Yang Hao finally chose a house in the south of the patrol camp, east of the Assassin's Mansion, which was purchased by Yu Zhongping, the former county of Yongfeng County, Yu Zhongping was dismissed by Meng Bochang for two crimes: privately investing in Meishan Mine and soliciting bribes from Wang Rentong, and all family property was confiscated.

Like Yu Zhongping, there are still 38 Yongfeng officials who were dismissed for taking a stake in Meishan Mine, and this is only the beginning of Meng Bochang's cleanup of Yongfeng officialdom. Beginning on the 10th day of the first lunar month, Meng Bochang completely turned Yongfeng's officialdom upside down in two months, and among the 39 officials above the ninth rank in Yongfeng Prefecture and the Tiande Right Army, 13 were dismissed and imprisoned, 26 were demoted, and 46 redundant personnel were eliminated. After some rectification, Yongfeng's military administration was completely controlled by Meng Bochang.

Yang Hao mainly did two things during this time.

The first is to set up a labor gang in the Meishan mine. He appointed Hou Jie, who had worked as a coolie in the mines, as the mine superintendent, and supervised Wang Rentong's fulfillment of the contract's terms of increasing wages, building new sheds, improving food, and reducing working hours. The leaders of the workers' gang were elected by the workers themselves, but the real power of the workers' gang was in the hands of Hou Jie. Meng Bochang sent a school officer and 16 instructors to the Meishan mine to supervise the workers' military training.

Eradicating the forces of the Yongfeng Ghost Gang was the second thing Yang Hao did.

The Ghost Gang is a kind of non-governmental association with the nature of mutual assistance formed spontaneously among the immigrants in Yongfeng. According to the different sources of immigrants, they are divided into different factions such as the northern faction, the southern faction, and the Guanzhong faction. At the beginning of its establishment, the ghost gang played a positive role in uniting immigrants, protecting the interests of new immigrants, and assisting the government in maintaining local law and order, but with the continuous growth of its power, its social harm gradually emerged: stealing, stealing, bullying and dominating the market, abducting and selling people from other places as slaves and servants.

In order to eradicate the ghost gang forces in one fell swoop, Yang Hao made careful arrangements. He first secretly arrested the leader of the ghost gang, Qingpi, with the assistance of Wang Rentong, and then captured the four protectors of the ghost gang through Qingpi, and then pulled out the sixteen leaders distributed in and around Yongfeng City by the four kings.

In two months, Yang Hao arrested more than 170 members of the ghost gang, interrogated and sentenced 32 people, and the great leaders of the great crime Qingpi, Si King Kong and eight leaders were sentenced to death, according to Yang Hao's original intention to execute these thirteen people immediately to prevent future troubles, but Meng Bochang insisted on sending the case to the Criminal Department for review. Yang Hao argued with him for a long time, but no one could convince anyone. In the end, Meng Bochang said impatiently: "It is the intention of the chief manager to send it to the Criminal Department for review, and you have to fight with him." ”

Yang Hao was speechless and walked away.

Although the thirteen people did not succeed, the people of Yongfeng City beat gongs and drums and sent a piece of Aimin umbrella to Yang Hao. For a while, the title of "Yang Qingtian" spread all over the streets and alleys, and Yang Hao knew that this was Meng Bochang's means to appease himself. Although the review of the criminal department is just a formality, if the thirteen people don't die for a day, he can't let go of it for a moment.

According to Wang Rentong, in addition to the great leader and the four King Kongs with great powers, there is also a mysterious second leader in the ghost gang. Correspondingly, in addition to the four Dharma Protector Vajra standing in the foreground, there are also four Invisible Dharma Protector Vajra in the Ghost Gang, and the names of the second leader and the four Invisible Dharma Protector Vajra are only known to the Grand Leader and the Eight Elders. Qingpi flatly denied the existence of the five people, and the eight elders were all over seventy years old and had not participated in the activities of the ghost gang for nearly twenty years, so Yang Hao could not find a reason to arrest and interrogate them.

Now there is calm in Yongfeng City, but Yang Hao can always feel that in some dark corner, a pair of resentful eyes are staring at him, as long as he is slightly negligent, the remnants of the ghost gang hidden in the shadows will pounce on him and tear himself to pieces.

――――

On the third day of the third month of March, the Shangsi Festival.

Early in the morning, every household planted willows in front of the door, boiled a basket of eggs, lit a red heart, and distributed it to neighbors, relatives and friends before the sun came out. After breakfast, men and women dressed up and went out to the Xiaoyang River outside the city to visit the willows.

Qing'er and Lu Rui got up to boil eggs at the end of the third watch, packed more than a dozen wicker baskets, and sent people to send them to Meng Bochang and Yang Hao's colleagues. When the day was a little brighter, two people each carried a basket of flowers and eggs and distributed them to their neighbors along the street. After the circle was dispersed, there were still about a dozen left, and Lu Rui proposed to send them to the patrol camp with porridge and oil cakes for Yang Hao for breakfast.

The faceless meeting of the Thorn Horse Battalion was about to be held, Yang Hao did not dare to slack off, he had been living in the patrol camp for half a month.

As soon as the two went out, Qing'er suddenly remembered that there was still a pot of pork ribs and yam soup stewed on the stove, so she went back to get it, and when she went out again, she disappeared Lu Rui's figure. asked Mr. Guan, who was busy in the porter, and Mr. Guan was also at a loss, but said: "Miss Lu was just outside the door, and Master Changshi Zhang sent someone to send a basket of eggs, and I went to get two packets of red dates to give them back to them according to Mrs. Order, and Miss Lu disappeared in the blink of an eye." Will they go with them in their carriage? ”

Qing'er asked suspiciously, "Are they coming by car?" ”

Master Guan replied affirmatively: "Yes, the two guys are both fresh faces, but the carriage is indeed the carriage of the Changshi Mansion, and the old man will not be wrong to see it clearly." Qing'er nodded silently and didn't take it to heart.

At the beginning, Meng Bochang secretly ordered Yang Hao to execute Lu Benzhong and seize the right military power of Tiande. Lu Benzhong found out the rumors, and asked the media to dedicate his adopted daughter Lu Rui to Yang Hao as a concubine overnight, one for the envelopment and the other for the temptation, Yang Hao knew this, he didn't dare to stimulate Lu Benzhong, for fear that he would make a defeat due to misjudgment. So he agreed to the business. After that, Lu Benzhong cheated to death and escaped, and Yang Hao was able to successfully take over the right army of Tiande.

Qing'er has been eating and living with Lu Rui these days, and Yang Hao has never had a round room with her. According to Yang Hao's idea, when the limelight passes, he will return Lu Rui to Lu Benzhong, and both sides will explain. But Lu Rui didn't think so, she judged that Yang Hao didn't want to accept herself, and the reason why she was so lukewarm was because Qing'er was in the middle. These days, she has been looking for opportunities to get close to Yang Hao, and she is confident that as long as she can be alone with Yang Hao a few times, she will definitely be able to capture his heart.

Her sudden departure at this moment made Qing'er instinctively think that she was going to pay homage to Yang Hao. Qing'er's heart was quite unhappy, she was not a narrow-minded woman, but seeing another woman want to share what she loved, her heart was still full of jealousy.

"Ma'am."

Seeing that Qing'er was stunned, Master Guan called softly. Qing'er hurriedly collected her thoughts, rubbed her hot cheeks and said, "I'm fine." Master Guan, who had already seen through the world, smiled lovingly, and he shouted to the inner room of the gatehouse: "Suo'er, you come out." ”

"Alas,"

With a crisp answer, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy walked out. His black eyes roamed around Qing'er's body unscrupulously at the beginning, Qing'er's cheeks were a little spicy, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

"Don't be rude." Master Guan glared at the young man fiercely, and the young man hurriedly lowered his head, and his face turned red.

"Madam, this is the unsuccessful kid that the old man mentioned to you - Guan Suo, who arrived at Yongfeng last night."

"Oh, that's him." Qing'er remembered.

A month ago, Master Guan mentioned him to himself, saying that he was old and wanted his little grandson to come over to help, but Qing'er agreed without thinking about it. After Yang Hao was promoted to the judge of the Tiande Army, he had to assist Meng Bochang in managing the army on the one hand, and on the other hand, he had to manage the civil affairs of the state, and he was often so busy that black and white were reversed. After all, he and Lu Rui are daughters, and they can't accompany him all the time, Master Guan is old and often can't take care of him, so it would be great to have someone who knows the roots to follow him.

"Your name is Guan Suo?"

"The villain is Guan Suo." Guan Suo replied with his hand, and suddenly became polite.

"Have you ever read a book?"

"I've been reading it for more than ten years," Guan Suo said with some embarrassment, "but unfortunately I haven't been taught by the Master, and I still can't do it." But it's still okay to write, write, and calculate. ”

"Well," Qing'er liked his straightforwardness very much, "You stay, help Master Guan first, and then do things with adults when you are ready." ”

"Mrs. Xie." Guan Suo bowed to the end.

When Qing'er arrived at the patrol camp, Yang Hao was practicing his gun, he was only wearing a sweaty shirt, and there were strong muscles bulging from his bare arms. Qing'er had an itchy feeling in her heart, she bit her lip and watched the battle without saying a word. Yang Hao had already seen her, and deliberately shook a shot when he was recruiting, which startled Qing'er.

Seeing Qing'er's panicked appearance, Yang Hao laughed, hugged her up, and asked, "Why is Madam here?" ”

"If I don't come, if you don't come back, won't we see each other in the future?"

Yang Hao put her down, wrung a towel in the basin and wiped her face, and said: "When I'm done with this while, I'll send someone to send her back, you and I sleep until three o'clock in the morning every day, okay?" Qing'er took a sip of him and sneered: "Who knows if you mean it really or not." Yang Hao asked curiously: "Why didn't she come when you came?" ”

Qing'er was stunned and asked, "What?" She didn't come? Yang Hao panicked and asked the guards: "Did anyone come when I was practicing?" The guards replied, "No one has come." However, someone sent a box of things and said that they would open it after the adults finished practicing. ”

Under the stone steps next to the door there was a wicker box: five feet long, three feet high, and two feet wide. It was tied with thumb-thick hemp rope several times. Yang Hao took the knife in his hand and carefully picked off the rope tied to the outside of the box, and when he lifted the lid of the box, he saw that there was a white cloth inside. The crowd was puzzled, and a whining moan erupted from under the white cloth. When I lifted the white cloth, it turned out that there was a girl in red curled up in the wicker box, it was Lu Rui, who had disappeared early in the morning.

Xiao Xiao's face changed drastically, and he drew his knife and shouted, "Hurry up and chase the person who delivered the things." Yang Hao drank the guards and instructed: "This matter is not allowed to be spread!" Violators will be dealt with strictly. The crowd retreated. Yang Hao swung his knife to cut the rope on Lu Rui's body and tore off the cloth stuffed in her mouth. Lu Rui was full of grievances, and threw herself into Yang Hao's arms and cried.

Yang Hao instinctively wanted to push her away, but found that Lu Rui's arm bands were extremely powerful. Yang Hao's heart softened, after all, she had just been frightened. Qing'er sighed silently and turned to leave. Changshi Zhang Cheng came in a hurry and almost collided with Qing'er, who was walking with his head down. Zhang Cheng was dressed in a new official robe, sweating profusely, he apologized to Qing'er and rushed into the small courtyard.

The scene in front of him made Zhang Cheng extremely embarrassed, Yang Hao was also a little embarrassed, but Lu Rui was very calm.

"Lord Changshi, the sky is blue and the sun is white, someone is openly tying people up on the street, what is your explanation?"

Yang Hao pretended to be lustful. He admired Zhang Cheng's ability to be civil and martial, shrewd and capable, and in dealing with the ghost gang, despite Meng Bochang's warning, Yang Hao still wanted to give him a chance to atone for his crimes, or to prove his innocence, but Zhang Cheng's performance made him speechless, his numbness, sluggishness, and inaction had reached the limit of his patience.

Zhang Cheng looked ashamed and indignant: "Please give the lower official a day, and the lower official will definitely give the adult an explanation." ”

"Then I'll wait for good news." Yang Hao said with a cold face.

Zhang Cheng bowed down and retreated in shame. Lu Rui took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, walked to Qing'er's side, and naturally grabbed Qing'er's arm. Qing'er silently pushed her arm away.

Yang Hao looked at this subtle change between the two, smiled secretly in his heart, and asked Lu Rui: "Do you still have the courage to go out now?" This is almost the first time Yang Hao has taken the initiative to talk to Lu Rui, and it can be seen that Lu Rui is very excited.

"I don't dare alone, if you accompany me, I will dare."

Yang Hao said: "Okay, then let's have breakfast and go out of the city together." ”

Lu Rui's eyes rolled and he said, "You guys eat first, I, I have to go back to do something." With that, she ran out in high spirits, and Yang Hao sent four guards to follow behind.

Yang Hao took Qing'er's hand and comforted: "She is alone as a weak woman, sending people under the fence, and she has suffered this fright, so she should be comforted by reason, my good lady, don't worry about her." ”

Qing'er sneered: "So, this is not mine." ”

Yang Hao said with a smile: "Madame is not wrong, it is my fault, I will accompany you." Yang Hao bowed, but Qing'er turned her face sideways and ignored it, Yang Hao moved her shoulder and persuaded: "Don't make trouble, go back and change your clothes." ”

Qing'er said: "What kind of clothes do you change, do you wear my clothes and throw them away from you?" ”

Yang Hao shouted: "What is this? Mrs. Yang just doesn't wear clothes and goes out, and she is also the first beauty in Yongfeng. ”

Qing'er was so ashamed that her face was flushed, and she stomped her feet and scolded: "Bah, bah, it's really a bastard who is not as good as a pig and a dog." He asked Yang Hao again: "Since they dare to attack you during the day, aren't they hitting the tip of their guns when they go out this time?" Lord Yang, aren't you using us as bait to catch thieves? Yang Hao was speechless, he couldn't laugh or cry. patted Qing'er and said, "Go back and change into bright clothes, find a few pieces of jewelry to wear, don't let people compare." ”

Qing'er was full of joy when she heard this, and went with a smile in her eyes. Looking at her back, Yang Hao secretly made up his mind: "Once the faceless meeting is over, send Lu Rui back immediately." ”