"Whoever loses the word of the herdsman, acts illegally, and radicalizes the good people, and thus gathers a crowd to rebel and lose the city, shall be beheaded."

- "The Law of the Qing Dynasty"

March 18, Halloween.

According to the conventions, in addition to the officials who came to Beijing to ask for peace, local officials mostly bathed and changed their clothes, and prayed for blessings and blessings. Although no one was watching, everyone was more or less a sign of loyalty to show their loyalty.

For example, if the grade is high, in the excerpt of the invitation, you can tell these things very "honestly" when congratulating the emperor on his long life.

Even if the grade is low, and they are not qualified to ask for an excerpt, they have to go to this form because of the upward and downward effects. It's just a matter of effort, and it's better than being caught by the blind as a little tail and impeached for the crime of "arrogant and rude" and "ungentlemanly".

However, Yizhou Zhizhou Yeshiki, who was temporarily invited to the study of the Daotai Yamen, had no interest in praying for blessings at this time. He only felt that his hair was numb, and he really didn't understand why he, a young and noble junior disciple, was like this, could it be that this was the "three fires of the new official", but this fire was not easy to burn, and it might become a "prairie fire".

He looked at the handwritten letter in his hand covered with the seal of the Dongyan Dao Shoudao, his arms couldn't help trembling slightly, his face became heavy, he hesitated slightly, and persuaded him: "My lord, ......" Because he saw Cao Hao wearing an official uniform, Ye Fu was called so.

After more than a month in Yizhou, Cao Hao wore the white goose supplement uniform of the fourth grade for the second time, and there was no smile on his face, which looked completely different from the warmth of the past, and he exuded a coldness all over his body.

Ye Fu only thought that he was in Duanguanwei, and did not notice his abnormality, frowned and shook his head: "My lord, don't move the pot lightly!" The water committee here is too deep, even if you are the noble status of the county lord, if you offend these people...... "I forgot the honorific title for a while.

Seeing that Ye Fu's concern did not seem to be fake, Cao Hao was secretly moved, and said: "Lord Ye doesn't have to worry, 'supervising agriculture and rectifying tax sources' is the duty of this official, even if they make trouble in front of the emperor, there is no fault of this official!" ”

Although it is indeed a bit troublesome to rectify the pot Zhuangzi, it is the only way to raise grain as quickly as possible and stabilize the price of rice. Moreover, the development of this pot has become a major local problem, and if it is allowed to develop further, it will make the local rice grain more and more tight, and things like this year will continue to happen.

Thinking about offending some people, and then thinking of the subsequent relationships, although Cao Hao felt annoyed, he also had a hint of excitement about the challenge in his heart. It seems that although it is not the same as the pollution, it should also be "with the light and the dust", otherwise if you look at it like this, you will not have the slightest dominance, and you will only become more and more passive. In order to be comfortable in the past three years, some things are still under their own control.

Besides, it is now fifty-one years since Kangxi, if history has not changed, then he will not stay in Yizhou for many years, and the time for staying in this world will also be countdown. Since you have come to Yizhou as an official, you can't come in vain, you must always do your best for the people here and leave something. Even if you don't have the idea of leaving a name in history, you don't want to live all your life, and you can't even leave a trace.

"'I'd rather offend a gentleman than a villain', the bright ones don't come, and the dark ones don't come, how can adults be born when the time comes?" Hashiki said.

Seeing that Ye Fu didn't mention that the people lived in peace, and blindly said this, Cao Hao looked at the ink on his cuffs, and couldn't help but ask: "Ye Zhizhou, do you know about the rise in rice prices in the past half month?" ”

Ye Fu pondered for a while, and said: "It seems that I have heard my family mention it twice, which is not unusual, Xinmai is harvested at the end of May and early June, and March and April are the times when the green and yellow are not harvested, and the price of rice has risen every year!" ”

Daxing acts as the lees of rice grain sales, the sighs of the people in front of the rice shops in Linmu Town and Junan Town, and then the family in Juzhou who hugged their heads and cried, this is the so-called not unusual? The little girl's cry seemed to be in Cao Hao's ears, and it could not be dispersed. This is a family of husband and wife who are harmonious and happy, the man works and supports his parents, wife and children, even if it is hard, the family is a little rushed. Food prices have skyrocketed, turning steamed buns and pastries on the dinner table into noodle soup. Flesh and blood, almost separated.

Cao Hao couldn't help but be a little annoyed by Ye Fu's incomprehensible situation, and frowned: "Isn't it unusual? In previous years, it only rose by a few points, at most only one penny, and now the price of rice in Yizhou has risen by one or two or three coins of silver per stone, which is two and a half times the original; Local counties, it is also more than double to triple! Now it is only March, and there is nearly three months left before the new wheat harvest in June, if it continues to rise like this, who can afford rice among the people, and what will everyone eat? Speaking of which, the higher the voice, the more solemn his face became.

Even if Ye Shi is a nerd, he understands what Cao Hao means. Now that only food is rising, but nothing else is rising, the livelihood of the people will become more and more difficult.

Take the officials of the Zhizhou Yamen as an example, two taels of silver per month, which could have bought three stones of rice, more than 300 catties, and a few bites of chewing for the whole family were enough. Nowadays, you can only buy one stone of rice, more than 100 catties, and those with a small population are fine, and those with a large population are going to drink porridge. If the price of rice rises again, and even a stone of rice cannot be bought, then the whole family will starve, and after a long time, I don't know what chaos will happen.

Ye Fu put away Cao Hao's warrant, and said, "The lower official is ashamed, but please rest assured, the lower official will live up to his orders!" ”

Cao Hao thought for a while and asked, "How many servants and arresters can you use in your yamen?" ”

Ye Fu thought for a moment and said: "Back to the adult, more than forty people, if you try to pull them out, there are fifty people!" ”

Cao Hao nodded and said, "It's okay here for the rice grain store, over there for the pot Zhuangzi, let's ask them to pick the small ones first!" The official sent people to Andong Wei, and in two days they will send soldiers to the prefectures and counties to assist everyone in 'cleaning up the tax sources'. ”

Ye Fu then remembered that some of the pot-burning Zhuangzi were not something that he could deal with, and he admired Cao Hao a little more on his face, and he couldn't say anything in his heart, so he said goodbye and left, and went back to the yamen to prepare first.

In the study, only Cao Hao was left.

Cao Hao sat down on the chair all of a sudden, his face was a little more indescribable and inexplicably sad, and he held the letter on the bookcase tightly, and his body couldn't help but tremble a little. Mr. Zhuang and Wei Hei are not there, and he doesn't even have anyone to talk to right now. You have to bear everything.

No one could understand Cao Hao's sadness and self-blame, thinking of his first encounter with Ning Chun, and thinking of getting along with each other in the past few years, his face became more and more gloomy.

Shocking news, really shocking news!

Just half an hour ago, Cao Hao was secretly calculating the seven days, thinking about a step-by-step arrangement, to see where mistakes were most likely to go wrong and where special attention was needed. The little guy came to report, and the person who delivered the letter came to the capital, claiming to be sent by the uncle of Wanyan Mansion.

Uncle Wanyan Mansion, besides Yongqing, which one else? Cao Hao hurriedly called to bring it up.

When he saw that the man had a scruffy beard and was covered with dust, he seemed to be unable to stand steadily, Cao Hao was startled and hurriedly asked, "What happened?" ”

The person who came was Yongqing's long-term follower Qijin, and Cao Hao was also common, so he immediately gave a thousand salutes, and then took out a letter in his arms. Seven catties came out of the capital on March 14, and he traveled more than 1,000 miles in four days, and he only rested for one or two hours every day, so it is no wonder that he was not like this.

Cao Hao pointed to the chair and told him to sit down, and while opening the letter, he said, "I'm in such a hurry, but something terrible happened?" ”

When Qijin heard this, he didn't sit down, but knelt in front of Cao Hao with a "plop" and said, "The little one asks Cao Ye to help my uncle, my uncle...... My uncle is going to be forced to death by my master! ”

Wan Jiha forced Yongqing to death, even if the father and son are not compatible, it doesn't have to be like this, what is this and what? Cao Hao didn't care about calling seven catties, he looked at three lines at a glance, and wanted to see the content of the letter first.

This is written by Yongqing himself, Ning Chun and his father and brother, because they were exposed, were imprisoned in the Criminal Department on the fifth day of the first month of March, the father and son of the seventh day of March and the four people "committed suicide in fear of crime", and Ning Chun's wife Niu Hulu committed suicide on the eighth day of March.

The more Cao Hao looked at his body, the colder it became, what was going on? Yongqing's matter, how did it get to Ning Chun? What crime can make Ning Chun's father, son and brothers, and several men in the family go to prison?

After being stunned for a while, Cao Hao asked, "If you follow your master, you can also know a little about Ning Ye's affairs, can you know...... Can you know what his family was 'exposed' and what kind of 'crime' was put in prison? Who is this whistleblower? ”

Qijin replied: "The little one also knows something, the person who reported this report is an alternate Dao, who was originally the deputy envoy of the Lianghuai Salt Transportation Division, and was a colleague of Ning Ye Amma. It was revealed that Ning Ye Ama had embezzled salt money since he took office in Jiangnan in the 39th year of Kangxi, and he published and distributed books that were "rebellious"! ”

The two hats of "greedy ink" and "great rebellion" come down, this is to kill Ning Chun's family! At the beginning of the month, Kangxi was angry at the publication of books, what else is there besides "Nanshan Collection"? Ning Chun's family is a flag person, and even the flag people are involved, how can it not make Kangxi angry? However, it is just a pretense, if it is true, there will be no so-called "suicide" later.

Cao Hao waved his hand and called seven catties up. He squinted his eyes slightly, his heart tightened, and he couldn't wait to fly back to the capital immediately to inquire about Ning Chun's affairs, and there was kindness and revenge! However, when he saw the handwritten book he had just written on the bookcase, and remembered the cry of the little girl's family in his head, he slowly calmed down and asked about Yongqing.

remembered Ning Chun's life-saving grace, not only Cao Hao, but also Yongqing. When it comes to the friendship between the three of them, even if there is no so-called "life-saving grace", he can't stand by and watch Ning Chun's affairs.

The father and son of the Ning family have been in prison for three days, and Yongqing has been walking around to inquire, thinking about clearing their family's name. As a result, he was sued before his Amavanjiha.

Wan Jiha had just been promoted to the capital, and it was when the spring breeze was proud, when he saw that his eldest son was going to participate in these lifeless things, he reprimanded him fiercely, and directly took sick leave for him in the yamen, and grounded him in the mansion.

A few days later, Yongqing looked for an opportunity to leave the house, and heard all the bad news. Yongqing went to find a few masters who could speak well, but they were all turned away. During this period, some people threatened and intimidated Yongqing through various channels.

Originally, he didn't have any clue, but this unexpected abnormality made him take care of it, and follow the clues, knowing that the affairs of Ning Chun's family were not so simple, and there must be few people in the six departments and Jiuqing who were planning the layout, otherwise it would not make the Ning family die in just a few days, and there would be no room to turn over.

In order to ask for an explanation for Ning Chun's family, Yongqing, an upright man, really didn't have any good ideas, so he went to the Inspectorate to beat the "Wendeng Drum", knocked on the scold, and redressed Ning Chun's family.

The story of Niu Hulu's wearing a red coat and swallowing gold and being a martyr has long spread in the capital, after all, the affairs of Ning Chun's family are too bizarre, causing all kinds of rumors among the people.

Yongqing's knock made the rumors escalate more and more. The Ning Chun family is wronged, and more and more people believe this. However, the versions of the various rumors are really bizarre. Even the red-clothed burial of Niu Hulu's family made everyone speculate. Even the version of the evil man and the bully of the people and the woman has come out, and the Tao is that there are princes and dignitaries who have taken a fancy to this young grandmother, so they have murdered her husband and father-in-law, in order to force her to remarry; I don't want this young grandmother to be Zhenlie, so I'd rather die than obey, and go to Huangquan with my husband.

Although knocking can go straight to the sky, where is it so easy to tell? According to the law, regardless of whether the army or the people are or not, and what the grievances are, the one who knocks on the bell will flow for thousands of miles. By then, the mountains are high and the road is far away, and how many people will be able to come back alive? Except when it is a last resort, forcing people to have no other way, someone will use this method to redress their grievances.

"Before the master knocked, he gave the letter to the little one, and asked the little one to send it to Cao Ye in Shandong, saying that he wanted Cao Ye to have a number in his heart. The little one didn't worry about the master, so he flowed in the capital for a long time, but he didn't expect that after the master went to the yamen of the inspectorate, the lord summoned the clansmen, and when he said that the uncle was removed from the family tree, he also handed a letter to the yamen of the infantry army, and wanted to sue the uncle for the crime of 'disobedience'! Speaking of this, Qijin knelt down for Cao Hao again, kowtowed, and begged: "Cao Ye, except for Ning Ye, Ye and Cao Ye are the best friends!" Please, little one, just save my grandfather! ”

(To be continued)