Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 196 Come on, baby.

What does it mean that a pawn crossing the river becomes a chariot? Now Xia Lin perfectly demonstrated what it means to rush forward recklessly. He could not do such a crazy thing in Fuliang, nor in the capital, nor even in Luoyang, and even on the grassland.

Because in these places he is just a pawn, but when he comes here, it is like he has crossed the river, and crossing the river can make him stand out.

Now, except for those who have nothing to do with this matter, let's see if everyone else can laugh. There are red-painted wings and black-painted skins, green-embroidered cockscombs and gold-inlaid hooves, and all kinds of facial makeup on monsters and demons, in all kinds of colors.

Want to stir things up? Stir it up, the muddier the water, the more blind the fish will be, and the more blind the fish are, the bigger the trouble will be. Just stir it up. It would be best if you could stir up the commander-in-chief and the officials in the court, as well as the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Personnel. If you can stir up all the central government departments, then you'll be done.

It didn't matter that an envoy died. Who would care about an envoy from a lower state? Would the Arabs dare to attack again? He had no choice but to do business for money. He just gave an explanation and passed the matter over to them. As for the things behind it, did they really think that everyone didn't know? It's just that no one had dug it up before, and no one dared to dig it up. There were more than 400 external censors and more than 100 central censors, a total of nearly 700 people. Did anyone investigate? Of course, but the final price was the death of several censors. When they investigated, it was either due to the weather or the bandits.

Humph.

When seeing a leaf falling, one knows that the year is coming to an end; when seeing ice in a bottle, one knows that the world is cold.

But this time it’s different. Once the pawn crosses the river, he’s doomed to die.

On that night, from the commander-in-chief and Guo Ying to the river office and officials at all levels, some rode their horses at full speed and some sent pigeons to deliver messages. Suddenly, the Yanmen Pass at the end of the year became hot.

Guo Ying directly asked Li Jing to dispatch troops to assist in the defense of Yanmen Pass and guard against rebellion in Hedong Road. After receiving the letter, Li Jing immediately mobilized 40,000 elite troops to attack Youzhou City, which was later known as Beiping City. He held Zhuozhou in his sights on Zhangjiakou and looked at Daijing Datong from afar. He assisted in the defense of Yanmen Pass and sent his young general Xu Shiji to lead 5,000 elite cavalry directly into Yunzhou. The defense was divided into three points, so that any point could take care of each other and anticipate the enemy in advance.

Li Jing is a military god. He was calm and straightforward when giving orders. The distribution and deployment of troops were like a pair of large pliers tightly clamped on the neck of Hedong Road. Even if Hedong Road rebelled like Henan Road, this time they would have to face a head-on attack from Guo's army and Li Jing's mountain and sea cavalry.

You don't have to gamble your life, but death is guaranteed.

The others quickly returned to the capital to complain and ask for help. The Salt and Canal Office couldn't investigate, and the River Office couldn't investigate! If they did, many people would lose their heads. Now they just hoped that someone in the central government could help them and transfer this misbehaving pawn away, the farther the better.

But Xia Lin was in no hurry. He investigated slowly and methodically, digging bit by bit. He summoned two people today and two more tomorrow. The more people his men arrested, the more sweat formed on Commander Chen's forehead.

The small Salt Administration Office in Yanmen Pass had only a dozen people, but the office had accounts receivable of tens of millions of taels, and bad debts of millions of taels.

It’s wonderful, very wonderful.

On the third day when the investigation began, it was already dark in the evening. After dinner, Xia Lin strolled into the Salt Transport Office and asked the soldiers to open the door of the small room where the Duzhishi was imprisoned. At this time, the Duzhishi was obviously depressed. He sat in the room in a daze without turning on the lights, his hair was disheveled, and his face looked very bad.

He thought that with the arrival of the commander, not only would he be free, but the villain would also be punished. However, who knew that after the arrival of the commander, not only did he not restore his freedom, but he heard that the commander was going to punish him severely.

He was so disheartened that he didn't know what to do with himself.

Xia Lin squatted in front of him and looked at him for a long time without saying anything, but suddenly he found it funny, because Xia Lin's ultimate goal was not to be the detective Di Renjie who was his mother, he wanted to be able to go back and farm in peace. But now he has defeated Wang Shichong, if Chen Qi is not sensible, he might defeat another Chen Qi.

In one winter, two high-ranking officials might be defeated by a small fifth-rank imperial censor. This is the power of a small pawn, because there are no rules anymore.

Oh, in the final analysis, it is the teacher who taught us well. We cannot compromise blindly. "Peace will survive if we seek it through struggle; peace will die if we seek it through compromise." Only by constantly demanding the peace and stability we need through struggle can we usher in true peace and stability.

If it is true that Xia Lin just sat at home eating and sleeping after stepping down, then the best outcome for him would be to wait for the new emperor to ascend the throne before reentering the officialdom, holding a nominal position and receiving a sinecure until the new emperor ascends the throne when he is 30 years old.

But now, he could probably foresee that the day of his reinstatement was not far away, because no one dared to let him go on like that.

"Master Fu." Xia Lin supported himself with one hand and sat down. "What did I tell you? You have been an official for twenty years. How can you say such a thing? You said you could eat it all by yourself. Can you still eat it now? A small Yanmenguan Salt Administration Office can lose one million taels of silver. Where is the money? Why don't you take it out?"

Duzhi raised his eyes slightly and glanced at Xia Lin in the cold moonlight outside, and then said nothing more.

"Yes, of course you don't know that the Salt Administration is directly connected to the River Administration, and you can't control the River Administration. You said you can't control them, why are you joining in the fun? Hey, Master Fu, I don't know how you are as an official, but you are really good at seeking death."

When Xia Lin said this, he suddenly smiled: "Aiya, Master Fu. I'm not saying anything bad about you, but this matter is not something that the commander can guarantee. Do you understand what I mean?"

Fu Duzhi's eyes were still dim, as if all the spirit had gone out of them. He had the look of a dying man.

But at this time Xia Lin suddenly stood up and walked over to light the candle with a tinder and raised his voice: "But there is a way, it's just that you may have to offend some people, are you afraid?" Power tastes good, a word can send people to heaven and a word can send people to hell. The Duzhishi, who was lifeless just now, suddenly seemed like a drowning man who grabbed a life-saving rope. He raised his head and his eyes finally showed spirit.

"please say."

"I want to check the river department." Xia Lin turned his head and looked at Mr. Fu with his peripheral vision: "I wonder what Mr. Fu thinks?"

"The river administration office?" Envoy Fu Du raised his head and asked, "Patrol Officer Xia, aren't you afraid of death?"

"Hey, I'm standing here, tell me if I'm afraid of death." Xia Lin waved his hand: "If you have something to say, just say it, don't say this nonsense."

"Then I do have a way to investigate the river administration office. It depends on whether Lord Xia dares to take action."

"explain."

"Since last year, the Hedao Office has owed the local people about 35,000 taels of wages. You can start with this 35,000. Also, the deceased envoy had secret business dealings with the Hedao Office. I cannot see these accounts, but if you can find them, you can wipe out all the Hedao Offices in Hedong Road."

"Tsk, the Duzhishi is the Duzhishi after all, he won't release the eagle until he sees the rabbit. I'm afraid the commander is not aware of these things, right?"

"People have to leave themselves a way out after all."

The River Channel Office was originally a hydrological office under the Ministry of Works. It was a particularly inconspicuous small office, about the same level as a post station.

But since some time ago, the River Management Office was burdened with the task of developing water conservancy projects. Since then, the River Management Office has been rising higher and higher like the water level during the flood season. First, it was changed from a yamen of the Ministry of Works to a yamen jointly managed by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works. Then, independent river officials appeared. A local river management office is usually at the same level as the local county magistrate or half a level lower, and their highest supervisor is a fourth-rank official.

This shows how attractive this department is.

Now the River Channel Office has three subordinate departments, namely the Salt Transport Department, the River Channel Department and the Shipbuilding Department. The Minister of Works who accidentally drowned last time was in charge of the Shipbuilding Department directly, which was why he was able to spend so much money.

As for the other two departments, they are now in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue. One can imagine the mystery behind it.

Just when Xia Lin was preparing to find a breakthrough and investigate the river office, the news here finally reached the capital.

However, Gao Shilian was not alarmed yet, because it was the end of the year and Gao Shilian was going home to visit his relatives, so the news was still circulating in the Ministry of Revenue.

The official in charge of the river channel office was the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, whose surname was Shi and whose given name was Wei. He sat in front of the hall and looked at the letter handed over by his subordinates, with an indifferent expression, while in front of him was his most trusted subordinate.

"Investigating the river channel government? Great, here comes another fearless person." Shi Shilang showed a disdainful smile on his face: "Let's just follow the old rules and do it according to the old rules."

"Sir, I'm afraid this will be difficult to handle. The person investigating this matter is not an ordinary censor, but that Xia Lin. He is notoriously difficult to deal with."

"It doesn't matter even if it's the emperor." Shi Shilang opened his eyes slightly, with a smile on his face: "After this is done, the officials in the court will not say anything. They all took a share, and no one is clean."

"Then, sir, I will do it."

"Hurry up." Shi Shilang sneered, "Oh, such a small matter still requires me to personally inquire about it. You guys are really getting worse day by day."

Soon, a group of carrier pigeons flapped their wings and flew out of the capital. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared into the sky, and their whereabouts were unknown.

The parties who received the letter were none other than the two people who had killed the Arab envoy. They were a man and a woman, trained killers who were best at assassinations and creating accidents.

In the past, there were many short-sighted censors who wanted to come and investigate the River Dept. Office, but they all shut up forever in front of them. Later, the River Dept. Office became an unspoken rule in the court that everyone understood but no one was willing to speak about.

After receiving the letter, they set out again as if they were familiar with the route, forged new identities and easily sneaked into Yanmen Pass. Then they just had to wait for an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)