The cold wind was howling outside the house, mixed with snow seeds hitting the window paper, making a sound of snapping. The long ice on the eaves hangs upside down, reflected on the window under the dim light of the fury wind light, and the shapes are different. ←,. This is the 20th day that Zhou Wenlong arrived in Shayang County. The cold wave swept over again, and the entire Shayang County seemed to be frozen. This is not a season suitable for human activities outside, but in Shayang County, there are still many people wandering every night. These people are refugees who have lost their homes and fled to Shayang County. They have no houses and no food, and can only seek opportunities to survive like lonely ghosts.

Outside the city, more such refugees lived in the large number of straw sheds built against the city. The snowstorm has been raging these days. I heard that the couch and the shed have crushed many people to death. The entire county city is in a state of terror. Quan Yun, the county magistrate, was so busy that he was not touched the ground, but the increasing number of deaths still made him feel worried.

On the contrary, Zhou Wenlong was very happy that every time one more person died, it would prove that the county magistrate Quan Yun was incompetent, and added a lot of bargaining chips to pull him off. He held a list of increasing numbers every day, which was provided to him by the chief of the county magistrate's mansion. This guy who was excluded in the county magistrate's mansion, with Zhou Wenlong's slight signing, he resolutely voted to his disciples.

I have been in Shayang County for twenty days and have received more and more evidence that has been unfavorable to the county magistrate Quan Yun. If I were to be in another place, it would be no problem to pull Quan Yun off the horse based on these things alone. But here, Zhou Wenlong knew that it would not work at all, because there was a big Buddha here, Mr. Liu.

These days, Quan Yun seems to have no concern about him, the censor, who is trying to deal with him, and Old Master Liu has not seen Zhou Wenlong again. Although he has come to the door several times, he is kept away by this old guy because he is ill. The other gentry in Shayang County only follows Old Master Liu, and it is like a piece of iron, making Zhou Wenlong unable to speak.

The indifference between Mr. Liu and Quan Yun made Zhou Wenlong feel a little panicked for no reason. He didn't believe that the Changshi provided him with information and his small actions to hide it from them, but they did not react at all. If something happened abnormal, it would be a monster. Zhou Wenlong, who had been immersed in conspiracy for many years, was naturally a little nervous.

They seemed very busy. These days, Shayang County City has been transporting grain in Xiangfeng County, and carriages loaded with grain were set off in the harsh environment of wind and snow. The county magistrate Quan Yun comforted the dead outside the city like a strong man, while vigorously recruiting young and strong people among these people, allowing these people to act as civil servants in exchange for food.

This trick is extremely effective. At least, the refugees outside the city have been reduced a lot these days. Although it is very hard to travel in such weather, at least there is food to eat. This extremely hard work for ordinary people is a pie that falls from the world for these refugees.

As long as they can survive, these people will do anything.

But what puzzled Zhou Wenlong was that there was too much food transported out. It was so much that he almost thought that the one who was fighting in Fengxian now was not an army of 5,000 people but an army of tens of thousands of people. The situation in the past two days has become even more wrong. In addition to food, there are actually various weapons, tools, etc.

"What's going on?" He stared at the Chief Secretary Wang Zhijun. "How could there be so much food to be shipped? Since there is so much food, why not take it out to provide relief to the victims? And watch these people starve to death in large numbers?"

Wang Zhijun, the chief of Shayang County, is a completely ********* in Shayang County. He was sent to Shayang County a year ago. In Shayang County, which had already formed a fixed circle, he was an outsider who could not be accepted. Of course, this made him extremely dissatisfied, so when Zhou Wenlong threw an olive branch to him, he took it over without hesitation. The left prime minister is now in a strong ambition. If he could help the left prime minister succeed, why worry about wealth and prosperity?

"I've inquired about this. I heard that a large part of it was to be given to the people of Qi." Wang Zhijun explained: "This time a general died in Feng County. You know, even the Emperor was furious, afraid that something would happen to Qi Rensheng again. This general named Liang, who was stationed in Deng County, spoke up and ransomed money and grain from Shayang County. Shayang County had no choice but to settle the matter, so he could only give them the matter. The grain was not from the county government treasury, but from the major gentry families in Shayang County who paid out of their own pockets."

"When did these evil gentry put national interests first? This is not a small amount, and they are willing to take it out?" Zhou Wenlong said inexplicably. In other places, it is really not easy for the court to take out real gold and silver from the rich and noble families. It is strange that it is the opposite of the situation in Shayang.

"What a well-behaved person in the County Governor Quan. He didn't know what method he used to serve Mr. Liu comfortably. I heard that he wrote an IOU, led by Mr. Liu, and called on everyone to pay the food. You also know that when Mr. Liu spoke, who dared not to take it? Then do he want to mess up in Shayang?" Wang Zhijun shook his head. "Mr. Zhou, forgive me, to be honest, if you want to take Quan Yun, you must take Mr. Liu first. Otherwise, even if someone else comes to Shayang County, you will still have to change the soup and not the medicine."

When Zhou Wenlong heard Wang Zhijun's words, his face was as gloomy as if water was about to drip into it. He also knew that Wang Zhijun was telling the truth, but for him, this was something that could not be done. Even the left prime minister was afraid that it would be difficult. The person standing behind Mr. Liu could not move easily, unless he had hard evidence, he would either not do it or beat him to death with a stick.

"I always feel that the things that are happening in Shayang County are a bit strange now." Zhou Wenlong frowned, "but I don't know where the problem lies."

Wang Zhijun shrugged and spread his hands. Although he was nominally the second-in-command in Shayang County, if he really wanted to talk about it, he might not be as good as a master around Quan Yun.

A rhythmic knock sounded outside the window. Zhou Wenlong's eyes flashed and he glanced at Wang Zhijun. Wang Zhijun bowed tactfully, "Mr. Zhou, it's getting late, and there are still many official duties in the county government to deal with, so I'll say goodbye."

"Yes." Zhou Wenlong nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, please keep a close eye on Quan Yun for me and see what they are selling in the gourd? Wang Changshi doesn't have to worry about it. Behind us, there is Lord Zuo who is supporting us, so we are not afraid that they will make a fuss."

"The lower official knows." Wang Zhijun said repeatedly: "The lower official is willing to serve the left prime minister, and he has no different intentions."

As soon as Wang Zhijun left, Zhou Wenlong immediately opened the window, and a figure swept in with a cold air. With a bang, the window was quickly closed, isolating the cold outside the window.

"Drink a little hot water to warm up your body." Looking at the almost wet clothes on the masked man in front of him, Zhou Wenlong poured a cup of hot water and handed it over, then pushed the brazier to him.

After drinking the hot water in one breath, the masked man sat down and took off the masked towel. However, he was a very thin middle-aged man. "Mr. Zhou, something big happened." He said in a deep voice.

Zhou Wenlong's heart was shocked, "What happened? What happened?"

"After receiving the token sent by Lord Zhou, I sent out all the people in my palm to find out the news, but the news I got in the end made me almost unable to believe it." The thin middle-aged man stretched out his hand and roasted it on the brazier, but his eyes still showed an incredible look. "But seeing what happened these days, I feel that I'm afraid this is true."

"What happened?" Zhou Wenlong was a little impatient and asked with an impulse. The other party was not his subordinate, but the head of the Dayue's own intelligence agency in Shayang County, and one of the very few people in Shayang County who were not controlled by Old Master Liu. Strictly speaking, this person was only loyal to the court.

"Liu Xingwen, the commander of the Shayang County Army, led 5,000 county soldiers into Yanshan to suppress the bandits. However, the bandits were suppressed by the bandits. The five thousand soldiers and horses were destroyed." The thin middle-aged man stared at Zhou Wenlong and said word by word.

"How is this possible?" Zhou Wenlong jumped up suddenly: "Yanshan bandits, with only more than a hundred people, how could they eat an army of five thousand people? Even if Liu Xingwen was carrying five thousand pigs, he would not be caught and killed by more than a hundred people. Where did you get the news from? It's ridiculous!"

"I also think it's ridiculous." The thin middle-aged man shook his head, "But this news was found out from the Old Master Liu's mansion. Over the years, I have tried my best to send someone to the Liu's mansion. Now it's a girl in front of Mrs. Liu Xingwen. This is how the news comes. According to this girl, Mrs. Liu has been very sad and worried every day in the past few days."

"Maybe this girl has been bribed. This news is purely used to attract us to the trap." Zhou Wenlong said with a calm face. The news came incredible and could not be believed.

"I don't believe it, so I prove it from another channel. Lord Zhou, this is why I haven't contacted you for more than ten days. Now, from the evidence I have obtained, I'm afraid it's true. The people I sent out did not get any information about Liu Xingwen's army's suppression of bandits. This army that went to suppress bandits seemed to have disappeared in the mountains, and my people found nothing. Instead, I accidentally discovered that Liu Bao, the butler of the Liu Mansion, entered the mountains. Then Liu Bao went to Fengxian again, and then Liang Da withdrew his troops for no reason. Lord Zhou, an army of thousands, could have disappeared like this? Even if they pursued the bandits and entered the mountains, they should have a logistics supply point, they should have a contact point, they should have a trace of a marching, but there was nothing."

"Is there anything else?"

"Of course there is." said the thin middle-aged man: "I got another witness, and this person is named Lu Yifan. From his mouth, I learned that some Yanshan bandits were definitely not what we know. They have two level nine masters."

"What else does Lu Yifan know?"

"He also knew that Liu Xingwen had indeed failed." said the thin middle-aged man. "When this man was in Fengxian, he offended the Fengxian County Magistrate Lu Feng. Thinking that the army would definitely be sure to fight against the bandits, he followed him quietly. He originally wanted to get some credit and then join Liu Xingwen to get rid of Lu Feng's threat to him, but he witnessed the failure of the army with his own eyes. This man was so scared that he ran away. After escaping from the mountain, he sneaked into Shayang County. He seemed to want to report to Mr. Liu to seek credit. It happened that I was ordered by the Lord to investigate some of Mr. Liu's affairs, and he bumped into my hand."

"Investigate, thoroughly investigate." Zhou Wenlong said fiercely. The biggest opportunity to solve the problem of Shayang County finally appeared in front of him. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!