Jin Wannian saw that Li Yi was very curious about the Dead Man's Ridge and knew that he could not escape. He said bluntly: "The Dead Man's Ridge was originally a swamp wasteland. Because of the miasma, it was difficult for people and animals to survive entering it, so it was called by the locals.

For Dead Man Ridge. A month ago, Shangguan asked us to arrest the refugees and victims of the disaster in Shuntian Prefecture. On the one hand, we told the world to send them back to their hometowns, but in fact, we imprisoned them all in Dead Man Ridge."

Hearing this, Sun Cer next to him couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Didn't you say that there is a miasma in Dead Man Ridge and humans and animals are not allowed to enter? Why are the victims locked up there?"

Jin Wannian didn't speak, he just lowered his head and couldn't see his expression clearly for a while.

Sun Cerium looked at him like this, then turned to look at Li Yi, who was looking calm, and his face suddenly became extremely pale.

Seeing Sun Cerium suddenly startled, Jin Wannian said sadly: "I think the young master has already guessed it. The officers and soldiers locked these people up in Dead Man's Ridge because they didn't want them to survive."

The people who create value for the Ming Dynasty are good people. The refugees who beg and wander in the Zhili area for various reasons and find ways to make a living are the troubles of the Ming Dynasty.

The imperial court did not have the financial resources to support them, and there was no way for them to return to their desolate hometown to continue living. Under the huge financial pressure, using harsh conditions to alleviate the trouble was the most labor-saving way, but it was a bit dark.

Sun Ce, who grew up reading and reciting books from sages, could not accept this barbaric behavior. He felt indignant, and his trembling fists showed that he was roaring loudly in his heart.

But it was useless. He couldn't solve the problem that the entire Ming elite in the court couldn't solve. Of course, if he didn't know how to make money, he could still choose to continue to be angry.

Li Yi didn't ask too much about the Dead Man's Ridge. The more he asked, the deeper the relationship would be. Once he was involved, it would be more and more trouble.

Besides, although he is now a sixth-grade civil servant, he is still a casual official in the final analysis. He can still be somewhat majestic in front of these military attachés and minor officials. Once he faces those imperial officials, he will have to rely on his status and strength to speak for himself.

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Yi turned to Zhu Qilong and said: "Get the horses ready, let's continue setting off."

Hearing that Li Yi was leaving, Jin Wannian immediately walked up and said, "Sir, are you going to Gu'an by taking this road?"

Jin Wannian was a local, so he guessed it correctly. Li Yi stepped on the stirrups, turned on his horse, then reined in the reins, looked down at him and said, "Yes, rush to Gu'an before tonight."

"That's bad." Jin Wannian came up and said with a sad face: "To go to Gu'an, you have to cross the Liuli River, but the bridge there was smashed, so you can only take a detour. Look at the sky, sir.

I'm afraid I won't be able to make it in time."

Hearing the news, Li Yi frowned and said, "So are there any towns nearby where I can stay?"

Jin Wannian thought for a while and said: "There is Zhuozhou forty miles away from here, but it will take a long way. Even if we get there, I'm afraid the city gate will have been closed."

In this wilderness, it was difficult to find a place to stay, and my group did not carry a tent for the night.

Zhu Qilong asked from the side: "My lord, where are you going to rest this night?"

These thirty people came out to patrol, so there must be people living around.

Li Yi's eyes lit up and he stared at Jin Wannian.

Jin Wannian laughed after hearing this and said, "Young man is just about to say that. If you don't mind, you can go to Xiao's station, which is more than ten miles away from here. We will leave early tomorrow morning and we will arrive in the capital at noon."

Li Yi thought about it and realized there was no problem.

He looked at Sun Cerium behind him with a questioning look in his eyes.

Sun Ce still looked lost. When he saw Li Yi's questioning look, he just nodded listlessly.

At that moment, Li Yi did not hesitate and let Jin Wannian lead the way.

The group of people went directly north, passed the official road to Zhuozhou, and found the station of this group of guard soldiers outside a mountain forest by the Liuli River.

This station is to the west of the mountain forest. It seems that it was originally a village. Judging from the completeness, it doesn't look like it was abandoned. It seems that this group of officers and soldiers must have snatched it.

Li Yi didn't care about this and just let Jin Wannian arrange to stay.

Just after we settled down, it was already dark.

Li Yi was reading in the room when he saw Jin Wannian walking in with a middle-aged man in regular clothes.

The man has a thick body, a full beard, and a pair of round eyes. He has the heroic spirit of the eunuch Zhang Fei.

Jin Wannian immediately opened the door curtain to let the man in, and then said with a smile: "Sir, this is a man from a hundred households here, and he came here to visit you."

Hearing that it was a hundred households, Li Yi couldn't sit still.

You must know that Baihu is a regular official of the sixth rank, and he is indeed a casual official of the sixth rank, so the necessary rules must be followed.

Seeing Li Yi stand up, the smiles on the faces of the hundreds of households became even brighter. They quickly stepped forward to support Li Yi who was about to bow his hands in salute, and said with a smile: "Master Li, don't do this, this is a disaster."

Seeing these hundreds of households being so humble, it didn't match his appearance.

Li Yi straightened up and said, "Your Excellency, you are a military officer of the sixth rank, and your subordinate rank is a military officer of the sixth rank. You should salute."

His words were sincere, but the hundred households waved their hands and said hurriedly: "You can't say that. Mr. Li is a civil servant, but Wenquxing is a martial artist, rude and rude, please don't let me offend you.

"

His official rank was half a level higher, but his position was placed so low, which shocked Li Yi.

But when I think about it, the Ming Dynasty valued civil service over military affairs. For a long time, civilian officials commanded and military attaches fought. The status of civilian officials was actually much higher than that of military attachés, so it was reasonable to do so.

In this case, Li Yi no longer kept a low profile and said with a smile: "In that case, we want to be equal."

After hearing this, Baihu looked relieved and let out a long breath. In fact, he was most afraid of these civil servants playing tricks. When he was an official, he dealt with a sixth-grade civil servant. He thought that higher official rank meant he would be more powerful.

I was transferred to this remote place, so I have some phobias about civil servants showing low profile, lest I accidentally make them unhappy and secretly punish myself.

"You're welcome, Mr. Li. A certain Lin Heng is from Gu'an." Lin Heng said, cupping his fists.

Li Yi had a good impression of this cautious Baihu, so he handed over his hand and said: "Li Yi, from Baoding."

After communicating with each other, the two parties became more familiar with each other, and they immediately sat down. Jin Wannian greeted the soldiers and brought them food, and he also sat down with him.

Lin Heng watched the soldiers leave and said with a smile: "Master Li came suddenly, and the brothers didn't have anything good to eat, so they just hunted some game. I don't know whether Master Li is used to eating it."

Li Yi was a little uncomfortable speaking to Master Li this time. But he also knew that this was the rule of the government, so he could only smile and said: "I missed my trip, so I can come to your place to stay overnight. It'll be nice if I have a place to stay."

, Why do you have to let Mr. Zhang work so hard?"

Hearing Li Yi's appreciation, Lin Heng laughed loudly, stretched out his hand to pour wine for Li Yi, and said roughly: "This is all what should be done. Today, my subordinate Xiao Qi Jin Wannian was blind and made Mr. Li unhappy. As a superior official, I naturally

I want to make amends on his behalf.”

Jin Wannian said respectfully from the side: "Sir, I have offended you a lot today. I am really sorry."

After hearing this, Li Yi understood why Lin Heng was here.

It seems that Jin Wannian was afraid that he would cause trouble and not retaliate, but would later retaliate, so he asked Lin Heng to be the intermediary to mediate.

In fact, I really had no idea of ​​revenge, but Jin Wannian was so sensitive that he ended up in such a scene.

Li Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but from this and Lin Heng's previous performance, we can see that these military attaches are really afraid of civilian officials to the core.

It is ridiculous that military generals do not want to train and fight and gain military merit, but they are so suspicious of civilian officials and try to please them in every possible way.

Li Yi looked at the respectful expressions of the two people, but he couldn't laugh at this moment, and he felt a little pitiful.

He immediately said in a deep voice: "I have forgotten about such trivial matters, you two don't have to worry about it. As long as Jin Wannian can enforce the law fairly and does not act unconscionably, I will never mention what happened today."

Li Yi said it solemnly, and Lin Heng and Jin Wannian believed most of it, and immediately felt relieved.

It's not that the two of them are making a fuss, it's that these civil servants do one thing on the surface but another behind their backs. These military attaches have seen a lot, and they have learned their lessons in blood.

After hearing Li Yi's assurance, Lin Heng was overjoyed. He was also very proud to have solved the matter, and immediately handed a package to Li Yi.

Li Yi touched it with his hand and found that it was a bag of silver, estimated to be about ten taels.

"My lord, it's been a hard journey, so I'll just treat these as expenses. I hope you won't refuse." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Well, judging from their performance, they would not be at ease unless they took the money. Li Yi had no choice but to take it.

Seeing Li Yi put away the money, Lin Heng's face was filled with joy, and he slapped Jin Wannian on the head, laughing and scolding: "You bastard, you have lived such a big life in vain, why don't you propose a toast to Mr. Li."

Jin Wannian was already in his forties, but at this time he bowed respectfully to Li Yi and said with a flattering smile: "Your Excellency, you will disregard past grudges. I am really grateful to you."

After saying that, he raised his head and swallowed the drink, but the gloominess in his eyes could not be reduced no matter what.

Ten taels of silver was already less than half of his savings.

As soon as their feelings came to an end, the three of them immediately stopped talking and started drinking among each other.

Just when the three of them were drunk, a horse suddenly neighed outside, and then there was a burst of noise, as if a group of people were approaching.

Lin Heng saw this and shouted loudly: "What's the noise outside?"

At this time, a soldier walked in quickly and said in a panic: "Master Baihu, Master Zhuomai, the governor of Zhili, is here and is waiting for you to greet him."

Just hearing the word censor, Lin Heng's face turned pale. When he heard that it was the censor who was patrolling Zhili, he became even more confused. The soldier said it twice in a row before he woke up.

Ignoring Li Yi, Lin Heng stood up, straightened out his regular clothes, and ran out to greet him.

Jin Wannian naturally followed.

Because of Zhang Weile's incident, Li Yi was somewhat unhappy with the censor. Moreover, the rank of the censor was not high, only seventh grade. Even the Zhili censor was only of sixth rank. He

No need to greet you yet.

Of course, military attachés like Lin Heng cannot do this.

Who allowed the censor to have the power to impeach officials and interrogate corruption? Once the reception is not good and make them angry, it is just a matter of words to use power for personal gain.

Li Yi summoned the soldiers to clean up the banquet, then washed his face with water and continued reading with his book.

But before reading a few pages, Lin Heng walked in, with a hint of anger on his face and said: "Master Li, Master Zhuo has invited you."

Li Yi saw that his face was not good, so he asked, "What happened?"

Lin Heng sighed secretly and suppressed his anger and said: "Master Zhuo found out what happened during the day, so he asked someone to suppress Jin Wannian, saying that he wanted to punish him."
To be continued...