Chapter 202

It's just that Pang Zhi County itself doesn't agree with the character of these villagers.

The more he talked, the more he felt that this Diao Min was probably fleeing with money, but he was worried that Zhao Fusheng would be angry.

After all, she is a ghost handler, and the consequences of her anger are completely different from ordinary people.

Pang Zhixian used to intersect with her, and when he saw that she often smiled and groaned, he gradually relaxed his vigilance, and as soon as he said today, he saw that she was angry, and he immediately regretted it in his heart.

was trembling and trying to find a way to remedy it, but saw that Zhao Fusheng sat back in his place, and he was not angry, and then his emotions were out of control.

The sun was shining brightly outside, and the hall of the government was a little quiet.

Kuai Manzhou knelt quietly not far from Zhao Fusheng, his upper body lying on the tea pestle, and half of his figure bathed in the sun.

All the years are quiet, it is not like there is a ghost out of control, and the big stone mentioned in Pang Zhixian's heart is loosened.

He was the first to admit his mistake:

"If this surnamed Guo runs away, it is because I don't know anyone, and then the three hundred dollars will be made up by my Yulu."

"Not that problem."

Zhao Fusheng waved his hand.

She looked at Pang Zhixian and turned pale with fright, and couldn't help but smile slightly:

"Private to private, public to public, we are discussing official affairs, what are you afraid of?"

Pang Zhixian barely squeezed out a smile.

He didn't speak, Zhao Fusheng could guess what was in his heart, and said lightly:

"There's no way I'm going to get out of control yet."

Zhao Fusheng picked up the teacup: "But after all, I am a human being, there will be joys, sorrows, and sorrows, and it is reasonable to be angry and angry, so what's all the fuss?" ”

When Pang Zhixian heard this, he stood in place, his face was blue and red for a while, showing an embarrassed and embarrassed look.

Zhao Fusheng looked at the old magistrate's expression with great interest, secretly drank tea without making a sound, and enjoyed his overwhelm.

After a while, Pang Zhixian shook his hands:

"The adults are right, but I am wrong."

Having said that, Pang Zhixian's attitude was much more restrained.

If he interacts with ordinary people such as Yu Weide, he occasionally argues a few words, and if the two sides disagree, he will also say that he will blush and have a thick neck.

But arguing with Zhao Fusheng, he is like a rope around his neck, always trembling and frightened, and his body's reaction is always faster than his thoughts.

Zhao Fusheng has a shrewd temperament and sees Pang Zhixian's reaction in his eyes.

Ordinary people's fear of ghost riders is not formed in a day.

Especially Pang Zhixian, as an official, has encountered ghost disasters, and his fear of ghosts is deep in the bone marrow, how can the concept he formed be broken because of his words?

She laughed, and then brought the topic back to the person surnamed Guo mentioned by Pang Zhixian:

"Tell me about this surnamed Guo again."

"Yes."

Lao Zhixian saluted with both hands, and under Zhao Fusheng's gaze, he bowed and replied:

"This person's surname is Guo, his single name is a Wei character, he was originally from Fengmen Village, and he has lived in the village for generations."

Pang Zhixian and Zhao Fusheng have known each other for half a year, and they also have a general understanding of her character.

Knowing that business is involved, she has a cautious temperament and likes to collect detailed clues.

Even if it is a trivial matter that seems insignificant to outsiders, she is willing to listen patiently and will never reprimand.

Pang Zhixian himself is also a careful and cautious person.

Before choosing Guo Wei, he didn't spend money indiscriminately, but after investigation.

At this time, after going through Guo Wei's life in his mind in his heart, he said:

"Fengmen Village is different from clan villages such as Kuailiang Village and Zhuangjia Village, and the people in the village are mixed."

Because the villagers of Fengmen Village are not relatives and do not have common interests like Huanggang Village, the villagers in the village are not monolithic.

"Forty-seven years ago, the incumbent county magistrate counted the population of Fengmen Village, and there were a total of 1,124 people on the register."

When Zhao Fusheng heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised:

"This Fengmen Village turned out to be a big village."

"At the time." Pang Zhixian nodded:

"But because the village is its owner, it is still easy to manage."

When he said this, he added:

"However, the time to count the household registration is too long, I checked the file in the middle, there was a ghost disaster in this village, and a lot of people died, even if there are villagers in the back, but this household registration number is still inaccurate."

When Zhao Fusheng heard this, his heart moved:

"There have been ghost cases in Fengmen Village before?"

"It happened forty-three years ago."

Pang Zhixian nodded:

"The Demon Suppression Division should have a record as well."

The archives of the Demon Suppression Division, where the past files are stored, were scattered due to the outbreak of a ghost disaster in the government office earlier.

Some of the files that recorded the cases of previous years have been tarnished and damaged, but as the Demon Suppression Division has been back on track in the past few months, most of the files have been sorted out and recorded, and the cases have been summarized.

At this time, with the specific year reminder of Pang Zhi County, it is very convenient for Zhao Fusheng to find the past files.

She answered:

"I'll look for the dossier later."

Pang Zhixian saluted, and then said:

"If the adults don't find it, I can also ask the master to copy a copy when I arrive."

"Okay." Zhao Fusheng did not postpone it, and nodded to him:

"You go on."

"Yes." Pang Zhixian replied respectfully, and then continued:

"Before I hired Guo Wei, I also inquired about his details, his ancestors have lived in Fengmen Village for four generations, and in their early years, they were recorded as people from southern Hunan who fled due to floods and settled here."

Because it is a foreign population, it is difficult to integrate into the village at first, and it is very honest.

By the time Guo Wei's generation arrived, the Guo family was almost a bit of a wretch.

"They have a simple population, and they don't have much courage, and they don't dare to do some things that are traitors and criminals."

The 'traitor department' mentioned here in Pang Zhi County refers to falling into the grass.

Fengmen Village is close to Huanggang Village, and there are many people in Huanggang Village, who often employ some young adults for their use.

Zhao Fusheng had heard from Wu Shaochun that the methods of these people hired by the smugglers were not very clean - that is, these villagers were not honest and good citizens.

Next, what Pang Zhixian said also verified Zhao Fusheng's guess:

"These villagers usually farm the land, but once the harvest is not good, or when they hear that there are merchants entering the village, these villagers will turn into bandits and rob and kill the merchants when they take weapons."

Pang Zhixian's face was a little cold when he said these words.

As an official of the imperial court, he has a very poor tolerance for these lawless people.

It's a pity that Wan'an County has become more and more unstable in recent years.

The Han Dynasty became increasingly impoverished, and the court had no money in its hands, could not afford to support soldiers, and could not afford to distribute grain, grass, and food.

Wan'an County does not have an army raised by the imperial court, and if you want to transfer troops to suppress bandits, you need to apply to the Xuzhou Prefecture at the next higher level.

And corruption is rampant in the military.

If you want to invite these soldiers, the county government must prepare a large number of gold and silver utensils.

And with the decline of the imperial court's binding force on the Demon Suppression Division and the generals of the local garrison, these soldiers are not good at stubble, if they come and lose control, they may be going to kill people and plunder goods and harm women.

When the time comes, it is easy to please God and it is difficult to send God.

After that, several magistrates of Wan'an County explained that there were bandits near Zhifengmen Village and that the villagers were miserable, but the government government did not dare to report to the state government department, for fear that there would be endless troubles in the future.

In such an environment, the closed village has formed two extremes:

"First, bandits are rampant, robbing homes and houses; The first is to be honest and good people, who have to pay taxes and tribute to the imperial court, and also deal with the looting of bandits from time to time. When Pang Zhixian said this, he couldn't help sighing:

"This Guo Wei is such a 'good citizen'."

"What kind of good citizen is this?" Zhao Fusheng stroked his forehead:

"It's almost cornered."

"Yes, in debt."

Pang Zhixian nodded:

"His family is so poor that even the local village chief doesn't dare to collect it, for fear that the family won't be able to figure it out for a while, and a rope will lead to a way out."

"......" Zhao Fusheng was speechless.

Pang Zhixian then spoke:

"His family owes a lot of taxes to the imperial court, and they borrow and pay it all year round, and when the autumn harvest arrives, the people who immediately collect the debts sit in his house."

It was precisely because of this that Pang Zhixian chose him - because Guo Wei had no other way to go.

At this time, others did not dare to accept the 300 yuan promised by Pang Zhi County, but for the poor and crazy Guo Wei, it was a pie in the sky, and he dared to do any work.

"This Guo Wei's family has bad feng shui, he can't support women, his grandparents have lost their wives for several generations, and now, he lives with his wife and children and his father." Pang Zhixian probably finished talking about the situation in Fengmen Village, and then put the focus of the incident on Guo Wei:

"He and his wife had two sons and a daughter, but one of them did not support one of them, and he left a younger son, who is now four years old, and his husband and wife take him with him on weekdays."

Pang Zhi County says:

"Above Fengmen Village is the management of Changtiao Town, I found Guo Wei through the local mayor and promised to let him help find people to enlist in the army, first said to give him 300 wen as an honorarium, and then if he recruited good manpower, once hired by the government, I will give him a benefit fee of 1 penny per person."

"That's a good idea."

Zhao Fusheng nodded.

Pang Zhixian smiled and said:

Guo Wei was also satisfied, and patted his chest at that time and promised that he would get things done, but he didn't know that only ten days had passed, and he regretted that he couldn't do it.

When Lao Zhixian said this, his face showed embarrassment:

"The messenger in the town over there said that someone in his family had disappeared and that he would not hide it from the adults, and when I first heard this, I always felt like an excuse."

"It's not necessarily an excuse."

Zhao Fusheng shook her head, she thought for a while:

"You also said that the villagers who closed the door are fierce, and there are bandits in the village-"

When Zhao Fusheng said this, her tone paused for a moment, and she turned her head to look at Pang Zhixian:

"If these bandits are caught, according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, what will be the result?"

"These people kill people and overhaul goods, bully the women and children of good families, usually burn, kill, and plunder all kinds of evil, if they are caught, they will be sentenced to the head of the owl, and the body will be hung at the gate of the city for half a month, allowing the crows to eat and bite." Pang Zhixian replied without hesitation.

But as soon as his voice fell, he immediately realized what the problem was:

"What do you mean by my lordship, that someone in the village told the matter that Guo Wei was retaliated against by the bandits?"

These bandits have no humanity at all, they have a lot of blood debts in their hands, and the government has been making frequent moves recently, maybe these bandits have already gotten the news.

And Guo Wei was on the side of the government at this time.

In his opinion, the court gave him money to recruit handymen, and the handymen received an errand, and he received a reward from the government, which was a great joy for both parties;

But in the eyes of the bandits, it is very likely that Guo Wei has become a lackey of the government, an eagle dog of the court, helping the government to do things, and it is to exterminate the bandits.

Under this conjecture, the ferocious bandits will definitely take the risk.

If they are jealous of the government and have smart people behind them, they will not blatantly attack Guo Wei - because this will anger the government and bring uncontrollable consequences.

If Zhao Fusheng's thinking is followed, he should kidnap Guo Wei's family, secretly make him bad, and order him not to cooperate with the imperial court, and to make this matter worse.

As long as the word 'drag' is used, after a long time, the bandits are the head snake after all, the government of Wan'an County has been inactive for decades, and the government is empty, and this 'incident' may not last long.

After a long time, the matter is over, and everything disappears.

Of course, this is Zhao Fusheng's perspective.

But the bandits don't necessarily think so.

"It's hard to say."

Zhao Fusheng had her own thoughts in her heart, but she was cautious and careful, and she did not take the lead in denying Pang Zhixian's speculation:

"It's possible, but I don't think it's likely."

"What do you mean by that, my lord?" Pang Zhixian asked.

"You also said that most of the bandits in Fengmen Village are villagers who have fallen into the grass." Zhao Fusheng analyzed:

"These people are illiterate, have no insight and vision, and act impulsively, the reason why they have become bandits for so many years is purely because the Wan'an County Government is too incompetent and wasteful!"

Her unceremonious words made Pang Zhixian's old face red.

There are many cases where peasants have turned into bandits, but these people have no swords, no knowledge, no training, and they simply plunder and kill good people by means of bravery, ruthlessness, and cruelty.

The reason why it is a scourge is that these people have two identities.

After putting down the knife, they will turn into villagers, and after lifting the knife, they will become bandits, plus they will protect each other, which is difficult to identify.

As soon as the imperial army came, these people would flee into the mountains, and the army needed food and grass supplies, and could not fight a protracted war.

On the other hand, for the villagers, the scourge of bandits and the scourge of the army are probably the same fate.

In comparison, the disaster after the army raged was a little greater, anyway, they were all burned and looted, and the nearby bandits also paid attention to long-term looting, while the regular army of the imperial court was much more ferocious and more harmful to the people.

This is also the reason why the bandits in the closed village have not been completely eradicated for decades.

In the final analysis, it is not that the bandits are too cunning and knowledgeable, but that the government and army of the Han Dynasty are incompetent and have lost the hearts of the people.

"Such bandits believe that Guo Wei is the one who will betray them, and there is a high probability that they will kill people and kill them, instead of taking a roundabout and tactful way, starting with kidnapping his family."

If these gangsters had such insight, the situation in Fengmen Village would not be so bad.

Zhao Fusheng said this, put down the teacup and stretched:

"But the matter is just my speculation, whether Guo Wei's family had other accidents, or was kidnapped and blackmailed by bandits, it's hard to say, I have to go and see on the spot."

After speaking, she looked at the stunned old magistrate:

"Is there any available manpower in the county today?"

At the end of the month, by the way, the monthly pass will be invalid when it expires, and I ask you to vote for me~~~