It had just been sunny for two days, and then it was overcast, and with a gentle breeze, a drizzle drifted through the sky and the sky like a thick fog, taking away the dampness and heat that made people have nowhere to hide.

Under the willow tree on the side of the road, Chen Tianming took out a piece of silver and stuffed it to the old servant, and said: "Pingbo, thanks to you along the way, you sent me here safely, be careful, you always accept it." ”

Ping Bo took the silver two and stuffed it into his arms with a smile: "San Lang is polite, the old man is greedy for money." You and I are also fellow villagers, and the hard work on the road is nothing, I am a hard life of going south and north. Fortunately, the officials here are kind-hearted and have taken you in, and with your full stomach to learn, there will definitely be a bright day in the future. When you really have Jinbang High School, you will return to your hometown in a beautiful way, and you will also look at the ancestral grave on my behalf and burn some paper money. ”

Chen Tianming hurriedly agreed. For those of them who have been away from their hometown for hundreds of years, it is a very grand event to be able to worship at the grave of their ancestors, and it is also Xie Pingbo's care along the way.

Ping Bo picked up the burden, said goodbye to Chen Tianming, and said: "On the way, I made you cheap, and when I went back, I went to Ningming Town to sell some goods, which was also a purchase." ”

Tangzhou is separated from the Great Song Dynasty, where thousands of descendants of the Central Plains, whatever it is, as long as it is from the Great Song Dynasty, someone will rob it, and send Chen Tianming back to the Song Dynasty This trip, Pingbo can make a lot of money.

Just as the two were parting, Wei Dalang and Ding Xiaoniu turned out from the corner of the street, each holding a rope in their hands, tied to an old man and a young man respectively. The old ones had gray hair and a slight hunched back, but the few were only four or five years old, and their eyes were dark and bright, and they looked at the people around them with a little cringe. I was a little curious.

I saw Chen Tianming and Pingbo standing on the side of the road. Wei Dalang's eyes lit up: "You two feet are so fast." I actually came to Pingxiang early! Seeing each other is fate, and I will receive the reward in a while, and I will return you a meal of wine and meat! ”

Chen Tianming saw that these two were not like good people, so he saluted and said: "Brother has a heart, the two of us still have important things to do, so I won't bother the two of you." ”

"It's a pity, it's you who are not blessed, but it's not that I am stingy and don't invite you!"

Wei Dalang didn't know whether it was true or false. Sighed deeply.

Ping Bo looked at them holding the two of them and asked curiously, "What are these two?" How are you chained? ”

Wei Dalang raised his eyes: "These two are the riches that fell on the two of us from the sky, and they are both thieves who come from Jiaozhi, and the inspection department has a reward of five yuan for one!" ”

Ping Bo was taken aback, and pointed at an old man and a young man: "The two of them, thieves?" ”

Ding Xiaoniu proudly raised the cloth bag in his hand: "Take the thief and take the stolen goods, we are not talking nonsense, there are still stolen goods here, how can we rely on them?" Not to mention this, they also cut the firewood of our Great Song Dynasty. It's a pity that I didn't carry it on my back! ”

Ping Bo saw that the old man looked blank, and the small one shrank back. With a frightened look, he sighed. This is a foreign country for Pingbo, and it is not easy to say anything, so he said goodbye to Chen Tianming and walked along the road.

Ding Xiaoniu looked at Pingbo's back and took a sip: "This old dog is also a Jiaozhi person, no wonder he looks like he is in the same disease as the thief, and if he dares to talk nonsense, take it together!" ”

Chen Tianming saw that these two people were rude, shook his head, and turned around to go back to his residence.

Ding Xiaoniu was triumphant, followed behind Wei Dalang, and staggered all the way to the yamen of the inspection department.

Sang Yi's Zuojiang Road Inspection Yamen was originally in Taiping County, which was originally the office of Pingxiangtong Inspection, but now it is occupied by him, and he sits in it on weekdays.

After dealing with daily affairs for this day, I was about to go back, when I heard the sound of drums outside, and hurriedly called a sergeant to go out to see.

After a while, the sergeant came back and reported: "Inspection, it's two natives, who said that they caught the thief of Jiaozhi, and they came to the inspection department to receive the reward!" ”

Sang Yi was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Bring them in quickly!" ”

Since the notice was posted, this is the first time that someone has really come to receive the reward, and Sang Yi can't help but pay attention to it. The response to the proclamation natives was not enthusiastic, first, the reward of five times was not much, to be honest, it was a thief, it was to risk his life to catch it. Another such thing is already strange to everyone, and there are very few literate people among the natives, relying on the people of the lifting division to preach a few times, and most people still don't know about it if it doesn't form a hot topic.

Watching Wei Dalang and Ding Xiaoniu come in, one was arrogant and the other was triumphant, and it seemed that they were all scoundrels in the countryside. Looking at the two so-called cochin thieves who were chained, one with gray hair and the other was still a young boy, Sang Yi's brows furrowed involuntarily.

"Who's coming?"

Wei Dalang hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "I've seen the inspectors, the little Wei Dalang, here is Ding Xiaoniu, all of them are the Ding Tong people in Ningming Town under the rule of the officials, and they are all natives and good people." ”

The meaning of the good people in the Song Dynasty was different from that of Xu Ping's previous life, and that era was a title inherited from the war era, which was a good name for the people. The good people of this era refer to having personal freedom, not hiring others as slaves and servants, as maidservants and concubines, and even selling jokes in Qinglou, which has a clear legal significance.

Sang Yi looked at Wei Dalang and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you beat the drum just now?" ”

"Two days ago, I listened to the notice posted by the lifting division, saying that there was a reward for catching the cochin thief. Although the two of us have humble statuses, we always want to share our worries for the country and officials, and when we get the news on the bulletin, we patrol the border villages day and night to prevent the intrusion of Jiaozhi people. It was also the opening of God's eyes, a few days ago, we discovered that two thieves, one old and one young, sneaked into the territory of our Great Song Dynasty and cut down the trees of our Great Song Dynasty to make firewood. I want to mention that the officials have repeatedly affirmed the ban on the mountain, saying that every grass and tree on the mountain is the property of the saints in the court, and the officials and people under the rule of the Great Song Dynasty can't cut it casually, but the two of them are Jiaozhi people! Isn't that the other way around? We're going to get them! ”

Sang Yi listened to Wei Dalang's tongue blooming lotus, saying one set of things, and he didn't know what to learn from someone, it turned out to be righteous and awe-inspiring, and he had a lot of meaning to sacrifice himself to serve the country. If it weren't for the fact that the old and the young looked really dazzling, Sang Yi would have been moved. At the junction of the two countries, border people hunt and fish across borders, chop firewood and cut grass, which is really a common thing. However, he couldn't figure out what Xu Ping meant, so he was silent for a while.

I thought about it for a moment. Sang Yicai said: "Mountains, forests, rivers, and rivers." It is the private property of the Son of Heaven. You have a point, too. But seeing that the two of them are also forced to make a living, they don't look like thieves, are there any other evil deeds? ”

"Yes, yes!" Ding Xiaoniu was robbed of the limelight by Wei Dalang, and he was uncomfortable in the back, so he hurriedly squeezed up when he had the opportunity, and held up the small cloth bag in his hand, "Official." These two people also stole the grain of our Great Song farmers, and this cloth bag is the evidence. We take the thief and take the stolen goods, and we can't wronged the good people! ”

After speaking, he untied the cloth bag and poured out the contents inside, which turned out to be seven or eight ears of tender corn. This crop is suitable for mountain cultivation, and although Xu Ping repeatedly ordered that he was not allowed to open the mountain for farming, it still spread in the past two years.

Sang Yi looked at the tender corn on the ground, his brows furrowed even tighter, and asked the old man in a deep voice: "Are these really picked by you from the farmland in my Great Song Dynasty?" ”

"Official. My family has been out of cooking for a few days, and I pick a few ears to fill the child's belly! ”

The old man said. Turning his head to look at the child biting his fingers.

The child tilted his head to look at Sang Yi above, biting his fingers, with fear and curiosity in his eyes.

Sang Yi coughed lightly, changed his soft tone, and asked the child, "What's your name?" ”

"My name is Horseshoe."

"Where did this corn come from?"

"Grandpa picked it from the edge of the woods, and said he went back to cook it for me to fill my stomach."

Hearing this, Sang Yi sighed, no matter how pitiful the two ancestors and grandchildren looked at, they couldn't get rid of the charge. Seriously speaking, the natives in the mountains are still in a tribal state, have no concept of private property, and do not think that stealing is a shameful thing, and their consciousness is similar to hunting and fishing. But now that this place is under the rule of the government, the law does not recognize human feelings, and if you break the law, you should be punished, not to mention that it involves the two countries.

"Come on, go to the library and get ten yuan for Wei Dalang and Ding Xiaoniu."

The subordinate officials got Sang Yi's orders and promised to leave the official hall.

Wei Dalang and Ding Xiaoniu had already pricked up their ears, and when they heard the word money, they were all overjoyed, and they glanced at each other, tickling their hearts like hiding a little mouse. There are no flowers here in Pingxiangtong, and the two of them can go to Ningming Town to spend a few days drinking and drinking, which is really a happy life that they have never had in their lives.

Looking at the old man and the child, Sang Yi said in a deep voice: "It's not easy to remember that you are old, and it is for the sake of the child that you did such a wrong thing, I won't punish you heavily, twenty lashes, it can be regarded as a light punishment!" ”

If a few ears of corn are not involved, the old man and child are not Song Min, at most it is a few words of admonition. It is the so-called flogging twenty, which sounds scary, but in fact, according to the method of folding the cane, it is only seven blows on the buttocks, and the executing soldier looks at the old man with some affection on his face, and he can barely walk back.

After getting Sang Yi's order, two soldiers came up and grabbed the old man, dragged him to the door of the official hall in a few big steps, pressed on the steps, and pulled off the old man's pants casually.

The pony hoof, knowing what to do, followed quickly. When I arrived at the door, I saw another soldier take a small board from the shelf and come down, only to understand, and pounced on my grandfather, stretched out his arms and leaned up to protect him, looking at Sang Yi with a pair of black eyes without blinking. 、

Sang Yi sighed in his heart, the officials judged the case, and they were most afraid of running into the elderly, children and women, saying that they were iron-faced and selfless, but the people who watched it did not necessarily have any impressions. People are emotional animals, and if a big board hits the elderly and children, they will feel pitiful.

"How old are you, old man?"

The old man lay on the ground and said, "Official, Xiao Lao'er is fifty-eight years old this year. ”

Sang Yi only felt bitter, and said in his heart that you are full of gray hair, why are you only in your fifties? If you are over sixty years old, you are considered an old man, and the cane punishment is not as good as that of the elderly, weak, women and children, and this board is also exempted. Looking outside, the child was leaning on the old man, not allowing others to approach, and the soldiers on execution did not know what to do for a while.

The officials took the copper coins, and Wei Dalang and Ding Xiaoniu took it happily and thanked Sang Yi.

Wei Dalang held the copper coin, looked at the stalemate outside, and said to Sang Yi: "Official, don't look at the old age of this thief, but he can sneak to our Great Song Dynasty to steal things!" If the official can't do it, the little one will shake his guts and go up to break his legs with two boards! ”

Sang Yi's face was blank, and he shouted: "Why are you making noise in the official hall!" How to deal with it, the officials have their own ideas, do you want to teach them? ”

Wei Dalang didn't dare to say any more, and he was still indignant in his heart.

Sang Yi said to the executioner: "Look at this old man's thin body, as if he is sick, it is not suitable to be punished today, write it down for the time being, take it into custody first, and then be punished in a few days." ”

As he spoke, he shook his head, and said in his heart that this was a troublesome matter caused by Xu Ping, and it was better to leave it to him to deal with. (To be continued.) )