Zhao Shancai, the magistrate of Luohuai County, was drinking in his outer house.
The concubine Cuizhi brought a plate of sauced meat, a plate of oven-roasted duck, and a plate of vinegar fish, and gave the magistrate Zuojiu.
Cuizhi was Zhao Shancai's favorite concubine, and she talked to her about everything.
Because Cuizhi didn't get along with his wife, Zhao Zhixian bought her a separate house.
Zhao Zhixian drank two cups of wine, smacked his lips and said: "Zheng Qi, that little guy, has become more and more arrogant with me in the past two days, and he has become more and more fussy with me about money. When this matter is over, I have to give him a good beating."
Fan."
Cuizhi picked up a piece of sauced meat and stuffed it into the mouth of Magistrate Zhao: "Master, last time I heard you say that more than 20,000 people were affected in the county. I feel scared no matter how I think about it. If it is really hidden from the court..."
"What are you afraid of?" Magistrate Zhao snorted coldly, "I didn't want to hide this matter, it was the magistrate who wanted to hide it. After all, I was right to follow the magistrate's orders."
"But can the prefect handle this?"
"If the prefect cannot bear it, there is still Liao Shangshu in the capital. If Liao Shangshu cannot bear it, there is also the chief assistant of the cabinet, Taishi Yan."
"What if Master Yan can't bear it?"
Zhao Zhixian pinched Cuizhi's cheek and said with a smile: "What nonsense are you talking about? Apart from the emperor, who is greater than Grand Master Yan in our Daxuan?"
Cuizhi was still worried and gave Zhao Zhixian another piece of duck: "What if the emperor asks about this?"
"After all, you are still a woman!" Zhixian Zhao said while chewing duck meat. "How could the emperor care about this matter? He has just ascended the throne. If a natural disaster occurs, will it not bring shame on the emperor?"
Cuizhi sighed: "I'm afraid that the golden cicada of Gaozhifu will escape from its shell and end up catching you as a scapegoat."
"Catch me?" Zhao Zhixian sneered, "Last year, the Ministry of Industry rebuilt the river embankment. They only picked a few rocks and dug a few shovels of soil, but spent tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Everyone knows this in their hearts, and everyone has a share of this money. If I make a mistake, Gao Shengchang’s Usha won’t even be able to keep it!”
"But I'm just worried..."
"Don't worry about it blindly. The general body is at stake here. A few ordinary people are nothing in front of the general body. Are they still worth mentioning?"
Cuizhi took another piece of duck for Zhao Zhixian. Kozhixian chewed it twice, spit it on the ground, and pushed the plate aside: "Throw it away, the duck meat is not cooked enough."
Cuizhi took a bite herself: "Sir, this is Yuefuju's oven-roasted duck. The heat is just right when I eat it!"
Zhao Zhixian smiled and said: "You have never tasted a good oven-roasted duck. Among the ten oven-roasted ducks roasted by Yuefuju, at least three of them were overheated, six were undercooked, and at least one was underheated."
It just so happens that if I send someone to buy it myself, I will have to keep this duck."
Cuizhi took another bite and said, "How can this heat be considered just right? Why can't I eat it?"
"Let me teach you, this duck meat is divided into three grades. It melts as soon as you put it in your mouth. This is the first grade. It melts after one chew. This is the second grade. It still doesn't melt after chewing for three times. Such a duck
, Master, I can’t get it in here, so throw it away quickly, it looks terrible to me!”
Just as Cuizhi was about to leave with the plate, Xu Zhiqiong walked into the room and took the plate: "Zhixian Zhao, just have a bite, and you won't want to eat anymore." …
Zhao Shancai looked at Xu Zhiqiong and was stunned with fright. Cuizhi shouted out on the spot.
Tao Huayuan suddenly appeared behind Cuizhi and covered her mouth: "Don't make a sound, it will kill you. Come out with me. I have something to ask you."
Tao Huayuan took Cuizhi out of the house. Xu Zhiqiong sat at the table and looked at the food and wine on the table. He first pulled off a duck leg and tasted it: "Zhixian Zhao is really good at eating duck meat. I will also eat duck meat."
It’s a lot, but I think this heat is pretty good.”
Zhao Shancai shouted loudly: "Who are you?"
Xu Zhiqiong ate another piece of sauced meat and exclaimed, "This meat is well cooked and delicious!"
"This county asks you who you are? Who gave you the courage to break into this county's mansion?"
"Is this your mansion?" Xu Zhiqiong looked around, "I heard that your mansion is not here. How many mansions do you have? Let me know?"
"How dare you, come here! Get this evil thief!"
After shouting for a long time, no one responded. Zhao Zhixian knew that he had met a ruthless person.
The servants he brought with him must have been put down, and even if the servants in the courtyard were not dead, they were probably captured.
That’s it, give in!
Zhao Zhixian wiped the sweat from his face and asked: "I don't know what kind of strongman you are. If you are trying to rob money, please tell me!"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said, "That's right. First, tell me how much you can give me."
County magistrate Zhao asked: "How about two hundred taels of silver?"
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Is your life worth two hundred taels of silver?"
Zhao Zhixian asked again: "Five hundred taels, how about it?"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "This is still unclear."
"One thousand taels, I only have so much, so I'll give it to you. It's a lot of money. Killing an official of the imperial court is Ling Chi's crime. If you seek wealth to get it, why do you have to risk your life?"
Xu Zhiqiong sighed and said, "Why can't you understand? That's all. I'll tell you something you can understand. Let's just talk about this roasted duck!"
He picked up a piece of duck and said to Magistrate Zhao: "You said that the heat of this piece of duck was not right and you wanted to throw it away. You threw away a whole plate like this. Do you know how many people can't even dream of eating this?"
Mouth duck?
Not to mention this duck, even if he can eat a bite of pancake, he can still close his eyes when he dies!"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Do you know how much the old lady cried when he died?"
"What do you mean, old lady..." Zhao Zhixian was confused when he heard this.
Xu Zhiqiong said: "Do you know how many people were soaked in the mud, soaked alive for several days, and then died in the mud? Do you know that even if a mother dies, she will have to die."
Lift the child above your head?”
"You, you're talking about Helong Village?" Zhao Zhixian understood somewhat.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Have you been to Helong Village recently? I just went."
"You, are you sent by the imperial court?" Zhao Zhixian understood completely and quickly stood up and saluted, "May I ask who you are?"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "What are you doing standing up? Sit down and have some food. I am a kind-hearted person. You must listen to what I advise you!"
"Sir, please allow Zhao to say more about this matter!" Magistrate Zhao is indeed an old magistrate. He can calmly defend himself in times of crisis. "When Luohuai County was hit by a disaster, the county immediately reported it to the magistrate without a moment's delay.
Not publishing is the order of the prefect, and this county is really following orders!” …
Xu Zhiqiong said: "More than 20,000 people were affected by the disaster. How dare you hide this matter and just follow orders and be done with it?"
County magistrate Zhao said: "It is the duty of a lower official to obey the superior's orders!"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "I am also your superior, and I ordered you to die. Do you want to die?"
"The lower official is not guilty! Why should he die?"
"Are those more than 20,000 people guilty?"
Zhao Zhixian looked slightly flustered and said: "This county did not hurt those 20,000 people. This was caused by a natural disaster. We just let them fend for themselves."
"Fend for yourself?" Xu Zhiqiong gritted his teeth.
Zhao Zhixian added: "This move is for the general purpose..."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Finally we got to the point. I came here today just to hear you talk about the general outline! Please tell me carefully, what the hell is the general outline?"
"In general, it's..."
"Don't talk here, let's talk somewhere else!" Xu Zhiqiong stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Zhixian's hair, and dragged him into the yard.
Magistrate Zhao screamed all the way and saw the county magistrate Zheng Qi kneeling in the yard.
Zheng Qi lowered his head and said, "Sir, just tell me. This is Lord Xu from the capital. If you don't tell me, you will definitely die!"
"Zheng Qi! If you dare to betray me, you will not be able to..." Before Zhao Shancai could finish his sentence, Xu Zhiqiong kicked him to the ground, turned around and asked Tao Huayuan: "Have you asked all the questions?"
Cuizhi's eyes were red and she didn't know what kind of torture she had suffered. Tao Huayuan raised her hand slightly, and Cuizhi collapsed to the ground in fright: "I told you, don't hit me. I beg you, I told you...
…”
Tao Huayuan nodded and said: "She has already said it, and what she said is slightly different from that of the county magistrate. It seems that Magistrate Zhao knows more about his family background than either of them."
While talking, Zhixian Zhao wanted to escape. Xu Zhiqiong kicked his calf bones and knocked out a few old teeth with one punch: "Zhixian Zhao, I am a soft-hearted person. Tell the truth. Don't hide it, young master."
Let me tell you, let me peel off your skin. Now I want money and food. How much can you give me?"
Zhao Shancai knelt on the ground, crying with tears on his face: "I said, I said..."
He said it, he said it all, and he didn't hide anything.
Xu Zhiqiong thought that the county magistrate should have ten thousand taels of silver, but he was wrong.
This old man was very cunning. He hid the silver in thirteen places in the county, adding up to more than thirty-three thousand taels.
In addition, he also secretly hid more than a thousand stones of grain.
One stone weighs one hundred and twenty kilograms, and more than a thousand stones means more than one hundred thousand kilograms, which can solve an urgent need.
Xu Zhiqiong immediately posted a notice in the county seat, hired civilian workers, and went all out to provide disaster relief.
Zhao Zhixian begged bitterly: "Master Hou, for the sake of my sincerity, please let me live."
"Easy!" Xu Zhiqiong simply agreed, "I'll let you live right now!"
On that day, Xu Zhiqiong took Magistrate Zhao to Helong Village. Looking at the corpses that were difficult to distinguish in the mud, Zhao Shancai's legs gave way and he fell to the ground.
Xu Zhiqiong grabbed Zhao Shuncai's hair, pointed at the large piece of mud and said: "Look over there, that's the mother I mentioned, did you see the child in her hand?
Look over there, the girl in her fifteenth or sixteenth year, in her blooming years, when she was dying, her hands were still stretched out, and she still wanted to climb up the mountain...
Look at that man, he climbed up the hillside, had one of his hands cut off by the officer, and then was thrown back into the mud.
In a village of more than 600 people, not a single person is left alive. If you say this is just to fend for yourself, fine, I will let you fend for yourself here too!"
Xu Zhiqiong kicked Zhao Zhixian into the mud.
The silt submerged half of Zhao Zhixian's body. Zhao Zhixian struggled hard and said: "Master Hou, this county is acting under orders, all for the sake of the imperial court, for the general body, all for..."
Xu Zhiqiong turned around and said to a white lantern man: "Keep an eye on Magistrate Zhao and listen carefully to what he has to say. Don't let Magistrate Zhao come up. If you come up once, chop off one of his hands and it will be gone.
Cut off the feet!"
"Master Hou, Master Hou!" Zhao Shancai climbed up the hillside with all his strength. As soon as he hit the hillside, Bai Denglang pulled out his saber and immediately chopped off his right hand.
Zhao Shancai kept wailing, his leg bones were broken, but he couldn't stand still, he staggered, and mud kept pouring into his mouth.
…
Xu Zhiqiong rescued more than 13,000 victims in Fuzhou in three days.
On the fourth day, Ma Guangli came to report that Gao Shengchang, the prefect of Fuzhou, was leading two thousand officers and soldiers and was approaching Luohuai County.
More than two thousand officers and soldiers.
How many people does Xu Zhiqiong have?
The hired peasants don't count; they can't fight, and they shouldn't fight this war.
In addition to civilian husbands, Xu Zhiqiong only had thirty lantern men and sixteen onmyoji.
It seemed a bit reluctant to deal with an army of two thousand, so Ma Guangli suggested: "Master Marquis, please take a step back for now. Let's go to the surrounding prefectures and counties to bring in some troops."
Xu Zhiqiong shook his head and said: "We usually don't call you Lord Marquis. We still treat each other as brothers. We can't move troops now. If we really attract troops from other states and counties, this matter will turn into civil strife."
There was another hidden worry that Xu Zhiqiong did not express.
The imperial court currently has no money, and once civil strife is triggered, it may not be able to quell it. It is hard to say that the Nufu Church will not cause trouble.
Ma Guangli said: "But how to fight this battle? There are two thousand people on the opposite side!"
Meng Shizhen snorted and said: "Afraid of the ball? What's wrong with two thousand people? Let me ask them, have they ever fought in a war?"
Li Pu'an said: "Even if there are five hundred of us, I'm not afraid of them, but if you add one yuan, there are more than forty people, which is really a little less!"
"Don't worry, I still have help!"
Xu Zhiqiong sent everyone away, touched the ghost jade, and called Yang Wu and Chang Decai out.
With the help of the magic circle, Yang Wu went to Huntiandang, inhaled enough Yin Qi, and was covered with a layer of black mist.
Chang Decai borrowed Tao Huayuan's magic circle and dragged over five hundred paper figures and also brought many weapons.
Yang Wu said to Xu Zhiqiong: "I also brought you a good helper."
"Which helper?"
A thick fog lingered around Xu Zhiqiong, and a concerned voice came from his ears: "Zhiqiong, how could you not call me for such a big thing!"