To The Land of Nevernight

Xie Cheng and Xu Linghou are third-rank servants, and Ji Zhi is the supervisory censor of Yushitai. In the past, his duties were to supervise all officials and clean up court rituals. It sounds majestic, but he is only a sixth-rank official, lower than Tang Shen. a grade.But now in the entire Cizhou City, no one dares to look down on Ji Zhi.

He is the inspector hand-picked by the emperor. Before the Jinghe bridge collapse incident is over, the wealth and lives of all the officials in Cizhou are tied to him alone.

After the supervisory mission entered the Cizhou City, they did not go anywhere else, but went straight to the Yin Yamen of the Cizhou Prefecture.

Ji Zhi is a serious-looking, resolute and ruthless middle-aged man. Although the officials of Yushitai are low-ranking, they are fearless in the court, because they belong directly to the emperor and only listen to the emperor's orders.No one can take their lives except the emperor.

Entering Fu Yin's Yamen, Ji Zhi sat down in the upper seat without hesitation.

Ji Zhi glanced around, with a cold tone: "My lords, I am here to assassinate the state under the order of the Holy Majesty. I think you all know the purpose of our trip. The heavy rain on the Jinghe River washed away the bridge, and nearly a hundred craftsmen and officials died. Anger. If you want to prevaricate at will, it is absolutely impossible. In the next few days, please cooperate with the adults, so that we can do things conveniently."

Everyone said: "Yes."

Soon, Ji Zhi divided the officials in the monitoring mission into two groups.A group stayed in Cizhou City, and a group followed him to Jinghe to investigate the situation at the scene.Tang Shen was left in Cizhou by him.

Nearly a hundred people died, not only because of natural disasters, but also because of man-made disasters.

Immediately after the accident, the officials in charge of building the Jinghe bridge were arrested and put in jail.The artisans involved in this incident were also arrested and imprisoned.Xie Cheng, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, brought the supervisory mission to the prison in Cizhou. The supervisory commissioner selected several officials and craftsmen, and brought them to the Yamen for questioning.

After a whole day, all the officials and craftsmen in the Cizhou Prison were taken to the Yamen for questioning.

Tang Shen followed the monitoring mission to the prison, only to see that the officials had their official caps removed and their official robes were covered in mud.They describe them as emaciated and very embarrassed, but most of them share a prison with three or four people, and they seem to be in good spirits.But those craftsmen were all thrown into a prison roughly, and more than 20 people were crowded in the smelly and dirty cells.Now it is hot summer again, when a craftsman was brought to the Yamen for questioning, his expression was dull and he couldn't even speak.

Officials who have committed crimes and artisans who have committed crimes have never been treated the same way.

Sitting in the yamen, Tang Shen suddenly felt a little sad.

However, his eyes slowly turned to the lobby, and looked at Xie Cheng, the right servant of the Ministry of Industry who was sitting in the second seat.

Among the officials who committed the crime, the one with the highest official position is Xie Cheng!But he was not imprisoned, but sat here to receive the monitoring mission and interrogate the prisoners.

This is officialdom!

Tang Shen sat there calmly, occasionally recording.At the end of the day, he also roughly figured out what happened to the heavy rain in Jinghe.

At the beginning of April, officials and craftsmen came to Cizhou to prepare for the construction of official roads.In late April, they first went to the Jinghe River to start building the bridge.Because this bridge is the most difficult to repair, Xie Cheng plans to spend half a year to repair this bridge first, and then use this bridge as the center to directly connect the north and south to build the official road.

Xie Cheng's idea is right to start with the difficult and then the easy, but who would have thought that the half-built bridge would be washed away by the heavy rain!

The biggest cause of this incident was natural disasters.

There are few heavy rains in the north, but this year it happened.There are few rivers in the north, and the Jing River is the most rapid and widest, and they also ran into it.The combination of the two coincidences, plus the fact that the bridge was only half built, would collapse as the river rose and the rain poured down.

At the end of the first day, the monitoring mission had a general understanding of what happened.

Ji Zhi left Cizhou, and the leading official of the monitoring mission became a doctor from the Ministry of Industry, surnamed Guo.He is a fifth-rank official, but because he is also a supervisor, both Xie Cheng and Xu Linghou respect him as their superior.

After Guo Langzhong questioned all the officials and craftsmen, he said: "Let's stop here today. It's getting late, and we'll try again tomorrow."

The officials said: "Yes."

The monitoring mission came to stay at the Cizhou post.

This was Tang Shen's first day in Cizhou. The emperor ordered him to write a letter in three days, but he didn't say that the first letter must be written in three days.Tang Shen sat in the room, closed his eyes and pondered for a while. He went through his mind about what he saw and heard in the Cizhou Yamen today. He took out a pen and paper and began to write a letter.

"Respect and listen, the minister is terrified, there are gaps in the words, and a hundred deaths are inevitable."

In August, the minister and the supervisory mission arrived in Cizhou.Hundreds of officials greeted each other at the city gate...』

Tang Shen wrote down everything he saw and heard today. Tang Shen only wrote on a piece of paper. He dried the ink, put it in an envelope, and sealed it carefully.When he came to the place where the officials of the post house were, Tang Shen took out a token and said, "Send this letter to Shengjing, hurry up."

When the official in charge of delivering letters saw the token, his expression changed, and he quickly said after receiving the letter, "Yes."

The messenger quickly took the letter, rode on a fast horse, and left Cizhou.

At the same time, in the Youzhou Posthouse.

Yuan Mu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, sat in an elegant and clean room, picked up the blue and white porcelain teapot, and poured himself a cup of tea.He took a sip carefully and exclaimed: "One flag and one gun, fresh and sweet, good tea! This year's Biluochun before Ming Dynasty. Sure enough, in a desolate place like Youzhou, the only way to drink tea is to go to Mr. Wang's room. You can only drink this kind of good tea. Unfortunately, you should leave tomorrow. Mr. Wang, how about leaving this tea?"

Wang Qin blew on the tea soup, his demeanor was graceful, but what he said was irritating: "It's not good."

Yuan Mu didn't mind, and poured himself another cup.

It was raining heavily outside the house, and the rain hit the window sill, and only heard a series of crisp crashes.Inside the house, Yuan Mu said: "This year is also really interesting. There is rarely such a heavy rain in the north, but it just happened. It's God's will. If it weren't for this heavy rain, the bridge on the Jing River would not have collapsed."

Wang Qin: "Master Yuan also dabbles in astronomy and meteorology?"

Yuan Mu: "I have studied a little, but I am not very proficient."

The two sat opposite each other, and after a while, Yuan Mu said: "Originally, you could go back before the Mid-Autumn Festival, but unfortunately, something happened and it was delayed until today."

"Master Yuan will return to Shengjing next month?"

"Of course, when I return to the capital, I'll go to the Hubu Shangshu Mansion to ask Mr. Wang for a bowl of Biluochun. You have to give it."

Wang Qin smiled slightly, but did not speak.

Yuan Mu stood up, walked to the window, and closed the window to prevent the rain outside from entering the house.When he was about to close the window, he looked up at the dark sky, looked at it quietly for a while, and said: "The emperor sent you to Youzhou, what are you looking for?"

Without raising his head, Wang Qin lit the candlesticks in the house, and said calmly, "Didn't Master Yuan guess right a long time ago?"

Yuan Mu closed the window, turned around to look at Wang Qin, and said with a smile, "I guessed right, but it's a pity that Mr. Wang just made a waste of a trip and came to the wrong place. However, whether it's you or me in this world, even if I am afraid that the Holy Majesty did not guess that there will be such a heavy rain in the north, and the bridge on the Jinghe River will be washed away. That guy is really destined, how can everything happen to him! I am so jealous .”

Wang Qin was surprised and said, "Master Yuan will still be jealous of a fourth-rank official?"

Yuan Mu said quietly: "Young official? I'm afraid that when I return to Shengjing, he will already be a third-rank official, and even equal to us!"

There was silence in the room, and no one spoke.

Yuan Mu drank another cup of tea and got up to leave.Wang Qin suddenly said, "Let Master Yuan take that jar of Biluochun away together."

Yuan Mu turned his head and looked at him in surprise.

Wang Qin smiled and said, "This book was brought to you."

Yuan Mu looked at Wang Qin for a long time, then smiled helplessly: "It is said that Da Huan is a meal for decapitation, how can I think, Mr. Wang brought this can of top-quality Biluochun, originally to send me for the last time?"

"Why does Master Yuan think so?" Wang Qin's eyes showed shock.

Yuan Mu looked at him for a long time, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Wang Zifeng, stop talking, see you in Shengjing next month!"

After leaving the post house with the can of Biluochun, Yuan Mu returned to the Yamen of Youzhou, turned his head and threw the things at the bottom of the box.He said depressedly: "Out of sight, out of mind, good Wang Zifeng, you still refuse to tell me the truth at this time. You obviously know that it has nothing to do with me, and you are still pretending! No wonder in Qinzheng Palace, I think it belongs to the You are the most annoying!"

After dinner, Yuan Mu lay on the bed thinking for a long time, and then found the can of Biluochun.

"It can't be for nothing, Wang Zifeng, this is a good thing."

No matter how bad Wang Zifeng was, the Biluochun he brought was also innocent, so it shouldn't be wasted.

On the other side, after Tang Shen finished writing the letter, he was not worried that his letter would be read by others.This is the token specially given to him by Zhao Fu. If his letters can be seen by others, then he has to worry more about the safety of the messenger.

At night, Tang Shen was about to take a rest, but the officials of the post house knocked on the door and told him that there was a visitor.

Tang Shen was a little surprised. He put on his clothes, only to see a young man in a black brocade robe walking in from outside the house.Tang Shen was silent for a moment, then he stepped forward and said, "I met Mr. Su. Mr. Su came to visit late at night. I don't know why?"

It was Su Wenyun who came.

Tang Shen had never seen Su Wenyun wearing black clothes. In fact, it was the first time he saw Su Wenyun wearing clothes other than official robes.I have to say that if Wang Zifeng is a banished immortal from heaven and earth, it would make people pale in comparison.That Su Wenyun is like a sharp dagger, the sharp blade hidden under the scabbard is not only sharp, but also full of venom.He is good-looking, but extremely aggressive, making it difficult for people to have a good impression.

Su Wenyun got straight to the point: "Master Tang saw those people in the Jail City Prison today, do you have any thoughts?"

Tang Shen was silent: "What does Lord Su mean?"

Su Wenyun smiled: "Do you really think it's just a natural disaster?"

Tang Shen quietly looked at Su Wenyun's very beautiful face in the candlelight.

In July, Zhao Fu sent three confidants to Youzhou, Cizhou, and Ningzhou respectively.

In August, the Jinghe Bridge collapsed, and the Holy Master Longyan was furious.When the monitoring mission went to Cizhou, Zhao Fuping added Tang Shen to it for no reason.

It turns out...it was so!

Suddenly, Tang Shen also laughed.His eyes suddenly opened up, but the feeling in his heart was extremely complicated, he felt helpless, and also found it funny.

Tang Shen laughed suddenly, and didn't immediately answer Su Wenyun's words, but Su Wenyun didn't notice Tang Shen's strangeness for a while.The candlelight in the room was dim, Tang Shen smiled quietly, Su Wenyun was slightly stunned, forgetting what he wanted to say.

Tang Shen remembered what Wang Zifeng said to him when he held his hand in the sedan chair that day.

Don't hear, don't ask.

... Mo Wen, Mo Wen, you can indeed protect yourself wisely.

But it can only be wise and safe.

Tang Shen showed a puzzled expression, thought for a long time, and then replied: "Your official... I really don't understand what Lord Su means!"