Ruins of the past

At this moment, in the Ding family, Mr. Ding’s study room.

Ding Zhize, the old man of the Ding family, is now over seventy years old. He has gray hair and is sitting on a recliner with his eyes closed, as if he is asleep.

In front of Ding Zhize, Ding Daoxiao looked like a filial son and a virtuous grandson, and Li Changqing, the Qianhu of the Demon Suppression Department, stood side by side.

Ding Zhize, who was once in the fifth realm of martial arts, has already lost his vitality and blood, his muscles have atrophied, and his physical strength has seriously declined due to his old age.

But neither Li Changqing nor Ding Daoxiao would underestimate the leader of the Ding family.

The other party once served as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War, and was in charge of the food and grass for the troops stationed across the country, the mobilization of the troops, and the appointment of military officials. He has only been in office for three or four years now, but he still has a great influence on officialdom.

For example, in the three major military towns in the north of Lingzhou, most of the generals in them were promoted by the old man in front of him.

Mr. Ding asked: "How was that man arrested?"

Ding Daoxiao shook his head: "I don't know. The demon from the Immortal Way should be hiding very secretly. I don't know how the Wu family and the Hao family found them."

Mr. Ding raised his head and asked with half-open eyes, "He didn't miss anything, did he?"

Li Changqing said: "I asked, but he didn't say anything about the Ding family. But just in case, he was possessed."

Mr. Ding said: "Changqing, you did the right thing. Thank you for your hard work. Dao Xiao, go to Meishan now and stop all the living corpses mining in the mountain and deal with them."

Ding Daoxiao frowned and said: "No need, no one has found out about Meishan. The loss of one day of work stoppage..."

Old Master Ding shook his head, pointed at Ding Daoxiao and said: "You... are confused! Do you think that when a person is possessed by a demon, things will be over when he dies? Then you are underestimating the Demon Suppressor and our Majesty, interrogating alone. At that time, the prisoner became possessed and died. If something like this happened...I'm afraid the Demon Suppression Department will send people down to investigate this matter soon."

"He Wenyan must also speed up, and Changqing you must also cooperate well.

Before the Demon Suppressing Division sends another person... they must let him dig out all the bad debts under Wu Wei and Hao Wen, including the land they seized, the money they embezzled, the taxes and corvees they evaded, the bribery accounts, and their involvement. All the lawsuits and things that exceed the regulations inside and outside must be thoroughly investigated before the chief minister can impeach Wu Siqi (Mr. Wu Ge). "

Ding Daoxiao nodded in agreement, and then asked: "And Chu Qiguang..."

Old Master Ding waved his hand and said: "Let the people of the Immortal Way take revenge on him, and don't let any of it get to us."

Ding Daoxiao asked again: "Wu Wei said that the cabinet has reached an agreement and is preparing for peace talks and mutual trade?"

"The cabinet vote is just for the emperor to see." Mr. Ding closed his eyes and said calmly: "I am too young today, so I would be too happy to have success and listen to slander. Whether we can open a mutual market or not, you have to ask us and ask these nine questions. Border Army Town.”

"Smuggling is the source of food and clothing for millions of soldiers and civilians on the nine sides. If it weren't for us, where would the money come from in the north to support this imperial army? How would we support the two great warrior gods?"

"Now the imperial court wants to compete with the people for profit. This is a way to harm the country and the people."

…

In the main hall of the Wu family, Wu Wei, Hao Wen, Hao Yongtai, and Chu Qiguang sat together.

"How can it be such a coincidence? During the interrogation, you happened to be possessed by a demon?" Hao Wen was shocked and angry: "I don't know how much money Li Changqing from the Demon Suppression Division has received from the Ding family, how dare he do such nonsense?!"

Wu Wei said: "It's not that simple. Just relying on money... Li Changqing wouldn't dare to do such a thing. I'm afraid he has already worn a pair of pants with He Wenyan and the Ding family."

Wu Wei and Hao Wen felt worried when they thought of the county magistrate, Qianhu of the Demon Suppression Division, and the local snake Ding family all standing together. It was true that the Demon Suppression Division had such a bad reputation that many wealthy families, high-ranking officials, and nobles had fallen. In their hands.

Wu Wei and Hao Wen had mostly tried to drive away the Demon Suppressor, but they had never thought of confronting them head-on.

Seeing the worried looks of the two people, Chu Qiguang thought about what Qiao Zhi said and encouraged: "The witness became possessed during the interrogation. According to the rules, the Demon Suppression Division will definitely send someone over again.

Mr. Wu, you can write a letter to Mr. Wu Ge and ask him to urge this matter and ensure that the people who come will not favor the Ding family again, and they must do so quickly..."

Wu Wei and Hao Wen both nodded, but they were still worried about Qianhu Li Changqing, the Demon Suppressor.

At this moment, the housekeeper of the Wu family ran in and said in a panic: "Master, it's not good! The Demon Suppression Division has arrested the young master!"

"What?"

The housekeeper said: "They said that someone confessed that the young master spent money to let them contact the people to go to the Yamen to complain, so they took the young master away."

Wu Wei said angrily: "That's complete nonsense, Bing'er is only twelve years old! You're connecting with the common people!"

But the bad news over the next few days doesn’t stop there…

Hezhi County continued to send people to measure the land of the Wu family and the Hao family, and one by one the tenants wanted to break away from the relationship between the two families.

In particular, some tenants who originally changed their names to donate land to the Hao family in order to avoid taxes, taxes, and corvee. After learning that Hezhi County wanted to equalize taxes and labor, they calculated that the imperial tax was much less than before, and immediately They all clamored to change their names back to their original names and let the Wu and Hao families return to their own land.

The Ding family even took the lead in withdrawing their land. Although he did not have much land to begin with, and his human and financial resources were concentrated on coal mines, shops, and caravans, it also aggravated the development of the situation.

Then the tenants got into trouble and even surrounded the mansions of the Wu family and the Hao family. The two families sent out nursing homes to drive away the people. As a result, the Demon Suppressor arrested the young masters, stewards, accountants, servants, etc. from the two families in one go. When 15 people were taken back for questioning, they said it was related to the case.

Wu Wei and Hao Wen were first invited by the Yamen for questioning, and then taken away by the Demon Suppression Division to explain the problem.

In addition, Hao and Wu's grain stores, restaurants, teahouses, and dental shops in the county town were all inspected and turned into a mess, unable to do business at all.

There is the coercion of the Demon Suppressor at the top, the cooperation of the local officials and county magistrates in the middle, and the Ding family, the local leader and leader. Wu Wei and Hao Wen were almost played to the point of ecstasy and had no power to resist.

The demon salary case, which was originally a lively case, gradually subsided because the leaders were arrested by the Demon Suppression Department.

…

When they gathered in the Wu family hall again, Hao Wen said angrily: "He Wenyan now relies on the support of the Demon Suppressor. Now he is simply bullying others."

Wu Wei sighed: "They wanted to arrest the people we went to appease the tenants. The people we sent to investigate the Ding family were also arrested. Even the person we sent to report to Shenjing, Li Changqing, was arrested. This is shameless. Yes."

These days, with the Demon Suppressing Department targeting them everywhere, the Wu family and the Hao family are literally unable to do anything and can only be slaughtered by others.

Hao Wen, who was on the side, retreated and said, "How about we go to Hezhi County to admit our mistakes and surrender, and each of us withdraw from the land?"

"It's not a bad idea." Wu Wei's attitude was not as tough as before, and he said worriedly: "You can send someone to talk to them first to see what their attitude is."