(Thanks to Ho Chi-min for his great reward)

"I heard that your merchants over there in Shanxi are doing business with the Mongols and Jurchens in private, is this true?"

After Zhao Xin bandaged the wound on Li Hongyu's buttocks, Li Hongyu, who was lying on the ground, suddenly remembered something, so he raised his head and asked curiously.

"Of course it's true, Shanxi is not as wide as you and Jiangnan, if you want to survive, you have to do business with those foreigners." Zhao Xin smiled slightly when he heard this, and sat on the hay next to Li Hongyu.

It was not a secret in the Ming Dynasty that Jin merchants did business with ethnic minorities in the north, and the imperial court also cracked down on this kind of smuggling, but under the temptation of huge interests, it was repeatedly banned, and later it simply developed into a collusion between officials and businessmen to make a fortune together.

"Now that the Jurchens are fighting with the official army in Liaodong, doesn't it seem a little inappropriate to do business with them?" Li Hongyu pretended to be surprised, looked at Zhao Xin and asked, this kind of behavior is undoubtedly treason.

"Even the magistrates are involved, what else is inappropriate!"

Zhao Xin's face suddenly darkened when she heard this, and then she said sarcastically, in fact, she also felt that this kind of smuggling was inappropriate, but she was helpless about the interests of the family.

"You don't know how to speak Mongolian and Jurchen?" Li Hongyu didn't want to discuss the rights and wrongs of this smuggling business with Zhao Xin, and seeing that Zhao Xin's expression became a little gloomy, Yu Feng turned around and asked.

"I'm not proficient, but I'm good enough to do business with them." Zhao Xin nodded when she heard this, because she was regarded by Zhao Deyi as her future successor, she learned Mongolian and Jurchen when she was a child, and then looked at Li Hongyu with some surprise, "What, do you want to learn their words?" ”

The area where the Mongols and Jurchens lived was thousands of miles away from Huguang, so the people of Huguang would never be interested in their language, and even the merchants of Huguang would not do business with the Mongols and Jurchens, so as soon as Li Hongyu mentioned this, she guessed Li Hongyu's purpose.

"Hmm." Li Hongyu did not deny it, nodded and said seriously, "The art of war is cloudy, knowing oneself and knowing that the other side can not be defeated in a hundred battles, the county magistrate once told me that the Jurchens are now rising in Liaodong, and one day they will become the henchmen of the Ming Dynasty, so they should take precautions as soon as possible." ”

"The power of the Jurchens has indeed expanded rapidly over the years, and Nurhachi, the chief of the Jianzhou Department, has already established the Dajin State in Hetuala, the year before last."

Seeing Li Hongyu's solemn appearance, Zhao Xin was quite surprised in his heart, but he didn't expect Li Hongyu to have such an awareness, and then slightly bowed his head and agreed with Li Hongyu's statement.

In her opinion, the reason why Li Hongyu had such an idea should be influenced by Chen Yu, the magistrate of Jiangkou County, Chen Yu was very concerned about the situation in Liaodong, otherwise he would not have called on the people of Jiangkou County to raise funds to help the Ming army in Liaodong.

"Alas, it seems that a big war is about to break out in Liaodong." Li Hongyu couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, if he remembered correctly, Houjin and Daming would have a decisive battle in Salhu to decide the ownership of Liaodong.

"The Great War?" Zhao Xin looked at Li Hongyu with some surprise, I don't know why he said this, could it be that the Jurchens dare to rebel?

"The Jurchens have established a country, and the next step will definitely be to expand outward, and their troops will definitely be directed at the official army in Liaodong." Li Hongyu pondered for a moment and said worriedly, "If the official army is defeated, then Liaodong will fall into the head of the Jurchens, and the Daming Jingshi will be put in danger!" ”

"Can they defeat the official army?" Zhao Xin felt that Li Hongyu didn't seem to be joking, so he asked with some surprise, you must know that the three major expeditions of Wanli are still vivid, will the Ming army be defeated by the little Jurchens?

"I don't know." Li Hongyu suddenly realized that he had said too much, so he shook his head, and then moved his body with bared teeth and lay there in a different position.

"Still hurting?" Zhao Xin's attention was immediately attracted by Li Hongyu's move, and he couldn't help but ask with concern when he saw this.

"It's a lot better." Li Hongyu smiled disappreciatively, those gold sore medicines really worked, and the hot feeling on his ass was reduced a lot.

"Who have you offended in the city?" Zhao Xin pondered for a moment and said coldly, "The other party is too vicious, not only wants to prevent you from participating in tomorrow's government exam, but also ruins your reputation." ”

"If others don't come to me for trouble, I will already burn incense and worship the Buddha, where can I dare to offend people." Li Hongyu couldn't help but smile bitterly, looking at Zhao Xin with a sad face, he was very surprised that he was plotted this time.

With a snort, Zhao Xin was amused by the depressed look on Li Hongyu's face at this time, and said with a smile while laughing, "I thought you were an elm pimple before, but now it seems that you are not so wooden." ”

"Maybe it's because I'm particularly attached to you, and I'm really just an elm pimple in front of others!" Li Hongyu also laughed when he heard this, since Zhao Xin regarded him as a brother, then there was naturally no need for him to hide in front of Zhao Xin.

"By the way, could it have something to do with your last drink?"

Hearing the word "fate", Zhao Xin's cheeks couldn't help but turn red, maybe even she didn't know why she followed Li Hongyu to the prison to protect him, and then quickly changed the topic, looked at Li Hongyu and asked.

"It's possible."

The expression on Li Hongyu's face became a little solemn when he heard this, and after thinking about it, he also felt that what he had encountered today was related to the wine fight in Chunfeng Pavilion, and someone on the other side was annoyed and angry, so he calculated himself.

In this way, the biggest object of suspicion is Sun Feng, the son of Sun Yong, the commander of the Xiangyang Guard, and ...... and the little white face of the woman dressed as a man.

However, in Li Hongyu's opinion, the "draw" that day saved the face of both sides, so Sun Feng would not find trouble for himself, so the biggest suspect is the little white face.

Obviously, the drunkenness of the day made Xiao Bai face expose her daughter's body, and Xiao Bai Face must be a rude and willful woman who wanted to kill herself at that time, and she may really calculate herself to take revenge.

"Do you have any doubters?" Zhao Xin's willow eyebrows frowned slightly and then asked, the so-called coming is not rude, since the other party is calculating Li Hongyu, then Li Hongyu naturally has to fight back.

Li Hongyu shook his head when he heard this, he wouldn't tell the matter of the little white face, in that case, where would his face be, besides, the little white face looked quite background, and he didn't want to involve Zhao Xin.

"Niu Feng must know about this matter, but he will definitely not confess honestly." Zhao Xin couldn't help but slap the ground with his fist, and said hatefully, after the previous court trial, his impression of Niu Feng was extremely bad.

Although it is clear that Niu Feng has colluded with the people who calculated Li Hongyu, Niu Feng is the official of the imperial court, and she has no way at all, so she can't send someone to tie up Niu Feng to force a confession, which is a taboo in the officialdom, and the consequences are unimaginable.

"Sooner or later, things will fall out." Li Hongyu's eyes flashed with a cold light, and then he opened his mouth to comfort Zhao Xin, the so-called gentleman is not too late to take revenge for ten years, he has time to wait for this day to come.

While Li Hongyu and Zhao Xin were chatting in the cell to pass the time, a middle-aged man wearing a seventh-grade official robe led a group of errand soldiers into the county government office of Xiangyang County with an expressionless face.

"The lower official has seen the magistrate." After Niu Feng learned the news, he hurriedly went to greet him and bowed.

This middle-aged official of Zhengqipin is not Lu Shiyuan, the magistrate of Xiangyang County, but Tang Yu, the magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture, Lu Shiyuan went to Wudang Mountain to pray for blessings, and he will not be able to return in a few days.

"Niu Xiancheng, I heard that the head of the Jiangkou County trial case was detained by the people of your yamen, I don't know what happened?" Tang Yu glanced at Niu Feng and strode into the living room, and asked quietly after sitting down on a chair.

"Lord Huituiguan, today someone is beating drums in front of the county yamen, and a widow surnamed Zhang, accompanied by her brother, came to accuse Li Hongyu, the head of the county trial case in Jiangkou County, ****, neighbors can testify that Li Hongyu did go in and out of Zhang's home, and Zhang also took out a poem written by Li Hongyu to her to make love."

Niu Feng had already prepared in his heart, and replied in an orderly manner when he heard this, "Due to the complete human and material evidence, Li Hongyu has been sent to prison by the lower officials, and the lower officials have asked people to collect more evidence to convict him." ”

Obviously, the reason why Tang Yu appeared in Xiangyang County must be for Li Hongyu, Niu Feng has already begun to choose himself, and his responsibility is pushed to Zhang and others.

"Proven guilty?" Tang Yu has been an official for many years, how could he not know Niu Feng's thoughts, and when he heard this, he suddenly sneered, "Niu Xiancheng, now that the government test is imminent, do you think a county test leader who has studied hard in the cold window will be distracted by women?" ”

"This ......" Niu Feng hesitated for a moment and then bowed to Tang Yu, and said in a deep voice with a serious expression, "Xia Guan didn't believe in this matter before, but in the face of those human and physical evidence, Xia Guan had to believe it, and the only way to do it was to handle it impartially!" ”

"Li Hongyu is a candidate for the government examination, and the prefect ordered the case to be taken over by this official, and you fully cooperate with this official to try the case." Tang Yu saw Niu Feng's righteous appearance and knew that he was shirking responsibility, but now was not the time to pursue responsibility, so he said coldly.

"Don't worry, your lordship, your subordinates will fully cooperate with your lordship." Niu Feng couldn't help but feel a trace of pride in his heart, bowed to Tang Yu and said, he completely followed the process of the trial, so it was not easy for others to find trouble with him.

When Niu Feng sent someone to transfer the case file of Li Hongyu's case, Tang Yu flipped through it attentively, frowning slightly, if it is judged from the confessions of witnesses, it is indeed difficult for Li Hongyu to get away with the crime.

"Niu Xiancheng, can't you see that although the font of these two words is similar, they are not written by one person?"

Finally, when Tang Yu saw the poem written by Li Hongyu and the poem provided by Zhang, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he picked up Zhang's poem with an expressionless face and said to Niu Feng, "The font of this poem is not written by Li Hongyu, and its handwriting is empty and has no spirit, which is clearly imitation!" ”

"Copy!" Niu Feng pretended to be surprised when he heard this, "Lord Tuiguan, are you saying that this poem was imitated by someone according to Li Hongyu's handwriting?" ”

"It's really hateful to dare to frame the head of the court and county test." Tang Yu glared at Niu Feng, who was pretending to be crazy and stupid, said something to himself, and then walked towards the lobby, Niu Feng hurriedly followed.

Tang Yu naturally didn't believe that Niu Feng, who was from the same background as himself, would not be able to see the difference between the two words, but if Niu Feng insisted that he couldn't tell the difference, he couldn't help it, so he didn't want to be entangled with Niu Feng in this matter, and was ready to go to the court to ask the case and find out the case as soon as possible.