At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

On the seemingly peaceful night, undercurrents were surging, and a tense and serious atmosphere filled the entire prefectural government office.

Under Xia Yun's orders, half of the people rested while the other half carried out the orders overnight.

Alternating between day and night, the government office is kept running at a high intensity.

The next day, in the afternoon.

"Sir, the spy who followed the robbers last night has sent back news!"

In the lobby of the prefectural government office, Xia Yun was reading the latest bulletin from the court. Jiang Wenzhong appeared in the lobby in a hurry, accompanied by a spy.

"explain."

Xia Yun closed the newspaper and shifted his attention to Jiang Wenzhong and the spy.

"Your Excellency, yesterday a group of robbers broke into the prefectural government office and kidnapped Zhang Yuandao and a group of other prisoners. Then these people disguised themselves and climbed out from the east gate wall overnight."

"At present, this group of robbers has fled to Jiangyin County, and their subsequent escape route is roughly towards the southeast coast of Zhejiang."

The spy spoke immediately, describing the robbers' whereabouts word by word in great detail.

Hearing this, Xia Yun immediately stood up and looked at the map of Zhejiang Province behind him.

The southeast coast, isn't that exactly where the Japanese pirates gather?

In an instant, a gloomy look appeared in Xia Yun's eyes.

A group of Japanese pirates broke into the prefectural government's gate and kidnapped Zhang Yuandao, who was previously considered a criminal official who colluded with the Japanese.

In this way, Zhang Yuandao's crime of colluding with the Japanese was completely confirmed!

Good trick!

"Send the order, have Jiang Wenzhong lead a hundred cavalrymen to chase after them at night, and make sure to capture those pirates, dead or alive!"

Xia Yun gave the order on the spot.

"The general will get the order!"

Jiang Wenzhong responded and left the court.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Jiang Wenzhong gathered a hundred soldiers and horses, fully armed, and headed straight for the east gate.

Listening to the sound of horse hooves in the distance, Xia Yun felt a rare sense of excitement.

Things are getting more interesting.

He learned from the imperial report that the young minister had impeached him in the court, accusing him of deceiving the emperor and abusing his power.

Although the court did not punish him, it sent a censor who would arrive in Hangzhou in two or three days.

At this critical juncture, strange events occurred frequently in Hangzhou city, which obviously did not seem to be accidental.

In the evening, Chen Jingzhong returned to the prefectural government office from outside the city.

"Your Excellency, I have sent the news to the Governor's camp. Lord Lei ordered me to bring back a message that he has ordered Zhejiang to be under martial law and mobilized all naval forces to search the entire Zhejiang waters."

Chen Jingzhong appeared in front of Xia Yun and reported immediately.

"very good."

Xia Yun nodded. Lei Zhenning's cooperation with him gave him more confidence.

Of course, the reason for this is also inseparable from the 20 dan of grain and fodder he allocated to Lei Zhenning.

"Excuse me, sir, I don't know what I should do after writing it down."

Chen Jingzhong couldn't sit still and asked.

Hearing this, Xia Yun thought for a moment. Now that all the troops had been sent out, it seemed that Chen Jingzhong did not need to do anything.

"Stay at the prefectural government office and wait for orders."

"Yes, I humbly obey my orders!"

……

In a blink of an eye, it was already evening.

The entire prefectural government office was unusually quiet.

Until the sound of a group of horses neighing broke this rare tranquility!

"Sir! Found it!"

Xu Wan'er's excited voice spread from the gate of the yamen all the way to the yamen court.

Soon, Xu Wan'er found Xia Yun in a courtyard of the yamen.

"Your Excellency, we have found the Qili grass! We have discovered a Qili grass planting area in Jiangyin County!"

As soon as the two met, Xu Wan'er reported eagerly.

At the same time, Xu Wan'er waved her right hand, and several soldiers following behind her brought up a middle-aged man and a box.

Xu Wan'er opened the box herself.

"Sir, this man is a medicinal herb grower in Jiangyin County. This is Qili Grass."

Xu Wan'er explained.

However, before Xia Yun could speak, the middle-aged man fell to his knees with a thud, revealing an extremely terrified look on his face.

"Sir, I am just a farmer. I have never done anything illegal!"

The middle-aged man's voice was extremely trembling, and his fear and terror were clearly revealed.

"How did you find out?"

Xia Yun frowned.

Indeed, judging from the reactions of these farmers, they do not seem to be evil people, let alone Japanese pirates.

"Sir, when we traced him to Jiangyin County, we happened to find him. He also admitted that a middle-aged man bought a batch of Qili grass from him two days ago."

Xu Wan'er responded.

At this time, the farmer's expression became excited again.

"I planted this thing just to use it as an anesthetic when I slaughtered pigs. I definitely have other intentions. I hope you can understand!"

The farmers kowtowed like pounding garlic.

He was not a fool. He had already guessed it when he saw himself being taken to the Hangzhou prefectural government office.

It must be because of the beautiful grass that he sold that caused him such a huge trouble!

"Do you remember who bought the beautiful grass from you?"

Xia Yun's sight was fixed on the grower. His eyes, as dark as the night, reflected an extremely deep gaze, as if he could see through all human nature at a glance.

"As long as you tell the truth, I will pardon you. If you lie even a little, you will be courting death."

Xia Yun added, "Use both kindness and force."

"I will remember your words, sir!"

"It was a middle-aged man with a handsome figure, accompanied by several guards. Those guards called the middle-aged man the general."

"By the way, that person has a black mole between his eyebrows!"

Xia Yun's words of both kindness and severity worked, and the planter told him everything he remembered, like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube.

Hearing this, Xia Yun frowned slightly.

Judging from the growers’ descriptions alone, the people who bought the beautiful grass seemed to be from the military?

"Quickly summon Chen Jingzhong to see this government!"

Xia Yun immediately gave an order.

After a while, Chen Jingzhong came in front of Xia Yun.

"General Chen, is there a general or commander in the Zhejiang army who has a strong physique and a black mole between his eyebrows?"

As soon as Chen Jingzhong arrived, Xia Yun went straight to the point and asked.

As a trusted general under Lei Zhenning, if there really was such a person in the army, Chen Jingzhong would most likely have an impression of him.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Chen Jingzhong shook his head on the spot.

"Lord Lei has 16 infantry generals, 76 commanders, two naval admirals, and nine captains under his command. None of them has this kind of orientation."

Chen Jingzhong described the situation in the governor's military camp as if he knew everything about it.

Hearing this, Xia Yun showed a trace of regret on his face.

However, unexpectedly, Chen Jingzhong seemed to remember something and spoke again.

"Your Excellency may not know that although the Governor-General nominally controls the entire Zhejiang Province's military, there are still many cities in Zhejiang where troops are stationed, and they are directly under the jurisdiction of the Zhejiang Governor."

"For example, Wang Lei, the fourth-rank deputy general of Hangzhou, was like this."

As soon as Chen Jingzhong said this, Xia Yun's eyes lit up! He immediately gave another order.

"Quickly summon Hangzhou Fifth Rank Co-magistrate Xiao Haiyang to the Governor's Office!"