In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

The next day, early in the morning.

Commander Yao Bin was still receiving other envoys.

However, in the morning, more than ten soldiers from the Imperial City Division were transferred from Daming Mansion for Wang Anshi's dispatch.

Wang Anshi thanked Yao Bin and officially started the day's work.

The entire cavalry battalion should be full of four hundred people, and the corresponding number of horses should also be four hundred.

He inspected the stables. There were only more than thirty thin or old horses in the stables.

This is actually not normal.

Although the number of horses in the Song Dynasty was small, there were more than 200,000 registered cavalry, and tens of thousands of war horses were imported from Qingtang every year. It could not be just that.

But Wang Anshi just recorded all these things and asked again when the time comes.

The number of soldiers registered was 384, so Wang Anshi asked the soldiers to come over one by one to accept his questioning.

Basically, every soldier was given 10-20 minutes, and the problem was still the same.

In the beginning, it was normal, and the lower-level soldiers were the targets of exploitation, but when they reached the position of squad leader, there was always something to be fished out of.

Therefore, as a group with vested interests, they will definitely cooperate with their superiors' requirements and strictly order the top soldiers under their command to adopt the same tone.

After eating lunch brought in by the guards from outside at noon and continuing to work in the afternoon, things started to go wrong.

In the commander's barracks, Wang Anshi looked at the "strong man" in front of him and said to Wang Tengyun in a dumbfounded voice: "They think I am a fool."

The "strong man" standing in front of them was indeed relatively tall, but he had no facial hair, a burly body, and his words were rough and rugged, but his voice was female, and he was obviously pretending to be a strong female man.

Wang Tengyun also lowered his head and glanced at the record of "broad-minded and strong" on the military register. He raised his head and said with a stern expression: "Are you going to recruit yourself or will I serve you with severe punishment?"

This frightened the female man opposite and said quickly: "I don't know anything. I am a butcher in the town and I have a lot of strength. Liu Sanzhi said he wanted me to come to the camp and serve as a soldier for a few days. I have three money."

During the Northern Song Dynasty, "an" appeared in Hebei and Henan areas and became a dialect. This is mostly recorded in "Liu Zhiyuan Zhugong Diao" and "Xixiang Zhu Gongdiao" in the Song and Jin Dynasties.

Hearing that although the other party was tall and strong, he was so frightened that his branches were trembling, Wang Anshi had no choice but to say silently: "Okay, I won't torture you."

After that, he ordered his subordinates: "Call Liu Sanzhi in."

"Your Majesty."

After a while, Liu Sanzhi came in. When he saw the secret, his face turned pale, and Nuonuo stood there without daring to speak.

Wang Anshi said: "I have said many times that this time the court is only temporarily counting the number of people in the army. It will not do anything to you. Let's be honest about the specific number of vacancies. If you explain clearly to yourself, then nothing will happen. If If this officer finds out, then"

Liu Sanzhi had no choice but to cry and said: "We have recruited all the villains. There should be 384 people in this camp, but in fact there are only 126."

"What about the horse?"

"horse"

"Did your commander sell it?"

"Forehead"

"Have you divided some of the money among you?"

Wang Anshi is good at teaching.

Liu Sanzhi laughed sarcastically and did not dare to answer.

"alright."

Wang Anshi shook his head and motioned for them to go out.

After everyone left, Wang Tengyun said unhappily: "These cunning thieves are still trying to cover up."

"Don't make it difficult for the soldiers at the bottom, they are also victims."

Wang Anshi advised: "The Zhiyuan said that if there is a way, they don't want to do this."

The military camp is like this, with layers of oppression. If those above do bad things, those below may take the blame, so everyone keeps their secrets secret and dare not talk nonsense.

It was impossible for Wang Anshi to directly oppose them when he first arrived, so he could only find ways to appease them and get close to them first.

As long as you gain their trust and ask questions step by step, you will naturally be able to find out the root and cause of the matter.

The next few days.

Wang Anshi continued to talk and communicate with the soldiers in the camp.

Some corruption cases have been temporarily uncovered, such as the reselling of military equipment and horses.

He did not punish the soldiers, but just comforted everyone, saying that the court would naturally have public opinion and would not punish them unless they personally participated in the crime.

Wang Tengyun was responsible for scaring the soldiers, saying that if they concealed the truth, the court would imprison them, punish them, or even behead them.

For a time, in this situation where one was pretending to be a red face and the other was pretending to be a white face, many soldiers were so frightened that they confessed everything they knew.

In fact, there are still some commonplace issues, such as short quotas, reselling of arms, military discipline, etc. Not to mention the court, even the people outside the town know about it. Now the court only plans to record it first and carry out large-scale rectification.

On this day, at night, Wang Anshi was writing furiously in the barracks, writing down the findings into an official document and preparing to hand it in.

At this moment, the guards from outside came to report that there was a casual agent looking for him.

Wang Anshi was not surprised. After thinking about it, he originally planned to call Wang Tengyun, because the left-behind censors in various places had to accompany them to supervise each other. However, considering that Wang Tengyun had already gone to bed, he did not interrupt and wanted to see the situation first.

"Your Majesty!"

The casual guy came in with a worried look on his face.

Wang Anshi smiled and said: "What's wrong? Come to me in the middle of the night."

Sanzui sighed: "The villain knows that the envoy is a good person, and also knows that the court will not do anything to us, so the villain came to inform the envoy."

"Say it."

Wang Anshi said.

These days he has conveyed the court's intentions.

Since the soldiers were also victims of the empty salary, and it was Zhao Kuangyin who allowed those generals and nobles to eat empty salaries, the court could let it go.

But if it involves other crimes, it is not necessarily the case. According to Wang Anshi's investigation in the past few days, there are indeed some crimes in the camp.

But basically, they were done by the camp commander and other sons of generals and nobles, and had nothing to do with the lower-level soldiers.

After all, they did not have the power and energy to sell the war horses and weapons in the army, but they were instructed by their superiors to resell them, and even got some of the stolen money.

Wang Anshi also comforted them, saying that the court might hold them accountable, but they were instructed by their superiors and the blame was not on them, so they were asked to relax and explain what they should explain.

It was precisely because of this more tolerant attitude that Wang Anshi made these lower-level soldiers feel at ease, and their resistance was much less.

The guard said, "Sir, you know all the dirty things in this camp. The money and things are taken from the higher-ups, and the salaries are often withheld. The brothers below are also resentful, and there are many deserters. The court's punishment this time is also to punish them."

"Yes."

Seeing that the other party was frank, Wang Anshi asked the guards to call Wang Tengyun, and replied, "Yes, the court may indeed punish them. It depends on how many crimes they have committed."

The guard said, "The commander of our camp has always been a member of the Yang family. I have also seen that the envoy is here to make decisions for us, so I dare to risk my life and tell them everything they have done over the years."

"Very good."

Wang Anshi said happily, "Move him a chair and tell him slowly."

"Thank you, envoy."

The guard took the chair and sat down.

A moment later, Wang Tengyun came, and the two of them were in the room. Under the protection of several guards, they took out paper and pen and began to record.

The court transferred all officers above the battalion level this time, naturally hoping to see this result.

The generals and nobles themselves did not have strong control over the lower-level soldiers, so it was impossible for them to launch a mutiny. Killing the court angels would lead to death, and no one would follow them.

At first, no one dared to say anything, but they were afraid of the instructions and threats from their superiors before leaving, and some small squad leaders also participated in it.

However, there are always people who are unwilling to say something.

This is also the case with Sanzhi, because he had a military leader who treated him well before and was beaten to death, so he came to report it boldly.

It turns out that in addition to eating vacancies in this camp, there are indeed other inside stories.

Such as eating surplus personnel.

The surplus personnel system was created by Zhao Kuangyin.

All soldiers who are over 60 years old or disabled will not retire, but will be transferred to the surplus personnel.

The treatment is half of the previous one, but if they die in the army or voluntarily request to retire, the court will give a burial fee or resettlement fee.

This money was very generous, probably two years of normal salary and a year's food for a family, and after returning home, they could be exempted from taxes and labor service, and the government would give them a working ox.

But it was too generous that some people coveted it. Since the money was issued by the three yamen, those people took this opportunity to embezzle the money directly.

If someone asked for it, they would be beaten by them. What power can the old soldiers at the bottom have? With no way to appeal, most of them can only swallow their anger and return home in tears.

There was an old soldier who had taken care of him for many years in this scattered duty. He was so angry that he went to his superiors to argue, but he was beaten to death, and they also made more money for the funeral. This prompted this scattered duty to take the risk of exposing and revealing the matter.

Wang Anshi and Wang Tengyun were very happy and recorded everything, including how these people sold contraband items, how they resold equipment in the army, and a series of illegal acts such as beating people to death, oppressing soldiers, eating leftovers, not having military registration, gambling, etc.

In the final analysis, the lower-level soldiers were not on the same page with them. Now that there was such an opportunity, they would not let it go.

Soon it was late at night, and when the two were still recording.

Suddenly there was a shout from outside: "The fire broke out!"

In an instant, the barracks seemed to be boiling, with noises everywhere, some putting out the fire, some shouting, and all kinds of crackling and collisions.

Wang Anshi was startled and said, "Why did it suddenly catch fire?"

The scattered guard said, "Fires are common. It may be the candles in the feed room. It should be no big deal."

"Let's go out and take a look."

Wang Tengyun suggested.

"Yeah."

At that moment, Wang Anshi and everyone else left the barracks.

After coming out of the barracks, you can see that the feed room where horse feed is stored in the distance is indeed on fire.

It is also common for the cavalry corps' feed room to catch fire. If they have no money, they will set a fire and lie that the horse feed has been burned, and then ask the court for money.

However, there are quite a lot of fodder in the feed room after all, so it is normal for a fire to happen occasionally, so everyone is used to it.

Soldiers went out of the camp to scoop water to put out the fire.

Seeing this, Wang Anshi also planned to go over. At this time, another guard who had been seen during the day came over with sweat on his forehead and a nervous look on his face to report: "Sir, the material room is on fire."

"I saw it, go and have a look."

"The fire is dangerous, please stay here, we can put it out soon."

The guard hurriedly advised.

"Then"

Wang Anshi was hesitating.

Suddenly, the guard pointed to the commander's barracks behind him and said: "Why is there a fire here too?"

Everyone looked back and saw that the commander's backyard was also on fire.

The fire was quite fierce.

Seeing this, Wang Tengyun hurriedly said, "Quick, go put out the fire."

The surrounding guards and the soldiers of the Imperial City Division sent by Yao Bin to assist them in the investigation were about to rush to the barracks.

In a flash, Wang Anshi suddenly realized that something was wrong and shouted, "Wait!"

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

Wang Anshi looked at the vagrant who ran over, his eyes fixed, this person was too suspicious, so he shouted sternly, "Catch him!"

Everyone was stunned, the vagrant first showed fear, but seemed to remember something, sweat on his forehead, then gritted his teeth and took out a bull horn knife from his waist, and stabbed Wang Anshi fiercely.

Fortunately, the guards next to him did not leave, and immediately someone on the left and right cut off his arm that stabbed Wang Anshi with a knife, and another person stabbed him to death.

"How did you kill him?"

Wang Anshi frowned.

The guard next to him said helplessly: "There is nothing I can do. I am afraid that the envoy will be hurt."

It was not that he was the insider who killed the envoy to silence him. After all, the thousands of people sent to protect the envoy were all reliable elite soldiers selected from the Bianliang Imperial Guards.

The situation was urgent at the time, and they had no choice.

Wang Anshi was thinking, and suddenly he saw in the corner of his eye that in the dark, several other people in soldier uniforms were sneaking out of the camp, so he shouted: "Catch those people."

Immediately, everyone rushed over. Seeing that the matter was exposed, those people had to run away, but they could not resist the elite imperial guards and were quickly caught up.

After the fight between the two sides, two people were killed on the spot and the other three were captured.

Wang Anshi immediately arranged for separate interrogation.

By the next day, the matter had been investigated clearly.

These five people were the death squads sent by the Yang family.

The sons of nobles were domineering in the camp, naturally not by themselves, but by raising a group of loyal thugs.

The source of these people is often their close subordinates in the camp, who do dirty work for them, such as reselling military equipment, trafficking in contraband items, and even killing people.

This was a common situation in the Song Dynasty. According to historical records, when Xia Song was the commander, he asked his soldiers to sell goods at the border for huge profits. Sun Mian also mobilized the army to serve as his cargo delivery man.

It’s just that most of the goods were legal, so most of the commanders in the army, including Xia Song, were not implicated. Except for those who sold contraband items, they were often tacitly recognized by the court.

After all, the law only prohibits officials from doing business, and does not prohibit officials from sending their soldiers to do business. Everything can be done without prohibition. Even when Zhao Jun wanted to deal with Xia Song, he couldn’t make a fuss about this.

But letting soldiers do legitimate business is one thing, and doing illegal things is another.

Killing and robbing, handling corpses, reselling military equipment, organizing military camp gambling, eating empty quotas, etc., are basically done by the cronies of these superior officers.

This time is also the case.

They were sent to attack Wang Anshi.

Since Wang Anshi was escorted by local officials and the Imperial City Bureau along the way, they had no chance to attack.

Once they entered the military camp, they could not mobilize soldiers to attack the imperial envoy.

Although the soldiers were intimidated by their power and dared not tell what they did, they were not fools.

Hiding the truth could only be considered as being forced, but if they attacked the imperial envoy, it would be a capital crime of genocide, and naturally no one would follow them.

However, they still had one or two confidants in the army, and took advantage of their familiarity with the military camp to set fire to create chaos and let the soldiers go to the distant material room to put out the fire.

When the confidant came to report, they set fire in the backyard to attract the imperial envoy and the guards of the Imperial City Bureau.

At this time, there were only two or three people around the imperial envoy. They ran out from the backyard and joined the confidant, pretending to be a soldier in the camp, suddenly attacked the imperial envoy, killed him and ran away.

As for the confidant, there was a high probability that he would be silenced. But he had no choice. His family was under control. Even though he knew it was a capital crime, he had to go anyway.

"What a cruel plan!"

The next day, Wang Tengyun, who had not slept all night, told Wang Anshi the results of the interrogation with panda eyes, and sighed: "If it weren't for the wit of Brother Jiefu, I'm afraid we would both be killed!"

"They are so brave to attack the envoys."

Wang Anshi looked solemn, looking at the sky outside the door and said: "This matter must be reported to the Zhiyuan as soon as possible. I'm worried that other envoys will be attacked."

"Well, report back immediately!"

Wang Tengyun nodded.

At that moment.

Both of them immediately wrote official documents, stamped their seals, and sent expedited documents through the channels of the Imperial City Department and the Censorate of Daming Prefecture.

Let the clerks of the two departments who were responsible for delivering official documents change horses but not people, and send them back to Bianliang in an expedited manner for 800 miles!