The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 1824 The Same Old Thing

The crowd suddenly started a commotion!

More than 30 strong men rushed in one direction, with great momentum! The crowd automatically moved to the sides to reveal a passage!

At the end of the passage, a figure appeared!

Although he was dressed in ordinary clothes, at that moment, countless figures were moving around, but this figure was the only one who stood still as a mountain, highlighting his unusually tall and majestic appearance!

Even several big shots on the observation deck couldn’t help but be moved!

Zhang Chuji, the richest man in Lushan County—at least everyone in Lushan County openly called him the richest man in the county—looked puzzled: "Old Peng, is this from your county?"

Old Peng, the wealthy man in Yingjing County, Peng Shihuai shook his head, "No, there are seven dragon boats in Yingjing County, and I recognize them all. I have no impression of this Guimao dragon boat." He turned his head to the other side, "Brother Liu, is it from your county?"

Brother Liu, Liu Zichen, a big businessman in Ya'an County, also looked puzzled: "I have formed a total of eight teams in Ya'an. I sponsored a lot of money. They trained for several months and I visited them many times. I know almost everyone, but I don't remember any of these people. Who is that person?" He asked, pointing to a lonely figure in the vast crowd.

Everyone around shook their heads, but then they heard Lord Cao Guangshi, the governor of Yazhou, suddenly say, "You don't know him?"

Liu Zichen's eyes flickered: "Could it be... that the Master knows him?"

Cao Guangshi said calmly: "He is the magistrate of Yucheng, Mr. Chen Lin."

"Mr. Chen, the prefect of Yucheng?"

"Why is he here? None of the other county magistrates are here!"

They suddenly realized another problem. Why didn't the county magistrates come to the competition when they all knew that the prefect was going to be there in person? It stands to reason that this is a great opportunity to get closer to the prefect, right? If they don't come collectively, could it be that they want to express some intention? This is not a good sign! What businessmen fear most is that the government changes its orders every day, or that they are caught in a dilemma. If the prefect and the county magistrate can't see eye to eye, then they have to be careful. Although it is said that a higher official can crush a person, this prefect is an "outsider" transferred from thousands of miles away. It can be said that he is unfamiliar with the place. Many of his policies need the support and cooperation of the people below to be implemented. If these county magistrates join forces to fight against the prefect, the prefect will basically be sidelined.

Merchants like Liu Zichen naturally wouldn't easily take sides. Merchants valued profit over loyalty, and even if the county magistrates had the upper hand, they wouldn't show the slightest disrespect to the prefects! Who dares to say what the situation will be tomorrow?

Cao Guangshi said meaningfully: "It doesn't matter whether you come or not."

So what if you come? What if you don’t come?

Liu Zichen and others clearly heard the arrogance in Cao Guangshi's words!

Everyone couldn't help but exchange glances, and they all saw the meaning of "wait and see" in each other's eyes! It seems that there will be a good show to watch on the territory of Yazhou from now on.

Qiu Qingquan, a wealthy man from Qingxi County, said: "For the past ten years, the dragon boats from Yucheng County have never made it to the second round, so that in the end there was not even a single sponsor to participate. In the end, the people of Yucheng County learned from their mistakes and formed a dragon boat team on their own initiative, but unfortunately there was still no improvement. I didn't expect that today it would become a big hit!"

Cao Guangshi's eyes flickered: "It's not just the Rain City Dragon Boat Team that has made a big splash!"

Mo Xuyou, the newly rich man in Hanyuan County, said: "Yes, the one who really made a splash is this County Magistrate Chen Lin!"

Everyone stared at Chen Lin.

More than thirty big men came to Chen Lin and bowed down to him!

"Greetings, Lord Chen!" The shouts of more than thirty people were like thunder, with a mighty force that could swallow mountains and rivers!

All the people were shocked!

Yuan Zishan said, "I never thought that man would be so popular! I heard them calling him Lord Chen, is he an official?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "I heard from the people on the observation deck that he is Chen Lin, the magistrate of Yucheng County."

Yuan Zishan said: "I suddenly discovered a problem!"

Feng Jiuxiao smiled and said, "Are you wondering why only one county magistrate showed up, and why the other county magistrates didn't come?"

Yuan Zishan glanced at him sideways, "Are you the worm in my stomach? How do you know everything?"

Feng Jiuxiao smiled and said, "I just guessed it from your tone."

Yuan Zishan asked: "Then tell me, what's so strange about this?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "There is nothing strange about it. Most of the time, it's just an old story. The new official wanted to make a big move, but those old guys just couldn't make him start. Cao Guangshi came to the office alone, so it's not easy to make a breakthrough."

"Doesn't the emperor understand that this is a very complicated matter? Why doesn't he make a major change? Why does he have to let Cao Guangshi act on his own?"

"Southern Han, Southern Tang, and Wuyue have already employed many officials from the Song Dynasty. Now that Great Shu has just been incorporated into their territory, they have to appoint a large number of officials to take up their posts. To put it bluntly, there is a shortage of talent. They can't just send some people over casually, right?"

"Then there is no way to deal with the disobedient county magistrate? Can't we just kill him?"

"This world was conquered. If you keep killing people while defending your power, there will be two results. One is that it may provoke a civil uprising and protests will break out everywhere, because you have left no way for people to survive! The other is that under high pressure, you will gain temporary submission, but you must never close your eyes, because they are always looking for opportunities to replace you! Let's not talk about the recent ones. How did Zhang Fei die during the Three Kingdoms period? His own men cut off his head while he was resting! Why did they cut off his head? Aren't they all Shu people? Aren't they all in the same team? They can even be said to be a family. Why did they want his life? Wasn't it because Zhang Fei whipped them a few times? Those two soldiers were not afraid of death on the battlefield, so why were they afraid of being beaten? What they were afraid of was not the pain caused by those whips, but that Zhang Fei would embarrass them in front of everyone! It's like being slapped in the face in public. It's not very harmful, but it's extremely insulting! So smart rulers don't use violence indiscriminately!"

Feng Jiuxiao paused and continued, "Just like the relatively smooth progress of the attack on Shu this time, I think the first reason is that the Song Dynasty was very well prepared. Various military supplies had been concentrated in the border areas in advance. The two armies advanced side by side and made relatively smooth progress. The second reason is that the logistics support of the Shu army was not strong enough! They were fighting on their home ground, but they were defeated! What does this mean? Either their combat effectiveness is not good, or they are unpopular! As long as one of these is true, it would be difficult for the Song Dynasty to conquer Shu! In the past, Anshan and Shi Siming conquered cities and plundered land all the way, and how many Tang generals fled? But they stopped in Suiyang and finally had to stop fighting?"

Yuan Zishan asked: "Why?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "The Battle of Suiyang is worthy of being recorded in history! In the first year of Emperor Suzong of Tang's Zhide reign, the rebels sent General Yin Ziqi to lead 130,000 troops to attack Suiyang in order to open up Suiyang and go south to Jianghuai. Xu Yuan, the governor of Suiyang, asked for help from Zhang Xun, the defense historian of Yongqiu. Zhang Xun led 3,000 troops from Ningling into Suiyang. The two sides joined forces, totaling 6,800 people! 130,000 against 6,800, don't you think it's an easy fight?"

Yuan Zishan said: "Theoretically, it's easy to beat! It's almost twenty to one, how can we not win?"

Pang Shiwu came over again at this time, "That's right, 130,000 people can't beat 6,800? Big brother, from what you said, these 130,000 people lost? Damn, even if it's 130,000 pigs, they can't kill us, right?"

Zeng Yong also said from behind: "Yeah, we can't even win this?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "This is the second condition I mentioned! In Suiyang City, the military and the people are united! This battle lasted for ten months!"

Zeng Yong frowned and said, "You've been fighting for ten months? Isn't this almost a year?"

Yuan Zishan sighed, "Spring, summer, autumn and winter, four seasons! There were both scorching heat and severe cold. I can't imagine how tragic the bloody battle between the two sides was!" Pang Shiwu said, "How tragic could it be? It's not much different from the Battle of Jingyang, right?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "It's different! None of the people in Jingyang showed up on the city wall! But the people in Suiyang City mobilized their entire families, regardless of gender, age or status, as long as they could move. Do you think it would be the same with the support of the people?"

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Yes, even if there are only 100,000 people in the city, that is equivalent to 100,000 logistics soldiers! At the critical moment, some young and strong men can rush to the top of the city and become soldiers to fight the enemy! One fell, another rushed up! One group fell, another group rushed up! As long as the resistance of the people of Suiyang is not dispersed, then they will fight to the end!

Feng Jiuxiao said: "This is what it means to have many supporters when you are righteous!"

Yuan Zishan recited softly: "There are many people who have achieved the Way, but few people who have lost the Way. When few people have the support, even their relatives will betray them; when many people have the support, the whole world will follow them. Use what the whole world follows to attack what your relatives have betrayed you. Therefore, a gentleman will win even if he does not fight. I understand." The passage she recited was from Mencius: Gongsun Chou, Part 2. She understood why the court knew that those county magistrates would cause trouble, but could not just kill them.

Because what the emperor wants is “the obedience of the whole world”!

If you don't like someone, you kill him. If you feel embarrassed when someone criticizes you, you find a reason to convict him. This method of ruling is the most crude and unprofessional, and it will sooner or later provoke resistance.

Yuan Zishan asked, "What will Cao Guangshi do then?"

Feng Jiuxiao said: "It's nothing more than those few tricks. Win over a group, alienate a group, and suppress a group. Make the number of enemies smaller and the number of friends larger. When the majority of people are on your side, your words will have power."

Zeng Yong laughed and said, "It's a pity that you don't become an official."

Pang Shiwu said: "My eldest brother is an official, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Imperial City Department, a high-ranking official!"

Zeng Yong imitated Pang Shiwu's accent and said, "Senior official!" Not only did he control his accent, but he also exaggerated his expression, showing Pang Shiwu's straightforward characteristics vividly, and everyone couldn't help laughing.

Pang Shiwu asked, "What are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Okay, Fifteen, to be honest, my status as deputy envoy is purely because the emperor takes care of my face. I don't have to go to court or meet the emperor. I look free and easy, but in fact, the emperor has not given me real power. The Imperial City Department is still under the control of Eunuch Wei. Apart from the title of deputy envoy, which government office do I manage?"

Pang Shiwu said, "Brother, don't talk about this. I just want to ask you, which government office dares to challenge you?"

Feng Jiuxiao was actually stumped by the question for a moment!

Zeng Yong smiled and said, "That's right. You said you are not an official, but which government official wouldn't be polite to you?"

Lajiao laughed and said, "So what Fifteen said is right, you are an official, a high-ranking official, a top official!" She even measured it deliberately.

Feng Jiuxiao pretended to be angry and said, "How dare you mock me, little girl?"

Yuan Zishan suddenly said, "What's wrong with me mocking you?"

Feng Jiuxiao suddenly felt a chill running down his spine, penetrating his bones! He immediately changed his expression and laughed, "It's rare to be ridiculed by others, I'm very pleased!"

Pang Shiwu and Zeng Yong looked at each other.

Pang Shiwu deliberately frowned and said, "Brother, where is our backbone?"

Zeng Yong added another stab, and with a concerned look on his face, he pretended to whisper: "Jiuxiao, we were so upright just now, why are we a little... a little weak now?" He pretended to speak in a low voice, but his voice was loud, for fear that the people around him could not hear! Sure enough, many people around looked at them, but soon turned their heads away. The next group of dragon boat races was the focus of their attention! That involved their own money!

Chang Zijin then laughed and said, "What are you going to do? Do you want to revolt?"

Pang Shiwu laughed, "I wouldn't dare to do that! But you can still scold my big brother if you have nothing to do!"

Feng Jiuxiao glared at him and said, "You've gotten so angry after not seeing me for a while. Have you become so bold?"

Suddenly the crowd started shouting again, and everyone's attention was turned to the river. Eight dragon boats rushed out of the starting line side by side and sped forward!

Feng Jiuxiao looked at Chen Lin, the magistrate of Yucheng County, and saw that he had already left the scene with all the "soldiers" of Guimao. Their competition today was over, and tomorrow was another four group matches, and the day after tomorrow was the semi-finals. I don't know if they will play the day after tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Feng Jiuxiao said: "Actually, dragon boat racing is just like this. Do you still want to persist until the day of the finals?" He looked at Yuan Zishan.

Yuan Zishan said, "I don't care. What about you?" She glanced around.

Pang Shiwu was the first to express his opinion, "I don't care either. I watched dragon boat racing when I was a child, and I have no interest in this."

La Jiao said: "Me too. I watched the fierce competition between the eight dragon boats just now. It was very exciting, but we are not gambling..."

Yuan Zishan knocked her head and said, "Huh? You still want to gamble?"

Chili looked aggrieved, "How could that be, Miss? No one would even look down upon my little money!"

Big Wolf knew that Feng Jiuxiao wanted to hurry on, so he said, "I don't want to watch it either."

Chang Zijin said, "I don't want to watch it anymore. There are too many people and it's too noisy."

Erni said, "Yes, they made my ears buzz, it was too noisy."

Feng Jiuxiao said: "Then let's go."

Pang Shiwu said, "Brother, didn't you say that the guy on the other side who is not afraid of the cold is from an unknown source? How about we find him out? It will be quick."

Feng Jiuxiao said: "There are so many people in the Longyou Gang, do they need you?"

Pang Shiwu said: "Brother, doesn't that guy know that the Longyou Gang has more people? He dares to come even though there are so many people. What does that mean? It means that they are not afraid of the Longyou Gang!"

Thank you Yudong for your strong support and encouragement!