"This ...... Where does this begin? Lord Wang, the lower officials have been wronged! The county magistrate lowered his head, and his eyes rolled wildly.

"Wronged? You really don't cry when you don't see the coffin! Do you want this king to gather the people of the whole county and confront you on the spot? Li Yu sneered, he pointed at Li Canghai and snorted: "Standing in front of you, it's the current Dali Temple Zhengqing!" In this world, there is no case that he can't solve, do you plan to confess yourself, or let Dali Siqing help you confess? ”

The county commander was in a cold sweat and didn't dare to speak.

"Okay, I'll see how long you can last." Li Yu put his hands behind his back and suddenly shouted: "Someone! Take off his official clothes to this king! For the crime of dereliction of duty, he was sent to Bozhou Mansion for strict interrogation! ”

The two guards immediately stepped forward and held down the county order, and took off the official obeying the county order.

The county commander suddenly trembled and almost collapsed to the ground, Pang Wenchang saw this, and hurriedly shouted: "Slow!" ”

Pang Wenchang looked at a few people, and said righteously: "Lord Wang, the Ding County Order is an official appointed after the assessment of the Ministry of Officials, even if it is dismissed from his official position, the Ministry of Officials should be responsible, right?" But as far as the late life knows, the prince doesn't seem to have the right to interfere in the affairs of the officials! ”

When Li Yu heard this, a trace of anger suddenly rose in his heart, he looked at Pang Wenchang with interest, and said, "You dare to speak out to stop this king, you are a little bold." ”

Pang Wenchang looked neither humble nor arrogant, and said with a straight face: "The prince is serious, and he is just talking about things in his later life." In doing so, the prince is really suspected of overstepping his authority. ”

Li Yu's face was a little angry, he was about to speak, but was stopped by Li Canghai.

"The prince has no right to dispose of it. But I don't know if this official has this right? Li Canghai asked lightly.

Pang Wenchang narrowed his eyes and said, "Master Li is the secretary of Dali Temple. In charge of the world's prisons, if an official commits a crime. Adults naturally have the right to investigate. But when it comes to dismissal from official positions, adults don't have that right. ”

"You're confident." Li Canghai stared at him and said.

Pang Wenchang was a little proud, daring to contradict the emperor's relatives and relatives, and said it speechlessly, what a great honor!

Hearing Li Canghai's words, he hurriedly bowed his head and saluted, pretending to be modest: "Don't dare, don't dare." ”

"But if you think that your familiarity with the policies of the imperial court will help him get away with it. Then you couldn't be more wrong. Li Canghai glanced at him coldly, took out the dragon seal from his arms, and shouted: "This seal is given by the saint, seeing the seal is like seeing the saint!" ”

Everyone in the inner hall, including Li Qi, knelt down and saluted, and said in unison: "See Your Majesty, may my emperor live a long life!" ”

Li Canghai clasped his hands into fists and saluted in the direction of Luoyang: "Holy bow!" ”

After saluting, the people got up. Pang Wenchang's face suddenly turned into ashes, and the county commander Ding Xingan was directly paralyzed on the ground.

"Pang Wenchang, now, does this official have the right to dispose of him?" Li Canghai asked lightly.

Pang Wenchang gurgled in his throat. Before he could speak, the remaining squires suddenly wailed, "Your Excellency." We were all persecuted by Pang Wenchang and Ding Xing'an! They planned all this, and they deceived the people into trusting them at first. Then I asked me to wait for the money to buy the land. When the land was in hand, they took the money. Not only that, but they will also take half of the rent we receive! We are all good people, and if we were not persecuted, how could we do such things? Please be gracious! ”

"You...... You guys! Surnamed Dong, when you got the land contract at a very low price, I didn't see any mercy on you! Now, you want to bite back? You cross the river and tear down the bridge, you are simply white-eyed wolves! Pang Wenchang scolded angrily.

"My lord, everything the grass people said is true, all of this is planned by Pang Wenchang and Ding Xing'an, their purpose is very clear, that is, to collect money!" The squire snapped.

"One side is an incompetent county order, and the other side is an unscrupulous squire, neither of which is a good thing!" Di Qing snorted coldly.

Li Canghai said lightly: "Ding Xing'an, as a county magistrate, was greedy for money, regardless of the life and death of the people, removed from his official position, and sent to Bozhou Mansion for disposal. Pang Wenchang, as a student, has an impure mind, insults Confucianism, reforms his reputation, and will never be allowed to participate in the imperial examination! As for you, you unscrupulous squires, ....... ”

He paused, looked at the few people whose bodies were trembling, and said: "This official will spare your life, but you must return all the land deeds to the people, compensate the people for their losses according to three times the money, and open a warehouse to release grain and give relief to the people." Do you have any objections? ”

Several people's bodies trembled, and they were busy kowtowing, and said: "No objection, what the adults say, we will definitely do it, and we will never dare to slack off in the slightest." ”

"There is also a matter of gathering all the officials of the Ministry of Industry in Shansang County to dig ditches and build canals, and bring the water of the vortex river to the dry place. The money needed to dig the ditch, as well as the food, must be borne by all means! Li Canghai shouted in a deep voice.

Several people looked at each other, this is a lot of money!

"Why, you don't want to? This is all to help you get rid of the locust plague, don't be ignorant! Li Yu snorted.

"Rid of the plague of locusts?" Several people looked at each other.

"This official will leave a set of methods for controlling locusts, and will also let people from the Ministry of Industry come to assist you, and after the new county order arrives, this official hopes that you can assist him and govern according to the method left by this official." Li Canghai said.

"If we can get rid of the plague of locusts, we have an unshirkable responsibility, but this plague is so serious, how can we deal with it?" A few people asked suspiciously.

"Didn't you hear what the gentleman said? He will leave the law of governance, and all you have to do is do it the way! This king can say ugly things in the front, if anyone dares to cheat and play tricks, or has a careful eye, it will be exiled from the house! Li Yu looked at his hand over and over again and said.

"Don't dare, don't dare! We will do our best! Several squires were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat and nodded their heads again and again.

Li Canghai immediately repaired a letter and ordered someone to send it to Gao Luochuan, the secretary of the Luoyang City Officials, so that he could arrange for a capable person to come and take over the position of county commander.

After that, officials from the Ministry of Industry of Bozhou Prefecture were ordered to come to survey the terrain.

Since everyone needed to rush to Yangzhou, Li Canghai left the law of governance and several Jianning iron guards. One is to help everyone, and the other is to monitor whether the squires are honest or not.

So. There was another overnight delay in Shansang County.

The next day, before dawn. The crowd braved the rain and left Sansang County.

"Canghai, how sure are you of that governance method?" Di Qing looked at the endless fields that had been abandoned for a long time, and asked worriedly.

Li Canghai was closing his eyes to recuperate, and when he heard Di Qing's words, he opened his eyes, shook his head and sighed: "To be honest, these are just my guesses, and I am not too sure. The method has been left. As for the process, it is up to them, if they can re-establish the ecological chain, the locusts can be eliminated. Besides, it's the best way to do it once and for all. As for the effectiveness, we will not know until next year. ”

"I thought that this locust infestation was a natural disaster, but I never thought that it would be a man-made disaster like the flood in Zhengyang County. A group of black sheep who have done nothing have harmed the people of the entire county, and this is just one of them. I really don't know how many people in the world are living in such dire straits. Di Qingxiu's eyebrows frowned slightly, and a touch of sadness appeared on her delicate face. She paused and sighed: "I used to hear my senior brother say that 'heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs'. Now. After going through so much, I found out. It turns out that what the senior brother said is right. ”

Li Canghai opened his eyes and looked at Di Qing in surprise. It seems that she didn't expect to say this.

After being silent for a moment, Li Canghai sighed and said, "Heaven and earth are unkind, and all things are used as dogs. The real meaning of this sentence is not that heaven and earth have no mercy for all things, but that heaven and earth treat all things equally, just like a straw dog, and there is no special thing for anyone. However, it is the greed of the human heart that makes this sentence have a different meaning. ”

Di Qing was taken aback, looked at Li Canghai in a daze, and said, "Canghai, how can your words be so similar to what my master said?" The master also said the same thing, alas, if the master saw you, he would definitely accept you as an apprentice! ”

Li Canghai smiled dumbly and said, "I don't want to be a monk and a Taoist. ”

Di Qing also nodded seriously and said, "Naturally, you can't become a Taoist monk, if you become a Taoist priest, won't anyone pay attention to the injustices in this world?" I don't know how many people will have nowhere to redress their grievances! ”

Looking at the gloomy and oppressive sky outside the car window, Li Canghai's face became more solemn.

After the group left Shansang County, they quickly stepped up and spent another three days finally arriving in Yangzhou.

Yangzhou, belonging to Huainan Road, in the first year of Tianbao, changed Yangzhou to Guangling County.

Unlike other provinces, Yangzhou has not been plagued by locusts or floods, and is still extremely rich.

Green mountains and green waters, pleasant scenery.

As one of the three prosperous cities of the Tang Dynasty, although Yangzhou does not have the imperial atmosphere of Chang'an and Luoyang, it has a tranquil and peaceful style of wealth.

In terms of prosperity, it is no less than Chang'an and Luoyang.

From Luoyang to Yangzhou, all they saw along the way were the sufferings of the people, which always lingered in the hearts of everyone with an extremely depressing atmosphere.

It wasn't until they came to Yangzhou that everyone's mood was finally much easier.

In the city of Yangzhou, people come and go, and it is very lively, even more prosperous than Luoyang.

Li Canghai and others came to Yangzhou City, asked the direction of the county guard, and everyone went along the bluestone avenue.

When they came to the county guard's mansion, after everyone identified themselves, the county guard Yang Shicheng hurriedly came out to greet him.

In the main hall of the county guard's mansion, Yang Shicheng and other Yangzhou officials gathered one after another and saluted Li Qi and others: "The lower officials see the two princes, the county lord, and Lord Li!" ”

"Your Excellency, you don't have to be polite." Li Qi sat down and said lightly.

"Lord Wang, didn't you say that you can only arrive tomorrow? How could it be a day earlier? Xia Guan Ben made arrangements, and he went out of the city tomorrow to greet the prince, he didn't want the prince to arrive today, but Xia Guan failed to greet him in time, and he hoped that the prince would atone for his sins! Yang Shicheng said respectfully.

"Lord Yang doesn't need to be polite, this king and others came on the order of the saint, so naturally they don't dare to slack off." Li Qi said.

"Yes, yes, yes, what the prince said is very true. The lower official ordered someone to prepare a banquet for the two princes, the county lord, and Lord Li. Yang Shicheng bowed again and again and said.

Li Canghai asked, "Lord Yang, I wonder if the envoy from Dongying has come to Yangzhou?" ”

"I haven't received any news yet. However, according to the time calculation, it should be within these two days. Yang Shicheng said.

Li Canghai nodded and said, "Order people to stay at the dock day and night, and once the envoy arrives, notify me immediately." ”

"Your Excellency, rest assured, Xiaguan has already sent capable officers to guard the dock day and night, as long as the news is received, it will definitely be communicated in time." Yang Shicheng said.

Under Yang Shicheng's arrangement, everyone lived in the county guard's mansion.

In the evening, Yang Shicheng arranged a banquet to catch everyone.

Along the way, not to mention the bumpy road, all the food brought by the people was distributed to the poor people, and everyone had to gnaw on hard steamed buns for two days.

Li Qi grew up outside the Saiwai since he was a child, and he didn't feel much about these hardships.

Di Qing is a person in the rivers and lakes, and he doesn't care.

Li Canghai has no special requirements for eating.

But Li Yu suffered a crime, and he brought a cart full of delicacies, almost didn't eat much, and distributed them all.

Li Yu, who has never been wronged in the slightest since she was a child, has been like a delicate girl for the past two days, weak, and shouting hunger in the carriage all day long.

At this time, Yang Shicheng arranged a table of delicacies, and he didn't care about the image at all, and devoured it desperately.

While eating, he muttered to himself in his mouth: "In the future, if you go out again and don't bring enough food for ten or two carriages of food, this king won't come out if he is killed!" ”

Everyone was speechless for a while.

Just as the staggering and drunkenness were rising, a servant rushed in and shouted, "Lord County Guard, I am waiting to find a few corpses by the river, judging from the clothes, they seem to be from Dongying!" ”

"What? The people of Dongying? You're not mistaken? Yang Shicheng jumped up and asked in a lost voice.

"Lord Hui, those corpses are dressed very similarly to the Kuwashima Ronin, and the small ones will definitely not admit their mistakes!" The official replied.

Everyone stopped their wine glasses, Li Canghai frowned, stood up and asked, "Where did the corpse come from?" ”

The official said: "I don't know this, I was ordered to stay at the dock, waiting for the Dongying envoy ship, but I accidentally found the body, so I came to report it in a hurry." ”

"Oh no, could it be that something happened to the envoys?" Yang Shicheng was taken aback, and a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead.

If there is an accident in Yangzhou, this crime is not something he can afford, this crime will not be the crime of killing the head, how can he not be surprised?

"Lord Yang, don't panic, whether it is an envoy from Dongying or not, it's too early to say, so let's go and see the situation." Li Canghai thought for a while and said.

"Great, with Master Li coming forward, the lower officials will be relieved." Yang Shicheng's eyes lit up and he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Li Canghai nodded, then took Xiao Wu and left in a hurry with the servant.

Yangzhou has developed waterways since ancient times, and the canal was opened in the Sui Dynasty to connect the Yangtze River and flow directly into the sea, which contributed to the prosperity of Yangzhou.

Along the canal, there are many wharves, in addition to civil wharves, there are also official wharves.

Li Canghai and Xiao Wu, under the leadership of the guards, came to an official pier that was much larger than other docks.

The official flag of Datang is planted around the wharf, indicating that other ships are prohibited from docking at this wharf except for government ships. (To be continued.) )