Chapter 215: Blocking the Road and Revenge

The two masters Xu Minzhi and Tao Gui were so shocked that their chopsticks fell to the ground. They knelt on the ground, shaking like sieve. Several guards came up and took them to the ground, stepped on their faces, and a bright horizontal knife was looking for the best position on their necks.

"Give me your life!"

Tao Gui screamed like a pig, but Xu Minzhi didn't say a word. The guard thought he was tough and was about to increase his strength, but found that he had fainted when he was scared. A pot of wine was poured on his face. Xu Minzhi woke up slowly and shouted weakly: "Give me your life!"

The lobby was silent, everyone's face was pale and motionless. The heads on the table seemed to have a hideous smile, staring at them straight. The prefect Wu Qing's legs became weak. He wanted to speak several times, but he didn't have the courage.

"You two listen!"

Li Qingan finally spoke. He held a cup of tea and said coldly: "In two hours, except for the two thousand people I recruited, all the other canal workers will go home. One quarter of an hour later, I will convict you of the crime of gathering people to rebel. The whole family will be executed. Have you heard of it?"

Xu Minzhi and Tao Gui kowtowed, Li Qing'an waved his hand, and several guards dragged them down. The guards also covered the heads of the table, and a glimmer of vitality appeared in the lobby.

"Dear Bianzhou officials, local wise men, I was appointed by the Emperor to coordinate the drought and investigate the corruption and corruption of bribery and dereliction of duty. I entered Xuzhou five days ago and heard all the way. Except for the officials who actively resist drought in Xuchang County, there were basically no movement in other places. I don't understand. Since you are a local parent official, you are responsible for the safety of the people in the survival of the people. But the drought has been in four months, and you have nearly a thousand dollars. You don't even care about it and don't actively consider drought resistance. Do you have to wait until people starve to death and eat people? "

Li Qing'an's tone became slightly wider, but he spoke very heavily. He glanced at everyone with a stern look, and saw that all the officials lowered their heads, and said, "Of course, I haven't gone to most prefectures and counties in Henan Road. Maybe I've said it a little bit, but at least there is no movement in Bianzhou. I want to know why you don't move, is it because who holds your hand? Or are you having something shameful about it?

"Things are not as simple as you think."

Wu Qing finally couldn't sit still. He stood up and bowed and said, "We all understand the hard work of the Observer. But drought relief cannot be saved by just saving. It requires money, food, and manpower. These must be solved by the court. In March, I joined several prefects to write a letter to the court, asking the court to allocate money and food. However, the court has no explanation yet, and we are anxious. But a good wife cannot cook without rice. If the court does not support us, we local officials will have nothing to do. Li Jun first came to Henan Road and he still doesn't understand the situation!"

Li Qingan narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Prefect Wu, if I think of a solution, are you willing to implement it?"

"That depends on whether the method is reasonable." Wu Qing said tit-for-tat.

"What is reasonable? What is unreasonable? Drought resistance is a big deal, and life is at stake. Even if it is unreasonable, it must be reasonable."

Li Qing'an pointed to the wise and famous people present and said, "The money is short of money, and each household should pay how much money should be paid. I believe you know better than me. I will publicly post a list and let everyone supervise each other. The government's grain is used for relief porridge. From now on, each county has set up a porridge shed to provide relief porridge. Just open a warehouse. I asked the court. In addition, the government should encourage merchants to buy grain in Jianghuai. The matter of stabilizing the price of grain is done by merchants. There is no need for the government to run. What the government needs to do is to resist drought. I originally wanted officials from all prefectures and counties to go to Xuchang County to see how Xuchang County Magistrate resists drought, but there is no time left. I have ordered the Han County Magistrate to write a detailed drought resistance measure, which will be sent to each prefecture and county soon. All officials must refer to these measures. If there is any negligence, our military law will be carried out!"

Wu Qing was about to speak, but Li Qing'an interrupted his words, glanced at him and said coldly: "As for the lack of labor, I think it is not a problem. Since the prefect Wu can convene a gathering of 20,000 canal workers, can't we call them to fight drought?"

Wu Qing's face suddenly swelled into pig liver. He said angrily: "Envoy Li said I would summon 20,000 canal workers, but what evidence is there?"

Li Qingan snorted disdainfully and said, "Isn't it easy to ask for evidence? I'm asking Xu and Tao to write a letter of accusation, saying that you summoned the canal workers to rebel, and they will write it honestly. Does Wu Taishouxin believe it?"

Wu Qing was stunned and couldn't say a word. Li Qingan smiled and continued, "I advised Grandpa Wu not to worry about this matter. I no longer care about the canal gatherings, nor do I care about being assassinated in Bianzhou. As long as Grandpa Wu is wholeheartedly fighting drought, I will express your merits to the emperor. Grandpa Wu, you are a smart person, you don't need me to continue talking about it!"

Wu Qing was in a mess. Li Qing'an was assassinated in Bianzhou. What's going on? His heart was blank and he didn't know how to answer Li Qing'an's words. At this time, Bianzhou Chief Sun Changyun stood up and bowed, "Please rest assured that Li Envoy Li will do our best to resist drought and will never let the drought spread."

Celebrities from all over the country also expressed their opinions that they would strongly support drought resistance. Seeing that the temperature was almost done, Li Qing'an waved his hand and the guards took away the head dishes. The restaurant staff started to serve the dishes officially. He picked up a glass of wine and smiled at everyone: "I, Li Qing'an, are not a person who is not indifferent to human feelings. As long as everyone gets things done so that the disaster can be smooth and excessively, those who need to be promoted will be promoted. Even if they make a minor mistake, I will be given a lighter punishment. Now the banquet is officially opened!"

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In less than two hours, nearly 20,000 canal workers gathered at the Bianzhou Grain Transport Terminal, under the guarantee of the two major shipowners of Xu and Tao, they embarked on the road to return home one after another. The new observation made Li Qing'an's Hongmen banquet spread throughout the prefectures and counties of Henan Road as if they had wings. Under the pressure of Li Qing'an, the prefectures and counties of Henan Road began to fight drought relief, provide porridge, raise donations, dig wells, plant beans, collect water, and build rivers and canals. With the strong intervention of the government, panic in the grain market was curbed, and grain prices began to stop rising and falling. Li Qing'an ordered a 500 militia group to form a grain protection team to protect merchants to go to Jianghuai to buy grain.

Three days later, Li Qing'an led 1,500 civilian team members to Songzhou to inspect the serious incidents of the rebellion of the people in Songzhou.

In the Bianzhou Prefecture Office, a yamen runner hurried into the inner hall. He was stopped by two yamen runners when he was at the door. "The master is meeting guests, and no one is allowed to go in."

"Brother Li, I have important news about Li Qing'an. The master has ordered me to report it in time."

"Okay, wait, but I'll inform you." The yamen runner quickly walked towards the inner hall.

In the inner hall, Wu Qing was receiving an important guest, Shao Ziping, aide to King Di Li Yan, Strictly speaking, Shao Ziping was just one of the aides to King Di. He arrived in Bianzhou City this morning and did not catch up with Li Qing'an's Hongmen Banquet last night. However, as soon as he entered the city, he heard many people talking about the wonderfulness of the Hongmen Banquet last night. He used forty-eight heads to cook, and Shao Ziping couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

"Premier Wu, I wonder how the matter that Your Highness King Di was doing?"

"Mr. Shao, please rest assured that all documents involving His Highness King Di have been destroyed. No matter how Li Qing'an investigates, he cannot find any evidence. I am returning the land to the farmers one by one."

"Is it time to go?"

Originally, land acquisition in the year of disaster has always been the best way for the powerful to annex the land. This year, a drought broke out in Henan Province, which was a great opportunity. King Di also took the opportunity to collect thousands of acres of land in various parts of Bianzhou. Unexpectedly, the prince was suddenly deposed. King Di stared at the position of the Eastern Palace. In order to gain reputation, he changed his mind and not only wanted to return all the collected land, but also ordered Shao Ziping to come to the disaster area to provide relief. Shao Ziping had ordered his men to go to Jianghuai to buy grain, and he himself came to deal with the matter of land withdrawal. Although the official documents were destroyed, what should the land purchase contract in the hands of farmers? If it is strictly investigated, it can still be found that it was done by King Di. He asked worriedly: "I am worried that he will get the land sale contract from the farmers and will track down His Highness of the King Di."

Wu Qing smiled bitterly and said with some lingering fear: "In order not to let him investigate this matter, I used the case of the canal riot to divert his attention. I wanted to delay it for a few days and give me some time to deal with the matter of retiring the land. Unexpectedly, this person is really amazing. A Hongmen Banquet solved the case of the canal riot. Fortunately, I heard that he was going to Songzhou today, so he had no way to investigate the matter of His Royal Highness Di."

Shao Ziping breathed a sigh of relief. When he remembered something, he asked without saying a word: "I heard that he had put up forty-eight heads at the Hongmen Banquet. Are you sure it's not fifty?"

"Not fifty, it must be forty-eight, five per table, two of which were empty."

Speaking of this, Wu Qing suddenly realized something sensitively. He glanced at Shao Ziping vigilantly and asked tentatively: "According to Li Qing'an, he was assassinated in Bianzhou. Has Mr. Shao heard about this?"

"No! I just came to Bianzhou, how could I know about this?"

Shao Ziping denied it, and at this moment, a report from the yamen runner came from the door, "Prince, Sun Hai said there was news about Li Qing'an."

"Let him report it quickly."

After a moment, a yamen runner walked to the door and bowed and said, "Report to the prefect, Li Qing'an has left Bianzhou and entered Songzhou."

Wu Qing and Shao Ziping looked at each other, and they both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Shao Ziping stood up and bowed and smiled: "I have sent someone to buy grain in Jianghuai. I am about to provide large-scale porridge relief for Your Highness in Bianzhou. I hope the prefect Wu will strongly support it."

"It's certain! It's certain! King Di is concerned about the people in the disaster area and is kind and kind. I wish His Highness the King Di a step further as soon as possible."

The two of them knew it well and laughed together.

Li Qing'an went south along the Bian River, and there was still dust and cracking land. The sun shining on the big plain. At this moment, they were located in Xiangyi County, Songzhou. After walking dozens of miles on the official road, they could not see a pedestrian. Although the drought in Songzhou was more serious than that in Bianzhou, Li Qing'an still found that the trees along the road were not peeled. In other words, the famine here was not as serious as digging grass roots to peel the bark. The Bian River also had shallow river water, and a large area of ​​wood could be seen in the distance, which made Li Qing'an confused. Logically, the Chinese people would never take the road of rebellion until they could not survive, and they could choose to escape to the Jianghuai River. Why did thousands of people escape into the mountains to occupy the mountains and rebel for the king? What is the mystery hidden here?

He asked the judge Liu Sisong, but Liu Sisong could not tell any reason, but he revealed that this was very likely related to the occupation of land. According to rumors, someone purchased the land in the hands of the victims at a large scale at a low price. Li Qing'an also heard of this rumor, but the local governments were very secretive, and everyone avoided talking about this matter. Asked too much, they alarmed the enemy. Li Qing'an decided to go to Songzhou to investigate the matter thoroughly. In the instructions given to him by Li Longji, one of the reasons for the rebellion of the people in Gushu County was found out.

After walking for more than ten miles, farmers began to replant beans on the land on both sides of the official road, and villages appeared in the distance, and pedestrians appeared one after another, most of them were peddlers who carried loads and sold goods from village to village. Seeing the huge group of people coming, these peddlers stopped and stood by the road. Li Qing'an was about to find someone to ask about the situation, but at this moment, a riot suddenly appeared in front of him. Dozens of people were kneeling on the side of the road, carrying a white cloth on a bamboo pole, and the word "Injustice" was written in blood on the white cloth, which was particularly shocking.

"It's unfair! We're unfair!" Dozens of people shouted in unison, all of them were old, weak, women and children.

"Stop!" Li Qingan waved his hand and the team stopped.

Li Qing'an's personal guard brought the two old men to Li Qing'an, "Please be the master to make the decision for us!" The two old men knelt down and kowtowed nonetheless.

"Helping them up!"

Li Qingan gently comforted them and said, "Don't be afraid. I am the new Henan Road Observer. If you have any grievances, just say that I will make the decision for you."

"Master, we are villagers in Wangwu Village in front. This year, the drought has occurred and the wheat seedlings are almost dead. We planted beans in time. Unexpectedly, two months ago, the government sent people to say that it was not allowed to plant beans. The government wanted to send relief grains, and forced us to pull out the beans. However, the disaster relief grains were gone. We asked the county magistrate to make a decision. The government dragged it back and said that it was waiting for the imperial court's order. Seeing that every household was about to lose food, people came to buy land at a low price. At first, everyone refused. Later, the government came forward and said that if anyone did not sell land, the relief grains would be gone. Moreover, after fleeing the famine, the land would be regarded as ownerless land confiscated. Many people couldn't stand it, so they sold the land one after another. We were all fertile land. Usually, a mu of land could be sold ten cents, but now the buyer was willing to pay only three cents...."

"Who is here to buy your fields?" Li Qingan interrupted them and asked.

"We don't know how many people came, their accents were from the capital, and they were all butlers and deacons. The real buyer did not show up. There are rumors that it was the royal family in the capital."

Li Qing'an also heard that the powerful and powerful people in Chang'an used famine to purchase land in the hands of farmers at low prices. Li Qing'an also heard that, like King Qing Li Cong, his Yongye fields were only a hundred hectares, but he occupied more than ten thousand hectares of fertile land and dozens of large manors across the country. Where did these fields come from? Not only Li Longji's dragon sons and grandsons, but also dragon claws and dragon scales, dragon tails and dragon hairs. The founding of the Tang Dynasty a hundred years ago, and thousands of royal family members were all over the country, and they relied on sucking on the people's wealth and cream. The Tang Dynasty was not as developed as the Song Dynasty, and basically it was mainly agriculture. The people lived on land. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty's finances and military system were closely related to land. Once the land system collapsed, the Tang Dynasty was unavoidable, and the Anshi Rebellion broke out like this.

Li Qingan pondered for a long time, but in fact he had guessed why Wu Qing tried his best to obstruct him, because the most serious problem was Songzhou, and he would go to Songzhou sooner or later. As long as he had no time to inquire about Bianzhou, he would achieve his goal.

Although he didn't know what problems were hidden by Wu Qing in Bianzhou, Li Qing'an knew that the priority should be paid to the priorities of doing things. The most urgent task was not to investigate the case, but to pacify the confrontation between the people and the government. First, he had already solved the petition from the canal workers. Secondly, the people in Songzhou occupied the mountains and rebelled. Only by solving these imminent problems can he turn around and calmly deal with the officials' bad deeds.

However, someone blocked the road and complained, and Li Qingan wanted to first understand how serious the land annexation was.

Thinking of this, he waved his hand and said, "You guys are waiting here, I'll go and take a look."

Dozens of personal guards followed Li Qing'an to Wangwuzhuang not far away. Wangwuzhuang is a large village with more than 100 farmers. It is close to the Bian River, with developed transportation and fertile land. Five miles away from the village, there is also a manor covering an area of ​​5,000 acres. It was originally the manor of Princess Taiping. After Princess Taiping was killed, the manor was awarded to Li Longji's elder brother Li Chengqi. Now it is owned by Li Chengqi's daughter, the Lord of Xiangyi. The husband of Xiangyi County is Cui Qiao, who has just been promoted to the Minister of Rites. The prefect of Songzhou is Cui Lian, the brother of Cui Qiao. The relationship here is worthy of fun.

The land claimed by the villagers is located in the west of the village, about 1,500 acres, which belongs to the Yongye Field of more than 100 families. Like other places, the land is empty, the wheat seedlings have withered, and no other crops are replanted. In many fields, there are dazzling red benchmarks. It is the land that has been bought, about 1,000 acres, stretching for several miles.

"They bought the land and didn't plant it. They just left waste there. What will we eat next year?" An old farmer said to Li Qing'an sadly.

Li Qingan took over a contract to buy and sell land and bought 15 acres of 7 dou of rice per acre. The reason was that the current price of rice was 700 cents, and seven dou of rice was equivalent to five cents of money. Originally, the land of ten cents of acre was discounted by half, while the rice in a good year was only 30 cents, which means buying land worth ten cents of money for two hundred cents. The buyer was called Tian Yi and pressed his handprint.

"Who is Tian Yi?" Li Qingan frowned.

Li Zheng next to him quickly bowed and said, "We call Tian Yi Tian Er, who is the deacon of the county lord's manor, and he lives there."

Li Qingan followed him and looked into the distance. He saw a white three-story building in the distance, surrounded by walls. Next to the building were several large granaries, which stood out on the bare land.

"That's where Tian Yi's family lives, and there are dozens of dog-legged children."

"Look!" Li Qing'an urged his horse to rush towards Xiaolou. Before he could reach it, more than a dozen evil dogs rushed out of the wall. A ferocious giant dog roared and rushed towards him. Li Qing'an turned sideways, and a backhanded knife flashed, and the cold light flashed, splitting the evil dog in half.

The other big dogs turned around and ran away. At this time, more than thirty men ran out of the courtyard, carrying iron sticks and swords. A big man in the lead pointed at Li Qing'an and cursed: "Where did the dog thief come from? How dare we hurt our dog!"

Li Qing'an's personal guard was furious and was about to take action, but Li Qing'an waved his hand to stop them, bowed and smiled, "I will compensate you dogs, but I want to discuss something with you, Manager Tian. Is he there?"

"Who is looking for me?"

A middle-aged man walked out of the yard, tall and fat, shaking a palm-leaf fan. He looked up and down at Li Qing'an. Seeing that he was wearing an ordinary robe, he had never seen him before, but his subordinates were quite fierce, and said, "Who are you, what are you doing for me?"

"I am from King Qing. I want to buy the land of Wangwu Village under the order of King Qing. I heard that you bought it first, so I came to the manager of Hetian to discuss whether it can be transferred to us."

"Transfer?" The middle-aged man named Tian Yi snorted coldly and said, "You King Qing is enclosing land in Gushu County. We are not invading the rivers. Why do we come to steal our business?"

Li Qingan also snorted and raised his voice and said, "We are the people of King Qing, do you understand? King Qing took a fancy to this piece of Ueda."

"So what about King Qing!" The middle-aged man's voice was also eight degrees higher, and he said angrily: "Do you know who my mistress is? The daughter of Xiangyi County, let the emperor, do you know who my master is? Tell me that he scares you to death. He is the prime minister and the Minister of Rites. Have you heard it clearly?"

Halfway through his words, he stopped abruptly and looked behind Li Qingan in horror. He saw hundreds of strong men in black surrounded his residence with knives in his hands.

Deacon Tian and his men were so scared that they retreated repeatedly, "You, what are you... going to do?"

They turned around and fled. Hundreds of strong men rushed up, pressed them tightly on the ground, tied them up, and threw them all into the cellar. Li Qing'an ordered: "Search them thoroughly, don't let go of every corner and every piece of paper!"

Hundreds of people rushed into the building and began to search the earth. They almost turned the entire building upwards. Countless land deeds and land deeds filled a large box. Li Qing'an checked the warehouse with his hands behind his back. The three large warehouses were filled with grain, packed in neatly, bags of which were more than ten feet high. Each warehouse had at least hundreds of stones of grain. The soldiers successively carried dozens of boxes of copper coins and some gold and silver, all of which were searched from the basement. Li Qing'an smiled. The money and grain happened to be paid to the subordinates he recruited.

"Empress, we found this!"
Chapter completed!