It was three o'clock in the morning the next day when Yang Peng woke up. He felt a heavy pain in his head and couldn't help but pat his head. He turned around and looked at the sky. Seeing that it was already bright, he quickly got up. After coming out of the room, Wang Kai and other secret guards guarding the door immediately greeted him with clasped fists. Yang Peng looked at the sky and asked, "Are Duan Zhixian and Cheng Shijie up?" Wang Kai quickly said, "I don't know!" "Where are Du Nan and Bai Tong?" Wang Kai said with a smile, "They should still be asleep! "Yang Peng said: "Ignore them, let's go to Yangzhou City for a walk." "Yes!"
A few people dressed in casual clothes left the camp and wandered on the busiest South Street in Yangzhou. It was almost noon, but there were only a few pedestrians on the street. The scene of crowded businessmen that day no longer existed.
Most of the shops were closed, and the ones that were open were empty, with banners swaying feebly in the wind. There are many beggars gathered on both sides of the street, including men, women and children. They are all disheveled and have confused eyes. They cannot see where there is hope. There was the sound of running behind him, and then someone shouted: "Brother, wait for us!" It was Du Nan's voice. Yang Peng stopped and looked back, only to see the chubby Du Nan and the tall and thin white man. Tong ran over.
Yang Peng said with a smile: "I thought you two were still sleeping?" The two of them smiled sheepishly, and Dunan said: "When we got together, we heard that the eldest brother had come out, so we both didn't eat. He ran out." Yang Peng smiled, turned to look at the open restaurant nearby, pointed and said, "I haven't had breakfast either, so I might as well just have a random meal here!" The two of them looked at it. He glanced at the restaurant next to him and nodded, Du Nan said boldly: "I will treat you today!" Yang Peng chuckled, "The relationship is good, I couldn't ask for it!" Du Nan grinned, "Look what big brother said, As long as the eldest brother doesn't dislike it, the younger brother will treat you to dinner every day!" Yang Peng laughed loudly, patted Dunan on the shoulder, and walked towards the restaurant, and everyone quickly followed.
The boss suddenly saw a large group of people coming in, and he immediately became excited. He hadn't seen so many guests for a long time. He hurriedly came up to greet them, bowed and asked, "Do the guests want to drink?"
Dunan said angrily: "Nonsense, come to your restaurant, why don't you watch a show if you don't have a drink!" "Yes, yes, I am confused! Do you want to go into the box, or just eat and drink in this hall?" Du Nan didn't dare to make the decision without permission and looked at Yang Peng. Yang Peng smiled and said: "Don't bother, just stay in the hall." "Yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen, please!" With that, the boss invited everyone to sit by the window and sat at several tables. The boss asked: "I wonder what you would like to order?"
Du Nan said boldly: "Bring over all the famous wine and food in Yangzhou!" The boss's eyes lit up, feeling that he was really lucky today and met a high-profile customer! After repeatedly agreeing, he hurried down to organize things. Bai Tong looked outside the window and frowned: "This Yangzhou was the capital of Jiang in those days. According to historical records, it was a place where people and merchants gathered. It was a paradise on earth, but I didn't expect it to become like this!"
Yang Peng said calmly: "There have been endless wars in these years. It would be really weird if we can still maintain prosperity!"
Dunan frowned and said: "From what the two generals said, they have already asked local officials to implement many policies to benefit the people. Logically speaking, there should be changes, at least the situation should be better, but in front of us is such a lifeless and dilapidated look! It can be seen that there is such a lifeless and dilapidated look! Big brother's policy has not been implemented at all!" Yang Peng said: "It should be what you said, the local officials deceived the superiors and concealed the cause!" Dunan thought: "The two Huaihe Rivers have been very prosperous since ancient times. If they can be managed well, they will be The country provides a steady stream of food and taxes, but on the contrary, it will not only fail to replenish the national treasury, but will also continue to consume the few resources! It can be seen that whether the two Huaihe Rivers can be managed properly is of great importance!"
Yang Peng took a sip of tea and asked with a smile: "If it were you, how would you govern it?"
Du Nan smiled and said: "If I were the younger brother, I would first need to promote a few reliable officials for my use, and select those with good reputations in the local area to promote. If there are none, I would have to ask the elder brother to assign people to me; and then While encouraging farmers and merchants to prosper trade, they also slowly reformed the selection and training of talents in the government, and gradually replaced those useless officials. After completing the above, it will be considered to be on the right track, and the next things will not be so It’s difficult to handle, so we can only stick to two aspects.”
Feeling that his mouth was dry, he picked up the tea cup and took a big sip of tea, and continued: "First, vigorously develop agriculture, commerce and handicrafts. All policies that are conducive to these developments will be implemented, and those that are unfavorable will be resolutely eliminated. At the same time, Government supervision, rewards and punishments must be done well. Haha, actually, you don’t need to worry too much about this. The series of policies implemented by Big Brother are already very good. The only thing that needs to be noted is that before the supervisory department officials settled in Lianghuai, I It is not difficult to do a good job of supervision on your own initiative. Just set up a separate supervision team in the yamen. At the same time, you can also organize the local famous gentry, merchants, and students, and give them power to supervise. ."
Yang Peng's eyes lit up and he praised: "Your ideas are very good, especially the last one. It is a unique creation that has never been done before!"
Dunan smiled, "I just think that since this world belongs to the people of the world, the people of the world should be given the means and power to restrain officials. Otherwise, this world belongs to the people of the world and it will be just a meaningless talk. Got it!"
Yang Peng smiled and nodded. At this time, the boss and his wife came up and placed several famous local dishes in Yangzhou and a pot of fine wine on Yang Peng's table. Du Nan saw the couple serving the food in person and asked with a smile: "Is it possible that the boss is in such a difficult situation that he can't even hire a waiter?"
The boss sighed, "That's it! Since the great chaos, Yangzhou City has become more and more depressed, and business has become more and more difficult to do. We have no choice but to fire all the redundant people. Even this is very difficult. !” The proprietress on the side continued: “Actually, our store is pretty good because we own the store. Although the business is not good, we can still manage to maintain it! This is not the case with other stores because they rent it from others. The business of the shops is so bad that they can no longer sustain themselves, and every one of them has stopped working! Hey, in previous years we would drink and celebrate together during the Chinese New Year, but last year’s Spring Festival was so deserted!”
Yang Peng asked: "It has been some time since Yan Yun's army regained Yangzhou. Hasn't the situation improved a little?" The couple sighed, and the landlady couldn't help but said: "They say King Yan is such a hero, but I don't think so. ! It’s been so long since Yangzhou was recovered, but nothing has changed! The Mingjiao occupation was like before, and it’s still like this now! Guest officials, do you think this King Yan has a false reputation? "
Everyone laughed, and Bai Tong said, "Don't be impatient, boss lady. Everything has its own process. I believe everything will be fine soon!" The couple sighed. Then I felt that these people seemed to be no ordinary people. Except for the fat man and the thin man who looked like scholars, everyone else had a strong temperament, especially the leader, who was extremely heroic and imposing. He felt that he should be a general with a heavy army! The couple couldn't help but feel their hearts tremble. Thinking of Yan Yun who just complained about King Yan, they immediately became panicked. Then I found that they didn't look angry at all, and I couldn't help but let go of the mention. The proprietress said quickly: "The little lady just talked nonsense, just think that I fart, don't take it seriously!"
Everyone laughed. Yang Peng asked: "Madam boss, are the local magistrates good to the people?" When the couple heard this, they couldn't help but become suspicious and looked at Yang Peng. The lady boss asked: "I'm afraid this young master is not an ordinary person, right?" Immediately, my mind moved, and I thought of the imperial ministers who were often ordered to pay private visits incognito by storytellers, and my eyes lit up, "Could it be that the young master is actually an imperial minister?"
Everyone looked at each other and smiled. Yang Peng said with a smile: "You can say that." When the couple heard this, they were frightened to death. They quickly knelt down and said, "Hey, the common people don't know that you will be far away when you arrive." You are talking nonsense, please forgive me!" Yang Peng asked with a smile: "What are your sins?"
The landlady whispered: "Young lady, you shouldn't talk nonsense!" The boss next to you said angrily: "You are really talking nonsense! King Yan is wise and powerful, and he is an amazing figure that has rarely appeared in thousands of years! You What does a woman know? If she opens her mouth and talks nonsense, she deserves to be damned!"
Yang Peng smiled and waved his hands and said: "The boss lady is not wrong! I have some complaints in my heart, so there is no harm in talking about it! This is something that King Yan did not do well and I am sorry for you. I am here to apologize to you on his behalf!" said Then he stood up and bowed with his fists clasped.
The couple were startled and kowtowed hurriedly: "The common people don't dare! The common people don't dare!" Yang Peng helped the two of them up, and they looked at Yang Peng with both emotion and nervousness. Yang Peng asked the couple to sit down, but they didn't dare to say so. Yang Peng asked him to sit down again and again, but the couple couldn't refuse anymore, so they sat down awkwardly.
Yang Peng asked: "This is my private visit incognito. I just want to hear the voices of the people. Only by knowing the difficulties of the people can King Yan prescribe the right medicine!" After hearing such words, the couple were so moved that they didn't know it. What should I say? Yang Peng smiled and said: "I still have the same question as before, what do you think of the local magistrates?"
The couple looked at each other, and the boss sighed, "This matter, ordinary people really don't know how to talk about this matter!" Yang Peng said with a smile: "Don't worry about anything, just say what you know!" "Yes! "After a pause, "Hey! Speaking of local magistrates, I'm afraid we, the common people, all hate them!" As he spoke, his face showed an expression of anger and hatred, "These guys don't care at all. Not only did they impose unreasonable taxes and extort money on the life and death of our people, but they also used their power to seize people's land and property, causing many families to go bankrupt and had to flee!"
Yang Peng couldn't help frowning when he heard this. The boss clasped his fists and said, "You may not know something, but Yangzhou and even the entire Huainan area are controlled by three major families! The people of those three major families are domineering in this area, robbing women, occupying property, and even killing and injuring them." Appointment, no evil will be done!" Everyone in Yang Peng couldn't help but get angry. They expected some shortcomings in the local officialdom, but they didn't expect it to be so bad. It really had to be rectified!
"Which three major families are you talking about?" Yang Peng asked.
The boss said: "That's the Zhou family, the Zheng family, and the Wang family. They are all big families in Huainan." He smiled and said, "I'm not afraid that adults will laugh at me. In fact, the common people are also members of the Zhou family." Everyone was a little surprised. Du Nan He said jokingly: "Isn't this very good? The boss must have gained a lot of benefits from it!" The boss smiled bitterly and said: "You are making fun of me! Although the grass people belong to the Zhou family, they are not the same thing as the Zhou family. That circle It's actually very small!" He pointed to the wife next to him, "My wife's surname is Wang, and she and the Wang family are from the same clan and head, but in fact the two parties have no contact at all! In our two Huaihe areas, the three families with the surnames Zhou, Zheng, and Wang are very special. There are many, but they can’t be said to be from those three major families!”
Yang Peng smiled and nodded, "I understand what the boss means." Then he thought: "The current Yangzhou magistrate is named Zhou Xian. He must be a member of the Zhou family among the three major families, right?" The boss nodded, " Exactly, and he is also the head of the Zhou family!" He frowned, "Zhou Xian is very vicious this time! Not long ago, his son Zhou Lu fell in love with the daughter of the family on the corner of the street. When the marriage failed, he openly broke in. The house was robbed, and the two old men were severely beaten and paralyzed on the bed, but they were still worried about their daughters! Hey! I don’t know what happened to the daughter of that family now? I’m afraid she has been ruined!” That’s it. Sighed a few more times.
Everyone was furious, and Dunan asked: "If the local government doesn't care, doesn't it mean the local garrison doesn't care either?" The boss was stunned, "What does this matter have to do with the local garrison? Shouldn't all such matters be handled by the local government?" ?"
Yang Peng asked: "After this incident, did that family take any measures?" The boss nodded, "Who said no? After their daughter was taken away, the two elders begged their relatives to file a lawsuit. Sir, what do you think? , then the prefect is Zhou Lu's father, how could he take care of this case? The person who went to complain failed to get the complaint, but was beaten up by the prefect. Since then, no one dared to complain, and the two old people could only I have been crying at home all day long! Hey, there are so many things like this that I can’t even talk about them all at once!”
At this moment, there were the sounds of chaotic footsteps at the door. The boss and his wife looked up, suddenly became nervous, and hurriedly greeted them. Immediately, everyone saw the boss and his wife greeting several young people in servant uniforms very respectfully, "Oh, you guys are really rare guests, please come quickly!" The young people had their heads raised, their chins raised, and they looked like Liuliliuqi looks arrogant and domineering.
Several people walked to a table and sat down. The boss bowed and asked, "What do you guys want to order?" A young man said angrily, "This is not the first time for you guys to come here. What are you talking about? Just pick it up and go!" "Yes, yes, you guys will be later!" Then he and his wife went to work in the back.
Yang Peng and others remained calm, minding their own drinking. I could only hear the servants nearby talking loudly. One person said: "I didn't expect that woman to be so fierce and actually used scissors to kill herself!" Another person snorted coldly, "There is no point in committing suicide! That little woman is simply ignorant. If her death makes Yanei unhappy, will her parents be able to get away with it? I'm afraid Yanei will kill her parents the next day! If she is smart, she should obey Yanei and be Yanei's concubine. In this way, not only will nothing happen to them, but they will enjoy endless glory and wealth. How stupid!" Others agreed.
Yang Peng and others felt that they were talking about the woman that the boss had just mentioned who was snatched away by Zhou Luqiang. They really admired that woman's strong character. The proprietress came out from the back carrying a few side dishes and a jug of wine, walked straight to the table where Yin Sha was sitting, and placed the food and wine on the table.
When the servants saw this, they were very angry. One of them slammed the table and shouted: "Didn't you see that the masters are here? How dare you serve them food and wine first!" The landlady quickly stepped forward to apologize, saying only that the servants were The guest officer asked for it first, and also asked them to forgive me. The landlady did not dare to reveal the identities of Yang Peng and the others, because she felt that since the other party was visiting privately incognito, they should not be willing to reveal their identities casually.
The servant who was banging the table raised his hand and slapped the landlady in the face, scolding: "You old godly woman, you are so tired of living!" Yang Peng and others were shocked when they saw him beating someone, and they all screamed. rise.
Although the landlady was beaten, she did not dare to get angry and just kept apologizing. The servant who slapped the landlady refused to give up. He grabbed the front of the landlady’s clothes with his left hand and raised his right hand to slap her again. At this moment, a strong hand suddenly grasped his wrist. The servant was startled. He turned around and saw a heroic and angry face. The curse words that were already on his lips were stuck in his mouth, and he couldn't help but feel fear in his heart. Then he thought that he was a servant of the Zhou family, and he was afraid of someone coming. He immediately became more courageous. He let go of the boss's wife's skirt with his left hand, and actually slapped Yang Peng. I had to admire this man's courage!
However, how could he possibly touch Yang Peng with this little skill? With his palm still in mid-air, he felt a huge force lifting him upwards, as if the clouds were rising, and then he hit them hard with a loud bang. On that table, the square table collapsed and fell to the ground. Several other servants were so frightened that they fled away. When they reacted, they couldn't help but became angry and rushed towards Yang Peng.
The secret guards immediately stepped forward and beat the servants who were used to bullying the common people with three punches and two kicks until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen. Yang Peng said loudly: "Okay, stop fighting!" The secret guards stopped, and one of the secret guards kicked a servant on the head again in anger. Several servants were lying on the ground, screaming in pain. Finally, they helped each other to get up, and stared at Yang Peng and the others with resentment. One of the servants said fiercely: "You wait! You wait! This matter is not over yet!" After saying that, they helped each other stumble. left.
The landlady said with a gloomy face: "They will definitely not give up. What should we do? What should we do?" At this time, the boss had already come in and saw the mess in the hall. He still couldn't figure out what happened. Things are very surprising. After hearing his wife briefly describe what happened, her face instantly turned pale and her lips trembled involuntarily.
Bai Tong said: "You don't have to worry, everything is under control. Sir, nothing will happen to you!" The couple then remembered their identities and quickly knelt down, begging Yang Peng to make the decision for them. Yang Peng helped the two of them up and said with a smile: "It will be okay, don't worry!" When the couple heard this, their originally frightened hearts calmed down a lot.
Yang Peng said loudly: "Don't let this disturb our interest. Everyone, sit down and continue eating and drinking!" Everyone returned to their seats, sat down, and continued eating and drinking. The couple hurriedly brought out the rest of the food and drinks, still feeling uneasy in their hearts. The boss carried the smashed table out of the door and put it down. Just as I was about to go in, I suddenly heard the noise of people on the street in the distance, and I couldn't help but listen. It doesn't matter if you don't look at it. When you look at it, you are startled. You see nearly a hundred government officials running towards this direction, shouting. Passersby are running away, and some of them are obviously the servants of the Zhou family who were beaten just now. . The boss hurried back and stammered: "No, it's bad! They, they are coming!"
Yang Peng and others who were eating and drinking put down their wine glasses. At this time, the sound of rapid and chaotic footsteps outside reached everyone's ears. Yang Peng's heart moved and he couldn't help but frown. The door suddenly went dark, and a large group of fierce-looking government servants rushed in. The boss and his wife were so frightened that they hugged each other and retreated to the corner, trembling.
The strong man who looked like a head catcher at the head glanced at the hall. There were only a few tables of Yang Peng and others in the hall, and the head catcher's eyes naturally fell on them. At this time, a servant who had been beaten before pointed at Yang Peng and the others and said very bitterly: "It's them!"
The catcher frowned, but did not take action immediately. He had been born in Gongmen for many years, and he still had some discernment. He felt that these people had an iron-blooded spirit and were probably not ordinary people. Therefore, he did not dare to take action rashly and raised his voice: "Who are you? How dare you do this in Yangzhou?" Is there trouble in the city?"
Dunan looked at him and said mockingly: "Why do you say so categorically that it was us who caused the trouble?" The servants next to him asked, "Why can't it be them?"
Several servants saw that the other party was still so powerful at this moment, and they were very angry. They shouted and cursed: "You bastards, you don't know when your death is coming! We will see if you are still arrogant later!" Then one person rushed to arrest him. He shouted: "Captain Zheng, what are you talking about with them? Why don't you arrest them quickly!"
Zheng Captou glanced at Du Nan and thought to himself: I'm afraid I'm too worried. How could they have some background? I've seen all the important generals of the Yanyun Army. There are absolutely no such people, and they can't be. Ordinary sergeants, Yan Yunjun's military skills are as good as mountains. It is impossible for them to come to this restaurant to drink at this time. Judging from their attire, they are most likely merchants from out of town. As soon as I thought about this, I felt confident in my heart, and said coldly: "I said you are making trouble, you are making trouble!"
Du Nan sneered and said: "This catcher is really powerful! I heard that King Yan would not treat the people like this. Whose power are you relying on to dare to be so rampant?" Zheng catcher was furious. , shouted: "How dare you speak to me like this, you are really impatient! Come on, take them down for me!" All the government officials agreed in unison and rushed forward. The secret guards had been on alert for a long time, and when they saw this situation, they immediately took action. All Yin Sha was seen punching and kicking. The government officials were accustomed to bullying the people, but they were no match for Yin Sha. They were beaten until they staggered back and forth.
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
