Speaking of which, the first time Geshu Lao Shuai met Tan Rong was on the execution ground.

The reason is that as the newly appointed Pingshan magistrate Tan Rong - in the investigation of a case characterized as "Demon Extermination", it is too serious. Not only did they overturn the documents that had been closed before, but they also reopened the investigation and found a series of officials at all levels.

And his superiors, under tremendous pressure, found an opportunity to accuse him of fornicating with the demon clan, and prepared to be beheaded after the autumn.

Tan Rong was not convinced, and in prison, he crossed the level and wrote a letter to the highest person in charge of the Mangguan area, Geshu Hanbei

It's just that Tan Rong didn't have a lot of hope at the beginning.

The old handsome man is entangled in all things and wears many hats. A person has to deal with both military affairs and government affairs. How can I have time to administer a single unjust case?

Pingshan County is just a small and inconspicuous place under the vast pass. That is, there is no production of war horses, and there are no heroic talents. Like most places, the people of Pingshan County are very boring, the land is quite barren, and the rivers are somewhat dirty.

Where the fart is bigger, there are a few things that can be used as a talking point after dinner.

Therefore, once there is one thing, everyone will talk about it for a long time - not to mention the recent "Demon Extermination" case.

Here's what happened: Early one morning in April, Zhang Sangou from Pingshan County was opening the door and sweeping the street when he suddenly smelled a strong smell of blood. The smell of blood comes from the family of He Yuanwai, the richest man in Pingshan County. Zhang Sangou had the courage to go up to investigate, and through the half-hidden crack in the door, he saw the stumps and broken arms of the whole family outside He Yuanwai, and none of the corpses were intact.

So, for the first time in his life, Zhang Sangou had a big brain hole - the demon clan slipped in to eat people?

At that time, Li Shihong, the magistrate of the county, checked for a long time, but he couldn't find a Wan'er. Therefore, the case was hastily closed with the demon clan exterminating the door.

Of course, this case was closed half a month later. The only witness, Zhang Sangou, also seems to be missing, and even the body cannot be found.

The discussion lasted for a month, coinciding with Tan Rong having just taken office.

Tan Rong happened to hear the second child of a tea stall talking about this case on the way to office. This is a terrible statement, the new magistrate was taken aback at first glance, and said on the spot: "No, this case is definitely not done by the demons." ”

Then, he didn't even report to the county, but rode directly to He Yuanwai's house on horseback to check the case.

Tan Rong came to He's house and did two things:

The first is digging up the remains of the He family, who have been buried in the soil of the back garden for more than a month. If it was the demons who tore human limbs, why was the incision of the bones so flat and smooth?

The second thing, investigation - to find the traces left by the demons. However, this more serious Lord Tan surveyed the entire He family, and he didn't find any signs of demon activities, not even a trace of demonic energy!

With these two things alone, Tan Rong has already confirmed the conjecture in his heart - this case is definitely not done by the demons, but by man-made!

Three days later, Tan Rong finally went to Pingshan County to report, and the first thing he did when he took office was: to re-investigate the Pingshan massacre.

Tan Rong clearly remembered that after saying this, the county Cheng's face was pulled down. And the forty or fifty people in the county were also staring at the newly appointed county magistrate, as if they were looking at a monster.

Soon, Tan Rong took the people of the county government to Zhang Sangou's house again, and found Zhang Sangou's body that had been rotting and soaking in water for many days under the well at the door of the dirty hut that seemed to have no one living in it.

And in the next step, the newly appointed county magistrate once again refreshed the lower limit of everyone.

This adult, he, Tan Rong, in front of all the officials of the Pingshan County Ya, arrested quickly, and in front of the people, dissected Zhang Sangou.

And the situation at that time was:

Tan Rong took out a small dagger from the sleeve of his official uniform and slowly walked towards Zhang Sangou's corpse, all the members of the county government held their breath, and even the passers-by who were watching were holding their breath, staring wide-eyed to see what kind of reputation the county magistrate was doing? As a result, except for Tan Rong, all the county officials and people who watched the play vomited out the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner one by one.

That night, Tan Rong went to the county Cheng's house, and the county Cheng faced this more serious county magistrate, so he had to sit opposite Tan Rong honestly and tell him what happened half a month ago.

At that time, the demon extermination case had been closed for more than a month, and Li Shihong, the county magistrate, was promoted for solving the case. And the new magistrate Tan Rong has not yet arrived.

Therefore, the entire Pingshan County was governed by Lu Chang. Therefore, this acting leader has been happy for a long time, and he gets drunk every day.

Lu Chang clearly remembers: One day half a month ago, that is, the night someone reported that Zhang Sangou was missing. On the third watch in the evening, I slept in the county government and was woken up in a dream.

When I woke up, I found that there was no one around me to call me. Lu Chang shook his head, scolded secretly, and planned to continue sleeping.

Suddenly, Lu Chang noticed that there seemed to be a few dark shadows floating in the window, and someone outside the window was shouting his name. Lu Chang went to open the door, but there was no ghost outside the door.

Lu Chang patted his head fiercely and smiled dumbly, thinking that he was hallucinating after drinking too much.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a loud noise from his bedroom. Lu Chang was taken aback, and then turned around and hurried back to the house.

The bedroom is still the same bedroom, but there is a large box, and when I open the wooden box with good lacquer, I find that the wooden box is full of gold bars and a secret letter with vermilion lacquer.

In the middle of the night, the ghost was still by the window, a box of gold bars...... Even if you're drunk, it's time to wake up.

Lu Chang opened the envelope and wrote: "The matter of Zhang Sangou's disappearance is not allowed to be investigated, and it is not allowed to be publicized. You have divided this chest of gold with the brothers of the Yamen. Otherwise, you, and all the servants, will die. ”

After seeing this letter, Lu Chang's expression was extremely frightened. However, this little official, who has been in the officialdom for many years, understood one thing on the spot: if he doesn't do it, he can only die. The other party wants to pinch himself to death and pinch an ant to death.

After a while, there was another uproar in the county government. After a while, the county government's arrest and the third class of officials. Dozens of people broke into Lu Chang's room in a panic, and when they saw the gold, they were all taken aback, and their faces turned pale.

It was then that Lu Chang learned that it turned out that that night, the black shadow also notified other people in the county office. One by one, they only saw the dark shadow outside the window, but they didn't see anyone.

This is the tragedy of "Demon Annihilation" that has caused a lot of uproar in Pingshan County in the past month.

The result was: the He family, the richest man in Pingshan County, was wiped out, the informant Zhang Sangou was killed, the former county magistrate Li Shihong was promoted, and the entire county government had a gold bar.

Gold bars, gold bars, the richest man? - Tan Rong suddenly thought: Since the He family is the richest man, there must be a lot of gold and silver treasures in the family, but what about these treasures now?

Tan Rong stared at Lu Chang and said coldly: "How did the He family's belongings be handled?" Recruit from the truth—"

Lu Chang was sweating profusely, knelt on the ground and shouted: "Here, lord, we went to He's house, and we didn't loot a penny of property." Brothers can testify to this. Damn, it's also weird, where did all the money of the He family go? ”

Tan Rong fell into thought: "Sure enough...... The case is not simple. ”

After the interrogation, Tan Rong left. Because he really didn't want to see the smiling face of the county Cheng Lu Chang full of "flattery and falsehood." ”

Return to the county office.

I heard someone say leisurely: "Brother Tan! Do you endure hardships and don't remember hardships? Three months ago, you were about to be promoted, and you were demoted from the imperial capital because of meddlesomeness. Now you're looking for trouble? You must know that finding trouble here is not as simple as degrading officials. If you can't get it right, you have to explain your life here. ”

Tan Rong smiled, sat on the chair and took a sip of tea: "Haha, it turned out to be the god catcher Yang Yanfeng." What, you're following me all the way? ”

"Actually, I couldn't figure it out." The people on the second floor walked down slowly. The person who came was wearing a hat and covered by a black cloak, and it was Yang Yanfeng.

However, at this time, he has not yet participated in the border army of Geshu Laoshuai. Instead, he quit his job as a night crow catcher, left the imperial capital, and escorted Tan Rong, a friend of the year, all the way to Mangguan to take office.

Yang Yanfeng was surprised: "How can there be a person like you in the world?" Other people's officials are getting bigger and bigger, why are your officials getting smaller and smaller. ”

"Because, they're not as smart as me, haha!" Tan Rong laughed, stood up and moved his muscles and bones, and then picked up the file again and looked at it.

"Can't you just be less busy?" Yang Yanfeng, who came downstairs, sighed helplessly: "Do you know that just as you came all the way from the imperial capital to Mangguan, how many killers did I repel who came to chase you?" Even, there are people who subdue demons and forbidden troops. Oh my God, man, what a big deal have you been up to? Whoever can mobilize the Forbidden Army—"

"I can't." Tan Rong said very firmly: "Isn't there still you?" ”

Yang Yanfeng coughed: "Ahem, let's get down to business, Lord County Commander." My money is almost spent. There will be delicious food and drink for you along the way, and you will be given some ...... up and down after passing through the checkpoints along the way."

"It's okay, brother. When I was an official in the Criminal Department, I still had some life-saving money. Tan Rong carefully swept the case file and put it away: "As long as you plan it well, you can still hold on until the day of the fortune." ”

Yang Yanfeng rolled his eyes: "So, Lord Shilang of the Criminal Department, may I ask how much silver you still have?" ”

"Five taels." Tan Rong smiled: "For me, it can be used for a lifetime." ”

Yang Yanfeng snorted and said with a smile: "I, it's a shame of officialdom to have a third-grade official like you who only plans to spend five taels in his life." ”

Tan Rong sat on the chair and smiled when he heard this: "Yanfeng, I am no longer a member of the third grade, but a member of the seventh grade." ”

"Do you know, Lao Tzu admires you for this - the heart is really wide enough!" Yang Yanfeng snorted and said, "It's not in vain that I resigned from the job of catching gods and came to this vast pass on the front line of human demons with you." ”

Tan Rong smiled awkwardly, and suddenly his eyes turned cold: "Yanfeng, I'm going to investigate the case tomorrow." However, my goal is too big, and there are some places that are difficult to check. So—"

Yang Yanfeng said with a straight face: "I understand, I understand, your old Tan wants me to go to Longtan Tiger's Den to say a word, there is no need to swallow and vomit." ”

Tan Rong shook his finger and said with a smile: "No, you are in the dark, and I am in the light." Brothers work together to solve the case together! ”