Shuofang City was recaptured, and Qin Ke's heart that had been hanging finally fell. Surrounded by the generals, Qin Ke rode a horse and entered Shuofang City with blood stains.

He Lun hurriedly came and saluted Qin Ke: "General, I have captured Meng Ao, the commander of Shuofang County, and the other party said that he wanted to see you." ”

Qin Ke frowned slightly, and he didn't plan to see Meng Ao immediately, he said to He Lun: "Prison him in the West Courtyard of the Zhengbei General's Mansion, provide him with good food and drink, and wait until the war is completely over, and then make plans." ”

He Lun nodded and took the order to leave.

Qin Ke then ordered the generals under his command: "Let the army speed up the removal of the corpses of the Bearded People, collect the remains of our own soldiers, and help the people in the city to collect the remains of the people." Repair the damaged city defense facilities, send and control the four gates, and get busy. ”

"Whoa!" After receiving the order, the generals scattered.

Qin Ke returned to the Zhengbei General's Mansion with his own soldiers, jumped off his horse in front of the mansion gate, and said to the guards on the side: "By the way, go and give an order to Yan Changshi and Wang Rong, the western governor, and let them return to the city, the sooner the better." ”

The commanded guards gave up their promises, and then rode their horses and galloped south. After various orders were delivered, Qin Ke entered the mansion with confidence.

He took his personal guards to the West Side Courtyard, which has always been empty, and occasionally it is used to place sundries, after all, Qin Ke doesn't have many things of his own, and his family members are not here, but are drunk.

In the main compartment of the west side courtyard, Meng Ao was dressed in white, his body was straight, and he sat there calmly, with tea cooking utensils on the table in front of him.

Qin Ke's two guards stood guard at the door of the main room, while he strode into the room and sat opposite Meng Ao.

Meng Ao raised his eyes and glanced at him, and said indifferently: "Coming?" ”

Qin Ke looked at this guy with a calm face, he was not angry in his heart, he reached out and picked up a cup of tea, tilted his neck, and drank it all.

Meng Ao said helplessly: "You are still so rude, the tea should be tasted." With that, he put the teacup to his lips and took a sip.

Qin Ke pursed his lips and said, "I have been in the army for so many years, and the cultural literacy I cultivated in the palace back then has long been returned to Taifu. ”

Meng Ao took another sip of the tea in the teacup and asked, "What are you going to do with me?" ”

Qin Ke said helplessly: "You have a fearless appearance, you really owe a beating." ”

Meng Ao raised his eyebrows and did not reply.

Seeing that Meng Ao didn't speak, Qin Ke asked the question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time: "At the beginning of the war, the imperial brother sent me an eight-hundred-mile military information courier, saying that no matter what you do, you must save your life. At the time, I didn't understand it, but now that it's happening, I'm even more confused. You fornicated with the people, sacrificed the city of Shuofang, and harmed the people of Yongguo, and the imperial brother still wanted to protect your life? ”

Meng Ao looked at Qin Ke, who was curious and gossipy, with a wry smile on his face, and he asked Qin Ke, "Do you like to listen to stories?" ”

When Qin Ke heard this, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Anyway, it's okay for the time being, let's talk about it." ”

Meng Ao said with a reminiscing face: "Before coming to Shuofang City to serve as the county commander, I served in Hexi County, you know? ”

Qin Ke nodded and recalled: "At that time, I had been polishing in the army for many years, and I was preparing to become the commander of the first division. ”

Meng Ao then asked, "Then do you know what position I have in Hexi County?" ”

Qin Ke shook his head, at that time he was devoted to the army, and he didn't know much about the political situation in the court.

Meng Ao didn't sell Guan Zi, and said: "My position in Hexi County is to supervise the imperial history, and it is directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial historian. Of course, this is an official position on the surface. Secretly, I am the personal commander of the Detective Department under the Imperial City Division. ”

When Qin Ke heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned, and he asked uncertainly, "Are you the inspector of the Imperial City Division?" ”

Meng Ao said angrily: "Lao Tzu is a personal commander, it's much more advanced than Chazi." Can you not interrupt me? Would you like to continue listening? ”

Qin Ke sneered and said, "Listen, listen, why don't you listen, you continue to speak." ”

Meng Ao continued: "When I was in Hexi County, I found that there was a major corruption situation in Hexi County, from the county guards to the small officials, and there were almost no officials who were not greedy. One of the main purposes of the emperor sending me to Hexi County was to find out the corruption in Hexi County, especially the stone resin, which is a strategic resource with too many loopholes, and the amount of mining and the amount handed over do not correspond at all. ”

When Qin Ke heard this, his face changed slightly, the army stationed in Hexi County was the Zhenbei Army, led by the former Zhenbei general Qin Xu, and it was stationed in Gaonu County. He knew about the corruption case in Hexi County that year, and after the big case, Qin Xun resigned from all official positions and took the initiative to ask to return to Xuxi, and a year after the big case, Qin Xun died of a sudden illness.

Meng Ao saw Qin Ke's expression, the corners of his mouth curled slightly, and said: "You are right, the corruption in Hexi County from top to bottom is all related to the late Qin Xu, the king of Anding County, and it has a lot to do with it. In the position of the Imperial Governor of Hexi County, on the surface, I am in the same boat with them, but in fact, I am secretly collecting evidence of their corruption and the evil things they have done for corruption. After a year's experience, I finally collected all the evidence of their crimes and handed them over to the emperor. ”

Qin Ke gasped and said in disbelief: "So, it is the will of the imperial brother to kill in Hexi County?" ”

Meng Ao nodded and said: "I am the head of the Imperial City, only the emperor's order is obeyed, if there is no emperor's holy decree, do you think I have the ability to wipe out all the officials in Hexi County, and lead the troops directly into the Zhenbei Army to take down the king of Anding County, and force him to write a resignation form?" ”

Qin Ke looked admiring and said, "Although it is the will of the imperial brother, your execution ability is indeed very strong. Since the whole of Hexi County has been caught by you, why have you been belittled? ”

Meng Ao did not hide the truth from Qin Ke's question, he continued: "Although the corruption case in Hexi County has been solved, the disappeared stone grease has not been found, and the king of Anding County did not confide in him where he got these stone grease when he died. The clues I tracked down only pointed to the north of the mane. ”

Qin Ke asked with a look of disbelief: "Uncle Anding Wang has been the general of Zhenbei for at least ten years, and after so many years of accumulation, there must be a lot of this stone grease." ”

Meng Ao nodded and said, "That's true, according to the preliminary estimate of the Imperial City Division, it's at least around five hundred stones. ”

Five hundred stones, that is, sixty tons, such a large amount of stone resin cannot disappear out of thin air.

Meng Ao continued: "In order to track down the whereabouts of this batch of stone grease, I took my soldiers to the north to investigate, straight out of the Yin Mountain, to the grassland, and then I met my wife, who was a member of a small tribe at that time, this small tribe was slaughtered by another large tribe, and only my wife and a little girl were left in the whole tribe. ”

Qin Ke had a gossipy expression on his face, approached Meng Ao, looked at it carefully, and said, "You were fascinated by your wife at that time?" The story is a bit old-fashioned. ”

Meng Ao said angrily: "At that time, I was tired of running for my life, how could I have time to think about the relationship between my children and daughters, we traced that Shi Zhi had been sent to the Bearded Khan Court, and then he was gone. ”