Ma Ye

In the third year of Qing'an, on the third day of December, Tan Haozhi and others arrived in Jiangning.

The official road was wet and the wind was howling. It was almost dusk, and there were a few scattered people standing at the gate of the city wall.

Seeing them coming, some people rushed in to announce them. After a while, a man in official uniform came out. He seemed to have been waiting for a long time, but this man didn't show any impatience, and said respectfully, "Congratulations!" My lords."

Tan Haozhi had been communicating with the local county magistrate in private for a long time. The two were considered half-pen pals, but they had never seen each other. Hearing this neither humble nor overbearing voice, Tan Haozhi felt that it should be him, so he hurried out of the carriage and looked at it. The person standing in the distance seemed to have a tacit understanding, and the two smiled slightly when their eyes met.

"Master Qin."

"Master Song."

Almost in unison, County Magistrate Song couldn't help laughing and said, "You all come from afar, please go to the post station with me to rest before making plans."

County Magistrate Song has delicate features, and when he smiles, it makes people feel like a spring breeze, and they feel good.

There are four counties in Jiangning, and there are more than [-] towns and towns under each county. Now they are in Liyun County, which is a county closer to the Li River.

It seems that it has just rained. There are several places of water on the Qingshi Road. The street is sparsely populated. Most of the shop fronts are closed. Looking at them, this town is surprisingly deserted.

"There was an accident in the neighboring county a few days ago, and there were rumors about the construction of the river. Many people have already left." County Magistrate Song sighed, "It's a long story. My lord said clearly."

Tan Haozhi nodded, and followed County Magistrate Song to the station.

The post station is not far from the yamen, and after settling down, it will gradually darken.

It was said that it was a dinner to cleanse the dust, but there were a few oil lamps lit in the living room of the Song Mansion, but there was only a plate of meat dishes on the table. Because of Qin Haozhi's arrival, the family of the County Magistrate of Song specially killed a chicken and stewed the soup. The following dishes are pickled vegetables, fermented bean curd, fried shredded potatoes, and fried wild vegetables.

"There was a disaster a while ago, and the officials really couldn't provide good food for them. Please forgive me." County Magistrate Song smiled in embarrassment.

County magistrate Song was frightened, he didn't know if the people sent by Beijing would be angry, and felt that he was neglecting him.

Li Yichong laughed loudly when he heard him say this, "This dish is considered good. When we were in the frontier, we even ate steamed buns that were frozen hard, and sometimes we had to gnaw tree bark. Lao Xie, don't you think so?"

Xie Xunheng said, "Yes, sometimes you will be complacent when you catch a mouse, and you can add another meal."

County Magistrate Song, "..."

Once interrupted by them, Tan Haozhi also smiled, "If you serve me a table of delicious food now, I will definitely punish you. Now this meal is considered a luxury."

County magistrate Song immediately burst into tears. When he was writing letters, he felt that Mr. Tan was different from others.

"Has Zijun made statistics on the number of people who left Liyun County?"

Zijun is the county magistrate of Song Dynasty. Hearing Tan Haozhi call him that, the distance between the two seemed to be a little closer, "Half the people in the main city have left, and most of the people who stay are old and unwilling to leave their hometowns. Or those whose family background is not rich enough to afford the money, the towns below are probably in a similar situation.”

Song Zijun couldn't help but sighed slightly. When there was a famine a while ago, the people survived, but now they are defeated by ghosts and gods. They say they are afraid of retribution, and they don't want to stay here to suffer. Those who can leave leave Now, seeing the depression in Liyun County, he also felt a sense of powerlessness.

Tan Haozhi said, "What happened to the plagued village?"

Song Zijun paused with his hands holding the vegetables, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes, "Master Tan probably doesn't know about this matter. Before I reported it to the court for the first time, the county magistrate of Pingchang County said that in order to prevent the spread of the plague, all those villages were closed. It was sealed, no outsiders were allowed to enter, and people inside were not allowed to come out. The place was not under the jurisdiction of the lower officials, so it was not very clear. For this reason, I asked my younger brother to check and found that most of the people in those villages were They were forcibly fed with poison, and their bodies rotted little by little every day, and the officers and soldiers stopped them from leaving, and there was no place to appeal for grievances."

"Why is this?" This was beyond Tan Hao's expectation, and Li Yichong and the others also stopped their chopsticks.

"For this matter, I went to Changping County, but I was turned away. Maybe some news was leaked. The county magistrate of Changping suddenly disappeared. The people there seemed to be oppressed. They beat the officials whenever they saw them. The place is very riotous, and people are killed from time to time, I have no choice but to report it to the court a while ago."

Tan Haozhi didn't expect the layout to become so messy, and frowned, "Is there anyone still in charge of Changping County?"

County Magistrate Song sighed, "At the beginning, there was a county lieutenant in charge, but his methods were extremely cruel. When he saw the rioting people, he killed them, and finally he was hacked to death by the rioting people on the street corner. Changping County is now run by a group of rebels. People occupy it, and the leader is Zhou Yide."

Li Yichong said, "The parents and officials are such bastards, it's no wonder that the people will rebel."

County magistrate Song said, "I had a conversation with Zhou Yide the day before yesterday. He accused the county magistrate of sexually insulting women from good families. private."

Tan Haozhi's face turned cold when he remembered that Changping County had handed over the report on the stability of the disaster situation to the court a while ago.

The sky is high and the emperor is far away. If he wants to hide it, the people below will not report it. Who knows the suffering of the people in Changping County. It's up to someone to finish it.

The meal was a bit heavy.

When Tan Haozhi went back to the station to rest, Zhao Heng was looking at the secret letter under the lamp. He is now accompanying Tan Haozhi on a trip as a woman. He didn't go to the Song Mansion for dinner with them just now. Tan Haozhi just wanted to ask him if he was useful. After dinner, Zhao Heng said anxiously, "I have something to show you."

Tan Haozhi took the letter in his hand, the content inside was similar to what Song Zijun said, only a little more detailed.

"The riots in Changping County took place thirteen days ago, the day before we set off. The news must have reached the capital as well," said Zhao Heng.

"Song Zijun just told me about this." Tan Haozhi said with a sullen face, "The ten murders that happened during the construction of the river, and the plague-ridden villages in Changping County should all be behind the scenes. Now the people in Changping County are rioting, I think all of this was deliberately instigated."

Jiangning is under the name of Liaoning County. In order to curb the rebellion, the emperor should send troops to suppress the county, and put aside the construction of the river. The most urgent task is to appease the people and find the missing county magistrate in Changping County. Nothing to do.

Tan Haozhi rubbed his brows with a headache, "Tomorrow, I want to visit the villages where the plague hit."

"Well, I'll accompany you." Zhao Heng said.

Tan Haozhi nodded, and went to wash tiredly.

Seeing him go down, Zhao Heng narrowed his eyes irritably, what good is it to stir up riots in Changping County?

Zhao Heng looked up at the sky through the window, and the moon was covered by dark clouds, as if something was about to happen.

When Tan Haozhi came out after taking a shower, he saw Zhao Heng sitting by the window, leaning against him, drinking a jug of wine in his hand, with one foot on the window rail, his skirt thrown aside , with black hair hanging around his waist in a mess, his eyes were a little empty, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"You are a woman now, so be careful." Seeing how careless his sitting posture is, Tan Haozhi frowned, fearing that he would fall, but then remembered that his martial arts skills should be fine.

"Drink less wine." Tan Haozhi took the wine away from his hand.

Zhao Heng laughed softly, "I'm a little annoyed."

"I'm annoyed too." Tan Haozhi pouted his lips, "But what's the use of drinking, the headache still hurts the next day after drinking too much."

"Is today the third day of the twelfth lunar month?" Zhao Heng asked suddenly.

"En." Tan Haozhi looked up at him in confusion.

"Then it will be Brother Huang's birthday in two days." Zhao Heng said.

He didn't know why, even if he said something meaningless to Tan Haozhi, he always wanted to say a few words to him, "When I was young, I was not lovable, and the royal sisters thought I was boring and I was angry with my father." Doting on me, often making trouble behind my back, other imperial brothers think I'm a princess and teasing me behind my back, only the imperial brother treats me the best, he will find me wherever I want to go, and any books I want to read, I When I left the capital for Taiping County, only Brother Huang sent me out of the capital."

Tan Haozhi looked at Zhao Heng's way of talking with his head down. The dim light couldn't see his appearance clearly. He felt a pain in his heart for no reason. He wanted to take him into his arms to comfort him, but felt that he should keep a distance. He tightened his fingertips , listening quietly.

"I don't know why, but I feel a little flustered in my heart. When my father passed away, I also felt this way. I always feel that something is about to happen before my eyes, and there is nothing I can do about it." Zhao Heng said.

Tan Haozhi was stunned for a moment, thought for a while and said in a low voice, "If you're worried about the emperor, go back to Beijing."

Zhao Heng blinked his eyes, his eyelashes cast a halo, and he said seriously, "If I leave, what will you do?"

"I'll be fine." Tan Haozhi said.

Zhao Heng laughed lazily, jumped off the window sill, leaned close to Tan Haozhi, hooked his fingers, pinched Tan Haozhi's chin, Tan Haozhi frowned, stretched out his hand and patted it off, "Be more serious."

I wanted to tease you a few times, but was seriously rejected, Zhao Heng shrugged and said, "It's not that you're fine if you say you're fine, I just don't want to see you lying unconscious on the bed again."

After Xie Xunhuan finished his meal, he wanted to go back to the inn to accompany his senior brother, but he didn't want to be stopped by others. The young man in front of him was not tall, but his eyes were very lively. His eyes turned a few times, looked him up and down and asked , "Are you an imperial doctor from Beijing?"

Xie Xunhuan nodded in confusion, and Li Yichong, who was following behind, saw the person jumping out of nowhere and shouted, "What do you want to do, kid?"

The young man ignored Li Yichong, saw Xie Xunhuan nodding, and shouted happily, "That's great, come with me soon?"

As he spoke, he took Xie Xunhuan's hand, and said as he walked, "A friend of mine broke his brain, please help me to see it."

"It's late at night." Li Yichong muttered, but he was worried that Xie Xunhuan would go alone, so he followed them.

Passing through several corridors and courtyards, occasionally a girl and servant passing by lowered his head and called the young man, "Second Lord."

Walking into a courtyard, Xie Xunhuan's left eyelid twitched for some reason.

"Here we are." The young man said.

The room in front of him was lit, and there was a man sitting inside, with a silhouette on the door and window, slowly wiping his sword.

Xie Xunhuan's heart jumped wildly, without the young man saying anything, he pushed open the door impatiently, even Li Yichong behind him was startled.

The people inside heard the sound, and slowly raised their heads to look at them, seeing a pair of eyes that slowly turned red.

"Who are you?" He asked puzzled.

"They are the doctors I just invited from my brother." The young man who was stunned behind hurriedly poked his head out and said, "They are from the capital."