Gui Yuan

The soldiers guarding the city gate had already seen what happened at Wei Yao's side, but they had been standing guard here for a long time, and they got used to it if they were not used to it.When the carriage drove to the city gate, a guard stopped and asked, "Who is here?"

Wei Yao glanced at him: "The person in the car is the inspector of the household department. He was ordered to come to Xingchuan for inspection. This is a document."

The leading soldier glanced at his companions, opened the document, saw the big golden seal, closed it in trepidation and returned it.In this poor and remote place, it is not easy to meet a Beijing official a year, let alone a high-ranking official from the Six Departments. I am afraid that even the governor will have to be careful to flatter him when he comes.

"The little one has eyes but doesn't know Mount Tai. I'm so rude. I hope adults will forgive me." He turned his head and said, "Let go."

The leading soldier flattered him: "If I had known that there was such an honorable person in the carriage, we would have decided to help them. Those unruly people are really hateful. Every time outsiders come, they behave like this. Turn one eye and close the other, and I hope the adults will not blame me."

The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. Even the soldiers guarding the gate are so flattering and flattering. It is conceivable that their master is not a good person.Wei Yao had no time to compete with these people: "My lord wants to see the county magistrate, let someone lead the way."

"Yes, I will show you the way." The leader explained to his subordinates, then rode on his horse and followed him. When he passed by, he glanced at the carriage and thought: "Lead the way for the high officials from the imperial capital, and I will show off when I go back at night."

According to the introduction of the leading soldiers, the county magistrate of Xingchuan was named Lin Ruode, and he had been in Xingchuan for six years.Lin Ruode's mansion is some distance away from the city gate. Ning Qing and Zhu Yu looked at it through the car window along the way, and found that the area near the city gate was the most deserted. There were not many people on the road, and occasionally there were poor people in coarse clothes , but the more you walk around, the more shops and hawkers there are.

When they arrived at the place, the leading soldier got off his horse and said to the car, "Here we are, please get out of the car, sir."

Zhu Yu opened the curtain and got out of the car, Ning Qing and Fei Tian followed closely behind.

When I saw the soldiers, I thought to myself: The high officials from the capital are really handsome, but they look younger than me.

"This is the residence of our county magistrate. Please wait a minute, my lord. Go and inform me."

The soldiers hurriedly ran to talk to the servants, Ning Qing took two steps forward, looked around and said: "This is Lin Ruode, a small county magistrate, and his residence is Biwa Zhuxi, which makes the small county magistrates in other places know that it is very important. Can't be mad."

Lin Ruode's mansion occupies an area of ​​Zhizhou's standard, not to mention the majestic mahogany gate and the rockery pavilions that can be faintly seen outside the gate, which are already beyond the limits, and this is not in the imperial capital, but It is in southern Xinjiang, where many people have no food and clothing, and there are many people in Xingchuan who are in dire straits.

Fei Tian's complexion was also not very good, and he cursed in a low voice: "Damn it, there was no such a house before I left."

Not long after, a man who was wearing a black gauze hat and hurriedly trotting towards them was seen from a distance.This man is not young, about five feet tall, with a shrewd beard, round eyes, as if holding back some bad idea, he looks like the county magistrate Lin Ruode.

"My lord, Lin Ruode, I don't know if your lord's visit is too far away, but I hope you will make amends." He ran up to him and knelt down in front of Wei Yao, bowing his head and admitting his mistake.

Ning Qing couldn't bear to look directly and turned his head, Wei Yao coughed and reminded: "My lord is behind."

Lin Ruode raised his head cautiously, looked behind Wei Yao, and saw Zhu Yu who was dressed in ordinary clothes but still looked extraordinary, hurriedly got up and knelt down: "My officer Lin Ruode..."

"I know, you should get up first." Zhu Yu didn't want to hear the same words twice, so he interrupted him.

Lin Ruode got up from the ground and followed Zhu Yu: "My lord, please, I will show you the way."

Lin Ruode led them into the mansion, and they couldn't help but marvel at the scale of the county magistrate's mansion. From the outside, it was just the tip of the iceberg. This is not a magistrate, but a local emperor.

Lin Ruode arranged the seat, and just as he was about to sit down, he heard Zhu Yu, who was seated above him, say, "Just now I ran into a group of homeless people at the gate of the city. I don't know why?"

When Lin Ruode heard this, he made a bow and said, "To be honest, my lord, those are the people of Xingchuan. There was a severe drought five years ago, although fortunately the imperial court helped the disaster and brought a lot of grain and grass, but most of them couldn't get in."

I thought that Lin Ruode would rack his brains to make excuses, but unexpectedly, he confessed, and he said it before questioning him.

Zhu Yu glanced at Ning Qing, Ning Qing smiled comprehensibly, then changed his expression as if juggling, and asked Lin Ruode: "This time the imperial court sent us here to obtain food and grass, and some people from Xingchuan went to the imperial capital to send Xing I have informed His Majesty of Chuan's current situation, so I sent our lord to investigate. How could the imperial court transport so much food and grass every year that it disappeared?"

Speaking of this, Ning Qing smiled: "I think Mr. Lin's mansion is so unique, it doesn't seem like a county magistrate can afford it."

Lin Ruode knelt down again with a "slap", and begged Zhu Yu with tears like rain: "My lord, I am wronged. The Xiaguan family is in business, not to mention the wealth and wealth, but it is not a problem to build a good mansion. The Xiaguan promises that it has never been used." The imperial court pays every penny."

Lin Ruode cried until he couldn't see clearly, so Ning Qing went to help him up: "I don't mean anything, Mr. Lin still has the problem of kneeling on the ground every now and then, be careful if you hurt your knee, it will get worse in the future. "

Lin Ruode wiped away her tears, and her already stingy face looked even more horrible.

Wei Yao picked up the teacup: "You said that the food and grass cannot be brought in, why?"

Lin Ruode hurriedly said: "My lords, I don't know. There is a group of bandits outside Xingchuan City. They look like Southern barbarians. They are brave and good at fighting. They are unreasonable. Every grain and grass will be robbed. The government sent troops to suppress it, but it didn't work."

The Nanman is actually involved, this matter is no small matter, Zhu Yu asked: "Why are the Nanman here?"

"This..." Lin Ruode was in a dilemma, "I don't know how you know. However, Xingchuan borders the Nanman, and I heard that the villagers in some places still communicate with the Nanman. It is not unusual for a few thieves to enter. It’s just that the group of people outside the city are really difficult to deal with.”

Fei Tian said indignantly, "If the Southern Barbarians really invaded, why didn't the imperial court know about it? If they knew, how could they let it go?"

"Oh, my lord doesn't understand. The Nanman were greedy and fought bravely, and the officials at the top didn't dare to fight head-on with them. They sent people to encircle and suppress them five years ago, but they didn't succeed. They only took back part of the food and grass. Since then, they have been like this every year, and there is no peace. "Lin Ruode said affectionately, "Xingchuan has little arable land, and it was barely enough to support itself in the past. Since the five-year drought, the harvest has plummeted, and most of it still depends on the relief of the imperial court. Because nearly half of the grain was robbed, the remaining The ones that are bought can only be placed in the grain store and bought and sold by themselves, but there are always some who cannot afford them, such as those outside the city.”

Ning Qing snorted coldly: "Master Lin is very capable of avoiding the most serious and escaping guilt."

Ren Lin Ruode made a lot of hype and described himself as a parent official who was forced to care about the people, but it was not convincing at all.Just like the soldiers at the gate of the city never hesitated, instead of going to the yamen, they took them directly to the county magistrate's mansion, but let me ask, some people are still in dire straits. Enjoy in your own gold and silver house?

After listening to him for a long time, Zhu Yu was very annoyed: "Lord Lin is really a good minister of Wei! Xingchuan is a fortress in the southern border, but you didn't report the thieves who entered the Nanman for no reason, and let the Nanman be in our territory of Wei. Going up and doing wrong, but turning a blind eye to your own people! What you have done is no different from collaborating with the enemy and treason."

Lin Ruode opened his mouth wide open silently, knelt down slowly, bowed his head and said: "My lord! The lower officials are incompetent, but collaborating with the enemy and treason is really wronged! It's not that the lower officials didn't hand over the papers, but they didn't hear from them all, and they came down several times Can you still not understand the situation? The lower official is just a little bit of sesame and mung bean parent official, who dares to fight against the powerful and powerful officials, isn't this asking for death?"

If what Lin Ruode said is true, it involves the governor of the state or even higher-ranking people, as well as the Nanman, and this matter is getting more and more complicated, which is a headache.

Ning Qing looked up at Zhu Yu and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lin Ruode closed his eyes, and said sadly: "The superior of this subordinate is Du Yuan, governor of the state."

The words were very clear so far, Lin Ruode denied these things, and turned the conversation to the governor.

After several reversals, everyone needed some time to plan and plan, and it was getting late, so they needed to find an inn first.

Zhu Yu got up and walked to Lin Ruode's side: "I will investigate whether your words are true. You'd better be quiet these days. If you have any problems, I will directly tie you up and escort you to Beijing."

Lin Ruode quickly said: "Yes, I understand."

Zhu Yu glanced at them and sighed lightly: "Let's go first."

After a few people left, Lin Ruode looked back secretly, and got up from the ground when no one was there. The butler next to him rushed to help: "Master, are you alright?"

Lin Ruode pushed him away and sat on the chair, sighed, "I knew that this day would come sooner or later."

Seeing that he was in a bad mood, the housekeeper dared not speak. After a while, Lin Ruode called him: "Help me to the study, I'll write a letter and you send someone to send it out of the city quickly."