The Daguan Tower by the Dianchi Lake was built in the 29th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty. It faces Taihua Mountain from a distance and is known as the "Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Mountains and One Water Tower". Since Sun Beard inscribed a 180-word long couplet for him during the Qianlong period, his reputation has skyrocketed and caused a sensation in all quarters. Celebrities and scholars have come here in droves, and it has become a lively place for reciting poems and writing poems. At noon, Mo Can came to the Grand View Tower alone. When he was studying in private school, Mr. Mu once explained Sun Beard's first long couplet in the country, and I was lucky enough to see it today. "Five hundred miles away from the Dianchi Lake, running towards the eyes, with draped skirts and skirts, joy is boundless in the vastness. Look at the divine horses in the east, the spiritual instruments in the west, winding in the north, and the plains in the south. The masters are elegant and official. Why not choose to come to the summit? . Take advantage of Xieyu Luozhou, the wind and mist wrap around the hair, and the sky and reeds are dotted with some green feathers and red clouds. Don't let it go, surrounded by thousands of acres of clear sand, nine summer hibiscus, and three spring willows. , pouring wine into my heart, sighing, who is the hero? Thinking about the building of the Han Dynasty, the iron pillar of the Tang Dynasty, the jade ax of the Song Dynasty, the great achievements of the Yuan Dynasty, the exhaustion of the bead curtain and the painting of the building. , The wind can't reach the clouds of dusk, so the stele is broken, and all are lost in the mist. There are only a few pestles and sparse bells, half a river of fishing fire, two rows of autumn swallows, and a pillow of clear frost. "Mo Can looked at the long couplet. I was filled with admiration in my heart. "What do you think of Sun Beard's long couplet question?" A voice asked from behind. Mo Can looked back and saw that it was He Shen. He was dressed in civilian attire, holding a folding fan. He was handsome and graceful in the wind. He was followed by two Ouchi guards in civilian clothes with hanging swords. ¡°It¡¯s good to be able to write such a long article.¡± Mo Can replied casually. "The commoner's grandson had a beard when he was born, so he was named 'Beard'. He was a poor scholar. He never became an official all his life. He was so poor that he made a living by divination and couldn't afford three meals a day. But his mind was as big as the rivers. Standing on a wall for thousands of years, walking alone and coming alone, standing tall among the chickens, who in the world can recognize it?" He Shen said with emotion, as if speaking from the bottom of his heart. Mo Can looked at He Shen doubtfully. I don't know what he means. He Shen sighed: "Sun Yan once wrote an elegiac couplet to himself in his later years, saying, 'I have been busy this time, fame and fortune, but I am confused to the end. It's just the right time to go. I have debts from poems and wines. Who have I ever been indebted to?' It's really my close friend." " Hearing Heshen's sentiments, Mo Can was even more confused. A world-famous corrupt official was actually a close friend of Sun Beard, who regarded fame and wealth as nothing. Isn't it the opposite? "Let's go sit in the teahouse." He Shen waved his hand and told the two guards to retreat far away. Then he and Mo Can went to the teahouse and ordered a pot of high-quality Pu'er to taste tea slowly. "Mo Can. How did you get along with Liu Yong on the way south?" He Shen took a sip of tea and asked slowly. Mo Can understood what He Shen meant, but how should he answer it? He hesitated for a moment. "There is no need to be embarrassed," He Shen smiled faintly, "I and Liu Yong are officials in the same palace. Although we have different political opinions, no one can do anything about the other. If you have any ideas, just say it." Mo Can secretly made up his mind, So he said: "Your Excellency, I have thought about it for a long time and finally came to a conclusion." "Oh, what conclusion?" "Please forgive me, honest officials in this world will also do wrong things, and corrupt officials will also do good things. You can't generalize. Liu Yong was an upright official, but he openly harmed the entire Xu family. People said that you were a corrupt official, but you secretly sought justice for my Xu family. So, Mo Can is always grateful to you." Zan spoke out his true thoughts deep in his heart. He Shen was silent after hearing this. After a long time, he slowly said, "Do you also think that I am a corrupt official?" Mo Can nodded, but he was not embarrassed to say it clearly. "Everyone in the world thinks that the 'criminal silver' system proposed by me is the source of official corruption. In fact, even without this law, are officials incorruptible? They are still corrupt, no matter how much you cut them How many people's brains are still unable to eliminate corruption? This is determined by human greed. People like Liu Yong are rare and unique. " "What is 'criminal silver'? " Mo Can didn't understand. "This is my proposal to establish a system of paying crimes with money. Depending on the seriousness of the official's crime, different amounts of money will be used to reduce or exempt the punishment. The money will be handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the sentence will be lighter. Since there are many corrupt officials to kill, it is better to give them to They let blood and collected all the stolen money to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to support the expenses of the emperor and the harem. If the emperor's money was not paid by the royal family, he would still have to withdraw it from the Ministry of Household Affairs. This would actually reduce the national treasury. For example, the governor of Henan, Bi Yuan, was fined 20,000 taels for failing to quickly seize key criminals, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Lerjin, was fined 40,000 taels for failing to detect jade smuggling by merchants, and the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Bayan San, was fined 40,000 taels for failing to seize the key criminals quickly. "Tan Laogui hanged himself" and was fined 80,000 taels of silver. Shanxi Governor Li Tianpei was fined 40,000 taels of silver for "heavy imprisonment" due to poor prison management, and so on. ""Does the emperor need a lot of money?" Mo Can asked. "Of course, the Holy Emperor's six expeditions to the south of the Yangtze River and the construction of more than forty palaces in various parts of the Central Plains were all spent on this money, without touching a penny from the Ministry of Finance's treasury." "I don't understand this, and I'm not interested in it, but if it's a good thing, why? People all over the world still say that you are a corrupt official?" Mo Can thought to himself, he didn't know how many gifts he received on the way from Yangzhou to Yichang, so it's not easy to tell the truth. He Shen smiled slightly: "Since everyone in the world says that I am a corrupt official, think about it. The emperor today has so many eyes and ears, and there are many admonishing officials in the court. How can this not be spread to the emperor? Why does the emperor never pursue it? ?" Mo Can suddenly remembered the knowing smile between Heshen and Qianlong in the south study room of Qianqing Palace before leaving the capital, and what Heshen said about "following the old rules." Could it be that all this was agreed upon by the two of them in advance? Could it be that Qianlong tacitly allowed He Shen to freely collect bribes from corrupt officials? He vaguely felt that there was an unknown secret hidden behind it. "Master, after you have told me so much, do you want Mo Can to do something?" "Yes, I want you to do something for me privately." "Please tell me, as long as you can do what you can." "Now. Li Shiyao has been dismissed, but it is not easy to find out the evidence of his embezzlement, especially where the huge amount of money is hidden. However, Li Shiyao has been in the position of governor of Yunnan and Guizhou for so long, and the relationship is complicated and intricate. "If you want to open the gap, you need to operate on one person." "Is it Mao Gonglue?" Mo Can thought of Li Shiyao's staff. "No, it's his great butler Zhao Yiheng. Not only is this person extremely agile, but he has also studied martial arts in Maoshan since he was a child. Not only is he good at martial arts, I heard he also knows some magic. He doesn't have some experts with unknown origins under his command. Just rely on me and Liu Yong. And there is nothing the imperial guards can do. Therefore, I hope you can conduct a secret investigation and find the place where they hide their illegal gains, so that Li Shiyao can plead guilty and be punished." "Can I do that?" Mo Can felt helpless. "I won't be mistaken." "But where should I start checking?" "I don't know either." "Okay, let's give it a try." Mo Can agreed. "Li Shiyao has moved out of the Governor's Mansion. I and Mr. Liu are temporarily living there. If necessary, you can come directly to the Governor's Mansion." He Shen stood up and left with a swaggering paper fan in his hand. Mo Canze fell into deep thought, who is this He Shen? It seems that the rumors among the people in the past are just superficial, and the water is too deep. Mo Can returned to the inn and told Lai Bu everything about his meeting with He Shen, hoping that he would cooperate with him in the investigation. "It's still the old method. We must first find out the situation of the housekeeper Zhao Yiheng, and then we can decide the direction of the investigation." Lai Bu thought. "Okay, be more careful. Not only does this person know magic, but he also has some strange people under his command." The two discussed some more details, but felt that there were still many difficulties. In the afternoon, Lai Bu took the fortune-telling stall out to inquire about the situation. When he came back in the evening, he had already learned about Zhao Yiheng's appearance and the address of Zhao's mansion. It was not too far from the Governor's Mansion on Yongdao Street and was only separated by two alleys. This person's whereabouts are secretive and he likes to go online to find strange people and strangers. Li Shiyao, who is currently dismissed, and his staff Mao Gonglue all live in the Zhao Mansion. "There is a Fulai Inn opposite Zhao's Mansion on Wenmiao Street. We will move there tonight so we can directly observe the front door of his house." Lai Bu said. "Okay, let's go right away." Mo Can and Lai Bu packed up, took advantage of the night to go to Wenmiao Zhi Street and checked into the Fulai Inn. They asked for a room upstairs facing the street, where they could see through the window. Zhao Mansion. The two of them agreed that Lai Bu would go downstairs to set up a divination stall during the day, while Mo Can would be responsible for observing the movements of Zhao's house at night. The next day, Lai Bu walked out of the inn and set up a stall in front of the Zhao Mansion, while Mo Can stayed in the house and watched through the window. As usual, Lai Bu spread a white cloth on the ground, with the same couplet on it: One stroke is like a knife, splitting the stone and jade in Kunshan. His eyes are like lightning, he can see through the sea and distinguish fish and dragons. The horizontal connection is: the iron mouth is cut straight. Only a compass is placed on it, which means that it also looks at Feng Shui. This is an old street, not far from the Confucian Temple, and it is very lively with the constant flow of people. Vendors selling various snacks, jugglers, and a few gentlemen who read fortune tellers, Laibu's stall was naturally mixed in among them. Mo Can sat on the bed in the room, looking at the Zhao Mansion opposite. There is a high green brick wall, and the green trees in the courtyard can be seen vaguely on the ridge of the gray tile roof. Osmanthus branches and leaves stick out from the wall. The vermilion door is closed tightly, and there are two people squatting on each side.?Stone lion. Not long after, the door opened, and a servant took a broom to sweep the empty space in front of the door. Very few people came in and out all day long, and Zhao Yiheng was not seen. Until late in the evening, when Lai Bu was about to put away the Gua Gua stall, two more people walked out of the door. One was an old Taoist priest in his fifties wearing a gray robe and a Xiaoyao scarf, and the other was a middle-aged man dressed as a scribe. , Mo Can recognized him as Mao Gonglue. The two men looked around, and finally their eyes fell on Lai Bu's fortune-telling stall, and then they walked over slowly. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!