Chapter 20 Chapter 1 Chen Gong's Worries

Shuhan Jianxing nine years, January 6th.Wei Yongzhou Longxi area, Shangyu City. Chen Gong frowned and touched his chest, he always felt very uneasy recently. Chen Gong has lived in the land of Longxi for eleven years. During these eleven years, he is like a grain of gravel, quietly hiding in the Longxi Prefect's Mansion, playing the role of an ordinary, low-key middle-level man. Officials.This kind of life has always been peaceful, but recently the surrounding environment has begun to have some changes.These changes are very subtle, and a careless person will ignore them if they don't pay attention to them—but Chen Gong will not. Out of the intuition of a spy, he smells an ominous smell floating in Shanggui City from the wind.

In the past year, several of Chen Gong's colleagues in the prefect's mansion have been transferred away one by one for different reasons, and his own position has also been changed due to several fine-tuning of the prefect's mansion's bureaucratic structure.These changes are all reasonable, every personnel change or organizational adjustment has sufficient reasons, and there is nothing suspicious. However, Chen Gong felt that every change seemed to make it more difficult for him to obtain information than before; these seemingly isolated incidents were connected together, as if to imply that there was someone behind the scenes who was careful, clever and invisible gradually pushed him away from the core intelligence field.

"Maybe the end of the day has finally come..." Sometimes Chen Gong would think so pessimistically.Over the past six years, he had witnessed many times his companions were arrested for leaking their identities—the most recent being the death of "White Emperor" Gu Zheng—so he had already come to his senses.If a soldier suddenly knocked on the door of his room in the middle of the night one day and said to him, "In the name of His Majesty, you have been arrested", he would not be surprised at all, nor would he feel regret.The fruits of his work have been fruitful enough.

As the chief secretary of the Taishou Mansion of Longxi County in Wei, he was just a well-behaved official; as a spy of Si Wencao of the Shu Han, Chen Gong can be said to have made outstanding contributions.In the past year, there have been two large-scale military conflicts between Wei and Shu, with Shu Han winning one and drawing the other.Chen Gong played a key role in it. In August of the eighth year of Jianxing, Wei State, which has been on strategic defense, decided to launch an unprecedented counterattack against Shu Han. According to General Cao Zhen's vision, Wei State's 120,000 troops would be divided into four groups, starting from Xicheng, Ziwu Valley, Xie Gu and Qi Shan launched a centripetal attack on Hanzhong.

This battle plan was learned by the "Red Emperor" who was active in Yecheng when it was in the stage of court discussion, and Chen Gong also judged that the Wei army was about to have a big battle based on the transfer of troops in Longxi.As a result, before Cao Zhen set off from Chang'an, the summary of the main points of the battle plan was sent to Prime Minister Zhuge's desk.The Han army, which had been prepared for a long time, was waiting in full force in Chenggu and Akasaka.As a result, it was the rainy season and the roads were muddy. The Wei army was completely unable to advance in Ziwu Valley and was forced to retreat across the board.

At this moment, Chen Gong was keenly aware of the temporary vacuum in Longxi caused by the retreat of the Wei army. He pointed out in a routine report: The Wei army has just experienced a large-scale operation, and now the loss of supplies and morale is quite large.If you can take this opportunity to launch an offensive in the west of Yongzhou, the exhausted Longxi defenders will be powerless to stop it. This opinion was finally adopted, and Prime Minister Zhuge immediately sent Wei Yan to attack Yangxi on the west side of Longxi.Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou who was in charge of the defense of Longxi, and Fei Yao, the later general, learned about it and hurriedly assembled troops to rescue.Unfortunately, the date of their formation and the specific number of troops were leaked again, and Chen Gong delivered the information to Wei Yan in time.

Relying on his advantage in intelligence, Wei Yan fought a textbook ambush near Yangxi, causing heavy casualties to Guo Huai and Fei Yao's rescue army.Yangxi and the Qiang tribes living there belonged to the Shu Han.The failure of this battle caused most of the Qiang people to fall to the side of the Shu Han. Cao Wei has been troubled by the ethnic problems caused by this failure for more than ten years. For Shu Han, this is a victory worth celebrating; for Chen Gong, it means something other than a sense of accomplishment.That series of disturbing personnel adjustments and job changes started after the Battle of Yangxi, and Chen Gong couldn't help but link these two things together.He realized that someone might have sniffed out his tracks.

Every time he thought of this, Chen Gong would think of the sharp eyes of Guo Gang, Sima Guo of the Jianjun.This young man was by no means simple. After he arrived in Longxi, he brought a lot of troubles to Chen Gong's work, and even forced Bai Di to death.So many major information leaks, it is impossible not to attract Guo Gang's attention.Sooner or later, these coincidental pieces will be pieced together by Guo Gang, and that will be the end of Chen Gong. Si Wencao in Nanzheng is also well aware of this, so Dongcao Yaoyou, Siwen Sicheng Yinji, and Longxi Branch Ma Xin have all said that as long as Chen Gong is willing, Siwencao can immediately Take him back to Hanzhong.Chen Gong has been hesitating. On the one hand, there is no conclusive evidence to show that he has been suspected. Maybe everything is just an illusion and a coincidence; on the other hand, Prime Minister Zhuge will conduct frequent military operations in Longxi in the future. One more point for success.

So he declined these concerns and continued to stay in Shangbei. "Brother Wen Li, what are you thinking?" Sun Ling, a colleague standing next to him, asked curiously.Chen Gong quickly withdrew his thoughts, and replied lightly: "It's nothing, I may have suffered from a little cold when I was sleeping yesterday." "You have to be careful." Sun Ling kindly reminded, "The tour envoy of Ye City will arrive next month, so there must be no mistakes at this juncture." Chen Gong made a reassuring gesture to him, and continued to look forward.In front of the two of them are piles of blue stones and uncut logs. Dozens of workers are walking back and forth between the wood and stones, and the carriages and ox carts loaded with goods are driving one after another. There was a loud rumbling sound.

In view of the series of setbacks that Wei suffered in the Longxi area in the past year, General Cao Zhen was determined to fundamentally consolidate the defensive strength of this area.As part of the plan, a large amount of high-quality building materials were transferred to Shangyu from various places to consolidate the city defense on the front line of Qishan.The imperial court planned to send patrolling envoys to Longxi to inspect the implementation in March. Guo Huai, governor of Yongzhou, hoped that the project could be done better before the patrolling envoys arrived, so he ordered construction in various places to work overtime.The responsibility of supervising and supervising naturally fell on the civil servants in the prefect's mansion.

Every time a car came in, Sun Ling drew a stroke on the bamboo slips, and there were dozens of black lines densely packed on his bamboo slips.In the end, he shook his sore wrist and complained to Chen Gong: "We are also scholars who are easy to talk about, and that Guo governor actually treats us like petty officials. He is really a scholar in the world for doing such vulgar things. Chilling." Chen Gong didn't seem to hear him talking, and quickly registered the ever-increasing inventory of stones and logs without looking up. It took a long time before he turned his head and said to Sun Ling: "How many cars have entered now?" "Oh, let me see, there are forty-three in total. Twenty bluestone carts and twenty-three log carts." "The construction of the west part of the city is scheduled to pick up materials tonight, but according to the current delivery speed, I am afraid that the material yard will be full before Shenshi. Can you go to the prefect's mansion? Let them notify the next batch as soon as possible The transportation team of the company relocated the materials to the west of the city. The saved trains should be transferred to transport sand and soil as soon as possible, and the waiting there is already impatient." "But isn't this in line with the regulations? The law says that all stone and wood must be registered in this stockyard before they can be dispatched." Sun Ling said timidly, "If it is seriously investigated, this is a serious crime of embezzling materials." "That's why I'm going to report to the prefect's mansion...Forget it, I'll go by myself, you help me check the inventory capacity, if it exceeds 80%, don't let them transport it in." After Chen Gong finished speaking, he stood up and shook his head secretly. These "scholars" usually only talk, but when it comes to practice, they are helpless.Sun Ling went to Guanzhong a few months ago, and when he came back, he admired He Yan, Xia Houxuan and other celebrities who talked freely, and since then he began to give up Confucianism, and became fascinated by Lao Zhuang, shaking his head all day long and saying things that have nothing to do with reality thing. But this is a good thing for Chen Gong.With such a lazy colleague who is easy to talk about, he can get in touch with more affairs and have more opportunities to obtain information. So Chen Gong gave Sun Ling a few more instructions, and asked someone to hitch up a carriage, get in the carriage and go straight to the eunuch's mansion. The prefect's mansion is also extremely busy at this time, with civil servants and soldiers coming in and out, holding either documents or tiger charms.Chen Gong greeted the guards, and walked into the inner courtyard of the prefect's mansion with ease.It used to be the county seat of Shangyu, but from the perspective of layout and decoration, it looks small and shabby, unable to accommodate the entire county staff; so many functional departments have been stripped out, and now there are only a few core departments left here. The corridor leading to Duzhicao of the prefect's mansion is very narrow. When two people are walking towards each other, one of them must get out of the way.In this bureaucratic world, the priority of passage is naturally determined by official rank.A small official in a plain robe respectfully turned sideways to make room, Chen Gong nodded slightly at him, and walked straight towards the wooden door at the end of the corridor. When he was about to approach the wooden door, the door suddenly creaked and was pushed open from the inside.Then Chen Gong saw Guo Gang appearing in front of him. In fact, at first glance, Chen Gong didn't recognize Guo Gang at all, because for the first time today, this person was not wearing a military uniform, but a crimson casual dress, which reduced his evil spirit a lot, except for those sharp eyes. Change.Seeing the most dangerous enemy suddenly appearing in front of him, the seasoned Chen Gong did not show any panic on his face, but respectfully leaned to the right to make way for Guo Gang. Guo Gang's haughty eyes only stayed on Chen Gong for a moment, and then he walked forward without saying a word, not even thanking him, this little chief reporter seemed not worthy of his attention at all—— This is also what Chen Gong likes to see.After Guo Gang passed by him, Chen Gong walked over to Cheng Zhicao's room and closed the door behind him. Chen Gong is not a god, nor does he have eyes behind his back; he didn't know that at the moment he closed the door, Guo Gang, who had been walking forward, suddenly stopped, turned his head, and cast a cold glance at the door where Chen Gong disappeared. a glance.This glance is like the new wind in Xiliang winter, cold, sharp and extremely penetrating. The people behind Guo Gang couldn't continue to move, and they didn't dare to disturb the interim army Sima, so they could only stand there in panic.It wasn't until Guo Gang looked away that they hurriedly hid to the side of the corridor to give him enough space to walk.Guo Gang walked out unceremoniously, keeping his gaze straight ahead. At the gate of the prefect's mansion, a lightly dressed Xiliang horse and two guards were standing in front of the banner pole in front of the mansion, waiting.As soon as Guo Gang came out, one of the guards went up to meet him. Guo Gang buckled the leather strap on the horse and asked the guard: "Has there been any recent progress in surveillance?" "No. From the beginning of surveillance until now, Mr. Chen has not done anything suspicious." "Has he not been in contact with any suspicious people?" "No, the people who usually come and go with him are colleagues from the prefect's mansion." The guard hesitated for a while and said, "Based on the feeling of a villain, the possibility of Chen Zhuji being a spy of the Shu Kingdom is very low." "This shows that he may be an old hand." Guo Gang held the saddle with one hand and remained unmoved. "The surveillance cannot be relaxed. I will make a conclusion when I come back from Yingchuan." The guards stopped arguing, and each of them took two steps back, clasped their fists and said in unison: "Respectfully send off Mr. Guo." Guo Gang got on his horse, gave a few more instructions, and with a whip, the horse flew away like flying away. Guo Gang's suspicion of Chen Gong began in the eighth year of Jianxing.The repeated military defeats of the Wei army that year made Guo Gang doubt whether the Shu army had any trump cards; The pipeline that sends intelligence to the Kingdom of Shu is probably operated by the "Night Owl" of the Kingdom of Shu who escaped during the hunt for the "White Emperor" the year before last. So Guo Gang, with Guo Huai's support, conducted a secret investigation on Shangyu.The scope of this investigation covered the entire military and civil service systems. Every circulation record of official documents, every link that might leak secrets, and every person who might have access to the information were meticulously checked several times.This operation lasted for two months. Guo Gang targeted five officials who might be "Night Owls", and then narrowed the scope down to three, with Chen Gong's name at the top of the list. Guo Gang discovered that almost all the information related to major leaks had a direct or indirect connection with Chen Gong. This connection is very vague, and it looks more like a coincidence in isolation; It makes people wonder whether there is some kind of internal connection among them. In the absence of corroboration, Guo Gang could not take action against Chen Gong rashly - the two years of tempering made this young man much more cautious than before.So he sent someone to covertly monitor Chen Gong while quietly isolating him; not in an obvious way, but through several subtle personnel adjustments to gradually deprive him of the possibility of accessing confidential documents.At this stage, he didn't want the night owl to notice that the cage had been woven. Guo Gang vowed to catch this night owl. This is his duty, and it is also to restore the reputation of his respected uncle. Now Guo Gang still needs to confirm one thing: Chen Gong's identity and background.This is why he decided to personally go to Yingchuan, where Chen Gong's native place is, to investigate. Yingchuan County is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains. It has a population of nearly 30,000 households and is quite wealthy. It is an important food producing area for Cao Wei, and its taxes are also one of the pillars supporting huge military expenditures.In addition, members of the early think tanks of Wei State, such as Xun Yu, Xun You, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, etc., were all born in Yingchuan, which made Yingchuan County have a distinct status compared with other counties. According to Chen Gong's resume, he was born in Xu County, Yingchuan County, in the sixth year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty.In the 25th year of Jian'an, at the age of 19, he went to Hanzhong with his father Chen Ji.As a result, bandits were encountered on the way, and all the companions in the team were killed, only him, the youngest, survived.Later, he stayed in Longxi. Because of his reading, he was appointed as a scribe by the Tianshui prefect's mansion. From then on, he was promoted step by step to the current position of chief secretary. Guo Gang arrived in Xuchang, the seat of Yingchuan, on January 20.Chen Gong is from the Chen family in Xuchang, Yingchuan.The Chen surname is a common surname in Xuchang, and the current Sikong's Chen Qun was born in Yingchuan Xuchang, and he and Chen Gong can be regarded as the same clan.However, Chen Gong's files did not indicate which branch he belonged to-this is understandable, the Central Plains has experienced a long period of war, and there are very few household registrations from the Han Dynasty left. He dismounted in front of the eunuch's mansion, and informed the guard of his identity.After a while, an official came out to greet him. This man had a sharp mouth, monkey cheeks, two short mustaches forming a character splayed under his nose, and an unattractive mole hanging under his right eye. "Master Guo?" After receiving Guo Gang's affirmative answer, the man cupped his hands enthusiastically, and introduced himself: "I am Xunxing Han Sheng, a disciple of the Yingchuan prefect's mansion. My name is Boxian. The prefect Chang sent me to receive you." Guo Gang simply nodded with a stiff expression.Half of the reason is due to his own personality, and half of the reason is because of the long journey. Seeing his tired face, Han Sheng asked him with concern if he wanted to go to the post house to rest first.Guo Gang waved his hand, indicating that he was going to see the prefect first.So Han Sheng ordered two servants to take away Guo Gang's mount, and then took him into the prefect's mansion. Compared with the shabby Taishou's Mansion in Longxi, the Yingchuan Prefect's Mansion can be regarded as quite luxurious.The base of the main building is nearly one foot high, and it is made of large stones with raised patterns on it.There are white marble railings on the edges of the corridors on the platform base.There are as many as six main halls, and the roof is a double-slope structure with one main ridge and four vertical ridges, which looks quite magnificent. The two waited in the main hall for a while, when a guard ran over to announce that the eunuch Chang had arrived.Then I saw a bloated official in his fifties entering the main hall. He was Chang Yan, the prefect of Yingchuan. After entering the hall, Chang Yan put his hands on his stomach, raised his eyelids and looked at Guo Gang first. Seeing that he was covered in dust, his expression became unsightly. "Are you from Longxi?" Chang Yan's tone was full of contempt. For a large county in the Central Plains like Yingchuan, Longxi was a remote, backward and uneducated rural place. "Yes, here is the assistant document, please have a look." Guo Gang pretended not to notice this attitude, stood up to attention, and handed the document to Chang Yan with both hands. Chang Yan took the document and opened it. He noticed that the issuer of the document was Guo Huai, governor of Yongzhou, and quickly asked, "You are the governor of Guo..." "It's uncle." Hearing what Guo Gang said, Chang Yan's expression became a little more kind.He picked up the document and looked it over carefully, said "huh" a few times, and then wiped the seal with his fat fingers, as if he was afraid that the document was forged.After a while, he slowly said to Guo Huai: "I have roughly understood the matter, and I will send someone to assist you in your work." "Thank you, my lord." "However... there is one thing you'd better pay attention to. The surname Chen is a rich family in this county, and Mr. Chen Qun is also from this county. You don't want to offend them, otherwise there will be big troubles." "I'll pay attention." "Mr. Bo, then I will leave this matter to you to assist." Han Sheng quickly nodded in agreement.Guo Gang knew in his heart that "Menxia Xunxing" was a false title in the prefect's mansion, and he had no actual position. In fact, he was just a guest included in the official bureaucracy.Chang Yan sent a subordinate Xun Xing to assist with the work, obviously not paying attention to him. "That's fine, as long as you don't make trouble for me." Guo Gang thought to himself. After Chang Yan finished speaking, he left the main hall, and Han Sheng took Guo Gang back to the specially set post house.Guo Gang washed his face a little in the post house, took out the necessary things in his luggage, and took a nap for a while.He didn't wake up until noon, and felt that the fatigue of the journey had disappeared, and now he had entered the working state. Han Sheng also came to his room at this time, and the diner smiled and told Guo Gang that he had prepared wine, food and singers for him. "If you are interested in this afternoon, we can go to Xuchang City. There is a very lively market today. You can't see such a bustling market in Longxi." "No need." Guo Gang declined the invitation coldly, he was not interested in these things at all, "Let's start investigating." Han Sheng tugged his mustache unhappily, and could only agree. Han Sheng led Guo Gang to the household department next to the prefect's mansion, where the household registration information of more than 20,000 households in Yingchuan was stored, divided into three types: civil registration, military registration and scholar registration. "So, where do you want to start looking?" "Let's start with the scholar's register." Guo Gang replied, the scholar's register records the information of famous families.Chen Gong is very likely to belong to one of the gentry. Han Sheng ordered the clerk to fetch from the bookshelf the household registration files sealed in vermilion, which is the mark of the gentry.Guo Gang opened the index and quickly found the entry of "Xuchang Chen Surname".The first one listed is the branch of Sikong Chen Qun of the current dynasty, and then a total of seven side branches are listed, and the genealogy of each family is very detailed. But there is no name Chen Gong, nor his father Chen Ji. Guo Gang suddenly noticed that Chen Qun's father was named Chen Ji, which was the same name as Chen Gong's father.If these two people belong to the same family, it is unthinkable to have the same name, and one of them must be taboo.In other words, Chen Gong's family should be unlikely to be a noble family. Then Guo Gang asked someone to bring the books of civil and military registration, and checked them from beginning to end.It was a hard and tedious job. Guo Gang, Han Sheng and the three officials spent almost the whole afternoon and found three people named Chen Gong.But one of them is only six years old this year, the other passed away last year, and the third is a public servant in this county, none of these three has anything to do with Chen Gong from Longxi.And there is only one person named Chen Ji, and that is Chen Qun's father. "What year was this household registration made?" Guo Gang asked.An old scribe next to him replied that it was made in the second year of Huang Chu. "Where's the original book?" "There is no original copy, and the household registrations in the Han Dynasty have all been lost; the book made in the second year of Huangchu is based on the household registration statistics of the year His Majesty Wendi ascended the throne." Guo Gang did a quick mental calculation.Chen Gong is 31 years old this year. According to his resume in the file, he left Xuchang for Liangzhou in Jian'an 25 years ago, when he was 19 years old.That is to say, when the census was re-conducted in Yingchuan County in the first year of Huangchu and the census was fabricated, the 20-year-old Chen Gong had already started living in Longxi.Then it is not surprising that Yingchuan's household registration does not have his name. "Then is it possible to find out his relatives in Yingchuan?" Guo Gang frowned and asked.The old scribe showed a look of embarrassment: "The household register only records the family members. If you want to find out the relationship between the clan members, you have to go to each family to check the genealogy. If you don't know the specific family..." There are a total of 6,000 households in Xuchang, including 700 households with the surname Chen. Although 90% of them originated from Qi Tianzhen, they have been divided into more than 20 branches today.If these genealogies are checked one by one, the workload will be unimaginable. "The world has only been peaceful for more than ten years, and household registration displacement is inevitable. Master Guo needn't be so disappointed." Han Sheng persuaded with a relaxed face, Guo Gang pulled his knuckles, pondered for a while, and said simply and unquestionably: "Then let's check one by one." Han Sheng thought it was a joke, So he laughed out loud, and didn't know he was serious until he saw the man's expression. Starting from January 21st, Guo Gang and Han Sheng began the long process of investigating the genealogy of the Chen family in Xuchang.They took the official documents of the prefect's mansion to every family responsible for keeping the family tree, asked the parents to open the family tree, and then searched for a needle in a haystack from generation to generation.The household registration register only records the population who lived in Xuchang after Huang Chu. If you want to know whether Chen Gong lived in Yingchuan before, the only reliable record is the family tree. Some families readily agreed to Guo Gang's request; while others were very resistant to outsiders looking up their genealogy, and some wealthy families even arrogantly asked Guo Gang to confess his crimes to his ancestors in front of the ancestral hall before allowing him to browse the genealogy .There is even a family named Chen who is not allowed to light candles in the house where the genealogy is stored, and is not allowed to take the genealogy out of the house. Guo Gang can only see the small letters on the yellow paper by staring desperately in the dark. It hurt so much that I couldn't stop crying. This hard work lasted ten days.It was not until February 2 that the investigation had a preliminary clue.In the genealogy of a Xuchang doctor named Chen Fang, Guo Gang discovered that there was a record in it.According to this genealogy, Chen Fang's grandfather was Chen Dong, and Chen Dongsheng had three sons. The eldest son was Chen Fang's father, Chen Yao; the second son, Chen Xiang, died early; Chen Gong's name is written on it. "Chen Gong or Chen Ji, have you met these two people before?" Guo Gang pointed to this record and asked Chen Fang.The doctor recalled for a while, and replied that since his father's generation, he had separated from other brothers, and it is said that there was a big quarrel about it, so the two families did not often communicate.He only vaguely remembered seeing Chen Ji and his cousin Chen Gong once when he was very young, but he had no other memories. "Have you heard that they went to Longxi in the 25th year of Jian'an?" "I've heard of it, but that's all I know. Later, it was said that they were attacked by bandits and all died." The doctor's blank expression showed that he was indifferent to the changes of Chen Ji's family.So far, this is completely consistent with the resume provided by Chen Gong himself. "Then do you know where Chen Ji lived in Xuchang?" "It should be the old house in the west of the city. When my grandfather Chen Dong passed away, my father got this house, and the ancestral house in the west of the city was given to my third uncle." Chen Fang drew a detailed map for Guo Gang, but he said that he hadn't been to that old house for many years, and he didn't know if he was still there. Guo Gang and Han Sheng came out of Chen Fang's house, and immediately went straight to the west of the city without stopping.According to Chen Fang's map, this old house is in a village called Zeqiu on the western outskirts of the city, about half an hour away.This is a small village with typical characteristics of the Central Plains. Most of the houses are earthen houses. Looking at the past, it is earthy yellow. The loess streets are uneven, and the ground is full of pits and livestock manure.At the entrance of the village, there is a small dock left over from the war period, which is the most eye-catching building in the village. After the two entered the village, they first found the head of the village.After listening to Guo Gang's explanation of the purpose of coming, the head of the village narrowed his eyes, pointed to a big tree in the distance, and said, "The ancestral house of the Chen family is there, but now it has changed." Currently living here is a family surnamed Zhao, the head of the household is Zhao Hei, an honest and responsible farmer.When Guo Gang came to the door, he was feeding the pigs.Seeing the head of the village entering the gate of his house with two stern-looking strangers, Zhao Hei was a little overwhelmed with fright, he didn't know where to put his hands, and his face was pale. "Old Zhao, don't be afraid, these two adults just want to ask you a few questions." The chief comforted him.Only then did Zhao Hei relax a little bit.Guo Gang looked around, and found that this ancestral house was no different from an ordinary commoner's earthen house except that it was larger in size and had an extra layer of thatch on the roof. "When did you move here?" "About the second year of Huang Chu." "Then from whom did you buy this house?" "...Uh...it was assigned by the county." Zhao Hei replied nervously.Guo Gang showed a puzzled expression, the head of the village glanced at Han Sheng, pulled Guo Gang aside and whispered, "That's right, when His Majesty Emperor Wen ascended the throne in the first year of Huang Chu, a plague broke out here and many people died. Because His Majesty Wendi was newly enthroned, no one dared to report this matter, so the prefect's mansion recruited some refugees from Bingzhou to resettle them to make up for the difference in household registration." "That is to say, the people here are all migrated after the plague in the first year of Huang Chu?" Guo Gang asked with some disappointment. "Almost, I also came here at that time." "Before this, who lived in this house?" The head of the village shook his head and replied: "I don't know..." At this time Zhao Hei raised his hand timidly, Guo Gang signaled him to speak, Zhao Hei said: "I think of a person, he is probably the only one in the village who lived in Huangchu Someone who lived here before." "who is it?" "Old Joe." Qiao Lao is an old man in his sixties with white beard and hair, and he is the only survivor of the plague that swept across Zeqiu Village.All his family members died of the plague, and the county arranged for him to visit the graves in the cemetery in the east of the village.This lonely old man seldom interacted with the new immigrants in the village. Only Zhao Hei felt sorry for him and often sent him some food and clothes. Guo Gang, Han Sheng, and Li Zhang, led by Zhao Hei, rushed to the cemetery at the east end of the village. From a distance, they saw an old man in a tattered sheepskin jacket squatting on a big rock at the edge of the cemetery, shaking a bamboo pole in his hand. , the top of the bamboo pole is a three-color spiritual ribbon. Everyone came to the front, but the old man was still unaware.Zhao Hei walked up to Mr. Qiao, lay down next to the old man's ear and yelled a few times, Mr. Qiao turned his head slowly, his eyes were cloudy. "Ask him if he still remembers Chen Ji, Chen Gong and his son who lived in the Chen family's ancestral house?" Guo Gang ordered Zhao Hei, and Zhao Hei leaned over to the old man's ear and shouted a few more times.The old man muttered a few words vaguely. "What did he say?" Han Sheng asked eagerly. "He said he seemed to remember." Zhao Hei's words were ambiguous, and Guo Gang anxiously asked him to ask Mr. Qiao to think about it.Old Qiao was silent for a long time, then suddenly there was a snort in his throat, and with a spitting sound, a mouthful of thick phlegm flew straight to the opposite tombstone, and he mumbled. "He said that Chen Ji still owed him two hangs and seven money." Zhao Hei said.Guo Gang asked anxiously, "What else can you think of?" Qiao Lao's memory is very scattered, he remembers some details quite clearly, and seems to have completely forgotten some other details.Zhao Hei asked him a few more times, and his answers were either very vague, or very clear but useless. Guo Gang looked very disappointed. He waved his hand, indicating that he could almost leave.At this moment, Qiao Lao spit out another mouthful of phlegm and cursed fiercely.Zhao Hei listened attentively, then raised his head and said to Guo Gang: "Old Qiao said that the ginger seeds from the Chen family burned his padded clothes and burned three big holes." Guo Gang stopped in his tracks. "What? Ginger seeds? What does this mean?" Han Sheng quickly explained to him from the side: "This is a custom in Jizhou. If a woman eats ginger when she is pregnant, she will give birth to six fingers; if she eats hare meat, she will give birth to a split lip. Therefore, the folks control children with six fingers. It's called ginger." "Zhao Hei, ask him again if the Chen family's child is indeed Liuzhi." Zhao Hei hurriedly leaned down to ask again, and this time Mr. Qiao gave a very firm answer, adding that it was on his right hand, and then began to criticize the evil deeds of Jiang Zi who played tricks on him. Guo Gang didn't listen to these ramblings anymore, he took out a gold cake from his arms and handed it to Zhao Hei, asking him to give the old man a good death, then turned and left without saying a word. The purpose of his trip has been achieved.The right hand of "Chen Gong" in Longxi has five normal fingers, and there is no scar. There is only one thing Guo Gang has to do now, and that is to return to Longxi as soon as possible.