At the northeast corner of the city.
There used to be a huge warehouse here, the Le County Official Cang.
The official warehouse in Le County is one of the largest official warehouses in Gaodong County. It was once a large warehouse used to reserve grain for the army guarding the border.
At its peak, the entire Le County official warehouse contained more than four million stones of grain.
Although since Liaoyun Pass is no longer the front line, Houle County Guancang has lost its former role without the need for heavy guarding.
However, Cang Nian's official warehouse also had a storage of 700,000 to 800,000 shi of grain.
However, a sudden fire last night destroyed this historic official warehouse!
The huge granary, which was nearly 1,500 meters long and nearly 400 meters wide from north to south, disappeared in a fire, leaving only black ashes on the ground.
Many people saw the fire ignited here last night. The curfew had just ended this morning, and people surrounded the official warehouse three times inside and three outside.
The people in Le County gathered around and talked about the huge ruins in front of them.
"The fire last night was really big! Did you all see it? The flames soared into the sky, and my home was a full mile away from here, and everyone could see it clearly!"
"Hey, what are you doing here? My family saw it in the south of the city! It was so hot that the whole sky turned red!
It's a pity. I don't know how much food was burned. What a pity! "
"How about you being naive? The food is burned out?
Do you believe this too?
Anyone in Le County who is well-informed doesn’t know that this official warehouse has been empty for a long time!
Even the rats would starve to death wherever they were. "
"Isn't this possible? After all, there is so much food. Even if the county magistrate is brave, he wouldn't dare to take it all away, right?"
"What's he afraid of?
Is this the first day you met him? Yu Hong, this bastard, what the hell can’t he do?
The daughter of the old Li family in the village next to us was attracted by his bastard son. That night, the entire old Li family was brutally wiped out. The girl of the old Li family was covered with injuries. It is said that the bastard did it in front of her father and mother. It's tough!
The daughter of the old Li family was also strong-willed and wanted to go to Fucheng to file a complaint. However, she showed up at Yingchun Building the next day and was forced to pick up guests.
The yamen servants lined up every day, fifty or sixty a day, and within two days the girl's body was thrown into a mass grave.
Did Yu Hong say anything?
The mass murder of Lao Li's family was simply determined to be a result of encountering a passing strongman, and the matter was hastily settled.
That's not even the slightest bit of cover-up!
What is he afraid of doing? "
"But! This is an official warehouse after all. If the court finds out, won't he be dead?"
"Hahahaha, you are stupid, he dares to be so rampant, how can there be no one behind him?
Who do you think this person is who sells government food?
Take a look at that rice shop. It belongs to the Zhang family in Le County. The shop has been stocked with new rice a few days ago. Where do you think it comes from?
It was just transported into the official warehouse by the imperial court a few days ago.
The next day, the kung fu family pulled him out and sold it on the street. What do you think he didn't dare to do? "
"Hiss! Zhang family?"
"Are you talking about the Zhang family in Le County where generations of families have produced Jinshi, and every generation has someone serving as a fourth-rank official in the court?
The head of their family this generation seems to be our imperial censor, Zhongcheng Zhang Heyi!
Are you saying that the people behind Yu Hong are the Zhang family? "
"What if?
Who else in Le County is worthy of Yu Hong, the county magistrate?
With the protection of the Zhang family, who dares to touch him in Le County? "
"No wonder, no wonder, this is possible, I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it!"
"Haha, you didn't expect much. I heard that the fire last night was not simple."
"What? Tell me in detail!"
This man's words instantly attracted the attention of others around him. Everyone pricked up their ears and listened quietly, waiting for what he would say next.
The man looked around and saw that there were no government officials around, so he whispered in a low voice: "I heard a friend of mine who works here say that when he was working here yesterday, he passed by and saw someone setting a fire here. What's even more strange is that , all the soldiers who originally guarded this official warehouse were not here yesterday.
The person who set the fire was wearing clothes from the yamen. When my friend saw this scene, he immediately reacted and ran away, thus saving his life! "
At this time, someone asked: "Hey! He clearly saw someone setting a fire, why didn't he stop it?"
But someone immediately jumped out to refute and mock him:
"You are all stupid. That man is actually wearing yamen clothes. He must be the one who ordered him to do this. Aren't you waiting to be killed and silenced if you jump out now?"
The person who asked the question reacted immediately, scratched his head in embarrassment and stopped talking.
The one who asked the question at the beginning of the conversation touched his chin and said: "So what you mean is that Yu Hong started the fire, and why did he do it?
The good official warehouse must be burned down. I haven't heard of anyone from the imperial court checking the official warehouse recently? "
"You haven't left the city in the past two days, have you?"
"Ah? Yes, I got sick two days ago and haven't been out of the city. What's wrong?"
No wonder you didn't know.
There is now an army stationed outside Zile County, called the Ping Japanese Army. They have come to ask for food from one of our county magistrates. The food transferred by the court to the official warehouse a few days ago is their military ration.
However, the military rations had arrived at the Zhang family's store a long time ago. There was still some in the granary. The county magistrate probably just couldn't get out the food, so he did this.
Now, as soon as the granary burned down, the body was immediately destroyed, leaving no evidence of death.
There is no need to give food!
"So that's it!"
Everyone suddenly understood the cause and effect.
At this moment, the crowd of onlookers who were still talking suddenly became quiet.
They all turned their heads and looked behind them with their big mouths.
It turned out that there was a sudden sound of neat footsteps on the street behind the crowd.
Not long after, groups of armored troops walking like one person appeared on the street, approaching the granary quickly!
Seeing the murderous looks of these troops holding weapons, the onlookers quickly dispersed twice unconsciously, clearing the central road.
The cold-faced soldiers of the Ping Japanese Army followed Li Dingguo, who was leading the horse, and stepped forward without even looking at the crowd of onlookers around them. The sound stopped.
Riding on his horse, looking at the huge ruins in front of him, a smile flashed in Li Dingguo's eyes, but his face still had a serious expression, and he ordered: "Come here! Wake up our county magistrate and bring him here !”
"promise!"
There was a cry of agreement from the crowd.
Not long after, Yu Hong and Zhou Yan, who were all wet, were escorted out by four Japanese soldiers.
The weather was still a bit cold at the beginning of spring, so I was suddenly splashed with cold water and then blown by the wind!
Yu Hong and Zhou Yan both sneezed and trembled as they were escorted in front of Li Dingguo.
Yu Hong trembled, looking at Li Dingguo who was riding a horse and looking down at him, and said in a trembling voice: "You... you are so brave... a mere warrior... how dare you do this to this county! This... ...This county has decided...to report to...to the imperial court!
Let... let you walk around without being able to eat! "
Li Dingguo smiled coldly and said coldly: "I don't know whether I will eat or not while walking around. Magistrate Yu should explain to me the scene in front of me!"
You said the granary was on fire, but what about the remains of the burned grain?
Why didn't I see even the slightest remains of food in this entire ruin?
Was this food burned by the fire, or was it stolen by the rats in the county?
I also ask Magistrate Yu to give me and the court a reasonable explanation! "
…
(End of chapter)
