Su Tiancheng, accompanied by officials at all levels in Shaanxi, went to Lingbao County and Ruxiang County to inspect, listen to reports, and meet with the magistrate and others. With the situation in Shaanzhou, Su Tiancheng grasped a rule, it was okay to eat and drink, but he would never accept any gifts, whether it was in the form of native products or other things, or things sent in the name of hardship, he would not accept them.

In today's atmosphere, doing so seems to be a bit hypocritical, and it seems to distance itself from officials at all levels, but Su Tiancheng must do this, in an atmosphere that does not know the specific situation of Henan Mansion, this is the best way to protect himself.

Although it was in this form, Su Tiancheng still mastered some basic information.

Ruxiang County is close to the southernmost part of Henan Province, a typical area at the junction of three provinces, close to Shanxi and Shaanxi, remember that hundreds of years later, Ruxiang County was revoked and belonged to Lingbao County. It is not too much to describe Ruxiang County with the old and the young and the poor, the county belongs to the category of pocket city, it takes less than a quarter of an hour to walk, you can pass through the entire county seat, the east and west streets, the population is also very small, the registered population of the county, less than 20,000 people, the biggest feature is estimated to be poor, although the county government has made full preparations, but the broken city walls, low houses can not be concealed.

The situation in Lingbao County is slightly better, mainly because the county seat is larger.

In the process of reporting the situation to the county, there was no concealment of the harm caused by the rogue, most of the gentry and wealthy households in the two counties moved away, and those with good conditions went directly to Luoyang or Kaifeng, and those with poor conditions went to Shaanzhou, and the rich people who stayed behind had almost nothing. Even if they didn't attack the county seat, they also went to the villages and towns near the county seat, and the rich people would definitely not be able to stay.

The people of the two counties also left more, and the reason was also the harassment and demagogy of the rogues, and many people. Directly joined the team of the rogues.

With such a shirking report, Su Tiancheng would not be fully convinced that the damage caused by the rogues may be the actual situation, but the harm directly caused by the officials to the people may be worse than that of the rogues.

Although it is said that the people in Lingbao and Ruxiang counties are very poor, the officials in the two counties do not seem to be much worse. At least the complexion is ruddy and the body is fine.

On the twenty-first day of the first month, Su Tiancheng and his entourage left Ruxiang County and went to Lushi County.

Li Zixiong, the governor of Shaanzhou, has been sending Su Tiancheng and his party to the border between Ruxiang County and Lushi County.

Li Zixiong participated in the whole process of the inspection and followed Su Tiancheng's side.

Because of Li Zixiong's following. Su Tiancheng's supervision has basically become a formality. The model is also fixed, and officials such as the magistrates and county officials of Lingbao County and Ruxiang County are also following in their jurisdictions, in view of this situation, Su Tiancheng is not even interested in going to the villages and towns to have a look.

At the time of parting, Li Zixiong brought it up. Is it to let the sergeant of the Shaanzhou Inspection Department follow Su Tiancheng and his party and go directly to the county seat of Lushi County, Su Tiancheng said with a smile that there is no need.

After leaving Ruxiang County, Su Tiancheng and his entourage hurried. Rush to Lushi County.

There was some desolation along the way, although it was an official road, there were not many pedestrians in sight, and Su Tiancheng's mood became heavier and heavier.

At night, the group rested in a small village next to the official road.

At noon on the 22nd day of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng finally saw the city wall of Lushi County.

At the gate of the county seat, as usual, it is the sergeant of the inspection department, checking the road guide of people and others, but there is no fee of two cents to enter the city, but the examination is stricter.

After entering the county seat, Su Tiancheng and his entourage went directly to the county office.

After a report and a banquet, Su Tiancheng and his entourage entered the official post to rest.

Qu Qingze, who had been out for a while, came back quickly, and after entering Su Tiancheng's room, he took out a stack of letters.

"My lord, there is information about the information related to Henan Prefecture, and there is some information from the dark line of Shaanzhou and some counties in Henan Prefecture."

Qu Qingze had already closed the door, and after putting the letter on the table, he was still a little uneasy, walked to the door to listen to the movement, and saw if there were other people outside, this is actually a habitual action, you must know that Wang Dazhi of the Dao Dao is guarding outside, ordinary people, etc., it is impossible to approach, besides, this is an official post, and not everyone can come in.

Qu Qingze was mainly worried that the information from the dark line was already in violation, and if such a thing was known to outsiders, he would definitely be impeached, and he and Su Tiancheng would be in trouble.

Su Tiancheng has been waiting for this information, on the seventeenth day of the first month, the task will be arranged, today is the twenty-second day of the first month, and it is said that the information should arrive.

Sitting at the table, Su Tiancheng opened the letter and looked at it carefully.

Time passed slowly, Su Tiancheng didn't speak, and Qu Qingze was still standing at the door.

More than half an hour passed, Su Tiancheng finally finished reading, in fact, after reading these letters, it doesn't take so much time, sometimes, Su Tiancheng is pondering, probably thinking about something, which shows that the information sent by the dark line is indeed valuable.

After putting away all the letters, Su Tiancheng stood up.

"Lao Qu, accompany me to walk outside and find a quieter place."

The backyard of the official post is relatively quiet, there will be no outsiders to disturb here, the weather is cold, and ordinary people are reluctant to come here.

Su Tiancheng walked very slowly, and every step he took seemed to indicate that he had made up his mind.

A quarter of an hour later, Su Tiancheng finally spoke.

"Lao Qu, the information provided by the dark line is very important, I can tell you with certainty that the situation of the Jiangning camp is not good, our situation is also not good, the information sent by the dark line this time not only involves the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture, but also the situation of the Liukou, the situation of Lord Hong in Shaanxi."

Qu Qingze didn't speak, he still had such patience.

"Lord Hong has already given a lecture to the imperial court, suggesting that Jiang Ningying enter Shanxi to exterminate the Liukou, saying that this is the best opportunity, according to my estimate, the imperial court will definitely approve it, but I have no confidence in the matter of exterminating the Liukou."

"Why do you say that?"

"Lao Qu, the time you and I have been working together is not short, the principle of how I do things, you are clear, I have always believed that simply exterminating the rogues cannot fundamentally solve the problem, if the peasants have no food to eat, they are forced to be cornered, they still have to rebel, can you kill all the rogue gangsters, can you kill all the people, these days, the problem I am worried about has been clearly revealed, if you can't solve this problem first, exterminate the rogue gangsters, it is impossible to achieve a decisive victory."

"Is my lord talking about the problem of the officials of Henan Prefecture?"

"Not only the officials of Henan Prefecture, including Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and even the officials of Shandong, Huguang, it is estimated that there are some problems, the situation in Shaanxi is by no means an isolated phenomenon, the imperial army kills good and risky things, you know the way, continuous disasters and famines, coupled with the harassment of the rogues, the officials not only can not treat the people well, but also add fuel to the fire, in this case, the people still have a way to live."

"In the past, we were in Jiangning County, where the conditions were good, the people were basically able to eat enough, we didn't experience such trouble, I have always been a little strange, the battle of Zhongdu, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng and others led the elite, was wiped out by the Jiangning battalion, when they left Zhongdu, at most there were more than 10,000 rabble, but how long has it been, they have more than 50,000 people, even if the court recruits sergeants, they can't reach such a speed."

"I'm sure that if you are in Nanzhili, there is no way out for the Liukou, and it is difficult to recruit sergeants, so why will you be able to develop and grow rapidly after going to the Shanxi area of Shaanxi, what are the problems here."

"The situation sent by the dark line confirms my judgment, the government forced the people to rebel."

"Let's talk about the situation in Henan Province, the wheat noodles here are basically eight coins of silver and one stone, the rice is even more than one tael of silver, and the salt is two taels of silver and one tael, such a price, not to mention the poor people, just say that the officials who hold the imperial court are also unbearable, the people take food as the sky, and the food cannot be guaranteed, and the people still have a way to live."

"I originally thought that the merchants here were all black-hearted and had made too much money, but unfortunately this was not the case at all, and after reading the information sent by the dark line, I finally knew that the vassal kings and officials were so rich."

"The officials of Henan Prefecture are actually businessmen, the blackest-hearted businessmen, who harvest grain every year, they use the lowest price to buy it, and when it comes to the green and yellow, they sell it at a high price, and the businessmen are just helping them come forward and get some leftovers."

"The common people did not dare to store grain at all, otherwise they would be regarded as fornication, but the gentry and wealthy households were different, storing grain in a grand manner and waiting for the price to rise, so as to exploit the common people."

"The spread of this situation has become a vicious circle, the common people basically have no way to live, they can't eat enough to work as cattle and horses, and although the income of the officials is very low, they collude with the gentry and wealthy families and businessmen, and get a lot of money, and they don't have to worry about food and clothing."

"This kind of situation is too terrible, to put it mildly, the Jiangning battalion is exterminating the rogues in front, and the people in the rear may join the ranks of the rogues at any time and fight against the Jiangning battalion."

"If this is really the case, what is the point of Jiangning Battalion exterminating the Liukou."

"Lao Qu, I won't tell you, the information sent by the secret line also has the vassal king's, among which the information of King Fu is a lot, King Fu can be said to be a rich man in Henan Province, no, it should be the richest person in Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi, and he has gathered a lot of money, and King Fu is so rich, so I don't need to explain."

"After figuring out these situations, I finally understand a little, why would someone plot against me and Jiangning Ying, the policies I implemented in Jiangning County, if they are brought here, I am afraid that many people will suffer."

In the dark, Qu Qingze did not speak. (To be continued......)