"No, sir, why don't these words sound like good words to me?" Zhou You continued speechlessly.

Upon hearing what he said, Di Renjie and the others couldn't help laughing even harder, while Ruyan on the side also glared at Zhou You angrily, warning him not to be so casual and unruly when talking to his uncle.

They were laughing and chatting when suddenly the sound of voices coming from nearby made them turn around and saw a few ragged men begging for food in front of a food stall. The leader of the men was holding a little girl in his arms. What was he saying?

He went to Beijing to complain and spent all his money. Zhou You frowned slightly when he heard this.

Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang couldn't help but glance at each other. At this moment, amid the sound of gongs, officials from Dali Temple passed by, causing the men to rush over. The leading man handed over the little girl in his arms.

After giving it to my companion, I directly stopped the driver and complained.

However, the official in the sedan did not even get off the sedan. He took the paper from the accompanying deacon, looked at it, and threw it out.

"What a big arrogance! What kind of official do you think you are if you don't accept the complaints from the people and ignore the grievances of the people?" Ru Yan couldn't help but frowned and said angrily when she saw this.

Zhou You shook his head slightly and gave instructions to the maid Qingyu who was standing by, asking her to call over the Caohu who came from Yangzhou to complain, and ask the owner of the food stall next to him to get some food for these Caohu.

Di Renjie also waved to the leader, Cao Hu, to come over and sit down, and then asked him what they wanted to sue.

Hearing Caohu Fang Jiu say that he wanted to sue the Yangzhou Water Transport Yamen, not to mention Ruyan who was standing by, even Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang, and Zeng Tai looked surprised. This is a people's lawsuit against an official. How big is it?

The injustice?

Fang Jiu and others were Cao households on both sides of the Han ditch of the Grand Canal. They were responsible for maintaining the river and dredging the canals. They made a living by paying the canal maintenance fees issued by the imperial court.

However, according to Fang Jiu, the Yangzhou Water Transport Yamen is a place that cannibalizes people but not spits out bones. Those officials took the money issued by the imperial court to protect the canal and feasted on it. They spent almost no money on canal protection and even withheld money.

Due to the poor maintenance of the farmers, the Han ditch was in disrepair for a long time, and the river was filled with silt and reefs, making it very dangerous for boats to sail.

Especially in the past two years, weird things have happened in Hangou. As long as the Jianghuai Salt and Iron Transfer Envoy's ship capsized and died after passing through Hangou, this situation has happened more than ten times.

After the incident, the imperial court sent people to investigate several times, but they were bribed by local officials. After a thorough investigation, they only said that the Hangou canals and rivers were silted up, and they just dealt with it. The local officials even said that it was Cao households who did it.

He was a thief who tried to seize official salt, so that many Cao households on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were arrested and tortured, but they could not find out who Chou Yinmao was.

But strange things still happened. As long as the salt ship was transported to the capital of Shendu through Hangou, it would capsize. The government had no choice but to let the Cao households go back. Then they said that there were ghosts under the water in Hangou and invited many monks.

Taoist priests tried to practice it, but it was useless.

At the beginning of the year, the imperial court sent Li Han, a doctor from the Ministry of Water Resources, to investigate. This Li Han was different from the previous officials who only used money to deal with things. He really did a special investigation. Maybe he really found something, but he also gave

He brought death upon himself.

It was precisely because Li Han went to the Cao households to investigate the situation and they told the truth that they offended the Yangzhou Caoyun Yamen, stopped the payment of guards' salaries, and said that the Cao households should be allowed to fend for themselves.

Those farmers who went to the yamen to protect their pay were told that they were besieging the yamen and intending to rebel. They were caught and killed by the officers and soldiers. They really couldn't survive, so Fang Jiu and other talents who left their hometowns all jumped to the next level.

Complain.

"Damn it! These dog officials are simply bullying people too much!" Ru Yan couldn't help but said angrily: "Then this guy named Li Han didn't report these things to the court? Could it be that he went to your Caohu home to inquire?

Is it just to deal with errands and do superficial work?"

Before Fang Jiu spoke, Zhou You shook his head and said: "This Li Han is an upright person and is not a person who likes to do superficial work. Moreover, he is already dead. It seems that he hanged himself."

"Hang yourself?" After hearing this, Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang looked at Zhou You again in surprise. Di Renjie subconsciously wanted to ask more questions. He glanced at Fang Jiu who was standing aside, asked something casually, took his suit and looked at it.

, he said that he accepted the petition, and then asked Zeng Tai to arrange a place for them to stay.

Zhou You directly ordered Qing Yu and another maid to help Fang Jiu and the others settle down at the Yuelai Old Inn diagonally across the street. After the tenants thanked and left, Di Renjie looked at Zhou Youlian seriously and asked: "

Zhou You, are the inner guards already investigating this matter?"

"That's right! Your Majesty has already instructed the internal guards to secretly investigate this matter. My people also found out some things and found that the water here is very deep! Not only Yangzhou's Yamen officials, but also Jianghu forces seem to be involved.

Zhou You lowered his voice and continued: "Take Li Han's death as an example. It is said that he hanged himself, but the stool used for hanging was still one or two feet away from his feet! In the room where he lived, there were also

A lot of paperwork was burned."

Then Zhou You sneered again: "There is also the evidence of the so-called 200,000 taels of silver that was found at the crime scene. I wonder what kind of force can give out 200,000 taels of silver in such a big way?"

Where's the money for him? This undoubtedly proves that Li Han's death is not simple!"

"Oh? It seems that there is really a ghost in Yangzhou!" Di Renjie raised his eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully: "According to what you said, the shipwreck in Hangou was not an accident, but man-made?"

"This is almost certain, and my internal guards have also roughly determined the whereabouts of Guan Yan. It's just that the specific plan to capsize the ship in Hangou and what kind of bold gangsters secretly robbed Guan Yan have yet to be verified.

.But there is no doubt that the officialdom in Yangzhou is definitely not clean, and there are definitely not a few people who have been dragged into the water," Zhou You nodded.

Then Zhou You said: "And according to the internal guard's information, it is not just these Yangzhou Cao households who came to Beijing this time, but also the yamen of Yangzhou Caoyun Yamen, and Shanyang County Magistrate Lu Jiying, but their

The goals seem to be different."

"If I'm not wrong, the officials from the Yangzhou Water Transport Yamen should have come to see Fang Jiu and the others, right? But this Shanyang County Magistrate Lu Jiying actually secretly left Shanyang and rushed to Shendu. Could it be that..."

Di Renjie said in deep thought.

"Uncle, what could it be?" Ruyan asked repeatedly, and then she said angrily to Zhou You: "Do you know the purpose of Lu Jiying coming to the capital of the gods? Why are you trying to keep it secret?"

Zhou You smiled noncommittally: "I do have a guess, but what exactly Lu Jiying is going to do in Shendu can only be determined after the internal guards investigate and confirm."

"However, Li Han died in Shanyang Hotel, and Lu Jiying was the first to rush to the scene of the crime. Therefore, I guess the reason why Lu Jiying came to Shendu must be related to Li Han's death.

Relationship. Maybe he knows something inside," Zhou You continued.

Di Renjie couldn't help but nod his head after hearing this: "That's for sure! If not, there would be no need for him to secretly come to the capital of gods."

While the two were talking, they suddenly heard rapid footsteps and saw a group of Qianniu Guards galloping towards them. When the leader, General Gu, saw Di Renjie and Zhou You, he immediately got off his horse and ran over, saying: "Mr. Di Ge, Mr. Zhou.
Chapter completed!