In summer in Jiangnan, that is, when the sky is dark, there is a bit of coolness.

Qian Tong got up early today and couldn't sleep because he had something on his mind. He got up early and asked his old servant at home to drive the bullock cart and take him to the city gate. Then he got down from the car and sent the old servant back.

The old servant handed over the bag from the car: "Sir, lunch is here."

Qian Tong took it, waved his hand, and sent the old servant away. Holding the small bag, he sat on the stone pier at the city gate, waiting for the city gate to open. There were already many people waiting nearby, some of whom might have gone to the city to work.

, some were carrying fruits and vegetables, fearing that they would go to the city to sell their things.

He encounters this situation every morning.

It was almost time to open the city gate, and so many people were crowded together, pushing and shoving. At this time, his sense of superiority could not help but rise. Although he was not doing well in the county government, outside,

There are still some privileges. Once the waistband is hung on the waist, no one will fight with him. In addition, when entering the county seat, he does not have to pay the cost of entering the city.

This county government has been like this for many years, with one gate for entering the city and another gate for leaving the city.

Anyone who enters the city must pay two cents for each entry.

This surprised Zhao Shaowu, who had been serving in the Imperial Guard. He pointed at the frail old man in front of him and said, "Why doesn't he pay?"

The city gate officer immediately said: "If you don't come in, get out! Damn it! That's the money master of our county government. Where did you come from? Either get out, or pay me obediently."

Hei Niu grabbed Zhao Shaowu, nodded and bowed to the city gate official, and then stuffed more than a dozen words in his hand, "Master Jun, Master Jun, this brother of mine has never seen the world, so don't be surprised."

A total of three people entered and handed over fifteen or six coins. The city gate official looked better and said, "Go in. Don't cause trouble."

The thin third son who followed at the end nodded repeatedly: "Don't dare! Don't dare!"

The two of them pulled Zhao Shaowu into the city gate, and Hei Niu immediately said: "My Zhao... brother! This is not the capital city. We don't do the things in the capital city. When you get to this place, you have to follow the rules of this place.

"

Qian Tong was dusting off the dirt on his trouser legs when he heard this sentence.

Are you from Beijing?

He turned around and looked over. The black-faced guy looked so stubborn that he didn't look like he was born with mud legs. Although his clothes were not eye-catching, they were made of fine cotton. He stood tall and straight in the crowd. Compared with the people around him, he stood out a bit.

The two people next to him don’t know their identities or their relationship to him. One is as strong as an ox, and the other is as thin as a monkey. The three of them stand together. They don’t look like masters and servants, and they don’t look like friends.

Friends, as for relatives, that's even less the case.

Such a combination looks very strange when standing together.

He took the initiative to chat: "Are you from the capital?"

Hei Niu nodded: "A distant friend came to our place for the first time. I'm not used to it... I'm not used to it..."

After saying this, he took the other two people and left. Looking in that direction, it should be the mule market.

He didn't take it too seriously when they met by chance. The yamen was still busy, so he had to hurry up.

I have been working as a criminal master in the county for 20 years. It is sad to say that I can't even afford a small yard in the inner city of the county. My home is outside the city, and it is very inconvenient to get in and out.

He is the first of his kind in the county.

My wife also scolded him at home, scolding him for being worthless. How could he be so poor when everyone else was rich? When the time came for his son to marry his daughter-in-law, the family could not even afford a decent betrothal gift and dowry.

But what to do?

It's easy to make money, but can you get the money?

The king's brother-in-law, who loved his concubine, wanted to take advantage of the widow and killed her, leaving an orphan who was helpless. As a result, after the brother-in-law was taken away, his parents took 500 taels of silver and pretended to give him 40 canes.

. He, the master of punishment, was given five taels of silver by the county magistrate to seal the seal, but he held the silver in his hands and quietly gave it to the child. He saved money and could survive until he was thirteen or fourteen years old, and he could finally be self-reliant.

, right? I don’t dare to let the mother-in-law know about this. I don’t know how much this kind of thing costs every year. Just the money that the county magistrate distributes, to be honest, after twenty years of saving, it is enough to buy a house and land.

But what can I do if I can’t do these things?

I arrived at the county government office early and, together with the handymen, cleaned up the county government office.

If I hadn't always been so humble, I might have lost my job.

It wasn't until almost noon that the county government office became lively. The chief arrest officer was dispatched, and the county prime minister also arrived. The officials from various ministries also arrived.

This one talks about how soft the waist of the pretty girl from Chunfeng Tower is, and the other talks about how small the jade feet of the green jade girl from Yicui Tower are.

The good tea is brewed, and this is the beginning of the county office's day.

After the two cups of tea were finished, they dispersed again. They accompanied each other and went to a restaurant for dinner. They were never short of a meal. If there was no meal, they would save one for each other.

Normally Qian Tong doesn't go, and no one invites him. Today, County Magistrate Wang invited him, "Let's go... Master Qian, you don't want to give up any face?"

Don't dare!

The county magistrate is also your superior, how dare you offend him so easily.

Wang Xian Cheng was a good person, and he was not the only one to be invited. Several masters and clerks were also invited. They were so round that they could sit at two tables. As soon as they arrived at the table, Wang Xian Cheng ordered the restaurant to be opened to the yamen's arresters.

If the leaders bring food and wine, no one will be offended.

Qian Tong knew why he was invited this time. It was simply that the Cheng family of Wang County wanted to buy the paddy fields in the east of the city. However, these paddy fields originally had owners. A total of twenty-seven families were involved. They were buying and selling by force, causing trouble.

There were two life lawsuits.

As soon as we sat down at the wine table today, everyone had a tacit understanding.

Wang Xiancheng personally put the wine in front of him, and he drank the glass of wine, which was his response.

But if you don’t respond, what can you do?

Pretending to be confused, he drank the wine and said, "I am still preparing to ask Mr. Wang for leave. The student's mother-in-law is old, I'm afraid... the student is going to take Zhuo Jing back to his hometown to visit... I wonder if I can take ten months' leave?"

Don't get involved, don't cause trouble. Just hide!

Wang Xian Cheng burst out laughing: "That's right, that's right!"

After getting off the wine table, he went back to the county office and packed his things. He planned to delay it for a while.

Who would have thought that before things were packed and clear, someone hurried in from outside, looking for Mr. Liu, "...Quick...Quick...Master Wang...Master Wang...Master Wang is missing..."

Missing?

How could such a good person disappear?

The county magistrate, Mr. Zhang, then went to the Yamen and called Wang Xian Cheng's entourage to question him carefully.

It turned out that the luncheon was over, and Wang Xiancheng was invited by Qi Sangui and Qi Yuanwai. The two were going to Mingyue Villa outside the city. They rode in two carriages, with Wang Xiancheng's carriage in front and Qi Yuanwai's carriage behind.

, the Qi family's groom followed the carriage in front, but ended up going the wrong way. He felt something was wrong, so he hurried forward anxiously, and saw that the groom was missing from the carriage. He was startled and told Qi Yuanwai, "Stop."

He got off the carriage and stopped King County Magistrate's carriage, but as a result, the groom and his entourage were knocked unconscious and stuffed into the carriage, and Mr. Wang disappeared without a trace.

Such a big living person disappeared on the official road, under the eyes of Qi Yuanwai.

Mr. Zhang, the county magistrate, was all numb, so he called for County Lieutenant Li, the arrester and the magistrate, Master Xing, to discuss how to solve this case.

Sun Dianli is old and doesn't come to the Yamen very often. He doesn't care about those messy things. But he came this time and sat at the top of Qian Tong. What did he say? The first thing that people think of is

Those farmers who were forced to sell their fields. But can they say this?

He was talking about this and that. Capt. Liu was already shouting to arrest people, but the handyman who went to invite County Lieutenant Li came back, "...I couldn't find Lieutenant Li..."

How do you say this?

The handyman said: "... Lieutenant Li was at Yicui Building last night... He also came out of Yicui Building this morning... But he didn't know where he went after leaving Yicui Building... Mrs. Li was anxious.

, people are searching all over the city..."

But most of the day passed and no one was found.

Those sitting in the hall had a bad premonition, right? Wang Xian Cheng was kidnapped. Could it be that something happened to Li Xian Lieutenant as well?

Before we could figure out a clue, Cao Jiaoyu's son came and reported him missing, "...my father went to the south of the city to eat Yunjia soup dumplings in the morning...he hasn't come back yet...he brought two servants with him."

Went... the servant just came back and said he was knocked unconscious... When he woke up, it was just the two of them... but my father was nowhere to be seen..."

The sweat on Qian Tong's head started to drop. This was definitely not an ordinary kidnapping case seeking revenge. Something big was going to happen.

Magistrate Zhang didn't have the time to investigate this matter, so he only told Mr. Liu, and then asked Sun Dianli and Master Qian to "write... report..."

He quickly returned to the back office and refused to go out these days. Something seemed wrong.

Qian Tong went out and bought two sesame seed cakes and a bowl of soup, and ordered some on the street opposite the Yamen. He couldn't go back tonight. When he returned to the county Yamen, he saw the three people he met at the city gate this morning.

He was a man. He was not in the mood to pay attention. He took a quick look and quickly returned to the class room. He didn't know how to write this report.

The three people outside are not Zhao Shaowu, Hei Niu and Sanzi.

Zhao Shaowu was so angry that there were only two people on their task list, the magistrates of the two counties. But Heiniu and Sanzi were good. After drinking a bowl of tea in the teahouse, they wanted to kill all the officials in Tang County.

.

The three people who agreed split up to inquire about the news, and ended up tying up three of them. They were fed the sweat medicine, packed in a sack, carried it out and threw it into a dry well in a dilapidated temple outside the city, and then came back.

"How can we bring so many people with us?" Zhao Shaowu said angrily, "When I go back, I have to go to Binxian County."

Hei Niu said very easily, "Leave one person to watch, and two people to kidnap the person is enough."

Damn it!

This time we can't even fit it on the boat.
To be continued...