Cai Ji left the small cloth bag and slipped away, Wan Ruo picked it up, and there was a crisp clanging sound.

She deliberately smiled and saluted Gu Shengchao: "Lord Gu is so majestic, someone gave gifts just after he came, what should I do with it?" ”

Waving his hand, Gu Shengchao said ashamedly: "Don't entertain me, lady, of course you can't accept it, I'll go and observe secretly to see what they are plotting." ”

As he spoke, he dodged out and chased after Cai Ji's breath. Cai Ji didn't go far, and returned to the backyard of the county government, Gu Shengchao quietly went up to the room and hung upside down from the eaves, just in time to see clearly.

The county commander Huang Qinshou waited anxiously, and when he saw Cai Ji coming back, he asked in a low voice, "What, is that person on the road?" ”

"Don't worry, I see how well he is dressed, and I guess he is also a poor ghost. And this person's lady is obviously older than him, and it seems that he has some kung fu, this person is probably an inverted door, and he may be afraid of guilt just now. Huang Xianling invited him to drink a few more times, and maybe he could let go. Cai Ji sat next to Huang Qinshou and told the other party what he was thinking.

Huang Qinshou was overjoyed and ordered: "Come, come, he doesn't have this Yanfu, let's continue to drink flower wine." ”

The dancers skillfully sat on their laps and fed them wine, and one of them even took the wine in his mouth and fed it to Huang Qinshou himself, which made him laugh and be very happy.

Gu Shengchao couldn't stand it, turned over and sat on the roof, waiting patiently.

About half an hour later, several dancers came out of the room in disheveled clothes, and Cai Ji staggered out. When he went down the steps, he was unsteady under his feet and fell forward, but fortunately he was barely able to stand with the help of the official on duty in front of him.

Huang Qinshou also staggered out and ordered: "You guys send Cai Tuanlian back, and the rest of the wine and meat in it are yours." He hummed a little song and was carried back to the house to rest.

The other two waited for Cai Ji to get into a carriage and drive out.

It was dark and the road was bumpy, and the carriage was not moving fast, but it was more than enough to follow behind with the strength of Gu Shengchao.

The carriage moved forward for about a stick of incense, stopped at the door of a deep house compound, a servant knocked on the door knocker, someone inside opened the door and came out, and helped Cai Ji inside. The two drove back the same way.

Gu Shengchao figured out the other party's address and knew that Cai Ji was drunk and went back to sleep, so he took advantage of the night to return to the inn.

He told Wan Ruo what happened, and Wan Ruo said angrily: "These two people are in cahoots, and you can imagine how hard the local people are." ”

Gu Shengchao sighed: "Sicheng Jin Anchun suggested that I come here, and I can see the helplessness here from his eyes, I hope I can do something, it seems that we have come to the right place." ”

Wan Ruo threw the money bag left by Cai Ji to Gu Shengchao: "Here are twenty taels of silver, you can look at it yourself!" ”

Holding the money bag in his hand, Gu Shengchao mocked: "No wonder everyone wants to be an official, this is how to get promoted and make a fortune." ”

The two took out the atlas of Oushui County, discussed it together, and decided to start the inspection tomorrow from the nearest Xiakou Village.

Gu Shengchao led everyone to measure in Xiakou Village for a few days, and finally calculated that the cultivated land was about 3,000 mu, but the statistical documents marked only more than 2,000 mu, of which 1,200 mu belonged to the Wuwang Palace, and nearly half of the remaining 800 mu was owned by Li Zhenghe and the squire, and only 400 mu was public land.

In a few days, a village has more than 1,000 acres of fertile land, and in this way, the number of underreported by the entire dynasty is absolutely amazing.

Everyone was about to call it a day, and the squire of the village led a group of villagers to gather over, and the villagers all carried hoes, plows and rakes and other farm tools, and blocked the road with great momentum.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please stay, I am the patriarch here, and I have something to discuss." The first elder stood in front.

"What?" Gu Shengchao saw that they were not good, and knew that conflict was inevitable.

The patriarch arched his hand and said, "I don't know how much your lords actually measure the cultivated fields?" ”

Don't talk nonsense with them, Gu Shengchao said directly: "More than 3,000 acres, only a little more." ”

The patriarch was lukewarm, and said in a coercive tone: "We know best how many fields we have in our village, I'm afraid there is a problem with the drum car in your memory." ”

"yes, there's something wrong with their car."

"They deliberately came to bully us."

"Smash their car."

"Okay, it's not pleasing to their eyes these days, it's long time to do it."

"Smash!"

"Smash!"

The villagers were so excited that they were about to rush up waving their farm tools.

"Presumptuous!" Gu Shengchao shouted angrily, stopped them and scolded, "Are you going to rebel? ”

The patriarch did not stop his villagers, and said coldly: "Since ancient times, the law has not held the people accountable, they are all reckless men who farm, and we dare not take care of what happens." ”

Scanning everyone with sharp eyes, Gu Shengchao understood where they were farmers who farmed, and they were clearly kung fu men pretending.

The peasants worked hard all year round, and they were dark and thin. On the other hand, these people in front of him are whiter than their subordinates who are engaged in surveying and mapping, and they are strong and strong, and they are from martial arts at a glance.

"Which of you is a farmer, you have the ability to go to the field and actually operate it, you are obviously a practitioner but you come to pretend to be a farmer, what do you mean?" Gu Shengchao did not hesitate to directly break them.

"Don't talk nonsense with them, just do it." One person took advantage of the large number of people, wielding a plow and rake, smashing his head and covering his face and smashing down Gu Shengchao's head.

Gu Shengchao was not polite, dodged and raised his foot to kick the other party's leg, and he immediately flew out.

"Click", the man's thigh bone shattered.

"Ahh The man let out a scream in midair.

"Plop!"

"Boom!"

"Oops!"

The man threw backwards, knocking down several people behind him. Gu Shengchao's kick was extremely powerful, and he used the kung fu of fighting cattle across the mountain. Whoever the man touched, he was unlucky, either with a broken rib in his chest, or a broken arm, or a broken leg.

He flew out upside down alone, and most of it was put down.

"Those who dare to obstruct the court will be killed!" The ancient saint stood majestically on the road.

If you stand side by side with him, protect yourself before yourself.

The murderous aura of the two of them spread, and everyone shuddered.

The patriarch originally wanted to bully people by taking advantage of the large number of people, but he didn't think about it and lay down most of the time, and he was also panicked in his heart, and he suddenly lost the confidence he had just now.

Gu Shengchao and Wan Ruo walked side by side, and under the murderous aura, no one dared to stop the other party, and they both quietly retreated to the side, flashing a passage for them to pass smoothly.

On the night they returned to the inn, Cai Ji came uninvited, did not say a word, left a money bag and hurried away.

If you open the money bag and check it, this time it is fifty taels of silver.

"Fifty taels of silver to buy more than 1,000 acres of fertile land, do you think this business is cost-effective?" Wan Ruo shook his head and sighed.

Gu Shengchao also sighed: "I have lived in the rivers and lakes since I was a child, and I have a deep understanding that the people have worked hard for a whole year, and they can only barely fill their stomachs. In the event of drought or floods, or locusts transiting, even if they survive the cold winter after the grain is not harvested, they will run out of food in the spring and can only go out to beg. But in this way, the spring ploughing has been delayed, so that one season cannot catch up with the previous season, and whether it can survive is a question. ”

Wan Ruo weighed the money bag: "Eat people with soft mouths and short hands, this white flower and silver look like, but it's hot!" ”

"Then leave it alone, I'll see when they can be delivered." Gu Shengchao's fist slammed twice on the table.

The crowd rested at the inn for two days, and chose a village to continue measuring, but this time it was even more unsmooth, and they ran into trouble only halfway through.

The elderly men and women of the village walked up to the wells in the fields and lay there in all directions, making it impossible for the drum carts to pass.

Gu Shengchao They don't need to be very accurate in surveying and mapping, first calculate a general range, there is no memory of the drum car, all rely on the rope ruler, it is far away.

If it was a strong man, Gu Shengchao was not afraid, and could speak directly with his fists, but a group of weak and sick old people had to endure it. Looking at their skeletal shape, yellow faces and thin muscles, they are all honest farmers, and there must be someone behind them who doesn't know what method to use to instruct them to make trouble.

You can't force it, you can only outwit it.

Gu Shengchao stopped working, so he set up tents in the fields, ate and lived in them, and worked hard with these people.

Everyone has three urgency, eating, drinking and Lazar must also be solved, the old people can still hold on to the first day, but on the second day, the number of people is less, and more than half of them did not come on the third day.

Even so, Gu Shengchao and they still can't start the work, and it is unforgivable to bump into any old man, and the only way is to spend it with them.

Gu Shengchao was not idle, he couldn't work anyway, so he and Wan Ruo patrolled the village to find the mastermind behind the scenes.

They observed for a few days and learned that most of the people in the village were surnamed Gao, and the big and small affairs were basically handled by the Gao family. There are many high-ranking people who have a lot of land, and their sons run a noodle shop and a wine shop in the village, and the county town also has an industry, which can be said to be a tyrant in the village.

In this case, the mastermind behind it has nothing to do with them.

For several days in a row, the doors of the high-ranking foreign homes were closed, and Gu Shengchao couldn't find anything suspicious.

Three days later, there were only a few old people left in the way, and they couldn't hold out for a few days when they looked powerless.

Gu Shengchao and Wan Ruo went to the village in their spare time, maybe the other party was afraid of them, and the village was quiet and few villagers walked around. Occasionally, I ran into a few, and I was in a hurry to see them and avoid them.

The sun had just set in the west, and the few remaining elders were also overwhelmed and went back early.

Gu Shengchao instructed Jin Anchun and Jiang Yongtuo to lead the people to continue the surveying and mapping, and he and Wan Ruo sat in the shade of the tree at the entrance of the village, staring at the courtyard gate of the high-ranking foreign house, and did not return to the makeshift tent until dusk.

As soon as he picked up the rice bowl, he whispered to Wan Ruo: "I remembered, you wait here, I'll go back." ”

Wan Ruo thought: "We have been staring at it for a few days, and those old people can't stand it anymore, so they will definitely take advantage of our relaxation to discuss the next step." ”

Gu Shengchao walked out of the tent, pretending to go to the field conveniently, and made a big circle to the wall of the courtyard of the senior member's house.

Sure enough, a crack opened in the door, and a dark shadow sneakily squeezed in.

A head poked out of the door to look at it, and then it closed.