***

Xia County is located in the southwest of Shanxi Province, not far from Tongguan. Because the son of Dayu started to build the capital of the Xia Dynasty, it was named here. Sima Guang, who was good at smashing cylinders when he was a child, was a native of Xia County.

There are Zhongtiao Mountain in the east and Jiwang Mountain in the west, which is rich in grapes and is currently one of the important producing areas of Daqin wine.

When it comes to the wine of Xia County, there is an interesting little story. In the Song Dynasty, the Chinese did not know how to make wine, like making white wine, adding wine cakes to brew, and the resulting grapes were naturally bitter and astringent, very unpleasant, so the wine of the Western Regions was more expensive than mink Qiu in the Central Plains.

During the Jin and Yuan dynasties, there was a person in Xia County who fled into the Zhongtiao Mountains to escape the war, and no one paid attention to the basket of grapes in the cool dry at home, and the grape juice naturally dripped into a sugar urn below, and after a few months the war subsided, the owner went home and found that the urn had become a delicious wine.

Since then, the wine of Xia County has been passed down and is well-known all over the world.

The mountains near Linyao Village are full of grapes, and almost every family in the vicinity makes wine. Kant took people to the area of Jianyao Village with people, pretending to be merchants who bought wine, and went to the area of Jianyao Village, while going from village to house to buy wine, while spreading false news:

"When we passed through Chang'an, we heard a piece of news related to your Xia County, I heard that there is a Yangliu clan in Xia County, and they went to Chang'an to beat the Dengwen drum to avenge their son's grievances, and they will be tried in person today."

"Oh, this case happened in Linyao Village, where we are avoided, then Yang Liu's family is from Linyao Village, the shopkeeper of Kang, tell me how this case is now?"

"That's it, that's it, shopkeeper Kang tell us quickly."

"How's it going? Look at what you asked, who is that today? That can attract the god of thunder and plague, and you can calculate that there is a gold mine in Luzon with a finger count, have you heard of this Luzon? That's far away, when you can even calculate those today, it's not easy to solve a murder case? I heard that when the Son of Heaven looked at the murder weapon, he saw the fingerprints on it. And then a pair of fingerprints with Yang Guan, guess what? ”

"How? Don't be appetizing, shopkeeper Kang, how about it. ”

"Why do you put your fingerprints when you sign the contract, it's because everyone's fingerprints are different, yes, it must be the same person, but this time it doesn't, that means Yang Guan is not a murderer at all."

"Ahh Yang Guan is not the murderer of Xia Niang, so what about the real murderer? ”

"That's right, Shopkeeper Kang. So who is the real culprit? ”

"Don't worry, let me drink my saliva. That's the case, when it was confirmed that the real murderer was someone else, he pinched his fingers and counted it, and I heard that he had figured out who the murderer was. ”

"Then why didn't the emperor send someone to catch the real culprit?"

"Who said it wasn't sent, not only did it be sent, but it was also urgent."

"Shopkeeper Kang, no, since the official is in a hurry. Then why did you hear the news later, but it came first? ”

"You don't know this, I heard that the officer who led the team was so tired that the horse suddenly fell to the ground because of the day and night journey. The officer who led the team fell and injured himself, and he was delayed for two days, and I estimated that it would be there tomorrow. ”

"I see. I hope the official will come soon and catch the murderer who killed a thousand knives. ”

"Yes, yes, this kind of person will not be brought to justice. Heaven doesn't allow it. ”

“”

The news spread by Kant and others was like a gust of wind that quickly blew through the villages near Linyao Village, and everyone was talking about it in the alleys and alleys of the village, which could be said to be crazy.

In the evening, Kant recruited manpower and spent more than 100 nights without collecting money, laying a net in Linyao Village and two neighboring villages. Kant believed that it was absolutely impossible for the real murderer to be able to calm down again.

No matter who he is, as long as there is a slight change tonight, all of them will be arrested first, and their fingerprints will be compared one by one. If the real murderer can really calm down, then he can only work harder and compare the fingerprints of the men in the three nearby villages one by one.

It is understood that Xia Niang rarely shows up because she is engaged, and in such a mountain village, except for some businessmen who come to buy wine, few strangers come. From this, it can be judged that it is unlikely that outsiders committed the crime.

After lurking all night, Kant and the others caught a total of thirteen people with abnormal behavior, one of whom was named Tang Geng, who sneakily went out with a burden during the third watch, and was the most suspicious.

After catching this person, Kant immediately escorted him to the back mountain, lit the fire and compared the fingerprints, but before he finished the comparison, the person named Tang Geng was already frightened and pale, and the final comparison results also proved that the fingerprints printed from the dagger were consistent with the fingerprints on the ring finger of his right hand.

This is ironclad evidence, Kant couldn't help but smile at his subordinates beside him: "I have found the right master, so that the brothers don't have to be busy, let's all withdraw." ”

"Yes, Lord Hyakho."

"Liu Yun, the person will be handed over to you, immediately let him explain the process of committing the crime, and whether there are bloody clothes or other things hidden."

"Don't worry, Lord Baihu, his subordinates will keep his eighteen generations of ancestors and dig them out."

The torches were gone, and the mountains were knee-black, and on this cold winter night, the north wind whistled across the mountains, and suddenly, there was a terrible scream, like a ghost crying wolf, and if anyone heard it, his hair would stand on end.

In less than a cup of tea, Tang Geng recruited everything, and obediently took Kant and others to dig up the bloody clothes from his vegetable garden.

"Call it a day." Kant gave an order, and Ye Bushu quickly disappeared into the vast night with Tang Geng, as if nothing had happened, and in the quiet mountain village, there were only a dozen or so people who had been arrested, and they were shocked.

***

In Chang'an City, Qin Mu held a small court meeting, and the officials in the upper hall were mainly civil and military officials who accompanied him, and there were twenty-three in total.

After more than two months of recuperation, Ma Wannian's injury basically improved, and after changing into a military attache uniform, he came to the court hall and paid homage to Qin Mu on the throne, and said with a ashamed face: "Your Majesty, the minister is incompetent, he has lost Lanzhou, and he has lost the trust of His Majesty, please surrender your Majesty." ”

Although Qin Mu and Qin Liangyu are distant relatives separated by more than ten generations, in view of Qin Mu's great respect for Qin Liangyu, the imperial sister, and Ma Wannian is Qin Liangyu's only grandson. Therefore, Sima An and others in the palace have always avoided mentioning Ma Wannian's loss of Lanzhou.

Today, Ma Wannian took the initiative to go to the palace to ask for guilt, and everyone wanted to see how Qin Mu would deal with it.

Qin Mu turned his head to Gu Junen, the left attendant of the military department, and asked, "Gu Qing, Ma Wannian lost Lanzhou, how should he deal with it according to the law?" ”

Gu Junen had no choice but to go out of class and replied: "Your Majesty, General Ma, as the main general, lost Lanzhou, the crime is unforgivable, but the circumstances are excusable. ”

"Extenuating circumstances?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, General Ma's family has been fighting for the two dynasties for several generations, loyal and patriotic, and this Lanzhou was lost, not General Ma's dereliction of duty, he was first injured by a stray arrow, and he could no longer command the army, but there was the defeat of Lanzhou, and the responsibility was not all on General Ma."

Qin Mu said lightly: "I believe that my imperial sister will never want her grandson to shirk her responsibility, Gu Qing, don't have any worries, just deal with it according to the law." On my imperial sister's side, I will personally explain it. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"General Wan, your body has not fully healed, go back first and be able to raise your generals."

"Minister, Xie Majesty xià Longen, long live, long live, long live."

When Ma Wannian withdrew, Sima An and others thought that the emperor would talk about Yang Guan's murder case, but this case has now triggered a wave of "presumption of innocence" and "presumption of guilt", which has intensified, and the market is now discussing this matter.

However, unexpectedly, Qin Mu held back the matter and talked about planting trees.

"Eight hundred miles of Qinchuan nourished the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties. However, since the Tang Dynasty, Guanzhong has become increasingly dilapidated. The lower reaches of the Yellow River have also been frequently diverted, causing shocking disasters again and again.

Excessive grazing has turned many grasslands with abundant water and grass into deserts, and excessive reclamation and deforestation have caused soil erosion in Guanzhong and the Loess Plateau.

Ministers, if we want to establish a foundation for all generations, we must not just look at the present, but also the water and soil management in Guanzhong and the upper reaches of the Yellow River must be carried out immediately, reducing grazing, reducing reclamation, strictly prohibiting logging, and encouraging tree planting. ”

Qin Mu had not yet ascended the throne, and when he arrived at the Guanzhong Mausoleum, he issued a decree prohibiting the arbitrary cutting of trees, but at that time, the war was not over, and everyone only regarded the emperor as a whim, and they didn't care too much.

Now after listening to Qin Mu's words, the ministers in the palace realized that the emperor was going to move seriously this time.

Sima An secretly thought about it, the emperor suppressed the matter of the prince's move to the palace, suppressed the current trend, but turned to the management of the water and soil in the upper reaches of the Yellow River;

At first glance, it seems that the emperor is a hammer in the east and a hammer in the west, but after thinking about it repeatedly, Sima An felt that things were not so simple, and the Son of Heaven probably had a grand and comprehensive plan, but it had not surfaced yet. (To be continued......)