Yanlouchun

In the early morning of the second day, a group of people got into their respective carriages. Shen Zhiyun and Jiang Yujin were still in the same carriage, and the driver was changed from a soldier to Bai Bian.

After entering Qingcheng, the magistrate of Qingcheng greeted him at the city gate, but Deng Changchun just said hello and continued on his way without exchanging extra greetings.

Zhen Ye asked if the team should take a rest.

After noon, I rested for a while in a cool place outside the city.

It didn't take long for Deng Changchun to ask everyone to pack up and continue on their way, he will arrive at Yicheng in the evening.

Zhen Ye came to persuade them, saying that it would be late at night when they arrived in Yicheng, and everyone couldn't bear it all the way, so it's better to split the journey in two days.

Deng Changchun refused, saying that the weather was cool and cloudy today, so it was okay to hurry.

At this time, the people driving Shen Zhiyun's carriage became soldiers again. During the break, Zhen Ye said that the carriage was stuffy, so he kept resting outside the carriage. He waited until he saw the adults getting into the carriage again before returning to the carriage, and the team started again. started marching.

As everyone knows, the two people who got into Shen Zhiyun's carriage were Bai Bian and Jiang Yujin's followers.

Taking advantage of convenience, the two of them took ten soldiers in disguise and returned to the previous city. Shen Zhiyun sent people to buy some horses and clothes from the comprador.

Shen Zhiyun and Jiang Yujin complained, "When I left Beijing, the steward of the mansion prepared several boxes of things for me, and left them all in the car."

The group of people divided into two groups and rushed to Hua County.

There were only three people following Shen Zhiyun and Jiang Yujin.

They all drive horses, riding fast horses, much faster than carriages.

Before it got dark, they rushed to the outside of Hua County.

"Let's go to the county separately first, otherwise the crowd will be more conspicuous." Shen Zhiyun said.

Jiang Yujin nodded, "Okay."

The three attendants and Jiang Yujin advanced to Hua County, seeing that they had all entered smoothly, Shen Zhiyun waited for a while before entering.

After a few people meet up, but the other eight attendants haven't joined up yet.

Shen Zhiyun found Fang Yu according to the address left by him.

The group lived in the temporary small courtyard again.

Shen Zhiyun sent a follower to watch at the gate of the city, and if the eight people entered the city, they would be brought here.

Everyone rested in the courtyard first, waiting for Shen Zhiyun's arrangement.

Shen Zhiyun introduced Fang Fangyu to Jiang Yujin, "This is my man, let him come to Hua County to see the situation in advance."

The three of them planned the focus of the investigation in the room.

Shen Zhiyun asked Fang Yu to talk about what he had inquired in Hua County these days.

"The academy in Hua County is just a decoration." Fang Yu sighed.

"Has the money for building the academy been stolen? Or has the academy not been built at all?" Shen Zhiyun asked with a frown.

"No." Fang Yu continued, "He built the academy neatly, but very few students came to study, and gradually no one came."

"How could it be? When the academies were divided, there were scattered small counties around Hua County, and there were also large and small villages. There should have been many families who wanted to study." Jiang Yujin questioned.

Fang Yu sighed, "Poor. The rations and time spent on the way to and from Hua County are all exchanged for money. With that time, if you help your parents chop some firewood at home, you can exchange for a few copper coins. "

"What about the big family?" Shen Zhiyun asked.

Hua County is not a small county, and there should be several merchants.Shengguo does not prohibit the heirs of merchants from taking the exams, so there are not a few families who want to rely on their sons to establish a relationship with the government.

"No, the academy is now in a state of semi-abandonment, and the teacher who lectures can't be seen." Fang Yu replied.

Shen Zhiyun looked at Jiang Yujin, "I'll go there myself tomorrow."

Jiang Yujin let out a "hmm".

Shen Zhiyun asked Fang Yu for the address of the academy, and then asked Jiang Yujin, "According to this situation, no one goes to school, so where should the money from the school field be distributed?"

"According to Dasheng's law, if there is a surplus of public land, it should be reported to the state government and not used for private use." Jiang Yujin replied, "But the situation of the school land is special, and the state government has to report it to the central government."

"There are orders in the capital, which are always conveyed from top to bottom and fed back from bottom to top. They are false and true, and only pick good things to say." Shen Zhiyun said.

"It's all for their own black hats." Jiang Yujin said.

"I'll walk around now and see how Hua County is." Shen Zhiyun stood up and was about to go out, Fang Yu also stood up, Shen Zhiyun stopped him, "No, I will go and see for myself. Those soldiers who followed us outside, you go and give them Prepare some dinner with Lord Jiang."

"Yes, young master." Fang Yu replied.

It didn't take a while to sit in the house, but it was getting dark quickly outside.

Shen Zhiyun went out and wandered around the streets of Hua County.

Now that the Fairy Wisdom Festival is approaching, some hawkers and stalls are selling clay sculptures, but it is getting dark and they are closing their stalls.

There are fewer people on the streets of Hua County at night, which is far worse than the capital city. The streets are also narrow, and the houses on both sides of the road are closed.

Passing by a few big mansions, you can hear the movement inside.

Shen Zhiyun roughly figured out the location of the academy and the magistrate's mansion. At night, there were few pedestrians and there were soldiers patrolling. She was too obvious walking on the street, so she turned around and went back.

But a lap also wastes a lot of time.

When he was about to go back to the yard, he was caught by patrol soldiers around the corner, "Who is it?"

The patrolman pointed his sword at her, and Shen Zhiyun hurriedly explained, "I'm going to Yicheng, passing by Huaxian County, come to rest for one night, if I'm not familiar with this place, I just come out for a stroll."

"Outsiders?" asked the patrolman.

"Yes, yes." Shen Zhiyun replied quickly, with a sincere attitude.

The patrolman scolded, "Hua County has a curfew! Go back!"

Only then did Shen Zhiyun know that the curfew in Hua County was so early, she thought that there were few people here, and there was no prosperity in the main city, so no one came out at night.

"Okay, okay, let's go back to the residence." Shen Zhiyun said.

The patrolman let him go.

Shen Zhiyun complained in his heart, the security was too loose, and he didn't ask her for an identity document, and believed whatever she said.

At night, Deng Changchun and his party came to Yicheng.

Si Bingchun, the magistrate, greeted him at the gate of the city, cursing in his heart, this high official of the imperial court couldn't wait for the time to come here, and he had to hurry at night, so he had to stand in the wind and wait all night.

Zhen Ye got out of the car and bowed to Si Bingchun, "The imperial envoy said, wait until you enter the government office, it's too ugly to be blocked at the gate of the city at night."

Si Bingchun ordered the other officials waiting at the door to get out of the way and let the imperial envoy enter the city.

Cursing again in my heart, you know that blocking the gates of the city at night is not good, so you can't come back tomorrow morning?
When the carriage stopped at the gate of the official mansion, Deng Changchun and Luo Zengwen got out of the carriage, followed by Bai Bian and another person in the carriage, and stood at the end of the line.

Zhen Ye and Si Bingchun greeted Deng Changchun with smiles, when he glanced at him from the corner of his eye, his face turned pale with shock, "Where are the two adults?"

Si Bingchun didn't know who he was asking, but when he heard that two adults were missing, his heart tightened.

Deng Changchun glanced at Bai Bian and the others who were standing with bowed heads at the back of the line, and said indifferently, "They got off the car halfway."

Si Bingchun and Zhen Ye's expressions froze, and Zhen Ye asked flatteringly with a smile, "Why don't you go with your lords? Our Yicheng has prepared a lot of things to entertain you adults."

"This investigation is divided into two ways. Why, do I need to inform you in advance?" Deng Changchun glanced at Zhen Ye, raised his legs and went up the steps first, "Let's go, Mr. Si? I'm tired, let everyone rest tonight, and discuss the matter of investigation tomorrow."

Zhen Ye couldn't hold back anymore, Si Bingchun quickly followed Deng Changchun, "Master Deng, please..."

The carriage was pulled through the small gate into the unused yard.

After Si Bingchun finished dealing with Deng Changchun, he called Zhen Ye into the room to question his teacher.

"What's going on?" Si Bingchun asked.

Zhen Ye said, "I've been staring at Xiaguan Road all the time, but I didn't expect that the two people who got on and off the carriage on the road were not the two adults who left..."

"How do you do things?" Si Bingchun pressed his voice and asked.

Zhen Ye knew he was in the wrong, "It's the lower officials who neglected their duties and failed to guard against the adults from the capital."

"If you can't handle them well, you and I will just wait to lose our heads!" Si Bingchun was so angry that he let the two high officials go.

Si Bingchun paced back and forth, "You have taken a lot of Xuetian's money, and if you are found out, you can't delay it!"

Zhen Ye bowed his head to admit his mistake, and kept reassuring Si Bingchun, "Don't worry, my lord, there will be nothing wrong with the academy."

"Let someone go and see where the other two courtiers have gone!" Si Bingchun said.

"Someone has already been dispatched." Zhen Ye said.

Someone knocked on the door, "Master Zhishou."

"Come in." Si Bingchun said in the room.

Not servants, but government soldiers, "Master Zhishou, Lord Zhen, the two lords from the capital have gone to the warehouse."

Si Bingchun's heart tightened, and then he relaxed again. They were going to count the appropriations brought in from the capital, and he hadn't done anything with that batch of money, so they counted it at will.

Si Bingchun was also afraid that Deng Changchun would blame him for not knowing etiquette, so he wanted to go to the warehouse to accompany him to count, so he asked Zhen Ye to go to the warehouse together.

He continued to swear in his heart, what kind of a high official from the capital makes people feel uncomfortable, and he is not afraid of being blinded by lighting an oil lamp at night to count money.

After actually meeting Deng Changchun and Luo Zengwen, he laughed and flattered him, "You two have worked hard."

The next morning, Shen Zhiyun went to the academy.

The academy is very depressed, there are no people there, and there is a servant who sweeps the floor.

Shen Zhiyun asked, "Excuse me, is the person in charge in the academy here?"

The man continued to sweep the floor without looking up.

Shen Zhiyun was polite, but the man still ignored her.

Shen Zhiyun threw the purse bag over, the man took it and shook it, it didn't weigh much, and put it on his waist, he glanced at Shen Zhiyun, and asked impatiently, "Who's in charge, who are you?" ?”

Shen Zhiyun smiled gently, "I'm from Liang County next door. My younger brother is at school age. Liang County is small and there are no teachers who can teach. I heard that the academy in Hua County has been built for half a year, so I came to inquire about it."

The sweeper took a few glances at Shen Zhiyun, seeing that he was neatly dressed, weak-looking, and good-natured, so he doubted, "I'm lying, how many rich people in Liang County can still come here to study."

Shen Zhiyun pretended to hesitate, "It's true, why don't you believe it?"

The sweeper stopped moving, supported the broom with his arms, crossed one foot on the other, and asked disdainfully, "How old is your brother?"

Shen Zhiyun said, "Thirteen."

"What is the zodiac?"

"Huh? What?" Shen Zhiyun pretended not to hear clearly.

The sweeper sneered, "You make it up again! You don't even match your age and zodiac sign. What about your younger brother? He doesn't look like a person from that poor county."

Shen Zhiyun showed embarrassment, "You still can see it, little brother."

"Tell me, who are you? What do you do here? This is not a private school, but an academy set up by the government!" The man was triumphant, his chin raised.

"Actually, I'm a merchant from Yicheng, and I want to come to Hua County to do some business. You know, little brother, if I can do business with the government, it will be a lot of money." Shen Zhiyun explained.

Now the sweeper didn't suspect him, believed Shen Zhiyun's words, and said sarcastically, "You come to ask nonsense and just tell me, you made up something about your brother's study, it's very fake!"

The sweeper was proud of having exposed Shen Zhiyun's first lie, so he firmly believed in Shen Zhiyun's second identity.

Shen Zhiyun's goal was achieved, and she pretended to show her feet, so that this person let go of his guard.

"Come in, it's up to fate whether the manager will come today, I'll take you to his room to see if anyone is here."

"Thank you, what's the name of the little brother?" Shen Zhiyun thanked.

"Luo Feng."

Luo Feng looked young, maybe it was because of sweeping the floor every day, his skin was tanned, or he was born tan.

"Brother Luo..." Shen Zhiyun was interrupted by Luo Feng before he could finish speaking.

"What little brother Luo, do you feel uncomfortable when you say it? You don't feel uncomfortable when you say it, but I still feel uncomfortable when I hear it." Luo Feng said irritably.

Shen Zhiyun laughed, so what should she call her, better call her Xiaofeng?Call him Fengzi if he is more cheerful?

Isn't that the same as "crazy"?

"Just call me Brother Luo!" Luo Feng said happily.

Shen Zhiyun choked, nose silently, "You are only fourteen or fifteen years old." He is already in his 20s.

"What do you know, no matter how big or small you are, you can be called brother. It's just a title, do you understand? What's your last name?" Luo Feng asked.

"Shen."

"Then I'll call you Brother Shen! You don't feel like you're at a disadvantage!" Luo Feng felt very satisfied.

Shen Zhiyun frowned, what a messy title, she didn't want to mention this title any more, and asked Luo Feng, "Do you know why I came to Hua County to do some business?"

"Why?" Luo Feng asked, "This academy is like an empty house. Are you here to sell books? What can you sell?"

Shen Zhiyun said, "It's because it's empty, and no one around here comes to study in this academy. Why don't you let me take advantage of this good place and rent it with the government."

Luo Feng gave Shen Zhiyun a blank look, "It's hard for the imperial court to build academies everywhere. You people are trying to make money, so the academies were built for nothing. Poor students still can't afford books."

Shen Zhiyun heard the key thing, and said, "I'm using waste. If the academy can be used, why should I rent this land?"

Luo Feng was about to go back, when Shen Zhiyun pretended to be puzzled and asked, "By the way, I only thought that the academy in Hua County was not used. What's the reason? No students will die here!"

Shen Zhiyun turned pale with shock, "We merchants are the most particular about these things. If there is a taboo, we would rather not do business."