The next day, Da Kui ordered people to prepare carriages and horses to return to Lin'an. When Lian'er got on the carriage, she saw Gou Sheng and others carrying Master Ma out of the house. Lian'er knew that Da Kui would not embarrass him again, so she entered After getting into the carriage and putting down the curtain, Mr. Ma watched with dull eyes as Lian'er got into the car. At this time, he was completely despairing. He didn't know where Lian'er was being taken this time. From now on, he would be anywhere in the world. Missing each other but not seeing each other.
When everyone was ready, Dakui led more than 20 of his subordinates to get on their horses and follow the carriage. Dakui looked at Mr. Ma from the horse and said, "If you want to see Lian'er again, you might as well come with us."
Mr. Ma was silent and stood in front of the door without any emotion. Dakui chuckled and said, "If you are willing to follow me, I can let you be the driver. In this way, you can get along with Lian'er day and night. How about,"
Mr. Ma sat down on the steps in front of Pan's house, holding his head in his hands and just lowering his head without speaking. Dakui sighed, and then said in a long voice: "Let's go," everyone agreed in unison, and the team immediately walked all the way to the north of the city. , the carriage traveled a long way, Lian'er quietly opened the curtain and looked back, but did not see Mr. Ma following him. These days, Lian'er has been thinking about Mr. Ma day and night, and her face is already a little haggard. At this time Lian'er couldn't help but feel disappointed when she didn't see Young Master Ma following her.
Seeing Lian'er's movements, Da Kui had a slight smile on his lips. He just pretended not to know and walked all the way. When he saw that he was about to leave the city after walking one street, a shout came from far behind the team: "Wait for me, I'm going to leave the city." Let’s go with you,”
Da Kui turned around and saw Mr. Ma striding towards him. By the time he got to the car, he was panting and speechless. Da Kui smiled and said, "Your surname is Ma, so you are worthy of your name when you come to drive the carriage. Go and drive the carriage."
It took Master Ma a long time to catch his breath, and he walked to the side of the car with a red face. The person in charge of driving was Shi Shi. Shi Shi quietly handed the whip to Mr. Ma. Mr. Ma had been studying since he was a child, but he couldn't catch up. I passed the carriage, but now I didn't know how to control the carriage.
Dakui said with a smile: "Teach Shitou to teach him, so that he can learn more skills. If he can't get ahead in studying, he can at least earn a living by driving a carriage." Shitou agreed and set off to the other side of the carriage to face Mr. Ma. Said: "Get in the car,"
Mr. Ma obeyed and imitated Shi Shi and sat on the edge of the car. Shi Shi smiled and took the riding whip from Mr. Ma's hand. He chuckled and said, "Scholar, learn a little bit." He shook his riding whip and greeted the air. There was a crisp 'snap' sound, and then the horse pulled the cart and shouted loudly at the sound of the stone: "Drive," and it moved forward quickly obediently.
Due to the sudden incident, Mr. Ma almost fell off the car, which actually caused everyone to laugh. Dakui was the first to knock the horse's belly and go ahead, and the rest of the people rode their horses to follow.
Da Kui controlled the speed of the horse and kept pace with the driver. Looking at Mr. Ma's embarrassment, he couldn't help but ask: "Back in Xiangquanfang, I saw you well-dressed and accompanied by a bookboy. How come you are so depressed now?"
Mr. Ma faltered but could not answer. Da Kui couldn't help but said coldly: "Now that you are following my subordinates, you must answer truthfully when I ask questions, otherwise you will be disobeying my orders."
Mr. Ma held it in for a long time before whispering: "My clothes are rented, and the book boy is pretending to be a servant from Xiangquanfang." As soon as he said this, Dakui couldn't help laughing again. Weird things happen every year in the world, but this year is special. There are many, Dakui who rented clothes has learned a lot, but this book boy and servant actually borrowed some. It is really strange.
Seeing the city gate in sight, Da Kui couldn't help feeling helpless. Although Xiangquanfang was Hu Weiyong's property, he made money by doing business after all. Even though this theory was unreasonable, it was not within Da Kui's scope of authority, especially that Hu Weiyong was deeply trusted by the King of Wu, and he was an official in the same dynasty. It would not look good if he fell out with him.
The only plan for now is to rush back to Lin'an as soon as possible, collect all the reports one by one, and then submit them to King Wu. After all, Jiangnan is so big and there are so many officials involved in the case, this is beyond Da Kui's ability. As the saying goes: the law cannot be punished. There is another saying to blame the public: public anger is hard to offend. According to Dakui's estimation, if the list is compiled this time and the spies sent by Jiangbei Yuanting are added, the total number will be a terrifying number.
Dakui didn't dare to think that if this was really the case, he didn't know how King Wu would decide. He wouldn't kill everyone. What Dakui thought in his mind was that these officials would either confiscate their property or be thrown into prison. Not Dakui. Greed and evil will not lead to death. You must know that God has the virtue of good life. How can King Wu act against God?
Half of the officials in the Ming Dynasty today were once local officials of Yuanting. How can they serve the world if they go too far? Liu Ji, Liu Bowen, the first adviser to King Wu, was once appointed by Yuanting as the Prime Minister of Gao'an County, Jiangxi, and later served as The Marshal's Mansion is a matter of affairs. In this case, once the names of so many officials are reported, King Wu will not be punished if he has the benevolence to do so. But if these people are punished one by one by himself, then there is no doubt that he will He became the target of public criticism among Jiangnan officials.
Da Kui thought about it for a moment but felt a little upset. He simply stopped thinking and returned to Lin'an to prepare a memorial and throw this big burden to the King of Wu. When the time comes, it is not Da Kui's business to worry about whether the King of Wu will kill or release these spies and corrupt officials. .
Mr. Ma was very calm along the way and never talked to Lian'er in the carriage. He gradually learned to drive. Dakui couldn't help but secretly marveled. Mr. Ma's posture was perfect for driving a car.
There was nothing going on, so Dakui walked beside the car and couldn't help but asked: "Master Ma, you have read a lot of poetry and books, but you don't know how to be literary. Why don't you write a poem when you feel like it, so that I can see your ability?"
When Mr. Ma heard about Dakui's poetry test, he couldn't help but get excited and immediately replied: "Please give me a question, sir."
Da Kui looked around for a long time and couldn't find any scenery suitable for writing poems. It's no wonder that Da Kui didn't read much and was even less literate. How could he use scenery as a topic? When he saw the horse pulling the cart, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Mr. Ma If your surname is Ma, you might as well write a poem based on horses."
Mr. Ma knew that Dakui was playing a trick on him, but he didn't take it seriously. After thinking for a moment, he chanted: "There is no way that the yellow lotus is suffering. I rode my horse thousands of miles to follow. There will be frost and flowers tonight, and there will be flowers everywhere tomorrow."
Dakui couldn't help laughing when he heard this poem. Although Dakui was not familiar with writing, he could still understand the meaning of the poem immediately. This poem was obviously nonsense. The first two sentences were about his admiration for Lian'er. Even if you are a servant and drive a carriage, you have to accompany him for thousands of miles. The last two sentences mean that if you live under someone else's fence now, sooner or later, the dead trees will bloom in spring and bloom everywhere.
Thinking of this, Dakui couldn't help laughing and said: "If you are still so obsessed with beauty, let alone the flowers and grass everywhere, it won't be your turn." After Dakui said this, he laughed and galloped forward on his horse.
Xiaoxing stayed overnight and walked for more than a month. It was already mid-June when Dakui and others arrived at the boundary of Lin'an.
The Tongzhengshi Yamen is a huge project, and compared with it, the Lin'an Fu Yamen, which is just a street away, is inferior by three points. Although the layout is similar, the scale is much larger.
Da Kui arrived in front of the Tongzhengshi Yamen. Looking at the majestic Tongzhengshi Yamen, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "How much money does this cost?" There is just a plaque with the words "Jiangnan General Affairs Office" written in five golden characters.
At this time, there were two yamen guards in front of the door. Seeing the large number of people including Da Kui, the yamen officer on the left couldn't help but stepped forward and asked: "This is the general government yamen, who are you waiting for?"
Although Da Kui was wearing a brocade robe, he was dressed like a gentleman from a wealthy family. He happened to not be wearing an official uniform today. When he saw the yamen officer asking, he immediately took out his badge and showed it in front of the yamen officer.
"See Sir General Secretary," the Yamen official immediately clasped his fists and saluted. Da Kui smiled and said, "Excuse me. You have been busy these days and you have come to look after the Yamen. You are at the Yamen gate."
The Yamen official immediately reported back: "Young men are from the Yamen of Lin'an Prefecture, and were sent by Lord Zhou to guard this place."
Dakui chuckled and said, "In that case, you can thank Mr. Zhou for me when you go back."
The Yamen immediately handed him over again, and then returned to the Yamen of Lin'an Prefecture together with another Yamen.
Da Kui led everyone straight into the General Affairs Office. Gou Sheng rearranged six people on duty at the yamen gate, and then followed Da Kui into the yamen. It was already evening when everything was settled. Da Kui no longer delayed and immediately ordered people to go to Longping Mansion to inform Master Feng and others came to Lin'an Mansion for a meeting.
On the third day, Master Feng arrived in Lin'an, and Huang Ying and two personal maids came with him. Da Kui couldn't care less about his relationship with Huang Ying's children, so he immediately placed Huang Ying in the back house, and then went to the front house with Master Feng and others. hall.
When everyone was seated, Dakui asked: "I wonder what news there is from various places during the period when I am not at home."
Master Feng reported back: "Secret reports from all over the country are coming in, and they are all here." As he said this, he motioned to the entourage behind him to take out a wooden box. This wooden box was two feet long and one foot wide, and was painted with vermillion paint. Besides, the lock is missing. This wooden box is more appropriately called a wooden box than a wooden box.
The secret reports sent back from spies from all over the country were packed in such a large wooden box, which shows how frequently the reports were received.
When Master Feng opened the wooden box, Da Kui couldn't help but feel dizzy. There was a box full of paper sign. Each paper sign was two fingers wide. There was actually a box of such small paper sign. The paper sign in this box was probably... There are tens of thousands of them.
Master Feng put the wooden box on the table and then reported: "The reports here are quite complicated. They are all secret reports of embezzlement by officials from various places, ranging from more than 100,000 to tens of thousands taels of silver, to thousands and hundreds of taels." Greedy Mo, all the details are listed here,"
Master Feng then took out a booklet from his arms and said, "This is a list that my subordinates have compiled one by one. They have classified and copied the secret reports according to the amount of embezzlement of the people involved. Please take a look at it." After saying that, he stood up and walked over and presented it with both hands. The roster.
Dakui was shocked. He took the roster with both hands and opened it to check each one in detail. Although he had been prepared and knew that there would be many corrupt officials, this time he saw the secret report in the wooden box and looked at this thick book. The thick roster made Dakui feel shocked.