On the ninth day of the first month of the second year, Yang Hao crossed the Yellow River north for the first time to the old land in the middle of the southern forest of Yinshan Mountain.

This fine pasture, which had been occupied by the Uighurs for 80 years, returned to the hands of the Tang Dynasty, and Yang Hao set up three counties, Yinshan, Shannan, and Ningyuan, and reported to Shuo Fang in the name of Fengzhou Assassin Mansion and Fengzhou Defense Envoy, and then reported to Chang'an in the name of Shuo Fang. As for whether it can be approved, Yang Hao is not very concerned.

After inspecting the three counties, Yang Hao arrived at the Boulder Fort on the northwest border of Shannan. In order to welcome Yang Hao's arrival, Chen Mingyi, the commander of the Xiaofeng Battalion, and Peng Ling, the commander of the Xiaofeng Battalion, and Peng Ling, the supervising army, rushed over from Dongsai Town first. Chen Mingyi and Peng Ling were the few battalion-level commanders who did not move their nests during the recent military readjustment. On Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhang Huchen died violently in Fengzhou Prefecture, Zhang Yannian committed suicide by taking poison, and dozens of military and civilian officials involved in the mutiny were arrested and suppressed. The last hill in the Xining army was leveled before the arrival of the New Year.

Compared with a year ago when he led two hundred garrisons to rise up in a hurry, Yang Hao's current situation is undoubtedly much better. At least in Toyosu he had no rivals, and the position of the supreme leader of Toyosu was finally established. But Yang Hao's Spring Festival was not easy, and it was not even as good as the Spring Festival a year ago, when he got Qing'er.

What about this year? Killing prisoners, slave trade, mutiny, suicide, arrests......

After suppressing the mutiny of Zhang Yannian's old army, the last hill in the Xining army was flattened. Yang Hao seems to be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but the truth is not so simple. It is now certain that Zhang Yannian himself did not participate in the mutiny, and even he was a staunch opponent of the mutiny. Zhang Ren is in prison, and it is impossible to command remotely. So who is behind this mutiny? Yu Tai and the young officers of the Xiao Cavalry Battalion? They can't even deal with the unarmed Zhang Huchen, and they still have the ability to plan a mutiny?

Chen Duan and Gu Li of the Xiaocai Battalion were shot dead in Jinji Ridge, although the scene has been destroyed, but Zhu Qi still found some clues after careful investigation, the two were obviously ordered to ambush someone in Jinji Ridge, and they may have been killed after the mission failed. Yu Tai, who was arrested after the failure of the mutiny, was mysteriously strangled to death in the heavily guarded Fengzhou prison, all of which shows that someone else planned the mutiny.

Now that all the clues are broken, it has almost become an unsolved case. Zhang Bozhong is still sparing no effort to investigate, but progress is slow. Yang Hao suggested that he change his angle and start with the rebellion of Brother Hao and the father and son of the Lin family of the Xinlin clan. Yang Hao vaguely felt the rebellion of Brother Hao and the Lin family's father and son, the trafficking of Murna and Uighur women into slavery, and the mutiny on Chinese New Year's Eve, and there was an intrinsic connection between the three.

Zhang Bozhong decided to start with the two traffickers Zhao Ba and Tan Jiu mentioned by Murna, and first find out the culprits behind the attack on the old land of the Xinlin clan and the plundering of Muerna. Zhao Ba and Tan Jiu were arrested successively, Zhao Ba has been operating in Fengzhou for many years, and the black and white roots are very deep, and the shock after his arrest is quite large, and there are even rumors that the imperial court has a minister sent to Fengzhou. In the eyes of the people, the officials of Fengzhou did not have the courage to uproot a strong man like Zhao Ba.

Compared with Zhao Ba, it is more difficult to arrest Tan Jiu, and no matter how deep Zhao Ba's roots are, after all, he is still in Fengzhou. Tan Jiu's roots are rooted in other states, and he naturally can't touch the root by issuing a proclamation to arrest and sending a few arresters to Linzhou. Yang Hao's method was to send Zhu Qi to Linzhou to negotiate, and let Li Changlin lead the Breaking Wave Battalion to capture several passes south of Linzhou in the name of suppressing bandits, cutting off the trade route from Linzhou to the interior, and cutting off Linzhou's financial route.

There are only a few hundred garrisons in Linzhou, and the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the Breaking Wave Battalion at all. After the ineffective protest of the rulers, they could only give in, and after getting Yang Hao not to sentence Tan Jiu to death, the Shaolin abbot of the 80s. This is a strict system dominated by the border garrison, the main body of Hebei underworld, and the participation of civilian officials in the three places. The Frontier Fortress garrison was responsible for plundering prisoners of war and women, and then handed them over to the underworld to be secretly transported to Linzhou and Xiaochang'an for sale, and the civilian officials in the two places covered it. The proceeds of the stolen money, excluding various expenses, were divided equally among the military, the underworld, and civilian officials in a ratio of 433.

Specifically, in this case, Zhang Ren, with the help of Brother Hao, seized the Megalith Fort, killed the Dala or the patriarch, and all the Dalas or the clan became prisoners of war. According to the original plan, Zhang Ren handed over the Dala or clan prisoners of war to Zhao Ba and others, and then Tan Jiu organized the sale. Zhang Ren was a righteous person, and in order to repay Brother Hao's help, he persuaded Zhang Yannian to promote Brother Hao to be the head of the Dala or clan, and returned the Dala or clan prisoners of war to Brother Hao.

In order to thank Zhang Ren, Brother Hao once contributed the six wives and concubines of the original patriarch to Zhang Ren. But this move was firmly opposed by Brother Hao's mother. According to the old Uighur custom, the wives and concubines of the former leader should be enjoyed by the successor in the same way as his wealth and power, and it is undoubtedly a shame to give his wives and concubines to outsiders.

Brother Hao finally got back his predecessor's six wives and concubines. As compensation, he gave Zhang Ren 16 other women. After Zhang Ren got these sixteen women, he and his brothers drank and rejoiced in the castle all day, and when they were drunk, they asked the women to strip naked and play naked.

The Uighurs practiced Manichaeism, which advocated vegetarianism, abstinence from alcohol, and abstinence, and fasted two days a month, during which no alcohol, no meat, and no sexual intercourse were allowed. Zhang Ren didn't care about this, even on the day of fasting, he and his righteous brothers still hugged the dalas or women to eat wine, eat meat, and have sex with each other.

Brother Hao felt deeply remorseful for this, and felt shameless to face his own people. His mother wept bitterly, seeking death and life, believing that she had been humiliated. The old woman tried her best to find Zhang Ren several times, but Brother Hao's persuasion was ineffective, so she had to lock her in the stone house ruthlessly, and the old woman did not drink or eat, and left after three days.

The death of his mother greatly stimulated Brother Hao, and the desire to avenge his mother became stronger and stronger. But he is weak and far from being the opponent of the Zhang family's father and son, and the idea of revenge can only be buried in the bottom of his heart. At this time, a mysterious force stepped in and helped Brother Hao form an alliance with the Lin family's father and son. The Lin family, who believed in Manichaeism, also resented Zhang Ren's actions, and they regarded Zhang Ren and his brother as dark demons from the dark country of the south, and vowed to destroy them.

The two tribes began to unite from hostility and secretly plotted a rebellion.

This mysterious force is the group of people in the Xining army who are counting on the central part of the Northern Expedition to make a fortune. Zhang Ren was a man of righteousness and trustworthiness, and he promised Brother Hao to help him sit on the position of patriarch after breaking the city, and Zhang Ren did it and returned the prisoners of war. This invisibly offended the group of people who were counting on the Northern Expedition to make a fortune, they secretly put pressure on Zhang Ren, hoping that Zhang Ren would not fulfill his promise, and after touching the ashes, they began to plan the rebellion of Brother Hao and the Xinlin Department.

At that time, in Boulder Fort, the Xining Army had three battalions of more than 1,300 people, and the combined strength of Brother Hao and the Lin family father and son was 2,000. But the Xining army was superior in battle, and the rebellion was almost doomed. This is not seen by those who are carried away by hatred and religious fanaticism, and rebellions inevitably occur and are suppressed in just one night. Zhang Ren lost twelve sworn brothers and nearly lost his life.

He began to retaliate frantically, and the prisoners of war of the Tara or and Xinlin tribes were all sold into slavery. Not only did the conspirators get everything they wanted, but they also secretly put together and pushed Zhang Ren out to be the scapegoat.

Raiding the old land of the Xinlin clan and plundering Murna and others were special gifts they gave to Zhang Ren, in addition to finding a scapegoat, they also had to warn those who disobeyed: "Whoever dares to cut off their financial route, they will cut off their way of life." ”

There has been a breakthrough in the case, and now it can be basically concluded that the mutiny on Chinese New Year's Eve was also committed by them, and they were using Yang Hao's hand to get rid of the Zhang family father and son and remove the hidden dangers in the future.

After clarifying the internal logic of each case, it is much easier to find the murderer. The question now is what to do with these murderers? According to Tang law, half of the civil officials in Fengzhou and one-third of the officers in the Xining army will be imprisoned, which is a consequence that Yang Hao cannot bear. But if you don't deal with it, let the officialdom of Toyosu continue to rot. This is also a consequence that Yang Hao can't bear. The facts of the case must be clarified, the responsibilities must be clear, and as for how to deal with it, it is always necessary to pay attention to some methods and strategies, such as slow treatment of chronic diseases and the use of surgery for poisonous sores. You can't avoid the doctor, and you can't use the wrong medicine in a hurry.

Money is the root of all evils, and it is the easiest to solve them by starting with money. Compared with the life of the family and the future of power, money often takes a back seat. Yang Hao clearly told the people involved in the case to spit out the money that should not be taken, explain clearly what they have done, and promise not to commit it again in the future, then everything can be lenient, or even not investigated. Blind stubbornness will never end well. There are many benefits to being an official, but you can't afford to lose your future and your life for a little money.

In the three days from the third day of the first month to the fifth day of the first month, officials at all levels in Fengzhou paid a total of 388,000 taels of silver; A total of 328 letters of commitment to integrity were written;

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, 19 officials were arrested and imprisoned; A total of 68 officials of the Fengzhou Sancheng and Xining armies demonstrated in front of the gate of the defense embassy, but were forcibly dispersed by the guards, and the leading Yongfeng county commander was arrested.

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, another 79 officials submitted a letter of commitment to honesty and handed over 230,345 taels of stolen money, and 13 more officials were arrested that night.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, officials at all levels again handed over 178,000 taels of stolen money. That night, all officials were notified to declare their family's assets, and within five days they were given five days to list and report all their belongings in detail, and all property that could not be explained as a reasonable source would be confiscated as stolen money. On that day, 11 officials fled and six committed suicide at home. Five of the absconding officers were arrested on their way out, and six were shot dead by border forces for resisting arrest. The family properties of six officials who committed suicide were sealed.

Yang Hao's inspection of the boulder fort was to praise Xiaofengying's excellent performance in this rectification, Chen Mingyi and Peng Ling were the most powerful supporters of this rectification movement, and Yang Hao's rectification instructions were implemented here to the letter. In addition, Boulder Fort is also the main path for the escape of stolen officials, and Yang Hao also has to urge Chen and Peng to take the north gate of Fengzhou.

On the way back to Feng'an, Yang Hao announced an average salary increase of 50 percent for all officials in Fengzhou. Lower-level officials and clerks have even increased their salaries by more than 100 percent. It is human nature for officials to live decently, to have their wives and children without worrying about food and clothing, and for their elderly parents to enjoy their old age in peace, and there is no reason to demand that officials go hungry to run errands.

If the salary is too low, it can be increased, so that you can live a worry-free life, and it is decent compared with your neighbors on the left and right, but you are not allowed to stretch out your hand again, you will chop your hands when you reach out, and if you open your mouth, you will be cut off your head, and you will be ruined.

On the night Yang Hao returned to Feng'an, the mastermind of the Chinese New Year's Eve mutiny was revealed, and even the rainy moment from the third day of the first lunar month stopped. The second year of Datang ushered in a bright spring.