Chi Leshan finally managed to control his emotions and read the notice carefully, but he forgot that he was dressed as a poor man fleeing the famine at this time, but he kept staring at the notice on the wall, which was too strange in an ancient society with a literacy rate of less than one percent. This quickly caught the attention of the officials who were guarding the bounty notice, and when Chi Leshan realized that something was wrong, his neck was already covered with a cold iron chain.

"What are you going to do, let go?" Chi Leshan struggled and shouted loudly.

"What for?" The leader of the officials sneered: "Sneaky, he must be a thief, take it down for me and interrogate it well!" “

"I'm not a thief, I'm a good citizen!" Chi Leshan tried his best to get the chain off his neck, but the leader of the officials skillfully tightened the chains, and the rest of the officials were not idle, slamming his torso and arms with scabbards and fists, as the chains around his neck became tighter and tighter, his resistance gradually became weak, and finally fell to the ground and convulsed violently.

"Okay, don't fight, it's hard to ask if you're killed." The leader of the officials soothed his rapid breathing: "Search him first, see if there are any sigil letters, there are thieves everywhere right now, but don't be careless!" “

The youngest official answered, and searched for Chi Leshan, and suddenly he exclaimed, "Big brother, I found this on him!" He opened his clenched right hand, and it turned out to be a silver ingot.

"Show me!" The leader of the government grabbed the silver ingot, and looked at it in front of him, this is a piece of Songjiang silver, cast into a horseshoe shape, the mark at the bottom is very clear under the sunlight, and the heavy feel gives people a very solid feeling, the leader of the government instinctively swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked: "It was found from that guy." ”

"Exactly. There's definitely something wrong with this guy. The tip of the young official's nose turned red with excitement: "There are at least ten taels of silver in this ingot, where is there so much silver on the ordinary fleeing peasants." ”

"Give it back, it's my silver!" Chi Leshan on the ground stretched out his right hand with difficulty, the ingot of silver was originally intended to be used by him to inquire about the news in the county office, but fortunately it did not fall when he rolled down the steep slope, which was already the only property on his body.

"Your silver?" The leader of the officials suddenly laughed: "Take this guy must be a thief's spy, and drag him to the master's place to receive the reward!" ”

The officials responded and dragged Chi Leshan up from the ground, but they didn't want Chi Leshan to break away and threw the leader of the officials to the ground. Biting the other party's ear, the leader of the official suddenly screamed like a pig. The fists and feet of the surrounding officials fell like raindrops, but Chi Leshan just pressed the leader of the officials under him, biting the other party's ears and not letting go, and the field suddenly became a mess like a pot of porridge.

Hong Chengchou sat in the sedan chair, his body rising and falling with the ups and downs of the sedan chair, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. As a civil official, Hong Chengchou's riding skills are already quite good, although he can't ride and shoot to kill. But there was no problem with a long march on horseback, and the reason he chose to ride a sedan chair was not for comfort, but for the sake of keeping himself in a state of seclusion. Hong Chengchou has always thought that in this state, his thinking will be more meticulous, and he can think of many mistakes that he can't usually take into account.

As one of the traders of the current chaos in Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou learned all this on the fourth day after He Renlong was forced to commit suicide, and it is not difficult to imagine his surprise when he learned of all this. Hong Chengchou didn't think that Yang He would take such a bold action, and he even regretted his previous choice a little. But as time passed, the impact of the incident of He Renlong's killing of Shen Yikui and Bu Mu gradually became apparent. Hong Chengchou can slowly determine that his original choice was correct - the overall situation of appeasement has been irretrievably broken, and it is only a matter of time before he ascends to the throne of the governor of the three sides, and even He Renlong's killing is a good thing for himself - no one can make a dead man speak. Everything he did behind his back had been buried in the dark with He Renlong.

As for the protagonist of this book, he did not receive special attention from Hong Chengchou at this time. It's no wonder that Hong Chengchou, in his opinion, the direct murderer who killed He Renlong was Yang He, and Liu Cheng was just a knife held in Yang He's hand. At this time, Hong Chengchou's main energy had been spent on how to establish his own team and solve the chaos in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty after he ascended to the position of governor of the three sides.

Suddenly, the sedan chair suddenly stopped, and Hong Chengchou's upper body leaned forward, which woke him up from his thoughts, he opened the sedan curtain and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter?" Is it there? “

"Tell your lordship." The Chinese officer announced: "We are about to arrive in Yan'an City, but there is a mess in front, as if a few officials are fighting with the rebels." “

"Hmm!" Hong Chengchou put down the sedan curtain, as the governor of Yansui, he didn't need to pay attention to this little thing, but for some reason, this time he picked up the sedan curtain again: "You brought people over in the past, I want to ask." ”

"Yes, sir!"

Chi Leshan was splashed with a basin of cold water and woke up. Only then did he realize that there were already a lot of generals in bright armor around him, and among them stood an official wearing a round-necked official robe and a double goose complement, who was looking at him coldly. He hurriedly got up from the ground, bowed to the other party, and said in a trembling voice: "Yichuan County Xiucai Chi Leshan see your lord." “

"Xiucai?" Hong Chengchou frowned slightly: "Then you have also read the book of sages, why did you fight with the officials in public, don't you know the system of etiquette?" ”

"My lord, I naturally know the etiquette and law below, but just now these officials beat me to the ground indiscriminately, and took away my silver taels.

The leader of the officials on the side was bitten off half of his ear by Chi Leshan, and was kneeling on the side humming and chirping, when he heard Chi Leshan say his name, he hurriedly shouted loudly: "My lord, this guy colluded with bandits, killed innocents indiscriminately, and did many evils. ”

"Bold!" The Chinese officer on the side shouted: "Your Excellency didn't ask, which one allowed you to speak?" ”

"That's it!" Hong Chengchou looked at the leader of the officials who was so frightened that he was silent, and asked, "What about the list you are talking about?" And also. Is it true that he just said that you took his money? ”

"Tell your lord, the notice of the bounty is on the wall over there. As for the silver-" The leader of the officials looked up cautiously at Hong Chengchou's face: "My lord, that's the evidence of the crime, look at the guy's dress, if it weren't for the thief, how could he have such a big ingot of silver on him." “

Hong Chengchou nodded noncommittally, a personal soldier had already brought Bangwen and Yinliang in front of him, Hong Chengchou looked at Bangwen, picked up the silver ingot and played with it twice in his hand. Throwing it aside, he asked, "Chi Sheng, did you just say that you are a talent from Yichuan County?" “

"Exactly!"

"Then you are from Chijiazhai and have an elder brother named Chi Lechuan?"

"Not bad!"

"If that's the case, then this list has already erased your fame, why do you dare to claim to be a showman?" Hong Chengchou's voice was not loud, but his tone did not fluctuate, and those who were familiar with him knew that this meant that he had already made a killing move.

"Tell your lord, it was framed by Yichuan County's Lingqu Duan and Yansui Town's guerrilla Liu Cheng. They broke down my family's stockade, killed my brother and family, and put many charges on my head. Please also avenge my grievances! Speaking of this, Chi Leshan lay on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

Chi Leshan's plea did not touch Hong Chengchou in any way. Although based on experience and intuition, he knew that what the kneeling Xiucai in front of him was very likely to be true, why would he hurt the interests of two of his future subordinates for a completely unknown Xiucai? Hong Chengchou is not the kind of stunned young man who has just embarked on his official career, and he knows very well the truth that "if the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if the person is inspected, there will be no disciples". If you want your subordinates to do something for you, you have to turn a blind eye at some point. In the final analysis, what is the life and death of a mere talent for his Hong Chengchou's road to the clouds?

Hong Chengchou was about to get up and leave. A familiar name suddenly flashed through his mind. "Liu Cheng, is he still a guerrilla? Could it be the henchman who killed He Renlong for Yang He? Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou immediately changed his mind, and he asked in a deep voice: "That Liu Guerrilla only came to Yichuan County recently?" ”

"Exactly, he only came to our county in the last few days." Chi Leshan also felt that the indifference in the official's words suddenly disappeared, and he shouted loudly like a person about to drown and grabbed a life-saving straw: "It's this guy, as soon as he arrived in our county, he extorted money and food from the people of the county, and said that he was begging for money, and we gave it a few days later, and that guy sent someone to break through our stockade and put many charges on our brother's head." ”

"It should be him, he just killed He Renlong and annexed his subordinates, but Yang He shouldn't be able to give him much food, in order to win people's hearts, he used various methods to collect food and money, and it is precisely because he did such a big thing for Yang He that he is sure that Yang He will cover up for him, so he dares to be so bold." In the blink of an eye, Hong Chengchou had already sorted out the matter from beginning to end and made a decision quickly.

"What you are saying now is only a one-sided statement, and the officer cannot judge the merits. In this way, you will go to Yichuan with your official and confront the guerrilla Liu Cheng with the county commander Quduan you said. If it is true as you say, this official will naturally give you justice! “

"Thank you Lord Qingtian, thank you Lord Qingtian!" The overjoyed Chi Leshan kowtowed on the ground more than a dozen times in a row, completely ignoring that his blood stained the bluestone on the ground.

Yichuan County Ya.

The fall of Chijiazhai and the fall of the Chi brothers were like a signal, and the gentry who refused to pay the money and grain immediately changed their attitude. Looking at the growing numbers on the accounts, Qu Duan was already smiling, and his gaze at Liu Cheng had changed a lot, as if he was looking at a God of Wealth.

"Lord Liu, what are your plans next?"

"What's next?" Liu Cheng flipped through the newspapers and looked at the map, and replied casually: "Today, Yichuan County has almost received sixty percent, and at this rate, it will be eighty percent in two days." I'm going to move to Hancheng, and I've heard that there are a lot of thieves there. “

"Han Cheng? Hello Hancheng! It's much richer than Yichuan, and there are more ferries to Hedong in Shanxi, so you will definitely be able to collect more money and grain. The county magistrate over there is my fellow villager, and I will write a letter for you, and you will bring it to him, so that it will save a lot of trouble. “

"Then thank you Brother Qu!" Liu Cheng smiled and arched his hand, he has been getting along quite well with this Qu Duan in the past few days, and found that although this county magistrate has the ability to be an official, he has a special talent for financial management, and he can quickly put the grain, silver, cloth, copper money and various special products collected from so many gentlemen, and organize them into accounts, which can be seen at a glance, saving himself a lot of trouble.

"It's okay, if it's convenient with others, it's convenient with yourself!" Qu Duan laughed: "I and that fellow villager have suffered the losses of these local gentry in the past, and I just took advantage of Brother Liu's east wind to clear up the county government." ”

Just as Liu and Qu were chatting happily, a county official ran in from outside and whispered a few words in Qu Duan's ear, and Qu Duan's brows suddenly wrinkled: "Lord Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, is about to arrive, and we will go to the north gate to greet him immediately." “

"Hong Chengchou? What is he doing here at this time? Liu Cheng's heart couldn't help but chuckle, he knew a lot more inside information than Qu Duan, couldn't it be for He Renlong's expression to settle accounts with himself? But although he nominally hangs the name of Yansui Town, in fact, he has always been directly under the command of Yang He, the governor of the three sides, as long as Yang He has not left his post for a day, Hong Chengchou will not be able to give orders to him for a day. Liu Chengke didn't think that Hong Chengchou was such an uncontrollable person, and before the overall situation was clear, he let Yang He come and do something with his little shrimp.

"Lord Liu, Lord Liu?" Seeing Liu Cheng sitting there in a trance, Qu Duan hurriedly shouted twice, according to the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty, he and Liu Cheng were going to greet him in the pavilion one mile outside the east gate, and now was not the time to be in a daze.

"Oh." Liu Cheng came back to his senses and said with a smile: "I am a military general, and I must be able to meet the commander of the Governor (in ancient times, the military general had to be clothed with his whole body to be respected, not only to wear armor, but also to carry a bow and arrow, this kind of etiquette is called the Bow Ceremony) to meet Governor Hong, so I went back to prepare first. (To be continued.) )