Overnight, Xu Zhiqiong led people to open six charity halls and let go of nearly two thousand beggars.
In Daxuan, the state capital in charge of the capital is called Jingzhao Palace.
There is also a similar official office in Qiancheng, which is called Shenlin Mansion.
The Shenlin Mansion is responsible for the government affairs and public security of the capital, and catching beggars is what they do.
But the Shenlin Mansion knew nothing about what happened last night. Early in the morning, the official on duty during the day was about to replace the official on the night shift, but when he arrived at the Yamen, no one was there.
"Where did these little birds go to have fun?"
"Maybe I got under the covers of my best friend."
"It makes sense that one of them got under the covers, but we can't all get under the covers!"
At the end of the day, everyone was still chatting and laughing.
By Chen time, everyone could no longer laugh.
An hour has passed, why are these officials still nowhere to be seen?
Deng Anruo, the Yin of Shenlin Prefecture, was anxious and ordered his men to search around quickly.
From Chen time to dusk, the police officers traveled all over the city and finally found the police officer who was on duty last night.
But why is it so hard to find? Is it hidden so deeply?
In fact, they were not hidden deeply. Xu Zhiqiong thought they were a nuisance on the street, so he sent them to the charity hall.
The weather was quite cold and it was quite dangerous outside. Xu Zhiqiong was afraid that they would run around, so he tied their hands and feet, gagged their mouths, and placed them securely in the yard.
But they said that those government officials who came to see them, why didn’t they come to the shantang earlier?
What to see in the shantang? The shantang is closed to all beggars!
Those beggars were supposed to fend for themselves, but even if they were all dead, these policemen didn't bother to take a second look.
Thanks to a government official, he caught a drunkard on the street and wanted to take him to the charity hall. But when he opened the door, he found that the charity hall was full of government officials, and he was able to save these people.
These government officials had been hungry all day and had nothing to eat. When they saw Shenlinfu Yin, they felt aggrieved and burst into tears. They all said that they had encountered a ghost last night and had captured them in the shrine.
Lord Fu Yin naturally did not believe in the theory of ghosts. He initially suspected that these government servants had neglected their duties and let the beggars run away. They were also afraid of punishment, so they staged such a painful trick.
It turns out that all the beggars in the six charity halls were let go, so this matter is definitely not the problem of the officials.
Such a big thing happened and we couldn't hide it. We had to report it quickly. Deng Anruo immediately wrote the memorial and sent it to the Shenjun Palace.
Qiancheng Kingdom has no cabinet, and all memorials are presented directly to the Divine Lord.
Hong Juncheng read the memorial and became furious: "It is my decree that the criminal will be arrested and brought to justice within three days!"
The Lord Shen said this sentence, and Deng Anruo only received this sentence, but it is difficult to refer to this sentence in detail.
The Lord God said that the important criminal should be arrested and brought to justice. Who is the important criminal referring to?
Judging from the literal meaning, it should refer to the key criminal who locked up the Yamen in the charity hall.
But this important criminal is so sophisticated that it would be difficult to apprehend him within three days.
Deng Anruo called the general judge Sui Wenchang over to discuss countermeasures together.
Wenchang of the Sui Dynasty did not have a high official position, but his scheming was different from ordinary people and he was extremely good at guessing his intentions. He was an important confidant of Deng Anruo.
After listening to the decree of the Lord God, Sui Wenchang took a sip of tea, smacked his lips, tasted the taste, and sighed softly: "Sir, the wanted criminal you mentioned is different from the one mentioned by the Lord God."
Deng Anruo said: "Why is it different?"
"Who is the criminal you mentioned?"
"The admin said he looks like a ghost!"
"What kind of ghost?"
"The captured officials said that they didn't see the appearance. The ghost had his face covered. They only knew that he knew magic, so the officials were kidnapped and taken to the shantang in a daze."
Sui Wenchang said: "Sir, do you think we should take care of such a ghost? We call his method magic. According to foreigners, this thing is called cultivation. Who should take care of people who have cultivation?"
Deng Anruo suddenly realized: "This matter should be handled by the God Machinery Department!"
Sui Wenchang nodded: "This ghost needs to be captured by Shen Jisi. The key criminal that Shenjun asked us to commit is someone else."
"Who is that?"
"The most important offenders are the beggars," Sui Wenchang put down his tea cup and said slowly, "Sir, think about it, why do we spend so much effort to catch those beggars? So that we don't lose ourselves in front of Xuan Ren.
Thousand times of face,
Now those beggars have run away, and I don’t know where they went. Maybe they will be bumped into by Xuan people one day and the matter will be revealed.
Wouldn't it be a huge loss of face to let Xuanren know that our Qiancheng country not only has beggars, but also captures beggars?"
Deng Anruo thought for a moment and said, "Can those group of propagandists care about these beggars?"
"Whether they pay attention to it or not is their business, but our Lord God is worried about it, so we order you to capture all these beggars within three days."
Deng Anruo pinched her chin and said, "If the Lord God really has such thoughts, why didn't he say it?"
Sui Wenchang smiled and said: "Sir, how can you say this clearly? The Lord God ordered us to catch beggars? To put it disrespectfully, this matter does not make sense both emotionally and rationally. If we really say it out loud, wouldn't it destroy the majesty of the Lord God?
We are doing dirty work, there is no need for God to explain this matter clearly, we just catch all the beggars who run away and that’s it.”
Deng Anruo frowned and said, "I'm afraid it won't be easy to catch."
"It's not that difficult. Sir, go to the city gate and ask if any beggars have left the city in the past two days? As long as they don't leave the city, they can't escape from our hands.
They have no place to stay and nothing to eat. We will search every nook and cranny to make sure not one of them escapes!"
Deng Anruo nodded and immediately ordered the officials to search for beggars throughout the city.
Did Sui Wenchang guess right?
He really guessed it right, Hong Juncheng indeed asked Deng Anruo to catch the beggar.
But beggars are not easy to catch either.
If it is true as Sui Wenchang said, the beggars are all in the city, it will not be difficult to catch them.
But the beggars were all sent outside the city by Xu Zhiqiong. The government officials searched the city for a whole day and found nothing.
Deng Anruo was very worried and asked Sui Wenchang to discuss the matter again.
Sui Wenchang smacked his lips and said, "Have all these beggars left the city?"
Deng Anruo shook his head and said: "I asked the guards at each city gate and spent some money to ask them to pay more attention. No beggar has walked out of the city gate these days."
Sui Wenchang played with the teacup and said, "Then where can they go?"
Deng Anruo sighed: "I'm worried that the ghost used some magic to hide these beggars."
"It's easy to hide a lot of people. Where can these nearly two thousand beggars be hidden?" Sui Wenchang thought for a long time, picked up the tea cup and drank it all in one gulp, "That's all, sir, let's just forget about it and just arrest people.
"
Deng Anruo said in surprise: "I don't even know where those beggars are, how can I catch them?"
Sui Wenchang said: "When you work for Shenjun, you must know what Shenjun wants. What Shenjun wants is that beggars can't be seen on the streets and the charity hall is full of beggars. As for who the beggar is, Shenjun doesn't know who it is!"
Deng Anruo was stunned when he heard this, and then laughed.
He gave Sui Wenchang another cup of tea: "Wenchang, it's really unfair to ask you to be a general judge."
Sui Wenchang waved his hands repeatedly and said: "Your Majesty thinks so highly of me, I am willing to be a general judge for the rest of my life."
"No, no," Deng Anruo said with a smile, "In the future I will report to the Lord God and describe your achievements one by one. With your great talent, the Lord God will definitely put you to great use."
Sui Wenchang thanked him repeatedly, but didn't take it seriously.
Showing credit? You think too much. The credit belongs to Mr. Fu Yin. You are lucky to be safe under him.
At dawn the next day, when the government officials were patrolling the streets, an old man came out to dump dirt. Seeing the officials coming, he hurriedly ran away.
It happened that the old man suffered from the wind and cold last night, and his feet were not in good condition and he fell to the ground. Two policemen rushed forward and helped him up: "Old man, what's wrong with you?"
The old man was so frightened that he could not speak incoherently: "Old man, I am here to dump the soil."
The messenger asked with a surprised look on his face: "You said you have no food to eat?"
The old man shook his head repeatedly and said: "I, I just pour dirt..."
Another police officer sighed and said: "I have no children, and at such an old age, I still have to go out to beg for food."
The old man said hurriedly: "I have a son..."
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. We are at the feet of the Lord God. How can we let you go hungry? I will bring you a place to eat."
"I have a son, I have a family..."
The messenger refused to say anything and sent the old man to the shantang.
But they said that the family found that the old man was missing, how could they not look for it?
Look for it, report it to the official.
Things that happen in Shenlin City will naturally be reported to Shenlin Mansion, and let’s see when Shenlin Mansion can help him find it.
A group of government officials gathered around a few opera singers on the street and watched for a while.
When the messengers came, all the theatergoers dispersed. Several actors were trembling, not daring to leave or ask.
The messenger came forward and said, "Who asked you to come here to sing?"
"We laid down the ground here last month."
"Have you paid taxes?"
"The tax collector hasn't come yet. We'll call him as soon as he comes."
"If he doesn't come, you won't pay him any more, right? Follow me to the Yamen."
These actors looked like they were from other places. If they were arrested and taken to the shantang, no one would question them.
Those who perform on the street, those who work as coolies in the market, and those who come to the city from out of town to look for work, as long as they look remotely similar, they will all be arrested as beggars.
At dusk the next day, the six shrines were filled again.
Deng Anruo was still a little worried about whether there would be any flaws after arresting so many people.
After I went to the charity hall to take a look, I found that my worries were unnecessary.
Originally, these were poor people. After being hungry for two days, they were no different from beggars.
Mr. Fu Yin was very satisfied and returned to Shenlin Fu Yamen feeling refreshed.
After dinner, he handled some government affairs in the study. Deng Anruo was about to return to the bedroom to rest when a man suddenly appeared from behind, pinched his neck and pulled him back to the study.
Deng Anruo wanted to shout, but the man's fingertips suddenly tightened, and Deng Anruo almost died.
The person pinching his neck from behind was none other than Xu Zhiqiong: "Deng Fuyin, why did you take so many poor people to the charity hall?"
"Who are you? You are that monster, right? Come on, come on..."
Xu Zhiqiong tightened his fingertips again, and Deng Anruo immediately lost his voice and kept bowing his hands to express begging for mercy.
Xu Zhiqiong let go, and Deng Anruo took a breath and did not dare to make a sound.
"Did you hear what I just asked you?"
"I heard," Deng Anruo explained, "those poor people can no longer survive. I sent them to the charity hall because I want to give them a bite to eat."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "So, then Shantang is a good place?"
"This is a charity hall built by the imperial court, so it is naturally a good place!"
"Okay, then I'll invite Deng Fuyin to stay for two days."
"I……"
Xu Zhiqiong tightened his fingertips again, turned to Brother Xing and said, "Give Deng Fuyin a good make-up. I think he looks like a beggar."