Li Hu stretched out his foot and kicked the corpse of the dead night owl into the air, and scolded: "Bad luck! ”

Wang Dynasty had already stepped into the front yard of the temple with Ma Han, the grass grew in the courtyard, and the dead branches were everywhere, which looked extremely decadent, if it were not for the lodging and messy grass trampled on the grass, and the weeds grew in the crevices of the gravel road under his feet, this temple had obviously not been taken care of for a long time.

"Two poor masters, go this way, that day the grain was piled up over there." Wang Wu followed behind Wang Dynasty Mahan and pointed to the south of the courtyard.

By the faint light of the wind lamp, it can be clearly seen that there is a large area of crushed road in the long grass, along this passage trampled by the rutted horseshoe people, not a dozen steps, a large open space appears in front of you, the wild grass on the open ground has obviously been cleared, the knee-length long grass is only a few inches long and short grass stalks, it is not difficult to imagine that that night, the grain transport team used to clear this open space for temporary stacking of smuggled grain.

Not surprisingly, the clearing was empty, only the broken sacks on the ground, and the ashes left behind by the lighting of several fires, as well as some cattle and horses, and if you looked closely, you could see the grain particles scattered on the grass, and a dozen wild mice ran around to eat these grains, I am afraid that the night owl just now chose to feed here because of the rat-infested grass.

"There was a huge pile of grain here that night, and I don't know where it went now. Maybe it's in the temple hall, should we go in and have a look? Li Hu asked.

"No, it's obviously taken away, it was originally temporarily stacked here, and it must have been transported away and hidden during the day the next day." Wang Dynasty said softly.

"Where can it go? Is it really like what the prince said, transported to the territory of Tianchang and hidden? Mahan said.

"It is very likely that in the suburbs of Yangzhou, after all, it is not safe, the people inside and outside Yangzhou City know that Gongzi Ye is searching for grain, if it is placed around Yangzhou City, such a large amount of grain is easy for people to find, once it is reported, they will be in trouble; They planned so carefully, how could they take risks. Wang Dynasty said.

Li Hu said: "Poor master, this place is only more than 20 miles away from Tianchang, and it is very convenient to transport it to Tianchang County to hide, and the official road leads directly to Tianchang County, although the road is not easy to walk, but it is still very easy to have a car and horse." ”

Ma Han said: "I'm afraid that they will find a corner to hide the grain, then it will be over, we can't dig three feet in the mountains and fields to find it." ”

Wang Chao shook his head and said: "No, they are in a hurry, how can they find a place to hide in the mountains and wilderness in advance, and besides, food is no better than others, once the rain and snow fall, after the dampness, even if it is cold and snowy outside, the grain pile will still sprout and rot; It must be placed in a place where there is shelter from the wind and rain; That's it, anyway, it's not accurate to eat, Ma Han, let's go separately, after dawn, you go back to tell the son, and say that he found traces of food, and asked him to send more people to look for it in the surrounding villages, I will go to Tianchang to find Li Chong, if the food is in Tianchang County, with the assistance of his parents, it is not difficult to find out. ”

Ma Han nodded and agreed, since he found traces of food, could so much food still fly? As long as there are enough people and patient visits, they can always be found.

Wang Dynasty Mahan didn't plan to go back to the village, so he thanked Li Hu and Wang Wu, and sent him two to go back on their own, the two cut a few large bundles of dry grass, and found a corner in the main hall of Lanruo Temple where the cobwebs were full of dust to build a fire, spread hay and lay down, tired for a day, and finally had the whereabouts of the grain, the two were in a relaxed mood, leaning on the hot fire, and after a while, they snored loudly, and fell asleep.

……

On the eleventh day of the lunar month, the winter sun is shining.

Just after noon, the defenders on the tower of the West Gate of Yangzhou saw from a distance a group of soldiers, fifty or sixty horses, surrounded by three or four carts, slowly coming towards the West Gate of Yangzhou.

The soldiers hurriedly shouted to the bottom to inform the head of the city gate who led the team to defend the city, and the head of the guard was leaning on the small barracks and gossiping with a few squad leaders.

The horse team slowly approached, and Wei Du squinted his eyes carefully, and suddenly he noticed that there were acquaintances he knew in the team.

"Damn, isn't that the head of the forbidden army's horse team? Didn't this kid escort Shen Yaozu to the capital? How did it take less than half a month to come back again? Wei Dutou laughed and said: "It seems that the forbidden army is not so easy to be a dog, it is still as tired as a dog, and it is still necessary to come out on an errand after the New Year, which is not much better than us." ”

The soldiers laughed, and the guards all went down to the city tower and opened the city gate to personally lead people out.

"Fang Dutou, don't come unharmed." Wei Dutou laughed and bowed far away.

Fang Dutou also recognized Wei Dutou, and hurriedly galloped forward, arching his hand and saying: "Wei Dutou is good, hurry up and send someone to inform the envoy and the lord of the palace, and say that the imperial court has sent Lord Ouyang to arrive, and ask them to come to greet him quickly." ”

Wei Du was stunned for a moment, and then another Lord Qincha came, and hurriedly said, "Which Lord Ouyang?" If I make it clear, I'll send someone to tell you. ”

Fang Dutou said: "Which other Lord Ouyang can be worthy of the responsibility of the Qin Mission, it is Ouyang Zhongcheng of the Imperial History Terrace, as soon as you report to the official position, Song Fuzun and the envoy will know it, so don't worry about it." ”

Wei Dutou hurriedly sent the soldiers around him to return to the court, and ordered the soldiers to line up at the gate of the city to greet him.

Lord Ouyang's car did not enter the city directly, but stopped under the city and did not move; Wei Du said in his heart: "This Ouyang Qin has a big shelf, looking like this, he is waiting for the envoy and Song Fuzun to come to greet him." ”

After a while, the horse's hooves in the city were obtained, Su Jin and Song Zhen rode horses and hurried to the city with a group of small officials and subordinate officials, as soon as they arrived at the city gate, Su Jin threw the stirrup and dismounted, and asked, "Where are the people?" ”

Wei Du pointed his head outward and said, "Your Excellency, you are all waiting there." ”

Su Jin hurriedly patted the dust on his body, cleaned up his clothes, and followed Song Zhen out of the city quickly to greet him, his expression was very serious, and Wei Dutou could even see a trace of anxiety and uneasiness on the face of the envoy.

Wei Dutou saw it very accurately, Su Jin's mood was indeed very worried, and he had a lot of worries in his heart, first of all, he was worried about whether the imperial court knew about the use of military rations, and if he knew, this Ouyang Xiu would be not good this time.

Secondly, Su Jin also wanted to know what the imperial court had to say about the things he had done in Yangzhou and Bagong Mountain, especially the matter that he had reported about the dereliction of duty and fear of death by the commander of the guard Ma Army, whether it would cause waves, after all, this person was recommended by the Privy Council, and he took this person without saying anything, would there be some incalculable consequences.

The most worrying point for Su Jin is the identity of this Lord Ouyang, this person is a person from the Imperial History Tower, if the imperial court is here to praise and encourage this time, the people of the three divisions are the best candidates, or any person from the Ministry of Rites or the two mansions can also be worthy of this position.

And he sent Ouyang Xiu here in this imperial history, obviously in addition to passing the decree, there are other things to do; And what can Cheng do in the imperial history? This is simply not a thought, this is a department equivalent to the procuratorate in the future, and the people from the procuratorate come to invite you to tea, I'm afraid it's probably not a good thing.

Song Zhen and Su Jin led the crowd to Ouyang Xiu's convoy, and said loudly: "Song Zhen, the prefect of Yangzhou, and Su Jin, the special envoy of grain affairs, greet Lord Qincha. ”

Fang Du bowed his head to Su Jinyi, and at the same time signaled the horse team to disperse, revealing a big black carriage in the team, someone stepped forward to raise the curtain, Ouyang Xiu was dressed in a scarlet official uniform, bent down and walked out of the car.

"It's finally here!" Ouyang Xiu took a breath of clear air, looked at Song Zhen Su Jin and a group of officials who bowed their heads and maintained a saluting posture, and said with a smile: "Which one is the famous grain envoy Lord Su?" ”

Su Jin was stunned, and the first thing this person said was to ask himself, but he was a little surprised, and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "The next official is." ”

Ouyang Xiu's slender eyes showed a very interested light, looked Su Jin up and down, and said with a smile: "It turns out that he is really a young man, the official didn't believe it at first, the back waves of the river pushed the front waves, I have come out with such a young talent, it is really gratifying." ”

Su Jin didn't know if he was telling the truth or a lie, so he had to remain silent and hang his head.