Having received the imperial edict, he naturally had to fulfill it. After the eunuch who delivered the edict left, Tang Jianqiu stood up.
At this time, he was thinking about this plan in his mind.
At this moment, a Jin Yiwei next to him bowed and expressed his opinion:
"Sir, Your Majesty asked you to lead the brothers to Huguang to investigate whether the Marquis has done anything improper. The super-captain is Murong Jing, the current third-rank Marquis of An. It is said that he is a dandy.
Alas, it would only be if he was just one level higher in officialdom. It is said that that person is the prince's nephew. If Mr. Tang were ordered to investigate and deal with it, I'm afraid it would be detrimental to you! "
Baihu couldn't help but worry about Tang Jianqiu. The most fatal thing was that the other party was an important person.
Even if Murong Jing was unfair in all kinds of ways, even if he committed a heinous crime, Tang Jianqiu was still just a small fourth-grade servant.
If Murong Jing is really punished in accordance with the law, I am afraid that he will offend the prince. Losing his official position will be a small matter, but losing his life will be a big deal.
It would not be good if the prince and many people come together to impeach Tang Jianqiu.
"The Marquis is in charge as ordered, and we are ordered to investigate and deal with it. What's wrong? The Emperor's grace is great. Since he is acting on behalf of Heaven, he should act accordingly.
It would be fine if His Majesty really agreed, but that is not the case.
His Majesty's nature will definitely not leave this matter to me, a small governor. It must be Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, who is causing trouble! "
Tang Jianqiu was so angry that he had done such an offending thing. It was no wonder that so many people in his previous life were very dissatisfied with him, and they added insult to injury at his most critical moment.
Of course, it doesn't matter if you offend some people who are already burdened with sin. After all, if you are upright, you are not afraid of a slanting shadow. You are afraid that he will bear all the good and bad things.
"Sir, what should we do?"
Hundreds of households couldn't help but be a little worried, and they could only obey Tang Jianqiu's orders on this matter.
Tang Jianqiu sighed helplessly. He frowned and felt extremely anxious. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "It is difficult to violate the sacred order. Since this matter has been entrusted to me, I will go all out.
The journey to Xianning this time is long and will take about one to two months. Please ask your brothers to prepare more food and water, as well as your travel expenses. Later, some people from this town will go together.
The remaining brothers will stay in Beizhen Fusi for the time being and be at your disposal at any time. If the envoy of Nanzhen Fusi asks you to help them. "
"yes!"
After the Jin Yiwei beside him left, Tang Jianqiu was thinking about the difficulties of this mission.
The point is that the other party is the prince's nephew. If he doesn't handle it well, he may be involved in the crime. Wei Zhongxian has been eyeing him for some time. That guy will do whatever it takes to eliminate dissidents!
I hope there won't be any trouble this time.
…
About forty days later, Tang Jianqiu had led a group of royal guards to Xianning, Huguang. However, they were not wearing official uniforms now, but looked like businessmen passing by.
The sun is scorching like fire, the scales of thousands of tiles are like fire dragons, the sun's chariot is motionless and the beads of sweat are shining. Although it is hot in May, the wheat wind is clear, and the ropes on the eaves are spinning the chariot and honking the whistle;
Now the situation is like a steamer, with the venomous sunlight pouring down on the earth, causing the people doing farm work to sweat.
Not to mention the working villagers, just the people living here and even the officers and soldiers are extremely hot;
"Sir, why do you want your brothers to wear common people's clothes?"
One of the officers and soldiers was so hot that he had to use his hands as fans to simply dissipate the heat;
Tang Jianqiu didn't say it directly, but he took a look at the luggage prepared by the brothers and pretended to be mysterious, "You will know when the time comes."
Seeing how stupid the man was, Baihu couldn't hold it back for a moment and said on the spot:
"You don't know something about this. Let's not talk about Emperor Cheng Liu Ao of the Han Dynasty. Let's just talk about Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Your Excellency just wanted to pay a private visit incognito to observe the people's sentiments. By the way, he wanted to take a look at the government officials who relied on their power."
Jinyiwei Xiaoqi suddenly realized it, as if waking up from a dream, and exclaimed: "So it turns out that Mr. Tang loves his people like his own children, but he is too worried."
"It's okay, brothers, it's a hard journey. There is a small shop ahead. Let's eat there for the time being. In order to avoid crowds of people, pretend not to know each other until you are needed."
After all, these are brothers who have lived and died for him, so they won't be too harsh;
After hearing this, all the Jin Yiwei felt happy. After running around for a long time, they were already hungry, and now Tang Jianqiu's move could be described as a timely help.
They quickly bowed and thanked: "Thank you, sir!"
The Jin Yiwei were like hungry wolves who had not eaten delicious food for a long time, and their walking pace accelerated a bit.
Considering that this mission was relatively important, No. 30 people were sent to follow.
He was also afraid that too many people would appear too ostentatious, so he planned to take the opportunity to test and see how the officials here behaved.
As a result, people on the 30th split up. They each found friends with whom they had good relationships in Fusizhong, Beizhen, and simply sat around the table.
Dozens of older men seemed to have not been together for a long time, talking and laughing.
Of course, they did not dare to declare their identity in public on such an occasion, nor did they dare to reveal the purpose of their trip.
"Waiter, please bring two kilograms of beef and some food and wine."
Hundreds of households were not polite and shouted for some food when they came up.
After running around all day, he was so hungry that his chest pressed against his back, and he just wanted to buy something to cushion his stomach;
The waiter seemed to have seen the God of Wealth and said with a smile: "Okay, sir, please wait a moment, we will be here soon~"
"Fang Xiaoyu, I don't think you are so ruthless usually, but you have such a good appetite today?"
"Sir, as the saying goes, the mountains are warm and there are no more plums to break, and the river is clear and the crabs can hold on. Although winter is not here yet, I am very hungry."
Fang Xiaoyu felt confident and did not feel at all that he had done anything wrong.
Tang Jianqiu shook his head helplessly. He pondered for a moment, and then asked:
"What does this mean?"
Only then did Fang Xiaoyu realize that Tang Jianqiu was not a civil servant, so he patiently explained:
"The weather is getting warmer and there are no plum blossoms to break when using Naijing. There are still crabs to eat when the Yangtze River is clear."
"……I see."
Some things are too profound for him, that's all, he just understands them.
After chatting for a while, the waiter who ran to chat instinctively showed his amiable smile.
"Here, gentlemen, please use the wine and food you want with your leisure."
As the waiter spoke, he served the prepared meals and drinks, his words full of flattery.
Tang Jianqiu nodded in greeting, "Thank you, waiter, I want to ask you something. We came from out of town. We arrived in Xianning for the first time and we haven't heard anything about Xianning yet. I wonder how Xianning is doing these days?"
"Sir, you don't know this. The people in our Xianning County are simple and honest. I can't say how good our life is. The minimum food and clothing can solve the problem.
However, everything changed after a marquis named Murong came here. Don't look at the busy traffic outside and think it's okay. The water inside is very deep, so you'd better not ask more questions. "
The waiter didn't reveal much. It was obvious that he had encountered something. Especially when you saw his hesitant expression, you could probably guess it.
Now it seems that there is indeed something wrong with the style of this super feudal prince.
After thinking for a moment, Tang Jianqiu looked at the waiter again and blurted out the doubts in his heart: "Since life is very hard, why is it different from what you said, waiter?"
"Sir, don't ask anymore. If I ask again, the shop will probably close. Please be considerate of us."
No matter how much the waiter wanted to reveal, he couldn't say it directly, for fear of being reported to Mr. Hou by some mole, and then it would be over.
This matter finally got some clues, but who would have thought that it would end here now. Tang Jianqiu was obviously a little disappointed.
He was about to drink it all in one gulp to gamble on his unhappiness, when a strong man at the next table saw that Tang Jianqiu, an outsider, did not shy away from asking about Xianning County.
He first looked around to make sure there was no suspicious person, then hurriedly came up and told Tang Jianqiu what happened:
"Master, you don't know something. The Marquis bullies the people, commits corruption, robs the women, and plunders the people's wealth. He does all kinds of evil. All the people in Xianning County have been harmed by him!
well! I thought that life for the people of Xianning County would be a little easier after Lord Marquis came here, but who would have thought of being poisoned by him instead!
Oh, by the way, the Marquis restrained himself during this period because he heard that an imperial envoy came to check recently, so he behaved relatively well. When the imperial envoy leaves, we common people will suffer! "
However, what he didn't know was that the man sitting in front of him was the imperial envoy he mentioned;
"Oh? Is this the case?"
Tang Jianqiu became interested instantly. It seemed that the man was prepared.
He had always hated evil, and when he thought of what that guy had done, he was trembling with anger, and his fists were clenched in excessive anger.
He had to be glad that he was not wearing official uniform when he came here, otherwise he would not have known that Xianning County had become such a virtuous person!
"It's unreasonable that he is a super-featured prince bestowed by the emperor and actually does such a shameful thing! He is really worse than a pig or a dog!"
Tang Jianqiu was outspoken and he beat the table angrily, wishing that he could cut Murong Jing into pieces right now.
The strong man was frightened. Just now he was frightened by the morale exuded by Tang Jianqiu.
Tang Jianqiu shouted loudly, even if he restrained himself, everyone on the floor listened.
Where has this strong man ever seen such a scene? All he had to do was kneel down and call his ancestors.
He made a silent gesture and said very carefully: "Please keep your voice down! Don't let people outside hear it, otherwise you will be beheaded!"
After saying that, the man wiped his neck to emphasize the importance of the matter. However, Tang Jianqiu was not afraid of being threatened.
After hearing this, Tang Jianqiu's tone became slightly better. He suppressed the anger in his body as much as possible and changed his words:
"Have you ever thought about whether this imperial envoy is a good official or a corrupt official?"
"I don't ask for anything else. I just hope that I am not a corrupt official with no conscience. Otherwise, what if these two tigers are fighting against each other? Forget it, there are no officials in this world who are not corrupt! There is no justice.
Just think of it as my advice to you. Don't wade into troubled waters to avoid getting into trouble. "
The strong man's tone was very angry, and his words were full of dissatisfaction with the officials of the past dynasties. Today, he said this because he was destined to Tang Jianqiu. Normally, he would have kept his mouth tightly shut;
Tang Jianqiu could not understand what these people were going through, but when he heard these words spoken by innocent people, he could understand how much they had been wronged.
"Now it seems to be true."
Fang Xiaoyu was filled with resentment. He wished he could chop up the thief right now. He actually oppressed innocent people like this. Could it be that he thought everyone in the Ming Dynasty could do it?
Could it be that the county government here doesn’t care about it?
"Indeed, it seems that this super-captain is indeed as sinister as rumored. We have to be careful this time." Tang Jianqiu realized that this trip was not easy;
Not long after, a girl wearing a green coat and red skirt ran towards Tang Jianqiu's direction.
She had her hair tied around her temples, and she looked pretty. She was pretty and pretty, but her eyes were a little red, as if she had cried, and she was very aggrieved.
She looked around with pleading eyes, and it didn't take more than a breath for her to locate the target.
She opened her skirt, with tears in her eyes, and knelt down to Tang Jianqiu, eagerly asking Tang Jianqiu for help:
"Sir! Please save me, sir! Someone is trying to catch me, and I don't want to die!"
