Mr. Zhang took a sip of tea and asked Chen Di: "I don't understand, Master Chen, you are the first in the test, and the fourth in the Xinkedian test, which can be said to be a young man." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info a talent like you should be arranged into the Sixth Department or enter the Hanlin Academy as an editor. How can the people of the Ministry of Officials let you go to Qinyang? That Qinyang is a land of tigers and wolves! ”

Chen Di arched his hand and said: "Then how is Qinyang a land of tigers and wolves?" I also asked Zhang Tuiguan to give advice. ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan talked eloquently: "On the ground of Qinyang, there are three disasters and four evils. Three plagues, water, drought, and insects. Not to mention the water and drought, insects refer to grasshoppers. Don't underestimate that little thing, if there is a disaster, cover the sky and the sun, and thousands of acres of crops can be eaten by them in an instant. ”

Chen Di asked, "What about the four evils?" ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said: "The first of the four evils is a bandit." Bandits are different from rogues. Thieves became thieves because they had nothing to eat, and most of them were poor people. Bandits are different, they make a living by robbing homes and houses, and they are all ruthless. On the Yandang Mountain to the west of Qinyang, there is a Wenfeng Village, the owner of the Wenfeng Village calls himself Huang Batian, he has gathered more than 1,000 people and horses, and has been entrenched in Yandang Mountain for nearly 20 years. ”

Chen Di asked: "Since the bandits are in turmoil, don't our officers and soldiers care?" ”

Zhang Lao pushed the official and said: "Tube? Can it be managed? The garrison of our Huaiqing Mansion has as many as one guard, called Huaiqingwei. Huaiqingwei's general army has sent troops to suppress Wenfeng Village many times!

But the Yandang Mountain is high and densely forested, and those bandits are like monkeys, and all the encirclement and suppression have been lost soldiers.

Huai Qingwei's general soldiers simply played sloppy. As long as the bandits of Wenfeng Village don't go down the mountain to attack the various states and counties in Huaiqing, I will turn a blind eye.

Yandang Mountain is the only way for merchants to enter Qinyang, and the people of Wenfeng Village rely on robbing passing merchants to eat. Over time, merchants from various provinces did not dare to come to Qinyang. ”

Chen Di asked again: "The bandits of Yandang Mountain are the first evil, but what about the second evil?" ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said: "The second harm is the Liu family, a wealthy family in Huaiqing!" ”

Chen Di asked: "How can the wealthy family be called harmful?" ”

Mr. Zhang took another sip of tea: "Master Chen doesn't know. This Liu family was a big household in Qinyang during the Hongwu period. Up to now, the people of the Liu family have bullied the people, forcibly occupied the fields, bullied men and women, and they can be regarded as all evil in Qinyang! All the fertile land in Qinyang actually let the Liu family forcibly occupy more than half!

Liu Mingtian, the current head of the Liu family, has relied on the power of his family to be the county leader of Qinyang for 20 years. The successive Qinyang County Commanders are actually in name only. After he arrives, he will do anything, but first ask Liu Mingtian and Liu Xiancheng to nod. ”

Chen Di said: "The county is only an official of the eighth grade, why does the county order of the seventh grade ask Liu Mingtian to nod first?" ”

Zhang Lao Tui Guan said: "Who makes the family the biggest local hero? A strong dragon can't overpower the ground snake. Besides, if you have money in your hand, you can find a backer. There are backers of the Liu family in the government, the province and even the capital. ”

Chen Di said: "The Liu family is the second evil, so what about the third evil?" ”

Zhang Lao Tui Guan said: "The third evil is witch cult!" Qinyang people are poor, and few people can read if they are poor, and if they don't read, they don't believe in the way of Confucius and Mencius, but only believe in ghosts and gods. This witch cult pretends to be a ghost in Qinyang all day long, and there are many people who believe in it! They changed their methods to deceive the people into handing over money, and the people of Qinyang were mostly fools, so they obediently gave them the money. ”

Chen Di asked: "The government doesn't care?" ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan smiled: "Do you know who the great wizard of this witch sect is? It was that Liu Mingtian and Liu County! ”

Chen Di said: "I see. This is already the three evils, what is the fourth evil? ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said: "The fourth evil is the splashy Wang Lang in Qinyang County!" This pranky Wang Lang has been on the streets of Qinyang for more than ten years, and he used to only rely on tricks to extort money from several merchants in the county. In the last two years, he has made a fortune! When his niece became a talented person in the palace, he became half a royal relative! Who dares to care about him?

So he relied on this relationship to hook up with Liu Mingtian, the county prince. All the casinos and green buildings in Qinyang County are now opened by Wang Lang and Liu Mingtian. All merchants in Qinyang have to pay Wang Lang every month. ”

Chen Di said: "So, three of the four evils are in collusion with each other? ”

Mr. Zhang nodded, "Yes." However, Huang Batian of Yandang Mountain has a common enmity with Liu Mingtian, the county prince. It was Liu Mingtian's father who forcibly occupied Huang Batian's field, and Huang Batian went up the mountain to be a bandit when he was desperate! ”

Chen Di said: "In this way, this Qinyang is really a land of tigers and wolves. ”

Zhang Lao Tui said: "I advise you to go to Qinyang, make a county order, and hand over all the county affairs to Liu Mingtian." After serving for three years, you, who was born as a jinshi, will naturally be promoted to the next level and leave that ghost place according to the custom. When I was a county magistrate in Qinyang, I used this method. ”

Chen Di asked Zhang Lao Tuiguan: "But the Qinyang famine, the people can't eat, they will be thieves, and the thieves have gathered too much, so it is inevitable to collude with the bandits in Yandang Mountain, and when the time comes, attack the county seat, if I lose the land, won't I want to fall to the ground?" ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said: "I'm not Zhuge Kongming, I can't point to you in this matter." In the year of the catastrophe, we as magistrates can only ask for more blessings! ”

Chen Di took out a silver ticket of fifty taels from his arms and handed it to Zhang Laotuiguan.

"Old Tuiguan Zhang, you will be the boss of the lower officials in the future. When you first enter the officialdom, you will inevitably be asked to teach you something in the future. This money is my filial piety to you. Chen Di said.

Mr. Zhang did not refuse, and directly put the money into his sleeve.

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said again: "No merit will not be punished." The old man has been a state and county official for decades, and I will tell you a summary of my experience as an official. ”

Chen Di said: "Seniors, please speak." ”

Zhang Lao Tuiguan said: "That is to learn the soup thing!" My ancestral home is the capital, and this soup matter in the Beijing dialect refers to not taking everything too seriously, and harmony with the mud, up and down, left and right to deal with the past! ”

Chen Di was not interested in Zhang Laotuiguan's official secret, and it was difficult to say anything on the surface, so he could only give up: "I have been taught."

Back in his bedroom, Chen Di said in his heart: I didn't expect that a small county town in Qinyang turned out to be a temple with a small demon and a big wind, and there were many people in the pool. The famine alone was enough for him, and now there are four more evils.

Alas, the future is bright, and the road is tortuous.

Chen Di can only comfort himself like this.