Daming prepares the emperor

Before the leader could think about it again, the door was smashed open from the inside with a bang.

The loud and sudden sound startled them, causing them to take a few steps back.

I saw fifteen yamen servants coming out in a row, all staring, like rent collectors, holding different things in their hands, including table legs, chair backs, brooms and spatulas, etc. , waving towards the face, and greeted the gangsters' heads, beating them dizzy, and fell to the ground before they had time to react.

Lu Jin'ai stepped out of the room, took a few turns of hemp rope, handed it to the head of Ban Zhou, and said, "Tie them up tightly, gag them up and shut them up."

The yamen servants knew from the start that this road could only lead to darkness, so they listened to what they said. After confiscating the knives pinned to the waist of the gangsters, they gagged their mouths with rags and tied them up like pigs. Hands and feet, lifted up and threw them to the woodshed.

"Hurry up and go home now. Tell your relatives and friends to go out of the city overnight. If you have relatives, go to relatives. If you don't have relatives, find a place to live simply. Unless you pick them up yourself, don't come back."

Everyone nodded vigorously as if suddenly enlightened.

"After the news is announced, you should bring as much rice, flour, oil and salt as you can to the lobby. For the next time, we need to guard the yamen."

"Why, how do you keep it?" Zhou Ban asked uneasily.

"Defend." As soon as Lu Jinai's voice fell, the faces of the yamen servants turned pale, "It's not that you are told to stick to it like generals and warriors, but to have the determination and perseverance to die. It's not people who stick to it, but us. The gate of the court, the axiom of the court."

"Listen up, everyone, this is a difficult time." He continued, "But as long as this difficulty is overcome, Panyu County will be fine, and we will all be fine."

The yamen servants were stunned for a while, looking at me and looking at you, and finally realized that they really had to do this, so they dispersed and rushed back to their respective homes.

Facing Lu Jinai alone, Bantou Zhou patted his head in embarrassment: "Then, my lord, I'll go and pack my things too."

"Go, I'll wait for you at the Yamen."

When he returned to the yamen, Daotong was not surprised by Lu Jin'ai's success. As soon as Lu Jinai reached out to him, he handed over the document he had written: "People can't come to the yamen, so they have no confession. Put some fingerprints on it as evidence and ask the imperial court to send a censor to investigate."

Lu Jin'ai looked carefully at the paper in his hand: "That's the only way to go."

The atmosphere fell silent, and the two sat facing each other, looking at each other speechlessly, neither knowing what to say.

It's interesting to dig deeper, but they haven't said a few words in total, and they are not familiar with each other yet.

But Daotong trusted Lu Jinai from the very beginning, let go of his power with peace of mind, and helped him understand the situation wholeheartedly. Being able to cherish each other, develop a tacit understanding, and fight against Zhu Liangzu and Luo Youqian who are only looking for profit.

The friendship and heart-to-heart in this are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, and it may be attributed to the mutual attraction between honest officials and capable ministers.

Lu Jinai moved his mouth, looking at the pale face of the man in official uniform, he was about to take care of his injury when Daotong asked first: "Brother Lu, the situation was critical before, and Doctor Song is by my side again, so I can't ask in detail , now I hope you don't think I'm abrupt, I don't know what background you... have? What mission do you have when you come to Panyu County?"

"Mission?" Lu Jin'ai smiled slightly, "Why would Tang Zun think so?"

"With your calmness and insight, there is no way ordinary people can cultivate it." Daotong shook his head, "You can't be moved by poverty, and you can't be subdued by might. It's easy to say, but there are few people in the world who can do it."

Lu Jinai said: "My father left some books for me to read before he passed away."

"It turned out to be from a scholarly family." Tong Dao said, "I see that although your complexion is not as dark as that of Lingnan people here, Brother Lu, it is still the color you would have when you often travel outside, and you have a lot of calluses on your palms. What's the matter? What's up?"

"Although our family has some books to read, we didn't serve as officials in the Yuan court. Later, my mother became seriously ill, and the money gradually dispersed. I started farming since I was a teenager."

"That's right." Daotong nodded slowly, "Then up there..."

"I'm from Fengyang." Lu Jinai said, "Fengyang is the hometown of the Holy Majesty, so it's not difficult to meet some people."

As the saying goes, great loyalty is like treachery, and great treachery is like loyalty.

The meaning here is that if loyal ministers want to do good deeds and ensure that their policies are implemented smoothly among the people, they must integrate into the system of corrupt officials, learn to follow others, quietly lay strength for their ideals, and understand the rules of handling things. Discriminate and analyze the words and deeds of treacherous ministers, prevent villains from framing, and when necessary, use dirty methods to achieve their goals.

In order to allow themselves to survive in the world, treacherous officials need to arm themselves with the principles of sages, show loyalty with a respectful demeanor, be generous, and speak eloquently. It is written as a fig leaf for the country and the people, so as to completely confuse the world and protect yourself.

Lu Jin'ai fell into the eyes of the prince of the dynasty. He had the idea of ​​repaying the kindness of his friends and the belief of being the master of the people. He understood that if he wanted to succeed, he must have both ability and backing, and both were indispensable.

Nobility is reserved for idlers and fools. He must and should rely on Zhu Biao to do things. Only in this way can the emperor be punished and the injustice be appeased.

Dao Tong was surprised and said: "This is amazing."

"However, although I have a little relationship with the big shots, there is no good way to do things cheaply in such a place far away from the capital."

"It doesn't matter, with this relationship, there will be a way for the memorial book handed in." Dao Tong was very happy, "The most fearful thing is that we can't even stir up a little splash, and let others sink."

"No." Lu Jinai shook her head, "As long as you hand it in, there will be results."

"If you can't hand it in, has Brother Lu thought about it?" Dao Tong said warmly, "It's my duty to govern Panyu County, and it's my fault if I can't stop the rich and powerful. The principle of carrying the crime together. If the result is really unsatisfactory, let's not compromise for the time being..."

Lu Jin'ai interrupted him: "If you can't hand in the memorial, let's fight to the death! After the fight to the death, there will be more results."

Doesn't he mean by saying that after his death, the higher-ups will investigate thoroughly and will not tolerate it.

Daotong also had the idea of ​​fighting to the death to gain attention, but he was pessimistic about whether it would be useful. Seeing that Lu Jinai was so sure, he couldn't help but wonder who he knew by "knowing big people" and to what extent. , What ability does it have, but he could tell from Lu Jinai's avoidance that the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water, so naturally he didn't ask.

At dusk, when the temperature dropped a little, the yamen servants came to the lobby one after another. Everyone was covered in sweat, staring at Lu Jinai panting, waiting for the next order.

Lu Jin'ai got up from the chair and called the yamen servants over: "You divide into two teams, five people in one team, stay here, and ten people in one team, take the ink pads and go to the people's homes to ask for fingerprints."

He divided the stack of papers into two parts: "Go to the homes of these people first. Some of them were robbed of their wives and daughters by the Luo family, and some of their land was robbed by the Luo family. The deeper the hatred, the more likely they will succeed. For these people, you can only rely on your words to fight, remember, you have to be kind, explain the urgency of the situation, and never get angry and shout."

"Yes." Ten people took the paper.

"It's getting dark, and the spies who followed have been eliminated. No one knows that your identities are reversed now. The Marquis of Yongjia just got married today, and another eunuch came to the county. While they are full of ambitions, their manpower is also the busiest and the least... , it is a god-sent opportunity for you to go out at this time, you must seize the opportunity, and when you meet those local ruffians, don’t fall in love with them, come back quickly, especially don’t hurt the people.”

Lu Jin'ai's analysis was well organized, and after the yamen servants understood it, they felt that the future was bright and full of confidence, and they ran away after begging him to be the same way.

"The rest come with me." Lu Jin'ai said, "Let's use an ax to cut down these trees in the yard."

They first responded subconsciously, and then reacted, very puzzled.

One said: "Sir, why do you want to cut down trees? The firewood we brought is enough."

"It's not cooking." Lu Jinai shook her head and said, "Cut down trees first."

The five people began to fight in a foggy manner, and after a while, several trees in the courtyard fell down.

"Chop into sticks."

The tree becomes many sticks.

"Okay, let's pile it up at the door, and some in the hall."

This time the yamen servants understood Lu Jinai's intentions, their feet stuck to the ground and refused to move: "My lord, this is not good."

"What are you afraid of?" Lu Jin'ai scolded, "When I die, Tang Zun and I will accompany you. Don't you think that Marquis Yongjia and the Luo family are kind people?"

Reluctantly, the wooden sticks arrived at the door, where dry firewood was put on them, and oil was poured on them. Once someone broke in, the only way to go was to burn jade and stone together.

With a snort, the flint cloth wiped the oil lamp.

In the gradually brightened restaurant, the smell of wine and meat is everywhere, and the sound of singing and dancing is as usual as every day, and it never stops day and night.

The servant of Luo's mansion held the jar that had just been dug out from the ground, and after the maid lifted the curtain of light red tassels, he walked into the box carefully, and placed the things at Luo You's front feet.

"This is a good thing." As soon as Luo Youqian opened his mouth, all the rich people who were drinking stopped talking and looked at him in unison. a jar.

"Daughter Hong of 30 years." He continued with satisfaction, "Since my father, she has been buried in the courtyard."

Yang Gaomeng was very interested: "Good wine, bring it up and have a taste."

Luo Youqian got up quickly, delivered the things to Yang Gaomeng himself, patted Kaifeng mud for him, and filled a glass.

The eunuch drank, and the maid fanned him behind him. The vigilance honed in the deep palace walls quickly melted away, his face was flushed, his eyes were blurred, his relationship with Zhu Liangzu was drawn in, and he no longer closed the door.

"Your Majesty still needs to pay attention to the matter of the county magistrate."

"Pay attention to what?" Zhu Liangzu pouted, holding a wine glass in one hand and stuffing beef into his mouth with the other, he asked vaguely, "What should he pay attention to?"

"Being defensive is a must." Yang Gaomeng pointed out deliberately, "That person... is called Daotong, right? Daotong is an official of the imperial court after all. Although Lord Hou fought against him, he had the upper hand, but he accidentally got bitten back. Not necessarily impossible."

"It's fine if you kill it." Zhu Liangzu said casually, and poured himself another glass of wine with his backhand.

"You can't say that. If you kill him, it will be exactly what you want when things get serious." Yang Gaomeng frowned, "These sour scholars are not afraid of death. The Holy One started as a commoner, and they may be biased towards mud legs. You are all dangerous."

"Hmm..." Zhu Liangzu pondered for a moment, "Then what do you think?"

"It's better to act first, and submit a letter to join him." Yang Gaomeng said, "It happens that I will respond to the sky tomorrow, and I will take your memorial book back to submit to the emperor, which is faster than Nazhi County. After the imperial decree comes back, no one will say anything about killing him gossip."