Director Lu of the Dongying Taxation Bureau and others stood on the south bank of the Yellow River and looked at the boats on the Yellow River. It is some distance from the mouth of the Yellow River, and the Yellow River looks a little stagnant at this time. Because of the high tide in the Bohai Sea, the tide is competing with the Yellow River to see who has a higher water level. The pressure from the estuary made the river seem to be a little stagnant.

So the boat went as far upstream as possible. Beneath the seemingly stagnant surface of the water is not calm, two different forces converging, inspiring undercurrents and whirlpools. There are many captains who are accustomed to the Xiaoqing River entering the sea who are greedy for less distance, and as a result, they lose their lives.

When the ship finally landed, someone disembarked from the ship. Director Lu immediately greeted him and saluted, "Uncle, you're finally here!" ”

The man who was called Uncle was a burly man, and after seeing Director Lu, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Erlang, you have been gone for so many years, and you have forgotten the rules of courtesy!" ”

After hearing this, Director Lu was stunned for a moment, and then showed a slightly embarrassed expression. In the rules of the Great Song Dynasty, only the sacrificial genius kneels and worships, even when he sees the official family, he only bows down. After Zhao Jiaren and Zhao Guan's family came to power, bowing was also canceled. The military is to raise their hands and salute, and then shake hands. The civil servant probably just shook hands and was done. Many have even been reduced to raising your hand to say hello. Compared with the rules of the Great Song Dynasty, the rules in the north became bigger and bigger under the rule of the Great Yuan. When the younger generation sees the elders, they have to bow down.

"Uncle, the residence has been prepared." Director Lu said, and then led the way in front.

The group went to a place that looked like a village, with some rammed earth houses, and when they entered, they saw that they had laid clean straw beds. After settling everyone down, the uncle went door-to-door and said, "Erlang, you are also an official of the Great Song Dynasty, so let everyone live here." ”

"Uncle, I only have two thatched huts in the county. This is a place that is intended to be used as a trading point, and now that no one lives there, everyone can live here as they please. Director Lu replied. He almost said that I would give you the best place to live.

"You're an official. Look at which of the officials on Dayuan's side is not a few houses, and they hold filial piety every day. You say you only have two huts, hehe! As soon as the uncle laughed, several people next to him couldn't help laughing.

Director Lu was originally unhappy, but after hearing this, he was even more unhappy in his heart, and he invited his relatives to come over to avoid the disaster this time, in fact, he was also a little showy. Unexpectedly, the behavior of these relatives was so arrogant, and he couldn't help but wonder in his heart if he had made the wrong choice.

Recalling the letter he received from his father today, Director Lu had to believe his father's words. In the letter, Dad told Director Lu more implicitly that the reason why he left home to do business in Rizhao was not actually as he said before, but because his family paid for help. It's because he had a conflict with his family and had to leave. I said before that the family helped, so that the people on the other side of Rizhao felt that there was someone behind this outsider. The reason why I didn't make it clear to Director Lu was because I didn't want to lose face in front of my son.

Judging from the bad performance of his relatives, Director Lu felt that this should be true. If it weren't for the resentment in the hearts of relatives, where would they show such a strong antagonistic attitude. But since everyone is here, Director Lu can only accept his fate. Leaving some food and cloth for his relatives, Director Lu prepared to leave.

Uncle stopped Director Lu and asked, "Erlang, do you really want to keep us here?" ”

"It's safe here. Don't worry. Director Lu responded.

"Then you at least take the elders to live in the county seat." Uncle was unhappy and put forward conditions.

"The county has stipulated that people from the north are not allowed to enter the county seat. If I had brought someone in, they would have been discovered. At that time, I will not talk about my official position, and bring my elders, won't it hurt them! Director Lu said half-truthfully.

Listening to Director Lu's sternness, the uncle showed an expression of understanding, "So that's the case." ”

After explaining this, Director Lu was able to leave here. He also regretted it along the way, maybe his own assertion was indeed Meng Lang. If I had asked my dad earlier, I probably wouldn't have had such a thing. However, Director Lu is also very curious about what his father has done to be hated by the family until now. Director Lu was still young when he left home, and he didn't know anything about things between adults.

When I returned to the county gate, I saw a carriage driving into the county gate where there were already guards. Looking at the standard carriage used by the Great Song officials, Director Lu was very curious, what kind of official came to inspect this.

When I rushed forward to look, I saw Section Chief Liu Chong coming out of the car tremblingly, and Director Lu didn't know what to say. He really didn't expect Section Chief Liu to be a person who could ride in a carriage.

In fact, Director Lu is not wrong, under normal circumstances, Section Chief Liu Chong does not have the right to ride in a carriage. But he was in pain, and he couldn't ride a horse at all. The director of the Jinan Intelligence Department of the General Intelligence Bureau of the Great Song Dynasty gave special permission to send Liu Chong to Dongying in a horse-drawn carriage. If he is physically able to afford to ride a horse before leaving, it will take at least ten days and half a month. Coming out of the carriage and looking at everyone's eyes, Section Chief Liu Chong also felt a little embarrassed. Such carriages would be recognized as officials in Jinan, and if they were in Hangzhou, they would be all over the streets. In Dongying, everyone who sees it is eye-catching. Some people even heard the news and rushed from other streets to see this beautiful new carriage.

When the person in the communication room at the door saw the carriage arrive, he no longer sat at the window and asked. Instead, he got up and ran out to the front of the vehicle, apparently wondering who was in the car. The crowd of onlookers and other staff members of the county yamen stopped to watch, and Liu Pet felt very embarrassed when he walked out. He thought it would be nice if he got off at a distance from here.

However, things have come to such a point, Liu Pet can only come up hard. What I saw was not a terrible official, but Section Chief Liu, who had come before, and the faces of the people in the communication room showed disappointed expressions.

When he arrived at the magistrate's office, the magistrate asked, "I heard that Section Chief Liu came by carriage?" ”

These words made Liu Chong feel even more embarrassed. He could only reply: "I had a little leg injury and could not ride a horse, so I came in a chariot." ”

"Whose car is that?" The magistrate continued to ask.

"It's our intelligence unit's car." Liu Pet replied, without waiting for the magistrate to speak again, Liu Pet said: "I was ordered to come to do intelligence gathering work. The other is the placement intelligence work of the trading point. I should be in our Dongying for a while. ”

"Then where are you going to live?" The magistrate asked.

Hey, hey! Liu Pet was surprised in his heart. What exactly does this mean by where to live? Last time they stayed at the county guest house, this time they just continued to live in the guest house. Could it be that the guest house is already full of victims from the north?

Thinking of this, Liu Pet asked a little hesitantly: "Isn't it okay to live in the guest house where you lived?" ”

"Absolutely." The magistrate replied. Everyone looked at each other awkwardly for a while, and the magistrate called the secretary over, "Take Section Chief Liu to the guest house." ”

The secretary looked more capable than the magistrate, arranged a room for Liu Chong, and asked, "Does Section Chief Liu have any other requirements?" ”

This was originally a prescribed civilized phrase, but Liu Chong climbed down the pole, and he asked, "Are there any members of the Three Holy Gates in our county?" ”

"The ...... of the Three Holy Gates" the secretary responded. Judging by his expression, this title was not unfamiliar to him.

Liu Pet immediately took out a pack of cigarillos, handed one to the secretary, and then lit it for him. The secretary quickly thanked him for it, lit it, took a sip, and then coughed. After coughing, he took a big breath and showed a satisfied expression. Although the cigarillo is more rushed, the aroma after that is quite strong. In fact, if the secretary didn't inhale the cigar in his lungs, but just breathed it out in his mouth, he probably wouldn't have choked and coughed.

took another puff, this time the secretary only took a shallow puff of cigarette, and then replied: "Before the Yellow River came, the Three Holy Gates had temples in this area. The Yellow River came, and the temple was washed away. The territory on our side is small, and we don't let the Three Holy Gates collect incense money from the people, so the people of the Three Holy Gates have gone to the north. ”

"What gods do the three holy gates worship?" Liu Pet continued to ask.

After taking another puff of his cigar, the secretary continued to reply, "It's Sanxiao Niangniang." Legend has it that they were in charge of the water, and it is also said that they were in charge of the Yellow River......"

"Is there a Sect that is all in one place?"

After some inquiry, Liu Pet asked the secretary to leave. Opening the notebook, Liu Pet read what he had recorded again. It was all about the various sects that he had written. In fact, there are no martial arts sects on Dayuan's side, and some of them worship various so-called immortal associations, Taos, and sects.

Dayuan claims to be 'freedom of religious belief', and as long as each sect can rely on the government's side, it can legally preach. For these existences, the attitude of the Great Song Dynasty was based on the concept of the Zhao official family, and first completely purged in the ranks of officials.

For those who openly believe in religion, the Zhao official family gave them two paths, the first is to stop believing in religion and continue to be officials. The second way is to continue to be religious and get out of the ranks of officials. Therefore, there are many people who are actually religious, and they are also staunch non-believers. And did not dare to go to religious activities.

As for the same in the army, religious believers cannot be soldiers, which is also the rule of Zhao Guan's family.

After these two rounds of review and education, Liu Chong, who originally inherited the 'son is silent and strange', no longer has any mood and plans to believe in religion. It was also with this experience that Liu Pet joined the society after being tested. Members of the Society who conceal their religious beliefs are subject to terrible punishment. Therefore, Liu Pet has no possibility of believing in religion.