Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 419 The Prosperous Yangzhou Dream

"Where do you start with this? My lord, I have been wronged!" the county magistrate lowered his head, his eyes rolling wildly.

"Injustice? You really don't cry when you see the coffin! Do you want me to call all the people in the county to confront you on the spot?" Li Yu sneered, pointing at Li Canghai and humming: "The one standing in front of you, but Today, Dali Temple Zhengqing! There is no case in the world that he can't solve. Are you going to confess yourself, or let Dali Temple Qing help you?"

The county magistrate was sweating profusely and dared not speak.

"Okay, I want to see how long you can last." Li Yu suddenly shouted with his hands behind his back: "Come here! Let me take off his official uniform! Send him to Bozhou Mansion for dereliction of duty , Severe interrogation!"

The two guards immediately stepped forward and held down the county magistrate, and took the official obedience off the county magistrate.

The county magistrate suddenly trembled and nearly collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, Pang Wenchang hurriedly shouted: "Wait a minute!"

Pang Wenchang looked at a few people, and said righteously: "Your Majesty, Ding County Magistrate is an official appointed after passing the assessment by the Ministry of Officials. Even if he is dismissed from office, the Ministry of Officials should be responsible for it, right? But according to Wan Sheng You know, the prince doesn't seem to have the right to interfere with the affairs of the officials!"

Hearing this, Li Yu felt a tinge of anger in his heart. He looked at Pang Wenchang with great interest, and said, "You are a bit courageous if you dare to speak out to stop me."

Pang Wenchang seemed neither humble nor overbearing, and said seriously: "My lord speaks seriously, late life is just a matter of fact. By doing this, my lord is really suspected of usurping his authority."

Li Yu looked a little angry, he was about to speak, but was stopped by Li Canghai.

"My lord has no right to dispose of it, but I don't know if I have this right?" Li Canghai asked indifferently.

Pang Wenchang narrowed his eyes and said, "As Dali Temple Secretary, Li Dali is in charge of the world's prisons. If an official commits a crime, he has the right to investigate. But when it comes to dismissing an official, he has no such right."

"You are very confident." Li Canghai stared at him and said.

Pang Wenchang was a little proud, dared to contradict the emperor's relatives, and kept him speechless, what a great honor this is!

Hearing Li Canghai's words, he quickly bowed his head and saluted, pretending to be modest and said repeatedly: "Don't dare, dare not."

"But if you think that you can help him get away with the crime by relying on your familiarity with the imperial court's policies, then you are very wrong." Li Canghai glanced at him coldly, took out the Chilong Seal from his bosom, He shouted: "This seal is given by the sage, seeing the seal is like seeing the sage!"

Everyone in the inner hall, including Li Tan, knelt down to salute, and said in unison: "See Your Majesty, may my emperor live forever!"

Li Canghai clasped his fists and saluted in the direction of Luoyang: "Saint Gong!"

After saluting, everyone got up, Pang Wenchang's complexion suddenly turned ashen, and the county magistrate Ding Xing'an was directly paralyzed on the ground.

"Pang Wenchang, now, do I have the right to deal with him?" Li Canghai asked indifferently.

Pang Wenchang's throat gurgled, and before he could speak, the remaining squires suddenly wailed: "My lord, we were all persecuted by Pang Wenchang and Ding Xing'an! All of this was planned by them , They first deceived the people to trust them, and then asked me to take out the money and use it to buy the land. After the land was in hand, they embezzled the money. Not only that, they also have to take the rent I received. Go halfway! We are all good citizens, if we were not persecuted, how could we do such things? I beg your mercy!"

"You...you! Dong, when you got the land contract at a very low price, I didn't see any mercy from you! Now, you want to bite back? You are just white-eyed wolves when you cross the river and tear down the bridge!" Pang Wenchang cursed angrily.

"My lord, everything Cao Min said is true. All of this was planned by Pang Wenchang and Ding Xing'an. Their purpose is very clear, that is to make money!" the squire sternly said.

"One side is an incompetent county magistrate, and the other side is an unscrupulous squire, neither is a good thing!" Di Qing snorted coldly.

Li Canghai said indifferently: "As a county magistrate, Ding Xing'an was greedy for money and disregarded the life and death of the people. He was dismissed from his official position and sent to the Bozhou government for disposal. Pang Wenchang, as a student, had impure thoughts. He insulted Confucianism and his reputation , you will never be allowed to take the imperial examination! As for you unscrupulous squires..."

He paused, looked at the trembling people, and said, "I will spare your lives, but you have to return all the land deeds to the people, and compensate the people for their losses at three times the amount, and open a warehouse to release the money." food, to help the people. Do you have any objections?"

Several people were trembling, kowtowed and said: "I have no objection, my lord said, we will definitely do as I said, and I will never dare to neglect in the slightest."

"One more thing, call all the officials of the Ministry of Industry in Shansang County to dig ditches and build ditches to divert the water from the Kuo River to the dry places. You will have to pay for the money and food required for ditching the ditches!" Li Canghai shouted in a deep voice.

Several people looked at each other in blank dismay, this is not a small fee!
"Why, you don't want to? This is all to help you get rid of the locust plague, don't you be ignorant!" Li Yu snorted.

"Get rid of the locust plague?" Several people looked at each other in blank dismay.

"I will leave a set of methods for controlling locusts, and I will also ask people from the Ministry of Industry to come to assist you. After the new county magistrate arrives, I hope you can assist him and follow the methods I left." Li Li Cang Hai said.

"If we can get rid of the plague of locusts, we have a duty to do so, but the plague of locusts is so serious, how can we manage it?" Several people asked suspiciously.

"Didn't you listen to what Mr. said? He will leave a rule of governance, and all you have to do is follow the method! This king is ugly, and anyone who dares to steal, cheat, or has a narrow mind will be ransacked and exiled." Yes!" Li Yu said while looking at his hands over and over again.

"Don't dare, dare not! We will definitely do our best!" Several squires were so frightened that they broke into cold sweat and nodded repeatedly.

Li Canghai immediately repaired a letter and ordered someone to send it to Gao Luochuan, the official secretary of Luoyang City, so that he could arrange for a capable person to take over as the county magistrate.

After that, officials from the Ministry of Industry of Bozhou Prefecture were ordered to come to survey the terrain.

Since everyone needed to rush to Yangzhou, Li Canghai left behind the governance method and a few Jianning iron guards, first to help everyone, and second, to monitor whether the squires were honest or not.

In this way, another night was delayed in Shansang County.

The next day, before dawn, everyone left Shansang County in the rain.

"Cang Hai, how sure are you of that governance method?" Di Qing asked worriedly, looking at the endless fields that had been abandoned for a long time.

Li Canghai was resting his eyes with his eyes closed. When he heard Di Qing's words, he opened his eyes, shook his head and sighed, "To be honest, these are just my guesses, and I'm not very sure. The method has already been left, and the process depends on them. Well, if they can re-establish the ecological chain, the locusts will naturally be eliminated. Besides, this is the best way to get rid of it once and for all. As for the effectiveness, we will know next year."

"I thought the flood of locusts was a natural disaster, but it turned out to be a man-made disaster just like the flood in Zhengyang County. A group of black sheep who did nothing did nothing but harmed the people of the entire county. This is just one of them. How many common people are living in such dire straits." Di Qingxiu frowned slightly, and a trace of sadness appeared on her delicate face. She paused and sighed: "I used to hear my senior brother say, 'The world is not benevolent. Everything is a humble dog'. Now, after going through so much, I realize that what my senior brother said was right."

Li Canghai opened his eyes and looked at Di Qing in surprise, as if he didn't expect her to say such words.

After a moment of silence, Li Canghai sighed, and said: "The world is not benevolent, and treats all things as dogs. The real meaning of this sentence does not mean that the world has no mercy for all things, but the real meaning is that the world treats all things equally. , is like a grass dog, which is not special to anyone. However, it is the greed of the human heart that makes this sentence have another meaning."

Di Qing was very surprised, she looked at Li Canghai in a daze, and said, "Canghai, how come your words are so similar to what my master said? The master also said the same thing before, alas, if the master sees you, he will surely I will accept you as an apprentice!"

Li Canghai smiled dumbly, and said, "I don't want to become a monk or a Taoist priest."

Di Qing also nodded seriously, and said: "Of course you can't become a Taoist priest. If you become a Taoist priest, won't the injustices in this world be ignored? How many people will have nowhere to redress their grievances?"

Looking at the gloomy and oppressive sky outside the car window, Li Canghai's face became more serious.

After the group left Shansang County, they rushed on horseback, and after another three days, they finally arrived in Yangzhou.

Yangzhou belongs to Huainan Road. In the first year of Tianbao, Yangzhou was changed to Guangling County.

Unlike other provinces, Yangzhou has not been plagued by locusts or floods, and is still extremely rich.

Green mountains and green waters, the scenery is pleasant.

As one of the three prosperous cities in the Tang Dynasty, although Yangzhou does not have the imperial spirit of Chang'an and Luoyang, it has a calm and peaceful atmosphere of prosperity.

In terms of prosperity, it is no less than Chang'an and Luoyang.

From Luoyang to Yangzhou, what everyone saw along the way was all the sufferings of the people, which made everyone feel an extremely depressive atmosphere all the time.

It wasn't until they came to Yangzhou that everyone finally felt a lot easier.

In the city of Yangzhou, people come and go, and it is very lively, even more prosperous than Luoyang.

Li Canghai and others came to Yangzhou City, asked the direction of the Sheriff's Mansion, and they went along Qingshi Avenue.

When they came to the Sheriff's Mansion, after everyone showed their identities, Sheriff Yang Shicheng hurried out to greet them.

In the main hall of the Sheriff's Mansion, Yang Shicheng and other Yangzhou officials gathered together and saluted Li Tan and the others: "Your Majesty, see the two lords, Princess, and Lord Li!"

"My lords, you don't need to be too polite." Li Tan sat down and said calmly.

"My lord, didn't you say that you will arrive tomorrow? Why is it a day earlier? I have already made arrangements to go out of the city to meet my lord tomorrow. I don't want my lord to arrive today. I hope my lord will make amends if I fail to meet you in time!" Yang Shicheng said respectfully.

"Your Majesty Yang, you don't need to be too polite. The king and the others are here on the order of your sage, so naturally they dare not neglect you." Li Tan said.

"Yes, yes, yes, what the lord said is very true. I will order someone to prepare a banquet to clean up the dust for the two lords, the princess, and Lord Li." Yang Shicheng bowed and said again and again.

Li Canghai asked: "Master Yang, I wonder if the envoys from Dongying have come to Yangzhou?"

"Returning to my lord, I haven't received any news yet. However, according to the time calculation, it should be within these two days." Yang Shicheng said.

Li Canghai nodded and said, "Order people to guard the pier day and night. Once the envoy arrives, notify me immediately."

"Don't worry, my lord, the lower officials have already sent competent officers to guard the pier day and night, as long as they receive news, they will report it in time." Yang Shicheng said.

Under the arrangement of Yang Shicheng, everyone lived in the county guard's mansion.

In the evening, Yang Shicheng arranged a banquet to welcome everyone.

Along the way, not to mention the bumpy road, all the food brought by the people was distributed to the poor people, and the people had to eat hard steamed buns for two days.

Li Tan grew up outside the Great Wall since he was a child, so he didn't feel much about these sufferings.

Di Qing was originally from the Jianghu, so she didn't care.

Li Canghai has no special requirements for food.

But Li Yu suffered. He brought a cart full of delicacies, barely ate, and distributed them all.

Li Yu, who had never been wronged in the slightest since he was a child, has been like a delicate girl in the past two days, feeling weak all over his body, crying hungry all day long in the carriage.

At this time, Yang Shicheng arranged a table of delicious food, and he didn't care about his image at all, so he devoured it desperately.

While eating, he muttered to himself: "In the future, if I go out again without bringing a wagon full of food, I won't come out even if I'm killed!"

Everyone was speechless for a while.

Just when the cups of wine were mixed and the wine was intoxicating, a yamen servant rushed in and shouted: "Lord Sheriff, I found a few corpses by the river. From the clothes, they seem to be from Dongying!"

"What? People from Dongpu? You didn't admit your mistake?" Yang Shicheng jumped up suddenly and asked in a voice.

"Back to my lord, the clothes on those corpses are very similar to those of the ronin of Sang Island, and the young ones will definitely not admit it!" The yamen servant replied.

Everyone stopped their wine glasses one after another, Li Canghai frowned, stood up and asked, "Where did the corpse come from?"

The yamen servant said: "I don't know about this yet. I was ordered to stay at the pier and wait for the Dongpu envoy ship, but I accidentally found the body, so I came here to report it in a hurry."

"Oops, could it be that something happened to the envoys?" Yang Shicheng was startled, and a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead.

If the Dongying mission had an accident in Yangzhou, he would not be able to bear the crime. It might be the crime of beheading. How could he not be surprised?
"Master Yang, don't panic. It's too early to say whether he is an envoy from Japan or not. Let's go and see the situation." Li Canghai thought for a while and said.

"That's great. With Lord Li coming forward, I can rest assured." Yang Shicheng's eyes lit up, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

Li Canghai nodded, then took Xiao Wu and hurried away with the yamen servant.

Yangzhou has a well-developed waterway since ancient times. In the Sui Dynasty, a canal was opened to connect the Yangtze River and flow directly into the sea. It is this waterway that contributed to the prosperity of Yangzhou.

Along the canal, there are many piers. In addition to civilian piers, there are also official piers.

Li Canghai and Xiao Wu, led by the guards, came to an official pier that was much larger than the other pier.

The official flag of the Tang Dynasty was planted around the pier, indicating that except for government ships, other ships were prohibited from docking at the pier.

(End of this chapter)