Chapter 22 The Guest House

Xu Qing didn't want to do anything that took his brain, and after thinking for a while, he asked Chen Yili: "Since the case can't be decided for so long, it's better to let it go in a low-key manner, so that his father and son can meet." ”

Chen Yili nodded, but didn't do it: "It's okay, when his father comes, he will ask again." ”

"Well......" Xu Qing said he had no objection.

Traditional Chinese medicine treats diseases in four steps, in fact, ancient officials also talked about a four-step process of "looking, hearing, asking and cutting" when adjudicating cases. However, these four steps are different from those of traditional Chinese medicine, which is to look at the color to observe the heart and gall, listen to the wind and talk to know public opinion, ask the case to push the truth and falsehood, and cut into the evidence to explore the truth.

Soon the old boatman also brought him, and his face was much more rosy than when he had met him by the lake. It's only been a few days?

When he entered the hall, the old boatman immediately cried bitterly, although his son was a little sluggish, but when he saw the old father coming, he couldn't help but stretch out his hand to hug him.

The father and son hugged each other and cried in front of the court, talking about their family for a long time, Xu Qing and the other three were all moved in their hearts and did not interrupt them. When the person in charge of the lamp in the house came, the father and son realized that this was not a prison, but someone else's house, and there was no need to take the opportunity to say enough.

"Well, Engong, the little old man has lost his temper, and I will make amends to you." The old boatman wanted to kowtow to Xu Qing to make amends, but his son hurriedly stopped him, and he knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Xu Qing stopped the two, pointed at Chen Yili and said: "This is the Qiantang County Order, if there is anything wrong with the two of you, just tell him." ”

"What, prefectural order?!" When the two of them heard that it was the county magistrate, they were stunned.

Chen Yili came out to visit Xu Qing and naturally wore civilian clothes, except for the public who paid attention all the year round, which ordinary people could recognize the county order? The lieutenant chief, the township chief is a big guy who covers his eyes in their eyes.

Both of them knelt down and listened to Chen Yili's questioning. Chen Yili asked: "The two of you will talk about the situation of the lake bandits that year, as well as the situation of the boatload of people, in short, before and after, everything you can think of." ”

"Okay, let the little old man say......" The old boatman looked at Chen Yili, which meant that my son's brain was not very good, Chen Yili nodded, and the old boatman said: "Master, the one surnamed Yang was the emperor that year." We have a long custom in Wudi, and when the tide of Qiantang comes......"

The old boatman said slowly, and it was easy to know from the words how much this matter had left in his heart, and after all these years, he could explain the details clearly, and there was no logical inconsistency.

From the old boatman's words, Xu Qing knew why his son wanted to take someone else's boat. It turned out that when the tide came, Wu Er liked to fight the waves and make the tide, and he also went to make the tide that year. Coincidentally, he was taken by a big family, saying that he wanted him to grab the red head on his behalf, and of course he promised a lot of money. The old boatman's son was newly married, and he was worried about money to build a new house, so he agreed without thinking much.

That night, the big families set up a team to rent a boat and go out to ask the water dragon king to bless it, called "please water", to stay in the river or lake for the night, this is a step before the tide. But on this very night, all the people in the boat died in the lake.

The old boatman's son miraculously lived, but he was delirious, and everyone doubted him. The big family who invited him before did not have a written document, so in the eyes of the victim's family, he naturally became the murderer who sneaked on the boat and planned this shocking case with bad intentions.

"That's probably what happened, the county magistrate ......" The old boatman finished his words as if pouring beans into a bamboo tube, grabbed his son's hand, and resigned himself to fate.

"Alas," Chen Yili sighed and said: "If you rob a big family, you will get a lot of money, and your family is so poor, so even if you are a bandit, the crime is only a small one." Now that I have been in prison for so many years, I can cancel my guilt and innocence. Besides, the evidence is insufficient, and it is impossible to say that you have been imprisoned for so many years, and go to the county government branch for ten taels of silver, and go to find a house to settle in a field. ”

The old boatman, father and son, lay on their backs to the sky, tears streaming down their faces. Chen Yili immediately wrote down the paperwork and asked the public to take it to the county office, find a house, and get the matter done.

After this matter was over, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and then dined with Chen Yili and Shangguanyi.

On the second day, Xu Qing planned to leave, and in the morning he instructed the people to pack their things and luggage, but Xu Qing himself went to the street to enjoy it. With Chen Yili as the east, Xu Qing realized the inner prosperity of Qiantang County.

The matter of Sun Youcai's self-hanging has already spread all over the major families in Qiantang, but everything is expected by Xu Qing. The Sun family is making a fuss about dividing property, you go back to your Huaguo Mountain, I will go to my Gao Laozhuang, after a funeral, the brothers almost turned against each other, and the so-called relatives fought for a piece of land. Only one person was kinder and took over the son-in-law and wife left by Sun Youcai. He can't control the other concubines so much, and they are all handed over to the elders.

And what about the other big players?

Turning a blind eye and hearing a deaf ear, it seems that Sun Youcai's No. 1 person has never appeared in the Qiantang business community.

Xu Qing was naturally relieved, but he had always wanted to talk to Chen Yili about establishing a business route, but he couldn't talk about it. Anyway, Xu Qing thought, sailing at sea, this is not a matter of coming when you say you come, and you can understand when you say you understand. If Chen Yili is willing to establish a trade route, he needs to see tangible benefits.

For the well-being of the people.

So, Xu Qing left the sailors from Cangzhou, selected a capable member of the Dark River, wrote a list, and asked him to buy special products around Qiantang and send them to Cangzhou before the beginning of spring. It is not only necessary to buy and sell on its own, but also to persuade some large investors to come in and invest, these large households, not too big, and not newcomers, want the middle and lower levels of Qiantang.

Arrange these, drink in the streets, watch the scenery by the river, and play happily all day.

Let's get on the road, set off to Yuhang, and then go up the river. Xu Qing took all the women and some members of the Dark River to go into battle lightly, and as for a large amount of silver, as well as all kinds of things bought in Qiantang, they were all pressed behind. Especially the sprouted potatoes, Xu Qing specially bought a few smaller ones to carry the water tank. This thing is a great magic weapon, for a nation, it is not bad to call it a ginseng fruit, and it can prolong life.

But said that Xu Qing came from Qiantang, passed Jiaxing, stopped a stop in Suzhou, and went to Changzhou, Wuxi, originally the road was calm, but after Changzhou, when he arrived near Danyang Zhenjiang, he encountered a little wind and snow.

So in order to avoid the wind and waves, he could only settle in Zhenjiang in advance, and after arriving in Zhenjiang, the heavy snow had already paved the streets.

So Xu Qing went to the town and found an inn to live in.

Zhenjiang is not big, the inn is also very small, and there are few families who can live in Xu Qing and his party. So Xu Qing asked the person who was transporting the goods to have one room, and he found another one.

After finding it, I went inside to look and saw that the lobby of the inn was occupied by business travelers who lived temporarily to avoid the wind and snow. They were just living temporarily, so they slept in the lobby.

Xu Qing glanced at it and couldn't help frowning, Zhang Linlin immediately asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, can you have a room?" ”

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Guest officer, you have also seen that the small shop is already full, not to mention the upper room, not even a guest room." ”

"you, what do you do without a room?" Zhang Forestry patted the counter, it was better to be domineering when going out.

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "You see that the people in this lobby are all living for shelter from the wind and snow, if you don't dislike it, just be wronged here." I'll bring you straw, new, hot water, hot rice for you. ”

Xu Qing also knew the truth of what the shopkeeper said, so he asked, "Does the shopkeeper know that there is an official post station near here?" ”

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Small place, where is there any public office?" Unless you go to the county office...... Thirty miles north of Zhenjiang, there is the big river, where there is a patrol inspection department, and there is a water village guarded by officers and soldiers. ”

asked where the water village was, and then ordered Zhang Forestry to rush to the water village with his post. Why don't you go to the county office, just because the county official is the head of a county, and the "official spirit" is very great. Another one, Zhenjiang to the north, across the river is another paradise on earth - Yangzhou. If the snow doesn't stop, go to Yangzhou to live, and then go north, not to Huguang. As for now, Xu Qing will rest in the lobby of the inn with Xun Xue'er and the others first.

There are a lot of people in this inn who are running merchants, and seeing Xun Xue'er's bright and moving, she has a little bit of a look, which makes these people look at it a few more times and whisper.

Yang Cheng was very unhappy when he saw it, so he glared over there a few times.

Several businessmen saw Yang Cheng's figure and Kong Wu, and their eyes showed a little jealousy, but they were not afraid at all, and continued to talk and laugh.

Xu Qing asked Yang Cheng not to cause trouble, and ordered a few subordinates to bring straw and spread it on the ground, Xu Qing sat on the ground with the women, and ordered the shopkeeper to bring food.

After eating, Xu Qing and everyone rested against the wall.

After several businessmen inquired about Xu Qing and his party, they knew that they were probably wealthy guests, so they didn't care, so they talked about what they had seen on the road.

Xu Qing didn't feel sleepy, sat down against the wall, and listened to the stories of all parties. A story told by a merchant from Qiantang was so fascinating that everyone listened to it.

He said: "When I was doing business in Qiantang, I heard that there was a kind of boat on the Qiantang River, which sailed at night, without lights, and the cabin was airtight, and the windows were also airtight. If anyone wants to get on the boat, they just need to go to the tea shop on the shore and make an appointment with one of the leaders. In the evening, a boatman will prop up the boat to the agreed place to pick up the boat. After you get on the boat, the boatman will not talk to you, turn on the lights, or tell you the course, but will swim around the West Lake with the boat. ”

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but be terrified, and one said: "Isn't this a murder for money?" ”

One said: "This kind of ship, how dare ordinary people get on it." ”

But seeing this person, he smiled and continued: "Who said that no one is going, tell you that there are many people who want to get on this boat, don't interrupt, you listen to me carefully." When you enter the ship, a candle the size of a bean is lit inside, and it is dim and unknown, and the lamp is so dense that it does not allow you to get out at all. Looking at it again, I found that the ship was incomparably gorgeous, with a couch inside, and on the side of the couch, there was a beautiful twenty-eight girl, or fragrant and soft in the lying, or red. Sit down and wait for you by the bed. ”

Hearing this, everyone moved up and down with a coo.