"Inheritance? Hmph, the military households in your thousand households, the wild dogs on the roadside are better than them, how did you ever regard this as the inheritance left by your ancestors? Steward Ma sneered, turned his head and changed his face to Liu Chengcheng: "Master, this strategy of sending wine and meat first, and then setting fire to it was conceived by this He Qianhu, in order not to make you suspicious, he didn't even move out of the dozens of military households under the city in advance, and all of them burned their brains, hundreds of lives, it was really a wolf's heart." “

He Qianhu saw more and more inside information from the mouth of the horse steward, lest Liu Cheng blame himself for the crime, although he was a military attache of the fifth grade, but if he tied himself up and pushed the fire in the Qianhu house, who could blame him on his head? hurriedly scolded and farted, then pounced and punched Steward Ma's right eyeframe, Steward Ma was not to be outdone, and the two scuffled. This He Qianhu also practiced martial arts for a few days when he was young, and Steward Ma was seven or eight years younger. Liu Cheng didn't stop it, just sat on the side and watched with a smile, the two of them on the ground scuffled for half a cup of tea, and their strength was almost exhausted, but they refused to let go, just stared at each other fiercely, looking like they were going to swallow each other alive.

Liu Cheng saw that the two couldn't move, so he glanced to the side, Wang Xingguo stepped forward and lifted the two from the ground, and slammed them on the ground, only hearing two screams, He and Ma let go of their hands and lay on the ground just panting. Liu Cheng sneered and said, "Enough fighting?" Okay, now I'll start asking you, I'll ask one, and the other is not allowed to speak, and if you dare to say anything to deceive me, the fire over there hasn't been extinguished, and I'll send him to be the company of hundreds of unjust souls! ”

Since the middle of the Song Dynasty, China's ancient Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism have begun to converge, and there is a lot of karma and hell in the art forms such as storytelling and drama that the people at the bottom like to see. He Ma and the two of them didn't see these things less on weekdays, but now they are dying, and when they think of the retribution of ghosts and gods mentioned in the drama and literature reviews on weekdays, they suddenly feel cold to the bones, and the whole person trembles like chaff.

Seeing He Ma and the two of them like this, Liu Cheng knew that it was time for interrogation, so he asked in a deep voice: "He Qianhu, I asked you and I to come to clean up the military camp, I dare not say that it is good for you, at least it will not be harmful, why did you collude with those gentry to assassinate me, is it just for your son's imperial examination?" ”

He Qianhu glanced at the steward Ma on the side, and knew that if he dared to say a lie, the guy would definitely jump out and bite his body to the ground, so he had to grit his teeth and replied carefully: "My lord, you don't know, that Ma Ziyi's father once entered the cabinet and became a scholar in the Ministry of Rites, and his protégés are all over the world, how can I, a small Qianhu, dare to refuse his request?" Besides, Ma Ziyi is not alone, the gentry of Manchurian Prefecture are all on his side this time, and Lu Zhizhou, I am also forced to be helpless! As for my son's imperial examination, it's just by the way, that is, without this kind of thing, would the villain dare to be an enemy of the gentry of Manchurian Prefecture? ”

Liu Cheng snorted coldly, he knew in his heart that he was only afraid that what He Qianhu said was basically true, otherwise the horse steward on the side would have jumped out a long time ago. He turned his head to Steward Ma and asked, "Steward Ma, why are all the gentry in Manchu Prefecture opposing the cleanup of the military tun?" They can't all encroach on the military camps, right? ”

"Not really!" Steward Ma hurriedly replied: "There are only a few people who can occupy the military camp, but as long as they are gentlemen, there will always be some things such as accepting contributions, sheltering fugitives, encroaching on official land, and arrears of official food." These gentlemen are either in the same year or as in-laws, and they can always get in touch with each other. If you stay out of the matter of Juntun this time, others will not reach out when they encounter your affairs in the future. ”

"I see!" Liu Cheng nodded thoughtfully, and he suddenly asked, "Those who are accepted and donated are for money and food, so why do you want to contain fugitives?" “

"Your Excellency, you don't know anything!" Steward Ma laughed: "If you want your family to prosper, it's not just a matter of having a fame, don't look at those old men who come to donate as soon as they are admitted to the exam, but it's one thing to donate, and it's another thing to give you money and food." As the saying goes, 'slaves bully the master', although there are honest farmers who want to pay a few less money and grain, but there are also many treacherous people, if there are not a few ruthless people, I am afraid that in the end they will only end up with a good reputation, and they will not be able to eat half a cent of money and food! There are also the officials in the yamen, the wanderers in the township, and the local tyrants, many of them are hob meat who are not afraid of death, and the posts of the old men are at most just sent to play the board, and raise a few men in the house who have killed people and acted without hindrance. “

"Huh!" When Liu Cheng heard this, he sneered: "Presumably there are a few such heroes tonight, right?" “

Steward Ma was saying proudly, Liu Cheng's words were like a slap in the face, the smile on his face immediately froze, and he hurriedly replied: "My lord really sees it, but in front of you, he is just like a chicken and a tile dog." ”

"Stop talking nonsense, you go and pick out all those fugitive criminals for me!"

"Yes, sir!"

Liu Cheng asked He Qianhu a few more words, and then ordered him to be escorted down to be guarded. Du Guoying, who was on the side, was excited, and came up and said with a smile: "It's okay now, take in the felons, set fire to it, this is a big crime, stab the army master with a picture, and see how these dog thieves end!" ”

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng smiled and nodded: "This time, I'll bother you to run a trip, set off as soon as dawn, go to Yan'an first, find Shen Yikui, and transfer a hundred cavalry from him first, so as to save those gentlemen and dogs from jumping off the wall in a hurry!" ”

"Great!" Du Guoying laughed: "It's better to follow Liu Dusi, we Qiu Ba were bullied by these gentlemen and civil officials before, and this time we are going to win back a city!" ”

Looking at Du Guoying's distant back, Liu Cheng's face showed a relaxed smile, for the first time in these days, he felt that the burden on his shoulders was a lot lighter, in fact, from the beginning he knew that cleaning up the military camp was not so simple. Thanks to his political education in junior high school, Liu Cheng did not believe that just a few fluttering pieces of paper could make the gentry who had encroached on the land spit out the fat in their stomachs. Without a knife to the throat, how could those gentlemen who were lawless on weekdays give up the benefits in their hands? With this evidence tonight, I am not afraid that those gentlemen will play any tricks again.

"Lord Liu!"

Just as Liu Cheng was reminiscing about the wonderful taste of victory, Yu He's voice interrupted his thoughts, and the old man's expression was a little worried, and he handed Liu Cheng a piece of paper

, and said in a low voice: "Among the people who came to attack, four of them are dead, and two have not been caught, and four of the remaining eleven are murderers, three are stealing and selling cattle, two are selling illicit salt, one is disobedient and unfilial, and one is adultery with his sister-in-law." “

"What kind of people there are!" Liu Cheng sneered, he now has some understanding of the laws of the Ming Dynasty, according to the laws at that time, the crimes that Yu He just said are basically enough to behead: "Then how many of these people belong to the Ma family?" “

"Five, three murderers, one adulterous with his sister-in-law, and one disobedient!"

"What an old Mr. Ma, full of moral articles, full of male thieves and prostitutes!" Liu Cheng sneered: "I want to see what kind of face this old Mr. Ma will be when the time comes!" “

"Adult, the villain has a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not!"

"What else can't you and I say before!" Liu Cheng laughed, and casually swept away the dust on the stump next to him: "Come, sit down and talk." “

"Thank you, sir." Yu He sat down with half of his buttocks: "My lord, as the villain can see, it's better not to push those gentlemen too hard, just accept it when you see it!" “

"Enough?" Liu Cheng sneered, pointed to the city of Qianhu that was still burning, and said: "If it weren't for my order not to drink alcohol today, if it weren't for Wang Xingguo's clever discovery of those thieves ambushed in the woods, I'm afraid that you and I would already be a corpse by now." You asked me to accept it when I saw it, but how did they know what it meant to accept it when I saw it? “

"My lord, please listen to me!" Yu He patiently continued: "Do you remember the Zhu Zichun I said earlier? He was born in Jinshi, didn't he end up committing suicide by taking poison? That one only killed a few pirate leaders, but you want to tear your face with those gentlemen and ask for their lives! I'm afraid that even Governor Yang may not be on your side, even if Governor Yang is on your side, the Xuezheng of Shaanxi Province will not change the reputation of Ma Ziyi, as long as his reputation is still on you, you have nothing to do with him, and you will be the unlucky one in the end! ”

In the face of He's persuasion, Liu Cheng did not answer immediately, and after about half a sound, he asked, "Then what do you say should be done?" “

"My lord, it is right for you to send someone to inform Yang Zhijun and borrow troops to come to Dunzhou, after all, it is a fact that there are thieves who set fire to besiege Qianhusuo, and no one can accuse you of transferring troops without authorization. But it's another thing to say that it is a gentleman, especially Ma Ziyi, who is involved, you say that he is sheltering fugitives, but he can be said to be deceived by others, and he has no knowledge of this; That He Qianhu and Steward Ma are now in your hands, so naturally they will say whatever you want him to say, but when they get to the hall, who knows if they will deny it? In the end, it's not clear that you can't be confused? Instead of this, it is better to send someone to Mr. Ma's mansion and spread the matter out, and see what price he can offer! “

"You mean to take these hostages and force them to make concessions?"

"Yes, that Ma Ziyi also has a younger brother who is an official in the court, which is also a handle for him, after all, the door is not quiet, the containment is lawless, and it is not a joke for these handles to fall into the hands of Master Xian in the township, it is better to spit out some fields and fall clean. This old man Ma can be said to be the first household in Yanzhou, as long as he is willing to make concessions, others will be easy to say! “

"Yu Lao, you said the same!" Liu Cheng weighed the pros and cons for a while, and laughed: "The gentleman leads but does not start, and he leaps like that!" ”

Listening to Liu Cheng's words, Yu He also laughed, the paragraph that Liu Cheng just said was a sentence in "Mencius's Heart", which means that a gentleman shoots an arrow, draws the bow to the full, and makes a leaping appearance without firing, in order to wait for the best time, which is exactly in line with his advice.

"The old man tastes for others, but he is unconscious, and the adults understand what he says, and he is bestowed by heaven!" As soon as Yu He's words fell, the two glanced at each other, and then laughed.

At dawn the next day, the east gate of the city of Juzhou. A few ragged veterans of the city guard lazily came out of the bed, and walked to the city gate to open the door as usual, at this time there were already many early farmers waiting outside the city gate, today is exactly the fifteenth, it is a day to catch the market, but these several veterans are still according to the rhythm of the past, there is not a while

The rhythm of the execution of the door opening.

Finally, when these veterans completed a series of steps, as soon as the door opened an opening, a man in black came in, but was grabbed by a veteran and shouted: "What a unreasonable person, dare to break into the city gate privately, don't you want to die?" ”

"I'm Qi Jiu from Mafu, I have something important, let me go quickly!"

"Qi Jiu?" The veteran was stunned when he heard this, this Qi Jiu was originally a son of a military family in Yijun County, under the jurisdiction of Juzhou, and had to leave home to avoid crime because he fought with his neighbors for the field boundary and killed people, so he joined the horse house as a house slave. Because he was a child of a military family in the past, he was also very familiar with these veterans who watched the city gate, and sometimes he helped the master of the horse mansion to do some unsavory things and needed to enter and exit the city gate at night. The veteran hurriedly looked the man in front of him up and down, only to see that the other party looked embarrassed, his clothes were torn in many places, and even his hair was messy, but it was indeed Qi Jiu himself.

"How did you get this way? What did you do for your master? ”

"Don't ask too much, I'm going to see the master of the house right away!" Qi Jiuyi pushed the veteran away, ran to the city, just ran a few steps and then turned back to the veteran and whispered: "If someone asks you, don't say that you saw me here this morning, it will naturally be beneficial to you." If not—" Speaking of this, Qi Jiu snorted coldly, his eyes revealing a fierce light.

"Don't worry about this, I haven't seen you today!" The veteran couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly agreed.

Qi Jiu didn't speak, turned around and ran towards the city. The old soldier looked at the other party's distant back, spat on the ground, and scolded in a low voice: "Damn, with the power of the horse house, I rode on the head of your master, God has long eyes, a thunderbolt has killed you!" ”