Hanyin Town is not far from Xiangyang County. Wang Xiaolie led two hundred soldiers all the way south, then took a ferry across the Han River and arrived at Hanyin Town.
The thief had gone away, and the people gathered around the prison hall and talked about it. The newly recruited officer took up his responsibility again and occupied the entrance of the hall with a waist knife, preventing people from entering. The bodies of Lin Zhan and Ma Qingyuan were still lying in a pool of blood, and no one was cleaning them up.
When Wang Xiaolie arrived, everyone stepped forward to salute.
Entering the prison town official hall, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but sigh when he saw the two people in a pool of blood. In fact, they are also ordinary people, they just learn things faster than others, so they are recruited as public servants. After doing well in Ruzhou, he came to Xiangyang. Who would have thought that he would lose his life just like that.
It was just for inspection, Wang Xiaolie ordered the two of them to be buried. He went to court and called those who were present.
After hearing what the officer said about the situation, Wang Xiaolie looked at the people and said, "You are here as an officer, and you get a monthly salary. When the murder happened, you just hid aside? No one came forward to help drive away the thieves?"
A police officer said: "Observe, there are more than a dozen thieves, each armed with a knife and a staff, and they look like menaces. Who dares to come forward? There are seniors and juniors in my family, and they all rely on me to survive. It's really difficult!"
After Wang Xiaolie heard this, he looked at everyone and didn't speak for a long time. If this happened in the previous life, the staff would not dare to come forward and they would definitely be punished. This era is different. These police officers actually have no future in politics, and it is common for them to be greedy for life and afraid of death. What's the use of blaming them? Politics are different, and people's ideas are of course also different.
After a long time, Wang Xiaolie said: "That's all, I won't blame you too harshly. How many people came at that time? You said a few of them were not masked. Someone should recognize them. Do you know where they are from?"
The leader of the police said: "Looking back, there were actually twelve people at that time. The few who were not masked were strangers and no one had seen them before."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Those with their faces covered must be people we all know well. Even if their faces are covered, their bodies and voices will not change. Can anyone tell who they are? You work for the government, I’ve seen many people, so I should recognize him.”
Several officers shook their heads and said no. Those people are so audacious that they openly kill people in the government hall. Who dares to talk nonsense? In fact, Du Chaoyuan and others often dealt with the government. At that time, some people thought it looked familiar, but they didn't dare to say it.
Wang Xiaolie stared at several people, his face was ashen, and he was clearly suppressing his anger.
Not daring to show his face in front of others, Wang Xiaolie concluded that he must be a familiar figure in Hanyin Town. But no one said that there was nothing they could do. After all, I had just arrived in Xiangyang and was not familiar with local affairs.
Seeing that nothing could be found, Wang Xiaolie ordered the officer to go out. It's just that they are not allowed to go home and live in the official hall. Then they sent people from the army to write a few notices and post them outside. At the same time, people were sent to reveal the lists at various intersections.
The content of the notice is nothing more than describing the specific circumstances of today's murder and ordering the people to report it first. As long as the information is true, the government will reward you with ten coins. Since someone is not masked, someone must know him. As long as he is willing to pay, he is not afraid of being found out.
At Du Chaoyuan's house, they slaughtered cows and chickens, and bought several large jars of wine, where everyone cheered and drank.
After noon, a banker came in and said to Du Chaoyuan: "Executive members, I heard the news that Wang Kuan from Xiangyang has arrived in Hanyin Town. Posts were posted everywhere to find out the identity of the person who did something today."
Du Chaoyuan said nonchalantly: "How much reward will you give? If you do such a big thing, the government should be more generous."
Zhuangke said: "If the news is true, I will give you a great reward."
Du Chaoyuan laughed when he heard this: "This Wang Zhuan is still too stingy! Is ten guan of money worth our heads!"
Yu Jiang on the side said: "Ten guan of money is not too little for an ordinary family. Will someone be greedy for this money and sue us?"
Du Chaoyuan said: "If he can get this money, will he have the life to spend it! To put it bluntly, if it weren't for troubled times now, which official would dare to offend us like this when he comes to Xiangyang? It will cause death, go and destroy the city of Xiangyang, and bring the government to its knees. Damn! After all, Wang Xiaolie is young and energetic, and doesn’t know the dangers of the world, so he dares to do whatever he wants! Now his army is in Xinye, and how many people are there in Xiangyang!"
Zhuang Ke said: "I heard from people that Wang Kuanwen brought two hundred soldiers to Hanyin Town. There are quite a few of them."
Du Chaoyuan snorted coldly and shook his head. There are fifty or sixty dealers in his own bank. Coupled with the strength of others, Wang Xiaolie underestimated the dragons and snakes in these places. It’s really a fight. As long as we don’t send out the army, it’s hard to say who will win and who will lose.
After finding out the situation, a few people didn't take it seriously and just drank from large bowls and ate large pieces of meat.
Among the unmasked people, one was a guest of Du Chaoyuanzhuang, and the other three were heroes invited from outside. If you want to sneak into the town, you can't all mask yourself, so you have no choice but to use these few people. Fortunately, the three of them rarely went to town, and not many people knew them.
There was no news until dark, and Wang Xiaolie felt restless and dry in the official hall of Hanyin Town. This is not a frontal battlefield. I am myself, and I can clearly distinguish between the enemy and the enemy. In this kind of case, if there are no clues, I really don’t know where to start. But at this time, Wang Xiaolie really didn't have the patience to wait. Guilds were abolished on a large scale, public officials were dismissed, and local powerful people were suppressed. Xiangyang actually became a powder keg. If something goes wrong in one place and is not dealt with in time, other places will follow the same example and cause chaos. We must cut through the mess quickly.
Standing up, Wang Xiao went to the window and looked out the window. A moon rises in the east and becomes brighter as the sun sets in the west.
Before we knew it, it was mid-March, the weather was getting warmer, and everything was busy. In two or three months, the crops will be harvested, and he will usher in his first harvest season. At that time, when farmers see grain, they will know how good they are. But before that, society must stabilize in the past few months.
At this moment, a soldier came in hastily. He crossed his hands and said, "I'm reporting to the magistrate. A woman came outside and said she has something to report."
Wang Xiaolie turned around and said, "What's going on?"
The soldier said: "The woman only said it was related to today's case, but she didn't make it clear."
"Invite him in! Wait for me in the official hall!"
The soldiers promised, turned around and went out.
Wang Xiaolie straightened his official uniform, breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly walked out of the room to the official hall.
Not long after, Sister-in-law Li entered the official hall. Looking up, he saw a young official standing above him. He is about twenty years old, but still has a childish look on his face. I couldn't help but murmur in my heart, not knowing whether this person could do great things.
Wang Xiaolie said: "The soldier just came to report that you have news about today's case. Just relax, no one will leak the news about your arrival tonight. Even if someone knows and dares to come to retaliate against you, I will He will be dealt with seriously! Also, as long as the information is useful, the promised reward will not be less! The person who died is a government official, you should understand that this matter will not be easy! "
After hearing this, Second Sister-in-law Li felt relieved. Second Sister-in-law Li doesn't care if she rewards you with money or not. It's just that Lin Zhan, the two of them have been in contact a lot these days, and Sister-in-law Li can't bear it.
After thinking about it, Sister-in-law Li said: "Based on my observation, I am not very sure about this matter. There are a total of twelve people here today, four of them are not masked. Three of them are strangers to each other, so they should not be locals. But there is another one, I remember that he was a dealer outside Yuan Du, but he didn’t come to town often.”
"Which Du Yuanwai? Where do you live?"
Sister-in-law Li said: "He is the member of the Du Dynasty outside the town. He used to be the leader of this town. In previous years, he led people to collect taxes on the goods coming from the north of Hanshui River. His family has a lot of money. Recently, the government is no longer allowed to set up a leader. , took away his ministry.”
"I see--" Wang Xiaolie nodded. I estimate that this matter is related to the recent reforms. He came here specifically to kill men, and he entered the market with a stick during the day. He was not a local snake, so he really didn't have the courage.
