People have no habits and no friendship. Because they have no deep affection, Zhuge Yi's Taoist priest with extraordinary talent and knowledge can be said to be a family talk, from calligraphy, painting, chess, Feng Shui, to marching, and the way to setting up formations. He has unique insights. On the way to Xichuan County, Li Chengqian had a great chat with him.

Xichuan County - a high-profile area for food cases, Zhuge Yi had a family friendship, and the biggest local rich man, Zhang Wanfu, you can tell that he is a vulgar and fat nouveau riche.

But I have to say that Li Chengqian was indeed wrong. When they arrived in Zhangzhuang, Zhang Wanfu was indeed a polite and hospitality literati, giving people a feeling of being bathed in spring breeze. The first impression when people interacted with people is often crucial. How can it not be surprising that such a wise man can be produced in a "remote countryside".

After seeing the ceremony, Zhang Wanfu smiled and said, "Zhang was able to meet the Royal Guard under the introduction of Brother Zhuge. It is a blessing in life! General Qin, you came from Chang'an to the people of Nanyang. In this way, Zhang will bear the food, accommodation and expenses in Nanyang. It can be considered that Zhang will do his best to the elders of his hometown. How about it!"

The General Qin mentioned by Zhang Wanfu was of course Li Chengqian, who came out of the Shuxiang Temple and used so many skilled guards, so he had to show him in his already prepared identity - Neiwei Mansion - Guerrilla General - Qin Ming.

As the largest gentry in Xichuan County, Zhang Wanfu is naturally a common thing to receive past officials. This is a kind of human nature, both in Chang'an and here.

"Brother Zhang's kindness, brothers all appreciate it, but I and others came here to investigate the case of the ren under the orders of the court, and dare not disturb the local gentry. I came here with Brother Zhuge today but I just wanted to ask whether the people can provide some clues about the case. As the leader of the gentry, Brother Zhang has a prestige among the people, and his appeal is naturally not comparable to the government, so please help me pay attention."

Li Chengqian received education since childhood to say whatever people say. Regardless of whether Zhang Wanfu's enthusiasm was sincere or not, he had to be wary of it. The reason was very simple. In the Tang Dynasty, the strict patriarchal system was introduced, the most restrictive thing was the relationship between the gentry and the tenants. The gentry held a large amount of land in his hands. If the tenants wanted to survive, they had to rely on them. Therefore, the word "local emperor" was definitely not an exaggerated or derogatory word.

In the eyes of the people, the government is a jackal, tiger and leopard, but the gentry is a living king of hell. They can take away their lives or their family members at any time, so they dare not deceive them. This is exactly what Li Chengqian likes. Since this is something that everyone is afraid of, then local snakes like him must be able to find out the details.

"General Qin is so dedicated to his duties, which really touched Zhang. It seems that the people of Nanyang have hope this time, and the dark clouds in the sky will finally disperse. If the first two groups of officials were half as diligent as the general, the territory of Nanyang would not be as chaotic as today!" After saying that, Zhang Wanfu told Li Chengqian and Zhuge Yi about what the first two groups of officials had done to Xichuan.

Zhang Wanfu was talking about the officials who were under the prefecture and the Ministry of Justice and Dali Temple. Even if he didn't say it, Li Chengqian knew that these things that were like ants in Chang'an City were inevitably arrogant, arrogant, arrogant, speak, and behave everywhere, fearing that others would not know that they were officials from the capital...

"Brother Zhang, don't blame me. People are divided into different levels, so officials are no exception. It's like going to different temples to burn incense. The scriptures the monks recite are also different. My brothers are ordered to go to the East Palace. If they fail to complete the task, it is not a shame. That is a loss of life. Of course, you have to pay special attention to it for your life. Brother Zhang, this is a well-known figure here, and I believe he has a unique view on this case."

After hearing Li Chengqian's words, Zhang Wanfu said a few humble words, then smiled and said, "General Qin is really funny, and he is indeed different from those who like to be an official article. Well, Zhang Mou knew everything."

The food ren case in Xichuan County happened in March. At that time, the people in the county were busy with spring sowing. The year was spring. Everyone had food for a year. If they didn’t work hard, they would be hungry.

But just as everyone was sweating on the ground, a corpse was thrown out from the ground east of Wangcun. It was inaccurately a skeleton, and it was a skeleton with bones and broken flesh. This scared the honest farmers and quickly reported to the government.

After the county magistrate Wu Youde arrived at the site for investigation, he had no other clues except for the male skeleton. What's more important is that there are many young and old in Wangcun. So where did this "fresh" skeleton come from?

Just when Wu Youde and others were at a loss, an old man in his seventies in the village said tremblingly that more than 20 years ago, a demon king Zhu Jie appeared in the territory of Nanyang. The army he brought back was not enough food, so he fed the people. He almost caught all the nearby towns.

Those who stayed like him were all farmers who were encircled to cultivate military rations back then, otherwise how could they escape the disaster? The reason why they were so sure was that the old man found traces of teeth gnawing in his arms and legs, which was exactly the same as what he saw in the camp when he transported military rations to Zhu Jie.

In addition to inventing various cruel ways to eat, those terrible troops were asked to eat living people when training recruits. The tragic scene made people feel numb to their scalp, and the weather was like a hole in the ice. So the old man insisted that the ghosts of the devil army must have been back, otherwise how could there be such a cruel person in this world?

The villagers believed the old man's words, but Wu Youde didn't care. Nanyang is full of mountains, and there are so many jackals, tigers and leopards living here. There were no one who was bitten to death by wild beasts that year. So this must be the unlucky ghost who met the beasts. It was not a devil's venom. Otherwise, why would it be buried so shallowly and thrown out immediately.

Wu Youde is a typical Confucian disciple and has always believed in: "I don't have to mess with the power of the gods." There are so many ghosts in this world. Then he ignored the old man's rumors and directly characterized the case as a beast attack, causing people to report to the governor's yamen.

But the good times did not last long. Within a few days, similar cases occurred in Xichuan County and several nearby counties. Some people also reported the case that their population was lost. This made the governor Yang Shilin and the chief Tian Zan unable to sit still. They immediately dispatched personnel to investigate and collect evidence. Such a tragedy occurred in the peaceful and prosperous era. They had to have an explanation for their superiors and subordinates, otherwise the official would not be able to sit still.

"Brother Zhang, is the old man from Wangcun still here?"

"Here, but since then, the old man has been crazy. Alas, he must have been frightened. He's a sin!" Zhang Wanfu replied with emotion.
Chapter completed!