of short legs, and her back disappeared under the white swaying sun, Shang Chengcai walked back worriedly.

Li Shen's absurdity has subsided, but his troubles have just begun. Now, he is about to start worrying about Meng Tuiguan's affairs......