All the government officials and jailers of Gongchang Mansion were dispatched to the forefront of disaster relief.
One hundred Gongchang Guard soldiers firmly controlled the entire government compound.
Not for anything else, because there is a unique prisoner detained in Gongchang Prison: Wang Kuan, the prefect of Gongchang Prefecture.
Three days have passed, and Wang Kuan was only detained. Xiao Chen did not mention anything about his crimes, nor did he conduct a series of necessary operations such as searching the official warehouse accounts.
Such behavior made Gong Changtongzhi Wei Li feel a little anxious.
At the gate of the city, Xiao Chen took the wooden bowls from the people queuing up to eat with a smile on his face, filled them full for them, and handed them back.
After everyone had finished eating, they clapped their hands and prepared to serve themselves a bowl.
"Sir, I would like to say a few words to you." Wei Li from the side came up quietly.
"Huh? Okay!" Xiao Chen thrust the rice bowl in Wei Li's hand, "Wait for me under the shade of the tree over there."
After saying that, he quickly filled a bowl for himself, picked up a pair of money from the table, put it into the rice bowl, held it in one hand, and walked towards Wei Li under the shade of the tree.
Seeing Xiao Chen coming, Wei Li raised his buttocks and stepped aside.
Xiao Chen was not polite and sat on the steps next to Wei Li. He took a big mouthful of dry rice with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. He said vaguely, "Wei Tongzhi, just say whatever you want."
Holding a rice bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, Wei Li said: "Your Excellency imprisoned Magistrate Wang but did not search for evidence of his crime. If Marquis Dingxi comes, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain."
"Dingxi Marquis, he is in charge of his Marquis's Mansion. It is not his turn to intervene in Gongchang's affairs."
Xiao Chen chuckled and stuffed a few mouthfuls of dry rice into his mouth.
"But, after all, the prefect Wang is the biological son of Marquis Dingxi, and he will not stand idly by."
"Right now, disaster relief is the first priority. When the situation of the victims stabilizes, not only Wang Kuan, but all the responsible people will settle the old and new accounts together. Eat, eat." Xiao Chen said.
"What about the 50,000 shi of grain in Dingxihou? Just keep it in the government granary?"
"Since Lord Marquis is generous, how can we refuse his kindness? Let's put it in the granary for emergencies. The court's disaster relief food funds have been received. You can just keep a record of how much food is consumed every day."
"Okay." Wei Li lowered his head.
After eating two bowls of dry rice and working continuously for several days, a wave of sleepiness came over Xiao Chen.
It was fine for the time being, so I walked towards the direction of Guanyi, preparing to take a nap.
In the past few days, there has been a sufficient supply of dry food, and the faces of the people outside the city have become rosy, as if they have seen hope, and faint laughter can be heard in the chatter of the crowd.
The mood of the victims has finally stabilized.
It's just that Duan Tianming went to secretly arrest the caravan leader, but there was no news, which made Xiao Chen inevitably a little anxious.
Lying on the Datong bunk in the official post office, I was obviously very sleepy. I turned over and over but couldn't fall asleep.
The current Guanyi is the exclusive residence of Dongchang.
If we get the caravan leader back, we must get the specific details of the ambush from his mouth.
In the entire Ming Dynasty, Dongchang had never experienced such cowardice.
If it weren't for the emergency of disaster relief, Xiao Chen would have wished to mobilize Gong Changwei and put the entire caravan under control immediately.
Just as he was thinking about it, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves at the gate, and then he rushed into the yard.
Xiao Chen jumped up, opened the door and walked out.
In the yard, Duan Tianming, who was dressed in plain clothes, had just jumped off his horse and grinned when he saw Xiao Chen.
"Did you get it back?"
"We got it back." Duan Tianming nodded and pointed at a military horse in the middle of the cavalry behind him.
On the back of a military horse, there was a middle-aged man with his hands and feet bound and a rope stuffed in his mouth.
"Bring it into the house." Xiao Chen rubbed his hands.
The two captains stepped forward, dragged the man's feet, and pulled him off the horse with a strong tug.
Just as he was about to land, a captain took a quick step forward and grabbed the opponent's arm.
Like carrying a bag of grain, he carried the man into the house.
"Where did you get it?" Xiao Chen asked Duan Tianming beside him as he walked into the house.
"Shanmen Town Caravan Station."
"Are you taking action?"
"Yeah." Duan Tianming nodded?
"Are any brothers injured?"
"No. But I killed five of the opponent's people."
"It's good that the Dongchang brothers are not injured. If you want to kill the caravan, just kill them." Xiao Chen shook his head and walked into the room.
On the ground, the middle-aged man's hands and feet were tied, so he had to raise his head and stare at Xiao Chen angrily.
"Are you angry?" Xiao Chen chuckled, squatted down, and pulled out the rope that was stuffed in the other person's mouth.
After breathing heavily for a few times, the man said: "Who are you? How did the caravan offend you and want to rob me here?"
"It doesn't matter who we are, what's important is that you are the leader of the caravan." Xiao Chen pointed at the people behind him, "Brothers feel that the business of transporting goods can be done, but with the caravan taking away most of the business, always
It’s not a big deal. After much thought, it’s most appropriate to get rid of the caravan.”
"You want to get rid of the caravan? You don't have to worry about the wind blowing your tongue." The middle-aged man tilted his head to one side and spat on the ground with a "poof" sound.
"At first, that's what we thought. But then we thought about it, the caravan has so many people, it would be a waste to kill them all. Wouldn't it be better to kill you and take over while the caravan is leaderless?" Xiao Chen said at the corner of his mouth.
He raised his head slightly, and a victor's smile appeared on his face.
"You think you can take over the caravan by killing me? What an idiot." The middle-aged man said disdainfully.
After looking at the opponent for a few times, Xiao Chen stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said slowly: "Song Yi, starting from the age of twelve, followed the team of Dingxi Hou to conquer the world. During a battle with the enemy, he was hit by an arrow in the leg. Dingxi
Seeing that you were still young, I advised you to leave the army after some treatment."
"Due to his combat experience in the army, he rose to prominence in the caravan that was later established. And because he had a superior-subordinate relationship with the Marquis of Dingxi, he received support from the Marquis of Dingxi and became the leader of the caravan."
"With the secret support of the Hou Mansion, the caravan business grew bigger and bigger, gradually monopolizing the cargo transportation business in the area west of Fengxiang Mansion, and at the same time annexing other small organizations. However, the support of the Hou Mansion is not free.
, the commission from the business almost caused internal strife among the caravans."
Having said this, Xiao Chen smiled faintly and stared at Song Yi, the leader of the caravan: "Chief Song, am I right?"
The contempt on Song Yi's face gradually disappeared, replaced by solemnity.
"Who are you and how do you know all this?"
"It doesn't matter who I am, but these details of yours come from Gong Changwei's first-hand information. Do you think that holding the thigh of Dingxi Houfu will be safe? Don't you know that Gong Changwei is responsible for this
A defensive imperial army?"
As if he was confident, Xiao Chen sat down on the Datong bunk, put his left leg on top of his right leg, put his hands on his knees, and said very casually.
Song Yi's eyes narrowed into slits: "Gong Changwei, want to call Lord Banhou?"
"Why, can't it be done?" Xiao Chen snorted lightly.
"The Marquis of Dingxi, the Marquis personally named by Taizu, has to show courtesy even to the emperor. Gong Changwei, you are digging your own grave."
"Yes, the Marquis of Dingxi was personally granted the title by Taizu. But if a marquis asks the emperor to give him three points of courtesy, he should cherish the emperor's courtesy and be his marquis well. If he stretches his hand too long, even the marquis might not protect him.
a ha ha ha."
Raising his head, Xiao Chen laughed loudly.
Song Yi's brows became more solemn.
Entering the city today, although he was tied to the horse, his eyes were open.
When these people entered the city, the soldiers guarding the city not only did not stop them, but even took the initiative to move out of the way. How could they be treated like this if they were not Gong Changwei's people?
Moreover, he never saw the figure of the prefect at the city gate.
Logically speaking, during the drought in Gongchang, the prefect should have been guarding the city gate even if it was just for show. Is it possible that Gong Changwei attacked the Marquis and captured the prefect in advance?
"If you commit such a crime, the Marquis will not go around you, and the prefect will definitely not go around you. There is a drought in Gongchang, and you took the opportunity to act secretly. If the emperor knew about this, he would not let you go." Song Yi
shouted loudly.
Xiao Chen shook his head and looked at Song Yi with a little disappointment: "To be able to achieve the position of the leader of the caravan, I thought you should be very smart, but I didn't expect that you are just a fool."
He waved his hand towards Duan Tianming: "Pull him out and kill him."
