The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

"Where does your iron for forging weapons come from?"

"Those people will send iron when they come to take away the weapons."

Hearing this, he turned to look at the person next to him and said, "Lord Gao, are there any iron mines in Yuxiang County?"

"Your Majesty, no."

Since there is no iron ore here, it must have been transported from somewhere else.

"How often do they come to the cave to carry away weapons?" Li Chengfeng took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued asking.

"Your Majesty, they come every two months to transport away a batch of weapons."

Two months...

I don’t know how many months and three months have passed in these three years, and they have actually forged so many weapons, including swords and knives.

It seems that the iron ore area also needs to be carefully investigated!

Coming back to his senses, Li Chengfeng continued to ask, "Do you have any secret codes every time you meet?"

The man said, "Our code for contact is 'Eternal Heaven, Bless the People and Peace.'"

Tie Zhu sneered, "Humph, a bunch of scum who are out to get money and kill people. You shout slogans loudly, but is the person who is responsible for contacting you the same person?"

"Your Excellency, it's the same person."

"Very good. When will they come over next time?"

"They will be back in the afternoon two days later."

Exhaling, Li Chengfeng stood up and looked down at him condescendingly.

"I'll give you a chance to make amends. Return to the cave in two days and meet them. I'll capture them alive!"

"I thank your majesty."

"Take it down."

Xiong Haikuo ordered his men to take these people away and keep them under strict supervision.

Watching them walk away, Li Chengfeng's tone was full of murderous intent.

"Lord Chen, I leave the matters here to you."

"In two days, I will bring those people from the Immortal Cult to lure out the person behind this. I want to see who is so bold as to forge weapons privately!"

The latter did not dare to look up, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

……

The matter came to an end, and Li Chengfeng ordered the secret guard to contact Zhao Sheng.

Zhao Sheng collected evidence of corruption and bribery among officials in Jiangnan Prefecture.

He has now arrived in a small county town in Zezhou.

On this day, an interesting thing happened in the small county town.

Farmer Aunt Zhang lost an old hen. She looked everywhere for it but couldn't find it. At noon, she smelled the aroma of meat coming from the neighboring Li family. She suspected that Li had eaten her old hen.

Li Da refused to admit it and insisted that it was the big rooster he bought.

The two quarreled and ended up in court.

The county magistrate forced himself to ask what had happened, through his squinting eyes from a hangover.

Aunt Zhang told Li what happened, but he continued to deny it.

The county magistrate slammed the gavel impatiently and said, "Silence."

"Zhang, you said Li Da stole your chicken. Do you have any evidence?"

"My Lord, Li Da never cooks at home. My hen was just lost this morning, and he stewed it for lunch. How could such a coincidence happen?"

"You're being unreasonable. I just want to eat chicken today. Why not just stew the rooster I bought at the market?"

"You stole it!"

"I didn't steal it!"

As they talked, they started arguing again.

The magistrate, feeling extremely annoyed, casually replied, "Ms. Li, Zhang may just be craving your chicken. Give her half, and the matter will be settled. I'll adjourn."

After saying this, he left without waiting for Zhang to ask for fairness.

The people who came to watch the fun were no longer surprised by this and dispersed when they saw that there was nothing exciting to watch.

Zhang had no choice but to glare at Li Da angrily and leave.

Zhao Sheng and his followers disguised themselves as ordinary farmers and mixed in with the common people. They were dumbfounded to see how the county magistrate made the judgment.

"The county magistrate ordered someone to go to the Li family and look at the comb of the stewed chicken to see if it was a hen, right?"

"A rooster has a large comb, while a hen has a small comb."

"Humph, he looks like he's completely lost in alcohol and sex. How could he have the energy to handle the case?"

"How did such a person become a county magistrate?"

At this time, an old lady passing by heard their conversation and couldn't help but gossip.

"What you two little brothers don't know is that this county magistrate is a bought official."

"what?"

"Buy an official position?"

"Yes, as long as your family has money, you can buy any official position you want."

Seeing the old lady's chatter, Zhao Sheng quickly pretended to be ignorant and said, "Auntie, please explain it in detail. My brothers and I work in the fields all day and have never heard of this."

"Well, it's no secret. A wealthy distant relative of mine bought his position."

"His family is in business. Our Daqian Dynasty doesn't allow merchants to take the imperial examinations, but they want to secure official positions for their descendants."

"Isn't this just using money to create a new path?"

"As long as you have enough money, you can find Ma Liuzi from the pawnshop. He has connections that can connect you to the higher-ups."

"Whatever kind of official you want to be, there's a price to pay."

"How much does it cost to be a county magistrate? I think county magistrates look very impressive." Zhao Sheng looked longing.

"Oh," the old lady said with disdain, "you spend all day working in the fields, facing the earth and your backs to the sky. It's hard to buy an official position."

"I don't know the exact amount of silver, but my wealthy relative said he bought a pawnshop for his son and spent a hundred taels of silver!"

“The county magistrate will be more expensive.”

"With so much money, how many years will it take for us brothers to farm the land?" Zhao Sheng sighed repeatedly.

The old lady also sighed, "We ordinary people should just live our lives honestly. It's unfortunate to meet such a county magistrate."

After that, he left.

The two exchanged glances, and Zhao Sheng said to his attendant, "This matter must be reported to the Emperor immediately."

After saying that, the two returned to the courtyard they had rented in advance.

"We have to go meet this Ma Liuzi."

"In what name?"

"We have to put on a show."

The two men disguised themselves. Zhao Sheng disguised his follower as a scholar, while he himself dressed up as a servant.

Zhao Sheng came from the underworld, so these tricks were a piece of cake for him.

They came to a small tavern closest to the pawnshop and asked the owner to serve them good wine and meat.

Soon, the scholar dressed as an attendant got drunk, and the servant hurried forward to persuade him:

"Master, although you failed the imperial examination again, you still have to take care of your health."

"Go away and let me drink."

"Master, you really can't drink anymore."

But the drunk man could not hear the servant beside him saying, "I have studied very hard, even hanging my head on the beam and piercing my legs with a needle, but why can't I pass the exam?"

"Master, Master."

The servant didn't dare to persuade him and could only stand aside, anxiously turning around.

"Master, do I have to take this position? With our family wealth, you can't spend it all in two lifetimes."

Several men drinking nearby had been watching the master and servant since they entered the store. When they heard that the young master of a wealthy family had failed the imperial examination and came here to drown his sorrows in alcohol, they realized that the master and servant had failed the imperial examination and had come here to drink.

A curious person came over and asked, "Did you fail the exam?"

The servant sighed and said, "Yes, our young master has failed the exam twice, and he feels very miserable."

"Want to be an official?" The man sat down in a familiar manner, poured a glass of wine and started drinking.

When he heard about becoming an official, the young master with dazed eyes instantly became alert.

"Who wouldn't want to become an official if they took the imperial examination? Being an official is so prestigious, it's beautiful just to think about it."

"If you want to be an official, you don't necessarily have to take some stupid imperial examination."

After drinking another glass of wine, the man smacked his lips and said, "Good wine."