Hangzhou Mansion, which is the center of the entire Hangzhou city.

Today's Hangzhou prefect's surname is Wei Mingtao, who is a fellow jinshi for the eighteenth year of the Great Tuesday.

The so-called Tongjinshi is a candidate who has not been admitted to Jinshi, and generally speaking, it is almost the same to be a magistrate. Wei Tao was able to become the prefect of Hangzhou, half of which was made by boiling qualifications, and the other half was because he gave a lot of gifts to the national teacher of the dynasty, so he became a prefect.

The so-called 100,000 snowflakes of silver in the Qing Governor's Mansion in three years, the gifts given back then, have doubled over the years.

Now that he has reached the age of retirement, Wei Tao is also satisfied, just wait for the next prefect to come, and after completing the handover procedures, he can be a rich man with peace of mind.

As a former prefect, after returning to his hometown, he is a proper village sage. In this year, the life of the townspeople may not be moistened by some prefects.

Thinking of this, Wei Tao couldn't help but smile on his face.

Seeing Wei Tao's expression, the master next to him couldn't help but remind: "My lord, the monk of Lingyin Temple is still waiting in the public hall, look?" ”

This master is Wei Tao's henchman, the kind of henchman who is going to be brought back to his hometown to be a housekeeper, so Wei Tao didn't put on a stand as an official, and said a little impatiently: "Wait, just wait, hasn't the murderer been caught yet." ”

"My lord, I don't think this lawsuit is so simple, there must be something else hidden in it." Master reminded.

"Hehe, how can this official not know. Why did the Daoling monk appear in the Sanzang Building in the middle of the night? That little monk is from out of town, how dare he commit murder in the Sanzang Tower? The truth of the matter is definitely not what the group of monks in Lingyin Temple said. But so what? ”

Wei Tao sneered a few times and continued: "Let's not talk about the life-saving grace of Zen Master Ji for my whole family, how much money has Lingyin Temple made us in the past few years. It's just a little monk from out of town, what is the truth, does it matter? The official is about to step down, so he should sell it to the last favor of Lingyin Temple. ”

The master also understands this truth, but there is another concern in his heart.

Yesterday, the master's brother-in-law came back from outside the city and told him a strange story.

It is said that when he entered the city yesterday, a hundred-zhang giant with a blue face and fangs suddenly appeared on the official road, this giant had a beard like fire, and had four arms, and he reached out and grabbed the horse pulling the cart next to him, stuffed it into his mouth and ate it.

At that time, the people who entered the city were so frightened that they scattered and fled, and the brother-in-law said that he was so frightened that his legs were weak and he couldn't even run.

When he heard this, the master laughed and scolded at the time: "The giant who is still a hundred feet tall is so huge that the entire city of Hangzhou can be seen, and the horse pulling the cart is not as big as the giant's toes, and he still grabs it and eats it?" Isn't it hard to bend down and pinch ants? ”

At that time, the master only thought that his brother-in-law was bragging, probably because he was scared stupid when he encountered some fierce beast, and he boasted that he was a giant for fear of being made fun of.

However, the brother-in-law shook his head like a rattle and said resolutely: "It's really a giant, it really has four arms." Maybe not as tall as a hundred feet, but it's really a behemoth. ”

The master looked at the brother-in-law's expression and didn't feel like lying, so he listened curiously.

Listening to the brother-in-law's description, the giant was extremely ferocious, it was not enough to eat horses, and it seemed that he still wanted to eat people, so he almost grabbed him and stuffed him in his mouth. But at this time, a golden light fell from the sky, suppressed the giant on the earth, and saved everyone.

When the golden light dissipated, I saw a little monk trampling the giant under his feet. This little monk was extremely handsome and compassionate, and not only suppressed the giants and saved everyone, but also treated the wounded, and gave him a lot of gold and silver.

Finally, the brother-in-law took out a few golden beans.

The master repeatedly verified and determined that these were real gold, which was worth a lot of money. If you lie, you can't pick up the gold on the road.

The master didn't take this story to heart, even if he really met a master outside the world, it was just one more talking point, which was considered the luck of the brother-in-law.

But today, the monks of Lingyin Temple came to complain, saying that the little monk from outside hurt the people of Lingyin Temple, which is too coincidental.

"Lingyin Temple, the little monk from outside, and the ...... of the Dharma Conference" The more the master pondered, the more he felt that these things were related.

But before he could figure out the secret, someone suddenly came to report: "My lord, Nie Zhengyan from the capital, Lord Nie has arrived." ”

When Wei Tao heard this, he quickly stood up and sorted out his official uniform.

The new prefect of Hangzhou has finally arrived, this is a big man from the capital, although the release of Beijing officials can be regarded as being degraded, but regardless of origin or status, he is much higher than Wei Tao, he doesn't want to make any trouble before returning to his hometown.

After a while, Nie Zhengyan, who also changed into an official uniform, appeared in the inner hall of the mansion.

The so-called no comparison, no harm, the two old and new Hangzhou prefects stand together, whether it is temperament or appearance, Nie Zhengyan is much better than Wei Tao.

"Lord Nie has been working hard and hard." Wei Tao said politely.

Although Nie Zhengyan had just arrived in Hangzhou, he was in quite good spirits, and he couldn't see the slightest tiredness, so he bowed his hand to Wei Tao and said, "Lord Wei is polite." ”

Originally, Wei Tao was still a little jealous of Nie Zhengyan, for fear that this big man from the capital would deliberately make things difficult. The handover of the prefect's position is not just the end of sending the official seal over.

All the files, treasury property, and all kinds of armor and food in the government must be checked and calculated one by one, and it will take at least half a month to complete them. If one or two key things are missing, it may be a major murder.

Wei Tao had already prepared the gold and silver for bribes, hoping that Nie Zhengyan could raise his noble hand and let him retire peacefully.

Now it seems that this Lord Nie does not seem to have the intention of playing prestige, and he is so polite that Wei Tao is flattered.

The two sat down and began to be polite in the officialdom.

As for other trivial matters, there are naturally the following people to deal with.

When Nie Zhengyan came to the mansion, the master was very sensible to deal with the handover with the people brought by Nie Zhengyan.

One is flattering, the other can be regarded as a corporal of courtesy, and the conversation is extraordinarily harmonious.

The two were chatting happily, but someone came to report: "Lord Wei, the prisoner has been brought to the court." ”

Wei Tao frowned, he didn't have the heart to care about the matter of Lingyin Temple now, and it was the key to quickly establish a good relationship with Nie Zhengyan.

But Nie Zhengyan heard this, and hurriedly said: "Lord Wei doesn't need to care about this official, please take official duties first." ”

"Lord Nie is really a model for my generation, since Lord Nie has taken office, why don't you let Lord Nie try this case?" Wei Tao invited with a very low posture.

Nie Zhengyan hurriedly refused, saying: "This official has just arrived and doesn't know anything about the case, so it's better for you to try it, Master Wei." ”

Wei Tao didn't continue to invite, just a kind word just now, to test whether Nie Zhengyan had the intention of seizing power immediately. Now it seems that this Lord Nie is indeed very good at talking.

Wei Tao felt that he was really lucky, and he just happened to quickly close the case, drawing a perfect end to his career as a prefect.

"In this case, the case of Lingyin Temple suing the Daoran monk of Jinshan Temple for hurting people will be tried by this official."

When Nie Zhengyan heard this, his face suddenly changed.

"Wait, Lord Wei just said, who is the defendant?" Nie Zhengyan asked.

Wei Tao didn't know why, but he still repeated: "The Taoist monk of Jinshan Temple, I heard that he just arrived in Hangzhou yesterday, but he didn't expect that in just one day, he would do something murderous and hurt people, which is a shame for Buddhism." ”

Nie Zhengyan Huo Ran got up and said to Wei Tao: "Lord Wei is right, since this official has taken office, it is within the scope of this official to be promoted to the court to try the case, so this case will be tried by this official." ”

Wei Tao: ???