Long live the general

Qiu Hongguang came this time to ask Huo Yi for advice. Although Huo Yi knew that he would come sooner or later, he did not expect Qiu Hongguang to be so powerful.

So Huo Yi sipped his tea and said a few words: "I'm not good at swordsmanship, and what I'm talking about is just a family opinion. Xiaoman is very powerful, and the epee is like a tiger with wings to him. Every move is full of blood, and it takes more to deal with him." Energy, you lack stamina, so naturally you are no match for him."

Qiu Hongguang asked seriously: "Then how should I deal with it?"

"Your sword mage follows everyone, and there is no problem with your moves, and on the battlefield, the sword is more applicable than the sword. But there is one problem, the connection between you and the sword is too unfamiliar..."

Huo Yi's words were simple and clear, although they were only a few words, but Qiu Hongguang always felt like seeing the sky through the clouds and mists.

Gradually, he was fascinated by what he heard, and couldn't wait to ask many more questions, wishing to chat with Huo Yi for another two days and two nights.

However, things went against expectations, Huo Xiaoman walked in and gestured, Huo Yi stopped in time and asked, "What's wrong?"

Huo Xiaoman said: "Patriarch, Zhao Cheng, magistrate of Tangcheng County, asks to see you."

Zhao Cheng is the county magistrate who wrote articles scolding him.

Huo Yi sighed slightly.

Why is the Sheriff's Mansion so lively today? During the holiday, he really doesn't want to see his subordinates.

Huo Xiaoman looked at his expression and said: "Patriarch, why don't I say it's not convenient for you to see him?"

Qiu Hongguang nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, it's not convenient, your Patriarch is busy."

"Don't make trouble." Huo Yi said: "Please come in, Magistrate Zhao."

Outside the sheriff's mansion, Zhao Chengben thought he would have to wait for a long time. In winter, Xihebian County was dry and cold, and the cold wind was like a knife. He held a pile of documents in his hands and stood at the door with a blank expression.

While waiting, Zhao Cheng thought of another thing.

In his early years, he wrote an article ridiculing the county magistrate for taking bribes and being an official. He thought that the county magistrate would trouble him afterwards, but nothing happened.During a banquet, someone mentioned this article in front of Huo Yi, trying to trip up Zhao Cheng, and it also meant to read Huo Yi's joke.

Huo Yi said at the time that County Magistrate Zhao's article was well written.

Posture, or genuine generosity?

Zhao Cheng thought casually, at this time the gate of the Sheriff's Mansion was opened, Huo Xiaoman poked his head out and said, "Please come in, Magistrate Zhao."

Zhao Cheng straightened his clothes, restrained his face, and followed Huo Xiaoman into the courtyard.

The first time he came to the Sheriff's Mansion, he thought it should be a place of extravagance, but it was empty and desolate, except for Huo Xiaoman and two cleaning servants, there was no one else.He recalled what he saw when he came here before. There was no guard guarding the Sheriff's Mansion, only a few soldiers from the army patrolling the street.

The sheriff didn't raise any diners or domestic servants, and he seemed to have no desires or desires.

Zhao Cheng lowered his eyes, and after entering the hall, bowed his head and saluted the sheriff.

"Your Majesty, Zhao Cheng, magistrate of Tangcheng County, pays homage to the governor of the county."

"Please sit down." He heard the sheriff's voice, and he couldn't hear the emotion: "Xiao Man, serve tea."

Zhao Cheng just sat down and raised his head.

He looked at it subconsciously. The interior decoration was very simple. Huo Yi was sitting behind the desk, and a man dressed in light armor was sitting kneeling behind him. The man looked very tall and imposing, with aggressive facial features. Unlike ordinary soldiers.

This person was naturally Qiu Hongguang who was unwilling to leave. Seeing Zhao Cheng sizing him up, he looked back without hesitation.

"Magistrate Zhao is busy coming to see me, why?" Huo Yi asked.

Zhao Cheng put a thick stack of documents on the desk and pushed them to Huo Yi, saying: "This is the report document on the criminals under trial two days ago. Please have a look at it."

In Dai Viet, other crimes don't matter, but the locality is not qualified to impose the death penalty.The information of all death row prisoners must be sorted out and submitted to Chang'an, and it can only be executed after Chang'an agrees.

Moreover, executions can only be carried out in autumn and winter. If winter passes, you have to wait until next autumn.

Huo Yi then flipped through a few pages, and it was still the Zhang family's business, but at least hundreds of people were involved in this thick stack of documents.

Zhao Cheng's murderous intent can be seen.

Huo Yi randomly picked out a few reports from it, and he could see that the people above were not guilty of death, just because they were involved with the Zhang family.But Zhao Cheng has his own means, as long as he has a relationship with the Zhang family, he will arrest them under the guise of false accusations, and add many crimes to death.

Zhao Cheng's excellent literary talents are also shown in these documents. His handwriting is crisp and neat, and every stroke is a life.

"Ten days ago, you handed in a crime report of a hundred people to me, and I'm afraid that report has just been delivered to Chang'an." Huo Yi rubbed his brows: "There are only a few people in Tangcheng County, and they can stand up to you like this." kill?"

"There are 520 seven households in Tangcheng County, with a population of 3000. There are countless people to kill." Zhao Cheng said, "Besides, I never kill innocent people."

He said this very frankly. In these reports, apart from the Zhang family and people connected with the interests of the Zhang family, there are indeed no ordinary people.

Zhao Cheng is like a falcon, his sharp claws will only reach out to criminals, and once caught by him, there is no chance of escape.

Qiu Hongguang also understood what had happened. He looked at Zhao Cheng, no matter what, he never thought that such a scholar would handle things so violently.

Zhao Cheng was in his early twenties, about the same age as Qiu Hongguang.His figure was as thin as thin paper, his fingers were long and pale, and there was an obvious ink stain on his fingertips.His eyelids and lips are very thin, his eyes are long and narrow, his black pupils reveal a kind of repressed madness, and the corners of his mouth are as sharp as a slit of paper.

Unlike Qiu Hongguang, he always dresses his clothes neatly without any wrinkles, and even his walking steps and speaking tone are extremely regular.

Qiu Hongguang frowned, he didn't like this person.

Zhao Cheng's eyes also flashed past Qiu Hongguang, he felt that this soldier had a smell that he didn't like.

Huo Yi didn't notice the subtle atmosphere of the two people at that moment, he turned out a report casually, and easily saw the truth of the matter through those inductive words.

These people were actually only involved in one case.

The Zhang family has a very high reputation in Tangcheng County. The Patriarch of the Zhang family was only a commoner in his early years, and what he did was basically killing people for money, digging people's ancestral graves and so on.As a result, he gathered a group of like-minded people, and as his power grew, he began to wash his hands, donate money, and practice meritorious deeds, and his reputation in Tangcheng County became higher and higher.

People are afraid of the government, and even more afraid of the Zhang family.Some things that the government can't control, the Zhang family will intervene, mediate disputes, or deal with them secretly, and gradually they have gained some virtuous names.

The Zhang family seemed to have become a decent person, but in fact, the men they recruited were still those criminals who wanted to kill their money.A Confucian scholar said in a teahouse that the Zhang family was running rampant in the village, and the Zhang family's subordinates came to the door, killed the whole family, and cut off his tongue.

This happened before Zhao Cheng took office. The first thing he caught when he took office was the Zhang family's forcible annexation of other people's properties, and then he followed the clues to extract these bloody cases.

The death of the Confucian family led Zhao Cheng to arrest nearly 100 people, all of whom were sentenced to death.

Huo Yi pointed to the person on the report and said, "When the Confucian scholar's death happened, this person had not joined the Zhang family."

"But he knew that the Zhang family used lynching, but he didn't tell the government." He said coldly: "The crimes committed by these people are not informers or coercion, but lawlessness and trampling on the laws of the country! Apart from the laws of the country, no one has the right to convict The power to execute!"

"A county magistrate has only dozens of petty officials, but Zhang's family has hundreds of retainers and warriors. Just because of a word from others, they will kill people at every turn. The Zhang family's generosity, words and deeds are virtuous, but it's just a disguise. .”

Zhao Cheng raised his eyes to look at Huo Yi, and twitched the corners of his mouth: "At the beginning, I was rude, but the county guard let me live until now."

Qiu Hongguang suddenly said: "Master County Magistrate, it is normal for a big family to have some domestic servants. After all, a big family has a big business, so it must have some security."

Zhao Chenghei turned to him with heavy eyes, and asked, "Who are you?"

Qiu Hongguang said lightly, "I am a county guard."

"Go back first, Xiaoqiu." Huo Yi said, "I'm afraid Zhao Cheng and I need to talk for a while."

In fact, Qiu Hongguang wanted to stay for a while longer, he knew that Zhao Cheng and the others would talk about deeper issues, but Huo Yi spoke, so he had no choice but to get up and salute to leave.

"Huo Jun, I'll visit again tomorrow." Qiu Hongguang said.

After Qiu Hongguang left, the room fell into a moment of silence.

Huo Yi said: "Magistrate Zhao, since you have given me the report, I cannot allow you to execute innocent people."

Zhao Cheng said coldly: "There are no innocent people here."

Huo Yi almost laughed angrily. He tapped the stack of official documents with his knuckles and made a dull voice: "Either pick out the truly guilty ones, or leave these official documents with me."

Zhao Cheng's lips trembled, and after deliberation, he pulled out more than half of them—he didn't even need to identify them, because he interrogated them one by one.

Huo Yi sighed, opened all the small part of the materials, and said: "Magistrate Zhao, those who are attached to the Zhang family, there are those who seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and there are also those who are wise and protect their lives."

"The Zhang family is very powerful, and as a weak person, there are naturally many things to do." Huo Yi said: "Let's take a look together, who can be spared the death penalty, and the living crime is inevitable."

They discussed from morning to dusk, arguing to be precise.On the way, Huo Xiaoman came in to deliver the meal, almost thinking that the two of them were fighting.County magistrate Zhao's eyes were bloodshot, his expression was terrifying, his sleeves were undone, he patted the table and said, "He is an informer, he must be sentenced to death!"

Huo Yi rubbed the center of his brows: "His informant was forced by the Zhang family's subordinates..."

In the end, the two finally settled on thirteen people to hand in, and they were basically the murderers who killed the Confucian family with their own hands.

Zhao Cheng watched Huo Yi put together the materials of those 13 people. They had been arguing all day, and Zhao Cheng was too lazy to maintain the illusion of respect for Huo Yi, and urged: "Hurry up and hand it in, so that I can execute the sentence as soon as possible." , otherwise the cell will not fit.”

The author has something to say:

Social animal old Huo worked another day on vacation.

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Return to Chang'an tomorrow! ! !