On the banks of the Huangyang River in the south of Jinzhou City, a small boat is docked.

Before the three of them approached, a man stuck out his head: "Li Sanlang, this way!" ”

Li Bao immediately accelerated and forced, and after getting on the boat, he said, "There is Brother Lao." ”

The man's name was Liang Ping, a former official recommended by Wang Jia, who lied that he was sick and went home to rest, and quietly went out of the city to hire a boat.

The boatman asked, "Which way?" ”

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "Pingli County, Yaowanggou." ”

The boatman sailed to the shore, then paddled and said, "I know from Pingli County, but Yaowanggou has never been there." ”

Liang Ping said impatiently: "When you go to Pingli County, ask again, what are you doing with so much nonsense?" And a lot of money for your boat! ”

The boatman immediately shut up, and no one spoke.

After rowing for two or three miles, the boatman began to break his mouth again: "It didn't snow much last year, and it didn't rain this year, and even the water of the Huangyang River is shallow, I'm afraid I won't be able to harvest a few grains." ”

No one paid attention to him, they were all thinking about the case.

It was nearly dusk when he left the city, and soon it was dark, and the boat leaned against the river for the night.

The next day, we continued on our way and soon arrived at a grass market called Huangyangkou (south of the town of Xianhe). Located at the junction of two rivers, it is about the same size as Baishitou, but there is a private tax card set up by Xicheng County to intercept medicinal herbs and tea and collect tolls.

Zhu Ming intends to ban this kind of private card, and has already issued official documents to the counties.

There is a tax card in the state city, and it is collected here again, where can the businessman bear it? Many small businessmen would rather hire someone to cross the mountains than take the more convenient waterways.

The boatman stayed, and everyone went ashore to eat at the grass market.

Liang Ping chewed two bites and asked the stall owner, "Where is Yaowanggou?" ”

The stall owner shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Unable to find out the news, they had to give up, and Li Bao bought a few pieces of bread and brought them back to the boatman.

The water of the Huangyang River has dried up, and its tributary, the Pingli River (County River), is even more miserable.

The carts were useless, and the farmers along the river had to go down to the river to carry water, bucket by bucket to irrigate the paddy fields.

Li Bao finally became vigilant: "The spring drought is serious, I am afraid that there will be a famine, and I have to remind the prime minister to prepare as soon as I go back." ”

Not only here, there is also a spring drought in Hanzhong this year, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong are all drought, and even Western Xia is facing a severe drought.

Pingli County in the Song Dynasty is located in the old county town of later generations.

The county is full of mountains, and only a few river valleys are easy to cultivate. In addition, it has to rely on the water of the mountain stream for irrigation, and agricultural production is extremely unstable.

The mountain people collect more medicine and hunt to subsidize their families, and there are many hunters here.

While staying in the county seat, they finally asked for the news of Yaowanggou.

Continue south along the Pingli River, then turn north, inquire all the way, and finally approach the destination after two days.

Yaowanggou is a valley, and the water is so dry that even small boats are prone to run aground.

Li Bao found a village outside the valley and decided to inquire and stay for one night before going in.

The village is very poor, the west bank of the river is all hillside, and the villagers live on the east bank. The alluvial flat land is only a few tens of meters wide, and the flat land is all paddy fields, which are owned by the wealthy families in the village. But the river is shallow, and half of the paddy fields are running out of water.

More villagers make a living by cultivating the mountainous land, and corn has not spread here, and they are still growing corn, sorghum and other things.

This year's dry weather is the most suitable for growing corn because it is drought tolerant.

Coming to the most generous house in the village, Li Bao said: "We are merchants from other countries, and we plan to collect some medicinal herbs and furs, please inform your master." ”

"Wait a while." Menzi went in and reported.

Soon they were invited in, and the house was far less than that of the old white man's house, and there were far fewer servants inside. Counting fixed assets, the richest man in this village can have a family property of hundreds or thousands at most.

I met the owner in the living room, it was a middle-aged man.

After a few words of greeting, knowing that his surname was Li, he called him Li Yuanwai.

Li Bao said with a smile: "I am also surnamed Li, maybe it was a family five hundred years ago." ”

Li Yuanwai was also very happy, asked the maid to bring the tea steamed at home, and asked Li Bao how many mountain goods he planned to buy.

Poor country, too lazy to pretend again.

Li Bao said: "Please retreat from the outside screen." ”

Li Yuanwai waved his hand to the maid to step down.

Li Bao took out the official document signed by Zhizhou and said: "We are the officials of the state government, and we have come here to hunt down a fugitive. ”

"Fugitives?" Li Yuanwai hurriedly checked the official document seal.

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "This person's name is Han He, also known as Han Da. His parents are both from Yaowanggou, and forty years ago, the family fled to the state city to ask for food. ”

Li Yuanwai asked, "What is his parents' name?" ”

Zeng Xiaoduan shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Li Yuanwai said: "I am only 42 years old this year, and it is really impossible to know people who moved away 40 years ago. Why don't you invite a few village elders and ask them if they've heard of it? ”

"It's troublesome for Li Yuan, but don't leak the news, so as not to scare the fugitives away." Li Bao said.

"I can save it." Li Yuanwai summoned the servant and asked him to invite the old man in the village.

A few old people came one after another, Li Yuanwai inquired: "Elders, do you remember that there is a family surnamed Han in Yaowanggou?" Forty years ago, he fled to Jinzhou, and he also had a son named Han He. ”

An old man said: "There are two villages in Yaowanggou, and there are indeed a few families surnamed Han in Laohuyan Village. My brother-in-law is surnamed Han and married from there. ”

Li Bao immediately said, "Can you invite my father-in-law's brother and daughter-in-law to ask a few words?" ”

"She's been dead for thirty years, and my nephew has been to Tiger Rock." The old man said.

So, he invited the old man's nephew, Li Si, to come.

His nephew, who is also almost fifty years old, stated: "When my mother didn't die, I followed me to Tiger Rock. Later, my mother died, and my grandfather also died, so I never moved around again. ”

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "The one surnamed Han is the same age as Your Excellency. Your Excellency went back to your mother's house with your mother, and perhaps played with him. ”

This person scratched his ears and cheeks and thought about it for a long time, but he really couldn't remember that there was a little friend named Han He. only said: "Forty years ago, there was a great drought, and many people went out to flee, so even my family fled to the county seat, and my father also starved to death at that time." Several families surnamed Han in Tiger Rock, I remember that they all fled the famine, and my grandmother died while fleeing the famine. ”

Asking repeatedly, nothing was gained.

After staying in the village for one night, Li Bao set off with people and took the old man's nephew, Li Si, with him.

Li Bao inquired in the village outside Yaowanggou, while Yang Pu followed Li Si to Laohuyan Village to investigate.

Yang Pu pretended to be Li Si's nephew, afraid of revealing his accent, so he didn't speak during the whole process, and only told Li Si what to do in advance.

Li Si entered the village, and with his memories more than 20 years ago, he found his grandfather's house. There was only one woman feeding the chickens, and they didn't know each other.

After talking for a while, it can be regarded as recognizing relatives, and the woman is Li Si's cousin and daughter-in-law.

Li Si said: "I have a serious illness, and I don't have a few years to live, so I want to go back to Tiger Rock to see." When I was a child, I had a playmate named Han He, who fled to Jinzhou forty years ago, did he come back alive? ”

"I don't recognize it." The woman shook her head.

Yang Pu pretended to be mute, babbling and gesticulating, constantly raising his fingers and gesturing "six".

Li Si was reminded and said, "I heard that he came back six years ago? ”

"Six years ago?" The woman immediately laughed, "Uncle Ling is mistaken, the one who came back six years ago is not called Han He." His name is Han Shun, and he is still my cousin in terms of seniority. ”

"That's my Ji fork, Han Shun is still in the village?" Li Si asked.

The woman said, "Every year I come back to the grave, stay for a few days, and then leave." ”

Li Si asked, "Where did he settle down?" ”

The woman said, "He said he was in the county seat, and his son said that he was in Shizituo. I'm afraid I'm confused, and I can't understand it. is still secretive and doesn't say what he is doing for a living. ”

Yang Pu immediately pulled Li Si away, and the woman left them to eat, but she couldn't stop it.

The woman muttered, "This Han family is all very strange. ”

Everyone gathered outside Yaowanggou again, and Yang Pu quickly explained the situation.

Li Bao asked, "How is it called Han Shun?" ”

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "Maybe it's a name change." ”

Li Bao asked again: "Does he have a son?" ”

Zeng Xiaoduan said: "I have a son who just turned ten years old six years ago. ”

Li Bao went to ask Li Yuanwai again: "Where is Shizituo?" ”

Li Yuanwai said: "The county seat is twenty miles to the southeast, along the river, and it is a grass market. ”

Everyone took a boat back to Pingli County, and searched hard for several days, but they didn't catch half of the bird feathers.

Li Bao said: "It's not a way to go on like this, it's better to divide the troops into two ways." I stayed in the county seat with Brother Zeng to continue to search, and Yang Pu and Brother Liang went to Nashizituo to look for people. ”

The mountainous area is a tributary of the Pyeongli River, which is a tributary of the Han River.

Twenty miles, a day's rowing.

Shizituo is smaller than Baishitou, with only a dozen shops in the town.

Yang Pu had a foreign accent, and Liang Ping was in charge of inquiring, so he only took the opportunity to observe the situation.

Liang Ping asked from the first store: "My name is Han Ping, and I have a cousin named Han Shun, I heard that he came to Shizituo." Recognizable by the store? ”

The shopkeeper said: "There are also people surnamed Han, who came from other places to settle down a few years ago. But it's not called Han Shun, his name is Han Tian. ”

"Maybe it's a name change," Liang Ping said, "where is he?" ”

The shopkeeper pointed to the left: "The Han family leather store is it, it stinks, and it is nitrate all day long." ”

Yang Pu and Liang Ping glanced at each other, immediately said goodbye and left, following the smell to the end of the street.

This Han family fur shop only rough-processed furs, bought skins from hunters for nitration, and then waited for the fur merchants to buy them.

"I heard that your skin is good, I want as much as I want!" Liang Ping shouted when he entered the door.

Seeing that a big customer came to the door, the store hurriedly greeted him warmly.

Yang Pu scanned the structure of the leather store, the front store and the back house, and there were people in the backyard.

Yang Pu secretly glanced at it.

Liang Ping immediately understood: "Take me to the backyard to have a look." ”

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Inside, please." ”

It was a small family workshop, with a teenager and a woman of about forty years old, and a child of three or four years old.

There was no one but them.

Yang Pu finally spoke: "Are you called Han He, or Han Shun, or Han Tian?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the store's face changed drastically, and then he ran away.

Yang Pu's martial arts are not good, but his skills are very flexible, he picked it up in three or two steps, and then kicked it to the ground.

Liang Ping took out the short blade in his arms and scolded the young man and said, "The government is handling the case, and it is not allowed to move!" ”

When the woman heard the word "government", she was stunned on the spot, and the children around her cried.

Yang Pu grabbed the placket of the store's clothes: "Say, what's your name?" ”

The shopkeeper's face was loveless: "My name is Han Shun, and Han He is my eldest brother." ”

Yang Pu asked, "Which one is a slave in the Zeng family?" ”

"It's my brother." Han Shun replied.

"Where is he hiding?" Yang Pu asked.

Han Shun said: "My brother gave me a sum of money and asked me to bring my sister-in-law and nephew to Shizituo. and asked me to wait for him for a year and a half, if a year and a half has passed, he will die before he comes, let me live with my sister-in-law and take care of my sister-in-law and nephew for him. ”

Liang Ping muttered: "It seems that the adulterer was killed." ”

(End of chapter)