It was the height of summer and the morning was foggy.

Li Hong got up early and finished the package, poor and white, and only had a few coins of the changed government and scattered silver, and the slightly flattened package was also in line with his thin and tall figure.

Li Hong opened the door and came out to see the old Taoist meditating in the courtyard.

The whole Taoist temple is located on the sunny slope of the top of the mountain, the north and south of the courtyard each have a chamber, the main hall is located on the west side to the east, and is located on the base of the high two canes.

Every sunrise, the statue of the patriarch of the Sanqing Dynasty in the hall faces the sunrise horizon, the sun shines, exudes a faint golden light, but it reveals a trace of purple, and the distant view is like the descent of the immortals, shocking people's hearts.

This is Li Hong's most praise for the dilapidated Taoist temple in more than a year.

At this time, sitting cross-legged in front of the old Taoist hall, facing the place where the sun rises in the east, I saw a glimmer of light breaking through the mist, hitting the old road, quite a charm, making people see the gods.

"Layman, Layman Li?" I don't know when Lao Dao was already standing beside Li Hong.

"Daoist, what do you want me to do? Yes, I'm here to say goodbye to the Taoist. Li Hong replied a little stunned.

"Lao Dao has just finished meditating, and the layman is standing here with his bags on his back, presumably he is also here to say goodbye to Lao Dao, and Lao Dao finally wants to take the liberty of asking, what did the layman see just now?" Lao Dao asked.

"Dao Chief, just now the official disturbed the Dao Chief's meditation, a little rude, the official saw the Dao Chief sitting facing the east, the moment of sunrise, and the first ray of sunlight, as if there was a trace of purple gas entering, maybe the official was dazzled by the mistake."

It's also impossible that I'm wrong, "seeing" is a necessary skill for Jinyiwei to get started, the skill of eating, whether it is walking on the street to observe the pawn vendors, or catching the snitch at night, how can you do it without a good eyesight, of course, maybe you were too excited last night and didn't sleep well.

"It seems that lay people have a relationship with the Tao, and they can come back to sit more often when they have nothing to do in the future, and the old Tao is welcome." The old way is to do a salute.

"Certainly, if there is time, this official will come back," Li Hong bowed to the Taoist after speaking.

He walked to the main hall and offered incense to the Taoist Sanqing, muttering in his mouth.

"Sanqing Shangxian, I have also lived here for more than a year, the two of us are also old neighbors, I will go, I will definitely not come back, if I listen to the old way, why do I always feel like a liar, it is really unreliable to tell the hexagram and send incense, it is better not to meet or not to meet, so as not to break the wealth."

Lao Dao heard it clearly from a distance, and he was stunned, and the venous aura almost didn't work, and he was suffocated.

Lao Dao clasped his palms, and the statue of Sanqing was far away from the main hall: "Sanqing is above, and the disciple will not embarrass him if he looks at the face of the ancestor. ”

Lao Dao thought to himself, if he doesn't do it, he won't die, and he won't go to the circle to inquire, Lao Dao is hateful overnight, dare to say that Lao Dao is a liar, let's see you later. Lao Dao turned around and walked down the mountain.

"Please also ask the old neighbor Sanqing Shangxian, bless me Li Hong, I can be transferred safely, at least don't be blown up by the gunpowder produced by Wang Gong's factory, if you die, it must be a whole corpse, by the way, you can't blow up your face."

After Li Hong finished worshipping the three Qings, he walked down the mountain road and rushed to the house of the royal brother in the imperial city to discuss the transfer of any matter.

This goes to the royal city for more than 50 miles, Nuo is to ride a horse in less than half a day to arrive, but also to catch a lunch, Brother Wang's wife Liu, cooking skills are unique, his father is the owner of a famous restaurant in the imperial city, Liu likes to watch the chef cook in the back kitchen since he was a child, this brother Wang is a mouthful, and the brothers are also stained.

Thinking of this, Li Hong sped up again, ran to the village and hometown to retrieve the old horse, and rushed to the imperial city, eager to fly over, after all, he had eaten coarse tea and light rice here for more than a year.

The "village elder" is the most prestigious old man in a village or several villages, the Ming Dynasty government agency only goes to the county-level government yamen, and the village far away from the county seat on weekdays, if there is a neighborhood dispute, what is a trivial matter, there are village elders with young men to come forward to solve it.

If a major matter cannot be solved, it will be resolved by sending a government official to report the case. In some remote areas, the "village elders" can even be said to be the emperor of the soil, who is in charge of life and death according to the rules of the township.

When Li Hong came to this place, it was the local "village elders" who reported to the Yamen, and there were bandits in the township, because the "mountain bandits" were involved, the Yamen was not strong enough, and if there was any accurate investigation, it was reported to the local Jinyi Guard, and finally this errand fell on Li Hong's head.

As soon as he arrived here, Li Hong asked the "village elder", and the village elder said, "This matter is not clear, and I hope that the officials will find out and return the people to a clear mind." ”

At first, Li Hong thought that as a Jinyi guard, he should have kept the peace of the party, managed the emperor's relatives and relatives, suppressed those who were corrupt and bent the law, and managed the common people, and arrested bandits. This back and forth was found in these ten miles and eight villages.

Door-to-door, investigation, from time to time to call a few people, to record confessions, looking for clues, but still found nothing.

asked the villagers, and the villagers said: "The villain is not clear about this matter, and I hope that the officials will find out and return the people to a clear mind." ”

After a long time, the people in this village have come to know this Jinyi Wei Li, although they always ask some inexplicable questions, "Are there mountain bandits here?" "Are you being oppressed and don't dare to tell the truth, don't worry, there is an official." ........

It's not bad, help the old Li family repair the roof, help the old lady fetch water, the village private school Mr. often goes to the imperial city to write family letters for people, earn some extra money, this Li Master will go to teach him a few lessons, and when he comes back, the private school Mr. called two taels of wine, and the two talked about it.

Until a certain day.

Mr. Private School returned from the Imperial City, and the two drank and ate as before.

"Lord Li, I have been here to be sympathetic to the people's feelings, and I have been here for more than half a year, I don't know when I will return to the imperial city to resume my duties?" Mr. Private School asked as he drank a glass of wine.

"In the local area, the bandits have not yet been discovered, and the official cannot leave yet."

"Master Li, where did the bandits come from? Could it be that outsiders fled the disaster and came to grab food and clothing? Mr. Private School, put down his chopsticks and asked.

"The official didn't find out, I only know that half a year ago, the old villager reported to the yamen, and was entrusted with Jinyiwei to be in charge of the thousands of households around the imperial city, and the boss sent me over, but there was no date for it, and he said bluntly, find out and return."

Li Hong said, his forehead constricted and wrinkled.

"I was originally in his township and county to do a document, the old county order told the old to return to the hometown, I was also 43 years old and unable to mix in the officialdom, so I returned to my hometown to be a teacher, I have been back to my hometown for more than five years, and I have not encountered any banditry.

Mr. Private School paused, looked at Li Hong, and smiled abruptly.

"I'm afraid Master Li, there is another hidden situation here, why don't you ask an old friend in the officialdom to inquire about one or two, and you also have a bottom in your heart, and it's not too late to make plans."

After that, Li Hong slapped his head, yes.

Li Hong is very strong, and he is decisive when dealing with official affairs, but when it comes to private affairs, he is introverted and rarely takes the initiative to seek help from others.

Since the task of hunting for mountain bandits, he has done it as a tolerance, and he has not asked anyone to inquire about one or two.

On the night of the banquet, he wrote a letter, and the next morning, he sent the strong man in the village to ride a horse to his friend Wang Qianhu, and in the afternoon Wang Qianhu returned with the strong man, Li Hong was very surprised.

"I wanted to write a letter, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to say it clearly, so I came with the little girl. Brother Li doesn't have to open his mouth, let me ask you a question first? Wang Qianhu rushed to the Taoist temple on the mountain, entered the backyard wing, pushed the door in, and said.

"Brother Li, are you comfortable living here?"

"Brother Wang laughed, these days to investigate the big case of mountain bandits, it is a headache, in addition to the investigation of the case, living in this mountain village, far away from officialdom, but also clean." Li Hong lowered his head and thought about it.

"Isn't this beautiful, why do you bother with that imaginary mountain bandit?"

Li Hong looked up in surprise.

"It's nothing, how can you say that? I also think it's strange, but I'm afraid that the mountain bandits are too powerful, maybe this village is a mountain bandit, involved in a big case. ”

Wang Qianhu slapped the table and laughed.

"Brother Li's imagination has been strengthened again, I thought you would figure it out here, living a retirement life, it is also leisurely, but I didn't expect Brother Li to be serious."

Li Hong looked even more confused? --？

"There are no mountain bandits, it's the group of snitches you arrested half a year ago who specialized in burglary and burglary of the rich businessman's master, and offended Zhang Jiuqian's subordinate households, this gang of snitches was originally raised by his subordinates, don't you understand this?"

Li Hong abruptly stood up from his seat and walked around the ground a few times, muttering in his mouth.

"I see, I see"

Suddenly stopped to look at Wang Qianhu again, and stared at Wang Qianhu's hair.

"It stands to reason that I should have fallen into a barbarian land, but it was Brother Wang who interceded with me, and he must have gotten it."

"You finally figured it out, if you had figured it out earlier, you wouldn't have offended that nine thousand."

This "grasping" is more than a year, but it is also a leisurely and comfortable idle cloud and wild crane.

However, I, Li Hong, am the man who wants to "hold the mountains and rivers of Xiuchun Town".

Having said that, Li Hong had already arrived at his hometown to pick up a fast horse and run to the imperial city.

At this time, on the side of the road 20 miles away from the imperial city, an old man carrying a watermelon kept pinching his fingers, and a smile without kindness appeared on his mouth.