At night, two tables were set up in the backyard of the inn, and there were also naan bread, meat and vegetables, which filled the table.
Zhou Jun sat on the folding chair, looking up at the bright moon in the night sky, while Hua Yue stayed by his side, gently peeling the fruits.
There were footsteps at the end of the courtyard.
Zhou Jun followed the sound and saw that the judge in the daytime was standing at the entrance of the courtyard with his hands behind his back and a frown on his face.
Seeing Judge Feng coming alone, Zhou Jun praised his courage in his heart, then stood up and stretched out his hand to make a "please" gesture.
Judge Feng did not move, but asked Zhou Jun: "Who are you?"
Zhou Jun looked at the other party and said with a smile: "Your real name is Feng Changqing. You are from Yishi County in Puzhou. When you were young, you and your ancestors were exiled to Anxi for crimes. You were once the south guard of Hu City. In the early years of Tianbao, the Daxi tribe suppressed the rebellion and the war was not over.
You then prepare a victory report in private, describing wells, springs, garrisons, tactics, etc., which is almost consistent with the battle, and Gaodu was surprised when he saw it..."
The more Feng Changqing listened, the more frightened he became, and he asked loudly: "Who are you?!"
Zhou Jun smiled and took off the fish charm from his waist, and passed the painted moon into Feng Changqing's hands.
The latter carefully took the fish charm and saw the words on it clearly by the firelight. His eyes suddenly widened and he quickly stepped forward and sang: "I have seen Supervisor Zhou."
Zhou Jun smiled and said: "Sit down and talk."
Feng Changqing hesitated for a moment and sat in front of the case.
Zhou Jun poured himself a drink and said to Feng Changqing: "There is no need to be formal, just treat it as a banquet for friends."
Feng Changqing responded, looked at Zhou Jun, and asked hesitantly: "Jian Zhou is the interview envoy of Longyou appointed by the imperial court. Since you are coming to Shicheng Town, why didn't you inform us in advance?"
Zhou Jun sipped the wine in his glass and said slowly: "Anxi is no better than the Central Plains, with numerous forces and complexities... Sometimes, it is more convenient to hide your identity."
When Feng Changqing heard this, he recalled what the Shicheng guard did during the day, nodded, and understood.
Zhou Jun: "In the sixth year of Tianbao, you followed Gao Duhu and defeated the Xiaobolu Kingdom that was attached to Tubo. Such unparalleled achievements can be called the mainstay of the Tang Dynasty."
When ordinary people hear these compliments, most of them feel happy and say a few words of humility.
But Feng Changqing just stiffened his neck and corrected Zhou Jun: "Supervisor Zhou, what you said is wrong. The first contribution to defeating Xiao Bolu should be made by Gao Duhu. He is just supervising the rear and transporting grain and grass. How can he talk about his merits?"
Two words?"
After hearing this, Zhou Jun smiled helplessly and asked: "As a Jiedu judge, your duty should be to deal with the farmland and expenses of the four towns of Anxi. Why did you come to Shicheng Town?"
Feng Changqing: "Originally, this was the case, but since the beginning of the year, most people from Changxingfang to Anxi took the Dunhuang Ancient Road, and Shicheng Town gradually replaced Yanqi Town and became the gateway to Changxingfang in Anxi. Therefore, in the past six months, a certain
Half of the time, I spend half of my time in Stone Town dealing with trade route matters."
Zhou Jun nodded lightly and asked again: "So today in the lobby, I saw you looking through the inn's book, but who are you looking for?"
Feng Changqing opened his mouth, the words came to his lips, he thought about it, swallowed it back and changed his words: "It's just investigating a case, it's not a big deal."
Zhou Jun observed the words and expressions and knew that the other party was unwilling to tell the truth.
Zhou Jun thought about it carefully, after all, it was the first time they met, and they were not familiar with each other, so it was natural for Feng Changqing to have reservations about what he said.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun put down the topic and asked Feng Changqing: "Let me ask you something, since you are a judge, do you have any difficulties in spending money and food in the Anxi Protectorate?"
Hearing this question, Feng Changqing, who usually managed the land of the Protectorate, seemed to open up his chat box and complained to Zhou Jun: "Anxi Jieduguo Funing Western Region, unified Qiuci, Yanqi, Khotan and Shule."
There are 24,000 soldiers in the town, and each garrison has a force of 3,000 to 5,000. There are also troops, towns, guards, beacons, and garrison troops. Each garrison ranges from 1,000 to dozens. Calculated,
The troops registered in Anxi are numerous and varied."
"However, although Anxi has a vast territory, most of it is in barren mountains and rivers. The farmland is not abundant, and the taxes and tributes are also low. In addition, there are many ethnic groups in the Western Regions and they are widely distributed. It is even more difficult to uniformly collect taxes."
"Therefore, the grain and silk that the Anxi Protectorate puts into storage every year sometimes cannot even cover the food and salary of the soldiers of the capital, let alone other military and military units."
Zhou Jun could understand Feng Changqing's statement.
The area under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate is too large. If you only look at the map, the land under its jurisdiction accounts for almost one-fifth of the entire Tang Dynasty. Although the number of Anxi soldiers recorded in the "Book of Tang" is 24,000
people, but the actual number of troops under Anxi's jurisdiction far exceeds this number.
Therefore, the imperial court allocates grain money every year in the form of Changxingfang to supplement the Anxi Protectorate. This is also the reason.
Feng Changqing: "Earlier, Wang Zhongsi had reformed the commercial tax to raise military pay. When Gao Duhu saw this, he wanted to follow suit, so he called in the leaders of various tribes to discuss it, and finally they broke up unhappy."
Hearing this, Zhou Jun remembered something and asked Chang Qing, "The imperial court wants to reopen the Dunhuang Ancient Road. What impact will this move have on Anxi?"
Feng Changqing: "If the Dunhuang Ancient Road is reopened, it will be of great benefit and no harm to the Anxi Protectorate, but for some people, it will be a bad thing."
Zhou Jun: "Some people?"
Feng Changqing: "The commercial towns in the prefectures that the northern trade route passes through, such as Gaochang and Yiwu, are controlled by the Sogdians and Longyou dignitaries. If the Dunhuang trade route is opened, the caravans will definitely travel in order to save costs.
Abandoning the northern line is obviously disadvantageous to the Sogdians and Longyou dignitaries."
"When Gao Duhu heard that the imperial court wanted to use the Dunhuang trade route, he was overjoyed and ordered Feng to cooperate as much as possible. However, some young people in Anxi only thought about personal gain and tried to cause chaos."
Zhou Jun put down his wine glass and said, "Do you know the true identities of those soldiers who pretended to be Liangzhou Governor's residence today?"
Feng Changqing shook his head at first, and then said: "I don't know, but it doesn't matter. I have sent people from Shicheng Town. In less than three days, I can get the order from the Protectorate. Once I have the order in hand, I will interrogate those people."
The prisoner cannot plead for mercy even if the governor of Shicheng Town comes forward in person."
Zhou Jun smiled slightly, looked at Feng Changqing and said, "Three days? I'm afraid that no one can mention it after three days."
Feng Changqing was stunned and asked in confusion: "No one can mention it? What is the meaning of Zhou Jian's words?"
Zhou Jun shook his head and just drank and chatted with Feng Changqing without going into details.
Although the latter had doubts, it was not easy to ask further.
Three days later, Feng Changqing asked for the order from the Anxi Protectorate and went to the prison to interrogate the prisoners.
Ling Shi, who was guarding the prison, looked troubled and explained to Feng Changqing: "The commander dared to know that the prisoners who were brought in three days ago only lasted most of the night in prison. They fell ill early the next morning and all died. Already."
Feng Changqing was shocked when he heard this and shouted: "Dead?!"
The prison commander Shi nodded and said: "The body is still parked in Yizhuang in the back compartment, and I am planning to conduct an autopsy."
Feng Changqing rushed out of the prison and walked into the yizhuang in the backyard of the mansion.
When I opened the door, a rotten smell hit my face.
Feng Changqing covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves, rushed into the hall, pushed Gu Zuo aside, and opened the coffin for the morgue.
The corpse in the coffin was the leader of the prisoner team that he fought with that day.
The latter's face was black and blue, his eyes were bulging, and there were several blood stains on his throat. His death was so miserable that he couldn't bear to look at it.
Feng Changqing asked for the knife he had made, cut open the deceased's trachea, and used the tip of the knife to pick out some strange-looking petals stained with black blood.
Seeing those petals, Feng Changqing shook his palms, took a breath of cold air, and whispered to himself: "Hidden door."