Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

As a first-class official in Chuzhou Prefecture, Li Xiaojian was naturally well-informed and very aware of the development of the situation.

The moment the censor appeared outside the city, Li Xiaojian had already guessed the outcome.

He returned to his office as if nothing had happened. From time to time, a handyman would come in, say a few words and then leave immediately.

It was approaching evening, and the government office was almost getting off work.

Another handyman came in with a kettle and said anxiously while changing the water: "Ms. sir, the censor and General Li have come out of the telegraph office. The censor has returned to the Chief Secretary, but General Li is heading towards the military camp!"

"I understand, you can go home." Li Xiaojian looked confident.

The handyman quickly retreated.

This is a public office, and several clerks are busy working.

When the handyman left the room, they all raised their heads and looked at Li Xiaojian, with panic on their faces.

Li Xiaojian sighed: "Let's go home each."

A civil servant knelt on the ground, crying and crying: "I am the one who has deceived my heart with lard. I should not take the lead in asking for the exemption money. My husband must find a way!"

Li Xiaojian remained silent.

Should he blame the person in front of him for being disobedient?

Can't blame it.

Li Xiaojian couldn't suppress it himself, and the civil servant couldn't suppress it either.

Most of the civil servants and civil servants at the prefecture and county levels have become colluding. Moreover, more than 70% of the soap officials are actually gang members of the Shahe Society - some are gang members who were hired as soap officials, and some were originally soap officials but joined the Shahe Society.

Even if the civil servants are honest and obedient, it will be difficult for those civil servants to greet them.

The Shahe Society has grown into a monster, and it often does not give Li Xiaojian face.

Li Xiaojian, a mere gang leader, naturally looked down upon him.

Zheng Guangzu, the leader of the Shahe Society, died suddenly two years ago, the month after he set fire to the merchant ship. He was so disobedient. This out-of-control dog had to be killed violently to make Li Xiaojian feel at ease.

The current leader, Jiang Kuan, is the brother-in-law of the previous leader. He personally poisoned the wine, and outsiders really thought it was a sudden illness.

At first, Jiang Kuan did behave more obediently, but this kind of obedience depends on what happened.

Jiang Kuan would not dare to do such vicious criminal cases, such as killing people to steal goods or setting boats on fire. After all, he had learned from the past.

But in Jiang Kuan's view, collecting some exemption money is nothing. How dare such unscrupulous people rebel? Those gangsters who had become civil servants were all clamoring to take advantage of the opportunity to make money. Naturally, it was difficult for Jiang Kuan to object, not to mention the support of the civil servants in the yamen.

Jiang Kuan even wanted to clear his name and work as a government official in the future, becoming a small leader responsible for catching thieves.

Then let your son study. If he can pass the imperial examination, it is best to become an official. If he fails, he will become a civil servant. Moreover, you have to register with the Ministry of Personnel, and you don't want to be a white-collared official without formal establishment.

If the censor hadn't appeared this time, public opinion would probably have been suppressed. After all, no lives were actually lost, and most of the petitioners had been dispersed outside the city.

By then, this Jiang Kuan will also die suddenly!

Find another one who is more obedient.

Two presidents have died in a row, so the third president should not cause trouble again.

Unfortunately, there is no chance.

The censor directly went to the telegraph office to ask for instructions from the Inspectorate. No one except the emperor could stop this matter. His clan uncle who was the prime minister had already cut ties with the family, and it was impossible for him to come out to plead for mercy. He might even demand stricter punishment.

"Let's break up. Go back and see your wife and children." Li Xiaojian raised his hand.

Hearing this, several civil servants lost their minds and left Hucao's office like zombies.

Since Emperor Zhu had always cracked down on corruption, officials had already learned the lesson. They have no incriminating evidence that needs to be destroyed, all files and accounts are normal, and even after ten years of investigation, they can't find anything fishy.

Therefore, there was no strange incident of burning down the archives room.

Everyone had left, and Li Xiaojian was sitting alone. Suddenly he took off his belt and moved a stool.

In the late Song Dynasty, Song Jiang and other Shandong bandits went south to ravage Chuzhou many times. Although cities are rarely conquered, the rich families in the countryside are also very unlucky.

As soon as they heard about the turmoil, they took their wealth and hid in the city. The money and food they didn't have time to take away naturally made it easier for the thieves.

But there are always times when things are slow.

Those guys in Songjiang robbed the canal and flew up and down the canal. Even the officers and soldiers were attacked. How could the officers and soldiers of the ordinary gentry be well-informed?

On one of these occasions, Li Xiaojian ran away with his whole family, taking only a small amount of gold, silver, antique calligraphy and paintings, and all the copper coins accumulated by generations of people were looted. Even the ones hidden in the cellar were found!

During those two years, Li Xiaojian lived a hard life and was almost so poor that he sold antiques to replenish his income.

It was not until the founding of the Ming Dynasty that Li Xiaojian came to the end of his hardships.

At that time, many Chuzhou officials and wealthy businessmen heard that Li Hanzhang was a confidant of Prince Zhu, and they came to establish relations with him with heavy gifts.

Li Xiaojian tasted the taste of power.

He was too cautious at first, and Li Bao and Fang Mengqing returned to Huainan. Since the situation was still unclear, Li Xiaojian kept hiding at home and pretended to be sick, missing the best opportunity to become an official. By the time Zhu Guoxiang ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Huainan was basically pacified, and gift-givers came to visit one after another. It was already difficult for Li Xiaojian to become an official directly.

So, he thought about taking the path of transferring from official to official, and becoming a powerful and wealthy official.

Later, suddenly the whole country was cracking down on corruption. Li Hanzhang asked his brothers to come back and separate the families, and also asked the clan members to abide by their duties and not break the law. Only then did Li Xiaojian finally feel that something was wrong.

Even though he could be transferred to a higher-level official position, he did not want to be transferred to another official position. He had always been willing to be a low-ranking tiger, promoted from the county government to the government government.

Moreover, he only develops his power in Chuzhou Prefecture and will never touch him outside Chuzhou Prefecture.

Every time there was a crackdown, he would temporarily avoid the limelight.

Even during the period of the land tax, he took the initiative to cooperate with the government.

At that time, when the provincial and government officials spoke, Li Xiaojian was willing to listen, and the clerks below did not dare to make trouble.

But as more and more officials colluded with each other, and as the Shahe Society was supported to transport private salt, Li Xiaojian became more and more careless, and increasingly unable to control the huge group of clerks and gangs.

Not only him, but also his family.

The second son even accidentally killed a scholar because of jealousy.

The scholar had the title of scholar, and someone in his family was an official. Fortunately, he was from another place, far away from Chuzhou, and Li Xiaojian had enough time to settle the matter.

First, he coerced and lured witnesses, and asked the old clerks to plan and collude.

They confirmed that jealousy killed people, but it was not Xiao Li who killed them. It was the servants of Mr. Li who saw their master being beaten, so they rushed to help but accidentally missed. They couldn't even tell which servant killed him. They also insisted that the deceased was drunk and started the fight first, and the deceased was also responsible.

The family of the deceased mobilized their connections to argue for the case, and the lawsuit lasted for two years.

In the end, the Li family paid two thousand guan in funeral expenses, and the servants were all imprisoned, but Mr. Li was fine.

After this incident, Li Xiaojian's second son not only did not restrain himself, but became more and more violent, forcing his father to help clean up his ass countless times.

The third son, who was originally very well-behaved, gradually followed suit and was completely led astray by his brother.

Even the two daughters who were married were arrogant and domineering in their husband's family, and they were well-known tigresses.

There was only one eldest son, who was honest and dutiful, but too honest, and not the material to be the head of the family.

Qin Hui's case also implicated Chuzhou.

Fortunately, the investigation of Qin Hui's followers was the main focus at that time, and the whole country was investigating. Due to the shortage of manpower, many things were not investigated in depth, otherwise Li Xiaojian would have been finished.

During the investigation, Li Xiaojian couldn't sleep all night, and he once vowed to stop at the brink.

But once the limelight passed, he forgot everything.

Li Xiaojian and his accomplices even felt that they were very awesome. Such a big case was fine, what else is there to be afraid of?

There are even many people who rumored that it was Li Ge Lao who was remotely protecting them.

Such statements were not only believed by the clerks and gang members, but also by many officials. The officials who colluded with Li Xiaojian to do evil became more because of this incident!

Regret?

I don't know.

Li Xiaojian is now only afraid, and he doesn't even dare to accept interrogation.

"Bang!"

The stool was kicked over, and Li Xiaojian kicked his legs in the air.

After an unknown amount of time, a group of soldiers rushed in, and the leader kicked the door open.

Inside the house, Li Xiaojian's body, tied to his belt, was slightly swayed by the airflow from the open door.

"You bastard, he hanged himself!" The leading officer was shocked and angry.

If he didn't hang himself at this time, he would commit suicide if he was caught in jail. Li Xiaojian didn't think he could survive.

He had too many things to say, far more than a village chief could finish.

There is a Beishen Town in the north of Fuzhou City.

In the parallel time and space, when Zhao Li defended Chuzhou, the Jin soldiers camped in Beishen Town.

The business in this town is extremely developed, and the tax revenue of a small town is equivalent to that of several counties in remote areas.

The headquarters of the Shahe Society has long been moved to the town.

The second head of the society, Jiang Kuan, also built a mansion outside the town, and through various illegal means, he annexed hundreds of acres of land in two years.

Some of the land was even sold to him voluntarily, and the original landowners were scared.

What is Jiang Kuan doing at this time?

He sent people to inquire and confirm the information of those unruly people who led the riot. When this matter calmed down, he would carry out crazy retaliation. He would never allow Chuzhou to be disobedient.

What, the censor showed up?

When investigating Qin Hui's followers, there were also censors who came to Chuzhou. Li Ge Lao protected him, and the censor was nothing!

Two hours ago, Li Xiaojian sent someone to pass on the message, asking Jiang Kuan to hide from the limelight for a while, and all members of the Shahe Club were not allowed to make trouble.

Jiang Kuan also knew that this was an extraordinary period, so he strictly ordered the gang members to obey the law.

But he did not choose to run away. He thought it was unnecessary, and running away would make him look guilty.

"Sir, it's bad, the provincial capital is mobilizing troops!" The housekeeper ran to the inner courtyard in panic and shouted.

Jiang Kuan stood up quickly: "But are they mobilizing troops to catch the unruly people?"

"I don't know, I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." The housekeeper didn't dare to say the rest of the words.

Jiang Kuan finally panicked, remembering Li Xiaojian's warning, and rushed to the entrance of his cellar.

There was no gold, silver, or copper coins.

Nowadays, those who make money by doing illegal things, whether officials or civilians, like the Ming Dynasty treasure notes. Wrap it with layers of oil paper and put some charcoal around it, the Ming Dynasty treasure notes can be well preserved, and can be easily taken away if something goes wrong.

The yellow-faced woman at home was no longer wanted. She was the sister of the previous leader of the association. She always suspected that he poisoned her brother, and the couple had a very unhappy quarrel.

Moreover, the yellow-faced woman could only give birth to daughters, and could not even give birth to a male.

Jiang Kuan took more than ten concubines, half of whom were robbed.

It was not open robbery, but mainly intimidation, forcing the other party to marry their daughters as concubines.

He put the Ming Dynasty treasure notes into the bundle, called two concubines who had given birth to sons, and called a concubine who had not given birth to a son but was very favored. He didn't want the rest, not even the daughter, and only took the son away.

The housekeeper had prepared the boat and brought his wife and children.

They asked the boatman to row quickly, and in a blink of an eye, they sailed far away.

But soon, the boat slowed down.

The housekeeper whispered: "The last pass seems to be closed, and there are a lot of merchant ships there!"

"Hurry up and dock!"

Jiang Kuan urged anxiously.

Without waiting for the boat to stop, he jumped ashore and urged the three concubines to speed up.

Two of the concubines were holding sons, both of whom were born this year.

When the previous leader was alive, the yellow-faced woman at home was particularly arrogant. She couldn't give birth to a son, and she didn't allow him to have fun and take concubines.

After poisoning his brother-in-law, Jiang Kuan became the leader of the association and immediately let himself go. In two years, he took more than ten concubines.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle!" Jiang Kuan became more and more anxious.

How dare he get off the boat without stabilizing the boat if the two concubines were holding babies?

Just when they were cautious, the most favored concubine who had not yet given birth suddenly picked up a bamboo pole and pushed hard on the shore.

The boat that had already reached the shore took another step back.

A concubine fell into the water holding a baby, and another concubine almost fell down holding a baby.

Before anyone could react, the "troublemaker" concubine jumped into the river and swam for several meters before resurfacing.

"Thief!"

Jiang Kuan was furious, and then shouted to the boatmen: "Hurry up and save your mistress and husband!"

Those boatmen were also members of the Shahe Gang. They looked at the blocked banknote gate in the north, and then looked at the leader who was eager to escape, and they stood there without immediately obeying the order.

Jiang Kuan roared: "You are also responsible for killing and robbing, and you still want to arrest me and take me to the government to receive a reward?"

The boatmen really wanted to make meritorious deeds to atone for their sins, but they gave up the idea after being reminded by Jiang Kuan.

However, no one went to save the concubine and baby who fell into the water. They all jumped into the river and swam to the other side.

As the leader of the gang, the target is too big, and it is easy to be caught if they escape with him!

The boatmen are naturally not stupid.

Seeing this, Jiang Kuan did not go down to the river to fish out his son, but abandoned the housekeeper's family, his concubine and son, and ran away with the Ming Dynasty treasure notes in his bag.

The housekeeper was angry and anxious. He was not a good person like those boatmen, and he even killed people with his own hands.

The housekeeper was too lazy to care about the woman and child who fell into the water. He picked up a bamboo pole and paddled the boat to the shore. The bottom of the boat hit the head of the concubine who was struggling in the water.

"Go!"

The housekeeper jumped ashore and shouted, and quickly took his wife and children off the boat and ran away.

On the small boat, only a concubine was left holding the child in a daze. She quickly put down the child, used a bamboo pole to push the boat open, and looked for the sisters and baby who fell into the water.

But the woman who fell into the water was knocked unconscious, and her body could be seen rising and falling under the water. As for the baby, it had disappeared.

"Wuwuwuwu..."

The concubine finally sat on the bow and cried, and the child next to her also cried.