Chapter 263: Certificate of Vocation for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince
At dawn the next day, everyone got up and washed themselves.
Cheng Wuzhong looked at Li Yan's energetic appearance and then touched his haggard face. He immediately hid in a corner and secretly patted his face to brush away the fatigue before stepping forward to greet him: "Good morning, Li Ji!"
"Good morning, Leader Cheng!"
Li Yan took out a toothbrush from the bag next to the saddle, brushed his teeth and said, "I want to gather the thieves together first and ask about the situation."
Cheng Wuzhong hastily ate some cold cakes and frowned: "I'm afraid these ordinary thieves don't know the secrets in the village, right?"
Li Yan said: "There is no airtight wall in this world. There are many people in the stronghold, so there will be some gains, but it still requires the cooperation of hundreds of horses..."
Soon, Baiqi carried bags of rice grains out from the secret passage and walked past the village gate in a swaggering manner.
The prisoners captured by the thieves were so frightened that many of them didn't sleep all night.
At this time, I was very hungry. When I saw the rice being carried out, my face suddenly changed and I shouted: "Our rice! That is our rice!!"
The elite Baiqi turned a deaf ear and placed bags of rice on their saddles. Cheng Wuzhong then ordered: "Transport these rice grains out and deliver them to the victims. Only a few can be saved!"
The bandit's eyes turned red when he heard this, and he actually dared to get up to resist again. He was beaten down three times by the guard Baiqi.
Their emotions were stimulated to the extreme, and they shouted angrily: "Let us go! You bandits, that's our rice!"
These words made Baiqi laugh angrily. Cheng Wuzhong came to him and said, "This is the rice you snatched. Now you have to go down the mountain to help the victims. Don't you accept it?"
The bandit roared: "What a fart, you dog officials will never give food to the victims, you will only steal it for yourselves!"
The bandit next to him also had red eyes: "When we were keeping our peace at the foot of the mountain, we didn't have enough to eat at all, and we couldn't even drink porridge. When we got to the mountain, we could only have a meal of rice. It was the leader of the village who led us to live a life of adequate food.
, if the leader of the village was here, he would have killed all of you long ago!"
Cheng Wuzhong sneered: "Did your village owner get all this food? I'm afraid they robbed it from the two surrounding villages!"
The bandit felt insulted: "Those two villages are poor. When we go there, we have to leave some rice to prevent the roots from breaking. If we don't have food rations in the future, how can we rob them? To tell you the truth, we are robbing the people who transport food.
Caravan!"
Cheng Wuzhong sneered: "Then let me tell you the truth, the grain teams that can be transported into Guanzhong now are protected by Zhechong Mansion's heavy troops. You can't grab them, otherwise a large army would have been ordered to suppress the bandits! Stop making excuses, these
Mi must be plundering the people!"
Someone became anxious and shouted: "The caravan brought it here by itself, this is our rice!"
As soon as these words came out, the bandits were quiet for a moment, and then they struggled into a ball: "Damn Yan Da Zui! The leader of the village told us not to say it!"
After Cheng Wuzhong had beaten him enough, he pulled up the big mouth with a bruised nose and swollen face, and came to Li Yan: "Li Jiyi, you really gained something."
After listening to his story, Li Yan was not surprised: "Which caravan is it that transports grain and grass to you?"
Bandit Yan opened his mouth wide and lowered his head without answering.
Li Yan said calmly: "Even if you don't tell me, I know very well that such a large amount of grain and grass reserves cannot be transported by a small family. Now that everyone in the village has been captured, we will take you to the county government.
To convict and prosecute, what is before you is a rare opportunity to confess, to be given leniency, and to live with your family, you must seize it."
After that, he gave Cheng Wuzhong a look.
Cheng Wuzhong didn't sleep well, and his brain was moving slowly. It took him a moment to react, and he said cooperatively: "If you can't grasp it, there are other bandits who can!"
Yan Dazui suddenly became uneasy and thought again and again: "My mother-in-law and baby are locked up in the back. Can you feed them?"
Li Yan nodded: "Your guilt will be determined by the "Tang Law". Before that, we will ensure the most basic food and clothing."
Yan Dazui whispered: "I don't believe that you officials would lie to us..."
Li Yan was silent for a moment and then said: "Do you know His Royal Highness the Crown Prince? When Guanzhong was hit by a disaster a few years ago, it was he who ordered all county governments to distribute grain at a fair price, so that you can buy rice with ordinary money."
Yan Dazui was startled, and his eyes lit up: "Yes, yes, I read it in front of the bulletin board, the prince releases grain, I am from Huazhou, I know it!"
Li Yan said gently: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's car will arrive at Tongguan today. His Highness will treat you fairly. As long as you have not committed a capital crime, he will try his best to provide you with basic food and clothing."
Yan Dazui prostrated himself on the ground: "I believe in His Majesty the Crown Prince!"
Cheng Wuzhong watched the whole process. He was startled at first and looked at Li Yan with a guilty conscience. Then his eyes flickered. Finally, when he found out that this little bandit's attitude actually changed because of the name of the prince, he couldn't help but be moved.
Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win...
Can't think! Can't think!
Li Yanze began to ask about the details of the caravan: "How many people are transporting food? How often do they come to your village? Are you familiar with the owner of your village?"
Yan Dazui said: "I knew they were a large caravan from outside the customs. They would send rice to the mountain once a month. The village leader didn't seem to be familiar with them, but he told us not to tell outsiders, otherwise
I won’t be able to eat enough!”
Li Yan said: "As far as you know, does anyone in the village know about the caravan?"
Yan Dazui thought for a while: "Hu Laizi may know that he is a spy. He used to travel all over the country. Later, his legs became crippled and he settled in the village. I remember he mentioned the caravan, but I can't remember what it was called.
Already..."
Li Yan said: "Bring him here!"
Cheng Wuzhong immediately took Yan Dazui to find someone.
Fortunately, the lame Hu was not dead. He was also among the prisoners. He was lifted up and slipped in front of him, trembling and looking like he was greedy for life and afraid of death.
He explained quickly: "Mr. Sir, if I am not mistaken, the caravan belongs to the Gong Chamber of Commerce in Luoyang."
Li Yan raised his brows, and Cheng Wuzhong's expression changed: "Gong's Chamber of Commerce?"
The Gong family is the largest wealthy family in Bianzhou, which is somewhat similar to the status of the An family in Liangzhou, and Bianzhou is also a large state. The future Kaifeng Prefecture will always refer to Hangzhou as Bianzhou.
The Gong family has a very rich family background. In the past, Li Zhi decided to elevate Luoyang to the status of the Eastern Capital. The Gong family responded positively and contributed money and efforts. When Famen Temple was rebuilt, Li Zhi took the lead in giving rewards, and major aristocratic families followed suit. The Gong family
Also on the list, when Mount Tai was enshrined in Zen, Gong accompanied him all the way and presented many treasures.
Anyway, this is a family that knows how to cater to their superiors, and is quite popular with Li Zhi. Historically, Gong Sichu, the number one scholar in this year's imperial examination, is from the Gong clan.
Of course, due to Li Zhi and Empress Wu's messing around and the catastrophic disaster in Guanhai, this year's regular imperial examinations have been canceled directly. Gong Sichu's fate as the number one scholar may have been rewritten.
In any case, this is a wealthy family that is second to none. Cheng Wuzhong whispered: "Li Jiyi, this matter is not trivial. Don't believe the bandits' words easily!"
Li Yan said: "Let them draw the seal first, and we will talk about the rest later."
After the testimony was written, Yan Dazui and Hu Laizi finished the painting, and Li Yan put it away and said coldly: "The land of the military households was embezzled, mostly by the noble families. I hope the Gong family is not such an arrogant person."
Generations!"
Cheng Wuzhong changed his expression: "Li Jiyi means that our family's fields were invaded and it was this family's fault?"
Li Yan shook his head: "Don't make any assumptions. Gong has always known His Majesty's favor and is loyal to His Majesty. Under normal circumstances, how would he dare to do such an illegal thing?"
Cheng Wuzhong clenched his fists and gritted his teeth: "It's best they never did it!"
He was born into a good family. He was not as proud as a high-ranking family, and he was not as worried about food and clothing as a poor family. For their social class, land was really the top priority.
What's more, the competition among Baiqi was extremely fierce. Many people struggled to get in. After success, they were proud of His Majesty's bodyguards. Cheng Wuzhong's heart was bleeding when he thought that even their fields could not be saved and were occupied by aristocratic clans.
Without saying another word, he began to gather his men and prepare to search inside the mountain.
Li Yan was not idle either and came to another room: "Is Zheng Sanlang up?"
Baiqi who was guarding outside was Yuan Dalang. He glanced inside, shook his head and said, "Tell Li Jiyi that he is weak and hasn't gotten up yet."
Li Yan said: "It's true that he lost too much blood. I'll just wait a moment. I want to ask him something."
Yuan Dalang thought these were polite words, but when he saw Li Yan really standing outside and starting to practice silently, he couldn't help but be touched.
Zheng Sanlang in the room twitched his ears and opened his eyes slightly.
He wanted to turn sideways, but the wound was affected, and he grinned in pain.
The physical damage was secondary. The key was that Zheng Sanlang's facial features became distorted when he thought that he would never be able to bend a bow and shoot an arrow again.
He made a decision, deliberately made a noise, and coughed twice.
When the outside was disturbed, Yuan Dalang immediately came in and asked with concern: "Are you okay? How do you feel?"
Li Yan also followed in and saw Zheng Sanlang asking: "Has the traitor been caught?"
Yuan Dalang was stunned for a moment, then he understood, and said somewhat uncomfortably: "Guo Laowu?"
Zheng Sanlang hissed: "He rebelled and turned into a traitor. He is the sinner of our Baiqi. We cannot let him escape. If we catch him, we must catch him!"
Yuan Dalang sighed: "Zheng Laosan, you had your hand chopped off by him. I can understand your hatred, but it's not easy to catch Guo Laowu..."
But he thought about it and clapped his hands: "Fortunately, Li Jiyi is here. He is an omnipotent detective. He will definitely be able to find Guo Laowu!"
Zheng Sanlang Yiqi: "Really?"
Yuan Dalang's tone was determined: "It really can't be true anymore. Wu Laoshi pretends to be so similar. It's a joke in front of him. I think as long as he commits something, he can't escape Li Jiyi's eyes. Just wait a minute. I'll do it right now."
Invite him in!"
Zheng Sanlang's expression changed slightly, and before he could speak, he saw Yuan Dalang walking out excitedly.
At this time, Li Yan outside the house saw Cheng Wuzhong who had left and returned.
The leader of the Hundred Horsemen regained his determination: "When I explore the interior of the mountain next, I will search carefully. If I can find more evidence, I can question the Gong family why they colluded with the bandits in the pass!"
"After His Highness the Crown Prince arrives in Luoyang, he will definitely come into contact with the local wealthy families. If he can subdue the Gong clan, it will be a great help."
"Li Jiyi thinks my idea is right?"
Facing Cheng Wuzhong's anxious and expectant eyes, Li Yan smiled and nodded: "Leader Cheng has worked hard. I believe His Highness the Crown Prince knows this and will wait for good news!"