Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 21 Zhou Zigao

He Liu and Lao Hu have been watching Ding Wang's "Ming Shao" for the past few days.

Wherever Ding Wang went, He Liu and Lao Hu followed him.Even when Ding Wang went to the latrine to defecate, He Liu and Lao Hu would endure the stench and stand in front of him.

After a few days, Ding Wang changed from his previous arrogant attitude and seemed a little anxious.

Two big living people, eating, shitting and sleeping by your side, no matter who you are, you will be anxious.

At noon this day, as usual, Ding Wang brought a group of Ku Bing brothers to Songhe Tower for dinner.

He Liu and Lao Hu unceremoniously each moved a chair, sat down at the dinner table and ate and drank.

Ding Wang smiled and said to He Liu: "Master Liu, you are not welcome. I spend money, but you drink and eat meat."

Old Hu said while drinking: "Don't say you are a small soldier. Those officials of the third and fourth ranks want to invite our sixth master of Jinyiwei to dinner, and our sixth master may not be honored."

Ding Wang said: "This really flatters me."

The little guy from Songhe Tower came forward: "Gentlemen, do you want to add anything else?"

Ding Wang shook his head: "No need. Here, this is your reward."

Ding Wang took out a banknote from his pocket and handed it to the boy.

He Liu raised his head suddenly.In the past few days, I followed Ding Wang to Songhe Tower every day at noon to eat and drink.He found that Ding Wang was very generous.Every time, the buddy will be rewarded with dozens of hanging banknotes.Daming silver is expensive, copper coins are cheap, and precious banknotes are even cheaper.Dozens of hanging banknotes can only be exchanged for a hundred copper coins.However, the average waiter in a tea house or restaurant is only paid a few hundred cash a month.There are already a lot of rewards for dozens of hanging banknotes.

A thought suddenly flashed through He Liu's mind: Hundreds of officials from Yan Party and Yuwang Party defended Ding Wang.Ding Wang always wants to send a message to express his gratitude, right?
But Ding Wang has been under the eyes of himself and Lao Hu these days, and he has not seen any news from him.

Precious money?Ding Wang would come to Songhe Tower every day, and each time he gave the clerk a treasure note as a reward.

The buddy took the treasure note and thanked him a lot, and was about to go down.

But He Liu said loudly: "Wait!"

He Liu walked up to the clerk: "Show me the treasure in your hand."

The guy looked flustered, looked at He Liu, then at Ding Wang.

Ding Wang still had a calm look on his face.

The man suddenly picked up the treasure note and stuffed it into his mouth.

With quick eyes and quick hands, He Liu kicked the guy in the chest!

The clerk fell to the ground, He Liuyi stepped on the clerk's hand, and snatched the precious note from him.

Unfolding the banknote, I saw densely written on the banknote: "One Three Seven Lu Pa Nine Seven One Three..." and other numbers.

He Liu asked Ding Wang, "What are these?"

Ding Wang took a sip of his wine: "Oh, the villain was not very literate since he was a child. Since he has been a soldier in the Ministry of Rites, he must be able to write ten characters from one to ten. It just so happened that the paper at home ran out yesterday, so I used this Zhang Baochao has practiced calligraphy. What's so strange about that?"

He Liu hid the precious banknote in his bosom: "I'm afraid these words are not practice pens, but code words? It doesn't matter if you don't admit it."

He Liu winked at Lao Hu.Lao Hu understood, pulled out a rope from his waist, and tied the little guy in Songhe Tower into a rice dumpling.

He Liu said to Ding Wang: "There are more than a hundred officials protecting you, and there is nothing I can do about you. But I don't believe that the officials protecting you, a little soldier, will also protect this little guy in front of you! Don't worry, this little guy The guy entered Jinyiwei Prison, and he can confess in less than half an hour. Ding Wang, I’ve been bothering you for the past few days. Old Hu, let’s go.”

He Liu keenly noticed that a trace of uneasiness flashed in Ding Wang's eyes.

He Liu and Lao Hu escorted the boy back to Beizhen Fusi.

The young man was not Ding Wang, and he had never seen much of the world. Once he entered the truth-telling room, he was recruited after a few punishments: Ding Wang gave him 20 taels of silver every month.In addition, give him a treasure note full of numbers every time.Zhou Zigao, Yin of Shuntian Mansion, went to Songhe Tower for a drink after he left.The boy will hand over Ding Wang's treasured banknotes to Zhou Zigao, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture.As for the meaning of the above numbers, the boy has no idea.

He Liu breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Old Hu, "The fox finally showed its tail."

Old Hu said: "It's hard to say. It's not like you haven't heard of Zhou Zigao. It's hard to get clues out of him."

He Liu was stunned.That's right, this Zhou Zigao is the most mysterious person in the entire capital's officialdom.

Two years ago, Zhou Zigao was just a junior official of the Shuntian Mansion who was at the ninth rank.In two years, he was promoted to thirteen ranks in a row, and became a third-rank Shuntian governor.Behind him, there seems to be a huge force supporting him.

Such a weird promotion speed naturally caught Jin Yiwei's attention.

After some investigation, Jin Yiwei discovered that Zhou Zigao's background was really too big.

The reason why Zhou Zigao was promoted so quickly was because he had the support of the Yan Party, the Yuwang Party, and the Eunuch Party!

The Strict Party and Yuwang Party are mortal enemies.The Eunuch Party headed by Lv Fang and Eunuch Lv have both interests and conflicts with the Yan Party and the Yuwang Party.

The Yan Party, the Yuwang Party, and the Eunuch Party all put aside their past suspicions, and the three parties strongly favored an official. This is really weird.

Lu Bing, the commander of Jinyiwei, informed the emperor of this matter, but the emperor said to him: "Wait and see what happens, don't investigate further."

As a result, Jin Yiwei stopped investigating Zhou Zigao.

He Liu found the commander Lu Bing with the confession of the Songhelou buddy.

After reading the confession, Lu Bing said, "Ding Wang has something to do with Zhou Zigao? Oh, it's not surprising that the Yan Party and the Yuwang Party protect Ding Wang. Maybe Ding Wang is from Zhou Zigao. The relationship between myself and the Yan Party and Yuwang Party."

He Liudao: "As far as my subordinates know, the emperor told us not to investigate Zhou Zigao again. In Ding Wang's case, the clue points to Zhou Zigao. Do we want to..."

Lu Bing shook his head: "You only know the four words 'don't look up' again, the emperor, but you forgot the four words 'wait and see the changes'. What does it mean to wait and see the changes? Waiting and watching the changes does not mean that you don't care! The emperor is waiting for the poisonous snake Get out of the cave. I'll give you a driving ticket immediately, and you go and invite that Zhou Fu Yin to come to Beizhen Fusi to sit down and have a chat. Remember, you must treat each other with courtesy."

He Liu took the driving ticket and came to the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion.

Not long after, Zhou Zigao, Yin of Shuntian Mansion, came to He Liu.

He Liu looked him up and down, and saw that Zhao Zi was about forty years old, tall and ordinary-looking.It is almost unrecognizable in a crowd.

"Lord Zhou, it's a humble job to be polite." He Liu politely bowed his hands.

Zhou Zigao hastily returned the gift: "The Sixth Lord of Jinyiwei, I have admired your name for a long time! I don't know what's going on in the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion this time?"

He Liu took out the driving note: "Master Zhou, I have been ordered by Commander Lu, please go back to Beizhen Fusi to have a chat."

Zhou Zigao: "Let's talk? Okay. I'll give Fu Cheng an account of today's official duties, and I'll go with you to Beizhen Fusi right away."

After Zhou Zigao explained his errands, he followed He Liu to Beizhen Fusi.

(End of this chapter)