Lulong County, Chengzhong, Xiongfu.

The Xiong family is a scholarly family, three generations ago, out of the Jinshi, did a prefect, and also had a show talent behind, the head of this generation has the name of a prodigy since childhood, but unfortunately he tried and failed, and then he simply gave up, studied behind closed doors, but he was quite famous.

Xiong Shiyuan was dressed in regular clothes, full of elegant bookish air, he looked at the two errands sitting not far away, and said with a smile: "Our Xiong family is a generation of scholars, and we don't care much about copper smells. Except for the ancestral 800 barren fields, which is this yard, there is nothing else. ”

The person who came was the official of the household, looking at the Tian Mu Book and the Ren Ding Book in his hand, the two looked at each other, and one of them said: "Outside the Xiong Yuan, the patrol is to rectify the government affairs of the entire Yongping Mansion, for the people, the Tian Mu must be clear, if you register truthfully, there are no other problems." If you deliberately conceal it, it will be a felony. ”

Xiong Shiyuan smiled elegantly and said, "Don't worry, it's all here, how could I deceive the envoy sent by the imperial court." ”

The two officials looked at each other again, got up at the same time, returned the account book, and said, "Outside the bear, I'm sorry." ”

"Do things for the patrol lords, why bother, I'll send you." Xiong Shiyuan gives people the feeling of a spring breeze, and he can't find flaws in receiving people and things.

The two officials didn't even dare to say that Xiong Shiyuan was still personally sent outside the door.

Xiong Shiyuan watched the two walk away, his brows furrowed, and his eyes were condensed.

The two officials turned around the corner, and one of them whispered: "Master, this Xiong Shiyuan really dares to say, just 800 acres of land, who doesn't know that his Xiong family is the largest household in Yongping Mansion, with tens of thousands of acres!" ”

The older clerk said: "Well, there is also a problem with the number of people he gave, and the few hundred households that give their Xiong family to farm land must have thousands of people, so more than 100 ......people are given."

Although the tenants are not selling, most of the tenants are equivalent to selling, especially the tenants who have been selling for more than ten or twenty years, and finally have to sell themselves for various reasons, and the population will be counted in the Xiong family.

Whether it is the registrant or the liquidation of the acre, the household has encountered huge invisible resistance.

In Zhou Zheng's room, he was looking at the situation gathered from everywhere.

Zhang Heyi stood in front of him and said, "My lord, it has been preliminarily found that the people hiding in various villages and towns, in addition to avoiding taxes, there are also disaster victims from all over the country and fugitives from Liaodong, they are afraid of being repatriated, so they can't hide, and all villages and towns are also protected. The situation of acres of land is even more complicated, firstly, the peasant households handed over their land to scholars to evade taxes, which is in line with the Ming law; Second, some large households have used various means to encroach upon, and more than seventy percent of the land in the whole government is under the names of the gentry, and after dozens or hundreds of years, it is difficult to solve the problem in one fell swoop......"

Zhou Zheng didn't raise his head and said, "Qi Lian, you take the five biggest Liwei, you don't need this official to teach you, right?" ”

Qi Lian's expression was shocked, and he said, "It's my lord!" Most of these people are involved with Zhang Yonglian, and there is no problem with them. However, what the lower officials were worried about was whether it would alarm the imperial court. ”

The relationship network of the gentry is too complicated, especially now that the power of the speech official is incomparable, if there is a speech official to the court, will it attract the court's questioning?

Zhou Zheng closed the official document in his hand, handed it to Zhang Heyi, and said: "These things are not something you should consider, there is this official to bear!" The official still said the same thing, be fast, we are racing against time, don't hesitate, the action must be crisp and neat! ”

Qi Lian raised his hand and said in a deep voice: "The lower official obeys the order." ”

Zhou Zheng looked at the two of them and said: "I have already found a way to delay the arrival of Xinzhi County, we don't have much time, we must do things when there are no constraints, and give an explanation to the people!" ”

Zhang Heyi raised his hand and said solemnly: "My lord's heart for the country and the people, the lower officials are deeply admired, even if there is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of them, the lower officials will also accompany the adults to break through!" ”

What Zhou is doing, everyone around him can see clearly. That is to risk losing one's head, to eliminate maladministration, to seek stability for the people, and to seek peace for the court, what reason is there for such a person and such a thing to retreat?

Zhou Zheng nodded lightly, and asked Qi Lian again, and said: "Cao Bianjiao is suppressing bandits, and now bandits are wandering everywhere, your barracks must be prepared and cooperate well, whether it is a ruffian hooligan or a robber, there is no corner of my Yongping Mansion!" ”

Qi Lian raised his hand and said in a deep voice: "It's my lord!" The soldiers under the jurisdiction of Yongping Mansion have all been mobilized, and more soldiers have been recruited, and the 'Stability Operation' has been launched in the whole government. The lower officials must implement the orders of the adults and return my Yongping Mansion to Lang Lang Qiankun! ”

Zhou Zheng thought for a while, and said: "We have a meeting every three days, in the mansion, except for Cao Bianjiao, everyone else has to arrive, report the progress, summarize the problem, and solve the problem!" ”

"Yes." Zhang Heyi, Qi Lian raised his hand.

"Nothing else, you continue to act according to plan." Zhou Zheng took another official document.

"Yes, the next official will retire." Zhang Heyi, Qi Lian and others.

Cao Bianjiao's range of bandits has gone out of Lulong County and entered Changli County, he basically adopted the strategy of 'fighting to feed the war', with the expansion of the scope of the sweep, I don't know how many large and small mountains have been swept away, and the number of his army has quickly exceeded two thousand!

With the cooperation of the localities, Cao Bianjiao's troops were divided into 10 routes and formulated a detailed route for clearing and suppression, which was almost in a form of horizontal pushing, from north to south, that is, with speed and strict order.

As the robbers continued to be arrested, officials at all levels began to interrogate, and some officials and big families surfaced one after another.

By May, the list of officials and gentry in Zhou Zheng's hands who colluded with the bandits had expanded by more than 20, all of whom were 'magnates' of Yongping Mansion, involving support behind them, sharing the spoils, and even directly being good people during the day and bandits at night!

What's more, a village is full of bandits!

Piles of filthy and filthy things were placed on Zhou Zheng's desk, which also opened the eyes of Zhou Zheng's subordinates.

They have been in the capital for a long time and know the darkness of officialdom, but it is difficult to imagine that the dragons and snakes in the place are mixed, and there are many tricks.

Qi Lian stood in front of Zhou Zheng and said solemnly: "My lord, the preparations are almost complete, and you can do something to them." ”

Shangguan Lie hurriedly followed: "My lord, we have prepared all the evidence very completely, and we promise that we will not give them a chance to overturn the case." That, can we arrest people in the torture room, this is our torture room! ”

Zhang Heyi said: "My lord, I have already told Lord Qi yesterday about the difficulties we encountered, so let's start with those big households and a few stubborn villages!" ”

Zhou Zheng looked at them enthusiastically and said, "Okay, let's start tomorrow!" ”

"Yes!" Zhang Heyi, Shangguan Lie and the others raised their hands and said in a deep voice.

Early the next morning, Qi Lian personally led more than 100 people to surround the Xiong family.

Xiong Shiyuan was still calm and elegant, standing in front of the door, looking at Qi Lian, and said with a smile: "Lord Qi, who are you?" ”

Qi Lian's face was expressionless, and he said: "Xiong Shiyuan, your Xiong family resists the decrees of the imperial court, does not respect the instructions of the lord, hides the population, conceals the acres, and even evades taxes, embezzles other people's acres, beats people's lives, robs people's daughters, colludes with bandits and other crimes, this official is ordered to arrest you......"

"Why doesn't the official know what you're talking about?"

Before Qi Lian's words fell, a person suddenly walked out behind Xiong Shiyuan, and said with a majestic expression.

Qi Lian looked at the person who appeared, his face changed suddenly, he knew this person.

Yongping Mansion Right Mansion Cheng, that is, the general judgment, Zheng Qing!