Both prefectures and counties are both locals, which seem to be only one level apart, but in fact they are very different under the system of the Song Dynasty. In politics, counties are incomplete, and their rights are restricted, while prefectures are different. Prefectures are the most basic local administrative unit, including military, administrative, judicial and other institutions, and even have the highest right to decide on the death penalty. This is a political tradition inherited from the late Tang and Five Dynasties, and prefectures are the foundation of vassal states.

Under the political system of the Song Dynasty, state officials and county officials were completely two classes, and the difference between them was not the first level.

The news that the magistrate of this prefecture was coming quickly spread throughout Linying County, and the entire county government was busy and welcoming. County Magistrate Shi wanted to take the officials of this county to welcome him from afar, and also organized the county elders and guilds of various industries to welcome him together.

Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian were taken out of the courtyard and taken to the official prison of the county, locked in a single room.

Holding Du Zhongxiao and sitting down carefully, Han Lian said, "The little official has suffered this time."

Du Zhongxiao touched his butt, and said angrily: "I was beaten badly by someone named Wu this time, and I will definitely find it back in the future!"

"Little official, forgot." Han Lian sat down aside and shook his head. "The Wu family is a local big family, rich and powerful. How can we villains fight them? You are young and energetic, don't be confused. Juren Du went to the state to complain, and even if the officials in the Dezhou were supported, he would just be venting for a while. Can the officials in the state live in Linying County for a long time? Once they left, the Wu family still wanted to be breeze and rain. This time they offended them, and what should they do if they were merciless at that time?"

When Du Zhongxiao heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said, "Didn't this say that we poor people deserve to be bullied for the rest of our lives?"

"What can I do if the world is like this? Little official, you have never experienced a really difficult life. Now there are peaceful times, and only these small disasters are very good. This time, there are cases in the state, so let's be careful. It is better to resolve the enemy with the Wu family than to make up the matter. Then we sell wine ourselves and never deal with them."

Du Zhongxiao had a smile on his face, and he didn't speak, but there was a cold light in his eyes.

Han Lian said it simply, but he just wanted to forget it. Can the Wu family be willing to do so? If you don’t die from a snake, you will suffer from it in the future. This time, you should give your parents a memory. At least, you should not dare to mess with them in the future.

After all, when things go to this point, isn’t it just that the Wu family is rich and the Han family is poor? Everything is nothing more than the word money. Because of the word money, Wu Kejiu believes that letting Han Yueniang be a concubine is a grace to the Han family, and only if he is rejected will he feel incredible. The social atmosphere is like this, why is Han Yueniang unwilling to do so?

Making money is easy and easy, but it is difficult to say it is difficult. In the past few months, Du Zhongxiao has not thought of many ways, but he lacks an introduction and cannot start. He gets up early and goes to bed late every day, barely cares about food and clothing, and has to find a house, so he has to survive day by day. Now that his father has come back, he has finally come up with a way to steam wine with a small capital, how can he miss it for nothing?

Everything is difficult at the beginning, as long as it starts, everything will be easy to deal with. The powers of the Wu family, what kind of power does it have, is just money. As long as you make money at your own family, why bother to be afraid of them?

Seeing that Du Zhongxiao could not listen to his words, Han Lian shook his head and sighed. He had lived for decades and had seen many things. He knew that this time he seemed to be decisive and actually it was difficult to hurt the Wu family. Speaking of which, Wu Kejiu did a lot of bad things, forcing the people to rob the people of the people, colluding with public people to oppress good people to set up private courts, and so on. But the only thing he really did was to lynch Du Zhongxiao, which was the cooperation of Chen Jiexi. As long as the Wu family was willing to put in some effort, there would be no big deal at all.

Once this matter has passed, the officials such as Tongzong returned to the state, and the Wu family is still showing off their power as before. So what can we do?

Han Lian thought Du Zhongxiao was thinking about how to take revenge on the Wu family, but he didn't expect Du Zhongxiao didn't think about that at all. What he was thinking about was how to make money and how to pursue status after he had money, such as taking the Jinshi exam.

I think it is fundamental to not be bullied by others in the future and becoming stronger by myself. Du Zhongxiao will not place hope on others.

In another room, Wu Kejiu, Cao Jucheng and Chen Jiewei sat on the ground.

Wu Kejiu had a dark face, as if water was about to drip out, and his eyes were red.

After being silent for a while, Wu Kejiu suddenly shouted: "Damn it, why did the Du family sue the state? How could the magistrate take charge of such cases?!"

Cao Jucheng said: "Cousin, we were careless this time! Du Xun, who had been expelled from the juren, think about it, the magistrate and even the subordinates were all from Jinshi, so why wouldn't they look at him? When this guy came to the state, these people naturally stood up for him."

"Damn it!" Wu Jiu stomped his feet heavily. "How wasn't I going to explain it last year? If I was going to explain it, even if I failed the title of Kaifeng Prefecture like Du Xun, I would have lost the favor of the officials in Manzhou. If there is such a thing, who can find out the palm of my hand!"

Chen Jiewei, who was on the side, said in a gloomy face, and said in a muffled voice: "Xiao Junwei, don't say these words. The most important thing now is how to avoid this disaster. If you don't agree to really beat the thief of the Du family, it has become evidence of the crime. I'm afraid it's hard to speak later."

Cao Jucheng said: "What are you saying at the festival level? That's your place, and my cousin and I just went to the trial. My cousin, who was a civilian, said he was hitting people in the county government, would you really beat him? When you talk about this matter before the official, you are still wrong."

After hearing this, Chen Jiewei couldn't help but change his face: "What are you talking about? He used to be arrogant, but now he is in trouble, so he pushes them all over my head. Humph, Xiaoshi, Chen is a little ugly. I still understand more about the affairs in the officialdom than you."

Cao Jucheng just sneered and ignored Chen Jiewei.

It is usually used. Chen Jiewei is a person who works in the yamen, and everyone gives him some respect. If something happens, a public official in the yamen is naturally inferior, so of course he will be introduced to block the disaster. In this era, clerks were looked down upon and were a good candidate for scapegoats.

After a while of silence, Wu Kejiu said: "You guys say, how will the case be tried when the magistrate comes?"

Cao Jucheng said: "The Du family brewed wine privately, and the evidence was conclusive. This was the major policy of the court and did not believe in the state. The only difficult thing now is that my cousin was not in the yamen and ordered someone to beat the thief named Du. He used his own punishment without permission. This crime can be big or small."

"Hmph, he colluded with my wine merchants, sold other wines or made wines from privately. Shouldn't he fight? There's no need to worry too much about this."

Cao Jucheng sighed: "If you are in another place, you will be beaten, but it is not suitable to hit people in the yamen."

After saying that, he looked at Chen Jiexie next to him. The courtyard was where prisoners were detained by the yamen. Wu Kejiu was just a civilian, and he would beat people if he ordered them to be beaten. Chen Jiexie was watching, and this matter was also considered to be on his head.

Chen Jiewei looked down and looked down at the soles of his feet, and no longer spoke. He didn't know what the two meant and wanted to push himself out to be a scapegoat. In this era, people who worked in the yamen were naturally majestic in front of the people, but when they came to the officials, it was completely different. In the eyes of all the officials, clerks were naturally not good people, they only recognized money, and did not have the awareness of doing things for the people.

He always had to think of a solution. Chen Jiewei had hundreds of thoughts in his mind. It was meaningless to expose that the Wu family bribed people in the yamen. He also took the money and offended a group of colleagues. He also had to find another way to shirke his own guilt.

At this moment, Wu Kejiu suddenly said, "The Du puppy made wine privately. Is this absolutely true?"

Chen Jiewei was shocked and hurriedly said, "This is your first report, so of course you know the best!"

Wu Kejiu was stunned and said after a while: "I heard that the Du family and the Han family bought the lees from the 'Yaojiazheng Store' and went back, and then the wine was sold in the stalk store. What's wrong with this? This matter is absolutely impossible to be wrong!"

Chen Jiejie showed a sneer on his lips and said in a deep voice: "But when he was arrested, the Du family's little officials said that they filtered out the remaining wine from the lees. If they only filtered the remaining wine, they would not violate the ban. The banned states and counties have always been private brewing. In addition to the young officials, this matter cannot be wrong."

Wu Kejiu said disdainfully: "My home is brewing wine. How careful is it to fry wine from the lees? Where is the residual wine left? If it was so easy to filter out the residual wine, someone had done it. I still waited until the Du family puppy came up with this method. Don't listen to him nonsense, it's just an excuse."

Chen Jiejie nodded, and no longer spoke, he had already had a scheming in his heart. As long as he bit himself to death, Wu Kejiu came to him and insisted that the Du family brewed wine privately, and things would turn around. It was really a private brew, and there was no mistake in arresting the prisoners who violated the alcohol ban. If not, then Wu Kejiu and Cao Jucheng falsely accused them, and everything was pushed to them.

When the disaster is approaching, everyone is looking for a way out. How many people have no close friends? Who will take the blame for whom? Don’t look at the fact that they are usually domineering in the county, a pair of high-ranking officials such as Tongzong who came from the state have their lives in the minds of others.

Seeing this scene, Cao Jucheng couldn't help but feel upset. He came here from Fujian Road, asking for a quota for resignation, and he could not involve such matters. According to this system, as long as he left a secret, he would have no chance of being in the imperial examination from then on. If the verdict who came was stunned and convicted, the hard work for the past year would be wasted and he would have spent his life's future.

Thinking of this, Cao Jucheng said to Wu Kejiu: "Cousin, this matter is absolutely careless! Whether the Du family really brews wine privately is related to whether we are guilty or not. If they really filter the residual wine, a false accusation will be suppressed, and this matter can be big or small. In recent years, scholars have been very loud in the court and have a mutual voice, and they may not determine how to deal with it in the state. In case of precautions, my cousin still finds a way-"
Chapter completed!