Duan Chengwen took out the complaint that Qin Ling handed him yesterday before he fainted from his sleeve and handed it to Qin Ling.

"Yesterday this thing was handed over to me, and you fainted." Duan Chengwen shook the complaint in his hand and said to Qin Ling. "I think I'll have to wait for you to wake up and look at it."

Qin Ling looked at the blood on the complaint, then looked at the medicine bowl in his hand, and simply raised his head and drank the medicine liquid.

"You should know about Jiangnan's official salt." Qin Ling put the empty medicine bowl in his hand on the side of the bed and said. "Huaishu County, where I live, and neighboring Songchen County and Wannian County have salt wells. At the end of last year, I discovered some clues at the same time as the county officials of Songchen County and Wannian County, and found that in the official salt farms of the three counties, the loss reporting rate was rising year by year, and the accounts and inventories of the salt farms were obviously not in line with each other. ”

"Do you suspect that someone has done anything in the official salt works?" When Duan Chengwen heard this, he couldn't help but speak, "Have you confirmed it?" This is a felony that will cost the head and implicate the family! ”

"Our three counties are just small counties that rely on the salt farm, and the three of us were only suspicious at first, but the more we tried to investigate, the more we found. Gradually, it is not surprising that there are people in the city who are involved. The accounts of the official salt factory were originally to be submitted to Fucheng, so many problems that can be seen by discerning people at a glance, why no one in Fucheng has been able to find out about the problems for several years. ”

"And then, have you been seen as horses' feet?" Duan Chengwen thought for a moment before asking again.

"Yes, the three of us are just a small county magistrate, and we just cooperate with the county order to do some paperwork on weekdays, and occasionally decide some small cases of chicken and dog theft between neighboring villages." Qin Ling let out a long sigh and spread out the fine scars covered in his palms. "The three of us copied the evidence and hid it at home, thinking of thinking of reporting this matter to the next level, but we couldn't find a suitable way for a while. Soon, I noticed that there were more unfamiliar faces around me and around my house, and I knew that someone behind the scenes had come to my door. It doesn't matter if I'm dead, it's just that my wife and children are innocent and I have to save them. Fortunately, my wife's maiden family is the general manager of Caoyun, and the family not only has a nursing home for the house, but also has some prestige in the local area. ”

"Did you send your wife and children back to your parents' house and set off for the imperial capital?"

"No, I thought that since I was targeted, my two colleagues should also be targeted. I was so upset that I had seen off my wife and children that night, so I slipped out of the house in the heavy rain to go to the house of two colleagues to warn me. My premonition came true, I was late, and my two colleagues and their families were slaughtered that night. Qin Ling remembered that rainy night, and everywhere his eyes went, there was scarlet and blanched blood. Their home had been visibly rummaged through, and all the evidence in their hands was gone, except for the one I had with me. I hid my whereabouts for a few days, but I only saw that the officials sent by Fucheng to investigate the case were hastily closed as a case of mountain bandits plundering and murder, and after everyone's bodies were pulled back to Yizhuang in Fucheng, a fire even the corpses of the people who died in vain were not preserved, and I had to linger among the local beggars for a few days in order not to affect my wife and children, and then begged all the way to the imperial capital,"

When Duan Chengwen heard this, he saw Qin Ling with tears in his eyes and nodded at him.

Slowly, he unfolded the blood-stained complaint in his hand, and quickly skimmed through it at a glance. Although the content is not very detailed, it is written on the idea.

"According to you, this case is indeed a bit strange." Duan Chengwen closed the complaint in his hand with a calm face and said. "It's not just that it's written in this complaint, Jiangnan Mansion is the top priority in the Jokhang territory, two county officials and their family members were killed on the same night, and one county minister disappeared on the same day, I am now in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Officials, but I have not received any information about this matter reported by Jiangnan Mansion City."

A few years ago, the previous secretary of the ministry took the initiative to write to Emperor Chu because of illness and old age, and returned to his hometown to live in peace.

There are four divisions under the Ministry of Officials, which are in charge of the appointment and dismissal, examination, promotion, decoration, transfer and other affairs of all civil officials in Dazhao, and determine the stay, stay or promotion of officials according to their strengths and weaknesses in terms of body, speech, writing, judgment, morality, talent, and labor performance.

Although the county is only a small official of the eighth grade, after all, he is also an official who has received a serious court, and although the county is not very powerful in the local area, it is the link between the imperial court, the villagers and the clan. Two county officials died violently at home, and one county official disappeared on a rainy night, but Jiangnan Fucheng covered up the matter and did not report the matter to the Ministry for registration.

Thinking about it, the matter was indeed as Qin Ling guessed, there were indeed people involved in the official offices of Jiangnan Fucheng, and after disposing of the two county officials who knew about it, they hid the matter, probably in order to prevent the officials from sending people from the side to fill the vacancies, and then there would be extraneous branches.

"The complaint only wrote the conjecture of you and your two colleagues, whether it is empirical evidence or not, Jiangnan Mansion is so far away from the imperial capital, I am afraid that it will be a little difficult to do." Duan Chengwen looked at Qin Ling a little helplessly and said.

He was telling the truth, although the murder had already confirmed that Qin Ling and his colleagues' investigation was indeed true. But the people behind the scenes have already dealt with the follow-up, and the homes of the two county men who were slaughtered have been copied completely, and nothing has been left. The bodies of all the deceased were also disposed of.

"There is empirical evidence, I once secretly copied a copy of the account book of the salt field in Huaishu County." Qin Ling has the ability to imitate other people's handwriting. "The ledger material is easy to obtain, and I swapped my copy with the one in the salt farm. It's just that it's inconvenient for me to carry this kind of thing with me, and it's still hidden in Huaishu County. ”

Duan Chengwen did not agree to Qin Ling, only let him recuperate in the mansion with peace of mind, and still left two attendants to take care of his daily life.

Qin Ling was interested and did not chase Duan Chengwen how to deal with this matter.

Duan Chengwen returned home to accompany Duansu County Lord, Duan Shaolan, and Sister Chu, and the family had dinner together.

"Brother Lan, come with me to the study." When the maids stepped forward to take away the dishes and chopsticks, Duan Chengwen instructed Duan Shaolan to go to the study with him. "Yes, father." Duan Shaolan immediately got up,

"Sister Chu, my father has something important to tell your brother," before getting up, Duan Chengwen touched Sister Chu's head and instructed her. "You're here to spend time with your mother, okay?"

"Okay." Sister Chu hugged the arm of the Duansu County Lord and replied with a smile.

"Alright, you father and son, go quickly." Lord Duansu nodded and said.

Duan Chengwen, Duan Shaolan father and son entered the study one after the other, as soon as Duan Chengwen entered the study, he asked the people waiting in the study to retreat, and then turned around and ordered Duan Shaolan, who was walking behind him, to close the door of the study.

"What's wrong with my father today?" Duan Shaolan was a little puzzled, Duan Chengwen was the secretary of the ministry, and he himself served Emperor Chu in the Jinqi Guard, and there was no official business between their father and son. But he looked at Duan Chengwen's expression, looking very solemn, and he didn't want to talk about private matters at home.

"You look at this thing first." Duan Chengwen walked to his desk, pulled out the complaint from a secret pavilion on the table, and placed it on the table. "Sit down,"

"Yes, father," when Duan Chengwen bent down to take out the complaint, the sharp-eyed Duan Shaolan had already seen the mottled bloodstains of the complaint. "What is this? Why is there still blood on the top, is it something that happened to my father recently? ”

"Don't worry, the blood on my head isn't mine." Duan Chengwen hurriedly reassured Duan Shaolan and said. "You'll talk about it after you've finished reading this."

Duan Shaolan had no choice but to take the complaint from the table, sit on the chair next to the desk, and read it carefully.

After about a quarter of an hour, Duan Shaolan finally digested all the contents of the complaint, at this time, the complaint was not only about the theft of official salt set up in the three counties under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan Fucheng, but also about the fact that the two county officials who discovered the theft of official salt and their families, and all 56 people were killed overnight.

All the salt mines in Jokhang are under the jurisdiction of the official salt farms, and private individuals are not allowed to steal salt mines or set up salt farms, and once discovered, it is a felony to kill the head, confiscate family property, and harm the family.

After reading it, the expression on Duan Shaolan's face also changed subtly.

"Can a son ask his father?" Duan Shaolan knew that if this matter was true, the consequences would be very serious, so he condensed his expression, folded the complaint, and pushed it back in front of Duan Chengwen, "This complaint should be written by the county man named Qin Ling mentioned above, how did my father get this complaint, and are my father and Qin Ling old acquaintances?" ”

"The complaint was originally made in triplicate, and two of them disappeared after the two county officials were killed along with their families. The one I have in hand is what Qin Ling carried with him and handed it to me yesterday. Duan Chengwen said. Qin Ling was born in the imperial examination at the same time as me, and I married your mother after the middle examination, and I was valued by your grandfather and maternal grandfather, and my career went exceptionally smoothly. Qin Ling's ranking was not good back then, his family was poor and had no connections, but fortunately, his luck was good, although he only got the position of the county leader of the eighth grade, but he was assigned to a rich place like Jiangnan. However, he has a straightforward personality and does not know how to be flexible, and he is still in the position of county leader for decades. The last time I had a correspondence with him was a year ago, and yesterday on my way back from the Yamen of the Ministry of Officials, he threw himself down in front of my carriage in the guise of a beggar and handed me such a thing. ”

"Father, is he credible?" Duan Shaolan asked the question in his heart.