"Smack."

Lao Liang broke a brand-new copper market, and bared his teeth because of the wound on his shoulder.

"It's really tough, and the surname Diao has some finger power."

"It's a piece of cake." Xue Bai picked up the disconnected copper coin and looked at it, recalling what he saw every time he bought Hu Cake.

The vendors get up early in the morning and are greedy for darkness, chopping wood, lighting fires, carrying water, and kneading dough, but how is this noodles grown? Ploughing the fields, picking manure, and harvesting are all heavy physical work.

In contrast, the private minting of copper coins uses a hydraulic blast, the copper juice flows out of the coinage furnace, and the two copper molds are pressed. It is easy to exchange the rations that ordinary people have worked so hard to grow....... although they have been deprived of a lot by encroaching on the fields and buying and selling people, but who would be afraid to get more?

Of course, there are barriers to coinage, and ordinary farmers can't do it, and the minting of private coins is also based on strength.

"Lang Jun." Shi Zhong came over and said, "They brought iron and stone over." ”

"It's a good faith."

Xue Bai got up and walked to the side of the boat to look, only to see more than 100 people under Diao Bing after moving the grain and driving the carriage over. The wagon was heavy, carrying the iron and stone he wanted.

He had sent people to follow Diao Geng before, knowing that they had transported the iron and stone to Yanshi from afar, and it was impossible to transport them back. Therefore, they pretended to be generous when they traded, and let them transport the grain first.

Remember https://m in a second.

After all, although it is iron and stone, it is actually the hearts of people.

"Lieutenant Xue, the goods are transported to the ship for you, and I am leaving.

"You killed Gao Chong, you can go to the county office to receive the reward."

"Nope." Diao Bing was worried about this matter, but when the time came, he was detained, and said, "Xue County Lieutenant Gaoyi, goodbye." ”

If it was a reward coin, it would be fine, but since it was these objects, Diao Bing couldn't help but hesitate.

Diao Geng said: "Brother, I took someone to get it?"

"Fifty pieces of silk, it's almost the New Year, take it back to cut clothes for your family, and there are rewards for charcoal, peppercorns, tea and other things."

"Be careful, then.

is used to seeing life and death, and the brothers are not hypocritical. Diao Geng carried the head, then took Xue Bai's boat and headed for the county office.

On the way, Shi Zhong specially instructed the guys to bang the gong and shout.

"The fugitive Gao Chong secretly attacked the county lieutenant, was captured and killed by the heroes Diao Bing, Diao Geng and others, and returned the county to peace!"

"Don't do that, this head... I picked it up.

Diao Geng also knew that something was wrong, and hurriedly explained. He couldn't say that Gao Chong was killed by Xue County Lieutenant, but to tell the truth, the head really rolled to his feet and was picked up by him.

It's a pity that Shi Zhong and the others and the onlookers were too enthusiastic, and no one believed his explanation at all.

Such fanfare had alarmed Song Mian, and he learned that his brother's murderer was dead, and he inevitably had to come forward.

Song Mian got the news, hurried from Shouyang Academy to the county office, and when he saw Diao Geng, he couldn't help but be surprised, and said in his heart, isn't this one of the brothers of the Diao family, the foreman who transported the copper materials?

He suppressed his surprise, and after thinking about it carefully, Gao Chong originally fled to the Diao brothers, but unfortunately miscalculated their friendship with each other.

Untouchables are unrighteous and not to be gullible, and this must be admonished.

Song Mian thought so in his heart, but his face was filled with grief. The reason why he is sad rather than grateful, because what he wants is not to win over and kill the noble Diao Geng, but to show that the brotherhood is deep and the Song family will take revenge if they have revenge.

"Exalted dog thief, harm my brother. Fortunately, the righteous man intervened, so that I could sacrifice the head of my enemy before the spirit of my brother.

In short, the Song family was grateful for this, and rewarded Diao Geng with twenty taels of gold.

Diao Geng is also a little sentimental, Gao Chong, who has known him for more than ten years, died unexpectedly, although Gao Chong was an official at that time, they were the people, and they were only seen, but there were transactions for more than a year...... In addition, Gao Chong still has two batches of iron and stone that have not been paid.

Then, while sentimental, he watched as the silk horses were loaded onto the mule cart, and the bright gold was in the box, placed in front of him, and the shouts of the people around him.

"Righteous man!

"Righteous man!

Diao Geng was a little confused by the praise, he also saw the basin in the crowd, so he raised his hand and waved it twice at the crowd, grinning and smirking.

After leaving the county seat and arriving on the south bank of the Yiluo River, he had not yet recovered from the excitement of being regarded as a hero.

"Look at you.

"It's not fun, brother, County Lieutenant Xue didn't detain me, people are busy.

Diao Bing didn't look at the gold, and saw that there were still a few sackcloth on the mule cart, picked it up and touched it, and sighed: "You have become this 'righteous man', how can you explain it to him when Gao Shang comes to Henan." ”

"To tell you the truth, Gao Langjun has clear grievances and grievances, and he can see us as rough people?"

"Let's go.

There were still a few days before the winter moon began, and all the blacksmiths in Yanshi County were suddenly gathered.

According to the officials of Shicao, it was the county lieutenant who wanted to forge a batch of farm tools, and even the iron and stone had been bought, and they demanded that thousands of pieces be made this winter in order to lead the farmers to clear the land before the beginning of spring.

On October 27, after a continuous busy, Luo Jue, the head of Shicao, felt very tired and couldn't help complaining.

"What's the use of me? That is, how much barren land can be cultivated by making agricultural tools? Twenty hectares? Thirty hectares? What is it for?

Several of his subordinates were mostly side branches of large households in the county, and they laughed when they heard this.

It must be known that the uncle's fields in their clan are hundreds of hectares, and there are even thousands of hectares...... Although they themselves do not have it.

After that, he saw Hu Cao's account history Zhao Liu coming over with the documents and abacus, clumsily put down the objects in his hand, and saluted: "Master Luo, the number of iron and stones, and the blacksmith's salary, I will judge with you." ”

"How old are you?

A clerk stepped forward, relying on the height of the man and the horse, and with his stomach, he pushed Zhao Liuyi to the ground. When everyone saw this, they laughed and the atmosphere was cheerful.

"How? patted the new county lieutenant on the back and entered Hu Cao, and still want to take care of our Shi Cao's affairs? ”

Zhao Liu hurriedly got up from the ground and apologized: "Master Luo, forgive me, I'm just doing some official business.....

"How much official business did the county office have? When a new official takes office, he has nothing to do, and he changes the law to call people, which is also called official business? ”

Luo Jue picked up the official document brought by Zhao Liu and looked at it, and said: "The salary of the branch is not right, we have worked hard these days, and we have found forty-eight blacksmiths." ”

"But there are no four ..... in the entire Yanshi County

"Dare to stretch out your hand to manage Shi Cao again!"

Luo Jue was furious, and directly smashed the stack of official documents in his hand into Zhao Liu's face. The thick stack of bamboo paper was not light, and it smashed Zhao Liu's nose and scattered official documents all over the ground.

"Do a good job of Hu Cao, in the winter, Mok deducted the blacksmiths' wages."

After saying this again, Luo Jue went straight away with the officials.

Zhao Liu didn't say a word, picked up his sleeves, wiped his nosebleed with his arm, raised his head and waited for the nosebleed to dry, squatted down to clean up the official documents.

After a while, someone came in, crouched beside him, and picked up the list of blacksmiths provided by Luo Jue.

"County ...... County Lieutenant. Zhao Liu was taken aback, and hurriedly helped Xue Bai to get up.

"What happened?

"Blacksmith, this matter, Shi Cao also thinks, wants to have a reward."

Xue Bai understood, and said, "Want to eat a void under my nose?" ”

"Yes." Zhao Liu didn't hide it, "The county lieutenant just came, maybe he should win them over."

"Who hit you?

"No, the villain fell on his own.

Zhao Liu's situation, Xue Bai has inquired, his grandfather was originally a county official, but unfortunately Zhao Liu was still young when he died, his aunt was sick, and there was a disabled brother at home, someone in the county bureau wanted to rob his family's officials, Zhao Liu even became a concierge, so he didn't dare to have a temper.

Xue Bai didn't ask much, and ordered: "You are a Yanshi, are you familiar with craftsmen?"

"Back to the county lieutenant, it's quite familiar."

"You write another copy of this list, as well as these documents given by Shicao, you have rewritten it, and hand it over to me tomorrow morning."

"Whoa."

Xue Bai turned back to the Wei Corridor.

When passing by the capture hall, I saw a group of errand soldiers surrounding there to watch Ren Mulan compete with Xue Xian. Xue Xin's injury on the cheek was not healed, but Ren Mulan chased and cut it with a real knife, causing the servants to exclaim, "Don't cut the handsome head."

Xue Bai knew that Lao Liang knew what to expect, so he didn't stop him, and went to dispose of some paperwork, and when their competition was over, Ren Mulan was brought over in disgrace.

"Lost?

"After all, the handsome man is a disciple of the general.

"Are you familiar with Shi Cao's Luo Jue?

"Is it 'Luo Xuan'? If so, we'd taken two hundred dollars from him. ”

Ren Mulan was not afraid of being caught in the county jail, so she confessed generously, and then said whatever she wanted.

"He likes to go to the brothel in the north of the city to prostitute himself, and the place comes out drunk one by one, and it is better to steal it. Just two months ago, when he was holding a prostitute and gnawing while walking, he went up to steal his purse, and he kicked the basin into the ditch and said, "You dare to steal from the officials of the county office", and we knew that he was from the county office. ”

"Just bring the basin and take a look.

These beggars are usually not very noticeable, but in fact, they wander around the city all day long, and they have seen a lot of things, although they are not secrets, but they can effectively help Xue Bai, an outsider.

After getting rid of Gao Chong, Xue Bai already had preliminary strength, and he gradually became comfortable doing things in the county. Dealing with a small person is already handy.

He summoned Lao Liang and Xue Xian, and instructed: "You go to the brothel at the city gate and inquire about Luo Jue." This kind of person who always loves to prostitute will inevitably owe some debts......."

Xue Xian was very puzzled and asked, "Brother, why?" ”

"It's a long experience, and I can't say it in a sentence or two." Lao Lianghui smiled heartily and patted Xue Xian's shoulder, "You just learn." ”

Xue Bai does have experience, but he has experience in dealing with this kind of case, so he can't explain it clearly, so he only lets them do things.

Lao Liang didn't want to go, so he asked Xue Xian to find Jiang Hai to take him, Xue Xian couldn't help asking, "But is his injury healed?" ”

"Call him, and he will be healed.

Early the next morning, Zhao Liu actually revised all the official documents related to the forging farm tools sorted out by Shi Cao, and picked out all the deceptive parts in them.

Xue Bai read the official document, glanced at Zhao Liu's dark eyes again, and asked, "Haven't slept all night?" ”

"Back to the county lieutenant, yes."

"Do you know all this?"

"My grandfather is an old official in the county, and he used to take me to build canals and pave roads in the county, so I understand."

"Take me to see it."

Zhao Liu hurriedly bowed down and walked in front to lead the way, and took the county lieutenant to meet the old blacksmith he had recommended.

Not long ago, he was just a porter, and at that time he thought that he was waiting for a few years to be senior, but now with the first opportunity, his mind is gradually becoming more active.

There are people in the world who have a high starting point and are ambitious very early; Some people have a low starting point, but they slowly broaden their horizons. Zhao Liu is the latter, and the reason why he didn't sleep all night last night was that he suddenly realized that he might become the confidant of the county lieutenant. Others felt that "what about Zhuangyuanlang, it has nothing to do with me", and he only realized that the future of Xue Countywei had nothing to do with him.

On the way there, Zhao Liu talked about Luo Jue's deeds again, and he was no longer hidden.

"The few craftsmen recommended by Director Luo are not good at their skills, but they have a good relationship with him, and they have found many people to pretend to be apprentices, and they want to swallow the money for forging farm tools from the county office."

This method is also not new, and it is the same as the vacant registration in the army.

Luo Jue took this errand since, but in fact, he only shouted in front of Zhao Liu, and he was still very humble in the face of Xue Bai, showing the appearance of working diligently. In other words, if Xue Bai is really a fledgling newcomer to officialdom, if he doesn't pay attention to it, it will be easy for Luo Jue to deceive his superiors and subordinates.

At that time, the county office paid the money, and then handed over the iron and stone to the craftsman shop arranged by Luo Jue, and the craftsmen's wages were ignored here, and the iron and stone were resold there, mixed with tin, lead, and even gravel. When the spring opened, the farm tools were rented to the farmers, and a hoe was waved into the mountains to be cleared, and the hoe collapsed into two sections, and all the infamy had to be borne by Xue Bai.

"The county lieutenant is still too young, and he spent the money and food that the county office was already in short supply, and insisted on making farm tools, clearing the wasteland only for his own merits, and ignoring the life and death of the people.

"The five thousand stone grain in the warehouse was all replaced by the county lieutenant with useless iron and stone, and he wanted to kill all of us!"

The reality will only be more terrible than this assumption, if a young, hot-blooded, and ignorant official enters this power field, and dares to disobey the people in this chain of interests, he will only be devoured to the bones.

There are countless people like Luo Jue in the more than 360 state capitals and more than 1,550 counties in the Tang Dynasty, and you can meet one casually.

There is an iron shop in the alley south of the plague temple in the south of the city, looking at the knife hanging on the wall, the craftsmanship is definitely not as good as the craftsman who will be the supervisor in Chang'an, but it can be said that it is the best in the county.

Of course, Xue Bai couldn't let the craftsmen of Chang'an strike iron for him.

The blacksmith introduced by Zhao Liu was named Lu Sanyi, almost fifty years old, not to mention his skills, he was very helpful on weekdays, and he was quite famous among the craftsmen in Yanshi County.

"What does the county lieutenant want to build?

Zhao Liudao: "The county lieutenant wants to turn more than 8,000 catties of iron and stone into farm tools. ”

"More than 8,000 pounds?" Lu Sanyi couldn't help but glance at Xue Bai again, secretly thinking that at this county lieutenant's age, he was so generous in doing things.

Wiping the sweat on his hands in the warm iron shop, he said: "There are so many iron and stones to be made, and the little old man must say that the forging furnace must be set up by the Yi River, let the waterwheel blow the wind, and burn a lot of charcoal." ”

Xue Bai saw that the first thing he thought about after hearing about this was what to do, and he was initially satisfied, and then handed over the drawings he had drawn.

Although his painting skills are not very good, Lu Sanyi is not like Lu Linghao, he can understand it at a glance.

"This is the iron plough, the iron lock, the iron hammer, this is the cocoon, the shovel, the iron hoe, this is the iron harrow, and the iron rake must be made more."

Xue Bai stayed here for a long time, and then saw Qi Chou hurriedly come to report, and said: "County lieutenant, someone went to the county to report the case, and the county order asked the county lieutenant to arrange for the arrest of the criminal." ”

"What's wrong?

Qi Chou didn't dare to say it directly, attached it to Xue Bai's ear, and said in a low voice: "The people who came to report the case were all Oiran ladies from Nanqu, the county seat, who said that they were bullied, but they refused to name them, and they had to promise in public that they would strictly handle the case and make decisions for them, so they would be willing to say the names of the defendants." ”

Xue Bai said: "Don't even say that the defendant will not accept such a case." ”

"That's the case, but this case involves a lot of money, and several Oiran ladies are not shallow, I'm afraid this matter involves a fight between big families, and it's not appropriate how the county order is handled."

"And how did he deal with it?"

"It's for the villain to ask the county lieutenant to do this."

"Then I'll look into the case."

Xue Bai was about to leave to return to the county office, but before leaving, he didn't forget to say to Zhao Liu: "You implement the forging thing well." ”

"Wow.

When I returned to the county office, Jiang Hai, who had been resting for several days, was also there, eating a bag of roasted humps in his hand, looking lively.

There were more people in the lobby to watch the trial than usual, and there was a faint fragrance, but the case was not being tried.

"What about the prefectural order?

"There is a big incident on the canal temporarily, and the Ming Mansion has passed, so this case will be handed over to the county lieutenant for questioning." Guo Jian still had the same smiling face, with a relaxed tone, and said: "A few cheap prostitutes, but they refuse to tell the truth when they report the case, they don't leave, they are immoral, and the county lieutenant should give them a few sticks." ”

Jiang Hai asked rhetorically: "Is the county order a cane that doesn't move?" ”

Guo Jian said with a smile: "The county lieutenant should be in charge of the mouths of the people under him." ”

"Guo Lushi won't say anything more." Xue Bai said, "Let's ask questions, take them to the Wei Lang." ”

"The county lieutenant can be tried in court.

"Last time, it was said that only the county order is qualified to hear cases in the lobby."

"It's okay, the Ming Mansion has explained, and it will be tried in this court."

Guo Jian already probably knew what was going on, or the fourth son of Zheng Wei, a high-ranking family in the county, was looking for fun in Huanchun Courtyard not long ago, and accidentally killed a prostitute while pouring alcohol; Or, Cui's sixth son enlarged the belly of a prostitute, and gave money to let him fall, but the prostitute hid and gave birth secretly, and died in one body and two lives during childbirth...... In short, there are a lot of these kinds of things.

Today, I don't know which two families do not deal with each other, and instruct these prostitutes to make trouble and embarrass each other.

Guo Jian has been busy rebuilding the field books and household books recently, and it is too late to reap the benefits, and he didn't expect that this kind of dirty thing has anything to do with the forging of farm tools that Xue Bai has been busy with recently.

He was just a moment ago, and he was just called over by Lu Linghao to take over the scene.

"Smack!

Xue Bai was shocked and asked, "Say, who are you going to sue?" ”

"Meet the county lieutenant, the person the people told by the people are noble, if the county captain promises in public, he will definitely not cover him, and the people dare to say.

Someone in the hall burst into laughter.

"Nonsense! This is a public court, and you will not be able to avenge your grievances and tease your own officials? ! Xue Bai drank a sentence, and then said:

"If your testimony is true, this official will never cover it up.

Minnu and others sued Luo Ying for bullying and forcing people...... Strong...... Whining......

"Speaking of the slave family, the county lieutenant, Luo Ying relied on himself to be a county official, he was in arrears of wine money, drove away the guests of the slave family, he not only forced the slave family, he also forced the slave family's maidservants to ......"

"Woooooooooo......oo He lied to the slave family that he wanted to redeem the slave family, but he defrauded the slave family's savings...... All the savings of five years of selling laughter! ! Tell others that they don't believe it, and everyone says that the county officials will deceive people? ”

"The slave family also wanted to sue Luo Jue, he took advantage of the slave family to dance in Zheng Gong's house, put on the slave's clothes, covered his face, blended into Zheng Gong's back house, and fornicated with a concubine......

As soon as these words came out, the hall seemed to be boiling.

Zheng Shilang, who was originally worried, exclaimed, was furious, and shouted: "What a Luo prostitute, my grandfather's concubine dares to steal?!" ”

Guo Lian was still drinking tea for a long time, and when he saw this change, the tea soup was sprinkled on his beard.

He had already reacted that this was actually Xue Bai's deliberate framing, or deliberate means to deal with Luo Jue. It's just the action of the mediocre superior to get rid of the subordinates, but how long has Xue Bai been in Yanshi? The fight caught people off guard.

Shiro is angry, this matter will be slandered, Luo Jue is ugly and short, and he will never be...

"Smack!

The shocking wood sounded again, and Xue Bai's face sank like water.

There is mental arithmetic and unintentional, high and low, not to mention that Luo Jue has really done these things, how can he not be judged?

"Team leader Xue Xian."

"In!

"Come."

"Whoa! Follow me! ”

Xue Xian was in a hurry, and quickly pressed Luo Ying to the court.

Luo Ying has been in the scene all year round, and there are countless connections with these prostitutes, once they are given the opportunity to bite, not only will the evidence be handed out in one go, but they will also have sharp teeth and exaggerated words, and they can't bite him to death.

"You ...... Slut! Sluts are ruthless! I'm going to strangle you slut......

"Roar in court, commit murder in court, increase the crime by one degree, and take it down!"

Luo Jue also wanted to pounce on a prostitute, but Xue Xian strode forward and swept the killing staff hard, knocking Luo Jue to the ground.

"County lieutenant, take it!

"According to the law, flow three thousand miles, allow redemption, put in prison, and retire!"

Xue Bai resolutely closed the case.

In his capacity as a county lieutenant, he would remove a Liucao chief in a dignified and public manner, further establishing his prestige in the county office.

This time, it was not the power he asked Lu Linghao for, but the power he took away.

On the other hand, Xue Bai didn't think that this was much progress, there were still countless evil officials in the world, and Luo Jue was far from being the worst.

Lu Linghao really didn't expect that he had only avoided for half an hour, and in a blink of an eye, Shi Cao's head was withdrawn.

When Guo Jian conveyed Xue Bai's proposed candidate for Shicao, he was even more surprised.

"Who are you talking about? Zhao Liu?

"Yes.

"That's a concierge.

"Yuming Mansion, that's because of this. Xue Bai simply found the one in the county office who was most likely to be dissatisfied due to his low status.

"It seems that Zhao Liu is already completely his person." Lu Linghao said: "This county treats Zhao Liu well, he doesn't understand, the porter is also a cronie, this county is a cherished talent, but unfortunately, he doesn't understand." ”

"Yes." Guo Jian muttered: "In this matter, maybe the county order should be agreed to first?" ”

Lu Linghao was unwilling and pondered.

Guo Jian said: "The Zheng family doesn't want Luo Jue to redeem his sentence, and is discussing with Xue Bai. With so much going on in the connection, now is the time when this kid's prestige is rising. Including the Cui family, the Zheng family, and the Song family, they are all very close to him.........

"They were deceived by him, Xue Bai is not a person at all.

"Having said that, since the Ming Mansion is ready to transfer him at the beginning of spring, why bother to save the face of the princes?

Lu Linghao nodded, thought for a while, but said: "In the evening, the county will personally visit Zhao Liu's old mother.

"Wonderful!" Guo Jian said with a smile: "In this way, let the uninformed think that Zhao Liu is supported by the Ming Mansion, and maybe they can also plant suspicion between him and Xue Bai. ”

"You don't have to compare this county with that dead man, there is no reason to get bad luck."

Two days later, Zhao Liuyi became the head of the county Lishi Cao, although he was just a Xu official, but this soaring into the sky was still very eye-catching.

He had something to say to Xue Bai at that time, and he spit it out.

"County Lieutenant, I'm ....."

Xue Bai waved his hand and said, "Don't be embarrassed, you know what you have to say, believe in my strength, and do things well." ”

"Whoa"

With this sentence, Zhao Liu can feel at ease more than anything else.

Of course, it is not easy for him to convince the officials of Shicao, but everything is difficult at the beginning, and there is at least a faction in the county office that supports the county lieutenant.

And Zhao Liu in the matter of forging farm tools, he plays more of the role of a miscellaneous official, he is familiar with Yanshi County, familiar with the county office, can write and calculate, busy with settling the blacksmith, loading and unloading raw materials, preparing food and lodging and other things.

really mastered the important links behind the scenes, in addition to the county lieutenant Xue Bai, there was also a Yang family firm after that. According to the steward of the Yang firm, in order to support the county's forging of agricultural tools, they are willing to pay for the establishment of workshops and blacksmiths, as long as the county makes agricultural tools, a part of the iron and stone is left, and they can make iron pots for sale.

When people mentioned this, they were afraid of the power of the Yang family, and they just said, "This Yang family firm is the first Fengwei Building to have stir-fried vegetables, isn't it normal to sell iron pots?"

In this way, before entering the winter moon, the iron and stone were transported to the shaft furnace, and the strong men pulled the bellows, and the charcoal fire in the furnace burned red.

When the furnace fire is at its redtest, the iron begins to soften and flow into molten iron.

As soon as the hammer sounded, sparks flew and dazzled in the dark room.

Xue Bai stood aside and watched, inexplicably thinking of a poem.

"The fire illuminates the heavens and the earth, and the red stars are filled with purple smoke."

On a moonlit night, the song moves the cold river. ”

Because I saw the craftsmanship of the Tang Dynasty, I thought of the poems of the Tang Dynasty, the poems of vitality.

He also finally completed the first step to succeed Gao Chong, and it was also the first practical thing for him to govern a county........