The ban on the Eight Gates has been completely removed, and the three towns of Chuzhou have returned to their respective military towns. And whether it is the people in the city or outside the city, there is no surplus food at home, and they need to rely on the relief food of the imperial court.

At this moment, the pressure on the Taishou Mansion also increased in vain, obviously he had raised mountains of food before, but the food consumed every day was like a sword hanging above He Xingzhi's head, which could fall at any time.

The grain merchants in Chuzhou seem to be determined to fight with Chuzhou to the end, not only not opening warehouses to release grain, but also raising grain prices to snatch more grain shares from the grain merchants in the eight states.

In their words, if the food restriction order cannot be revoked this time, a doom awaits them. Whether it is the Taishou Mansion or the four main cities behind it, they will not let them go.

Two days later, Spider and Xianyun came to Lu Sheng's office almost back and forth.

"My lord, all the officials and subordinates in Chuzhou who are related to Old Man Dong have checked that Old Man Dong's son was seriously ill seven years ago, and he is not able to treat Old Man Dong's family with the financial resources of his family.

Old man Dong once asked the yamen for help, but the yamen did not approve it. The neighbors all know that Old Man Dong's son should not be able to pass that hurdle. But a few days later, Old Man Dong actually sent his son to the hospital again. And that time, he had enough money. ”

"Where did all this money come from?" Lu Sheng hurriedly asked.

"I don't know, the other party seems to have intentionally explained to let Old Man Dong keep it secret, so Old Man Dong never revealed it. Even if someone asked, he smiled and didn't say anything, he only knew that he was a master.

Since he is called the master by Old Man Dong, this person must be a person in the officialdom. In the bureaucratic system, this term is used only when addressing officials. But we checked all the officials, but we didn't find anyone involved with Old Man Dong. ”

"This is your ability to investigate?" Lu Sheng raised his head and shouted dissatisfiedly.

"Incompetent subordinates ......"

"I don't want to hear this, you said that Old Man Dong's son was seriously ill seven years ago and originally planned to die, but a few days later, someone helped Old Man Dong and let his son survive?"

Although his son survived, his health was not as good as before, and he finally died three years ago because of his infirmity. But fortunately, after leaving it for the Dong family, the child is four years old this year. ”

"Seven years ago, during the period from the illness of Old Man Dong's son to the time when Old Man Dong had money to treat his son, has Old Man Dong been a miscellaneous servant in the detention center?"

"Yes!"

"The scope of the investigation has been narrowed down to officials at all levels in Anqing Province. During that time, whether any of the officials at all levels in Anqing Mansion had the opportunity to contact the detention center, whether they had the opportunity to learn about Old Man Dong's difficulties, and who had the opportunity to list them for me. Let the Slim Cloud in. ”

"Yes, my subordinates will go and check. ”

The spider hurriedly answered, holding the file and turning away.

Dressed in a red uniform, Xianyun no longer has the decadent appearance he saw last time, although he is still thin but looks extremely energetic.

"Xianyun reports!"

"You look more handsome in this dress, are you in such a hurry to see me that you have made a new discovery?"

"Report to my lord, my subordinates have inquired and confirmed that the person who signed this sensitive letter should be Zhang Zhidong's senior brother Jiang Zhe.

Twenty-five years ago, Jiang Zhe was still very famous in Chuzhou martial arts. Although it was in the era when the martial arts in Chuzhou were in short bloom and the Haotian Sword Gate was outstanding, the scholar swordsman Jiang Zhe had the reputation of both calligraphy and swords in the martial arts.

Legend has it that Jiang Zhe is not only good at swordsmanship, but also brilliantly written. He has both the generous and heroic character of the Jianghu people, and the debauchery and unruly style of the literati. At that time, she was not only favored by martial arts women in the rivers and lakes, but also highly respected in the literati circle.

Moreover, at that time, Jiang Zhe was the only one in the Nanming Sword Sect who broke through to the fame, so the martial arts in Chuzhou thought that Jiang Zhe was the best choice for the head of the Nanming Sword Sect. But suddenly, Jiang Zhe was rumored to have a scandal of killing his teacher and destroying his ancestors.

It is said that Jiang Zhe was dissatisfied with his master's desire to pass on the position of head to his junior brother, that is, the son of the head of the former Nanming Sword Sect, and was dissatisfied, so he attacked the former head of the house and assassinated him at night, and the son of the former head was also killed that night.

However, Jiang Zhe's final fate has not been accurately determined, but later Zhang Zhidong took over the position of head and strictly ordered the disciples of the Nanming Sword Sect not to talk about this matter anymore. ”

"So what do you mean...... The one who was hiding behind and secretly manipulated this official grain theft and sale...... Is it Jiang Zhe?"

"It should be, and his subordinates speculate that this Jiang Zhe is likely to have blended into the officialdom. ”

"If you do your best to investigate Jiang Zhe's whereabouts, you can use all the intelligence networks of Xuantian Mansion. ”

"Yes!"

After Xianyun went out, Lu Sheng slowly propped up his forehead and fell into thought.

This Jiang Zhe was a disciple of the Nanming Sword School twenty years ago, and Zhang Zhidong was the same senior brother, not only strong in martial arts but also full of poetry and books...... Then it is logical that he can blend into officialdom.

"Someone, bring me the information of all the officials in Anqing Mansion. ”

Soon, the brothers in the logistics office carried a thick stack of materials to Lu Sheng's office. These have been collected before, and after Lu Sheng suspected that the mastermind behind such a curtain was hidden in the officialdom, Lu Sheng made people strengthen the collection of information on officials. Now the information is very complete.

After carefully checking all the information of these officials, Lu Sheng's brows furrowed again, "Could it be that I am wrong, there are only seven officials from Chuzhou, and the highest positions of these seven officials are only seven ranks."

The highest position of the grain and Taoist officials is in the sixth grade, and can the seventh-grade officials command so many of the six grades? Even if they have evidence of their corruption and perversion of the law, even if they raise tigers, they must ensure that they can fight tigers. If the tiger eats you in one bite in a minute, it will be useless to have more evidence.

Jiang Zhe has become an outcast, so it must be impossible to continue his previous name, and he must have changed his name. Twenty-five years ago, Jiang Zhe was twenty-six years old, and now Jiang Zhe should be fifty years old...... Officials in their fifties ......"

Suddenly, Lu Sheng's hand shook violently. Because among the officials around the age of 50, there is actually one who is a senior executive in Chuzhou.

Chuzhou Daotai, Lu Xiangyang!

Lu Sheng's face instantly became solemn, and He Xingzhi and Lu Xiangyang also appeared among Lu Sheng's suspicious targets at first. But soon, Lu Sheng excluded both of them.

He Xingzhi has no motive to commit the crime, and Lu Xiangyang has no ability to commit the crime. His old mother died three years ago, and Lu Xiangyang had to worry about it for three years in addition to letting his old mother return to her roots.

Lu Xiangyang is a person from the capital, and he also said that he returned to Beijing to guard filial piety. No one else is in Chuzhou, so naturally they can't do this case under his control. And Lu Xiangyang's resume, Lu Sheng also read it carefully.

He was an honest official and a strict ruler. From the 21st year of Chenghua to the present, he has served in six places. Every time I took office, I only brought a futon and a few clothes.

Moreover, Lu Xiangyang has been in Chuzhou for more than ten years, five years earlier than He Xingzhi. During his tenure as the Taoist of Chuzhou, at the beginning, more than a dozen corrupt officials and corrupt officials were investigated and punished every year.

It can be said that it is precisely because of the arrival of Lu Xiangyang that Chuzhou officialdom has a new look. Just ask the people of Chuzhou to talk to you about how crazy it was to kill corrupt officials and corrupt officials in those years.

The officialdom of Chuzhou has been cut stubble after stubble like leeks from top to bottom.

From the center of the court to the common people of Limin, although Lu Xiangyang's political talent is mixed, he is definitely a decisive official who does not rub sand in his eyes.

Therefore, Lu Sheng easily ruled out Lu Xiangyang's suspicion, because his incorruptible image was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Because he has insisted on the side of the clean official for decades, how can he make such a mistake at this juncture at this time?

However, the clues brought by Xianyun had to add Lu Xiangyang's name to the list of suspicions. Even, Lu Xiangyang's suspicion is far higher than others.

Because he has this ability! He is the Taoist of Chuzhou, supervising the merit appraisal of officials at all levels in Chuzhou. He was in a high position and had the strength to manipulate the grain road officials to carry out this scene of self-theft. He held the military power in his hands, and he also managed the 60,000 city defense troops of Chuzhou.

The corrupt officials in the grain system are Xiao Yannian of the city defense army, the cook in the prison, and the old man Dong in the detention center...... These names quickly swept through Lu Sheng's mind.

Lu Sheng really didn't want it to be him, but if it was him, then Lu Sheng must have enough evidence. Without conclusive evidence, Lu Sheng couldn't even say what he doubted.

Because of the level of the platform, Lu Sheng could not move without the approval of the cabinet center or the emperor.

And now, there is not much evidence that can prove that it is Lu Xiangyang, Lu Xiangyang successfully wiped out the grain Taoist and Zhang Zhidong, if the ghost owner is really Lu Xiangyang, then he will definitely not leave physical evidence.

The only entry point is to prove that he is Jiang Zhe, to prove that he was in Chuzhou when the official grain was stolen and sold, and to prove that he participated in the operation of stealing and selling official grain. All three are indispensable.

"Lu Xiangyang, Chenghua 20 years Jinshi...... Native ...... capital" Lu Sheng looked at Lu Xiangyang's native and gently put it aside, hesitated for a long time, and took out the Nine Dragons Order from his arms.

Time passed day by day, and the suffering in Chuzhou had just begun. Almost all the people survived one day at a time.

Although life is so hard, the people don't have much to complain about. In the event of a locust plague of this scale, there is no grass growing in thousands of miles of grain and no harvest. In this case, there is no chaos in Chuzhou, and the government can still insist on giving porridge for disaster relief every day.

They are content to meet such an official government and such a court. The wave of refugees that He Taishou feared did not happen, because the people were no longer left without any worries.

The wheat seedlings in the field have grown inch tall, like children croaking to the ground. The people are reluctant to let these newly emerging wheat seedlings carry all their hopes.

"My lord, there's an urgent message from Sun. ”

Xuan Tianwei's report interrupted Lu Sheng's work, raised his head, and solemnly took the letter.

Just glanced at it, Lu Sheng excitedly bounced up and slapped the table, "Good job!"

"My lord, why are you so happy?" the spider came to Lu Sheng's office with a smile on his face.

"Sun You has made a decisive breakthrough over there, what about you?

From the 10,000 documents, we spent four days sorting out the officials who might have been in contact with Old Man Dong seven years ago, and then screened and listed eight people. One of these eight people is definitely the one who helped Old Man Dong get through the difficulties. ”

Lu Sheng took the file and opened it to take a look, and closed it after just one glance.

Lu Sheng's move immediately made the spider very unhappy. After four days and four nights of searching and flipping without closing my eyes, it was all over with just a glance?

"Don't be upset, his name is on this list, and I'm happy with the result. ”

"Your Excellency already has a suspicious target?"