Chapter 36

Yunping county.

On the east side, in the area of noble atmosphere, there is a luxurious house with green tiles, pink walls, pavilions and pavilions covering an area of several mu.

In front of the house is the red lacquer gate. There are two stone lions squatting at the gate, and there is a plaque with two gold lacquer characters of "Zhou house".

At this time, the main door did not open. Several green hats were sitting on benches and yawning lazily. The side door was open for people to enter and leave.

This is the big family in the county, the house of the Zhou family!

According to the rules of the Zhou Dynasty, only the house of the governor, or wupinmingtang, is qualified to be called "Fu"!

Although the Zhou family is powerful and powerful, it has no influence on a county. It is appropriate to call it "house".

Although the Zhou Dynasty was decadent and the etiquette and law system was corrupt, some rules were strictly observed, especially in the counties and prefectures.

At this time, in the study, there are two people holding chess, are talking.

Each of them has an unsophisticated face, three strands of long beard floating down, wearing a scholar's headscarf. They are quite scholarly and have the taste of flaunting Fang Qiu. Their eyes are dark, warm and unfathomable. This is Zhou Tong'an, the contemporary master of the Zhou family.

Opposite him, however, was a young man, gentle as jade, holding a white man in his hand, who was concentrating on his work.

Soon, a little sweat appeared on the young man's forehead, and a big dragon was killed. He could not help saying, "my father is very good at chess, and my son is inferior to himself."

Zhou Binglin was a direct son of Zhou Tong'an. He was a quick thinker when he was young. He could write poems in seven steps. He was known as a "child prodigy" and was very famous.

Seeing this, Zhou Tongan sighed.

Although the patriarch of a big family has power in his hands, he is not easy to be. Although he helped his son to publicize some fame, he also tried more, but now it seems that he is only skin and flesh.

Of course, in the world of peace, this layer of flesh is enough, but not now.

Then he asked, "as the festival approaches, are all the officials in the county ready for gifts?"

"It's ready. According to my father's instructions, it's 50% thicker than usual!"

Zhou Binglin respectfully said: "in addition, the second uncle also sent a thousand taels of silver to be escorted by the martial master of Song Dynasty."

"Good!"

Zhou Tong'an said: "your second uncle is an official in a different place. He can't do without this... He is the hope of the Zhou family in the future. He can protect the family for another 40 years. Don't neglect him..."

Well, it's Zhou Tongan's second younger brother, Zhou Tongren.

Although he didn't win the entrance examination, he also made up for his official position. At this time, he had already become the Prime Minister of zhengbaping county.

The county magistrate is the deputy of the county magistrate. He is usually not in charge of affairs, but the county magistrate also needs to give some thin noodles. Then, he will be the magistrate of the seventh grade and the magistrate of the hundred Li.

It's just not in Yunping county.

It's easy to understand that the Zhou family is already powerful. If there is another bapin county magistrate, or even a county magistrate, then the whole Yunping county will be named Zhou?

It's the instinct of the superior to divide the distant duty.

Now the Zhou system is still in the same county. It's not too far away. Before that, it couldn't even be in the same state.

"My son is awake!"

Zhou Binglin should be respectful, and immediately said: "also, the Wu family... Is it too much to suppress? For this reason, it seems that the evil relationship with the Taoist temple is not worth the loss... In terms of reputation... "

"Hum!"

Zhou Tong'an snorted coldly, which immediately made Zhou Binglin tremble: "I'm afraid it's more than that? I know that you've always been interested in Wu Qing... It's hard to avoid some love for her... "

In this world, the system of etiquette and law is very strict, so the son can't disobey his father. Otherwise, he will be despised by the secular society. When disaster comes, Zhou Binglin immediately sweats out and says, "my son dare not!"

"You really think so..."

Zhou Tong'an said: "suppressing the Wu family is not only the only way for us to establish a relationship with the family in the county, but also... Wu Qing is not a woman you are qualified to enjoy, you know I've been favored by the noble people for a long time! "

There was a beautiful shadow in Zhou Binglin's heart. He felt a pain in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it at this time and said, "my son knows!"

No matter what he thought in his heart, Zhou Tong'an was very satisfied with his attitude. His face turned warm and he said, "as long as you take Wu Ming's child, there will be someone in the Taoist temple to make trouble for us... Both ways, then..."

In a flash, a rush of footsteps interrupted Zhou Tongan's words.

He frowned, and Zhou Binglin was awe inspiring when he knew that this was the extreme expression of his father's anger. He was even more servile and did not dare to speak.

"Master, I have something important to tell you!"

"Come in!" Hearing the outside voice, Zhou Tongan suppressed his anger. He knew that he was a servant at this time and his temperament. There was no urgent matter, so he did not dare to disturb him.

"Tell the master!"

What came in was a middle-aged man with a dark complexion in a strong black suit. He curtseyed to Zhou Tong'an and said, "deacon Yu and Keqing of Qingping have not been in touch for a day and a night. According to the tip, a demon man was found in Qingshi village who claimed to be Qingping, manipulated the corpse and practiced the evil method. He has been killed, soaked in the cesspit and ashes!"

"What?"

The shocking news made Zhou Tongan lose his voice and swept the black and white pieces off the chessboard.

"Taoist priest Qingping..."

Zhou Binglin was also in a trance. He once remembered that even his father respected the natural and unrestrained scene of the Taoist with bamboo crowns and feather coats, and he died like this?

Even, is the end so bleak?

"... how did Taoist Qingping die? Can we reverse the case? "

After breathing heavily, Zhou Tongan asked coldly.

"Before that, the Taoist of Qingping had already arranged to capture Wu Jiazi. It should be a fight. If the enemy is defeated, he will be killed! As for overturning the case.... "

Is the man in Black: "there are Li Zheng villagers' joint names as evidence, and there are trained copper corpses and iron corpses. Some of them are stolen in the county, and they have the background of the case... It's even more difficult when there are all kinds of real evidence, such as iron evidence!"

Hearing this, Zhou Tongan's face was even more black as the bottom of the pot: "where's deacon Yu? Where is he? "

"I don't know where deacon Yu is. I suspect that he has fallen into the hands of the Wu family!"

When the man in Black said it, he saw that Zhou Tongan was not angry any more. Instead, he turned gloomy.

After a long time, Zhou Tongan sneered: "good! Good! Good! I can't imagine that there are also experts in the Wu family! "

He immediately ordered: "you go down and take back all the treatment given to Taoist Qingping, and... Make evidence. Yu Cheng embezzled the wealth of his master and was driven out of the door early. Do you understand?"

Zhou Binglin listened, looking at the man in black bowing away, but his heart was chilly.

Once something goes wrong, it's normal to get rid of the relationship.

After all, the Wu family is also a big family in the county. Some measures to deal with the small people can't be used. Once they go to court, they will be passive. It's human nature to abandon the car and protect the commander.

But knowing is one thing, doing it is another.

Although Yu Cheng and his posterity, if they know the truth, can get some care in secret, but do they not hear people go to tea? I'm afraid it won't end well.

It is frightening to do so!

……

At the same time, wujiawupu is in the middle of the city.

Wu Ming wears fox fur and silver crown. He is as rich as jade. There is a good censer burning in the house, which is like a fairyland.

According to the rules of the Zhou Dynasty, men's 15 line crown gifts, nobility, three grade or above officials and officials use jade crowns, princes or five grade houses use gold, and gentry use silver. As for civilians, they can only use wood crowns and bamboo crowns.

At this time, Feng Han said: "the Zhou family lived in Yunping, which can be traced back 270 years. Zhou Yong, with the great general Wu Qi, calmed down the chaos in Shu. He fought for half of his life and won the land. As a result, the Zhou family rose up, and several generations of people took advantage of the situation. Up to now, there are more than 5400 mu of land, more than 1000 people, and many servants. At present, the highest official is Zhou Tongren, the younger brother of the family leader Zhou Tong'an, In Yunping County, the most intimate person with the Zhou family is Hu Zhubo, who is the county governor of Qingmu county. The Zhou family has made great efforts to become the county governor, so they regard him as a benefactor... In addition, the Zhou family also sent servants to support several families in business secretly, making huge profits... "

Wu Ming nodded from time to time, and Feng Han was attentive.

In a short period of time, the general strength of the Zhou family was explored, and Wu Ming seemed to see a huge thing rooted in Yunping and spreading to several counties.

"And... There's a master book. It's a bit difficult to do!"

There was a flash of cold light in Wu Ming's eyes.

In the system of Dazhou County, there is one magistrate in the county, who is in charge of the seven grades. Under the system, there are eight grades of county officials and one county captain. The county magistrate doesn't care about everything in peacetime, but the county captain can take charge of the Xiang soldiers.

And under this core, there are the officials, the punishment workers, the Cao, such as the small six, all the meritorious Cao are nine grades.

In addition, there is a chief inspector of zhengjiupin, who is in charge of burglary, and a chief bookkeeper, who is in charge of the documents of each room, communicating with each other and sorting out the information. The position is very important.

It's just that this book has a huge weight. It's almost like the prime minister. No matter how high the rank is, it can even put the county magistrate on the air. Therefore, it has to follow the nine grades.

In addition to these officials, there are many more people who can't even become officials.

Just a county government is a small sparrow with all the five internal organs.

At this time, Wu Ming made a comparison. The Wu family and the Zhou family are both big families in the county. On the surface, they treat the small people equally. They can't use the means that are enough to destroy their families.

However, compared with the relationship, the Wu family is worse than others.

Although the gifts of the four seasons, Bing Jing and Tan Jing, are indispensable, but it's just like this. It's a little shallow compared with the Zhou family who supports the master.

At least, Wu Ming is sure that if it's going to go to court, Xian Zun may be able to treat them equally, but I'm afraid they will all lean towards the Zhou family.

At that time, even if they hold hard evidence, there is some suspense.

"Not to mention... In the worst case, the Zhou family may still be able to borrow the relationship between the county and the local government, even the county magistrate may be able to suppress it... It's just a failure without victory!"

Therefore, Wu Ming did not intend to solve the matter in public at all.