Seeing Sun Jiagan away, Yin Jishan stood on the bank of the Yangtze River and just hesitated. Of course, he paid attention to it, Qianlong only mentioned Kangxi in this secret edict, and did not mention "taking leniency as a government" but only blindly talked about "my emperor examined to clarify the rule of officials and rotate the world". With this edict attached to the two bribery cases in Shanxi, even the blind can see that the imperial court is going to rectify the rule of officials again. But how to fix it, it is difficult to guess based on this edict alone: it is like Kangxi, who persuaded hundreds of officials to "obey the law and set an example" and kill one to make an example; Or is it like Yongzheng to inspect day and night, grabbing, taking, and copying along the vine, and a plant is a big nest? He looked at Sun Jiagan's official ship, which had become as big as a sesame seed, and the vast river swirled rapidly from his feet to the east. Looking at the eastward flowing river, I felt that the stone bank I was standing on was drifting westward...... He had forgotten himself.

"Zhongcheng," said a long attendant behind him, "it's still a long way from the city." You always have to look at this place, and the little ones can get some food and drinks nearby. ”

"Huh? Not. Yin Jishan woke up from his reverie, turned around and got on his horse in front of Wangjiang Pavilion, and said, "I just had a meal with Master Sun, where are you hungry?" Let's go into the city together. I went to the Yamen of the river to meet Lord Qincha'e, and then I passed the decree, and then I went back to the post station. Go back to dinner. He rode his horse steadily, groaned again, and said: "To the west of the Ming Palace in the east of the city, we are afraid that there are only dozens of houses, right?" ”

"Yes, hundreds! It's a bad thing with Hurd, and the first emperor rewards the master-"

"Don't talk about that. Clean up the place, and the gentlemen who live in the Yali Garden, Xueqin, and Ming'er will move there. ”

"Yes! If the gentlemen ask......"

"Let's just say that the garden here needs to be repaired," Yin Jishan gently clamped his legs, and the horse was already walking slowly, "After repairing, I will naturally move in." ”

He stopped talking. A few fast horses trotted along the post road of Xuanwu Lake. After Yin Jishan broke up with his family, he went to see Eshan alone. Passing through a lonely area of the domain, you will see a piece of bamboo covered by a green hall and a tile house, and the river yamen has arrived. Eshan's Qincha Xingyuan is set up here. The soldiers guarding the door all recognized Yin Jishan, and when they saw him dismounting, they came up to say goodbye, and wanted to go in to report, but Yin Jishan waved his hand to stop and walked into the courtyard alone. Hearing E Shanzheng talking to someone, he smiled and said, "Gong E, an uninvited guest is here!" ”

"Is Elder Brother Yuan here?" Eshan replied with a smile in the house. Then the bamboo curtain was raised, and Eshan had already greeted him, and there was a middle-aged man in his thirties, wearing a gray poplin shirt, with a delicate appearance, but his expression was quite humble. He stepped aside, waiting for Eshan and Yin Jishan to salute, Fang carefully called each of them a thousand children, and said: "Lord E, you want to see a guest, if you have nothing else to do, you will leave your humble position." The silver will definitely be returned in a few months. Seeing that Eshan nodded and said nothing, the man retreated and hurried away. Eshan asked Yin Jishan at this time: "Haven't you already moved to the post station and closed your door?" What wind blows you? ”

Yin Jishan glanced at the man's back, followed Eshan into the study without saying a word, and did not take a seat, looked at Eshan and said slowly: "There is a secret message for you." Eshan was taken aback and hurriedly said: "Zhongcheng don't be busy, let me change my clothes and take orders." ”

"No need." Yin Jishan said dryly, "Because things were in a hurry, I also came in a hurry." After Eshan knelt, Yin Jishan said Qianlong's intention to order Eshan to preside over the township test, but omitted the original text of the secret message to Sun Jiagan and himself.

"Minister, Commander, Thanks!"

When Eshan got up, Yin Jishan said: "Sun Xigong has another envoy, I don't know why there is this holy decree suddenly, you have a merit in controlling the water here, and the emperor asked you to run a school, which also means experience." Eshan said: "The grace of the saint is high, this is not said, I just think it is too abrupt." Fang Cai also thought about strengthening the Gaojiayan Dam and asked them to calculate the cost of work. A will, and to deal with the literati and writers again. ”

Yin Jishan didn't want to sit more because he had something in his heart, so he stood up and said with a smile: "That person is from the account room?" I should have smoked the harvest and asked you to borrow money! In this way, you can explain the matter to them here, Ming'er, come to me at the latest tomorrow, study, play chess, okay? ”

"I really guessed it for you," E Shan also got up with a smile, "It was a pen post style that worked as an errand in the Jingli Internal Affairs Office, and I went to Yungui to make up for the lack of a thousand generals the year before last." He said that his family had suffered a disaster from Huilu, and he wanted to go back to his hometown to have a look, and temporarily borrowed 1,000 taels of silver from my river worker. When we were in Beijing, we often met, and it was not easy to be too affectionate. I gave him five hundred taels and took him away. I'll go tomorrow, you have a few more sets of rare books there, worry about the river work every day, listen to the sound of abacus beads, think about earthwork, stonework, and migrant workers, I am about to become a philistine! Saying that, they were outside the gate, and the two said goodbye.

Yin Jishan did not return to the post station directly, and turned back to the governor's yamen. I want to meet Liu Xiaolin and his colleagues, and personally appease a few words. It was after lunch, and the secretary of the governor's yamen went back to eat and did not come back, and it was very deserted, but I saw the old trees swaying, and the yellow leaves were scattered. The autumn scenery is very slaughtering. Yin Jishan paced step by step, and was about to arrive at the door of the West Flower Hall, and when he saw that there were still people in the official study next door, he couldn't help but be surprised: Will someone rush to the yamen to do an errand? So he stepped in, and saw several clerks who were sweating profusely and tying up some documents that had just been printed, and asked with a smile: "You guys are so early!" What are you busy doing? ”

"Ah, it's Lord Zhongcheng!" The clerks were all stunned, and they hurriedly came over to ask for peace, and the secretary in charge of the clerk's office said: "These are some sea fishing documents." I explained it last night, and it has just been printed and will be sent to various states and counties. The little ones eat in the big room. As he spoke, he handed over the manuscript. Yin Jishan browsed it, it was the text of the Criminal Department, signed by Shi Yizhi himself:

In order to investigate the pretending to be Sun Jiagan's imperial history, he ordered to commit Lu Lu's life without authorization. After receiving the letter, the provincial governors and yamen immediately strictly investigated and arrested. Lu Lusheng, now Chinese New Year's Eve three years old, was originally a pen post of the Yungui Tribute Library of the Jingshi Internal Affairs Bureau......

There were still many words below, and Yin Jishan was impatient to read them carefully, threw the documents on the table, turned around and left. After walking a few steps, Yin Jishan suddenly felt moved: thirty-three years old, the Ministry of Internal Affairs' pen post style - Yungui! Isn't that the person I just saw in Eshan? Turning around sharply, he grabbed the paperwork, read it carefully, and muttered, "The years are all the same...... Huilu? Borrow money? - " He shoved the paperwork to the clerk in front of him. Hurriedly said: "You ride a horse and fly to Lord Eshan, and ask him if he is this person!" I'm just waiting in the flower hall! He didn't go to the garden, but went straight into the flower hall, made a pot of tea and ate it, and waited restlessly for someone to return.

After about a quarter of an hour, there was a sound of horses' hooves outside the hall, Yin Jishan saw through the glass that Eshan was also coming, knowing that there was a chance that the matter was true, he walked out quickly, stood under the corridor and asked, "Egong, is this person?" ”

"It's true, he's Lu Lusheng." Eshan turned over and rode down, "It turned out that he escaped by doing a big case!" and he dared to come to me and borrow money. This thief is also bold! Eshan said and hurriedly went up the stairs, his expression was very annoyed, he sat on the chair with a red face, and said: "I am so kind, I almost lost the reputation of a bandit!" I don't know where he is now, what should I do with him? ”

"Can't run away from him!" Yin Jishan gritted his teeth and sneered: "He is Tuxingsun, and he can't get out of Nanjing City this time." Tell everyone to come over! ”

Several secretaries in the bookstore had already listened to the movement here, and when they heard the greeting, they all rushed in, standing down and bowing their hands to obey orders.

"There are a few orders, you pass them on at once!"

Yin Jishan stared at the window with his eyes, and said word by word: "The Yamen of Nanjing City Gate immediately set out to block all the main roads in and out of Nanjing City; With the garrison of the Eight Banners on the outskirts of Beijing, guarding all land arteries, martial law day and night, and all passers-by will be strictly checked; The Xuanwu Lake Sailor Yamen immediately stationed at the docks and wharves to conduct strict searches; Ships were sent to the river to blockade the waterway; According to the inspection envoy, the yamen immediately sent people to the counties around the city of Nanjing, and if there were suspicious people going out of Nanjing, they were immediately detained and interrogated; The Yamen of Nanjing Prefecture and County immediately sent officials to search all the hotels, as well as the Qinhuai brothel and other places. I must get this Lu Lusheng before dawn tomorrow - it's over! ”

"Wow!"

"Come back!" Yin Jishan said sharply, "Tell them that the smaller the momentum, the better, and the denser the investigation, the better!" Bring the Shanghai capture documents and send them to the various offices. Once the perpetrator is found, all suspicious persons are to be released immediately - go for it! ”

"Wow!"

The officials roared in response, and immediately split up to convey Yin Jishan's constitution, and only the two of them were left in the huge flower hall. Eshan had a gloomy face, and seemed to be unsettled as he drank tea one after another, looking out of the door from time to time. Yin Jishan knew his thoughts: this great-grandson of Epilong, since he entered the official career, he has been careful and conscientious, and he is very favored by Qianlong, and he does not want to leave a little stain in Qianlong's mind. This Lu Lusheng couldn't hold it, and the five hundred taels of silver he funded was an indescribable thing; Even if he is caught, he will inevitably be punished for borrowing treasury money to fund bandits. Yin Jishan saw that he was stunned with an empty cup, got up and poured him full of tea, and said with a smile: "Your ancestor is a dragon, has experienced more than 70 battles, and has made great achievements, so you have the guts?" I'll tell you, I'm so tightly arranged, just in case—come, let's play a game of chess, and in two hours, I'll tell you to meet this Lu Lusheng again!" - Don't be so depressed, even if you immediately found out that you came to ask the constitution to investigate the main crime, there was not even a small mistake! ”

"I can't win Yuan Chang today." E Shan reluctantly smiled and took the white son handed by Yin Jishan, "Now I can't say what happened to my ancestors, if I want to catch up with that time, I will usually kill people and set fires." I don't want to surpass my ancestors, I just want to live up to my ancestors. Yin Jishan said: "Prudence is one of the ways of preservation, and enterprising is also a preservation." I thought it was better to be aggressive than to be cautious. "Don't talk about it," Eshan said with a smile: "Your Go always loses to me, so you blindly 'forge ahead' for you, your own chess is full of faults, and you are greedy for my son, which is inferior." ”

Yin Jishan thinks about it, and this is indeed the case, his chess style is sharp, and he plays chess with people who are well-calculated and have a big scuffle, which often makes the opponent lose out of control. Eshan's chess looks soft, and he doesn't dare to meet the enemy head-on like cowardice, but the two play against each other, and Yin Jishan is difficult to win a game in ten games. The two chatted as they walked. Yin Jishan has completely forgotten about returning to the Ya to find Liu Xiaotian. But Eshan is in a trance today, and he really can't take a good step, more than a hundred years later, the southwest big horn has been pressed by the black chess strong army, and he wants to be wronged and survived, and the external situation is completely lost, and the external situation must be strengthened, and the white son inside is in danger of being wiped out. In desperation, I had to break through the siege, and I made a robbery in the southeast corner and resisted, a panic found a fake robbery, the robbery was also lost, and the sleepy son was also wiped out, so I had to smile and admit defeat, and said: "Spare you a game today, move to the post house and we will fight again!" Yin Jishan also smiled: "To be honest, I'm also uneasy today." Fang Cai's words were told to me by Xueqin. If you want to be a gentleman and not cut the fifth, it is more difficult than starting a business, and it is not easy to preserve it and be flexible and enterprising. If you don't keep it, you only get aggressive, you often fall into the trap, you only keep it and don't make progress, you don't open your mind, and over time you will become a hundred-legged worm, and you will die without stiffening......"

"Cao Xueqin, that's an amazing character." E Shan raised his face and sighed, "Yuan Chang, do you persuade him to make those "Dream of Red Mansions" with all kinds of flowers and snow?" Think about how good his grandfather Cao Yin was back then? His cleverness is used in a serious place, and the future is really limitless! Yin Jishan said: "How many books have there been since ancient times, I always feel that there is no match for "Dream of Red Mansions". Morality, speech, and meritorious service are all serious things. I don't think it's best to be an official. You and I are all big officials who live in eight seats, as soon as we go out, we are like clouds, sitting in the hall and responding, we want to smile when we see the top, and we smile when we see the bottom. For example, you and I are now a guest of honor, and when the first will comes down, maybe we will become prisoners, and we will not kiss each other, and we will not be close to each other—how many are heart-to-heart friends, and how many are really obedient to us? Xueqin is not, up to the prince, the elder brother, down to the poor scholars, or even the people in the wine shop and the Qinglou, as soon as they get on the edge of "Dream of Red Mansions", they are all fascinated. Xiaolin is a tanhua, what is the first person to fall, willing to grind ink and pave paper for him - you and I can't help but buy this account! That's the business! E Shan was silent after listening to it, and after a while, he changed the topic, "I'm only surprised, this Lu Lusheng will write that fake song?" It's incredible! He is the general manager of the Yamen of the Governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and he is still a military position, how can he get it? How could you have the audacity? ”

Speaking of this, Yin Jishan was also at a loss, thought for a long time, and said: "I don't understand, this matter is very strange." Liu Tongxun is really a bit of a doorman. As he spoke, he got up and came to the front of the book case with the pen in hand, and said: "I will draft a message to Shi Yizhi here, and I will say that Lu Lusheng has been arrested, and when he gets it, he will immediately use 800 li to speed up and hand it to the Criminal Department, and the rest of the matter has nothing to do with me." As he was talking, a Goshha came in outside, and Yin Jishan and Eshan stood up at the same time. Yin Jishan asked, "Have you taken the surname Lu?" ”

"No," said Nagoshha hurriedly, "the political envoy of the Confucian, Lord Yu Bingshui, came, and he heard that Zhongcheng was not in the post house, and said that he had something to ask to see. ”

Yin Jishan tilted his head and thought about it, and suddenly remembered that Ge Shunli of the clan had told him to make up for the lack of money for him last year, and he also brought a hand-copied "Book of Changes" by Cai Jing worth thousands of gold at that time. He played with this book for a few days, but finally didn't dare to accept it, so he returned it to Yu Bingshui and made up for what he lacked. I think this person is also a greedy handman. Yin Jishan said decisively: "Let's just say that the two Qin cha are busy and arrange the search for Qin criminals. If you have something to do, please see you when the autumn is over! After Goshha withdrew, E Shancai said: "I know Yu Bingshui, although he is from a miscellaneous background, he is actually very sensible and elegant. Yin Jishan smiled but did not answer, and slowly collected the chess pieces into the box. Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps outside, and several Goshha shouted excitedly as they ran: "Lord Zhongcheng, take it—the rabbit cub surnamed Lu held it in front of the Tianfei Gate!" ”

Eshan stood up all of a sudden, and when he saw Yin Jishan sitting firmly with a determined expression, he sat down again. For a while, I saw a few pro-soldiers carrying Lu Lusheng, who was tied like rice dumplings, and walked in quickly. That Lu Lusheng was very stubborn, and he was wronged while walking, and when he came in and saw that E Shan was also there, he twisted his head and raised his face, and said: "Mr. E, I borrowed silver to beat a strip, why did you take me?" E Shan raised his eyebrows and said sharply: "It's not about that matter!" What you have done, you know in your own heart! ”

"I don't understand!"

Yin Jishan sneered, didn't look at Lu Lusheng, fiddled with the floating tea with the lid of the bowl, and said, "Tell this thing that doesn't go up and down to kneel down and talk!" "I don't kneel if I don't understand!" Lu Lusheng raised his face and said, "Although my official is small, he is also an official of the imperial court. I am not your subordinate. Who are you? ”

"Get down on your knees!" Behind him, Goshha clamped his elbow socket with both hands, and kicked him behind his knee with his foot, "This is our Yin Zhongcheng!" With a press of the trend, Lu Lusheng already knelt down straight.

Yin Jishan smiled, put down the teacup and said, "I can't see that you are still a civil and military all-rounder, and the position of President Qian has really wronged you." Untie him. ”

"Wow!"

"Search him!"

"Yes!"

Several Goshha were all veterans of the torture room, and they shook off the rope three times and five times, and searched all over their bodies, but there was nothing else. All of them were silver tickets, as large as seven or eight hundred taels, as small as ten or twenty taels, and there were forty or fifty tickets. Goshha carefully presented it and said, "That's it, nothing else." Yin Jishan flipped through them one by one, handed them to Eshan, and turned his face to ask Lu Lusheng: "Do you want to understand this?" ”

Eshan naturally knew Yin Jishan's intentions, and silently put the silver ticket he lent to Lu Lusheng into his sleeve. Listen to Lu Lusheng say:

"There is no sin in lowly duty, but lowly duty does not understand!"

"Where did these silver bills come from, and what are they used for?"

"The lowly house was drained of water, and it burned to the ground. - These are all lowly and saved from the position of the office, and they are to be brought home. ”

Yin Jishan smiled and said, "Even if it's yes!" I ask you, how much silver is a thousand in a year? Lu Lusheng was stunned by his knife-sharp words, and hurriedly added: "I borrowed some of them." Mr. E can prove that he was intercepted by Yin Jishan before he finished speaking: "How much did you save in Luli, how much did you borrow, whose money did you borrow, and how much is the total?" Speak! He "snapped" the case, the pen inkstone, paperweight, and teacup all jumped high, and even Eshan, who was sitting next to him, was startled!

"This ......" Lu Lusheng's face was already soaked with sweat, and he snorted for a while, but he didn't speak.

"You probably don't know me Yin Jishan." Yin Jishan stood up with a smile, and slowly paced behind the case, "You pretended to be the minister's name, wrote a fake manuscript, and caused a catastrophe." The east window incident occurred, and he fled in a hurry. With many acquaintances, you want to go around and fly away, don't you? That day, the net was restored, and I didn't miss a few words, so I couldn't take care of it! His heart moved, and he said quietly: "With your idea of 'learning', you want to fool the world - do you know, if you are not the Duke of E, how can you fall into my hands?" He had already realized that if this case was overturned, there might be many hot nobles involved, so he gently pushed it, and gave Eshan the "first credit" of capturing Lu Lusheng vaguely without a trace.

How did Eshan know that the young governor had moved so many thoughts in an instant. It's a blessing not to get involved in the case, and it's naturally a matter of eagerness to get a credit. An imperceptible smile crossed his face, and he deliberately tensed his face and said, "I see that you are not a thing at a glance!" I didn't think you were so bold as to dare to make a forgery! This sin alone is enough for you to lose ten heads! Say, is it your hand that pretends to be in the name of Lord Sun? ”

"It's not...... Where did the lowly post come from so boldly? ”

"You won't recruit?"

"What a wrong!" Lu Lusheng had already vented his strength, and he didn't dare to play tricks anymore, he muttered, "I really don't know what ...... fake manuscript is not fake."

Yin Jishan knew that it was very inappropriate for Eshan to ask. But he also wanted to know a little bit of the inside story, and now he was happy to be topped by Eshan, a nerd who was not involved in the world, so he smiled gloomily beside him and said: "But I'm afraid that under your five punishments, you will have to endure the suffering of flesh and skin......

"Yes!" A word reminded E Shan, E Shan thought to himself, he was also a minister of the Qin mission, so he naturally asked, so he shouted to the left and right: "This is the Qin case, there must be no delay for a moment - someone is coming, the big punishment is waiting!" ”

Dozens of Goshha looked at each other, they couldn't figure out whether it was their chief official who was asking about the case or this chief of the river was asking about the case, and when they saw Yin Jishan like a stone man, Mu Ran sat upright and was silent. One of Goshha agreed, and ran to the front of the torture chamber as if flying to get the torture instruments. With a "bang", a brand new pair of oak sticks was thrown on the ground.

"See?" Eshan smiled proudly, "Piao Gao has evil arts, and when he arrives in the lobby of the criminal department, as soon as the three ropes are tightened, he will recruit." Are you steely? Seeing that Goshha had put the clamp stick on Lu Lusheng's calf, he was ready to stop. E Shan gritted his teeth and shouted in a cruel voice: "Collect!" ”

The four old torturers each dragged a rope, and seeing that Yin Jishan looked like nothing, he had to obey the order and take it violently. Na Lu Lusheng shouted "Mom", and his upper body struggled desperately in pain. The lower half of his body was tightly clamped, but he couldn't move at all. He was covered in cold sweat, barely struggled a few times, and then fainted, and a servant took a sip of cold water with a bowl and sprayed it on his head with a "poof". Seeing him wake up slowly, Eshan smiled and said, "If you refuse to move, next time you will break your bones!" ”

"Recruit ......" Lu Lusheng collapsed on the ground like mud, panting heavily, "I'll recruit." That's—the forgery is from me......"

"Whose mastermind and whose instigation?"

“……”

"Huh?!"

"Don't!" Lu Lusheng looked at the general Heqin cha who had generously lent him the money, and looked helplessly at Yin Jishan, who was sitting firmly in the Diaoyutai, and said, "I really don't know who the mastermind is. As you know, I have many acquaintances in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Last year, a man named Qin Chuan took a few people to Yunnan, we had a drink in one place, talked about many things in the palace, and said that today is a faint king, and the first emperor died and did not understand. He also said that it was the first emperor, and he was not a serious master, and it was originally supposed to be passed on to the fourteenth master, but it was Long Keduo who played the ghost and changed it to 'pass on to the fourth son'. The country has been turned upside down, and the real master and prince have been pitted. I said at the time, 'If it weren't for the bad luck of the eighth master, I would at least get a general to do it, and my father would have been implicated and frozen to death on Heilongjiang Dao'er.' Selling children to buy cage drawers, in order to fight (steam) this breath, what kind of person am I? I really want to write these nonsense things so that everyone in the world knows what kind of trick the emperor is.'" ”

"As soon as I said it, Qin Chuan laughed and said, 'Do you want to exterminate the clan like that?' The most daring person in the world to speak is Sun Jiagan, the first emperor and the emperor are afraid of him, you make a fake for him, and it will immediately spread all over the world - people believe in him - that is, the emperor is turning this over, with Sun Jiagan on top, you are fine, I will ...... Written. handed it over to Qin Chuan and brought it back to Beijing, how did he get it in Beijing, the prisoner really didn't know ......'"

Speaking of this, Lu Lusheng swallowed a breath and said with a sad face: "I somehow committed this bastard...... I did this—I wanted to make a splash, but I got haunted myself......" he muttered, cursing so much that no one could hear what he was saying. Eshan said impatiently: "Don't say these useless! What about Qin Chuan? ”

"Back to ...... When I went back to Beijing, I heard that he had typhoid fever when he returned to Beijing...... He's dead! ”

"Fart!"

"Really...... It's true! ”

Yin Jishan saw that this Eshan, who was eager for good fame, was going to be tortured again, and knew that if this case was retried, he would not be able to stand idly by, and he would also be involved, so he stepped on Eshan's toes under the case. E Shanben is not a stupid person, but now he is angry, and he also wants to get rid of it, but he was used as a gunman by Yin Jishan. At this time, he knew that there was another reason, so he rolled down the stage and said: "And take it to prison!" Hello think about it, the bamboo tube poured beans truthfully and moved well! ”

After everyone retreated, E Shan looked at the unpredictable Yin Jishan and asked, "Yuan Changgong, you seem to have something to say?" ”

"Nothing important." Yin Jishan leisurely looked at the white clouds flying south in the sky, let out a long breath, and said, "The top is called to take this person, we take it, that's enough." Asking the case is Liu Tongxun's business. ”