Of course, this kind of thing is just child's play for Jiang Tian. He just rode his horse in a few circles and easily got rid of the opponent in the most crowded and complicated street. After finding a place to store his mount under a false name, he climbed over the wall from the backyard room and reappeared in the market.
Then, I saw the suspected stalkers; several rough guys with clean and green scalps, or with beard-style braided hair, half of their arms exposed, and tattoos; they were nodding and bending in an alley, being A man in public uniform slapped and scolded each one.
Even with this distance, Jiang Tian could still hear words such as "not doing well", "keep an eye on strangers", "suspicious people" and "must report" in the noisy background. After the man in gray had had enough of beating and scolding, he sent these rogues away.
Immediately afterwards, he turned around and left without hesitation, walking through the streets and alleys without stopping; finally he came to the back door of an official office in the city, knocked on the door gently, and was welcomed in. Finally, in a courtyard of the back office, an old official with a goatee received him for a moment with an impatient look on his face.
Then, the old official came to the vestibule again, and respectfully addressed and reported again to the young official in blue robe who was in the custody room on the right side. At this stage of development, Jiang Tian, who was secretly following and peeping, also roughly figured out what these people and others were doing at the moment.
However, someone from the upper echelon of Lulong Mansion told them that during this period, special attention should be paid to new faces from outside, and private bounties were offered to mobilize people from all three religions and nine sects in the city to secretly investigate and track them. Old officials and young officials are also part of it.
This seems to also involve the political game between the Tang Dynasty and the local Youzhou. However, Youzhou is, after all, a large city with a dense flow of people traveling from south to north; the daily floating population inside and outside the city exceeds hundreds of thousands. If you really want to keep an eye on outsiders, I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it.
But unfortunately, the cover identity used by Jiang Tian was that he was from Dongdu City and was a lecturer at Peking University on a study tour, which happened to attract the attention of the relevant people after entering the city. Therefore, after Jiang Tian thought for a while, he passed by a bathhouse again and changed his clothes.
However, when he searched all the way and found the Youzhou branch of the Censorship Department, he went secretly. But I found that deep in a section of alley far away from the main street in the east of the city, it looked quite deserted and deserted. The walls and doors were full of fallen leaves and dead branches that had not been swept away, and a light dust had fallen on them.
This desolate and decadent scene formed a particularly sharp contrast with what Jiang Tian saw in the southeastern roads; whether it was in Guangling City of Yangzhou Prefecture or Jiangning Prefecture City; the secret censorship offices were all located in the central downtown area. , or even an entire donated garden courtyard.
In this process, not only the local government agencies, including the Dudufu and Fuyin, provided varying degrees of cooperation and convenience; even the wealthy households, merchants, wealthy families, and eunuchs in the city; and even ordinary people, They also followed suit and donated and donated a lot of goods and materials.
Therefore, the local branch office can be put into operation quickly once the manpower allocated from Beijing and recruited locally are available. However, this branch office in Youzhou seems to be somewhat marginalized; not only does the building look old and in disrepair, it is also neglected and neglected.
If it weren't for the horse stalls and horizontal fences set up outside, and the flag stones representing the official offices, it would be hard to imagine that this old abandoned courtyard house would be the most popular government office at the moment - the branch of the Anxing Yushi Department. station. However, it should still be the fault of Dongdu headquarters for his behavior like this.
According to the daily structure and division of labor of the two capitals' separate administrative offices; among the branches located in the sixteen prefectures of the world, the Eastern Capital Headquarters was mainly responsible for establishing the nine prefectural offices in the Kanto and Southeast regions (Hangu); while the western capital's administrative offices were Responsible for the establishment of seven government offices in the southwest and northwest.
However, because Jiang Tian and his party went south in accordance with the order, quelling the demonic chaos along the way, they also established the garrison of the three southeastern prefectures that were originally under the control of Luodu headquarters and put them into operation effectively. Therefore, almost all the personnel stationed in the southeastern prefectures come from Xijingli Xingyuan.
Or they were selected by the local garrison and officials. Because the buildings near the water were served first, the local people's perceptions also tended to be Xijingli Xingyuan. Therefore, relatively speaking, the position of the Eastern Capital Headquarters, which has nominal jurisdiction, is somewhat embarrassing and delicate.
However, no matter what, even if the Dongdu headquarters has difficulties or is unable to cope with it, the Youzhou branch, as an important town in the North, has turned into such a desolate and decadent state. The problems contained in it are not small, and may even be serious. Something more serious is involved. Then Jiang Tian knocked on the door.
After waiting for a while, a face full of vicissitudes of life appeared, and as the door suddenly opened, he cautiously looked at the face of the outsider. It wasn't until Jiang Tian took out a dark silver body plate that the other party calmed down the alertness and vigilance in his eyes; he slowly opened the door and muttered:
"Lang Jun, are you... on an errand from Dongdu?" This is an old soldier with his head and armor on his back. Behind the door, he is leaning against a crossbow with his teeth loosened; Colored snow-knot folding iron knife. Although his face is wrinkled and his hair and beard are white, his exposed arms are still full of flesh.
"..." Jiang Tian was stunned when he heard this, but nodded and acquiesced to the misunderstanding. Then, the old army was relieved and said in a hoarse voice: "It's good to be here...it's good to be here; everyone has a backbone." As he said this, he led Jiang Tian towards the inside.
After actually entering the courtyard, Jiang Tian discovered that the house was not as dilapidated as the outside; although the walls were covered with withered weeds, at least the large area of the front yard had been leveled and cleared; , wooden targets, haystacks and various training equipment.
The corresponding buildings are also basically intact, with the smell of fireworks and traces of daily life remaining from recent use; it is obvious that someone lives and maintains them. Immediately afterwards, Maotou Laojun led Jiang Tian to visit various functional facilities such as the main hall, side houses, warehouses and prison bars.
Although most of them look quite old, at least the basic functions are still there with careful maintenance. Then, the old man with his head facing Jiang Tian showed a reluctant but expectant expression and said, "I wonder if your husband has brought any other orders when he came here? For example, the money he applied for from the public house?"
Jiang Tian couldn't help but said "Oh" and showed a surprised expression: Is the Youzhou branch already in such embarrassment that it has to apply for support from the headquarters even for daily public money? You must know that when all branches are established, there is a large amount of purchase fees and public funds.
"I really don't want to hide it from you." Then, the old soldier with a heavy head sighed and took the initiative to explain: "Since last month, the director of our office, and several of our bosses, have gone out with troops and failed to return after the due date. After that, the remaining hearts in the branch gradually began to disperse, and there was no other income."
"Then, the assigned officers gradually stopped coming, and the local recruits began to ask for sick leave, or simply couldn't stay, and left without saying goodbye...; now, I am the only one left. Waiting for a few old bones to barely maintain it, so that no one can take advantage of the opportunity to help."
"I dare to ask Mr. Lang, we have submitted several submissions for petition documents. I don't know what the regulations of this office are. To be honest, Mr. Lang, as long as we can allocate money, we can recall the manpower and reorganize the branch. When it comes to operation, it will no longer be the depressed and cold situation it is today..."
"Thank you so much for your perseverance." However, when Jiang Tian heard this, his mood was a little subtle, and he sighed a little; according to the regulations granted by the previous court, the branches of the two capitals and the sixteen prefectures in the world are in charge of each location. One person, one or two deputy managers; 30-50 people are engaged, responsible, and co-organizers.
Responsible for investigating local demons and abnormal events, and taking corresponding measures to exterminate, suppress or partially blockade them; in addition, there is a regiment (200-300) of lay sergeants to provide corresponding force support; once the situation escalates, Local united forces can be mobilized to work together.
If the situation is really serious and out of control, request further support from the headquarters through the local telegraph message. But like the Youzhou branch, there are only two or three old, weak, sick and disabled kittens left, which is really unusual. Contact the previous secret search again.
"It's true that I didn't receive any other instructions from Dongdu Headquarters." Jiang Tian then apologized to him and then took out a money ticket: "But I happen to have a sum of money on hand to assist in the investigation and develop an eye liner. For miscellaneous expenses, I will give you five hundred yuan first, so you can use it for emergency needs."
"How...how did this happen?" Upon seeing this, Old Army Mantou couldn't help but his eyes were a little red: "Why can't it be done? It's just temporarily lent to the branch for emergency response." Jiang Tian comforted in a low voice: "We'll wait until we cross. After the current difficulties are overcome, the headquarters will re-allocate it and repay it to me."
Then, Jiang Tian naturally took over the seals, documents and documents stored in the main hall and side rooms; as well as the personal letters collected from various houses. After seeing these things at a glance, Jiang Tian also had some thoughts on the current situation of the Youzhou branch.
At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark; the old man with his head also lit a lamp and introduced enthusiastically: "It's already dinner time, but we are short of firewood and rice, so we can't entertain the gentleman from our headquarters. I just I can go to an outside restaurant and pass some food and wine to deal with it."
Before he finished speaking, there was a fierce banging on the door outside; followed by the faint barking of dogs in the distance, and sporadic yelling from people in the neighborhood; in the end, there was only one powerful shout left. Voice: "By order of the young master, I have invited people from Dongdu to go to the banquet."
