Before dawn, Su Ren came back. Leng Jun and Huo Jin, who had been worried all night, finally felt relieved.
"Are you okay? Why are you looking for me?"
Su Ren didn't say a word, and sat down on the edge of the couch, holding his chin with his hands: "It's okay, you guys go to sleep first."
Know yourself and your enemy and you will be victorious in every battle. This is the experience summed up by great wise men for thousands of years. But I have completely forgotten it when I get here. In this warm water, I am different from others in every way, and I feel that I can control everything. In fact,
He is still an ordinary person, an ordinary person who can also have convulsions.
"Brother, is he okay?" Hawking asked Leng Jun.
Leng Jun shook his head: "It's not the first time. He should be thinking about something. Go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow. Let him think about it by himself."
Early the next morning, several people were awakened by the sound of gongs and drums. Huo Jin quickly got dressed and rushed outside. The street was crowded with people. Soldiers transferred from the military camp stood on both sides of the street to maintain order. The vendors along the street were
Drive them away, leaving wide streets.
Hawking turned around and asked the innkeeper: "What's wrong? What happened?"
The shopkeeper let out a sigh of relief: "The man sent by the imperial court is leaving. He is finally leaving. Otherwise, I won't be able to continue my business."
Upon hearing this, Hawking ran excitedly to the backyard guest room, shouting as he ran: "Brother, second brother, good thing, that ugly guy is leaving."
Leng Jun came out of the room and stretched. Su Ren behind him was also listless, with dark circles under his eyes like a panda. He was not excited at all by Hawking's call. He just lowered his head to find a basin to get water to wash his face.
"Are you two unhappy? Once the ugly monster leaves, he will never trouble us again!"
"Huh! I'm already feeling sad. Why are you waiting if you don't leave?"
Hawking was told sternly and mumbled and stopped talking.
After Tian Fu left the city, the martial law in the city disappeared. Su Ren was not in a hurry to return to Laojunguan, and came to the back door of the county government again. Tian Fu left, and the county magistrate Changshi who had been living abroad finally moved back. These days
, he was always worried that Tian Fu would take a fancy to something in his house and take advantage of it. When he got home, he immediately started to check his things.
Su Ren went straight to Chang Shi's study. Su Ren was not what he used to be. Not only was he a familiar customer, he was also the fifth doctor of the ninth rank. He didn't need to be notified by the door again when he entered the county government office.
"My lord, can you please speak to me?"
Suddenly someone spoke, and Chang Shi was startled. When he turned around and saw it was Su Ren, he breathed a sigh of relief: "I was shocked. Why didn't you tell me when you came in?"
Su Ren ignored him. He sat down on the Grand Master's chair and casually grabbed a scroll of bamboo slips and read through it.
"You arrived quickly. Tian Fu took the money and left immediately. He is also a person who keeps his promises. He just doesn't know if the money we gave him can accomplish things?"
"Tian Fu has agreed to deal with it, but he also told me one thing. How much does the county magistrate know about Liu Wen's backstage?"
"Liu Wen's backstage?" Chang Shi was stunned. He took the bamboo slips from Su Ren's hand, rolled them up again, and put them in the original place: "Liu Wen has some connections with the royal family. I haven't heard who his backstage is. Na Tian
Did you say that?"
Su Ren shook his head: "Although he didn't say it, from what he meant, he should be very tough. Even Tian Fu is afraid of three points."
"Oh? This Tian Fu is the uncle of the state, Marquis of Wu'an, and Lang Zhongling. His sister is the Queen Mother, and his nephew is the current Majesty. There are not many people he can be afraid of."
"Yeah, I'm also confused. Logically speaking, a county magistrate from a small border county, even if he is a member of the royal family, is still a phoenix with no feathers. He is not as good as a chicken. I didn't expect that he has a backstage that makes the royal family of the dynasty afraid." Su Ren
Frowning: "Can you tell me about the Liu family?"
Chang Shi thought about it briefly: "When Emperor Gaozu came to Wenshui, this place was still the Dian Kingdom..."
"I know all this, is there anything else? Was there any situation with the Liu family during the time of the late emperor?"
"I don't know about that. I've only been in Wenshui for two or three years. The Liu family has not changed much in the past few years. You can ask the county captain about this. He is a native of the country."
Chang Shi rolled his eyes and said, "Do you think Hou Jian is hiding something?"
"It's not something, it's a certainty! Hou Si deliberately told me about the Liu family's ancestors, but they didn't mention anything about what happened later."
"Oh? This Hou Jian, what does he want to do?"
"Since the county magistrate doesn't know, I won't bother you and say goodbye."
Su Ren left. Chang Yuan came. Just as he was about to speak, Chang Shi immediately reached out to stop him: "It doesn't matter if you let him touch the iron plate for a stupid young man. I didn't see him coming to the county government and didn't notify him. I really think I
Now that I have a title, I am considered a person? I am still too young and need to be tempered."
I didn't get the results I wanted from Chang Shi. I definitely won't gain anything by going to Hou Jian. Su Ren has realized that both Chang Shi and Hou Jian are deliberately hiding something from themselves. If they don't figure out these things, it will be possible later.
You'll suffer a lot at your own expense.
Returning to Laojun Temple, Su Ren asked Huo Laosi to inquire about the Liu family. If the Liu family has a relationship with the imperial court, Liu Wen would never hide such a big matter with his style of doing things, although it would not cause a fuss all over the city.
Windbreaker, someone should know about it. Huo Laosi has been in Wenshui for so many years, so this matter can only be left to him.
While waiting for news from Huo Laosi, he was also waiting for news from Wu Tuzi.
By the way, Wu Tuzi and the others have been away with the goods for almost a month, and there is still no news yet. Even if something happens, they have to send someone to report it. Wenshui is the border of Dahan, and not far to the south is the territory of Yelang.
According to the military map provided by Hou Jian, one hundred miles southwest of the border is Wuyang, the southernmost county of Yelang Kingdom.
"Xiao Jinzi, you go to Shuangzuishan again today and tell them that if there is no news about Wu Tuzi, we will cooperate with them to cancel it."
"Okay, I'll go now."
Before Hawking could go out, he coldly led Gou Tianming into the room with his sword in hand. After not seeing each other for a month, Gou Tianming had lost a lot of weight, and his already fleshless cheeks had lost some weight, making them look dry and ugly.
As soon as he saw Su Ren, Gou Tianming fell to his knees with a bang, his eyes filled with tears: "Mr. Su, our boss..." and he was speechless.
Su Ren felt unhappy and said angrily: "What's going on? Tell me!"
"Our boss has been killed!"
"Who did it?"
"Yelang people, they broke their word. They accepted our things but refused to do business with us, and even wanted to steal our goods. In order to cover us, the boss blocked the pursuers alone and died of exhaustion."
"What about the goods?" Hawking asked.
Su Ren glared at Huo Jin: "Yelang is arrogant! You are a Yelang man, do you really think that you are a powerful country and no one dares to offend you?"
"Mr. Su, we have transported the goods back, but the losses are not small. Although the officials of the Yelang Kingdom are arrogant, the people are very willing to do business with us. However, once our boss dies, the Shuangzui Mountains will be leaderless, and the trade route may also be lost.
I can’t leave.”
"Why can't we go? Starting from tomorrow, I will get you some weapons and you can start training. You must go on this trade route. If you dare to obstruct it, you will be shot to death!"
Gou Tianming was about to speak but stopped.
"What? Are you afraid? You will be emboldened by robbing homes and houses, but you will lose your prestige by attacking the southern barbarians?"
"But we..."
"Although you are bandits, you are also Han people. Anyone who goes against us Han people is an enemy. It is precisely because you ran away this time that your boss was killed. As long as we fight against them together, we will never do it again.
When something like this happens, of course you have to remember one thing: don’t harass those people. After all, we are doing business, not going to war to destroy the country."
"Yeah! Let's do it!"
"I will find someone to get rid of the goods I brought back immediately. I will send someone to transport some food tomorrow and give some money to the families of the injured and dead brothers. We cannot let them die in vain after making money for us."
Su Ren's words made Gou Tianming feel warm in his heart. Stick and carrot policies are useful in any era. These bandits are reckless men, and the kindness to them will be remembered for a lifetime.
Su Ren helped Gou Tianming up and asked him to sit down. He sent Leng Jun to drive away the people gathered outside the door, closed the door, and began to study the strategy of dealing with the Nanman. Su Ren was not a strategist, but how to win people's hearts?
These ideas of differentiation and disintegration were still possible. The two of them talked from noon to lighting the lamp. Su Ren left Gou Tianming and the others had dinner and sent him out.
Huo Laosi didn't come back until late at night. He was exhausted and felt that he hadn't heard anything. Seeing that Su Ren was still waiting for him, he knocked on the door and came in. He lowered his head and didn't know how to face Su Ren's trust.
"Fourth brother is back. How are you? What's the news?"
Huo Laosi shook his head: "I have found many old people. The Liu family has not changed much in the past ten years. It is all trivial matters. Brother Ren, the Liu family really has a backend. Could it be that Marquis Wu'an who deceived us?"
"
"First of all, what's the news?"
"Old man Zhao from Hebei Village said that thirteen years ago, several of the Liu family's granaries outside the city were burned down overnight. Some people said that they were stolen by evil spirits. They contained tens of thousands of grains and rice. The Liu family's
I didn’t do anything about it and just continued to live my own life.”
"Also, the old man Qin from Jingfang Village said that the Liu family was originally prosperous, but later, for some reason, all the men disappeared, and even Liu Wen's father Liu Tang also disappeared, so Liu Wen took charge of the house."
"Oh? This is all strange. When did the male member of the Liu family disappear?"
Huo Laosi shook his head: "Old man Qin didn't say it. It should have been quite a while, almost around the time the granary was burned."
"It's interesting. What year was it thirteen years ago?"
"It should be the first emperor's dynasty, three years!"
"Three years?" Su Ren seemed to have caught something in his mind, but he vaguely felt something was wrong.
"Oh, that's right! Mrs. Cai Feng from the east of the city said that she saw Liu Wen's father Liu Tang heading east with his children and the animals pulling the cart. There were many people there in the middle of the night!"
"Dongmian? It was also in the third year of Emperor Jing's life, right?"
Huo Laosi nodded: "That Madam Cai is a lunatic. No one believes what he says."
Su Ren paced back and forth, holding one hand on his chest and touching his chin with the other. Unfortunately, he didn't have a beard. He thought about these things over and over in his mind, hoping to understand the connection. (To be continued)