Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

The real officials arrived with knives, berated and shoved the vendors, and the alley suddenly became a mess.

"Brother-in-law? Brother-in-law! Help, help me, these shameless thugs are attacking and beating officials. They want to kill people!"

"Shut up!" Qi Zhiyang yelled, his face was ashen, and he stepped on the bastard's cheek and pressed it into the crack of the stone slab.He is a general, if there were such bad soldiers in the army, he would have been ordered to pull down the army stick to serve him long ago.

"Ah, don't... help, help, brother-in-law, brother-in-law!" Hunzi was powerless to fight back, crying ghostly.

The imperial guards also subdued a few bastards. They were so disdainful that they didn't bother to do anything. They raised their feet and kicked the bastards into a pile, ordering them to squat against the wall with their heads in their arms.

In a blink of an eye, the five or six bastards who swaggered and robbed property had bruised noses and face, nosebleeds profusely, their indomitable heads drooped, and their wailing and painful cries joined together.

it is good!

Well played!

The peddlers were extremely relieved and happy, and they only sighed that they could not applaud the brave and righteous knights.

"Who is your brother-in-law?" Rong Youtang asked coldly, "You claim to be hired by the government? To work for the court? Tell me! Who gave you the right to openly rob people's property?"

"My brother-in-law is from the yamen, how dare you beat me? Oh, brother-in-law, come and save me." The leader of the bastard was always trampled on by Qi Zhiyang, losing face and crying in pain.

While the old peach seller relieved his hatred freely, he was very worried about his benefactor. He looked around anxiously, and whispered to Rong Youtang: "Master, please calm down, speak soft words later, and don't cause trouble when you go out."

"We are upright and upright, and we never make trouble out of nothing. Right now, they are the ones who made mistakes first! At worst, they will go to court in the Yamen. I want to see how the magistrate will settle the case." Rong Youtang said loudly.

As soon as the words fell, the officials finally waved away the crowded hawkers from the alley, and squeezed in with difficulty. The leader was named Gan Xiaogang, and at a glance he saw his brother-in-law being trampled on the soles of his feet and howling!He widened his eyes in disbelief, and immediately drew out his sword with a "shua", pointed at Qi Zhiyang who was wearing a half-worn military robe, and shouted angrily: "Who are you? How dare you go to the border of Guanzhou to make trouble? Why don't you let him go quickly?" !"

Qi Zhiyang laughed back angrily: "How dare you point a knife at me?"

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Help me." Hunzi burst out with strong hope and hatred in an instant, looking at Qi Zhiyang with poison in his eyes.

Rong Youtang said with a facial expression: "Oh, so you are the backstage of this villain?"

With a "huh", Gan Xiaogang turned his bright long knife to Rong Youtang, and sternly reprimanded: "Where did you come from such a sour scholar? Meddle in other people's business, are you impatient?"

"The new policy of the imperial court's tax increase has been made clear to the world. The current express regulation is to charge [-]%." Rong Youtang asked angrily: "Who gave you the power to levy and extort money, and to exploit the common people? In broad daylight, rogues wantonly rob The property of the common people should be severely punished!"

All the hawkers in Wangjia Village shared the same hatred, and spontaneously stood behind the imperial envoy, staring at the lackeys of the government with blazing eyes and extreme resentment.

Gan Xiaogang was holding the knife, his face was very restless, although he had many companions, but because of the accident in the tax collection last month, he didn't dare to do whatever he wanted like before.He gritted his teeth and shouted: "Severely punished or not, it's your turn to dictate? Let him go immediately, and follow me to the Yamen!" Then I will be locked up in prison, and I will settle accounts with you again.

"It's exactly what we want! We just went to the yamen to see how you judge the case." Qi Zhiyang said righteously.

"You—" Gan Xiaogang was at a loss for words, but he didn't dare to act rashly.He was condemned by the eyes of the common people, his face turned blue and red, and he was burning with anger.

Rong Youtang took the opportunity to appease the common people: "Everyone, the new business tax policy was promulgated and implemented in early April this year, and it has been more than April so far. Regarding the tax payment, His Majesty has an order: all regions in the world are treated equally, and [-]% of the tax is currently collected. Anyone who dares to levy privately is a crime." Inexcusable!"

"Shut up! It's not up to you to deal with Guanzhou's affairs. I want to get as much as I want!" Gan Xiaogang became furious, stepped forward, raised his scabbard, and slapped Rong Youtang on the cheek——

"Bold!" Huang Li, the imperial guard, yelled loudly, and rushed forward with a stride. The northern warriors were all good at leg skills and keen on practicing leg skills. Huang Li kicked his legs and kicked the arrester and his knife hard against the wall.

Gan Xiaogang fell to the ground sideways, the knife and scabbard fell, clutching his stomach and curled up in pain, unable to curse, he could only look up and stare angrily.

Huang Li snorted coldly, and was about to mend his feet, but was stopped by Rong Youtang: "A Li! Let's keep him for the interrogation."

"It's just an official job, so it's crazy? It's too much to learn." Huang Li was indignant.He and Rong Youtang are about the same age, they hit it off quite well, and they have a good personal relationship.

"You will kill yourself if you do many unrighteous actions, just watch." Rong Youtang comforted.

At this time, the rest of the police saw that the boss was being beaten, and they hurriedly asked for help, and helped each other, as if they were facing a big enemy, they held their long knives on guard, fearing that there would be another bloody fight between officials and businessmen like last month.

The narrow and long alleys were chaotic and noisy. Many people came here after hearing the news. There were several floors in the inner and outer circles.

"Brother Qi, it seems that most of the fighting last month was caused by excessive taxation." Rong Youtang sighed.

Qi Zhiyang nodded, glanced around, and said worriedly: "Although there are many witnesses, they may not be willing to testify."

"As long as we ensure the safety of the witnesses, at least the relatives and friends of the deceased in Qingniu Village will be willing." Rong Youtang pointed out.

Immediately, the police sent to ask for help quickly called a large number of officers with knives from nearby, and rushed to the scene of the incident, drawing their knives to drive away the onlookers.

Among them, the leader of the prefect's yamen squeezed their way in, eagerly shouting:

"Stop! Stop everything! If you have something to say, don't hurt the innocent."

"After making trouble for a long time, finally came someone who can speak human language?" Qi Zhiyang raised his eyebrows in surprise.

The guards shook their shoulders and suppressed laughter.

Rong Youtang couldn't help laughing, looked intently, and said doubtfully, "The voice... sounds familiar."

The next moment, the head catcher Yao Sheng appeared anxiously. He was sweating profusely, and was about to speak to persuade him, but when he saw Rong Youtang, he was dumbfounded in fright, and stammered, "You, you are...?"

"Captain Yao, are you safe?" Rong Youtang greeted with a smile, and he quickly recognized him.

"You—" Yao Sheng frowned, his thoughts spinning quickly.

"Yao Butou doesn't remember me?" Rong Youtang took the time to ask.

Yao Sheng waved his hands hastily. Before he could answer, Gan Xiaogang, who was sitting against the wall, shouted angrily, "Yao Sheng, what are you talking about with them? Didn't you see that we were injured? Hurry up and arrest them! Could it be because it's your friend?" , you can kill officials at will? You are a head catcher, but you are unfair, and you still have the face to mock me?"

"Shut up, you!" Yao Sheng was disgusted and disgusted. The two had been fighting openly and secretly for many years. At this moment, he finally seized the opportunity to erupt. He scolded: "Gan Xiaogang, you connive and cover up your relatives and oppress the people, raise taxes indiscriminately, and even eat fruits, vegetables, leaves and eggs. Grab them all, and you won’t be afraid of rotten intestines if you eat them? I’m missing a great virtue!”

After finishing speaking, Yao Sheng respectfully knelt down in front of Rong Youtang and the others, and said: "Yao Sheng, the arresting head of the small Guanzhou government office, is here to greet all your lords."

ho-

My lords? !

The hawkers were taken aback and looked at each other.

"Get up." Rong Qi and the two raised their hands to help.

"Thank you, my lord." Yao Sheng got up and stood with his head bowed.Although he was only arresting the head, he heard the names of the two imperial envoys, so he deliberately didn't mention them at this time, only hoping that Gan Xiaogang would make some nonsense, and it would be better if he angered the imperial envoys and be killed with a sword!

At this moment, due to a change in the matter, the magistrate and others who passed by the imperial envoy and waited for a long time at the ferry finally found out the news and found it all the way from the inn where the other party was staying.

It was a very hot afternoon in August. Ji Ping, the prefect, was dressed in a complicated official uniform, sweat-drenched and panting. He was surrounded by his subordinates and rushed to him.

"You guys..." Ji Ping looked at Rong Youtang and Qi Zhiyang hesitantly, he didn't know the imperial envoys, and he was so tired that he was sweating and full of resentment.

"See you, Your Excellency." Yao Sheng and all the officials knelt down to greet a state governor.

"Get up." Ji Ping waved his hand absently, and asked cautiously, "Where do you all come from?"

"Are you Ji Ping, the prefect of Guanzhou?" Qi Zhiyang asked.

Ji Ping nodded, suppressing his displeasure.

"May I ask Mr. Ji, what standard is the Guanzhou tax collected?" Rong Youtang asked seriously.It happened that the villagers of the Wang family were present, and he wanted to take the opportunity to justify the name of the New Deal.

Ji Ping frowned and said nothing, scanned the scene, and immediately knew the ins and outs, glaring at Zhizhou Gan Hongxin from the corner of his eye!

Gan Hongxin bowed his head anxiously, complaining endlessly, secretly cursing his greedy cousin who caused trouble.

"Master Ji?" Rong Youtang slightly raised his voice.

"The new business tax policy now stipulates that [-]% of the tax will be charged. Is Master Ji clear?" Qi Zhiyang asked loudly.

"Of course it's clear." Ji Ping answered through gritted teeth.When he was questioned in public, he blushed with embarrassment, and wanted to ask if the other party was an imperial envoy, but he didn't dare to speak rashly—in fact, he hoped that it was not an imperial envoy!

Rong Youtang pointed to the fruits, vegetables, and broken eggs scattered all over the ground during the scramble, and asked, "When did the imperial court issue a regulation on taking goods to offset taxes? And it was a violent robbing?"

"You actually hired local ruffians and bandits to collect taxes?" Qi Zhiyang spit out each word through his teeth.

Oops, they are probably imperial envoys...

"No, no, no!" Ji Ping categorically vetoed it, and said in a shattered voice, "I don't know anything about it, and I'm about to start an investigation. Please speak carefully."

The head catcher Yao Sheng lowered his head, hiding the gloating smile on the corner of his mouth.

Rong Youtang wondered: "This place is only a few miles away from the government office, yet Mr. Ji doesn't even know about it?"

"This, this... I will definitely investigate thoroughly, my lord, please stay calm." Ji Ping tried his best to maintain the demeanor of a state official, holding his head high and his chest up, along with his plump belly.

At this time, Sun Qi, Tongzhi of Guanzhou, hurried to the scene after dispersing the onlookers outside the alley.When he led a team to support the bandit suppression army, he and Rong Youtang stood shoulder to shoulder at the Shun County Government Office, so before he stood still, he smiled and told Ji Ping, "My lord, the two leaders in front of you are imperial envoys!" Then he The spring breeze said with a smile on his face: "It's been half a year since you left, Mr. Rong, oh no, it's been a long time since Mr. Rong! This must be General Qi, right? I'm going to pay my respects to the two lords."

Qi Zhiyang nodded, and said politely, "Master Sun, you are welcome."

"Master Sun, please. We haven't seen each other since the beginning of the year, and we just met today. It's been a long time." Rong Youtang smiled and greeted the old acquaintance.

Ji Ping was like an eggplant beaten by frost, his head fluttering, and he shouted that he was unlucky.

Seeing this, Qi Zhiyang quickly removed the blue cloth wrapped in Shangfang's sword, revealing the body of the sword with a bright yellow five-clawed golden dragon. The pearls on the sword's tassels shone brightly in the afternoon sun, shocking everyone present!

Shang Fangjian, beheading slanderous ministers, represents the supreme emperor.

Ji Ping's legs softened, he knelt down obediently, and reluctantly said: "I'm the official, Ji Ping, the prefect of Guanzhou, to greet the two imperial envoys."

Oh!So they are imperial envoys?

The hawkers in Wangjia Village were shocked and lost their minds, unable to speak for a long time.It wasn't until Ji Ping knelt down that they followed suit one after another. They plopped and kowtowed, revering the emperor from the bottom of their hearts. They shouted all kinds of things: "Cao Min kowtows to the imperial envoy."

"My little one meets the imperial envoy."

"Greetings to the imperial envoy."

……

After a while, everyone knelt down and got up, all silent, waiting for the imperial envoy to speak with bated breath.

Qi Zhiyang, who wanted to disclose his identity, rewrapped Shang Fangjian and put it away carefully.

Rong Youtang said solemnly: "I was ordered to investigate the case of fighting between officials and people in Guanzhou last month. I must have known about it."

"This place is thousands of miles away from the capital. The officials and others just received the news, and they led their colleagues to wait at the ferry. Unexpectedly, you have already entered the city! Alas, I am ashamed and ashamed, I am so sorry." Ji Ping cupped his hands repeatedly and squeezed out With a smile on his face, he said: "I don't know Mount Tai with eyes, I hope you two will forgive me."

Qi Zhiyang said rigidly: "You and I have never met, if you don't know, what is your fault?"

Rong Youtang smiled and said: "Your Majesty Ji, you are welcome. I am on urgent business, and I have to trouble you for your assistance when investigating the case. Thank you in advance."

"Thank you? It should be, we are all here to share the worries of His Majesty." Ji Ping smiled sorely, his forehead was greasy and sweaty.

"It's so good." Rong Youtang raised his hand and pointed at the chaos in the alley, and said solemnly: "Master Ji doesn't know something, we planned to go to the government office after we settled down, but we bumped into these things halfway, I don't know how your lord is going to deal with it? "

"Please don't worry, of course we will deal with it. They are really outrageous!" Ji Ping promised vaguely, and then invited with a smile: "Everyone has come from a long distance, and the boat and car are exhausting. The next official has prepared a table of thin wine. Please move a few steps to the government office. Sit down."

Wind-up wine, it's wind-up wine again!

Master Rong's eyelids twitched, and the smile almost disappeared.

"Thank you. It's a pity that we have already had tea and rice in the inn. I can only appreciate Mr. Ji's kindness." Qi Zhiyang bowed his head slightly.

"Ah?" Ji Ping was dumbfounded again, with a frowning face, frequently wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, cheered up and said, "Oh, it's really our fault, we couldn't respond accurately, and it's wrong to wrong the imperial envoy to stay in the inn! That being the case, Please go to the government office to drink tea, talk about the case, and strive to close the case as soon as possible, so that you can return to Beijing in time to deal with business."

"Okay!" Rong Youtang said with clear and bright eyes, "We just found some clues, I wonder if we can borrow them from the government office?"

Tough stuff!

Ji Ping hesitated to speak, anxious but helpless, he raised his hand, wiped his forehead with the handkerchief, wiped his cheeks, wiped his cheeks and neck, back and forth, the blue silk handkerchief was soaked with sweat.

"Master Ji disagrees?" Qi Zhiyang's face was watery, and he said solemnly: "We suspect that the fight between officials and businessmen last month was related to the method of tax collection, so we want to use the court to hear the case."

"Uh, uh, this has something to do with it. The lower officials have severely punished the perpetrators." Ji Ping said vaguely.

Rong Youtang raised his finger and pointed at Gan Xiaogang and his wife and brother, and said righteously: "They wantonly oppressed the common people, fish and meat villagers, and lawlessly robbed traders of their property. I don't know what crime Master Ji thinks they should be guilty of?"

"I'm ashamed to be a lower official. Please don't worry, the imperial envoy. I will definitely punish the villains severely!" Ji Ping was well versed in slippery ways.

During this period, Gan Xiaogang was terrified, and from time to time he looked at Gan Hongxin, the magistrate, for help, but was caught by Qi Zhiyang!Qi Zhiyang looked at Gan Hongxin and asked, "I don't know how to address you, sir?"

Gan Hongxin took a deep breath, bit the bullet and went out, cupped his hands and said, "Return to General Qi: The next official, Guanzhou Zhizhou, Gan Hongxin."

"You know him?" Qi Zhiyang nodded Gan Xiaogang.

"I know, I know. His name is Gan Xiaogang, and he is a distant cousin of the lower official." Gan Hongxin wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Oh~" Rong Youtang nodded meaningfully, then turned to stare at Ji Ping.

Qi Zhiyang shook Shang Fangjian, regretfully said: "It seems that Mr. Ji is not willing to lend it to the court."

"Do you want us to bring him back to the hall of the Ministry of Criminal Justice in the capital?" Rong Youtang frowned sadly.

During the stalemate, the bastard who was trampled on by the head of the imperial guard heard "the hall of the Ministry of punishment in the capital", and he was frightened out of his wits. He shouted in panic, "Master imperial envoy, please spare me! Please, don't, don't kill me, I will kill you!" I knew I was wrong, I shouldn’t be grabbing vegetables, fruits and eggs, but I didn’t move a penny of the tax money, I handed it all in, it’s stipulated by the government, no matter what, I have to make up 200 taels a day, I’m wronged—”

"Shut up! Er Zhu, are you out of your mind? What nonsense are you talking about?" Gan Xiaogang hurriedly stopped, wishing he could draw his knife and cut off his brother-in-law's tongue.

"So that's how it is." Rong Youtang suddenly realized, and kept looking at Ji Ping.

Qi Zhiyang nodded thoughtfully.

Under the eyes of everyone, Ji Ping, who had no right to stop the imperial envoy from doing things, had no choice but to say, with a pale face, frustrated and discouraged: "The two imperial envoys want to use the court, of course it is possible, please."

Strike while the iron is hot.

Immediately, a large number of people involved in the incident rushed to the Yamen of the state capital, and the public trial was presided over by Rong Qi and the two. .

at the same time

Capital·Qingwang Mansion

"That's right, I've made some progress." Zhao Zeyong nodded appreciatively, carefully reviewing his younger brother's homework.

Ninth Prince Zhao Ze'an couldn't hide his joy, his brows were curved, and he said modestly: "Master said there are still shortcomings."

"That's natural." Zhao Zeyong smiled: "There is no limit to learning, and there are people beyond others. However, at your age, your foundation is still solid."

hum~

You must give me an invisible whip first, and then you can barely boast...

Zhao Ze'an wisely didn't say anything, and sat upright, listening carefully to his brother's instructions.

after a while

Zhao Zeyong closed his homework book, and said gently: "Recently, you have a lot of homework. Let's take a half day off today. You can go rowing or feed the horses."

"Half a day?" Zhao Ze'an turned his head, looked at the setting sun outside the window, and muttered, "It's almost dark."

Zhao Zeyong was startled, turned his head to look, and said bluntly, "Tomorrow morning or afternoon? You choose."

Zhao Ze'an's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he blurted out, "Afternoon!" Then he could continue playing in the evening.

"Okay." Zhao Zeyong got up and urged: "Don't sit still, go and relax in the garden."

Zhao Ze'an couldn't get enough energy, lay down on the table, and said melancholy: "The fourth brother and the eldest sister have returned to the palace, the eighth brother is busy supervising the construction of his mansion, and the brother Rong went to Hejian to investigate the case, no one will accompany me Go shopping in the garden. Alas~"

Mentioning Rong Youtang, Zhao Zeyong was out of focus for a while, and walked out without looking back: "Let's go to the garden."

Children's emotions come and go quickly.

"Okay!" Zhao Ze'an was full of energy, bounced up with a "crack", and quickly caught up with his brother.

The two brothers strolled in the garden one after the other.

Zhao Ze'an was full of energy, climbing rockery for a while, jumping up to pick flowers for a while, picking up flowers and trees to catch songbirds, he was so busy that even the serious brother who followed him didn't mind - he was already satisfied that his relatives could take time to accompany him.

"Hey!" Zhao Ze'an stepped back a foot, jumped up a few strides one by one, struggled to pick flowers from high places, and generously stuffed them to his brother: "Here, here you are."

"Thank you." Zhao Zeyong took it, looked at it a few times, and held it in the palm of his hand.

Zhao Ze'an fell in love with the scene, and said regretfully: "Brother Rong is a good slingshot player, he can hit any flower he wants, and he hits every shot!"

"Ah."

"When will he come back?" Zhao Ze'an asked again when he remembered.

Zhao Zeyong said in a low voice: "The date of return has not yet been determined. The emperor has a deadline of one month. If the investigation goes well, they will return to Beijing in time."

"What if it doesn't go well?" Zhao Ze'an couldn't help asking.

"'If' hasn't happened yet, let's see." Zhao Zeyong could only answer in this way.

"The imperial decree cannot be violated. What will they do if the crime is overdue?" Zhao Ze'an was very worried about Rong Youtang.

Zhao Zeyong patted his younger brother on the shoulder and said firmly, "They will solve the case and return to Beijing as scheduled!"

The Hejian Guanzhou Yamen was still brightly lit until late at night, and the interrogation lasted for four full hours.

The gavel gave a "pop", and Qi Zhiyang shouted: "Put the prisoner in prison and put him in prison for trial!"

"Yes." The yamen servants didn't dare to be negligent at all, they hurriedly escorted some of the gangsters, Gan Xiaogang and other arresters to prison.

Ji Ping and the jury were judged by the state officials. Those involved, such as Gan Hong, were terrified and frightened;

"Due to the complicated and tortuous circumstances of the case, evidence will be collected tomorrow, and the court will be reopened the day after tomorrow." Rong Youtang announced loudly, scanning the state officials and yamen servants, and reminded slowly: "Everyone, the physical conditions of the prisoners before they were put in prison are all recorded, and they can live safely and soundly." to the verdict?"

"Once it is discovered that someone has used lynching and deliberately hindered the imperial envoy from investigating the case, don't blame me for being rude. Shang Fangjian can cut it first and then play it!" Qi Zhiyang said in a loud voice, passing the words to the listening people.

"Retire!" Rong Youtang slapped the gavel neatly.

two hours later

The imperial envoy and his party lived in the government office, and they lived in a side courtyard.

"Brother Qi, do you think this will work?" Rong Youtang put down his pen and asked.

Qi Zhiyang pondered for a while, then nodded: "Very good."

"That's fine, I'll transcribe it right away." Rong Youtang copied it carefully, Qi Zhiyang took the scroll, carefully tied the secret letter to the pigeon's leg, and let the pigeon fly in the dark.

"The situation is urgent, I hope it will be faster." Qi Zhiyang murmured: "We urgently need support."

"Hejian is rotten from top to bottom." Rong Youtang sighed.

"Master Sun is good, but unfortunately he is single and weak." Rong Youtang's heart was heavy.

At this time, it was almost Zishi, but the government office was still noisy: the villagers of the Fang family had nowhere to go in the middle of the night, and the imperial envoys made the decisions.

Suddenly, the head of the guard knocked on the door and quickly entered, saying softly:

"Master Sun Qi asked to see him, he said that there is an urgent matter."