A knife in love

Chapter 1432

Li Qiufeng saw that Master Jiang was so angry, he thought to himself, this Master Jiang is a man of justice, compared to Li Zhisheng, Master Pan, He Tuotou and others who are dedicated to making money, he can be regarded as a rare capable official .

Master Jiang continued: "Although we have set up two guards in Dongliao County, there are only four to five hundred old, weak and disabled soldiers in total..."

When he said this, Li Qiufeng was taken aback, thinking to himself that Mr. Jiang was working in the magistrate's office of Dongliao County, while the officers and soldiers stationed in the village were under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong General Army, and the two belonged differently.Why is Master Jiang so familiar with the guards?

Master Jiang saw that Li Qiufeng's expression was different, he smiled wryly, and said, "Young Master Li, are you wondering why I am so familiar with the guards?"

Li Qiufeng was a little embarrassed by what he said, so he nodded and said: "Although I am just a merchant who sells cloth, I know a thing or two about government affairs. Since Emperor Taizu founded Daming, In order to prevent changes in various places, the officers and soldiers stationed in the garrison were placed under the jurisdiction of the general army, and they were not affiliated with the governor, magistrate, and county magistrate..."

Master Jiang nodded when he heard this, and said with a wry smile: "Young Master Li is right. Logically speaking, I would naturally not bother with those dirty things in the guard. But let's not mess with them, but they came to us The chiefs of these two guards are eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers. They have reached the point of insanity. The number of officers and soldiers in the guards is 500, but they only have 300 in each. For some inspection, the commanders of the two guards sent people to Dongliao County to send a hundred and ten taels of silver to Mr. Li and Mr. Pan. The guards acted as sergeants and deceived the officials sent by the Ministry of War. I calculated how many people they lacked based on the number of people needed by the two guards each time."

Only then did Li Qiufeng suddenly realize, and he admired Master Jiang even more for his meticulousness.I just heard Mr. Jiang continue to say: "The disarmament of Liaodong is definitely not the only place in Dongliao County that is so bad. Therefore, if it is true what Mr. Li said, the Japanese pirates are about to go to war, relying on the yamen and the officers and soldiers stationed in the village, definitely not An opponent of the Japanese pirates. However, Master Xiao’s arrival in Liaodong is a very good thing. I think Master Xiao is an official of the Beijing Firearms Bureau, and he will never come to our Dongliao County for no reason. Moreover, he also holds the customs defense of the Ministry of War Cooperating with Kan, presumably I was ordered by the Ministry of War to go to Liaodong to investigate the movements of the Japanese pirates. Now that the Ministry of War has discovered that the Japanese pirates are going to attack in Liaodong, I think we are prepared, and we can breathe a sigh of relief."

Master Jiang said this, with a relieved look on his face.Li Qiufeng hurriedly said: "Master Jiang, I'm afraid you are wrong. Mr. Xiao came to Dongliao County this time, not for the Japanese pirates. He went to Ningbo to purchase goods for the Firearms Bureau, and he was going to Jinan It’s just that I took a boat to go to sea. It’s just that there was a big storm at sea, the boat was damaged, and it drifted to Dongliao County..."

Master Jiang heard what Li Qiufeng said, with a disappointed look on his face.He sighed, with a gloomy expression, and said in his mouth: "So that's the case. Alas, things are really tricky!"

When the two were talking, they were not far from the top of Motian Ridge before they knew it.Master Jiang turned his head and said to the owner Wang who had been silent all this time: "How many peasants are there on the mountain now?"

Master Wang said: "The total number is 420 and seven people, but more than 80 people went to Tianerbao early yesterday morning to carry bricks and tiles, and there are now more than 300 people on the mountain."

Master Jiang smiled slightly, and said in his mouth: "Wang Yuanwai, you are a well-known benevolent person in our Dongliao County. You have always been kind and generous, helping the poor and the poor. I don't know how many people have benefited from Wang Yuanwai. The affairs of the yamen are also thanks to Wang Yuanwai. Members help out, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble. But I still remind Wang Yuanwai that when people gather in one place, they are very easy to be incited to make trouble. Sometimes a penny and a meal can cause great disasters. Wang Yuanwai , you must proceed with caution!"

Wang Yuanwai nodded repeatedly, and said in his mouth: "Master Jiang, you can rest assured. We pay wages in full every day, and we also have fish and meat for three meals a day. We absolutely dare not deduct the slightest milligram."

While everyone was talking, they had already reached the top of the mountain.I saw that several half-person-high brick walls had been built on the large open space on the right side of the official road, and many deep trenches had been dug in the ground.In the distance, bricks, tiles and timber piled up like a mountain, much more than the previous few days.

Looking at the situation in front of them, everyone stopped involuntarily, with surprised expressions on their faces.

After a while, Wang Xiaoyu said in a trembling voice, "Where did people go?"

Master Jiang's face sank like water, and he said to the owner of the Wang Zhuang: "Mr. Wang, didn't you say that there are more than 300 people building Zhongkui Temple on the mountain? Why is there no one in front of you?"

Wang Yuanwai also had a look of astonishment on his face, and said in a trembling voice: "I, I don't know what happened..."

When he said this, he turned his head and looked at Steward Wang.Steward Wang was also puzzled, and said: "The owner, Mr. Jiang, the villain led people to search for the big boat by the sea these two days, and only joined the owner this morning. I don't know what happened on the mountain."

The owner of Wang Zhuang turned his head and looked around, and said in a trembling voice: "I was in a hurry to enter the city early this morning, so I asked Wang Laosan and Yu Laoer to bring people to the mountain to start work. Don't these two bastards think I'm not here? How dare you hide in Zhuangzi and sabotage your work?"

Wang Guanjia said: "The owner of the villa is too worried. Give Wang Laosan and Yu Lao twenty courage, and they dare not delay the construction of the temple, I'm afraid there are some strange things in it."

The owner of Wang Zhuang's face was cloudy and uncertain, and he said in his mouth: "Anyway, send someone back to Zhuangzi to look for it first. If they are still in Zhuangzi, let them come to see me immediately!"

Steward Wang agreed, turned around and called a Zhuang Ding, said a few words in a low voice, that Zhuang Ding nodded, then turned and ran down the ridge.Mr. Jiang said: "Things are getting more and more strange. A few days ago, hundreds of people on the shore of the wharf suddenly disappeared, and today more than 300 civilians disappeared on Motianling. Could it be that our Dongliao County was really condemned by the heavens for this to happen? Isn’t there so many strange things?”

Looking at the empty Motianling, Li Qiufeng felt suspicious.Murong Danyan stood beside him, looked around, lowered his voice and said to Li Qiufeng: "I went here with Sister Xiaoyu that night, and it was desolate at that time. Unexpectedly, this place has become like this in just a few days. "

Li Qiufeng said: "This place should be a lively scene, but there is no one in front of you. It's really strange."

Li Qiufeng's voice had just finished, but he heard Master Jiang say to the owner of the Wang Zhuang: "Besides the king, Mr. Li, let's take a look around."

Master Wang agreed, and walked forward side by side with Master Jiang.Li Qiufeng followed behind the two, looking around while walking.It's just that he just walked a few steps, when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him, it was Murong Danyan and Wang Xiaoyu who also chased after him.Wang Xiaoyu whispered as he walked, "Mr. Li, where do you think those people went?"

(End of this chapter)