"Master, the villain's field is here."

A yellow-faced and thin-skinned man stood next to Su Hao half-bent over, pointed to the ground in front of him, and said timidly.

Su Hao raised his eyes and saw an undulating wasteland in front of him, and he could vaguely see the traces of the flood half a year ago, some places the topsoil was washed away by the water, revealing the sandy soil below, and in other places, the river mud was silted, which seemed higher than others. The wasteland is overgrown with weeds and occasionally a few half-dead trees, and there is no special feature that distinguishes this plot from the rest.

"How can you be sure that this field is your family's field?" Su Hao asked.

The man lowered his head and was silent, presumably because he didn't want to tell some secret. Su Hao could understand the mood of a peasant protecting his property, and he didn't feel embarrassed by him, just walked forward by himself, looked at the situation around him, and waited for the official of the Andong County Ya to find the local powerful landlord Zeng Feng for questioning.

After Su Hao agreed to settle the dispute over Haoqiang's occupation of the peasants' land by taking advantage of the flood, Han Wen began to make arrangements. He first sent a letter to his subordinate prefectures and counties, claiming that the government would send people to investigate the matter and ask the prefectures and counties to cooperate. Although the governors and counties of various prefectures and counties had ghosts in their hearts, they did not dare to openly oppose the government government's intervention in this matter, and they all expressed their gratitude to the prefect for personally interfering in the disputes of the people under his rule, and at the same time arranged for officials to prepare for the commissioners sent by the government government.

Pan Jitao's side, Han Wen also went to say hello. Pan Jitao was busy discussing with Ma Yu and them about the excavation of the Huai River through the Yellow Culvert at this time, and Su Hao couldn't play any role in this matter, so he didn't say a word, and agreed that Han Wen would borrow Su Hao away, but added a request for Su Hao to take the opportunity to survey the downstream river, to which Su Hao naturally agreed.

After everything was arranged, Han Wen handed over dozens of farmers who had complained to Su Hao, and asked him to lead people to implement the situation one by one and solve the problem. Su Hao asked the families of these peasants to settle down, and then set off with them, accompanied by more than 20 soldiers from the survey battalion, as well as Chen Guanyu and the newly recruited down-and-out Zhou Ruyuan, the reason for bringing the latter was that Zhou Ruyuan claimed to know very well about the situation in the prefectures and counties under Huai'an Prefecture, and could provide Su Hao with some behind-the-scenes information.

After receiving dozens of cases, Su Hao naturally couldn't solve them at the same time, so he could only investigate them one by one in order of distance and proximity. The place they went to today was in Sangyuan Village, Chaohe Town, Andong County, and the man next to Su Hao was the farmer who complained, named Hu Lin, and he claimed that the big landlord in Zhuangzi had forcibly occupied his family's land, and Su Hao had brought him to confront Zeng Fengxian.

"Master Su, Zeng Yuanwai has already been invited."

Zhao Hua, the official of the Andong County Ya, came to Su Hao with unhurried steps, bowed to him slightly, and then pointed to a fat man he brought and introduced Su Hao.

The fat man was dressed in a silk cotton robe, and his face was full of red light, which was in stark contrast to Hu Lin's yellow face. Hearing Zhao Hua introduce himself to Su Hao, he stood up straight, clasped his fists and saluted Su Hao, and said in his mouth: "Master Su, the student has been polite first." ”

...... the students, Su Hao looked at the wrinkles on Zeng Fengxian's face and his huge belly, and couldn't help but be a little funny, just such a rich man in the countryside actually followed the appearance of a Sven man and called the officials a student. He nodded slightly, and asked Zeng Fengxian lightly: "So, Zeng is also a famous person?" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, the student is just a showman, and it's not worth mentioning in front of adults." Zeng Fengxian said. He just heard Zhao Hua say that the commissioner sent by Huai'an Mansion was a six-rank official, and he heard that he was sent by Beijing, and according to common sense, it was speculated that the six-rank civil official had to be a jinshi, so he could only claim to be a student.

"My grandfather Zeng has also taken the township exam, and he only needs one person to be promoted." A dogleg who followed Zeng Fengxian interjected proudly, presumably wanting to put some gold on his master's face.

Zeng Fengxian turned his head and pretended to reprimand at the dog: "Zeng Gui, what are you talking about in front of adults." Can I mention my humble knowledge in front of Master Su? ”

After training the dog's legs, he turned back to Su Hao and said, "Master Su, don't blame Master Su for being ignorant and bragging." However, when the students took the township examination that year, they were indeed only one short, which led to lifelong regrets. ”

Su Hao didn't care about the imperial examination either, where would he be interested in these things, he interrupted Zeng Fengxian's words, pointed at Hu Lin with his finger, and asked, "Zeng Fengxian, this peasant farmer, do you know?" ”

"Know, know, know." Zeng Fengxian said repeatedly, "This Hulin brother is also in our Zhuangzi, everyone has been a villager for many years, how can Zeng not know him." ”

"Oh, it's good to know. That official sent you today, do you know what's going on? Su Hao said, for these powerful landlords, he must hold a little shelf, after all, he is a six-grade official, and it should be enough for the official authority to scare and scare this kind of rich landlord.

"Zeng knows." Zeng Fengxian said, "The field of this Hu brother's family was washed away by water and could not be cultivated, so I wanted Zeng Mouyun to give him a few acres of good land." It stands to reason that the villagers in this township, Brother Hu's family suffered a disaster, and Zeng should help him. Unfortunately, the floods in the past two years have been very serious, and Zeng's family has not been spared, so there is nothing I can do to help. ”

"Outside the former member, you speak clearly!" Hu Lin said angrily. In front of Su Hao, he didn't dare to speak loudly, but in the face of Zeng Fengxian, who had forcibly occupied his own land, he couldn't control his emotions. He took two steps forward, pointed to Zeng Fengxian's nose with his finger, and said loudly: "This land was originally my family's, but it was forcibly taken away by you. Outside of the former member, you still have to be shameless! ”

"Presumptuous!" Without waiting for Zeng Feng to say anything, the official Zhao Hua stepped over, pressed the handle of the knife with his hand, glared at Hu Lin and shouted: "In front of Lord Su, how dare you be so noisy!" ”

"This ......" Hu Lin subconsciously took a step back, turned his head to look at Su Hao, lowered his voice by half, and said: "Master Su, you must not believe the words of this surnamed Zeng, this land is clearly mine, and I have the title deed as proof." ”

Before Su Hao went out, he was already mentally prepared for this kind of scene where the public said that the public was justified and the mother-in-law said that the mother-in-law was reasonable, and the words that Zeng Fengxian said did not exceed his expectations. He put his hands behind his back and said to Zeng Fengxian: "Zeng Fengxian, this Hulin does have a title deed in his hand, which proves that he has eight acres of land, and you say that he has slandered you, so where is his field?" ”

Zeng Fengxian pointed to the side with his hand and said, "Master Su, this Hu Lin family's field is actually over there. Because the flood washed away the boundary pillars, it is not clear where the boundary is. ”

Su Hao followed Zeng Fengxian's point and looked to the side, only to see that there was a white sandy land, and not even much grass had grown. Such land could not be cultivated at all, and if Hu Lin recognized this land, the family would have to wait to drink the northwest wind.

"Master Su, he's talking nonsense!" Hu Lin argued, "That land is the original river flat, and it has always been ownerless, and it is impossible to grow crops at all. The villain's eight acres of land are real fields. This surnamed Zeng said that the flood washed away the boundary pillar, which is complete nonsense, and this boundary pillar is buried several feet deep in the ground, how can it be washed away by the water. It was clearly that he took advantage of the fact that my family was fleeing the flood and asked the family to pull out the boundary stakes of my house. ”

Zeng Fengxian said: "Master Su, he is talking nonsense." It is true that his land is a field, but when there is a flood, the soil in these fields is washed away, leaving only some sand, so it becomes like this. He was because the original field could not be cultivated, so he wanted to blackmail the villain's Ueda. In this case, the county magistrate has already been sentenced, who knows that this scoundrel has come to sue again, and he is tired of the adults to run away in person. ”

"You ......" Hu Lin couldn't help but be angry when he heard Zeng Fengxian say this, and wanted to step forward to theorize.

Su Hao raised his hand, stopped Hu Lin, then turned his head to Zhao Hua and asked, "Zhao Yashi, you were the first to handle this matter, do you have any opinions on this matter?" ”

Zhao Hua said: "Lord Su, this flood washing away the boundary pillar is not a new thing in this county. It stands to reason that this pillar should be buried deep in the ground, but some people want to save trouble and don't want to spend money on too big a pillar, so when the flood came, it was washed away. ”

"Oh, I see." Su Hao nodded.

The pillars used to demarcate the boundaries are generally made of granite and buried in the ground, with only a little head exposed. According to the regulations, the boundary pillars should be buried more than two feet in the soil, so that even in the event of floods, it is difficult to wash away. However, it is true that some farmers are reluctant to spend money to buy gneiss, so they are buried relatively shallowly, and when the water is particularly large, the possibility of the boundary pillars being washed away also exists.

However, when it comes to this case, Su Hao doesn't quite believe in the statement that the boundary pillars were washed away by the water, Hu Lin told him that the boundary pillars in his field are buried very deeply, and if they can be washed away by the water, the ground will have to be washed away several feet. The piece of sand that Zeng Fengxian was referring to was clearly the sand that had been exposed to the ground for many years, not the sand left behind after the flood as he said. It is true that the soil thickness of the alluvial plains in the lower reaches of the Huai River is not large, but to say that it is so thin is to defy the intelligence of dignified geologists.

The land deed of Hu Lin's family says that his eight acres of land are 180 steps east to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village and 135 steps to the west of Shendun in the north, which is also extremely clear. It's a pity that the flood passed and washed away more than half of the Xishendun, and the big locust tree was also washed down, moving more than a dozen steps away, and it was impossible to find its original location. Master Su, you also know that this is a dozen steps away, and Shangtian will become a barren field, and what Zeng Yuanwai and Hu Lin are fighting for is actually a place more than a dozen steps away. ”

Zhao Hua seemed to be humble, but there was an unquestionable attitude in his tone.