"In this way, Song Cheng didn't come to report the case at your behest, and you don't know?"

"Yes, the villain really doesn't know, and it's not the villain's instructions." Shopkeeper Lin replied in the affirmative.

"Lin Mu, whether what you said today is true or not, after the murderer is brought to justice, the two sides will corroborate each other to know the truth or falsehood." Meng Zhizhou spoke, turned his head and glanced at the scribe, and said: "Let's look at the testimony first, if there are any omissions or errors, if it is correct, sign and draw it, and press the fingerprint." ”

The scribe brought the testimony to the shopkeeper Lin, and he held the fluttering paper with trembling hands, as if he was holding dozens of pounds of weight, and his sore teeth were about to be crushed.

After reading it word by word, after a long time, he nodded and said, "What is written on this is correct." ”

Then he gritted his teeth and picked up a brush to sign and draw, and then pressed his fingerprint.

When everything was completed, Meng Zhizhou said: "Lin Mu, you are suspected of being an accomplice in the twenty-three murders, and you are an important witness, so you are now taken into custody and tried together after the murderer is brought into the case!" Take it down, keep watch day and night, and don't let anyone approach! ”

"Thank you, my lord, the villain is afraid that something will happen to the family, so I ask the adult to send someone to protect one or two!" Before leaving the hall, Lin Mu asked loudly.

Meng Zhizhou watched him leave without any response.

"Go and tell the county that if the portrait of the bandit is copied, bring it back to the yamen immediately."

"Yes." The official took the order and left.

"Go and tell Liu Zhutou again, after collecting evidence, let him leave a few people to guard Lin Mu's house, one to prevent his family from escaping, and the other to prevent the murderer from retaliating."

"Yes." And another official was ordered to go out of the government and go straight to the east of the city.

The interrogation of the people in Renhe Pharmacy has been completed, Meng Zhizhou got the result he wanted, the murderer clearly pointed to the Divine Cavalry Forbidden Army, Hu Kun and Ming joined the army, these two people are inseparable, but how to arrest them is a big problem.

It is not feasible to go to the barracks of the forbidden army to arrest people, and it is likely that even the barracks will not be able to enter, and if not, several silver mines will not be lost.

Hu Kun is the key to the murder, and it is likely that he is the mastermind, but there is not enough evidence, only based on his speculation and Lin Mu's words, I am afraid that he cannot invite someone from the military camp. Also, what is the identity and position of this Hu Kun, it still needs to be verified, if the Yamen, the commander of the Divine Cavalry Army, denies that there is such a person in the army, the murder case is likely to be interrupted, and it is difficult to investigate further.

Considering these circumstances, Meng Zhizhou immediately thought of Yang Congyi, the official of the front department of the palace, he should let him come forward to investigate first, and by the way, take a look at the attitude of the ruling yamen.

As soon as he thought of this, he immediately got up and walked towards the back of the hall.

Yang Congyi was also fine in the room, and when he was sitting and practicing, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps outside the door, and immediately slowly closed the exercises.

"Is Secretary Yang in the room?" Meng Zhizhou's voice came from outside the door.

"Is it Lord Meng?" Yang Congyi quickly stepped forward to open the door, and when he saw that it was really Lord Meng, he was immediately flattered and saluted: "Your Excellency has something to ask someone to order, and the lower official will go to see your adult immediately, how can you let your adult come in person!" ”

"Secretary Yang is out of sight. You are an official of the imperial court from Lin'an, you are new to the local area, you should have picked up the wind and washed the dust, how could such a big case happen in the city, so that Secretary Yang has been wronged so far, I am already uneasy, and I will not come to see it, let me feel how to go in my heart. Meng Zhizhou smiled, how could he not be a little unhappy.

Yang Congyi laughed and raised his hand to make way: "My lord, please come in." ”

Meng Zhizhou walked into the house and said "please", Yang Congyi also said "please", and after humbling, the two sat down one after another.

Meng Zhizhou turned his head and looked around, and asked with a smile: "How is Secretary Yang resting here?" If there is any need, just instruct the subordinates to prepare, although Nanjianzhou is not as prosperous and rich as Lin'an, but the products are quite rich, and there should be everything, you don't have to be polite, since you have lived, you will treat this place as your home. ”

Yang Congyi replied with a smile: "Xiaguan lives very well, this place is spacious and quiet, and Xiaguan is very satisfied." ”

After the greetings, Meng Zhizhou turned his head and asked with a smile: "I still don't know why Secretary Yang came to Nanjianzhou?" Shouldn't you be passing by? Can you easily reveal a thing or two? ”

Yang Congyi did not hesitate, and replied: "My lord asked, how can it be inconvenient for the lower officials. According to the usual practice, before June every year, the meritorious deeds reported by the forbidden army stationed in various places will be audited, and the merits with greater doubts should be verified on the spot. ”

"Oh, I see." Meng Zhizhou nodded slightly, and then asked: "Secretary Yang arrived yesterday and wanted to leave the city early this morning, has the verification been completed?" ”

This question is not easy to answer, but Yang Congyi can't help but answer, and as soon as his mind turns, he replied: "The matter of meritorious service is more complicated, and many questions have to go to the specific station to solve the doubts." The two commanders stationed in Jianpu have been verified, and the garrisons elsewhere have yet to be verified. ”

Meng Zhizhou suddenly realized, and then said: "In this way, Secretary Yang's errand in Nanjian Prefecture has been completed, and it will take some time." ”

Yang Congyi said with a smile: "Exactly, the time to leave Beijing for a few years is one or two months later than in previous years, the time is urgent, and the lower officials dare not delay, so they are in a hurry to leave, and they don't want to encounter such a big case." ”

After saying this, Yang Congyi's heart moved, and he immediately turned his head around, and asked with great concern: "My lord, I don't know how this case has been solved?" ”

The smile on Meng Zhizhou's face gradually disappeared, and he replied helplessly: "Renhe Pharmacy is as expected, the problem was found, the shopkeeper Lin Mu colluded with others, revealing the route and itinerary of the deceased 23 people to purchase medicinal materials in Jianning Mansion, causing the medicinal materials convoy to be robbed halfway, after the convoy returned to the city at noon yesterday, he revealed the names and residences of the 23 people, and all kinds of signs indicate that the person who colluded with Lin Mu is the murderer." At this point, he went on no further.

Yang Congyi also wanted to know when the dust would settle on the case and when he would be able to leave, so he asked: "Can the lower officials know who the murderer is and when he can be arrested?" ”

Meng Zhizhou shook his head and sighed: "I can't catch it now, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch it in a short time, and if I want to catch it, it depends on luck, and I'm afraid that the detection of this case is far away." ”

What do you mean by that? Hasn't the murderer been found? Yang Congyi felt a little surprised, since he had found out the inner ghost in Renhe Pharmacy, who was the murderer behind the scenes, the government had a lot of means, and it would not be impossible to interrogate, not to mention the name, even if it looked like, it could be forced to ask.

"Secretary Yang doesn't know, the suspect has been found, his name is Hu Kun, but the government can't catch him, what can be done!" Meng Zhizhou sighed again.

Yang Congyi's brows moved slightly, and he asked slowly: "Could it be that this person has a special identity and is inconvenient to bring the yamen for interrogation?" ”

As soon as Meng Zhizhou heard this, he immediately praised: "Secretary Yang is smart, this person is indeed a special person, the government can't easily see it, let alone catch it easily, he is in the forbidden army camp." After speaking, he looked at each other with his eyes and saw what the reaction was.

Who knew that Yang Congyi smiled: "It's really the forbidden army doing something in secret." ”

Then he asked: "Your Excellency is the lord of a state, it shouldn't be a problem to ask for someone from the ruling yamen, right, do they dare to refuse?" ”

"Secretary Yang also knows that the current situation in Nanjian Prefecture is slightly different from other state capitals, the Divine Cavalry has a tendency to fight against the Yamen and the State Government, and the orders given to them by the State Government can only be issued after discussing with them, and then they will carry them out. Meng Zhizhou sighed again.

Yang Congyi was shocked when he heard this, the Great Song army was stationed in the state capitals outside Gyeonggi, although the right to command the troops belonged to the garrison generals, but they were all subject to the control of the governor of the state government, at the time of the crisis, the governor of the state capital had the right to command and transfer the local garrison, and his power was far above the commander of the army.

So I couldn't help but ask, "Why is this so?" ”

Meng Zhizhou sighed: "This has to start before I went to Nanjian Prefecture to take up my post. ”

After a short pause, after sorting out his thoughts, he slowly said: "A few years ago, the imperial court cut the army, and transferred some of the forbidden troops with low combat effectiveness in the north to the southern state capitals to garrison, and the Divine Cavalry Army was transferred to Nanjianzhou at that time. No one dared to call the shots, and the state of ignorance of the state of government lasted for nearly eight months.

In these eight months, a lot of things happened in Nanjianzhou, first thieves were everywhere, the government was powerless, so they had to ask the forbidden army stationed in the local area to exterminate, but to exterminate the thieves is needed money and food, no one in the state government is in charge, and there is no money and grain, and the most serious attack by thieves is the silver mines in Nanjianzhou, the imperial court attaches great importance to the silver mines, no one dares to let the silver mines have an accident, in desperation, let them quickly enter the silver mines, exterminate the thieves around, and give them the promise is that they can raise their own money and grain, what is the silver mine, There was silver everywhere, and their need for money and food was quickly settled.

However, problems soon arose, and the state government found that the garrison no longer demanded food and wages every month, and stationed around the safe and stable silver mine, and took the opportunity of exterminating the thieves to completely take over the silver mine guards, and absorbed what the state government's forces in the silver mine could absorb, and those that could not be absorbed, directly drove out of the mine. When the new Zhizhou arrived, the backlog of official affairs for more than half a year was too busy to finish, how could there be time to talk to the garrison of the forbidden army about the silver mine guards, more than one thing is better than one less, after a few years, the forbidden army was deeply rooted in the silver mine, and no one would provoke it in the future. When the forbidden army got into the silver mines, they were self-sufficient, and they no longer needed the state government to pay their salaries monthly, and later they even obtained their consent to pay the garrison's salaries directly from the silver mines. As a result, the state government no longer had any control over the forbidden army. ”