I don’t know why Mr. Wang, a stranger in front of me, invited me, a stranger, to drink with him in the village, but seeing his face full of sincerity and wanting to know the details of the whole incident, I agreed, “Okay, let’s have three drinks together.” ,"
The restaurants and bars in Miaowan Village are not big, but they are numerous in number. They are a bit like a bar street in later generations.
I followed Mr. Wang to a wine shop that looked relatively clean but quite remote. This wine shop was called Xiaoxinzhou. It was not big inside, with only eight tables. The decoration was also very simple. We sat in the only table by the window. At the table next to me, Yuan Ji and others sat at a table next to me.
After Mr. Wang poured the wine, he smiled and said: "Sir, Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang have never met each other, but they dragged Mr. Wang to drink with Mr. Wang. Please forgive Mr. Wang for his abruptness."
"It doesn't matter. Didn't the predecessors say that it is necessary to know each other before we meet? Meeting is fate."
"Well said, come on, Wang will give you a drink first,"
"Okay, done,"
The wine of Xiaoshinzhou is just traditional water wine in ancient times. If compared with the wine of later generations, its alcohol concentration is about the same as that of beer, so for a person like me who is not good at drinking, it is not a problem.
"Come, young master, come on,"
"Okay, full on,"
"Looking at the accent, the young master is not a local, right?"
"No, I am from Lin'an. I inherited the ancestral business and do some small business, so I will often travel around in the future. This Xinzhou Prefecture is an important transportation road, and I will come here often."
Mr. Wang nodded thoughtfully and said: "Young Master looks like someone who has read books about saints and sages. Although Wang is a failed scholar, you can still see that the Young Master is magnificent and has extraordinary bearing."
"No, no, Mr. Wang deserves the award," I picked up the wine glass and said, "Mr. Wang, come on, let's have this second glass."
"good,"
"Mr. Wang, why did today's incident happen?"
After Mr. Wang finished his second cup, he sighed, "Sir, the land in Miaowan Village is fertile and it is an important transportation thoroughfare. Therefore, the people in the village are engaged in farming and business. Compared with other places in Xinzhou, their lives are much better." , More than ten days ago, Li Zheng in the village suddenly informed everyone that the government was going to expropriate Miaowan Village and asked the villagers to prepare to move. In ten days, they would have to move to Xiaofenghuang Mountain, which is thirty miles away. In addition, The government promised to give each family a moving and resettlement fee of 25 guan,"
I had no idea about the moving fee, so I asked: "Mr. Wang, is twenty-five dollars a small amount?"
"Sir, according to the laws of our dynasty, if it is just the moving fee, twenty-five dollars is still within the reasonable range. However, after moving to Xiaofenghuang Mountain, the land owned by the villagers will also be replaced there. The name of Phoenix Mountain sounds nice, but the land there is barren and cannot be compared with Miaowan Village. Therefore, the villagers firmly disagreed with the relocation. A few days ago, Li Zheng was still visiting from house to house to let everyone know. We had to obey the government's arrangements, but it had no effect. After that, Li Zheng never showed up again. Five days ago, Tongqu Trading Company came to the village and posted a notice asking us to move out. Yesterday was the last day of the deadline. Today at noon, the Tongqu Commercial Bank sent a large number of construction workers. After we blocked it, they called in the Xinzhou Prefecture government officials with the intention of forcing us to move. Because Wang had studied for a few days and learned the laws of our court, So he was elected by the villagers and argued with the government officials,"
"Mr. Wang, that's exactly what happened there,"
"This is quite strange. The day after Tongqu Commercial Bank came to post the notice, no one in the village saw Li Zheng again. Even his family members said they didn't know where he had gone. In short, his whereabouts are unknown. "
"Has his family reported it to the police?"
"I reported it, and the government officials also came, but there were no clues. And the people in the village hated the demolition agreement that Li Zheng secretly reached with the Xinzhou Prefecture, so no one paid attention to it."
I continued to ask: "Mr. Wang, what is the background of Tongqu Trading Company?"
"Sir, this thoroughfare trading house is the largest trading house in Xinzhou. In addition to selling rice, it also monopolizes the construction industry in Xinzhou City. Whether it is government buildings or civilian buildings, they provide all the bricks and tiles."
"Then are they related to Xinzhou Prefecture?"
"I don't know this Wang very well. I just heard that the owner of Tongqu Trading Company also has the surname He,"
"What's the surname? What does this have to do with the surname?"
"Young master, you don't know. The name of the magistrate of Xinzhou is He Bohou."
"The surname He is also a very common surname. This doesn't mean anything,"
"I don't know if there is any connection between them. Haha, sir, drink."
I picked up the wine glass and said, "Mr. Wang, what does Xinzhou Prefecture do in daily life?"
Mr. Wang seemed unwilling to comment: "Sir, as for the government, most of them are the same. It's not what we and the common people say."
"Mr. Wang, I heard that the current imperial court is determined to innovate and will not allow local officials to act indiscriminately,"
"Sir, since ancient times, there have been policies from above and countermeasures from below. It is not easy to talk about innovation."
"If this Xinzhou government office does not put the people first, colludes with officials and businessmen, and is corrupt and bends the law, it should be punished by law,"
"What the young master said is absolutely true, but in our court, officials protect each other, and bad habits in officialdom have been formed for a long time. Take this Xinzhou Prefecture as an example. Mr. He is a disciple of the current Taishi Jia Sidao. Who can touch him?"
"In your opinion, sir, what should be done so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment?"
Mr. Wang drank another drink and whispered: "Sir, Mr. Wang has had a few more drinks today. Mr. Wang has given up his power and thinks it is nonsense. Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang believes that only by establishing a new order can the bad habits of officialdom be completely eradicated. ,"
"New Order, what does it mean,"
Mr. Wang smiled and changed the topic: "In recent days, Wang has been worried about the incident in Miaowan Village. Although he saw the young master for the first time today, he intuitively felt that the young master was not an ordinary person, so he boldly invited the young master to drink. I have said too much, too much to say, hehe, son, come here, drink, drink, getting drunk will relieve all your worries. Master, when you go to the north and south for business in the future, you can come here often. Wang will do his best every time. The friendship of the landlord, I can talk freely with the young master,"
Seeing that Mr. Wang said no more, I raised my glass and said with a smile, "Okay, let's drink."
When I walked out of Xiaoxinzhou Wine Shop, it was already dark.
"Sir, let's stay here in Miaowan Village and return to the city tomorrow morning."
I looked back at Mr. Wang, who was lying on the table in a daze, and said, "Okay, sir, we'll spend the night here."
Just after we left, Mr. Wang, who was lying on the table, suddenly stood up. Seeing that there were no customers in the wine shop, the shopkeeper was fiddling with the abacus on the counter and recording today's income and expenditure. Mr. Wang smiled and said, He was talking to himself, or he seemed to be saying to the shopkeeper: "I am proficient in the art of horse-drawing. Just from the mount of this young master, I can tell that this man is a rich and noble man. If he can be used by our alliance, It must be a great achievement,"
At this time, Mr. Wang was still a little bit drunk. After he finished speaking, he didn't care whether the wine shop owner was listening or not, and left with a stern look in his eyes.
Following my instructions, after entering Xinzhou City, we went directly to the location of Xinzhou Dragon Tooth - Xinzhou Tongle Building.
In the entire Jiangxi Province, Tonglelou has only opened two branches, one in Longxing Prefecture (now Nanchang), the newly restructured Jiangxi Provincial Government, and the other in Xinzhou Prefecture.
Like Lin'an Tongle House, Xinzhou Tongle House also operates a morning tea business. Early in the morning, the restaurant was already full and overcrowded.
The big shopkeeper He Ming welcomed the seven of us into the backyard and sent someone to bring breakfast and tea, "Ling'er, you and Quan Yi, Xiu Yan will eat here first, and my husband, Shen Mo and Wen Zhang will eat here first." Go out and talk about something,"
"I got it, brother,"
When I got to the next room, I said, "He Ming, please tell us about the situation in Miaowan Village outside Xinzhou City."
"Yes, sir,"
While drinking tea, we listened to He Ming talk about the recent demolition of Miaowan Village. What He Ming knew was basically consistent with what Mr. Wang said, and he confirmed that He Bohou, the magistrate of Xinzhou Prefecture, was a disciple of Jia Sidao. , On the surface, He Bohou did not have much bad records in Xinzhou, and his performance was quite satisfactory. Although he and the big boss of Tongqu Trading Company have the same surname, they are not related. Since last year, Xinzhou Prefecture announced that it will vigorously develop the local economy. Since then, there have been more public interactions between He Bohou and Tongqu Commercial Bank. In public, He Bohou once said that he hopes that Xinzhou will have more large trading houses like Tongqu to jointly develop Xinzhou's economy. The government will support other large companies just like Tongqu. Trading firm.
He Ming was not very clear about what happened before the opening of Tongle Building in Xinzhou. After all, the Longya organization here was just established with the opening of Tongle Building in October last year. The big shopkeeper He Ming even finished this year. He came here to take office only after a few years.
"He Ming, we need to slowly start to understand the past things. We can't make judgments just from the surface. There is no inside story in Tongqu and Xinzhou Prefecture."
"Yes, sir, I understand."
Yuan Ji said: "Sir, how should we deal with the matter in Miaowan Village? I estimate that Tongqu Trading Company will go to Tongqu Trading Company today."
"Yes, yes," I thought for a while and said, "Li Zheng of Miaowan Village is missing. Tongqu Commercial Bank holds the legal approval document from the government. If it takes action forcefully, it will inevitably lead to large-scale conflicts with the villagers, and our court's legal system The law can't do anything to them, so be it, Shen Mo,"
"My subordinate is here,"
"Shen Mo, you and Wen Zhang went to Xinzhou Prefecture and told them that Miaowan Village was involved in a military case. Your imperial army came to investigate the case under the order of the Imperial Military Affairs Council. Before the case is concluded, Miaowan Village Everything must remain as usual, and any violation will be punished by military force."
"Yes, sir, we will go right away,"
"Well, sir, you can send a message to Lin'an by flying pigeons, asking our old friend Song Chengzu from the Criminal Department, Mr. Song, to come here quickly to investigate the case."
"Yes, I obey,"
"Shen Mo, wait, He Ming, you go with Shen Mo in the name of Jinyiwei,"
"Jinyiwei,"
"Well, this is a newly established department of the imperial court this year. Governments at all levels have been notified. Any case in which Jin Yiwei is dispatched must be a major case. You said that the case of the missing person in Miaowan Village will be jointly handled by the Military Academy and Jin Yiwei. Let Xinzhou Prefecture cooperate unconditionally. I happen to have a Jinyiwei certificate here. You can take it first. I estimate that Jinyiwei’s personnel deployment outside Lin’an will be carried out at the beginning of next month.”
"Yes, sir,"
"As for what Jinyiwei does, Shen Mo will tell you on the way. I think no matter how much benefits the Xinzhou Prefecture receives from Tongqu Commercial Bank, it has no choice but to force it to suspend construction. If neither the Military Academy nor Jinyiwei can suppress the greed of Xinzhou Prefecture,
Then we have to ask Xinzhou Prefecture to replace someone. Okay, sir, let's go back and have something to eat first."