Ouyang Xiu made a prompt decision and withdrew the soldiers surrounding the inn, because it was not necessary to mobilize troops. Su Jin had no intention of resisting or escaping. As long as he wanted to take him, he didn't even need to use a single soldier. He only had to raise his finger. Su Jin had no intention of resisting or escaping.
I will follow him to Beijing immediately.
The banquet was served and the two of them sat down. This was the first time they drank at the same table in Yangzhou, but they didn't expect that they would sit together under such circumstances.
"If you have any questions, Mr. Zhongcheng, just ask, and I will answer everything you know." Su Jin put down the wine glass, picked up the wine pot, and diligently helped Ouyang Xiu fill it up.
"I have many questions. The first is why you took the land route instead of the water route? Don't you know that bandits are rampant on the official road?"
"I really didn't know that the banditry was so serious. I only knew that there were bandits in Bagong Mountain, but I really didn't know that the banditry was so serious. However, transporting grain by land was forced by the situation. In the year of severe drought, the Feishui River in Luzhou
As well as the canals in Yangzhou are close to being exhausted, large ships cannot pass. If the delay in using small boats to transfer is too long, the situation in Yangzhou cannot be delayed."
Ouyang Xiu nodded and said: "I see, but since land banditry is rampant, why don't you ask the Luzhou Xiang soldiers to cooperate in transporting grain?"
"Actually, it is not the most important thing whether the soldiers are escorting the troops. The two hundred horse army will not be afraid even if thousands of bandits come to rob the grain. The Bagong Mountain bandits only dispatched five or six hundred people when they robbed the grain. According to common sense,
In other words, such a thing will never happen."
Ouyang Xiudao: "You mean the Ma army didn't resist at all?"
Su Jin nodded and said: "That's right. According to what the two leaders of the Ma Army said, in the small town of Liangyuan that night, Long Zhen didn't even give an order to fight. When he saw banditry, he immediately ordered a retreat and almost handed over the food.
Sending it out will really make people angry."
Ouyang Xiu frowned and said, "Is that really the case?"
Su Jin said: "Do you dare to talk nonsense about this matter? With the confessions of Ma Jun Dutou and Zhao Dutou as evidence, if you don't believe it, you can summon the Ma Jun soldiers to ask."
Ouyang Xiu picked up the wine glass, drank it down in one gulp, and cursed: "This Long Zhen is really lawless. Where is the other person? I heard that you detained him, right?"
Su Jindao: "He has been detained and is ready to be escorted to Beijing for trial."
Su Jin didn't dare to say that Long Zhen had run away. Once Ouyang Xiu knew that Long Zhen had run away, he would never hide the military rations from him again, because if Long Zhen escaped from the city and ran back to the stable, the military rations would basically be leaked.
.
"I have to find a time to meet him, this loser." Ouyang Xiu cursed.
Su Jin smiled and said: "Sir, please calm down. Don't you think it's a bit strange that Long Zhen abandoned the food and ran away?"
Ouyang Xiu pretended not to know and asked, "What's strange?"
Su Jindao: "He is just a small pony army commander, and he came with me to do errands. Escorting food is so important. Doesn't he understand the powerful relationship here? If he is really defeated in a strong fight, it is understandable. See
It's unreasonable to run away when the bandits are spotted; is it possible that all the horsemen are wimps?"
Ouyang Xiudao: "What do you want to say?"
Su Jin secretly cursed the old fox, but did not want to beat around the bush, so he said: "At first, he delayed in Luzhou for many days, and then he abandoned the food and ran away. A string of clues was drawn, and the subordinate suspected that there was someone behind him."
Ouyang Xiu was surprised and said: "Who do you think is instigating this?"
Su Jin spread his hands and said: "How do I know? This person clearly doesn't want me to complete the errand. As for who he is, I can only ask an adult to help me analyze it."
Ouyang Xiu shook his head and said: "You are worrying too much, maybe it's just that Long Zhen is greedy for life and afraid of death."
Su Jin knew that Ouyang Xiu would never guess what the instigation was in front of him, so he smiled and said: "I hope, but if I find out who it is, I will never let this person go."
Ouyang Xiu felt like Ming Jing'er in his heart. Although Su Jin was just guessing, Long Zhen's behavior was indeed abnormal, and this guess had some truth to it. As for who was behind the scenes, there was no need to think too much. Who could instigate Long Zhen? He
But as a general of the Forbidden Army, the person who can instruct him must be of high authority, and the target is food affairs. Obviously, the target is not Su Jin, but the Third Division Master in charge of food affairs. Who is behind the scenes?
The water came out as soon as it was called.
But Ouyang Xiu knew that there was no need to investigate this matter at all. There would be no evidence for this kind of thing at all, unless the person produced written evidence and ordered Long Zhen to disrupt the situation.
There is evidence that Long Zhen must have received verbal instructions. Even if Long Zhen confesses, the final result will definitely be deemed as a false accusation; investigating such a thing is simply making himself uncomfortable.
"I would like to advise you not to pursue this matter." Ouyang Xiu sincerely comforted Su Jin. If this kid makes a fool of himself, he might make a big mistake again.
"After talking for a long time, my biggest question is that the bandits chose the time and place to rob food so cleverly. Are they still bandits? And it is said that they were suppressed several times by the armies of Luzhou and Shouzhou.
Hurt, they actually dare to use five to six hundred bandits to rob the food escorted by two hundred horse troops, isn't this asking for death?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "This is the first big gift I want to give to Mr. Ouyang. Why do bandits dare? Because someone tipped off the news."
Ouyang Xiu was shocked and said: "What? Someone tipped off the news? The bandits' eyes and ears?"
Su Jin said: "No, he is an official from Luzhou."
Ouyang Xiu's hands shook and his chopsticks almost fell to the ground. His voice changed: "You mean someone is a bandit?"
Su Jin said: "I don't know whether he is a bandit or not, but as soon as the grain transport team set off, an official from Luzhou named Chen Laogen was ordered to deliver an official document to Suzhou City. It was an urgent document and was limited to one day.
arrive."
"Suzhou? What are you doing in Suzhou?"
"Because the shortest road from Luzhou to Suzhou Prefecture must pass under Bagong Mountain, which is within the control area of the bandits."
"Why do I become more confused the more you talk about it?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "I was confused at first when I was sent to the official position, but I have this official Chen Laogen in my hands. According to his confession, when the Ma Army began transporting grain, he went out of the city to deliver an urgent document and asked him to take a shortcut.
The letter must be delivered within half a day, otherwise he will be severely punished; Chen Laogen knew that he could only pass down Bagong Mountain in one day, so he raised an objection, but was told that the banditry had been eliminated and there was no need to worry."
Ouyang Xiu heard some clues and asked: "In other words, this official document was sent to the bandits on purpose?"
Su Jindao: "Exactly, the content in the official document is exactly the time and number of people transporting food, and this official document was intercepted by the bandits without any suspense."
Ouyang Xiu's expression changed drastically, and he said in a deep voice: "Who sent the official document?"
Su Jin said softly: "Zhu Shiyong, the prefect of Luzhou."
Ouyang Xiu trembled and murmured: "I can't believe it, how could it be him? Why would he do this?"
Su Jindao: "When I was in Luzhou, Xianguan had a dispute with Zhu Shiyong and the Luzhou Chamber of Commerce. If Master Bao hadn't saved me, I would have been exiled to a barbarian land by now."
Su Jinjiang recounted the grievances between Luzhou, the Chamber of Commerce, and Zhu Shiyong, and finally said: "When they learned that I was the food envoy, they must have felt fear, so they took advantage of it. As long as I
If the errand is not done well, then I will lose my official position and be punished; the Chamber of Commerce and Zhu Shiyong colluded together, and the Chamber of Commerce also hoarded hundreds of thousands of grains. I know all these things. Obviously, if I go to Luzhou to handle grain affairs, they will
I can't run away either, so it's not surprising that I'm their target."
Ouyang Xiudao: "That must be the case. I will take charge of this matter. I will get to the bottom of it and give you justice."
Su Jinxin said: If you conclude that this matter is only about me and not about Yan Shu, of course you will be very energetic and want to investigate; if they are also ordered by the people above like Long Zhen, I will keep you safe.
For Ouyang Xiu, this is indeed a great gift. For a year or two, as an official of Yushitai, he has not come up with a big and famous case, and he is a little tired; this time, he suddenly risks
A big fish at the level of a fourth-grade prefect came out. Once the case was solved, it was another opportunity for promotion; more importantly, this big fish had no backing. Although it was rumored that Zhu Shiyong had a relationship with Lu Xiang, Lu Xiang didn't seem to want to see him.
, otherwise why would he be on the central waiting list? Ouyang Xiu still has this political sensitivity.
"You will hand the letter and Chen Laogen to me later, and I will start investigating." Ouyang Xiu raised his glass to Su Jin happily.
Su Jin said: "The letter is gone, but Chen Laogen is still alive and kicking."
Ouyang Xiu was stunned for a moment, then thought for a while and said: "It doesn't matter, I have my own way. If there is no physical evidence, I will find more witnesses. The bandit leader Shen Yaozu must have seen the letter, and maybe other small bosses have also seen it.
This confession is enough."
Su Jin said in astonishment: "There is no physical evidence, just relying on personal evidence?"
Ouyang Xiu said proudly: "Others can't do it, but my Yushitai seems redundant."
Su Jin cursed secretly, forgetting that the Yushitai could even impeach officials based on rumors, let alone if there were witnesses; unless they didn't want to, as soon as they set their sights on you, they would basically find out the color of your underwear.
.
"I have a second gift that I want to give to you, sir. That is the self-confessions of the officials collected from Feng Huhu."
"Didn't all the self-confessions be handed over to me?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "My lord, please forgive me, but those are just confessions of officials serving in the current government. Yangzhou Prefecture officials have changed several times. How could Feng Laohu only control the officials of Song Prefecture and have more than a dozen self-confessions?"
The certificate is in the hands of the lower official."
Ouyang Xiu was angry: "You are just fooling around. How dare you hide the evidence of your crime?"
Su Jin said: "Don't worry, sir. I just don't want to cause trouble. After all, I am just a food envoy. I involve so many people. How can I handle food services? Some of them are officials in other places, and some even
He has been promoted to an official position in the Sixth Department of the Central Committee, and he cannot afford to offend the lower officials."
Ouyang Xiu said with a straight face: "Then hand over these confessions and Chen Laogen to me."
Su Jin smiled and said, "There's no rush."
"Why are you not in a hurry?"
Su Jin chuckled and said, "Your Excellency, please write a memorial first, requesting that the gang of criminals in Yangzhou be executed locally, and then the lower officials will naturally hand over these personal and material evidences."
"What, you actually bargained with me?" Ouyang Xiu was angry again.
"This...don't say it so harshly. Your Excellency has given me a peach, and my subordinates will naturally repay me with plums. It is mutually beneficial. Your Excellency will keep my good deeds in mind. How do you think I will behave in the future? It's just now.
This matter involves the official's head, so how about allowing the official to be arrogant for once?"
Ouyang Xiu was extremely angry. This guy could only report the case first. Ouyang Xiu couldn't tell what he felt in his heart, and he didn't know whether he was on a broad road or stepping into a bottomless abyss.