In the cold wind, Jiang Mingyu coughed: "I don't have any money."

Mustache was furious: "Jiang, are you kidding me?"

He suddenly pulled out half of the broad waist knife.

The sword flashed, reflecting blood red in the sunlight.

In the face of life and death, Jiang Mingyu remained calm: "Don't worry, although I have no money, I can give you a clear path."

"Wait a moment, and you will soon know who to go to for money."

He turned to Murong Yunhai and ordered: "Brother Murong, take the book I looked through last night, the top one."

Murong Yunhai looked at Jiang Mingyu who was calm, then glanced at Mustache warily, and then quickly turned around and left uneasy.

Jiang Mingyu is the hope of Shangmu County, so he can't be killed just like that.

There was doubt in the mustache's eyes: "What do you mean? It's best not to play tricks, otherwise..."

He slapped the handle of the knife, and everything was lost in words.

Jiang Mingyu rubbed his stiff hands: "Don't worry, I will give you an explanation today."

Murong Yunhai was not slow, and soon the book was delivered to Jiang Mingyu.

Jiang Mingyu opened it with ease and waved to Mustache: "Come and take a look."

The mustache blinked suspiciously, then slowly took a few steps forward.

Seeing his face that was full of hunger and yellow, and a little more surprised and doubtful, Jiang Mingyu chuckled: "Understood?"

Mustache's face was full of disbelief: "Impossible, this is impossible..."

Jiang Mingyu smiled at the mustache: "This is stamped with the seal of the previous county magistrate. Can this be fake?"

He said loudly: "Everyone, please see clearly that your military salary was given to Captain Ma before he was dismissed as county magistrate."

"As for why you didn't receive it, I have to go back and ask your captain."

Mustache still didn’t quite believe it: “Is this true?”

Jiang Mingyu weighed the book in his hand: "The evidence is conclusive, what do you think?"

"If you still don't believe it, I can confront Captain Ma in court."

Mustache hesitated for a long time, then slowly put the sword into its sheath: "That's fine, I'll trust you for once."

"But remember, if this is not true, you will die in an ugly way."

"The Captain treats me like a brother. I am not someone who can be framed by anyone. Brothers, let's go."

The figures of everyone leaving angrily made Jiang Mingyu chuckle: "Captain Ma, it's your turn to be unlucky this time. Let's see how King Qi protects you!"

Murong Yunhai, who had a charming face, looked confused and said unconsciously: "Brother Xingqiu, what's going on?"

Jiang Mingyu didn't hide it either. He gradually put away his smile: "The so-called military pay arrears have actually been paid out long ago."

"It's just that Lieutenant Ma took advantage of the chaos caused by the foreign tribes and fished in troubled waters with Liu Ershu, and pocketed all the military pay."

"He thought Liu Ershou was dismissed from his post and the documents were missing, so he was confident."

"If I hadn't checked these documents in detail yesterday, I would have really been in trouble today."

Tukslow's thick eyebrows furrowed and he gnashed his teeth and cursed: "It's NND. It's greedy for military pay. It's simply crazy. How is it any different from an animal if it behaves like this? I will definitely tell the Holy One to chop off his head and kill him."

Nine tribes!”

Because Tuckslow was considered a member of the military after all, he was extremely angry at this behavior of embezzling military pay.

Jiang Mingyu shook his head: "Whenever he is unlucky, let's not talk about it for now and go to the city quickly."

Tukesluo snorted fiercely, and then signaled Murong Yunhai, Li Goudan and Wu Xiaoer, who had just arrived yesterday, to follow Jiang Mingyu out.

At noon, Xicheng Street, Shangmu County.

Jiang Mingyu observed the surrounding scene carefully. Most of the houses on the street were crooked and dilapidated, as if they were unable to withstand the ravages of time.

Some houses have experienced the baptism of time and ruthless fires, leaving only ruins, which reminds people of the prosperity of the past and the desolation of today.

Occasionally, you can see a relatively complete private house, but it is inevitably scattered and dilapidated and looks messy.

There were only a few people walking on the street. A few beggars in ragged clothes and frail old people walked together. Their faces were full of suffering and helplessness.

Young people have almost disappeared on this street, and only the waning and depressed old people are walking slowly forward on crutches, a scene of powerlessness.

"Why is there not a single young and strong person here? If foreigners come again, how can these old, weak, sick and disabled people resist them?"

Jiang Mingyu felt confused and uneasy, so he asked Li Goudan.

Li Goudan, who had a strong voice, smiled bitterly, and explained helplessly: "It's not the foreigners who are causing trouble, so who wants to struggle in Shangmu? The young and strong have no future, so they all fled, leaving only the old ones.

Those who can't walk, those with missing limbs, women and children struggle to support themselves."

"If my mistress and I hadn't been old and unable to withstand the turbulence, we would have left Shang Mu and escaped long ago..."

Jiang Mingyu looked at the dilapidated houses around him and asked, "Under this situation, how many soldiers does Shang Mu still have available?"

Li Goudan said with regret: "There are just over a thousand people. If foreigners come again, these old, weak, sick and disabled people will probably be doomed."

Jiang Mingyu nodded and asked Murong Yunhai: "Then why don't you let the emperor transfer you back to Beijing?"

Murong Yunhai suddenly lost his smile, and there was visible pain in his soft voice: "You will understand in the future."

Even Li Goudan and Wu Xiaoer became extremely unnatural when they heard this.

Jiang Mingyu didn't ask any more questions: "Okay, it's still early, let's go to Dongcheng to have a look."

On the way to Dongcheng, Jiang Mingyu talked with local people.

I understand that Shangmu County has faced various difficulties in recent years.

The collusion between officials and bandits has made the people's livelihood even worse.

Food shortages have caused hunger and starvation to occur from time to time.

There are also foreign tribes that are constantly invading, threatening the peace and stability of the county.

The city's economic stagnation has caused the people to live without a living, and young people cannot see a future.

However, Murong Yunhai's eyes always had a faint and distracted look, and he was always absent-minded.

Jiang Mingyu could clearly feel that Murong Yunhai's whole body was filled with an aura that was colder than the north wind, as if an insurmountable high wall separated him from other people.

At this moment, a man not far away from them acted strangely, causing Jiang Mingyu's expression to change drastically.
Chapter completed!