After the end of this case, there were no thieves in Xiangyang County for a long time, knowing that Li Li was very powerful and good at catching thieves, and thieves did not dare to ignite the fire on the cusp of the limelight.

However, after a few years, the involution is serious, and many people have no income, so there are some crooked ways, and some are returning to their old business.

Li Li had a headache and had nothing to think about.

At this time, Tang Lu came back from the Western Regions, he went to the Western Regions to take a look, to see the customs outside, and felt very interesting, and had a long insight, so as not to be old and unable to run.

When Li Li heard that Tang Lu was back, he immediately went to the door in person to ask him for ideas.

Tang Lu has long heard that theft in Xiangyang County has become popular recently, there must be a reason, he knows it in his heart, and after listening to Li Li's narration, he is even more sure of his guess, that is, it is definitely not an accidental phenomenon, there must be an invisible force supporting it, that is to say, an invisible network, like a huge spider web, invisible, or easy to ignore, actually exists, intricate, and does not know the whole. If you can't find your head, it's troublesome.

It's a hassle to not figure it out.

"My lord, there is a big thief behind the thief, and there must be an exchange of interests. Large households compete with each other, especially those who do business and make a fortune, and they are worried that others will surpass themselves, so they may take the next three indiscriminate means such as petty theft, stealing the money of competitors, so that the other party has no working capital, or fall into economic difficulties, temporarily miss the time to purchase, because there is no money, it will also cause a certain loss of reputation. In this way, he suppressed his opponent, improved his competitiveness, and slowly fell into the opponent to death. This is the struggle between the big families. By the hand of a thief. Tang Lu said.

"It's reasonable, but I don't know who it is."

"Are there several shops in Xiangyang City that do the same business?"

"Yes! Just like silk and satin shops, there are also those who sell rice and noodles, as long as they are private, there are dozens of them. ”

"It's not surprising, I went to check them one by one, I'm afraid it won't work, and I have to wait for the thief to be caught. Presumably, the wealthy families are guarding against each other and strengthening anti-theft measures, and the adults will not be impatient, and it will not be long before someone will be arrested and sent to the official. Tang Lu said.

"Really?"

"Yes, if you don't believe it, wait. If there is no thief to send the official, he is willing to gamble and lose ten taels of silver. Tang Lu said.

"Hahaha, that's good!"

Sure enough, on the third day, someone sent a thief to report to the official.

Li Li secretly said to himself that he was surprised, this person is really a god! I can see what is going to come.

So, Li Li hurriedly sent someone to invite him to participate in the trial, that is, to go through the court, to see what progress was made, and to see how to make the best decision, so as not to have problems behind his back.

The thief claimed that he was not a thief of his own volition, after all, he was weak-hearted and was entrusted by others, but he did not say who entrusted it.

"Who is the one who kneels?" Li Li asked.

"The youngest surname is Li, the fourth in the family, and people call me Li Laosi." The thief said.

"Li Laosi, how do you say that you were entrusted to steal, this is the first time that the official has heard of it, tell me, who is entrusted by him?" Li Li asked.

"I can't say this, if you say that the small one is dead, if you don't say the small one, you can't live well. Adult Mingjian. Li Laosi said.

"What are you kidding? When you go to the court, if you don't say anything, your skin and flesh will be damaged. You don't want to cover for people, you can't take on this responsibility. You communicate with each other and cover each other up when you commit crimes, don't think that your officials are weak and curious, and can deceive the past and not hold you accountable, in fact, you are wrong. Li Li said.

"Adults, small ones don't dare to say it."

"Is it a massive theft system? Why don't you dare to say it? ”

"Yes, almost. Adult Mingjian. Li Laosi said.

Hearing this, Li Li gasped, sure enough, there was an inside story, what Tang Law said was extremely true. What a talent for the forerunner.

Tang Lu quietly told Li Lidao: "According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, if the thief admits what he has committed, then the thief can only be punished according to the law, but not convicted. ”

"Understood." Li Li nodded and said.

"That's the only way to solve this problem." Tang Lu whispered to Li Li.

"Li Laosi, where are your relatives?" Li Li asked.

"The relatives of the adults and the small families are all in Xiangyang County. Only two households are on the outskirts of the city. Li Laosi said.

"Okay, you name the address and invite them to the court." Li Li commanded.

"This, this, this is not okay?" Li Laosi said.

"What's good or not! The official asks you to do this, or else, let you taste what it is like to be tortured. Li Li said sharply.

"Don't, don't, don't, my lord, don't do this! The little ones are willing to say, willing to say! Li Laosi said.

In this way, Li Laosi confessed the addresses of all his relatives, quickly recorded them one by one, and then went to the city and outside the city to pass all his relatives over.

When everyone arrived at the public court, they knelt down in unison, and pressed a large area.

"Please come, as a last resort, in order to teach Li Laosi a lesson, everyone has the responsibility and obligation to discipline, who made the family unfortunate and had a gentleman on the beam? This responsibility should be borne by the old patriarch and other elders in the family, and it is a result of negligence in discipline that leads to this consequence. Teach him a good lesson, let him remember it for a long time, and see if he dares to steal next time. As Li Li spoke, he ordered the officials to tie Li Laosi to the pillars of the public hall, hugging the pillars, his back exposed, and ordered the officials to whip him with a thousand lashes.

It's going to be a rhythm to beat people to death.

As soon as the whip went down, Li Laosi screamed, crying wolf like killing a pig, and when the second whip went down, Li Laosi fainted, and then, splashed water to make him sober, and then continued to whip. When he was tired of fighting, he changed people and continued to fight, and when he reached a hundred lashes, Li Laosi shouted to the sky and the ground to spare his life, the sound shook the beams of the public hall, and the dust fell down.

The relatives couldn't get used to this pig-like howl, so they hurriedly kowtowed and pleaded, asking the adults to let Li Laosi go, and if he beat him again, he would die.

Li Li is not afraid of death, and when he passes through the court, the prisoner dies and is not responsible. At this time, the most important thing is that the interrogation does not produce results, and it is good to deal with the above when there is a result. It is generally believed that a thief is not convicted, but to punish him, at least let everyone know that he is a thief, and his face is gloomy, and he naturally does not want to be a thief.

If you want to be punished, you have to start from this aspect.

"It's okay to take your life. But there is a condition. Don't know if you agree or not? Li Li asked.

"Adults, as long as you let the little ones live alive, as long as you live, you can do anything. Both. Just stay alive. Li Laosi said that he was weak.

It seems that this whipping made him understand a truth, that is, he wanted Li Laosi to understand this truth, and Li Laosi also understood immediately, not to be whipped, not to open the flesh, not to understand the rules, this whipping made him convinced, and he was subdued by pain.

"Okay, the official won't whip you, what about you, you don't have to do anything, just do one thing." Li Li said.

"Big, big, sir, you say, you can do anything!" Li Laosi said.

"It's just a bad office."

"What's the tolerance? Speak, sir! Li Laosi asked.

"Oh, by the way, the official reconfirmed and asked if you still steal?"

"Steal? Hey—just beat me to death, use a knife to force me to steal, and I won't do it. Li Laosi said.

"You really didn't steal?"

"Seriously!"

"What if I get caught?"

"My lord, don't be kidding, if I still steal it, I don't need to whip it if I catch it, just chop my fingers." Li Laosi said that it seemed that he had made up his mind never to steal.

"That's good! You must change your evil ways and return to the right, and don't leave a stain and infamy on future generations. This official spares you, and if you don't whip you, he will give you a tolerance, let you make up for your mistakes, and punish you to clean the streets in Xiangyang County, keep the streets clean and hygienic, and seek benefits for everyone, so that everyone walks cleanly, and let those who want to take advantage of the common people, those who are ready to move, stop and don't defy the law. Otherwise, the punishment will be severe, and the punishment will be severe. Li Li said.

"Adults, small ones are willing to sweep the floor, willing to sweep the floor, as long as they don't get whipped." Li Laosi said.

When the case was concluded, he had to do so when the clerk brought the confession and the interrogation transcript and asked him to sign and draw the charge.

The crowd dispersed, and from then on, there was a sweeper on the streets of Xiangyang, who was Li Laosi.

Cold and summer, spring, summer, autumn and winter, all year round, are sweeping the floor, Li Laosi is miserable, if you do it for a month or two months, it is relatively fresh, if you continue to do it, you feel a little reluctant, very boring, dry spring, summer and autumn, in winter it will be troublesome, the weather is too cold, I don't want to get up before dawn, I can't sleep lazily, he is very painful. The whip marks on his body are still there, the pain has been forgotten, he met Li Li, and pleaded: "Adult, the little one knows that it is wrong, the work of cleaning the street is too hard, the front foot has just been cleaned, the back is dirty, and I have to sweep it again, I don't know why there are so many low-quality uncivilized ones, throwing garbage everywhere, it's a headache, I'm not their subordinate, I'm just sweeping the floor, I'm eating public food, but not their slaves, it's really annoying to be called and drunk by them!" I beg the adults not to let me sweep the floor anymore, no matter what I do, just not sweep the floor. ”

"How's that going to work? If you don't sweep the floor, who will? If no one sweeps it for a day, the streets will immediately become dirty and messy. If you don't believe me, you can give it a try. Li Li said.

"Adult, the little one knows it's wrong, sweeping the floor for so long, the little one knows, the little one wants to do something else, can't sweep the streets for a lifetime, right? Am I just that? ”

"Okay, it seems that you are still a little ambitious, so let's go, you can not sweep the floor, if you want to prove that you really regret and are willing to repent, this official can exempt you from tolerance, that is, this official can forgive your transgressions, but you must find someone to take over, that is, you can go, but someone must sweep the floor and sweep the streets, if no one takes over, you can't go." Li Li said.

Li Laosi agreed to come down.

So, Li Laosi swept the floor while looking for someone to take over, as a result, the news spread far and wide, and many people heard about it, especially those of Li Laosi's accomplices, some of whom knew and some of whom did not know, probably all knew that Li Laosi was sweeping the floor, and at the same time, he had bad intentions and looked for someone to take over everywhere, so he fled one after another, because he didn't know which street Li Laosi would appear on, and every time he went out, it was like a mouse hiding from a mouse. Everyone is in danger, for fear of being recognized by Li Laosi, try to go out day and night, and make plans in advance.

The thieves in the city disappeared, and there was peace and tranquility in Xiangyang City.

Li Laosi didn't find a suitable one, so he still swept the streets by himself. He had to admit it. I usually don't pay attention to it, I don't accumulate it usually, and when it comes to the critical period, this problem arises.

Li Li secretly admired Tang Lu's idea, which was really clever!

Later, Li Li himself felt sorry for Li Laosi, so he canceled his tolerance, and after three years of torture, Li Laosi became numb, and Li Li achieved his goal. is to let Li Lao Si do his old business again, his hands and feet are not dexterous, his eyes and eyesight are not good, and he can't complete high-risk and brain-burning tasks.

Li Li arranged for Li Laosi to leave, no longer cleaning the streets, and was worried, who would continue to clean, and someone happened to ask to see him.

Li Li asked the visitor to come in to meet him, and as soon as the man came, he knelt down and said, "Little Lao'er came from Xiangzhou, and the silver ran out, and he wanted to find a job to support me and my wife." ”

"That's good! Do you think you can do the job of cleaning the streets? ”

"Competent."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Qin Xun."

"Where's home?"

"Xiangzhou's."

"Okay, let's do it. At the end of the month, I went to the county government to receive wages. Li Li said.

"May I ask again, can you let Xiao Lao'er's wife come too?"

"Of course you can, but you can only pay one person's salary, and she's only here to help you." Li Li said.

"Understood, understood, Xiaomin thanks to the adults! It's really Xiaomin's parent official. Qin Xun said.

Qin Xun started sweeping the streets in Xiangyang City, he got up before dawn and was busy until the lights went out. It's a lot of work, no complaints. While sweeping the streets, he also paid close attention to the situation of various large households, as if he was looking for something.

Every time I sweep the floor to the door of the big house, some of the doors are closed, leaving only the side doors for people to enter and exit, and some of the doors are open, and there is a shadow wall inside.

If your eyes are not good, you can use your ears, and Qin Xun worked this aspect.

Qin Xun swept the floor and swept to the door of a Bu Fengzhao's house, and was often driven away by the servants, saying: "Master Bu said, you don't need to clean, you can clean it yourself." ”

Qin Xun had been driven away by Bu Fengzhao's servants several times, and he still wanted to go because he heard a familiar voice, like the voice of his relatives.

He wasn't sure yet.

Once, he passed by Bu Fengzhao's house, not sweeping the floor, when the task was completed, he was going to go to the vegetable market to buy some vegetables to take home, in order to try his luck, he went to see what was going on.

This time it was very strange, the gates of Bu Fengzhao's house were opened, but the shadow wall was still there, and I couldn't see the situation in the courtyard. This time, it was strange that there were children playing at the door. The child was very familiar, the voice was him, and the image was too, and he was not sure, because he usually did not wear silk clothes, and his face was yellow and thin, but now he looked good, his face was round, like a red apple, his eyes were bright, and his voice was crisp.