It began to snow on November 16 and continued to fall until the 19th, and the snow on Mengyin Road was nearly a foot deep. Although the weather is cold and the firewood is expensive, the farmers are happy.

Both of these years were dry, and the harvest in the fields was much reduced. Half a cent of partial rent is not less, which makes it very difficult for the people to make a living. Now that this heavy snow is falling, it will be of great benefit to the crops in the next spring, and it will catch up with the longevity of the long-lived Lord Jiazi, and the people of Shandong will be exempted from money and grain, and it seems that they can save some surplus grain.

The situation of Cao Hao's case is not good, who would have thought that the Du family brothers would be tried and tried, and the entanglements will become more and more extensive. Du Xiong did know a man surnamed Qin in Yimeng Mountain Bandits, and he had some contacts in his early years.

According to his confession, the family surnamed Qin came to Mengyin more than ten years ago, and when he first arrived in Yimeng Mountain, he had dealings with Du Xiong's father because of rice grain. That wrench, although it is a token of exchange, is not Qin Bajia's, but a relic of Du Xiong's father.

Du Xiong's father used to run a silk cloth business in the south in his early years, and after saving money, he let his sons return to their hometown to buy a property. According to Du Xiong's confession, for Qin Bajia, his father only mentioned that he was the son of the deceased. In addition to occupying Yimeng Mountain as the leader of the bandits, Qin Bajia seems to have colluded with the bandit Zheng Quanxin, and he had collected grain in Mengyin in March.

However, Du Kui's matter was not the work of Qin Bajia and others. After the incident, Du Xiong sent someone to deliver a letter to the mountains, knowing that someone was impersonating. Because there have been many people who have been fighting the "Yimeng Mountain Bandits" over the years, they have not found out what is going on in the end.

Not only Mr. Zhuang, but Cao Hao knew such words, and he also linked this mountain bandit with the backbone of Hongmen who was in seclusion in the early years. It's just that compared to Mr. Zhuang's excitement, he is still a little hesitant in his heart.

The legendary "chivalrous" characters, if they really have evil deeds, then they are not innocent, what if they have no evil deeds?

Mr. Zhuang has already asked someone to send a pen and paper, and asked Cao Hao to go to the Yamen of the Political Secretary to make a note, and he also asked Kangxi to mention this matter.

It's okay to say to the Yamen of the Political Division, after all, he is the direct boss, but when he goes to Kangxi, he is suspected of overstepping the level and inviting credit. Cao Hao was a little puzzled by Mr. Zhuang's intentions, and he didn't know why he was so solemn.

Mr. Zhuang looked at Cao Hao's confusion, his face was a little dignified, and said: "Long live the Lord is most afraid of things related to the previous dynasty, otherwise the 'Nanshan Collection' case in the spring will not be so widely implicated." Shandong is next to Zhili, if you really let the rebellion take root here and make some trouble, where is the face of the court? Besides, it is also connected to the pirates, and who knows if there are any other forces entrenched in the north. This thing is poked out, and the movement is not small. When the time comes, in addition to those who want to take credit, I am afraid that there are also those who want to shirk their responsibilities, and if you can't keep it, someone will make up your mind on you. If you take such precautions and reduce your responsibilities, you can get more or less credit, and it will not be in vain for you to go out! ”

Cao Hao thought about it for a while, frowned slightly, and asked: "I have heard that there are bad habits in the army, and in such anti-bandit affairs, in order to promote officials and money, there are people who risk killing good people to pray for merit, this matter is making a big fuss, will the people of Yu Mengyin be in the way?" ”

Mr. Zhuang listened to Cao Hao's words, shook his head disapprovingly, and said, "If Fu wants to learn from Zhang Boxing? You must know that the words 'love the people like sons' are thought of in your heart, but you just want this reputation, but it is not good to ask for it. It is necessary to be measured, otherwise it will be too much. Like Zhang Boxing, he is loved by the people, but it is a little excessive! Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment and said: "The reputation of the Han official can only make the Manchen more and more unbearable." If you lose the strength of one or the other, even with the court, you will lose the hearts of the people, this is a taboo for officials! ”

Although Mr. Zhuang is telling the truth, Cao Hao is still uncomfortable in his heart, in this world, good people and good officials can't be done, otherwise he is afraid that he will become "disloyal and unfilial" and "suspicious" in the eyes of the emperor.

It's just that human life is not a mustard after all, although it will not be as great as sacrificing oneself for others, but I still want to kill less within my ability. Cao Hao hesitated in his heart, unable to put pen to paper.

Mr. Zhuang has been by Cao Hao's side for a few years, and he also knows his soft-heartedness, so he can't help frowning, and said: "If you don't forget your own responsibility, it is to garrison the place for the imperial court." Maybe some innocent people will be coerced in this 'Yimeng Mountain bandit', but Fu Ruo has not thought about it, and now in a peaceful and prosperous world, how can ants shake the tree? Now that I think about it, the civil unrest in the spring can reach that point, maybe it is also because they are fueling the troubles, otherwise how could the people be so restless, and there are many casualties. If they are properly prepared, taking advantage of the bad year, to deceive and instigate the innocent people, it will only end up being a defeat for both the people and the court. The people have lost their surnames and the court has lost face, which will only make those with ill intentions proud! ”

In the end, he added: "Since this matter has been discovered, even if Fu Ruo does not make a statement, I will report it to the capital!" No matter what the pretense is, a 'bandit' is a 'bandit', a person who plunders people's capital and gets something for nothing, even if it is a surname, why should he be pitied!? If Fu Ruo really has compassion for the people and is afraid that the officers and soldiers in the bandit will be in chaos, then he will think of a way to take care of this errand when the time comes. You are a lord equivalent to Wu Yipin, and there is no military attache with a higher status than you in Shandong. As long as you give the order to restrain you, naturally no one will dare to disobey the order! ”

Cao Hao was secretly ashamed in his heart. Yes, no matter what the reason, these heroes who "occupy the mountain as kings" cannot be called good people. Whether it is "killing the rich and helping the poor", or "fighting righteousness and squandering wealth", how many of them are willing to support themselves? It's just a slogan of "justice" and some means to get something for nothing, and to be a person who eats nothing.

However, it was too embarrassing for him to fall off the horse, so Cao Hao had to make the Spring and Autumn penmanship a sentence to pass, and then according to Mr. Zhuang's meaning, he explained these unintentional discovery of bandits.

After writing the strip Chen and the excerpts, Cao Hao thought that there could be Hongmen under the banner of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty", and he was afraid that even the governor's yamen would not be able to make the decision in private, and he had to ask the emperor for orders. If this exchange is delayed, I am afraid that it will be too late before the year.

With some excitement in his heart, Cao Hao asked casually, "How is the Du family brothers?" Why did he meet us in a hurry? Among them, I always felt that something was wrong. ”

Mr. Zhuang nodded and said: "That's true, the second child of the Du family has already recognized it, that is said to be in the restaurant overheard the people here mentioned it, knowing that it was going to the direction of Yizhou, so he used some means to make his eldest brother's steward, and determined that they were also seven horses, the purpose is to make his eldest brother suffocated, it is best to cause some lawsuits, and it is better not to take care of the matter of fighting with him." ”

Maybe when he was in the capital, he saw all kinds of methods, and after Cao Hao felt that something was wrong, his first instinct was that he didn't know which one was calculating himself. Now, when I heard this "truth", I was really a little crying and laughing, I was on my back, and I was almost lost my life by the two brothers of the Du family.

Thinking of the arrogance of the Du family brothers, the little sympathy that Cao Hao had earlier had because of what happened to the eldest lady of the Du family immediately disappeared. Regardless of the safety and life of others, this can be regarded as a "bully" in the countryside, where is it worthy of pity?

It was really boring, Cao Hao asked Mr. Zhuang, "Sir, how many more days do we need to stay here?" Now that we have figured out the reason, we have to wait for the order from above, so let's go back to Yizhou first? ”

Mr. Zhuang thought about it and said, "Well, it's okay to go back!" The Du brothers and their families have been imprisoned, and they will be escorted to Jinan Mansion after the order of the governor Yamen. If Fu is guarding here, maybe he will be suspected of 'greedy for merit', and he will not please him inside and out, so he will go back to Yizhou now. With the hundreds of people from the Anton Guard guarding here, it's also appropriate! ”

Ago, I received a letter from Amethyst, in addition to asking about some health and the like, I also said that Xiao Tianyou vomited milk before, although she has now found a stable **, but she is still a little uneasy, looking forward to Cao Hao and Chu Yu going back as soon as possible.

"My son is the meat of my mother's heart", this is true.

Chu Yu endured these two words, but when he mentioned his son, he still couldn't get rid of his worry. When the husband and wife talked about it in private, she was also sour, for fear that her son would have a nurse and forget her mother.

If it weren't for the inconvenience of his legs and feet, and he couldn't make a "human life" during the period of filial piety, Cao Hao really wanted to "teach a lesson" to his wife, so that she could remember her surname for a long time, and she couldn't have a son and forget her husband. Look, the sourness in his heart is no less than that of Chu Yu.

Cao Hao is not a person who can suffer, originally pondered, how to clean up Du Xiong and Du Hui brothers, and vented their evil anger, but now the two of them are on the upper line and have become the key witnesses of the big case, and they are thinking about whether to talk to Mr. Zhuang, whether to hit the twenty boards first, so that these two people can suffer some hardships, so I heard Mr. Zhuang say: "If Fu is injured, in addition to the top, you can hide it from the outside world, otherwise when the matter of suppressing bandits comes out in the future, someone will talk about it, and slander Fu Ruo as a villain who will be revenge and ruthless. Blame the banditry as your selfishness! ”

Cao Hao listened and couldn't help but lean back. Grandma's, it's boring for this official to do a good job! Among them, the bends and bends are not a few points less than those of the six departments. Speaking of which, he is still young, and in the past six months, according to the judge's side, there are many people who are worried about him, thinking about finding something to give him some eye medicine.

The so-called clear stream is like this, but as long as you have a strong background, you will be shot to death as a moth that harms the people. Even if they will offend people, they are not afraid, they just want to have a good name. When the time comes, if you have a plan against them, you will do as they wish; If you don't care, but only when your heart is weak.

It was the matter of the "Golden House Hidden Jiao" in the Lotus Garden, and in August, someone sued the judge, saying that it was Cao Hao's filial piety to take a concubine, and as a result, he also sent a patrol to Yizhou to inquire about the matter, and he knew that it was nonsense. Later, there were other people who were worried about it, and Li Fajia, who was the envoy at the time, did not allow his subordinates to act rashly, I don't know whether they cherished their feathers, feared that their subordinates would offend people, or had the intention of protecting Cao Hao.

After preparing for half a day, November 20, except for Mr. Zhuang, Zhao Tong and the Ren brothers, the others returned to Yizhou with Cao Hao and Chu Yu.

With the master and the servants, Cao Hao and others were sent out of the city, and everyone was not visible in the distance, Liang Shunzheng breathed a sigh of relief, and then patted his head and climbed on the horseback with a little difficulty.

Oh my God! Thinking about the signature following Cao Hao's excerpt, Liang Shunzheng didn't know whether he was unlucky or lucky. Look, it seems to be going to make a big fuss, if I can get to that time, I am afraid that I don't need to do the six products, and I will have to go up one liter; However, if the thunder is loud and the rain is small in the end, and the top wants to find the culprit, he will not be able to run away in the name of "negligence".

This joy and sorrow, maybe which one will come, how can his little liver not tremble? Thinking of the pot in April, it seems to be a little thrilling, and I can't tell whether I am complaining or grateful to Cao Hao.

Now, what else can I do, I just look forward to my old age, everything will go well!

Because his cousin and niece were also imprisoned, Liang Shunzheng's old wife Wang also wiped a handful of tears.

The life and death of the Du family, and now the same as his future, have to wait for the results of the bandits. If the "suppression of bandits" is successful, the Du family can be regarded as a crime, but it will only lose some money; If the "suppression of bandits" is not smooth, then the Du family designates to be filled, and the family is young and old, and I am afraid that no one will be able to escape.

Even the son-in-law can give up the love of husband and wife and divorce his wife immediately; Their relatives who are three thousand miles away are not looking for death?

Seeing that her husband was hard-hearted, Wang also wanted to ask someone to send a letter to Yuezhao's Wang family to see if he could go out of the way and help, but Liang Shunzheng said a few cruel words, so he was bluffed. It's just that she was a little unhappy in her heart, and when she saw that the people from Daotai Mansion were gone, she sat in the main room, and she didn't have a good face in front of her husband.

Liang Shunzheng knew that his mother-in-law was unreasonable, especially the old mother-in-law, so he asked the little girl behind him to carry a foot-high wooden box and put it in front of Wang.

Wang was slightly puzzled, and while opening the box, he asked, "What is this?" After asking, he was stunned, speechless, rubbing his hands, and his eyes were straight.

Five taels and one ingot gold ingots, no more, no less, just ten ingots, fifty taels.

However, then Wang's face changed in fright, looked at the little guy who withdrew from the door, got up from the seat, although his eyes were very reluctant, but he still persuaded Liang Shun bitterly and said: "Master, this is ...... This is the ...... in the yamen You can't take it...... If someone finds out, do you have to get the surname ......?"

The husband and wife are used to being poor, Liang Shunzheng knows that his mother-in-law loves money, so he brought these to make her happy, and now seeing that she can say this, he feels ironed in his heart, and said with a smile: "Where is this Yamen?" It's a gift from the county lord. A few days ago, did you mention to her that you will marry your second son next year? The county lord said, because he was in a hurry when he came, he didn't bring any gifts with him, this one is for you to play two sets of noodles, one is for you, and one is for our two sons to get married! ”

The annual salary of these seven-grade county orders is only forty-five taels of silver, and even if there is occasional filial piety in some places, there is not much. These fifty taels of gold, exchanged for silver, more than five hundred taels, but it is the top beam of ten years.

The Wang family didn't care about the affairs of his cousin and niece, he rubbed the small gold ingots, his face bloomed with joy, and he complained to Liang Shunzheng with a smile: "Master too!" Since it was given by the county lord and nobles, why didn't you know it earlier, I didn't thank you, but it was a joke, which was really rude! ”

*Yizhou, Daotai Mansion, Inner House, Main House, West Side Room.

Xu sat on the kang with Tianyou in his arms and nursed him. Seeing the little guy sucking hard, she couldn't help but smile on her face, looked at his little face, and then thought of her son who died a few years ago, her heart was sour, and her eyes were a little red.

Although she had milk, after discussing with her husband that night, she also agreed to go to Daotai Mansion to do **, but Amethyst and Mama Ye were very cautious, and they still asked the doctor to show her body, and saw that there was nothing wrong with her except for being thinner, so she dared to let her milk God.

I don't know if it's because the little guy is tossing and lacking, or if his stomach is gradually getting used to it, and after eating Xu's milk, he got used to it. After that, I didn't vomit, I slept honestly for a long time and recovered some of my spirit.

Xu's husband only said that he had a few connections with Cao Hao, but what was going on, Amethyst didn't know about it now, and he didn't dare to go to the mansion rashly. She sent a small servant over to take care of Liu Heng's living in Liu's house, and asked Cao Fang to help find a doctor, which can be regarded as the heart of the Xu family.

Xu Shi only has gratitude in his heart, and he is more and more dedicated to Xiao Tianyou. Mama Ye saw it in her eyes, and she also liked that she was sensible and thinking about the contract.

Because her man's identity was unknown, Amethyst was not easy to deal with at will, so she persuaded Mama Ye not to rush first, and wait for the uncle and the county lord to come back before making a decision. Otherwise, if it is really the wife of the uncle's old friend, hired to be a ** at home, and the slave regards it, it is not very good to spread it.

(To be continued)