After reporting the results of Ma Meng's trial, Jin Shuzhao peeked at Du Zhongxiao and couldn't help but feel worried.

Du Zhongxiao didn't speak, just tapped the table with his fingers, and after a while, he said, "That's all?" In this way, all the cases were unaware of Mammon and were implicated by others. Well, he's done a good job, and you're good at finding out! ”

Jin Shuzhao sighed: "Don't hide it from the officials, we also think that Ma Meng's family didn't tell the truth, but after checking and checking, there is neither any evidence nor physical evidence." There is only one Tan Erniang, and she can't say it clearly, so it's because-"

Du Zhongxiao slapped the case: "There is no need to say it. In your trip to Wenzhou, Tao XVII confirmed that it was undoubtedly revenge and killed Lu Yuhou. As for what happened back then, I'll check it slowly. Murder in order to avenge his father, this case cannot be hastily decided, report to Dali Temple first, and wait. Also, even according to Tan Erniang's confession, Ma Meng is suspected of taking advantage of the situation to cheat money. He detained Tan Erniang for several years, and there was no deed or agreement, by the way, did he still occupy the woman's body? If he wants to go home without incident, he still has to find out the person's certificate first, and then the county will review it! ”

Jin Shuzhao said in a low voice: "Tan Erniang was occupied by Ma Meng for a year or two, and then Xu was tired of it, so he was sent to the Buddha Nunnery. ”

Du Zhongxiao snorted coldly: "Since there is no deed, in his family, he is not a slave or a concubine, Ma Meng is a *** son, and the county will let it go?" put Ma Meng in the county cell, and the magistrate and the county lieutenant of Yongcheng were involved in the trial of the case of being deceived into the Tao family's medicinal materials. Check out the rest of the matter slowly! ”

Jin Shuzhao answered, sighed slightly, turned around and went out, and discussed with Cheng County Lieutenant, who was still inspecting the village.

This result was expected by Du Zhongxiao a long time ago, but it was still a little unacceptable when it was actually delivered to him. Several major cases and several lives have been investigated and investigated, but they have nothing to do with the most critical people. With such a result, Du Zhongxiao couldn't explain it to himself.

Is it okay to do whatever you want if you become an official? Du Zhongxiao sighed, of course not. Even if you do a good thing, you still have to be constrained by various objective conditions, and you can't do things that are pleasant. Not to mention this era, in Du Zhongxiao's previous life, there were fathers and sons near his home who dominated the township for one or two decades, and finally mobilized forces from the neighboring city to extinguish, not to mention this era.

Du Zhongxiao checked that Ma Meng himself did not have any backstage, and no one in his family was an official, so he had no power or power. But he has been a toothman for so many years, exhausted all kinds of means, and accumulated countless money. If you have money in your hands, people will come to you again, and you are entangled with many public officials in the state and county. Chamamon, many public officials will be implicated, this is no way, and people are hindered everywhere when investigating the case. Cheng County Lieutenant was troubled by this, as soon as Ma Meng was caught, his every move would be leaked out at any time, where to find evidence.

Out of the official hall, Du Zhongxiao called Chai Xinlai and asked him: "This area is full of salt, and nitrate has been produced since ancient times." I asked you to send someone out to find out how much nitrate this place produces every year, but can there be results? I want to do big things here, but I lack money to use, so I have to find a way to get money. ”

Chai Xin forked his hand: "Back to the officials, the small one sent someone to visit around, and it is not difficult to collect 200 catties of wool in a day." It's just that the townships are scattered, and it is not easy to collect, and manpower is needed. If you have the capital, there are more people who scrape nitrate, and it is possible to multiply it several times. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "What kind of capital do you want for the official family!" As long as nitrate is produced, it will be collected first, and the money will be given after a few months. ”

Chai Xin didn't know what Du Zhongxiao meant, and stood aside silently.

What else could it mean? Playing white stripes, of course. According to the administrative style of this era, Du Zhongxiao's willingness to play white strips is already good, and if he cashes in on the white strips in the future, he will still be a good official.

Reclamation requires capital, how can Yongcheng only rely on this year's money and grain? If you want to be big, you have to have other sources of money.

As can be seen from Ma'mon's case, local forces are intertwined, and it is not easy to move them. You have to follow the law, they can use all kinds of means to make you untestable no matter how you investigate. Only by breaking this pattern of forces can we truly investigate the case clearly.

These days, in addition to supervising Chamamon's case, Du Zhongxiao has spent most of his thoughts on making money. I thought of countless ways, such as continuing to make wine, such as making soap from the soil method, and so on, but in the end I found that it was either unrealistic or I couldn't remember the method. In the end, I still turned my mind to gunpowder. It is naturally impossible to make black powder, so that Du Zhongxiao can make guns and cannons now, but it is always good to use it to make fireworks.

There are many rivers in the surrounding states, and there are many saline-alkali lands, and saltpeter has been produced since ancient times, which naturally has this condition.

In the Yongcheng County prison, Ma Meng watched the county lieutenant Cheng leave with hatred, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. said to the cell watcher: "Jiejie, in the past two days, I have been detained by a few handfuls of birds in the inspection village, there is no wine and no meat, and a bird fades out of my mouth." As soon as it's convenient, I'll go out and have some meat and wine, and I'll be back before sunset. ”

Prison Chen Yang shook his head again and again: "Brother, don't come nonsense!" Look at the county lieutenant's face, it is so cloudy that it is about to drip water, how dare you let you out? Let's wait a few days, the wind is not so tight, you just have to get away. If you want wine and meat, I'll send someone to buy it, and you can eat it here. ”

Ma Meng looked at the cell, frowned and said, "This pickled place, how to eat, how to deal with it!" ”

Chen Yang said: "Now the state and county officials are very annoyed, brother, take care of it." I'll call a few people to clean up for my brother in a moment. ”

Seeing that Chen Yang insisted on refusing, Ma Meng had no choice but to forget it, and said: "When you buy wine and meat, by the way, call a sister to sing." In the past few days, I have been tossing a few birds from Paizhou City, and I finally arrived at my own place, and I should relax and enjoy myself. ”

Chen Yang agreed, and ordered a subordinate to summon the familiar Liu Saisai.

These people are familiar with these things, and they don't care, and they are arranged in an instant. The city fox society rats in these places are often guilty of crimes, and from time to time they will be caught by officials in the yamen. Officials are outsiders, they will be beaten and punished when they should be punished, and even if they accept bribes, they will not be allowed to suffer less. They joined forces with the servants who guarded the cell, and when they arrived in the prison, they returned to their own homes as if they were in their own homes.

Ma Meng's case was watched closely by Du Zhongxiao and the county officials, otherwise Ma Meng would have gone out as soon as he arrived in prison. Eat and drink, come back with a full meal and make an appearance. This is all the daily life of the locality, and everyone knows it, except for a few officials in the county. Some officials don't want to cause trouble, and even if they know, they just turn a blind eye and let them go.

Therefore, once the state and county have determined the guilt of the offender, the first thing is to send it to other state troops. Even when there is a big case, it will be taken to a neighboring state and county for trial, and this is the reason. On these people's turf, it is too difficult to find out what is wrong. Ma Meng's case is because no matter what is investigated, there is no evidence and no physical evidence, and he is frozen here, so he has to be detained in a county cell.

After a while, a prison came to clean up the cell, and bought food and drinks for Mamun to enjoy. After drinking more than two cups, Liu Saisai, the leader of the county singing songs, came with the pipa in his arms, sat in the cell, and sang songs to relieve Ma Meng's boredom.

When Ma Meng was happy, Director Peng of his village went to the prison and sang greetings.

Ma Meng put down the bowl, squinted at Supervisor Peng and said, "Song Sigong's house, burned my nunnery, and fled to where he fled with the stolen goods." How many days have you checked, but is there any trace of him? This man has a lot of gold and silver on him, and he must have taken it. ”

Supervisor Peng said: "Official, Song Sigong met a few accomplices outside Yu County, killed the lives of several people who came with him, and has fled without knowing where to go. I heard that those accomplices were from Yangzhou, and I thought they had fled there. ”