Zhenguan Crown Prince Li Chengqian

Chapter 630
People have no addictions, no friends, because they have no deep feelings, Zhuge Yi is a Taoist priest with extraordinary talents, from calligraphy and painting, chess, Fengshui, to the way of marching and formation, he can be said to be a family talk, with unique insights On the way to Xichuan County, Li Chengqian had a good chat with him.

Xichuan County - a high-incidence area of ​​food-eating cases, Zhuge Yi has a family friend, the biggest rich man in the area - Zhang Wanfu, just by his name, he is a vulgar upstart.

But I have to say that Li Chengqian did guess wrong. When they arrived in Zhangzhuang, this Zhang Wanfu was indeed a polite and hospitable literati, giving people a feeling of spring breeze. The first impression when people communicate is often It is very important. How can it not be surprising that such wise men can be produced in the "backcountry".

Seeing the ceremony, after watching tea, Zhang Wanfu smiled and said: "It is a great fortune for Zhang to meet the royal guard under the introduction of Brother Zhuge! General Qin, you all came all the way from Chang'an for the sake of Nanyang Common people, in this way, everyone’s board and lodging expenses in Nanyang will be borne by someone Zhang, and it can be considered that Zhang has done his best for the elders in his hometown, how about it!”

The General Qin that Zhang Wanfu was talking about was of course Li Chengqian, who came out of Shuxiang Temple and used so many skilled guards, so he had to show him the identity he had prepared - Neiweifu - Guerrilla General - Qin Ming.

And Zhang Wanfu, as the largest gentry in Xichuan County, it is not uncommon for Zhang Wanfu to treat passing officials well. This is a kind of sophistication, no matter in Chang'an or here.

"Brother Zhang's kindness, the brothers all appreciate it, but the younger brother and others came here to investigate the cannibal case under the order of the court, and dare not disturb the local squires. I came here with Brother Zhuge today just to inquire about the people's feelings As for whether the case can provide some clues, Brother Zhang, as the leader of the gentry, has a lot of prestige among the people, and his appeal is naturally not comparable to that of the government, so I ask Brother Zhang to help you pay attention."

Li Chengqian's education since he was a child is to say what he sees, no matter whether Zhang Wanfu's enthusiasm is sincere or not, he has to be careful.The reason is simple. In the Tang Dynasty, apart from the strict patriarchal clan system, the most restrictive thing was the relationship between the gentry and the tenants. The gentry held a large amount of land, and the tenants had to rely on them if they wanted to survive. , so for them, the term "Emperor of Earth" is definitely not an exaggerated or demeaning term.

In the eyes of the common people, the government is like wolves, tigers and leopards, but the noble gentry is the king of Hades, who can take the lives of them or their family members at any time, so they dare not deceive the common people in the slightest.And this is exactly what Li Chengqian was looking for. Since this is something that everyone taboos, he has to let a local snake like him find out the details.

"General Qin is so devoted to his duties, Zhang is really moved. It seems that the people of Nanyang have hope this time, and the dark clouds in the sky are finally going to disperse. If the first two groups of officials can be half as diligent as the general, then Nanyang's borders will not be as diligent. It will become like today!" After speaking, Zhang Wanfu told Li Chengqian and Zhuge Yi what the first two groups of officials sent to Xichuan did.

Zhang Wanfu was talking about the prefecture and the officials affiliated with the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple. Even if he didn't say anything, Li Chengqian knew that these ants-like things in Chang'an City would inevitably be domineering, supercilious and talkative when the emperor was far away from the sky. , The office is publicized everywhere, for fear that others will not know that they are official errands from the capital. .
"Brother Zhang, don't be surprised. People are divided into grades, grades, and officials are no exception. It's like going to different temples to offer incense, and the monks recite different scriptures. My brother and I are ordered by the East Palace, so we can't complete it." The task is not about losing face, but about losing your life. Of course, you have to be extra careful for the sake of your life. Brother Zhang, this is a famous person here, and I believe he has unique insights into this case."

After listening to Li Chengqian's words, Zhang Wanfu said a few words modestly, and then smiled slightly: "General Qin's words are really funny, and he is indeed different from those who like to be bureaucratic. Well, Zhang Mou knows that he can talk all kinds of things."

The cannibal case in Xichuan County happened in March in Yangchun. At that time, the people in the county were busy with spring sowing. Spring is the time of the year. Everyone’s food for a year falls on the ground. If you don’t work hard, then But you have to be hungry.

But when everyone was sweating on the field, a corpse was thrown out in the field east of Wangcun. It was not exactly a skeleton, but it was still a skeleton with bones and flesh, which shocked the honest farmers. Terrified, he quickly reported to the government.

After the county magistrate Wu Youde went to the scene to investigate, he found no other clues except that the skeleton was a man. More importantly, there were quite a few people in Wang Village, old and young, so where did this "fresh" skeleton come from? What about?

When Wu Youde and others were at a loss, an old man in his 20s in the village tremblingly said that more than [-] years ago, a demon king Zhu Jie came out of Nanyang. Almost all the towns and villages were captured by him.

Those who stayed like him were all farmers who were confined to cultivate military food, otherwise, how could they have escaped that catastrophe!The reason why he was so sure was that the old man found traces of teeth gnawing on the bones of his arms and legs, which was the same as what he saw in the camp when he delivered military rations to Zhu Jie.

In addition to inventing all kinds of cruel eating methods, those terrible troops also let them eat living people when training recruits. The tragic scene makes people feel their scalps go numb, and the dog days are like being transferred into an ice cave .So the old man firmly insisted that the ghosts of the devil army must have returned, otherwise how could there be such cruel people in this world.

The villagers believed in the old man's words, but Wu Youde didn't care. Nanyang is mountainous, and there are many wolves, tigers and leopards living here. No one was bitten to death by wild animals that year.So this must be the result of the unlucky ghost meeting and the wild beasts, it is not a devil-eating thing at all, otherwise how could it be buried so shallow, and it would be thrown out at once.

Wu Youde is a typical Confucian disciple, who has always believed in: You should not mess with strange powers. There are so many ghosts in this world. Then he ignored the old man's gossip, and directly classified the case as a wild animal attack that killed a person and reported it to the governor's yamen.

But the good times didn't last long. Within a few days, similar cases appeared in Xichuan County and several nearby counties, and some people reported that their own population was missing. The guards conduct investigations and collect evidence. If such a tragedy occurs in the peaceful and prosperous age, both the superior and the inferior must have an explanation, otherwise the official will not be able to sit.

"Brother Zhang, is the old man from Wang Village still there?"

"Yes, but the old man has been crazy since then. Hey, he must have been frightened and committed crimes!" Zhang Wanfu replied with emotion.

After casting a look at Zhuge Yi, Li Chengqian immediately smiled and said, "Brother Zhang, is it convenient for you to send someone to show you the way?".
(End of this chapter)