Chapter 113 Who is Guilty? [VIP]
Zheng Fu galloped along on his horse, the shadows of the trees on both sides of the mountain road following him like ghosts, and there were bursts of horse hooves sounds.
He didn't dare to stop, his legs tightly clamped around the horse's belly, holding the reins in his hands, until he saw the city gate of Qingfeng Town. Only then did he dare to slowly stop and make sure that no one was chasing him.
"Open the door, open the door quickly, and let me into the city."
At this time, the city gate was closed. The officer guarding the city gate heard someone outside shouting and calling himself "officer". Even though he had never seen Zheng Fu's appearance, he guessed his identity.
The two officers waved their torches downwards and shouted angrily at Zheng Fu, "Where did this drunkard come from? Get out of here right now, or we'll be rude to you."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fu jumped off his horse and walked closer to the city gate. "Open your eyes and take a good look. I am Master Zheng from the East Suburb Quarry. Please open the gate immediately. I have something important to discuss with Master Li."
The two officers on the tower looked at each other and understood more clearly.
There was no way he could open the door.
On the tower, one of the officers called out to Zheng Fu, "Wait a minute! Let me report to our lord first. Let's see if he wants to see you now."
Watching the officer on the city wall disappear from his sight, Zheng Fu gradually breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as he meets Li Menghong and asks Li Menghong to take people to the quarry to suppress the rebels, he will be safe and can also get food.
This wait lasted for a full hour.
Zheng Fuben's somewhat anxious heart became agitated during this anxious wait.
He stepped forward again, arms folded, and shouted, "Has your colleague not returned yet?"
Another officer guarding the city gate leaned against the city wall and looked down, his eyes full of ridicule.
"I'm asking you a question, speak up!" Zheng Fu already had the answer in his mind, but he still held on to a lucky mentality.
"What's there to say? A drunkard wants to see us adults. Go away while we're in a good mood."
The one who answered Zheng Fu was the officer who had left. The officer stretched lazily with a sleepy look on his face, patted his colleague's shoulder, and motioned him to take a nap.
This shows that he did not go to the government office to see Li Menghong just now, and deliberately deceived him with words.
"How dare you tease me?" He said he was going to report, but in fact he was just being lazy and deliberately leaving him alone.
Zheng Fu had never suffered such humiliation before, and he immediately started cursing outside the city gate, looking furious and jumping up and down.
The guards upstairs were annoyed by his insults and directly took out the bows and arrows they were equipped with.
With a "whoosh" sound, two long arrows flew through the air and hit Zheng Fu's feet one after the other.
The arrow was just a little bit away from hitting him.
Zheng Fu was so frightened that he fell to the ground. He opened his eyes wide and saw clearly in the moonlight the two arrows that almost took his life. Then he got up and ran away.
Halfway through the run, he turned back to lead the horse away, stumbled onto the horse's back, turned around and continued running.
Behind me came the merciless mocking voices of the officers.
After Zheng Fu disappeared from view, one of the officers asked another officer whether he should tell Lord Li about what happened tonight.
Things still need to be discussed, but we have to wait until tomorrow morning.
What big news could Zheng Fu have to report? Isn't it just that he is short of food and wants to ask their masters for money?
The fact that he was short of money and had to rely on pawning to survive had long been known to everyone in the government office.
Zheng Fu was riding on his horse and looking at the endless barren land. For a moment, he didn't know where to go or who to ask for help.
By the way, he can go to Xiahe Village to avoid the limelight for a while.
Although the butcher of Xiahe Village didn't know why he didn't come to the quarry to see him recently.
But all the fertile land in Xiahe Village belongs to him. The autumn harvest has just come, and the tenant farmers must have food at home.
Thinking of this, Zheng Fu left without hesitation. He knocked on the doors of countless villagers' houses in the middle of the night, disturbing the sweet dreams of countless people, and finally arrived at Shanghe Village at dawn.
Niu Wazi, who was squatting at the entrance of the village, was holding a handwritten copy of "Three Character Classic" in his hand and reciting it while being on guard against strangers entering the village.
Early in the morning, someone came with a horse, and Niu Wazi quickly struck the gong in his hand.
The villagers who got up early heard the noise and rushed to the village entrance with their farm tools, stopping the people outside the village and not letting them in.
Zheng Fu thought of Yang Jizong still in the village, so he made up a lie: "I was sent by Lord Li to discuss important matters with the head of Xiahe Village."
No one let him into the village just because of this. Instead, they called on the quick-footed children in the village to go and find the two headmen.
Tian Baolai was watering peanuts, edamame, and cassava in his own wasteland when he heard Niu Wazi calling him. He put down his watering can and stood up to ask, "Who's coming?"
He also heard the sound of gongs in the field.
Niu Wazi squatted on the edge of the field and said, "He said Lord Li sent him here to see you and A Yao."
Hearing this, Tian Baolai put down the gourd in his hand and walked towards the village. On the way, he happened to meet
The two sides met,
"Why is it you?"
Yang Jizong took a step forward and saw that Zheng Fu didn't even have a guard behind him. What stupid thing had he done?
Zheng Fu wanted to slap his hand away, but Yang Jizong held it tighter and tighter, making it difficult for him to breathe.
"Let go, let go of me, and I will tell you everything that happened."
Chen Yao advised from the side: "Zi'an, let him go first and listen to what he has to say."
, patted the dirt on his hands, "Tell me, what are you doing here?"
"I want to see the butcher of Xiahe Village."
As soon as they heard the three words "Tu Lizhang", without the three of them saying anything, the villagers told Zheng Fu that there was no such person as Tu Lizhang here anymore.
The current village heads of the two villages are Tian Baolai and Shen Yao respectively.
Zheng Fu, who was already like a frightened bird, turned pale when he heard the news.
"You, you bunch of unruly people actually killed him."
As soon as he said this, the villagers realized that he must have misunderstood.
"Is this man a lunatic? Everyone in and outside the city knows this. Lord Li has already posted a notice. Xue Tu and the other two have neglected their duties and disregarded the safety of the tenant farmers. They are now in jail and their positions as village heads have long been removed."
"He is not a madman, he is a liar." Niu Wazi picked up a stone on the ground and threw it at Zheng Fu.
If he was really sent by Lord Li, how could he not know these things?
The villagers who reacted immediately grabbed their farm tools and pointed the blades at Zheng Fu, trying to force him away.
Zheng Fu looked at the farm tools pointed at him, his heart pounding with fear. "Yang Jizong, someone's died in the quarry again. My subordinates were beaten to death by the people doing hard labor. If a riot breaks out, how do you think the court will punish them?"
In order to protect his own safety, Zheng Fu now thinks that Yang Jizong in front of him may have a way to save him.
But Yang Jizong grasped the key point of his words: "Why were your people beaten to death?"
Zheng Fu pursed his lips tightly and was unwilling to reveal anything.
"Since you don't want to tell me, I'll send you back to the quarry and ask those people there what happened last night."
Afterwards, under the coercion of Yang Jizong, the villagers learned of Zheng Fu's crimes from his mouth and wanted to dig him to death with a hoe.
He made the people serving hard labor bear the consequences of his own evil deeds.
What a bad idea his subordinates had. One steamed bun was not enough to fill a person's stomach, and now they only gave him half of it.
Now that's good, if he doesn't die, who will?
"Zi'an, let's go to the quarry and take a look. After all, the villagers are here, and we have to find a way to solve this problem." Chen Yao persuaded.
Zheng Fu immediately climbed up the pole: "That's right, you should quickly find a way to keep those unruly people fed and working."
Yang Jizong glanced at the horse, then said to Chen Yao and Tian Baolai, "I'm going to go to the government office to look for Lord Li first. You take a few villagers to the quarry to bring some food and see what's going on."
"Okay, no problem. Then what should we do with him?" Chen Yao looked at Zheng Fu who was surrounded by villagers.
"Tie him up and take him with us." As soon as Yang Jizong finished speaking, Niu Wazi ran back home to get a hemp rope.
Everyone tied Zheng Fu up tightly and dragged him to the quarry.
at the same time.
When Yang Jizong rode his horse to the city gate, he happened to see two guards who had been guarding the city yesterday changing shifts.
The officer saw that the horse was the one Zheng Fu rode last night, so he told Yang Jizong about it.
Yang Jizong went to the government office to find Li Menghong with the news.
At this moment, Li Menghong was still eating breakfast.
"How did this man die? Where is Zheng Fu? Why doesn't he come to see me?" Li Menghong put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands, took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and moved to the living room with Yang Jizong to continue the conversation.
He would have to go back and find out how the person died.
When Li Menghong learned that Zheng Fu was now safe but had been taken back to the quarry, he immediately became anxious: "Isn't this like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth?"
Since someone died, how could that group of people let Zheng Fu go easily?
"What are you going to do about this? How many people are needed to suppress them?" There must be no riot, otherwise everything he did before would be in vain.
Li Menghong now hates Zheng Fu with a vengeance.
"If we want to completely resolve this, we need more than just people. We also need food. How much food is left in the granary? Can we distribute it to the people at the quarry?"
It is absolutely impossible to open the granaries and release grain without the emperor's order.
But now that food prices have risen, how can he afford to feed so many mouths?
When Li Menghong was in a dilemma, Yang Jizong suddenly thought of Xing Fang, so he borrowed pen and ink from Li Menghong and wrote a letter to Xing Fang.
Yang Jizong asked Li Menghong for a group of servants and took them to the quarry.
At this time, at the entrance of the quarry.
When Chen Yao and Tian Baolai arrived with the men from the village and Zheng Fu, they saw that the guards under Zheng Fu were stunned.
They thought Zheng Fu would bring people back to suppress them, but when they saw the people tied up, no one could react.
Who is guilty?
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