I'm watching the gate in the jail

To say that She County is the largest county under Huizhou Prefecture.It is connected to the Huangshan Mountains in the northwest, the Tianmu Mountains in the southeast, and surrounded by the Xin'an River, just like two dragons playing in the water, which is indeed unique.

Dingjiazhuang is located in a basin between mountains and peaks, and a gurgling stream softly surrounds the whole village.The stream flowing with petals reflects a quaint gray-white building.

In Qiu Zijin's view, this village is a bit like the Peach Blossom Village described by Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty.It's not that the scenery is so pleasant, the grass is delicious, and the flowers are colorful.

Rather, the entire village is located in the basin, surrounded by mountains, and has clean water sources. Outsiders cannot easily enter, but the people inside can rely on running water and fields to support themselves.

As expected, it was the place specially chosen by the ancestors of the Ding family to take refuge.

That is to say, after the descendants of the Ding family took the initiative to become officials and became merchants, they would explore out of this village.

Wanda and the others—as they walked, they heard that "Liu Tie Chi" constantly praising him, "good geomantic omen", "good place" and "good vision". Pay tribute to the ancestors who settled in this geomantic treasure.

"Ding Xuan, a grass-roots man, and his grandsons from all the houses of the Ding family have met the patrolling master, the Jinyiwei master, and the county master."

Before entering the village, he saw an old man in his sixties, supported by a group of descendants, kowtowing to Qiu Zijin.

Wanda saw his age—he was so sick that he couldn't even stand upright, so he hurried forward a few steps and helped him up.

Qiu Zijin saw that his descendants brought out at least [-] to [-] people, all of them dressed decently, and they behaved politely when they saw officials and family members, so he wondered why even the ancestral graves were occupied by people.

At the same time, Guo Yuanwai of the Guo family also brought thirty or forty men to meet him from the other side.

It turned out that these two families lived next to each other, belonging to Dingjiazhuang and Guojiazhuang respectively.With this creek as the boundary, - left - right, on both sides.

However, the relationship between the two families didn't seem to be very harmonious. Even if there were officials and officers and soldiers here, when the two families saw each other's children, they didn't show even superficial humility at all, but glared at each other.

There was a strong smell of gunpowder in the air.

Seeing such a situation, Wanda and Yang Xiuxian knew something was wrong.

In order to prevent these people from causing trouble at the scene, Qiu Zijin only allowed two people from each family to follow them—go to the scene together.So Master Ding and Yuanwai Guo each found a reliable person from the clan to follow.

Just as a group of people were walking towards the archway, Wanda took two steps slowly, pulled County Magistrate Luo to the side and secretly asked if there was any enmity between the two families.

"Yes... these two families have been around for many years, no matter what they do, they have to fight, fight, fight."

Speaking of this, County Magistrate Luo also complained in a low voice.

She County is a place where rich families gather together, and it has a strong culture. It stands to reason that it is not difficult to be an official here.

It just so happens that these two families are against each other, and I don't know how many disasters will be caused by the fighting throughout the year.

The Guo family is also a big local family. They escaped from Kaifeng in the Southern Song Dynasty in order to avoid the war, and they are somewhat similar to the Ding family who came here to seek refuge.

He also took a fancy to the isolation and inviolability of the world here.

It stands to reason that the basin is big enough that the Ding family and the Guo family can live in harmony.In the first few dynasties, these two families did get along fairly well, and they even got married to each other.

However, since entering the Ming Dynasty, the relationship between the two families was relatively harmonious. Due to the accumulation of various trivial matters, the contradictions have become more and more, and there is actually a faint smell of feud.

Because of the long history, there was no clear boundary marker between the two villages at that time. The villagers either said that your family occupied my land, or that your family used our sluice gate.He broke into the county government at the foot of the mountain twice in three days, and asked the county magistrate to give an explanation.

Both of them are big families that have been operating in the local area for more than a hundred years, and they have many descendants. The previous county magistrates can't get any benefits if they want to help anyone, so they can only make love every day.

County magistrate Luo has been here for three years.

At first, I thought that the wet flour in my hands could be left when I reached the order of reconciliation.Who knew, they actually made a fuss with the supervisory censor, which was really harmful.

Wanda kept shaking her head when she heard this, thinking that it is really difficult for low-level officials to do so.

When the pedestrian finally walked to the "Ding's Ancestral Tomb" by the river bank, he was dumbfounded.

"Master Ding, you said this is your family's ancestral grave. Where is the grave?"

Looking at the lonely room in front of her, Wanda turned her head and asked.

There is no ancestral tomb in front of me, only a small temple with khaki walls and blue-gray tiles, an earth temple.

There is only one entrance in this earth temple, and the head can be seen at a glance.

The temple is not big, and there is only a dusty statue inside, which looks quite bleak.

There is a small bed on the right side of the temple, and a stove in front of the small bed.There is a small pot on the stove, it seems that it should be inhabited on weekdays.

Behind the Earth Temple is the large archway that has been demolished by the Guo family—most of it.There are piles of stones and gravel under the big archway, which should be the components of the knocked down archway.

Behind the archway is facing the river. This year, it is like rain, and the river is flowing slowly.

Wanda sits and looks to the right, but really can't tell, it doesn't look like a Tang Dynasty tomb.

According to Master Ding, the ancestors of their family who migrated from the Tang Dynasty should be buried here.

"Master Ding, where is your ancestral grave?"

Wanda asked.

"Here, to report back to you masters... it is half a mile up the mountain."

"What? This is not your ancestral grave?"

The crowd was shocked.

"It's unreasonable. You asked the servants to come to sue, saying that the Guo family invaded your ancestral grave and demolished your mother's chastity archway. Now you tell the official that your ancestral grave is no longer here. Is this not a false accusation? "

Not to mention Qiu Zijin, Wanda and the others never imagined that the first case that the majestic inspector of the thirteen provinces would receive after he arrived was a false report!

Master Ding, you are really awesome.

False accusation is a felony.

Guo Yuanwai and his family who followed behind the county magistrate showed a contemptuous smile.

"Wait, I checked the county annals of this county... It is indeed recorded that the Ding family took a fancy to the geomantic omen of this mountain and settled here. Could it be that the county annals are wrong? County magistrate Luo, do you know what happened? thing?"

Qiu Zijin turned around and looked at Magistrate Luo.

County magistrate Luo didn't dare to be negligent, and hurried forward to explain, "Sir, this county annals cannot be faked. But since the villain took office, this place has already been a land temple. And the county annals only said that the ancestral grave of Ding's family is in It’s just on the mountain, where it is, how many miles around, it’s not clearly stated, I’m not evasive, it’s just that this matter is really muddled.”

Qiu Zijin frowned in embarrassment.

Yes, this is also where he found it difficult after searching through all the documents and classics in the county government yesterday.

According to the text handed down from the Tang Dynasty, it is not enough to infer the specific location of the Ding family's ancestral grave.

"My lords, please listen to me. I didn't lie to my lords. This is indeed where my family's ancestral grave is located, but it was moved away."

Master Ding hurriedly explained.

"23 years ago, She County was hit by excessive rain. That summer, it rained heavily for half a month without stopping."

Speaking of the past, Master Ding was a little sad.

"The rolling stone on the mountain fell and smashed a big hole in the roof of the ancestral hall that my family originally built next to the tomb. Fortunately, the ancestors protected and no one was injured. We hurriedly removed the tablet of Gaozu."

"I didn't expect the torrential rain to continue. You have also seen that there is a river next to this place. It is usually fine. After more than ten days of continuous heavy rain, the graveyard was about to be flooded, so we had to reluctantly move the tomb of Gaozu. Walk."

Qiu Zijin turned his head and looked at Magistrate Luo again.

County magistrate Luo smiled awkwardly, saying that 20 years ago he was not even a Jinshi, let alone came here to be an official.did not know about the flood.

Qiu Zijin also smiled, saying that Mr. Luo, as a parent official, didn't even explore the local customs when he took office.

The torrential rain 20 years ago was recorded in the county annals and several books written by local students. It seems that the county magistrate Luo doesn't usually care much about the classics.

The county magistrate of Luo knelt down on the rough gravel road when he heard the words, and kept saying: This official is guilty, and this official knows his mistake.

Kowtow while thinking, it hurts just looking at it.

"Xiaoqiu has great official authority this time..."

Wanda looked at Qiu Zijin with a serious face, and was a little startled.He quietly retreated to Yang Xiuxian's side and said in a low voice.

"He is young, and he has just taken office. Those people don't know that he has already gone through several big cases in his hands. Although they keep calling him 'Master Patrol', they will inevitably despise him in their hearts, and maybe they still want to handle it... ...Xiaoqiu deliberately flaunted his prestige in front of everyone."

Yang Xiuxian replied with a smile.

Wow, I didn't see it, Qiu Zijin is so scheming.

Before he—lu ate candied candies on the boat, Wanda thought he had something on his mind.

It seems that people are - all the way are studying how to handle the case.

Wanda turned to look at Liu Tiechi, who nodded understandingly, took a compass, and led a small team to run up the mountain.In order to prevent accidents, Gao Hui also followed.

After about one cup of tea, Liu Tiechi came back panting from running.

"My lord, from the point of view of Fengshui, this place has a radius of three miles. The acupuncture points are all backed by Huanglong and facing Baichuan. It is a rare good acupuncture point. I just went up to have a look, and there is indeed a cemetery on it. Look at the inscription on it. Time is the tomb of the Tang Dynasty."

"My lord, this old man Ding is lying. There has never been such a thing as moving the grave. His ancestral grave has always been on the mountain."

Guo Yuanwai took the opportunity to say, "This place has always been the field of our Guo family, and this temple is the best witness. Have you seen the small bed inside? It is a child of our Guo family, and he is responsible for watching it inside on weekdays. Temple. Today I heard that an adult is coming, and I was afraid of offending him, so I deliberately avoided it. If the adult wants to see him, go to our Guojia Village to find someone, and he will come to see you immediately."

"My lord, this is really my family's ancestral grave. This temple was built after my family's cemetery was moved."

Master Ding hurriedly explained.

"There must be a lot of inadequacies in moving the grave in a hurry. Why didn't you move the grave back after the flood receded, but built a temple here?"

This is what makes Wanda puzzled.

"This temple was not built by my family..."

Master Ding—has a troubled face.

"Reporting to my lord, this temple was built by the order of the county magistrate more than 20 years ago."

This time, County Magistrate Luo finally cheered up, "If you have read the county annals, you should remember that there are also records on them. There are temple annals that record this temple."

Qiu Zijin nodded.

When he looked through the county annals yesterday, he naturally saw that 23 years ago, a land temple was built here.And it is on the same mountain as the ancestral grave of the Ding family recorded in the county annals.

But when I just read the text, I didn't expect that the address of this temple and the so-called "ancestral grave" of the Ding family coincided.

It can only be said that "what is learned on paper is always shallow", and "it is better to see it than to hear it a hundred times".

"23 years ago, there was heavy rain in She County. Not only Ding's family, but our Guo family also suffered a catastrophe. The house was severely damaged and many people died."

Qiu Zijin nodded frequently.

These two villages are in basins and cannot withstand flooding.

According to records, the county magistrate of Shexian County was surnamed Sun at that time. He took the lead in leading the people of the county to fight against the flood, and filled the low-lying places with gravel to prevent the river from backflowing.

Not only that, the county magistrate Sun also appealed to all big households to donate food and money to help the people.As the two largest wealthy households, the Ding family and the Guo family also donated generously to help the villagers after their own crisis was eliminated.

As a result, before the imperial court's relief came, Shexian County collected enough rice for relief and distributed it to the people affected by the disaster.

After that flood, the county magistrate Sun was promoted to two levels of official positions because of his outstanding performance, and was called to work in the household department in Nanjing.

"After the flood receded, the county magistrate Sun wanted to pray for the people. He built a land temple here, to suppress the flood, and to remember it. My family has always been benevolent and righteous, so I donated money as I did. Afterwards, people were sent to guard it. So this place was a wasteland back then, not your family’s ancestral grave.”

"You're talking nonsense, this is clearly my family's ancestral grave! You took advantage of the flood to occupy my family's ancestral grave and built a temple privately."

Master Ding scolded.

"Bah! If it's your family's ancestral grave, why didn't you mention it when the temple was built? Now it's running out to cry for your father and mother."

"Back then, do you still dare to mention that year to me? The magistrate of Sun County talked with my uncle who was still the head of the clan at that time, saying that building a temple was a merit, and it turned out that my ancestors changed a way to protect future generations. My uncle thought about it for a long time. Agreed."

Master Ding wept bitterly as he spoke, "If my uncle knew back then that the temple was built in collusion between your family and the county magistrate in order to plot my family's real estate, he would not agree to anything."

"—nonsense. You've got proof."

Mr. Guo said triumphantly, "There is no evidence. I said my ancestral grave is in your ancestral house, but you are moving. Besides, are you slandering the county magistrate Sun? You don't deserve any reputation." Bai Ding, who didn't have one, dared to frame the imperial court official, how brave you are!"

Mr. Ding was older than this Guo Yuanwai, and his tongue was clumsy, and when he was irritated, he clutched his chest, his old face turned into a liver color, his eyes turned to the sky, and he pouted.

All of a sudden, there was chaos at the scene.

The more Wanda and Qiu Zijin listened, the more confused they became, and the county magistrate standing next to him was even more confused.

Things got so tense.

In desperation, Wanda and the others had no choice but to go back home and send someone to take old man Ding home.

Qiu Zijin sent soldiers to stay in the two villages to inquire about what happened 20 years ago.

The result is obvious.

Three days later, the soldiers who went to the two villages to find the elders and older folks to inquire about the news came to report.

People in the Guo family said that the earth temple has always been a wasteland, and they have never seen any ancestral tombs, but the temple has always been there.Although the incense is not in full bloom, there are people worshiping it on the fifteenth day of the lunar new year.

The members of the Ding family insisted that their earliest ancestral grave must be there, and they were deceived.

It was agreed at the time that after the temple was built, it would be in Fuze Township as a witness of the two families jointly resisting the flood.The Ding family was benevolent, so they did not insist on moving the ancestral grave back.

The most important thing is that old lady Ding's chastity memorial arch is erected there, which is an iron-clad testimony, proving that this is the land of the Ding family.

Unexpectedly, after more than 20 years, the Guo family turned against the water, insisting that there is no owner of wasteland, and there is no reason for Mrs. Ding's archway to be built there, and it is only natural for them to tear it down.

"It is clearly written in the temple records that this land temple was built by the Guo family, and the people who visited the temple were indeed surnamed Guo. So strictly counting, at least half of them belong to the Guo family."

Qiu Zijin pointed to the documents on the table and said.

"As for the specific location of the Ding family's ancestral grave, the county annals are ambiguous. The key evidence has been lost."

If there is no earth temple, maybe we can find some clues about the relocation of the grave.Now there is no trace at all.

"If the Ding family is telling the truth, then the Guo family is taking the lead. If what the Guo family is saying is true, then the Ding family is occupying the dove's nest."

Yang Xiuxian frowned, "The descendants of these two families only speak for themselves, and few outsiders come in here. It's really hard to judge exactly."

"Where is County Magistrate Sun? Wasn't he transferred to the Nanjing Household Department 23 years ago to be an official? Find him. Or, ask the county magistrate at that time, the chief bookkeeper, it can be regarded as a personal certificate."

Nanjing is not far away from here. If you go by land, Jinyiwei can reach it in one day if you expedite it by eight hundred miles.

Besides, let alone Nanjing, even if it is the capital, as long as the county magistrate Sun is still alive, he can find out and confront him.

"The problem is that the county magistrate Sun died not long after he took office in the Nanjing household department."

Qiu Zijin smiled wryly and sighed.

How could Master Xiao Wan not think of things that he could think of.After returning from the Earth Temple that day, he repaired the book-letter, and sent people from Jin Yiwei to the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing.

Because it was an order from the supervisory censor, and it was sent by Jin Yiwei, they didn't dare to shirk it, so they replied to the letter that night.

Today—morning, this letter recording personnel changes more than 20 years ago was placed on Qiu Zijin's desk.

After taking it apart and looking at it, Qiu Zijin sighed after only one glance.

Straight to God's will, this case still needs to be investigated.

"Do you remember what happened 23 years ago?"

Wanda shook his head, thinking that 23 years ago, even the native "Wanda" himself hadn't been born yet, so how could we know what happened at that time.

Yang Xiuxian is 24 years old this year. He was still a baby 23 years ago, and he didn't have any supernatural skills. He knew what happened in the south.

"23 years ago, it was orthodox eight years."

Qiu Zijin sighed.

"That year was the first year of the late emperor's personal administration. It was also the most turbulent year for the court."

Although the first emperor Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne at the age of eight, he didn't take office until he was 16 years old.In the past, the court was controlled by the Empress Dowager Zhang and the three elders known as the "Three Yangs", and the emperor had no real power.

So as soon as Zhu Qizhen regained his rights, he couldn't wait to clean up the former forces to prove his ability... This also led to the absurd event of him impulsively running to the civil fort "Bei Shou" occur.

"At that time, His Majesty had just been in power, and he didn't dare to directly attack those veterans in the capital's court, for fear of causing their backlash. So..."

Therefore, the Yamen in Nanjing was the first to bear the brunt of the disaster.

As the household department is the emperor's purse, Zhu Qizhen naturally wants to send someone he trusts to lead it.

In particular, the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the country's tax revenue every year, how can the Empress Dowager's people continue to control it.

The Jiangning Weaving Mansion and the Governor of Liangjiang were replaced by newcomers.The original veterans were basically dismissed, or transferred to work elsewhere.

County Magistrate Sun is the unfortunate kind.He was transferred to Guizhou, where he died within three months of his tenure because he was not acclimatized to the environment.

As for the county magistrates who followed the county magistrate at that time, they didn't know where they went.Counting them, they were all in their 50s and 20s back then. After more than [-] years, they might have died long ago.

So this case turned into a headless public case?

"It's not entirely unrecorded."

Yang Xiu looked at Qiu Zijin enviously, but there was too much uncertainty in his eyes.

"Yes, there should be a record. But I am not qualified to read and check it just because I am a seventh-rank censor..."

Qiu Zijin said in embarrassment.

"What are they talking about, do you understand?"

Wanda elbowed Gao Hui.

Gao Hui shook his head blankly.

In fact, this "answer" is very close to them, and close refers to the geographical distance.

At the same time, this "answer" can also be said to be far away from them, and far refers to the height of politics.

"'Fish Scale Atlas'."

Looking at the two people who were dazed in front of him, Qiu Zijin turned his head and explained to them, "As long as I get the fish scale album, I will know who lied."

The fish scale album is another special product of the Ming Dynasty besides the "Yellow Book".It was invented by the great Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang during the Hongwu period, and it was enforced throughout the country.

In the Ming Dynasty, the land would be cleared regularly across the country, and then the knots would be recorded in a book, which will be recorded forever.

——Until the Qing Dynasty established the Dingding Central Plains, these Jurchens who entered the customs wanted to clarify the information about the empire they had at that time, and had to rely on the rich inheritance left by the old Zhu family.

Since the 20th year of Hongwu, the "Fish Scale Atlas" has recorded the national topography and geomorphology atlas ranging from prefectural units to Lijia units.

It is a field file, which records the specific location, area, and shape of every large and small piece of land in the empire.Whether it is a hill or flat land, whether it is land or residential land, whether it is a fertile field or a thin field, is the most primitive record.

Both the "Fish Scale Atlas" and the "Yellow Book" are updated every ten years, and the records before and after can be compared with each other to see the changes in the population and land of the empire.They constitute the basic appearance of the land and population in each stage of the Ming Dynasty, and are the basis for tax collection and statistics of corvee throughout the country.

And both of them are in a place not far from here - the Houhu area of ​​Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing.

Having said that, it is not easy to apply for access to the yellow book.

First of all, Xiaoqiu's level is not enough.The level of Luo county magistrate is even less.

Only the magistrate of Huizhou Prefecture can submit this application to the superior.

According to the past practice, from the application to the collection of the album, if all goes well, it will take about half a year.

Don't say Master Ding can't wait, Xiaoqiu's new wife can't wait too.