National color raw owl

Lin Dai'er thought for a while, then shook her head and said, "Father didn't say how to contact the Taoist sect." Suddenly thinking of something, she frowned, and said, "But... Father left one thing behind."

Lu Tianyou's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Is it related to Taoism?"

"I don't know either." Lin Dai'er shook her head and said, "Father never mentioned it."

"What is it?" Lu Tianyou asked.

Lin Daier said: "It's a stone."

"Stone?"

"Yes!" Lin Dai'er nodded and said: "The red stone is a bit weird. Before my father left, I handed it to me, so that I can keep it well and don't fall into other people's hands. I have always stayed by my side, but I can't look at it. Find out what's weird about that stone."

Lu Tianyou wondered: "Red stone? This is really weird. I'm afraid it has something to do with Taoism, maybe the way to find Taoism is hidden on that stone." He asked: "Is the stone on your body now? "

Lin Dai'er lowered her head, raised her head quickly, shook her head and said, "Now...he's gone now."

Lu Tianyou frowned and said, "Not here?"

"Last time we planned to kidnap Qiao Mingtang's wife in Jinghe and exchange her for you and your second uncle, but they escaped in the end." Lin Dai'er looked a little annoyed, "At that time, I only wanted to rescue him You, you didn’t pay attention to the stone, and you found out that the stone was gone that night, but you didn’t know when it was lost.” Then he blamed himself: “It was something my father gave me before he left, and told me to keep it carefully, but I didn’t Be careful to lose it, I... I am sorry father."

Lu Tianyou sighed, and comforted him: "Since it's lost, there's nothing you can do about it, so don't think too much about it."

Lin Dai'er thought for a while, then suddenly said: "But I have always suspected that I was taken by one person."

"Oh?" Lu Tianyou said, "Who is it?"

Lin Daier pondered for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Maybe I guessed wrong." But Chu Huan's appearance appeared in her heart. After discovering that the stone was lost, Lin Daier also searched for Chu Huan, but did not find the stone.

But when I thought about it later, I was always cautious and placed the stone next to my body. The only time I lost it was when I was entangled with Chu Huan in the middle of the river. That guy even tore off her bellyband. She couldn't be sure. Did Chu Huan take the red stone away, or did it fall into the river.

She only felt that the stone was ordinary, and other people might not be able to appreciate it, and Chu Huan might not take that stone away, and it was very likely that it fell into the river, but she couldn't be sure about Chu Huan. Never took it away.

In fact, Chu Huan's physical entanglement with her in the river was certainly a mutual blog, but although she was not young, she had never been touched by a man like that. Occasionally, when she thought about it, she still blushed a little.

Seeing that the only clue was gone, Lu Tianyou said with a wry smile: "It seems that it is extremely difficult to find the Daomen. There are many experts in the government, and they must be looking for the traces of the Daomen in the West Mountain Road. There are many of them. , and even the government's eyes and ears can't find any traces of the Daoist sect, and the two of us don't have a trace of clues, so it's even more difficult to find."

Lin Daier shook her head and said, "That's not necessarily true!"

Seeing Lin Dai'er looking thoughtful, Lu Tianyou asked, "Dai'er, did you think of anything?"

Lin Daier said: "Brother Tianyou, do you think Dinggu Stone Field is under the management of the government?"

Lu Tianyou was startled.

"Dingu Stone Field is in Chen County." Lin Dai'er said slowly: "Although it is located in a remote place, it is absolutely impossible for the government not to know that there is another stone field there. Before Heishui Mountain was besieged, Hou Muxin had obtained the The news told us the movements of the Imperial Guards, but as far as I know, the Imperial Guards sent troops to besiege Heishuishan, which is extremely secretive, how did Hou Muxin know?"

Lu Tianyou obviously felt suspicious.

"Hou Muxin can know, maybe it's an announcement from the Taoist sect, and the Taoist sect can know the movements of the imperial guards. I suspect that there are people from the Taoist sect in the government and even in the imperial guards." Lin Dai'er looked serious, "Hou Muxin Not only did we tell the enemy the news of the siege of Heishui Mountain in advance, but we even made the evacuation route very clear. We retreated to the Dinggu Stone Field, which was the location specified by Hou Muxin. The quarry has always been safe, and no one from the government even came to investigate."

If Lu Tianyou realized something, he asked: "Dai'er, do you mean to say that there are Taoist people in the government of Tongzhou?"

"Hou Muxin once said that disciples of Tianmen Dao are all over the world, and anyone can be a disciple of Taoism." Lin Dai'er said: "He said this to show off the omnipotence of Tianmen Dao, but it also shows that Tianmen Dao is omnipotent. People in the sect do not gather in one place, but are scattered in every corner, with their identities concealed. People in official uniforms are also human beings, so it’s not like they don’t have disciples of the Tao.”

"You're right." Lu Tianyou clapped his hands and said, "You are hiding in Dingu Shichang, but there is no government to track you down. It can only be said that someone in the government has protected you, and that person's status is definitely not low. At least there is a way to hide Dingu Shi. The scene." Asked: "Dai'er, you said... Is it possible that the county magistrate of Chen County is a Taoist disciple?"

……

……

The county magistrate of Chen County was kneeling at Wei Tianqing's feet at this moment, kowtowing repeatedly, and tremblingly said: "Your Excellency, the lower officials are guilty. Not all of the quarries are recorded on it, but some...some parts are not recorded. above."

The quarry list in Mr. Lin's hand was already on fire, and he casually threw it in front of Chen Chong, just looked at Chen Chong very indifferently, and did not speak.

The list burned, and the flames reflected on Chen Chong's face, making his face pale.

He now understands that Fucheng sent people here to investigate the quarry. It seems that the quarry's favoritism and fraud have been exposed. Seeing Wei Tianqing looking at him coldly, he confessed: "Wei Tongzhi, the lower officials are also punished. Forced to be helpless, the status of the lower officials is humble, the matters of the superiors, the lower officials... the lower officials dare not ask."

"What do you mean by the above?" Wei Tianqing said slowly: "Chen Chong, if you recruited truthfully, I might plead with the governor for you, but if you still want to hide it, even the heavenly king and I will not be able to save you." You, life or death, you choose yourself."

Chen Chong immediately said: "Your official knows, you will never dare to hide it." Pointing to the quarry list, he said: "My lords, this list is official, and it is a list to be reported to the governor and the court. .In fact, there are far more than 27 stone quarries in Chen County. How many are there? I really can't say for sure."

"You are the lord of a county, don't you know about the affairs of Chen County?" Wei Tianqing sneered.

Chen Chong's forehead and back were already covered with cold sweat: "Chen County is infested with mobs, and the lower official... The lower official has not been in good health for the past year, so he rarely goes out, and many affairs are handled by the county magistrate. The lower official I know that although there are several quarries in Chen County that are being mined, they have not been recorded in the document, let alone reported to the imperial court."

Wei Tianqing frowned and said, "You opened mines privately?"

"It's not a lower official, I definitely don't have the guts." Chen Chong waved his hands quickly and said, "Although the lower official is the county magistrate of Chen County, he never dared to interfere in the affairs of the quarry. The quarry has always been run by the quarry. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the finances, while the Department of Household Affairs of Tongzhou sends people to take care of the big and small affairs of the quarry. The people from the Quarry Department only inspected occasionally.

"You mean, those quarries that were mined privately were the result of a joint effort by the Quarry Administration and the Department of Household Affairs?" Wei Tianqing's face was stern.

When Chen Chong came to this point, he didn't care about other things. He knew that if he really concealed something, he might lose his head, so he replied: "I'm not sure it's their fault, but...but I can't get away from them." Relationship. Someone from the Household Division once came to warn the lower officials that private quarrying should not be recorded in the county office. Mistake, the head of the lower official is the first to move." Seeing that Wei Tianqing was still looking at him coldly, he hurriedly said: "The lower official has a humble status, how dare he disobey, and... and every month, the Department of Household Affairs will give the lower official Sending a sum of money, each time seven to eighty taels of silver, the lower officials... The lower officials come to be obsessed with money, and secondly... secondly, they dare not go against the Department of Household Affairs and the Quarry Administration, so...!" I dare not continue to speak.

Master Lin finally said calmly: "You can get seven or eighty taels of silver in a month. In their eyes, even a fraction is not counted. After a year, even this fraction is not counted as nearly a thousand taels of silver. Private mining , I don’t know how huge the income in one year will be.”

Wei Tianqing clenched his fists and said: "The Quarry Department is a government office specially set up by the imperial court to supervise the local government. It was originally designed to prevent private mining, favoritism and fraud in the local government. Unexpectedly, they themselves rolled into the muddy water...!" Dignified, looking very angry.

"As long as it's a cat, it's hard to resist the temptation of fish." Lord Lin said lightly: "It's just a case of private quarrying. Later, Governor Qiao will send someone to investigate thoroughly. What we have to do is not to investigate private quarrying. mine case."

Chen Chong was startled when he heard that.

These two adults are obviously investigating the case of private quarrying, why don't they admit it.

Wei Tianqing said: "Chen Chong, I have a group of criminals in my hands, and I need to borrow them from your county government prison first."

Chen Chong hurriedly said: "The lower officials are at your command." He thought to himself: "There are a group of criminals? Could it be that the two adults have already taken action and arrested the people who exploited private mines?"

After Wei Tianqing finished his orders, he asked, "Do you know the situation of the Dingu Stone Field?"

Chen Chong shook his head and said, "I don't know much about it, but I know that Dingshan will be mined sooner or later, and I still guess whether it is an official mine or a private mine. Even now, I don't know that Dingshan has opened a quarry. If For official mines, the Household Department Department will notify the county government office to go through some procedures. Since the mine has been opened without notification, it must be a private mine mined by the above. Private mines have always been recruited by the Household Department Department. People, but sometimes let our county government cooperate to help."

Wei Tianqing nodded, looked at Master Lin, and said, "The rebellious party in Dinggu Stone Field seems to be related to the Department of Household Affairs."

Chen Chong was secretly surprised, and thought: "Why did the mine lead to a rebellious party?" He was even more terrified, if he was involved in a private mine, he would be dismissed from office, and if he managed to save his savings, he might not be able to save his life, but If you are implicated in the chaotic party, you will surely die.