"Will this work?" Liu Cheng almost couldn't believe his eyes after reading the official document that was about to be sent to the Zhizhou Yamen, in the official document, the Chi brothers committed seventeen or eighteen crimes such as murder, adultery, tomb robbery, tax arrears, and private counterfeit money, and the evidence was conclusive, and there was no shortage of physical evidence in time, place, and place.

"This is naturally not enough, and the layman will definitely not be able to see it, but if the insider looks closely, he will still show some horses' feet." Zheng Qianli, the famous master of the criminal family, brushed his beard under his chin reservedly, this official document is the result of his two days and two nights without rest, after flipping through the case files in the Yamen of Yichuan County over the years, he detained the more than a dozen backlog cases that have not been solved in the local area for more than ten years on the heads of the Chi family brothers, plus the original several crimes, the Chi family brothers were not executed by Ling Chi is already the county order Qu Duan's grace.

"So what should I do?"

"It's just a little bit up and down, as long as the money arrives, it's naturally fine." Zheng Qianli took out another piece of paper, with the names of seven or eight people on it: "These are the people who are related to this case, and I have already written on it how many people's common rules are, as long as they are delivered one by one, they will naturally make this case an iron case." ”

Liu Cheng took the list and roughly calculated that it would cost a total of about four hundred taels of silver, which was nothing compared to the income from the Chi family's village. He carefully took the list into his arms and asked, "I don't know how many gentlemen I want to give?" “

"Nothing!" Zheng Qianli waved his hand.

"You don't have to be polite, if you don't have Mr., this matter wouldn't be so successful."

"You're welcome!" The master smiled: "If it should be taken, I will naturally take it." According to the rules of the friends, since I took the bride price of the owner, I should think about the owner. This Chi family brother and my host have long wanted to do it, but there has been no chance, Lord Liu swept away all the thorns in the county this time, and the seat of my boss in the county order is also easier to sit. I'm doing an errand for the owner. How can you take your money again, Lord Liu? “

Hearing this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but glance at the famous master of the criminal family, after all, not everyone can say no to the benefits of getting it. He thought for a while: "Since this is the case, then the official will not force it, I am afraid that the military under my command will not do well in sending money, and I will let people send the silver later, and Mr. Lao will be biased." ”

"Well said, well said!" Zheng Qianli said with a smile: "Actually, even if this incident has nothing to do with my proprietor, I won't ask for this money." ”

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"Lord Liu. As the saying goes, 'If you are not guilty, you should be killed!' It is said that there are many things that hurt heaven and reason in this yamen. If you don't accumulate some virtue on weekdays, you are afraid that you will fall into the animal path after death, and you will not be able to live for a hundred years! “

Hearing this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Didn't Mr. say that what you did today is to accumulate virtue and do good?" ”

"Not bad!" Zheng Qianli said with a smile: "Lord Liu, don't you think that I have deducted so many things that are not done by the Chi family brothers on their heads, and it is clear that I have wronged them, and I also said that it is not self-deception to accumulate virtue and do good?" ”

"Don't dare." Liu Cheng smiled: "I want to hear about it!" “

"Then let me ask Lord Liu. The Chi brothers lent money for profit, raised villains, arbitrarily did a lot of unsightly deeds in the township. Should it be killed or not? ”

"Naturally, it should be killed, but if it is according to the laws of the imperial court-"

"If it is according to the laws of the imperial court, they will naturally not be able to die. But the sky has eyes, and good and evil have their own parts. How can the testimonies of the world be measured? Since they are deserving to die, what does it matter if I kill him on what charge? The heavens know my heart, and will naturally adopt my good deeds. “

Hear here. Liu Chengcai figured out what Zheng Qianli meant, and felt that the so-called good deeds of the famous master of the criminal were all based on his own heart, as long as he felt that he met the moral standards of the so-called "sky", he felt that he was doing good, and as for the laws and moral standards of the world, he didn't care at all, so it was easy to accumulate virtue and do good deeds with this standard. Liu Cheng couldn't help but laugh dumbly; "Does the gentleman think I'm acting good or evil?"

Zheng Qianli replied categorically: "I don't know what Lord Liu did in the past, but judging from what Yichuan did, of course he is a good person, or a great good person!" “

"Sir, you're not flattering me!" Liu Cheng laughed. He is well aware that for a variety of reasons, what he does is far from goodness, whether measured by modern or ancient moral standards. Although he said that he had done a lot of practical things, his hands were also stained with the blood of many innocent people, and if he went down this road, the lives that died directly or indirectly in his hands would be at least 100,000.

"Lord Liu, what Zheng said today is from the bottom of his heart, and there is no lie!" Zheng Qianli said solemnly, he saw that Liu Cheng still didn't believe it, so he raised his right hand and pointed to the sky and swore: "If Zheng Moucai has half a lie, he should die in a foreign land and must not be grounded." ”

"Sir, why bother, don't you believe it in the next place?" Liu Cheng persuaded with some embarrassment, after all, the end of the Ming Dynasty was still an era of gods and spirits, and it was indeed a bit too much to force Zheng Qianli to make such a vicious oath.

"It's okay!" Zheng Qianli said: "Lord Liu, I have also heard about what you have done in Dunzhou, and there are some debatable points in your heart, but these things always have to be done, as long as things are done, it is a great good." Even if there is one or two differences, it is far better than those mediocre men who sit by and only point fingers. ”

The more Liu Cheng listened to Zheng Qianli's words, the more familiar he felt, and if he changed into a suit of Mao suit and a pair of black-framed glasses, he almost thought that the party secretary in front of him was the party secretary who loved to make reports in the unit when he first joined the work. He subconsciously said: "Grades and mistakes are the relationship between nine fingers and one finger, ten fingers are long and short, grades are the main thing, mistakes are secondary, and the relationship between the two must be dealt with-" Speaking of this, Liu Chengcai realized that he had missed his mouth, and hurriedly covered his mouth.

"What does nine fingers have to do with one?" Zheng Qianli's eyes lit up, and he high-fived and praised: "This analogy is wonderful!" Everyone in the world has ten fingers, the length is different, if you want people to do things only for achievements, no problems, isn't it for people to have ten fingers of general length? How can there be such a ridiculous truth? "Speaking of which. Zheng Qianli sighed and said, "It's a pity that the adults above the court don't even understand such a simple truth. “

When Liu Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but look up to the famous master in front of him. It must be known that although later historians have many differences on the reasons for the death of the Ming Dynasty, there is a consensus on one point of view - from the late Wanli period, the central authority of the Ming Dynasty has suffered from a stubborn disease called party strife, that is, no matter who becomes the first assistant, he has become the target of the attacks of the rival factions and officials. Over time, the first consideration of the incumbent ministers was not how to push the administration and eliminate the accumulated shortcomings. It's about making fewer or no mistakes and dealing with attacks from political opponents. How can the state not decay in this way? Although the phenomenon of party strife did not only appear in the Ming Dynasty, but unlike other dynasties such as the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, the ruling structure of the Ming Dynasty was dominated by the civil officials produced by the imperial examination. The predecessors of the Han and Tang dynasties who were in charge of political affairs were still far behind. The reason for this is still due to Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who simply abolished the official position of prime minister in order to crack down on the prime minister, and greatly improved the status and power of the counselor. The purpose of this is to allow civilian officials to check and balance each other and fight against each other's powers. But what Zhu Yuanzhang never expected was that Xiangquan was suppressed, and in the last three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, except for Zhang Juzheng, half of the ministers. There has never been a person who can threaten the imperial power. But his descendants, who were born in the deep palace and grew up in the hands of women, were not able to govern themselves without the assistance of civil officials. In the end, he messed up the Ming Empire he left behind.

"I see that Mr. has far-reaching knowledge, why not rely on fame, isn't it far better than catching a knife for others?"

Zheng Qianli laughed, and suddenly said, "Lord Liu, I am from Yixing, Changzhou. “

"What about the people of Yixing?" Liu Cheng was confused by Zheng Qianli's brainless words. Seeing this, Zheng Qianli hurriedly explained that when the Ming Dynasty was founded, the economic level of the south far exceeded that of the north, so if the north and south took the unified examination, then almost all the jinshi every year would be southerners. In order to achieve political balance between the north and the south, the Ming government implemented an ancient regional examination system called the "North and South Papers", that is, the annual number of jinshi was allocated to different regions in advance to ensure that a part of the scholars in each region could be admitted. It is not difficult to see that for a scholar of the same level, the difficulty of taking the examination in the south is much higher than that in the north, and the economic and cultural level of Yixing is a top-notch place in the south, and it may be much more difficult to be admitted to a show than to be admitted to a poor place like Shaanxi. A scholar like Zheng Qianli, whose family background and academic ability are not very outstanding, is not so much hardworking for three or three years that it is better to find a job outside to support his family as soon as possible with his knowledge, which is why most of the roles of the shogunate masters of the Ming and Qing dynasties came from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"I see, it's a pity that Mr. Zheng's talent is learned."

"It's okay, the road to the field is very bumpy, full of talent, but there are many people who are still a student all their lives. Anyway, I'm now better than many people. Zheng Qianli smiled, but Liu Cheng could see that there was unconcealed dissatisfaction under his smiling face, obviously this knowledgeable criminal master was not satisfied with his current life. Liu Cheng is very happy about this, the more talented people like this are, the more unambitious they are, the only opportunity they have to recruit. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng smiled and said: "What Mr. Zheng said is also that there is no paper in the field, but this step of entry is not necessarily only one way to the field." “

"What does Lord Liu mean-" Zheng Qianli is such a clever person, where can he not hear the meaning of the other party's words, he thought about it for a while, and then smiled: "Now our owner and Lord Liu are one, and running errands for the owner is running errands for Lord Liu, as for the future, the future will be long!" “

Liu Cheng knew that the other party was an extremely careful person, but he didn't say that there was still room for death, anyway, as long as his situation was opened, he was not afraid that he would not come to take refuge Thinking of this, Liu Cheng smiled and said: "Okay, good, come to Japan for a long time, come for a long time!" ”

"This is Yan'an Mansion!" Chi Leshan licked his lips, which had been cracked, and looked at the city gate that stood not far away. By this time, he had completely changed his appearance: unkempt hair, a dirty torn jacket that could no longer be seen, a straw rope tied around his waist, only a pair of broken straw shoes on his feet, revealing his frozen dark green skin, and a branch used as a crutch in his hand. From the outside, Chile Mountain is no longer indistinguishable from the fleeing victims that can be seen everywhere on both sides of the city gate.

As Du Gu had predicted, the first thing Chi Leshan did after rolling down the steep slope was not to flee as soon as possible, but to find a broken cave to hide in order to avoid the pursuit of the enemy. Chi Leshan hid in the cave for a day and a night, got some herbs and put them on his injured leg, and only on the morning of the third day did he get on the road to Yan'an Mansion. According to his plan, Chi Leshan planned to go to Xuezheng first, tell Xuezheng everything that happened, and hinted that if the other party was willing to help, he would be willing to thank him, anyway, now all the money has fallen into the hands of Qiu Batou named Liu Cheng, as long as he can avenge his brother, Chi Leshan is willing to do anything.

Just as Chi Leshan was immersed in the pleasure of hatred and snow, there was a burst of scolding. Chi Leshan, who was awakened, looked at the place where the sound came from, but it was a few officials who were driving the hungry people away from the city gate, so that something could be posted on the wall. Driven by curiosity, Chi Leshan walked over there. Due to the crowd, when Chi Leshan walked to the gate of the city, the group of officials had already posted it, but it was a reward notice. Chi Leshan just looked at the two lines, and couldn't help but be taken aback, it turned out that the bounty was twenty taels of silver The person offering the reward was none other than himself.

"How so?" It took a lot of effort to drag a wounded leg from Yichuan to Yan'an Mansion, in order to implore the government to rehabilitate Zhaoxue for his family, but when he arrived in Yan'an Mansion, he had already been reduced from a meritorious talent to a wanted criminal who killed people and sold goods, lent money for profit, and hoarded villains. (To be continued.) )