The magistrate of Qinghe County cooperates with a timely rain; thieves steal on the stree

Is this an exaggeration? No, it's not an exaggeration at all! As one of the most notorious incompetent emperors in history, Emperor Huizong did a lot of absurd things. For example, in order to secretly meet Li Shishi, he dug a tunnel directly from the palace to the brothel. In order to build the Tianshan Mountains, all the countries in the country had to send flowers and stones as tribute!

As for the appointment of treacherous officials, there are countless examples. Which of the Six Traitors was not a great traitor who brought disaster to the country and the people? But Emperor Huizong thought they were all great loyal ministers!

There are so many absurd things like this that doing something normal feels out of place!

The magistrate, his face grim, asked, "Sir Song, you've said so much, what exactly do you want?" It wasn't that the magistrate was yielding to Song Jiang, but rather that Song Jiang's words did indeed make sense.

After a five-second pause, Song Jiang replied, "I need manpower to help me. It might be a problem that requires some force to solve! Of course, there are other things I need your help with, sir, since you are the leader of Qinghe County."

The magistrate stared intently at Song Jiang and uttered two words: "Agreed."

Song Jiang smiled and said, "May I ask how long you have been in office in Qinghe County, sir?"

The magistrate sneered, "This has nothing to do with Clerk Song. It seems Clerk Song is meddling too much." The magistrate of Qinghe, seething with anger, couldn't help but stab Song Jiang in the back!

Song Jiang, however, seemed unconcerned, ignoring the magistrate's tone and simply saying, "Could this be a chance for you, sir, to be promoted?"

The magistrate's heart skipped a beat and his expression changed slightly, but he suppressed his excitement and said, "Sir Song's words are too nonsensical."

Song Jiang preferred to speak in a persuasive and guiding manner. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "Isn't finding the imperial treasure this time a great achievement?"

The magistrate shook his head: "It's just my duty."

Song Jiang laughed and said, "Why don't you think about it, sir? How could a petty thief like me dare to steal treasures from Jizhou Prefecture?"

The magistrate of Qinghe County's eyes lit up: "Does the clerk mean he has someone backing him?"

Song Jiang continued to laugh: "If we find the person behind this, wouldn't that be a great achievement for you, sir? No ordinary person would dare to covet the imperial treasure."

After pondering for a long time, the magistrate of Qinghe County said, "What if we can't find the person behind this?"

Song Jiang raised his hand and said, "It is a blessing that Qinghe County has an official to continue serving as their magistrate."

The magistrate of Qinghe chuckled inwardly and nodded, saying, "Then what should we do?"

Song Jiang sighed and said, "I need the household registration list of Qinghe County."

The magistrate hesitated, saying, "I am not lying. Qinghe County truly has 30,000 people. Searching for them one by one would be quite difficult, especially since some of them have already left Qinghe County and are no longer here."

Song Jiang knew the magistrate's words were true, and searching one by one would take too much time. He shook his head and said, "I believe you, sir, but the household registration list can exclude women."

The advisor's eyes lit up, and he said, "Getting rid of the women will indeed save a lot of trouble."

Song Jiang continued, "We can also exclude children and the elderly, and select those aged between fifteen and forty-five who have direct or collateral relatives who have moved to or lived in Yuncheng County. That's the general range. Of course, Yuncheng County is not a necessary exception!"

The magistrate nodded and said, "Alright, I can give you an answer by the day after tomorrow at the latest. This greatly reduces the scope."

Suddenly, a figure popped into Song Jiang's mind, but he couldn't quite make it up. He felt that the figure was somewhat blurry. He shook his head, dismissed the thought, and said, "In that case, Song Jiang will take his leave."

The clerk in the yamen said angrily, "This Song Jiang is far too arrogant and disrespectful. He's just a lowly clerk, yet he doesn't take us seriously at all."

The magistrate of Qinghe County laughed and said, "There's no need to be so angry. This man is quite talented."

The advisor was somewhat surprised that the magistrate would praise Song Jiang. He had been working for the magistrate of Qinghe County for a long time, and the magistrate was usually very reserved and rarely praised anyone.

The magistrate of Qinghe County said, "His grasp of people's hearts and his prediction of events are truly beyond the reach of ordinary people. Just look at the method of elimination he used when checking the household registration. I can't do that. Especially since he knew what you were thinking and guided you step by step according to your thoughts, ultimately leading you into the situation he had predicted."

"Better to die a friend than myself," the magistrate thought, a smile creeping onto his lips. It must be said, Song Jiang's words were quite persuasive; who wouldn't want to try for a promotion?

If I don't get promoted, I'll just stay in Qinghe County as the county magistrate, which isn't a big loss.

To be honest, the magistrate was initially quite angry about Song Jiang's threats. However, upon closer reflection, he realized that Song Jiang seemed to have already planned how to get him to agree after he refused. He was confident that Song Jiang had him cornered, which was why he dared to bring it up. It seemed that this theft of treasure, as Song Jiang said, had quite a story behind it.

This guy named Song Jiang is interesting.

After leaving the county government office, the two walked for a while before Zhu Tong finally voiced his question: "Brother, why did you choose to search for men aged fifteen to forty-five? Could it be that they are more likely to be treasure thieves?"

"If one is too young, one will not have such profound experience; if one is too old, one will not have such good skills," Song Jiang said with a smile.

In fact, Song Jiang wanted to make the youngest age larger and the oldest age smaller. He preferred that the person who stole the treasure be a man between eighteen and forty years old.

This is because, under normal circumstances, eighteen years old is a dividing point. Normally, when one becomes an apprentice, eighteen is the age when one graduates. Only after graduating can one venture out into the world. Moreover, at eighteen, one's body is fully developed and mature, making one more adept at thievery!

Of course, an eighteen-year-old may not necessarily have such a high level of skill. Sometimes skill level is important, but experience is equally important. Many times, the skills you learn also need to be used well and combined effectively. This is all learned through long-term daily accumulation, exploration, practice, and repeated reflection.

Therefore, this person's age cannot be too young. Song Jiang even felt that eighteen years old was too young. However, just to be on the safe side, and in case there was someone with outstanding talent, he changed the age to fifteen.

As for forty-five years old, forty-five was considered very old in ancient times. Even in modern times, forty-five is considered to be old age, let alone in ancient times when the average lifespan was far lower than in modern times!

For skilled jobs like thievery, physical fitness, agility, and various skills generally decline around the age of forty. By forty-five, it's mostly about experience; practical skills are indeed not as good as when you're younger.

The Jeju Prefectural Government Office is heavily guarded. Although it's not exactly a den of dragons and tigers, it's not a place that can be easily entered or exited!

According to Song Jiang's understanding, there were hidden sentries everywhere in the government office, and there were quite a few people with good skills. This person could enter and leave the place with ease, so he must be extremely skilled and have some experience in theft, but he must not be too old and must be in his prime.

Having experience and considering the young age, Song Jiang preferred the age range of twenty to thirty-five. However, he had to be cautious, as the person might actually be in their teens or forties. Therefore, Song Jiang pushed the maximum age to forty-five as a precaution. Moreover, Song Jiang also speculated that the fact that the person could evade so many sentries meant that there might really be an inside agent in Jizhou Prefecture.

Zhu Tong nodded thoughtfully. He had never thought about what Song Jiang said before, but after Song Jiang spoke, he realized that what he said made sense!

Zhu Tong had an indescribable feeling about the familiar person in front of him. Compared to before, Song Jiang now seemed more spirited and wise.

The two walked on the bustling streets of Qinghe County. Unlike the liveliness of Yuncheng County, Qinghe County was more noisy!

The prosperity of Yuncheng lies in the bustling crowds, with smiles on the faces of every citizen. In contrast, the people of Qinghe experience more of a superficiality, perhaps masking some bitterness.

Bitterness, joy, indulgence, disdain, curses, jealousy, resentment... In short, the people experienced a wide range of emotions, a complex mix of feelings!

Song Jiang led Zhu Tong to the street where Wu Dalang was selling pancakes. They saw Wu Dalang serving pancakes to a customer in the distance, with many other people waiting nearby. It seemed that business was quite good.

The steamed cakes sold at Wuhan University are actually just steamed cakes, but they were renamed "steamed cakes" because of the similar pronunciation of Emperor Renzong of Song's name, Zhao Zhen. Since Emperor Renzong's name was Zhao Zhen, and "Zhen" sounds similar to "steam," people changed the name to "steamed cakes" to avoid using the same character.

Last night, Song Jiang also ate some steamed buns. They were indeed quite delicious. It's no wonder that Wu Da's business is good and fair. The portions are generous and the taste is excellent. A steamed bun the size of a plate only costs one coin, which is really fair.

Song Jiang stepped forward, and Wu Da said happily, "Master Song, Chief Zhu, you've arrived."

Those buying the cakes all turned to look at Song Jiang and Zhu Tong. Song Jiang ignored their stares, picked up a few cakes and handed them to Zhu Tong, and took out a string of coins and gave it to Wu Da.

Wu Da waved his hand repeatedly and said, "It's my treat, Master Song, you don't need to be so polite."

Song Jiang hadn't eaten breakfast that morning because he was rushing to the county government office, so he was indeed quite hungry. He took a bite of his steamed bun and said, "Brother, when will you pack up and go home?"

While deftly handing out steamed buns to customers, Wu Da replied, "If we sell early, it'll be around Shen Shi (3-5 PM); if we sell late, it'll be around You Shi (5-7 PM). Usually, it's around You Shi. Business is good today; it looks like we'll sell out and go home by Shen Shi."

Wu Da was a hardworking man. He drank too much last night and refused to rest today, continuing to run his stall. After finishing his steamed bun, Song Jiang clapped his hands and said, "I'll go buy some wine and meat first, and wait for my brother to come home!"

Wu Da didn't want Song Jiang to spend money, but he couldn't refuse Song Jiang, so he had to nod in agreement. Song Jiang looked at the customers surrounding Wu Da's stall, smiled, and walked towards the corner.

Just then, a short man walked towards them from around the corner. He walked very fast. Suddenly, he seemed to trip and fell in front of Song Jiang. Song Jiang quickly caught him and said, "Be careful."

The man quickly got up, thanked him, and left. Song Jiang felt the man looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where he had seen him before. Zhu Tong suddenly realized, "That man is a thief! Brother, check if your purse is still there."

Song Jiang hurriedly reached for his waist, but found it empty.

Zhu Tong cursed angrily and chased after the man, leaving Song Jiang with no choice but to return to Wu Da's stall.

"Master Song, what brings you back?" Wu Da asked curiously as he packed the steamed buns.

Song Jiang said with a wry smile, "I'm a bit unlucky; my money pouch was stolen."

"What?" Wu Da was startled.

Song Jiang nodded and spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

Wu Da scratched his head and took out the money he had earned from selling pancakes that day, saying, "I have some here, though it's not much, but please take this first."

Song Jiang pushed away Wu Da's hand that was taking money and said, "Brother, there's no need for that. I still have some silver here. I just wanted to ask if anyone saw that person or knows his identity."

The people buying cakes looked at each other, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Some of them didn't see the person at all, while others only glanced at them from afar without getting a clear look at their face. An elderly man with white hair thought for a moment before saying, "That person must have been following you for a while."

Song Jiang looked at the old man, who thought for a moment and said with certainty, "When you and that red-faced man came over, that person followed you. At first, I didn't pay attention and thought he was one of your companions. But then I realized something was off because he always kept a certain distance from you, which didn't seem like a companion. But it seems that his tracking skills are very good. I think you didn't notice. He also walked and stopped, as if he was buying something. I thought he was just a passerby. When you came to Dalang's place, he seemed to glance at you and then continued walking. I took a special look at him. When you left, he pretended to come from around the corner and pretended to fall, taking the opportunity to steal your purse. Now that I think about it, it seems that the thief had identified you as his target from the beginning."

Wu Da said with some annoyance, "If Master Song hadn't kindly helped that man, he probably wouldn't have had his money stolen. That thief deserves to die!"

The old man shook his head and said, "No, that man is very skilled. Even if this gentleman doesn't help him, he will find other ways. Once you're targeted by this kind of thief, it's practically impossible to guard against."

Song Jiang was somewhat surprised, not expecting that this unassuming old man had such analysis and insight. It seems that the saying "true masters are often found among ordinary people" is indeed true.

Seeing Song Jiang's expression, Wu Da understood and immediately introduced, "This is Old Man Yu Zhixiong. He used to be the top constable in Qinghe County. He solved many major cases and arrested many criminals when he was young. He is considered a remarkable person in our county. He is seventy years old this year."

Song Jiang suddenly realized, and Wu Da continued, "Old Yu has always taken good care of me and forbade others from bullying me. I am very grateful to Old Yu for allowing me to do my small business here."

After saying this, he took out five steamed buns, packed them up, and handed them to the old man. The old man took out five copper coins and handed them to Wu Da. Wu Da insisted on refusing them, saying that he wanted to thank the old man for his kindness. However, the old man still insisted on placing them on Wu Da's drawer.

Song Jiang admired the old man somewhat; sometimes, one can see the kindness deep in the hearts of ordinary people in the marketplace.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Do you know that thief?"

Yu Zhixiong shook his head and said, "I've been in Qinghe County for decades. I can say that I know who moved in and who moved out of every household. I've inspected every street and visited all the surrounding villages. I dare say there are few people in Qinghe County who know it better than me."

Song Jiang patiently listened to the old man recount his past. Yu Zhixiong spoke for a while before saying, "I have never seen that person before; he may have just arrived recently."