Kaifeng Prefecture, Linxiang County, County Government.
Night falls, in the county government side hall.
A thin middle-aged man in official robes sat at the top, and another young man with a handsome face, about thirty years old, sat at the bottom.
The two of them listened carefully to the report of a man in black in front of the hall.
This middle-aged man wearing a green official robe is Wang Qing, the newly appointed magistrate of Linxiang County.
After the man in black finished speaking, Wang Qing frowned slightly and asked, "According to what you said, Inspector Liu died of a sudden illness?"
"Reporting to the county magistrate, it is indeed true. I have carefully examined his whole body and there is no trace of any injuries." The man in black clasped his fists and said respectfully. Agent Liu was the companion who was investigating with him today.
Wang Qing nodded slightly, thoughtfully, pressing the booklet handed to him by the man in black with his left hand on the table, and tapping the fingers of his right hand on the armrest of the chair.
Not long after, Wang Qing raised his hand and waved his sleeves to the man in black in the hall, "You go to the government office account and get twenty taels of silver to give to Agent Liu's family, and another five taels of silver. It's for your trip." Credit!”
"Your Majesty, please be merciful. I would like to thank you for your reward on behalf of the deceased Old Liu!" Hearing this, the man in black was filled with joy and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
There was a subtle smile on Wang Qing's lips, and he shook his head with satisfaction, but waved his hand lightly, "Go ahead!"
The man in black kowtowed again and stood up and left.
After the man in black went out, Wang Qing glanced at the young gentleman-looking man below him from the corner of his eyes and saw that the man was also watching his every move.
So Wang Qing sighed deeply, shook his head at the young man and said with a troubled face: "Mr. Murong, it's not that this county is refusing to send troops. You heard it just now. I didn't have anything to do here, so you gave me a break first. It can be said that the famous detective got off to a bad start!"
This young master is none other than the eldest cousin Murong Fu who was kicked out by Zhang Dao and others in Qingyun Mountain Village a few days ago.
Since that day, his cousin Wang Yuyan was kidnapped, his maid Aju Abi was robbed, and they were driven down the mountain, which made him lose all face.
Suffering this great humiliation, Murong Fu could not swallow this feeling in his heart.
Murong Fu's generals from the West advised him to put the overall situation first, and said that since the matter was a foregone conclusion and their main purpose of coming here had been achieved, it was better to go back to Suzhou to do business first.
But Murong Fu was a man with a strong self-esteem. The more others persuaded him, the more angry and angry he became. In a fit of anger, he drove the Western generals back to Suzhou to guard Yanziwu.
As for him, he stayed alone in Linxiang County, looking for opportunities and vowing to take revenge.
He originally considered relying on his reputation to find a group of helpers from the world to avenge this humiliation.
But on the one hand, he didn't want too many people to know about his humiliation, and on the other hand, he was worried that there was a master at the master level in the village, so he didn't dare to act rashly.
Among the people in the world, few would be willing to provoke a master-level expert unless they were life-and-death enemies.
After wandering around for a few days, the new county magistrate Wang Qing came into his sight.
After many inquiries, it was discovered that Wang Qingnai was a disciple of the newly appointed Prime Minister Fan Gong, so he had a broad network.
So Murong Fu decided to find a way to get the government to come forward and drag the government into trouble.
As long as the government is willing to send troops to suppress the bandits, the so-called ants can bite the elephant to death, and even the ants can kill the master-level expert.
Or, even if the extermination fails, it will only attract more officers and soldiers to the bandits in Qingyun Village.
In that case, let alone a master-level expert, even a great master would have no choice but to flee if he faced tens of thousands of imperial troops.
Murong Fu, who was very satisfied with his strategy, first spent money to help him get in touch, and finally met the newly appointed magistrate of Linxiang County, Mr. Wang Qingwang.
At the beginning, Murong Fu raised the danger of Qingyun Village and hoped that the government could send troops to suppress the bandits.
Seeing Murong Fu's extraordinary bearing, Wang Qing thought he was the son of the lord in Kaifeng Mansion and immediately agreed.
But after learning that Murong Fu's identity was just a member of the Jianghu community, his attitude immediately changed, and his previous amiable attitude was gone.
Even when they agreed to send troops to exterminate the bandits in Qingyun Village, they were delayed again and again because they cared about the suffering of the people and wanted to give Qingyun Village a way to survive.
Later, Wang Qing was too lazy to see Murong Fu again.
However, someone came to report a few days ago, saying that Qingyun Village was recruiting troops and gathering people to rebel.
Wang Qing was shocked after receiving the report. Now that the teacher had just returned to the court to preside over the new administration, if there was a rebellion under his rule, wouldn't it bring disgrace to the teacher?
Therefore, Wang Qing was determined to wipe out this group of bandits. Thinking of what Murong Fu said a few days ago, he sent county government agents to Qingyun Mountain to investigate.
When the spies came back to report the situation, Wang Qing ordered someone to summon Murong Fu and asked the spies to tell him again in front of Murong Fu.
Sensing from his words that the other party had the intention of sending troops, Murong Fu closed the folding fan that he was calmly shaking in his hand with a 'pop'.
Murong Fu cupped his hands towards Wang Qing and complimented with a habitual fake smile on his face: "It is really a blessing for the people that you are considerate of your subordinates and care for the people."
"However, I have seen the bandits in Qingyun Village. Their bad habits are hard to change. They robbed women of the people, even my cousin... Oh! Although the bandits in Qingyun Village are a group of grass bandits, they are so large in number. There is nothing I can do. I believe that as soon as the government troops arrive, the bandits in Qingyun Village will disperse and descend in the wind."
Wang Qing nodded slightly. He knew about Qingyun Village before taking office.
It was just a bandit leader who had attended a private school for several years and gathered hundreds of refugees. A few days ago, the bandit leader of Qingyun Village was beheaded by the government of a neighboring county.
Even if another group of refugees gathered now, he could easily wipe them out at any time. Originally, he was still considering the golden mean of being an official.
But now that the new policy is about to be promulgated, and with such a large bandit force, it is no longer possible to let them stay under his nose.
How could someone who could become a county magistrate not guess that Murong Fuding had a grudge against Qingyun Village? Otherwise, why would the other party come to look for him again and again, but smart people will not tell the truth.
If we don't take advantage of such a situation, how can we be an official?
"Haha, Mr. Murong is right! I wanted to let those bandits live, but they dared to gather people on the mountain." Wang Qing stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I have ordered people to go to the prison. The military commander informed me of the situation, and the military supervisor agreed to send two thousand troops."
"That's great! Your Majesty is wise!" Murong Fu raised his eyebrows and flapped his fan excitedly.
"Haha," Wang Qing waved his hand slightly when he saw him like this.
"However, there is a saying that soldiers and horses should go ahead before food and grass are used. Although Lord Supervisor and I are determined to suppress the thieves, we are unable to send troops due to lack of food and grass."
"The Supervisory Army has sent people to Kaifeng to report to the Magistrate. Once we get a reply, we can send troops to suppress the bandits and stabilize one side."
Wang Qing came one by one slowly, with such a calm and calm look that Murong Fu's mouth twitched and he wished he could punch that old face.
I have no choice but to ask for help from others now. If I want to avenge my previous shame, I have to rely on this dog official.
Murong Fu could only laugh and said: "What the Lord said is very true. It just so happened that I brought five thousand taels of silver when I went out a few days ago. I am willing to donate it to the Lord for military supplies. I also hope that the Lord can help me. Please supervise the army." Sir, please send troops to destroy the bandits as soon as possible."
Murong Fu took out five silver notes with a face value of one thousand taels from his arms and spread them out in front of Wang Qing.
"This is not good! I am an official of the imperial court. It is my duty to send troops to suppress bandits and ensure the peace of the people. How can I accept the gift from Mr. Murong? It's inappropriate! It's really inappropriate!"
Wang Qing stared at the denomination of the bank note in Murong Fu's hand with bright eyes, almost drooling, but his head was shaking like a rattle, and he was mumbling rejections.
"Sir, you are serious. Youdao is a family of officials and people. You are an official and I am a people. We are a family. Moreover, we, the people of the Song Dynasty, all have the responsibility to exterminate the bandits. It is my duty to do my best."
"It's inappropriate, it's inappropriate. I'm sending troops to suppress bandits. How can I ask you, a civilian, for military supplies?" Wang Qing still shook his head.
"Sir, please don't refuse, just accept it!"
Seeing that Murong Fu hadn't turned around yet, Wang Qing had no choice but to give a warning out of kindness.
"No, I am an official of the imperial court. How can I borrow your money to suppress bandits? If this spreads out, people will laugh."
