After the Gong family also followed in the footsteps of the Zhu family and took out the grain stored in their own warehouse and distributed it to the victims in the city, the food shortage, which lasted for several months and left the government and the people helpless, was finally completely alleviated.

Although the problem remains, if the county government can help the people to rebuild their homes and fields with all kinds of good governance, and then think of providing them with some food, the situation here will be much better in the autumn, and the famine that accompanied the floods will finally be overcome.

However, in this way, it means that Zhu Xuan and Gong Chen have admitted the mistakes they have committed before, and Lu Zhen naturally can't just get along with them as equals and stay in his house as before, but take people back to the county government and interrogate them officially.

At this time, in the second hall of the county government, Lu Zhen sat solemnly behind the long case, staring at the two people who were standing a little nervously for a long time before saying, "Okay, now let's spread out all the words." Let's start with your identities, who are you all in the Zhou Palace? ”

The two glanced at each other, and then reported their true identities, Zhu Xuan, like Zhu Zhe and others, was indeed the steward of the house, although his status was not as good as Zhu Zhe and a few of them, but he also won the trust of King Zhou, so he was appointed to Xingze County to think about annexing land; As for Gong Chen's identity, he is the son of King Zhou's grandmother, so although he has no real power, he also has some status in the palace. Because he thought that he would get the attention of King Zhou after making meritorious contributions, he took over this assignment and came to Xingze to become a grain merchant.

It is precisely because he has experienced fewer things that Zhu Xuan has always been in charge since then, and once Zhu Xuan has a problem, he can only be threatened and manipulated by Lu Jin, and finally betrays the Zhou Palace.

After listening to the narration of these two people, Lu Jin's heart was more determined, and he said: "In this way, as early as a few years ago, King Zhou had already made the idea of this land in Xingze County. But this official really couldn't figure it out, why he, a vassal king of the imperial court, was so interested in the land of such a small county? He did not hesitate to use such inferior means to achieve his own goals? This question has really been bothering him for a long time, because it doesn't make sense to look at such things.

Zhu Xuan hesitated slightly, and then said: "My lord, you don't know, in fact, at the beginning, my prince only wanted fifty acres of fertile land in this county, and it was only because he was given a good thing by the order of Naliang County that he made such a decision in anger." ”

"Fifty acres of land? As far as I know, his fiefdom is not less than thousands of acres, and they are all near Kaifeng Fucheng, isn't it better than here? What's going on here? Lu Zhen asked with a slight frown.

"Because the prince wants these lands to be the mausoleum of his family in a hundred years......" Zhu Xuan saw that the other party was asking endlessly, so he could only give the answer: "My prince has always been a believer, just a few years ago, there was a master who gave him a life, if he can choose the best place for feng shui here in Xingze, then not only will the king of Zhou be able to prosper from now on, but as long as the luck is enough, he can even ......" The latter words, he was a little afraid to say.

Lu Zhen snorted clearly, obviously the master also mentioned the topic of such a taboo as the throne. And this is scratching the itch of King Zhou. Because of Zhu Di's example in front, the local vassal king always has some ideas about the throne, maybe he himself doesn't have the courage, but he expects his descendants to do this. Moreover, this kind of thing is only known to the parties and their cronies, and they are not afraid of being spread.

"So he sent you?" Lu Jin seemed to understand the ins and outs, and asked casually.

"Exactly." Zhu Xuan nodded, and then said with a wry smile: "It's just that the fifty acres of land ordered by that person are fertile land in the county, and it is not owned by more than one family, so it is not easy to buy it." Even if the small one is sold at a high price, people will not sell it. After that, the prince wrote directly to ask Naliang County to help, but he also refused...... Because of this, the prince hated him and threatened to get rid of Liang County Order many times. ”

Lu Jin's eyes flashed with approval, this Liang County Commander can indeed be regarded as a good official and a person with backbone. Even if it is the king of a domain, he dares to refuse bluntly, but he is much more responsible than his boss Bao Zhenggang.

Of course, as long as we think about the current situation between the DPRK and China, this is actually reasonable. Now that the Daming civil official group is constantly developing, it has suppressed the military attaché and the noble system below, so from this point of view, as an official from the right path, there is really no need to be too afraid of those imperial relatives. It's just that comparing the identities of the two sides, a vassal king and a seven-rank county order still give people a lot of impact.

At this time, Gong Chen also said: "It is precisely because Liang County's order has rejected the prince's order several times and ruined his good deeds, so the prince thought of letting the two of us come here and wait for the opportunity to act in the name of a businessman." But because he has always behaved in a proper manner, and has hardly left any handle, we have always had no way to deal with him, and the prince became more and more annoyed, so he planned to take advantage of the heavy rain last year to make a fuss. ”

"I see." Lu Jin's face was a little cold: "Annoyed and angry, your prince's appetite is getting bigger and bigger, not only wants to take the fifty acres of land, but even wants to swallow the land of the entire county, which can be regarded as revenge on Liang County Ling and the people in this county." For this reason, he even did not hesitate to let you destroy the dike, causing hundreds of people to be ruined in the Jedi! ”

Seeing his angry appearance, the hearts of the two trembled, and after hesitating for a moment, Zhu Xuan said: "Actually, the villain was not so bold, just because the prefect Yamen and the officials of other counties in Kaifeng had already decided to let Xingze County make sacrifices and pour the flooded river water into this place, but the Liang County Order obstructed it in every possible way, so with the cooperation of the people sent by the prince, the river embankment was blown up." It's just that he didn't expect that Liang County ordered him to inspect the embankment that day, and Zhu Yan, who brought people here, had a holiday with him, and the result was ......", and the two bowed down and kowtowed again: "My lord, the two of us just obey orders, and we are really forced to do such things. ”

After hearing them tell the truth of the matter, not only Lu Jin's face turned blue with anger, but the county officials and others who listened to the trial next to him were also trembling with anger.

After a long time, Lu Zhen exhaled a breath of turbidity and suppressed the anger in his heart: "Just because of the selfishness of your prince, it actually caused a county magistrate who was the master of the people and a loyal county official to die in the flood, and at the same time, hundreds of people were drowned, and hundreds of people's homes were destroyed. Have you ever felt a little guilty or regretful in your heart? ”

Before the two could speak, he snorted again, "You don't! After that, you even intensified, and even wanted to force the people to sell their land cheaply with the food in your hands, and even did not hesitate to let the people starve to death for this reason. ”

Hearing this Sen Ran's words, the two of them were terrified, and they hurriedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Adult, the little one knows that he is wrong, and the little one doesn't dare anymore......"

Lu Jin's gaze kept sweeping over the two of them, but in the end, he didn't really order them to be brought to justice. Because the two of them are still useful, at least after everything is reported to the court, they are still human witnesses, so they can only be let go for the time being: "For the sake of you finally taking out the grain, and for the sake of you also obeying the orders of others, this official can not dispose of you now." However, if you still have a trace of conscience, you should give everything to the court and give justice to the deceased. ”

"Yes, yes...... The little one confessed, and when the court came to ask, the little one must also reply truthfully. At this time, the two of them naturally agreed to what Lu Zhen asked for, and for them, the most important thing now was to ensure their own lives.

Seeing this, Lu Jin's mind calmed down a little, and then he remembered a detail: "By the way, who is the Taoist priest who bewitched your prince and asked him to beat his idea to this Xingze County?" Are you still in the palace? "If you really want to talk about it, this person is also the culprit.

But Zhu Xuan's answer was disappointing: "That person called himself Dong Xuanzi, and left after informing the prince of the treasure of feng shui. ”

"Dong Xuanzi ......" Lu Jin's mouth was full of words, and he always felt as if he had heard such a name somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

At this moment, Yao Gan suddenly spoke: "Dudu, isn't this Dong Xuanzi the name of one of the White Lotus Sect traitors who slipped through the net back then?" ”

"It's him...... Sure enough, the ghost of the White Lotus Sect is not gone! Lu Zhen also suddenly woke up after this reminder. At this time, thinking of the appearance of the White Lotus Holy Maiden with the pseudonym Yin Xiang, it can be inferred that there is also a certain connection between the two: "The White Lotus Sect has always wanted to disturb the place, and this time it thought of borrowing the power of King Zhou, and then after something went wrong in this Xingze County, their people would come and take over everything." It's really deliberate. ”

And this statement also frightened Zhu Xuan and them, was his own prince actually calculated by the White Lotus Sect demons? If that were the case, the charge would be even more serious.

Lu Zhen didn't bother to care about their thoughts, but asked, "Then how did my Jinyiwei's secret agent get killed by you?" You are so bold that even the people of my Jinyi Guard dare to harm at will! As these words came out, Yao Gan and the others' expressions also became unkind, and their hostile gazes fell on Zhu Xuan and the others, making their bodies tremble again.