Gui Yuan

After dinner early in the morning, Tian Cheng was waiting in front of the inn with a carriage. Wei Yao was feeding Taxue and eating the hay brought from the imperial capital. Fei Tian was chatting beside him. Annoyed to the point where he didn't even eat the grass, Fei Tian exhaled angrily to warn him, then Fei Tian said with embarrassment: "This horse is quite fierce."

Ning Qing and Zhu Yu moved slowly, and came out at the end. They were about to get into the carriage when they saw a yamen servant rushing over: "My lords, our county magistrate knows that you don't know the way, so let me guide you."

Zhu Yu nodded, and several people got into the carriage, the yamen servant drove the carriage with Tian Cheng to lead the way, and Wei Yao followed behind on Texue.

It's not far from Xingchuan to Xuanzhou, only half an hour's journey, just don't take the road when they came, and walk down a street, and you can see a prosperous store in the distance, people queuing up to block the store and even the road The water was blocked, and it took a lot of effort for the yamen servant to get out of the car to clear one.To have such a prosperous business in Xingchuan, it can only deal with food.

Ning Qing casually asked the yamen servant like he was doing homework: "The business of these stores is booming, what kind of store is it?"

"Hey, what else can it be, grain shop."

"There are so many people who buy it, so it's cheap?"

The yamen servant seemed to have heard something shocking: "My lord, you are joking. Nothing is expensive in Xingchuan, just like a villain. One month's salary is only enough to make ends meet for the whole family. Sometimes the children have to go hungry. Then It’s also impossible.”

Ning Qing said thoughtfully: "It's so expensive."

"It's more than that." The yamen servant finally came to an outsider after holding back for a long time on weekdays. It's gone when it's over, for those who work in the yamen like us, the shopkeeper can save a few catties for face, and there are not a few ordinary people who don't sleep in the middle of the night and wait."

Although Fei Tian had heard about the current situation of the people in Xingchuan, he did not expect that five years later, it would still be stagnant and not improve at all.

Although he left to make a living at the beginning, it was the place where he grew up after all. Seeing the hardships of the people in Xingchuan, Fei Tian also hoped to do something for them, so he came back with Wei Yao and the others.

"Xuanzhou is only half an hour away, why can't they go to Xuanzhou to buy food?"

In the past when I was most impoverished, all I could think about was how to fill my stomach, so I had no time to think about anything else, but now I feel strange when I think about it.Even though there was a severe drought in Xingchuan, most of the food and grass were stolen, but the state capital is not far from Xingchuan, since the food in Xingchuan is hard to buy, why not go to Xuanzhou to buy it?

The yamen servant smiled, and was noncommittal about his thoughts: "How can we not know this, but most of the food in Xuanzhou is provided by the imperial court, and the local people will not be able to eat it, let alone the people in Xingchuan. Later, the governor ordered, Outsiders need to pass documents to enter Xuanzhou, and the common people don't have such things, so they don't want to make fun of themselves. But it's no wonder that at this time, all places are too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they care about us."

This word seemed to turn into an ice cone and suddenly pierced Zhu Yu's heart. If the people cannot live and work in peace and contentment for a day, the country will be on the edge of a precarious cliff, and there will be no stability for a day.How can the people living in the humble place expect the emperor and high officials who are far away in the imperial capital? All they can count on is that their parents can work for their well-being.The county magistrate Lin Ruode was afraid of power and did not report the news to protect himself, while Xuanzhou City and other counties turned a blind eye to protect themselves. Although they made mistakes, they were forced by the situation and could not blame anyone.

At this time, Zhu Yu has made up his mind that he must recover the lost grain and grass, and pull out the maggots that harm the people of the country one by one, and bring them to justice.

The soldiers at the gate of Xuanzhou City had to do a lot of duty. They took the documents and checked them carefully for a while, and then opened the curtain of the carriage to take a look before letting them go.The people on the street are coming and going, and it is a lively scene.

Before arriving at the state capital, Governor Du Yuan greeted him at the gate, and when he saw Zhu Yu, he saluted and said, "Your Majesty, Du Yuan, governor of Xuanzhou, has met your lord."

Du Yuan's demeanor is neither humble nor overbearing, making it impossible to find fault.He welcomed everyone to the lobby and sat at the head seat with Zhu Yu.

"Your Excellency came to Xuanzhou from the imperial capital all the way, why not?"

Zhu Yu took the teacup brought by the servant: "It is to investigate the disappearance of the imperial court's disaster relief food and grass for no reason."

Du Yuan was not surprised. After all, the matter of food and grass relief for the disaster was beyond the reach of paper. Now that the court knew about it, it would be self-defeating for him to conceal it any longer.

Du Yuan waved his hand, and all the servants in the room retreated, leaving only a few people in the seat.

He sighed and said, "Your lords must have known about the dismissal from Lin Ruode, magistrate of Xingchuan County, but this matter is so important that Lin Ruode doesn't know about many things."

"Oh?" Ning Qing smiled lightly, "I heard Master Du said there is something else hidden in this matter?"

Ning Qing appeared suddenly, Du Yuan asked Zhu Yu suspiciously: "Who is this?"

"Oh, they all came with me to investigate this matter."

Du Yuan wondered how an ordinary official would intervene at this moment, he was afraid that his background was not small, he dared not neglect Ning Qing, and treated him with courtesy.

"I handed in all the papers submitted by Lin Ruode for him." Lin Ruode lowered his head and smiled wryly, "However, after submitting several papers one after another, they all fell into disrepair. Later, I understood, and implicitly warned Lin Ruode not to hand in paperwork anymore. , because it is unnecessary."

Ning Qing and Zhu Yu looked at each other, and it was exactly as they thought.In fact, it is not difficult to imagine that although Xingchuan is a small place, there is Xuanzhou above it, and it has been able to hide this matter tightly. It has not been revealed for five years. Low, it should be a person with a very noble status.It's just that for some reason, Ning Qing felt a little uneasy, and the uneasiness in the past few days became more and more widespread. He always felt that something was wrong, but it was like a stick in his throat.

Wei Yao didn't say a word, as usual, he was here to protect Zhu Yu, so most of the time he was just a spectator.But he noticed that Ning Qing and the crown prince seem to be very close. Although Ning Qing used to be Zhu Yu's companion, after that, Ning Qing was not in the court, but enjoyed himself among the people; if they had a good relationship in the past, how could the crown prince let Ning Qing Qing was so idle, but how could they be so close if their relationship was mediocre, several times he noticed that Ning Qing made eye contact with the prince.

Ning Qing is even more strange. He said that he knew nothing but his performance was obviously inconsistent all the way. ghost.Wei Yao bowed his head and drank his tea in silence, properly covering up the playfulness on the corners of his lips.

Zhu Yu also understands that there is no rush for this matter, the man in the imperial capital is hiding very deeply now, it must not be so easy to find out his fox tail, not to mention things that are so far away, the most important thing right now is food and grass, which is also their priority The most important.

"Lin Ruode said that there was a group of southern barbarians nearby, and they cut off the food and grass?" Wei Yao asked.

"Exactly. That group of people are very skilled, and they are well aware of the nearby mountains, and their whereabouts are strange. They have been told to run away in the past few times of siege." Du Yuan hated himself for being helpless.

"How many people are there in total?" Wei Yao asked again.

Du Yuan tried his best to recall, and told him: "We saw two or thirty people, but I don't know if that's all."

Wei Yao nodded: "There are not many people."

Leading troops to fight is Wei Yao's old profession, Zhu Yu asked him: "If you want to encircle and suppress them in a short time, is there a way?"

Wei Yao just smiled slightly, but he didn't say anything but gave people a confidence that he was sure of victory.

"It's not that there are thousands of troops, nothing to be afraid of, it's just that you need to find out the terrain and the total number of opponents in advance, so that you can get twice the result with half the effort."

When he said that, everyone was relieved.Fei Tianxin thought that he must come to the scene to see the battle where Wei Yao led the troops.

Du Yuan wondered who this person was, and the troops should be dispatched from the state capital. They seemed to want this person in front of them to go into battle. It seemed that they were military officers brought by the imperial capital.Speaking of which, this person looked familiar, maybe he had seen him in the imperial capital before, but he had met so many people at that time, he had long forgotten this person.

Du Yuan replied: "That's very good, the safety of the people in Xuanzhou depends on you adults. It's just that the preparations will take some time, why don't you stay in Xuanzhou City first, and I will arrange inns for you."

The siege is not something that can be done right now, and it is indeed more convenient to stay in Xuanzhou.

"Then thank you Lord Du." Zhu Yu said.

Du Yuan sent someone to take them to the inn. The inn looked magnificent, and even the lanterns hanging at the door were engraved with complicated hollow patterns.

The boy who led the way introduced: "This is the largest inn in Xuanzhou City, and dignitaries from other places live here."

This place is not cheap at first glance, and now they are here to do business, and when they think of the countless people who don't have enough food and clothing, how can they live in such a place with peace of mind.

Zhu Yu glanced at Ning Qing, and Ning Qing said to the boy understandingly: "We understand your lord's wishes, we are not so delicate, just find an ordinary inn, and don't bother your lord to spend money. "

The servant hurriedly waved his hands: "No, I won't be able to do business when I go back..."

"It's up to us to live, we just need to like it, don't worry about it..."

Fei Tian chatted with the young man for a long time, sometimes windy and sometimes rainy, talking about people in a cloud, and finally dismissed people.

Fei Tianshao walked towards them: "I'm the best at getting rid of stalkers."

They smiled and were about to turn around and leave when a woman behind them suddenly called, "Little Stone?"

Fei Tian's body trembled suddenly, and he turned his head to look.