Chapter 229: No one in the court should be an official

Chapter 229: No one in the court should be an official

Chapter 229: No one in the court should be an official

Chen Xu was in a hurry and soon met Li Jinglong and his party outside Hezhou Port.

He immediately looked at the young man in the middle, who was wearing a light blue robe. He could not get close to him, so he bowed and said:
"I am Chen Xu, the governor of Hezhou, and I am here to see Duke Cao."

Lu Yunyi stared at the person coming from the front with his eyes wide open, and soon reacted.

He pulled Li Jinglong over and the two exchanged positions.

Li Jinglong also felt somewhat embarrassed at this moment. He coughed lightly and spoke loudly:
"Master Xu, please stand up."

After Chen Xu straightened up, he saw that the person in front of him had changed his appearance and was stunned for a moment.
But he quickly restrained his facial expression and became solemn.

He extended his hand towards Hezhou Port and made a gesture of invitation:
"Duke Cao has arrived at the right time. I originally wanted to deal with these matters before going aboard to report to the two dukes. I beg Duke Cao to forgive me."

Li Jinglong's face was solemn: "It's okay, lead the way."

Chen Xu led the way in front and looked at Lu Yunyi beside him, with a hint of doubt in his eyes:
"I wonder what this gentleman's name is?"

He could see that this group was led by Li Jinglong and this young man, and this young man was even standing in the middle.

This is a taboo in the strict hierarchy of the Ming Dynasty officialdom.
But Duke Cao didn't care at all, obviously they had a close relationship.

Lu Yunyi said in a deep voice: "I am Lu Yunyi, the deputy commander of the Beijing Provincial Military Commission. This time, I am ordered by the imperial court to go to the southwest to fight."

A hint of surprise flashed across Chen Xu's eyes, and he stood still and bowed:
"Your humble servant greets Lord Lu. Although your humble servant is a civil servant,
But there are many merchants in Hezhou, and I have made many friends.

I learned from them that General Lu made great contributions in the Northern Expedition. He is truly a young hero. I admire him!"

Lu Yunyi and Li Jinglong looked at each other silently, and saw the smile in each other's eyes at a glance.

Lu Yunyi stepped forward and helped him up:
"Mr. Chen, you are overpraising me. I have only achieved merit occasionally, but I cannot compare to how well Mr. Chen has managed Hezhou and made its trade prosperous."

Upon hearing this, Li Jinglong understood what Lu Yunyi meant and said the same thing:
"Sir Chen, you are a court official. You are able to make many businessmen as friends. You are good and you are a practical person."

In the "Guan Zi Xiao Kuang" of the Warring States Period, it was said:

Scholars had the highest status, followed by farmers, then handicraftsmen, and merchants had the lowest status.

It had been nearly a thousand years since it spread to the Ming Dynasty. Although merchants in the Song and Yuan dynasties were scholars, they initially merged together.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has been newly established and the laws are strict, merchants have resumed their original status.
Although merchants cling to power, they are still not allowed to be on the stage.

But as time goes by, the 'scholars' and the 'merchants' will gather together again.

On the side, Chen Xu was overjoyed after hearing this, and even slowed down his pace a little, with a look of panic on his face:

"My Lord Cao, merchants may be humble, but they are indispensable.
Whether it is the prosperity of a place or the people's food, clothing, housing and transportation, they all rely on trade.

Hezhou was originally just a small town where people lived in a corner.

Because of Hezhou Port and the merchant ships, the people can live a good life, and I have to pay attention to it. "

As he spoke, a gleam of light flashed in Chen Xu's eyes, and he sighed:
"Thinking back to when I first came to Hezhou,

The port here handles no more than a hundred ships a day, but it is already quite prosperous.

In just three years, the Ming Dynasty became more and more prosperous, and the number of merchant ships traveling back and forth reached over 300.

During festivals, there will be more than 500 people. Hezhou is changing with each passing day."

Li Jinglong smiled. Compared with the officials in Beijing, Chen Xu was much more straightforward and spoke of his achievements so openly.

Thinking of what happened yesterday, Li Jinglong nodded slightly:

"This is certainly due to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, but also to the good governance of the land by Lord Chen.
Otherwise, with so many cities along the river, why is Hezhou the most bustling city?"

Chen Xu was overjoyed after hearing this. Sweat broke out on his forehead and his heart was pounding!
He didn't expect things to go so smoothly. He suddenly felt a little emotional.

All these years of hard work have not been in vain, the court can see it!!
Chen Xu's face did not show any seriousness:
"I dare not deceive Duke Cao. I have been working very hard in Hezhou, day and night.
Even the house I rent is near Hezhou Port, and I am afraid that something might go wrong in Hezhou Port.

But unexpectedly, the villain still took advantage of the opportunity!

Yesterday, the clerk on duty hurried to my house to report that nine bodies were found at the port, and five smuggling ships were also found.
I was greatly shocked and hurried over. I summoned officials to investigate the case overnight without wasting a moment.

When he heard that there were nine corpses, Li Jinglong's pupils shrank and he was shocked!
He glanced at Lu Yunyi, who looked indifferent.
Liu Heiying, who was smacking his lips while eating rice cake, was greatly shocked.

Two people have such ability.
It is no wonder that the front army scout unit emphasized individual combat in its southwest combat strategy.

Li Jinglong looked solemn and said nothing more, which made Chen Xu, who was standing beside him, feel a little uneasy, not understanding what this meant.

Soon they came near,
Almost everyone turned their eyes to the naked woman.
At a glance, I saw the fear on her face and the abnormally twisted neck.

Next to him was a burly man with his upper body naked, a severe depression on his chest and bruises that looked serious and could not spread.

The pupils of the people present suddenly contracted, and Xu Zengshou stood in the back and muttered to himself:

“What a strength”

He looked at Liu Heiying again: "Brother Heiying, can you do it?"

The people present also looked over there. They all knew that Liu Heiying was extremely strong and could shoot the bow at 200 strokes.

Liu Heiying quickly stuffed the rice cake into his mouth, smacked his lips, took two steps closer, looked at it for a moment, and nodded gently:
"If he doesn't move around, it should be OK."

The coroner who was performing the autopsy raised his head and looked over with a look of surprise.
But when he saw that it was a young man with a dark face, he lowered his head again, thinking that he was bragging.

Chen Xu looked at the coroner and said, "Don't do the autopsy yet. Tell the adults the results of the autopsy."

He stood up immediately, bowed respectfully, and then said in a loud voice:

"My Lords, the body you saw earlier was found on Garbage Boat No. 1, together with this woman.
The man was the owner of a business in Hezhou, and the woman was a prostitute in Suiyuexuan.

The woman was killed with a broken neck, and the man was also killed with a single blow, the fatal injury being the dent in his chest.

Earlier, this gentleman said that if he did not move, he could also do this.
When we found him, he was lying on the ground, holding an axe in his hand, with a fierce look on his face.
So I concluded that he had a fight with the murderer and was killed by a single blow when he was caught off guard.
This shows that the strength of the attackers is unprecedented.

I have been a forensic doctor for 20 years, and I have never seen such a strong man who can break all the ribs except the heart with one punch..."

The faces of those present were solemn, and Li Jinglong looked horrified.

The coroner walked to the other seven bodies and continued:
"The seven bodies belonged to two ships, Ship 3 and Ship 4.

There are three people on boat number three, four people on boat number four,
The manner of their deaths varied. Four of them had their necks broken by a punch, and three were hacked to death by this long knife."

As he spoke, the coroner picked up a blood-stained long knife. It looked simple, just an ordinary standard long knife.

The coroner wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a deep voice:

"These nine bodies have one thing in common, that is, the perpetrator was agile and strong, and was not good at using a long knife.

I guess it was a chivalrous knight who happened to come across this incident and stopped it, and made it public."

Li Jinglong's face was solemn, but he felt very strange in his heart.
Not good with knives? How is that possible?

He cast his eyes over and asked, "How do you know that the murderer is not good with a knife?"

"Reporting to you, sir, the wounds of these three people were all caused by long knives, and the wounds were severe, which is enough to prove that the murderer is very strong and was committed by one person.

However, after carefully examining the wound, I found some inconsistencies.

First of all, judging from the shape of the wound, although the knife wound is deep and long,

But the direction of the knife edge was not consistent, and some places even looked quite messy.

This shows that the murderer was unable to fully control the direction of the long knife when stabbing, and it can be seen that he was not good at using this weapon.

Secondly, I noticed that the flesh around the wound had marks of multiple cuts, which further confirmed the murderer's unfamiliarity with the long knife.

If the murderer was skilled in long knife, he should have been able to kill with one strike, without having to swing the knife multiple times. "

Although Li Jinglong was surprised after hearing this, he still nodded slightly:
"That's right, so this was done by the chivalrous knight?"

The coroner hesitated and did not dare to make a definitive statement, and turned his eyes to Chen Xu.

Chen Xu bowed slightly with a serious expression on his face.
"Duke Cao, no matter whether this man is a wandering knight or a swordsman,
This person's exposure of smuggling in Hezhou Port is a great achievement.
If it weren't for this righteous man who came to my rescue, I would have been kept in the dark for a long time.

The Hezhou government office will post notices to find this person as a token of gratitude. Li Jinglong glanced at him with a strange look in his heart.
Chen Xu must be hating that so-called chivalrous man at this moment.
But it was a bit difficult for him to show his loyalty to the emperor, his patriotism and his gratitude.

Li Jinglong looked at Chen Xu with encouragement in his eyes:

"Master Chen, please don't blame yourself. You just said that there are more than 300 ships coming and going in Hezhou Port. How can we check them in detail?
Although there are some omissions, it cannot hide your contribution. "

Hearing this, Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief and was overjoyed!
As an official of the imperial court, he naturally became more proficient in using the power of others to bully others.
With such remarks, even if the imperial court sent a censor, he would still be able to say something.

Seeing that he looked relieved, Li Jinglong smiled knowingly and asked:
"What is smuggled?"

Chen Xu did not answer directly, but waved his hand and called the clerk who was taking notes nearby.

The clerk quickly handed the book over.

After Li Jinglong took it, his gentle expression changed and his face became solemn.
He read through the pages one by one, and his expression became more and more solemn.
According to his knowledge, the smuggled materials seized here could be sold for more than ten thousand taels of silver even in the Ming Dynasty.

If it is sent to the Southeastern countries, the price will increase tenfold.
He also bought some spices from the southeastern countries, and earned at least 200,000 taels of silver in one round trip.

These are only five garbage ships. This policy has been in place for a long time.
This is not the first time that smuggling has happened.
It is unknown how much silver and money were obtained.

Just as he was thinking, more than a hundred figures came hurriedly.

The leaders were Deng Zhen, Duke of Shen, and Xu Sima, the deputy commander of the Central Army.

The two of them looked solemn, and a sense of majesty emanated silently.
The people present couldn't help but step back a bit, and the officials also moved much faster.

Chen Xu's face was horrified, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
He looked at the two figures and realized that they had ill intentions, and couldn't help feeling uneasy.

He turned to look at the master beside him, who was also sweating profusely.

He could only grit his teeth and glance at Duke Cao Li Jinglong, the meaning of which was self-evident.

If you want to escape this disaster, you still have to rely on the person in front of you.

Chen Xu's expression changed back and forth, and finally he gritted his teeth, with a look of determination in his eyes.
He quickly stepped forward to Li Jinglong's side, bowed slightly and whispered:
"Duke Cao, I have been working diligently since I took office in Hezhou and have never engaged in any corruption.
Now I have suffered an unexpected disaster, my heart and courage are broken,
I also ask Duke Cao to help me. If you have any orders in the future, I will do my best to help you.”

Li Jinglong had a calm expression, his hands behind his back, looking down at Chen Xu.

Although he was dressed in casual clothes, an aura of authority began to permeate him.

After a long silence, Li Jinglong still did not speak as he watched Duke Shen and the others approaching.

Chen Xu was sweating profusely, and his mind was gloomy. He muttered to himself silently:

"I am only a fifth-rank official, my family is poor, and I have no support.
It is not easy to get to this point. Could it be that this career will end today?
Yes, he is the Duke of the current dynasty. There are countless people who want to curry favor with him. How could he look down on a mere prefecture governor like me... Alas..."

Although he thought this in his heart, he still had a glimmer of hope.

But he was disappointed. When Duke Shen and others approached Li Jinglong, he did not speak again.
He had no choice but to bow and turn to greet Duke Shen and others.

"I am Chen Xu, the governor of Hezhou. I pay my respects to Duke Shen and Governor Xu..."

Lu Yunyi and others also went over and bowed.

Duke Deng Zhen of Shen looked solemn and gloomily glanced around. He ignored Chen Xu who was bending over and said to Li Jinglong:

"Jinglong, what happened?"

It was not until this moment that Li Jinglong looked at Chen Xu, frowning slightly:

"What are you still standing there for? Speak quickly."

Hearing this, Chen Xu's heart, which had fallen to the bottom, suddenly rose.

His pale face regained some color, and he quickly spoke and told everything he had just said.
Deng Zhen and Sima Xu frowned. They ignored Chen Xu and went straight to the ordnance to check.

A group of people followed, and the long swords and the handles were stored separately, all in several large boxes.

A trace of doubt flashed in Li Jinglong's eyes. He pulled Lu Yunyi's sleeve and asked in a low voice:
"What does this mean?"

Lu Yunyi explained: "Swords are mostly made of metal, while the handles are made of wood, leather or other materials.

Storing them separately can prevent the handle material from being damaged due to prolonged contact with iron or due to a humid environment, thus extending the use of the entire sword.

In addition, it is convenient for inspection and maintenance when leaving the workshop, and it is also convenient for transportation.”

Li Jinglong suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly.

Sima Xu looked at Lu Yunyi with some appreciation, then bent down and took out a long knife from the wooden box and looked at it.

He snorted coldly: "The skills from the two lakes."

Duke Shen Deng Zhen's expression was also extremely gloomy:

"Such a big incident just happened in Beijing, and someone in Hunan and Hubei dared to smuggle weapons out. How brave!

Investigate, investigate thoroughly!
The Governor's Office has ordered all local guards to conduct self-inspections. If anything unusual is found, report it immediately. There will be no leniency!"

Sima Xu nodded heavily and looked at Li Jinglong:
"Jinglong, the three of us jointly submit a petition to report this matter to His Majesty!"

"it is good!"

Deng Zhen put his hands on his hips and looked around. He looked at Chen Xu with a hint of ferocity in his eyes:
"The people from Taiping Mansion haven't arrived yet?"

"Reporting to Lord Shen, I sent someone to report the incident yesterday. If we hurry, the prefect Wang will be here at noon."

A hint of impatience suddenly flashed across Deng Zhen's eyes, and he paced back and forth.

Soon he looked at Sima Xu:
"Why don't we hurry back to the capital and report this to His Majesty? This smuggling must have been going on for a long time, but it was only exposed today."

A hint of hesitation flashed across Sima Xu's eyes:
"But, we need to receive the weapons here and then set off again in the evening..."

"It's an emergency, this matter is of great importance.

If we waited until the people from Taiping Prefecture finished their investigation before reporting it, people upstream and downstream would have gotten the news and they would have already run away.

If we return to the capital sooner, the imperial court's decree will be issued sooner, and we may gain something."

Sima Xu also thought it made a lot of sense, nodded, and turned to look at Li Jinglong:

"Jinglong, after we return to Beijing, the reception of military equipment and the dispatch of the army will depend on you."

Li Jinglong's face froze, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across his eyes.
How could he understand this with an army of 30,000 people?

Duke Shen Deng Zhen turned his gaze directly to Lu Yunyi and said decisively:
"Yun Yi, after we leave, this army will be handed over to you. You must help Jing Long well and don't cause any trouble."

Lu Yunyi took a step forward with a serious expression:
"Yes! I will do my best! You two adults, please go ahead. Duke Cao will definitely take care of the military affairs!"

Sima Xu was surprised, but when he saw Duke Shen's resolute look, he nodded in understanding.
"Then let's arrange it this way. We will be back soon, in about three days."

After hearing this, Chen Xu couldn't help but look desperate.

It goes without saying that Your Majesty is very strict with officials.

If the smuggling is caused by him, he should be held responsible
Now, the Duke has reported this to the court personally. Not only will he lose his job, he may even lose his life.

Just when he was feeling uneasy, Li Jinglong took two steps forward and spoke some secret words to Duke Shen.

Duke Shen looked at Chen Xu from head to toe, thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Since he is close to our army, it is only natural that we should protect him. The fault is not his."

Li Jinglong smiled and said: "Yes, it is quite rare to find such an official."

Duke Shen Deng Zhen's expression eased, he turned to look at Chen Xu and said coldly:
"Since Lord Chen has been diligent in praising the prosperous Hongwu era,

Then we should investigate the whole matter, who is covering up this garbage ship, and who in Hezhou is involved.
If you can’t find out clearly, you can wait for the court to punish you.”

Chen Xu was stunned for a moment, then began to tremble with excitement. He quickly bowed and said:
"Thank you, Lord Shen, Lord Cao. I will do my best to solve the case in three days, no, two days!!!"

(End of this chapter)