: Ask the root of the root

In a remote courtyard in Hangzhou, several middle-aged men in common are sitting around a half-old table. If people from the Hangzhou officialdom come here, they will definitely feel strange, because these people are all senior officials under the governor of a province in Zhejiang, but now they are sitting in a low-key manner in such an inconspicuous courtyard, not even a servant.

"This man surnamed Ding is really too bullying. We took such a big risk and did so many things, but in the end he got benefits alone. How can we bear this breath!" Commander Fan couldn't help but say.

"That's right, he didn't even say hello in advance, so he changed our plan without authorization. He is a lowly businessman, why should he use us?" Hangzhou magistrate Meng Haigang also looked angry. As the local administrative chief in Hangzhou, he certainly could not see such a businessman riding on his head.

After these two people said this, several other officials also scolded Ding Bancheng, and someone asked, "Commander Fan, aren't your subordinates willing to obey orders? Why not give this guy away, and then you'll be completely wiped out?"

Commander Fan's eyes flashed with murderous intent, but he still looked at Zhang Siyuan. He still respected this far-sighted Shangguan. Zhang Siyuan's face was also gloomy when he heard everyone's words, but when he heard that they wanted to get rid of Ding Bancheng, he shook his head and said, "Don't think about this. Since Ding Bancheng dared to do this, he is not afraid that we will retaliate. He is already prepared. We can't hurt him at all, but will put us in an unfavorable situation."

"Mr. Zhang, what should we do? Are so many of our imperial officials bullied by a businessman like this?" someone said uncomfortable.

"Now he is on the same boat with us, so he is naturally fearless. We really can't do anything to him. We can only make money this time. Fortunately, we have not lost money. At least we have done Jiande's work. Now everything is under our control. Soon the court will take some measures and we can use this matter to push all the previous things clean. However, if Ding dares to do this, we must not spare him. After this matter, he will naturally ask us for it. At that time..." Zhang Siyuan smiled and said, "I think the prefect Meng must have the best solution to this point. In addition, Lord Feng is a veteran in punishment. If you want to find some mistakes, wouldn't you just need to reach out?"

"A gentleman takes revenge for ten years, we know what Lord Zhang means." Several officials nodded with emotion and smiled. But Lord Feng did not laugh, but frowned and said, "Mr. Zhang, there is one thing I can't let go of. Will the Ding dare to do this for money attract the attention of some people? If someone sees something, I'm afraid we will be in trouble."

"You mean Tang Feng?" The smile that appeared on his face just now disappeared as the name appeared: "I have thought about this. However, Tang Feng has been ignoring foreign affairs recently and is still at his own home until now. I don't think he is too concerned about this matter. After all, this is my internal affairs in Zhejiang. His Jinyiwei has not received the order from the court, and no matter how long his hands are, it is impossible to take care of us. Besides, we have a governor above us."

"It's true that the words are said, but Tang Feng has to be careful of it. In addition, the news I just got just now, it turned out that the Jiande County Magistrate Xiong Can has a younger brother from the Jinyiwei. I wonder if this will become an excuse for him to interfere in this matter."

"If this is true, he will have no reason to intervene in this matter. As long as he dares to intervene, we can say that he wants to protect his own people and do this. By that time, without us speaking, the censor of Zhejiang Dao can impeach him!" Zhang Siyuan said: "But it's always good to be careful. It seems that it's time to send a few people to watch him in Shaoxing."

While these officials were still discussing whether Tang Feng would threaten him, Tang Feng had already brought his subordinates to Jiande in batches. Since he had made a decision, he would not delay any time, because he knew that if he delayed for one more day, the people of Jiande would suffer one more day.

Because the road was full of water, and the mud and stones on the mountain were washed down by rain, it was very hard to get to Jiande. In the past, it only took them three days, but this time it took them six days. When they arrived at the Jiande territory, it was already the night of July 27. With the till the crescent moon, Tang Feng saw the Jiande County after the disaster for the first time. It was a scene like that. I saw that around the white water surface, many victims were sleeping and falling down. They were all weak and in disarray. No matter how they looked, they didn't look like they were in their hometown, but like people who were fleeing in a deserted year.

A few large pots with no mouths were placed on the fire. Apart from some thin rice soup, there were only a few pieces of yellow and green objects floating in the pot. It was supposed to be wild vegetables. Even with such food, everyone around them stared at it without blinking, waiting for it to cook and eat it.

"This..." Tang Feng could hardly speak when he saw this scene. After a while, he came to some of them and asked, "My fellow villager, let me ask you, is this Jiande County?"

Those people were all focused on those pots, and they didn't even look at the outsiders who suddenly came. Now, when people heard people asking, someone nodded numbly: "You are right, this is Jiande. But this is no longer the original Jiande." Their words were full of bitterness.

Tang Feng winked the guards behind him, and they immediately took out some dry food for the road from the bag and handed it to these people. Obviously, these people had been eating this kind of porridge that was so thin that they could wash their faces for more than ten days. When they saw someone taking out the dry food, their eyes turned green, and someone immediately stepped forward and snatched it up.

"Don't rob, we still have some food here, so there must be enough people here." Seeing this, Zhang Tai protected Tang Feng behind him and said loudly: "We are here to help you."

After hearing the word "Old Man", the people were a little more restrained, but the people who snatched the food still stuffed them into their mouths regardless of the matter. Tang Feng sighed: "My fellow villagers, my name is Tang Feng. I wonder if you have heard of me?"

"Are you Lord Tang of the Jinyiwei? The one who killed all the eunuchs?" One of the old men who seemed to have some majesty suddenly spoke after hearing his words.

"I am Tang Feng, how dare you ask the old man?" Tang Feng took a cake and handed it to the old man and asked. The old man took the cake and didn't bother to answer Tang Feng. He took it and took a bite. After eating a big cake a few times, he was still unsatisfied, but he finally thought of the words of the person in front of him, and said, "I am the leader of the Liu clan of Jiande County, named Liu Sangen. Lord, are you here to save us?" When he said this, his eyes were full of hope.

"It turns out it's Mr. Liu. We are here for the flood of Jiande." Tang Feng replied plausibly.

"That's great. We finally came to Master Qingtian. Please make decisions for us!" Liu Sangen said, and had already knelt on the ground. When he saw him kneeling down, the others also knelt down: "Please make decisions for us."

"Everyone, please get up quickly." Tang Feng hurriedly helped Old Man Liu up and said loudly: "Don't worry, since I have come, I will definitely give you an explanation. But before that, please tell me what happened." Tang Feng wanted to ask these people first, and then conduct in-depth investigations.

"It's such a sin to mention this matter." Thinking of the flood that day, Old Man Liu burst into tears in his eyes: "Old man, I'm 68 years old, but I've never encountered such a flood. That night, water suddenly poured into the county town, saying that the dam over there was broken, and all the dams were broken..." When he talked about the situation that day, everyone's faces were tragic, and some women and children even started to cry.

After listening to their story, Tang Feng asked again: "Uncle Liu, let me ask you a question. Is this flood caused by the poor supervision of your county magistrate and the people in the yamen?"

"This... the old man is hard to say. According to reason, the county master should have been staring at the village laborers on the dike, but when the flood came, the county master was in the county government office. Afterwards, he explained that some officers and soldiers came to help, and he returned to the county government office with the others, but it is unknown whether this is true or not. However, many people in the county did not believe him, and they all said that the river embankment was collapsed because the county magistrate left without hesitation."

Tang Feng nodded slightly. This was similar to what Xiong Hui said that day. It seemed that there was indeed some officers and soldiers who had said it. At this time, a man suddenly said, "Class leader, this is true. I was on the dam that day and saw those officers and soldiers with my own eyes." Tang Feng looked at him and found that he was a boy of sixteen or seventeen years old with a little childish look on his face, but he was very serious when he said this.

"What? Since you are like this, why don't you say it?" Old Man Liu asked loudly.

"This... all the uncles said angrily that day that it was the adult's fault. How dare I say yours are not?" The young man replied timidly.

"You..." Old Man Liu didn't know what to say for a moment, but just sighed hatefully: "It's also a big fault for us being too impatient. As soon as something happened, we pushed the mistake on the county magistrate. We didn't believe anything he said."
Chapter completed!