lady, please calm down

Chapter 270 The World Gathers
Since October [-], the new magistrate of Caizhou, Sun Changhao, suddenly claimed to be ill and recuperating. So far, the family has stayed in the official residence of Sijiyuan for two days and has not been seen.

The important task of presiding over the work of the government office naturally fell on the second official, Chen Jingyan.

Different from the relatively secretive officialdom battles in the past, this time Magistrate Sun wanted to use his wife's family to establish his authority, but was severely slapped in the face by Lu Anhou. The incident was so big that the entire Caizhou officialdom and even the people in the city were vaguely aware of it. See some signs.

Once an 'official' loses his majesty, it will be as ridiculous as sitting in the lobby and giving orders.

Caizhou Prefecture officials are not officials of the Tongshan Clan. They witnessed the previous prefect Zuo Guoen and the current prefect Sun Changhao twice trying to seize power from the Tongshan Clan and then failing. The mind wavering between times.

Now, they have a consensus. Marquis Lu An, who is in charge of the army, plus civil servants Chen Jingyan, Cai Yuan and others, are the de facto local emperors of Caizhou, and no one can overthrow him.

Although Zuo Guoen tried to take back part of the power that should belong to the prefect, his methods were relatively mild. Lu Anhou and others also gave Zuo Guoen dignity, and finally helped him move to Yingzhou.

Today, the conflict for power no longer exists, and Zuo Guoen has maintained a friendly, even relatively loose, alliance with the Tongshan clique.

While Sun Changhao's methods to seize power and establish his authority were a little tougher, Marquis Lu An's response was even tougher.
Not only did he inform the whole city that the perpetrator was a servant of the magistrate's family, he also beat the Wu family's guards to death in the street.

As a result, the government officials and Chen Chu lost their reputation for defending the people's grievances, and Sun Changhao was also nailed to the pillar of shame as a 'villain'.

October [-], noon.

Hu Quan, who was thirty-six years old, took Si Junqing, a student who had just reached the weakest level, to look at the east gate of Caizhou from afar.

Each of them was dressed as a businessman and led a small donkey.

Caizhou City gathered merchants from the north and south, and there was nothing unusual about the two of them mixing among them.

To the left of the two people is the industrial zone in the south of the city where people are coming and going. It is the lunch break of various factories. A large number of young workers are pouring out of the factories. They gather in twos and threes outside the factories to sell fried cakes, pancakes, soup, rice and steamed buns. In front of the shop.

It was the busiest time of the day, and the whole family was busy in the small shop selling food. The men were in charge of cooking, the women were packing with customers, the old men were helping to clean up, and the children were collecting money and accounting.

For a time, the sounds of hawking, bargaining, talking and laughter on the outskirts of the industrial area covering several miles gathered together into a low noise.

Although the place is a little messy, the noisy fireworks are more comforting than the shabby scenes Hu Quan and Si Junqing saw along the way.

"Brother, do you want to buy some dried fruits?"

A hawker came up to sell.

"Thanks, no"

Si Junqing declined the hawker politely, and when the other party was far away, he said with emotion: "Sir, this place is not as lively as our prefectures along the Huaihe River in the Great Zhou Dynasty, let alone Ying and Shou Prefectures under the rule of the Puppet Qi Dynasty. . We were also hit by floods, so An Puppet Marquis really has some tricks up his sleeve."

The floods in May this year not only affected the Huaibei of Qi State, but Huainan of Zhou State was also a vast ocean, filled with fish and turtles.

Hu Quan naturally knew this, expressed his agreement with Dot, and then reminded him in a low voice, "Be careful what you say."

"Yes!"

The two led the donkey into the city. In order to facilitate the frequent exchanges of business travelers, Caizhou canceled almost all the procedures for entering the city, including surveying roads and registers.The two entered the city smoothly and breathed a sigh of relief. Si Junqing couldn't help but talk about his feelings to the master, "Sir, the defense of Caizhou City is so lax. If the Great Zhou Heavenly Army looks for an opportunity to sneak into the city in advance, they can cooperate inside and outside to capture Caizhou City." It’s not difficult.”

Hu Quan had the same feeling, but he felt that Lu Anhou should not be so careless now that he had become famous in Huaibei, and he couldn't understand it for a moment.

After entering the city, the two walked not far along the main street of Yaqian when they met a caravan of camels. Camels were rare in the hinterland of the Central Plains. People along the way couldn't help but look at them curiously.

Seeing the entourage in the camel caravan, I subconsciously felt a little afraid.

Si Junqing couldn't help but shout, "Golden dog!"

"Be careful!"

Hu Quan gave Si Junqing a stern look. Now that he was deep in the territory of the Puppet Qi, Si Junqing kept saying the wrong things, such as "Lu'an Puppet Marquis", "Great Zhou Tianbing", and "Golden Dog".
If this continues, let alone completing the tasks assigned by Chen Shilang of the Ministry of War, it is hard to say whether his master and apprentice can return to Dazhou safely.

Seeing that his master was angry, Si Junqing quickly stopped talking.

Hu Quan took the student and stood by the roadside to make way for the camel team, and took the opportunity to observe it carefully.

The camel team's entourage all had their hair braided on the top of their knuckles and on both sides of their heads, with their hair hanging down by their ears.

After the camel team walked away, Hu Quancai explained to the students in a low voice: "These people are not Jin people."

"Huh? Then they are."

"Khitan people!"

"Liao people?"

"Well, only the Liao people have their hair hanging down and braided around their ears, while the Jin people don't braid it and let it hang down."

Hu Quan took the opportunity to explain to Si Junqing that for the latter, who was young and born in the south, the 'Liao Kingdom' was already a country that had only appeared in books.

The imperial court of the Great Zhou Dynasty was very secretive about the destruction of the Liao Kingdom, but Hu Quan, who had personally experienced the tragedy of Ding Wei, knew that the Great Zhou Dynasty played a less honorable role in the destruction of the Liao Kingdom.

At that time, the Kingdom of Jin suddenly emerged in Liao, and the Kingdom of Liao was under great pressure.

Seeing this, Da Zhou couldn't help but be moved.Later in the sixth year of Zhengning, ten years before the tragedy of Ding Wei, the Zhou Dynasty secretly sent envoys from Ludengzhou, Shandong, to sail across the sea to contact the Jin Kingdom, and agreed on a joint alliance between the north and the south. A strategy to attack the Liao Kingdom from a flank.

In the following years, although the Zhou army performed poorly, they finally passed the redemption and took over Yanyun and other places they had longed for from the Jin people.

But the subsequent development of the situation completely exceeded the expectations of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The wolf of Liao was destroyed, but the tiger of Jin was raised instead.

In just a few years, the Kingdom of Jin occupied half of the Zhou Dynasty, and kidnapped the emperor, his concubine, his ministers and common people back north to support Liu Yu in ascending the throne and proclaiming himself emperor.

Most of the former Liao nobles now serve as middle and lower-level officers in the Jin Kingdom, or as retainers of the Jin Kingdom's royal family.

Compared with the Jin people who destroyed their homeland, the people of Liao hated Zhou the most for betraying their alliance.

It is not easy to comment on the choice of Zhou Dynasty in terms of simple right or wrong. After all, seeking land for the country is something that any political power would like to do.

Da Zhou's mistake was that he did not have a clear understanding of the strength of himself and his opponents, which even caused millions of people to suffer.

Moreover, betraying an alliance was not in line with the Confucian ethics of "faith" in "propriety, justice, benevolence, wisdom and trust". Therefore, after the Great Zhou Dynasty moved south, this matter became an unspeakable secret.

In fact, putting this aside, what is even more embarrassing for the Zhou Dynasty is that even if they turned their backs on the Liao Kingdom, they did not lose any benefits, but instead lost half of their country.

Stealing chickens will not lose rice.

It seems that Da Zhou is very stupid.
Being called 'bad' can be tolerated, but if someone does something stupid, they will subconsciously avoid or even erase the memory.

Only by regaining our homeland can this mark of humiliation be erased.

While their thoughts were wandering, master and apprentice Hu Quan had arrived at the destination of their trip, Caizhou Mansion Office.

"This gentleman, my master has been with Mr. Yanagawa for a long time. Please inform me."

Si Junqing stepped forward and said to the yamen servant who was on duty outside the yamen gate.

The yamen officer heard that he was an old friend of Mr. Yanagawa, and said politely: "Sir, what a coincidence, Mr. Yanagawa went to Shouzhou with the army in August and has not returned yet."

Si Junqing couldn't help but be disappointed when he learned that Chen Jingan was not in Caizhou. He turned to Hu Quan and asked in a low voice: "Sir, shall we go to Shouzhou to find Mr. Yanagawa?"

Hu Quan thought for a moment and said in a low voice: "I have a close relationship with Marquis Lu An of the same year. In a few days, Marquis Lu An will be getting married. I wonder if he will come back. Let's wait in Caizhou. Come on, take this opportunity to look around, Caizhou is full of differences."

Si Junqing wanted to say something else, but Hu Quan gave him a look, indicating that they could find a safe place to talk again. Si Junqing understood and kept silent.

Not long after, the two found an inn in the city to stay.

After closing the door, Si Junqing couldn't wait to say: "Sir, we have been traveling all the way, and the people have been settled in Caizhou nearby. I think the Marquis Lu An is also a loyal and kind person. Sir, if you can persuade Mr. Yanagawa to persuade Lu An Hou Yifan, he should be able to understand the righteousness and lead the army to return to the great Zhou Dynasty."

After walking for a while, Hu Quan sat down on the couch, took off his boots and rubbed his sore feet, and then criticized: "Naive! This Marquis An is a man who has returned from overseas. He has never eaten a grain of Zhou millet. Where does the 'loyalty' to Dazhou come from?"

"Then" Si Junqing hesitated and couldn't help but said, "Then why do we come all the way here?"

Hu Quan sighed slightly and explained in a low voice: "The place he governs is in an important position. We don't ask him to be loyal to the Great Zhou Dynasty, but he may not be loyal to the Qi State. Let's just make a good relationship first. . In the future, it may not be of great use."

"What a pity." Si Junqing was a little frustrated. After entering Caizhou, he had a good impression of Marquis Lu An, and he wished that Dazhou could recruit such kind and brave people on the spot.

Hu Quan smiled and said, "Have you not heard in the past few days since we entered the territory of Caizhou? The Marquis Lu An was having a big quarrel with the prefect and the son-in-law of the Wu family. The Wu family is very powerful in Qi State. If this happens, By attacking Marquis Lu An, we may not have a chance at what will happen in the future, no one can say for sure, we just wait for the development of the situation."

"Yes, sir."

Outside the door of the guest room, the master and apprentice had just met the dried fruit vendor selling dried fruits outside the city. They heard footsteps approaching and left in a hurry.

Not the end of time.

Caizhou stayed in the Siguan Yamen.

Tang Jing'an, who accompanied the military recorder, presented the "Local Government Affairs Judgment Standards" that he had just compiled, and said with a lowered hand: "Master, there are still 76 rebel prisoners temporarily detained in Langshan County. According to the master's wishes, , allocate [-] people from Sihai Trading Company Langshan Farm to continue their labor reform, and allocate [-] people from Shouzhou to take advantage of the dry season this winter to dredge blocked rivers and sort out abandoned farmland. But..."

Tang Jing'an paused and took a careful look at Chen Chu. The latter looked up from the pile of books in confusion and asked, "But what?"

"But Cai Sanniang and I are asking for the labor of thousands of people, hoping to use them as miners to dig coal in the pits and dig iron in the mountains."

"Oh?" Chen Chu thought for a moment and said, "Give it to her. Langshan and Shouzhou will each take [-]% of the prisoners and hand them over to her."

When Tang Jing'an heard this, he felt confident and said, "If nothing happens, proprietor, I will leave."

"Hold on."

Chen Chu said something and continued to look down at the documents Tang Jing'an had just handed over.

The above content involves quantitative evaluation standards for the development of various undertakings such as agriculture, education, and population, and will be used as a standard for future assessment of whether local officials are qualified to govern.

It is tailor-made for Xu Zhiyuan, Ximen Chong, Chen Yingjun and others who are currently doing their best.

In the past, Tang Jing'an's role with Chen Chu was more like a cashier, but with the rapid expansion of Chen Chu's power, Tang Jing'an was responsible for more and more matters and had more and more authority.

But he was sober and knew that he was just lucky enough to board a ship with a promising future and happened to be next to the helmsman.

Therefore, Tang Jing'an was very strict with himself and his family. He kept all the money he shouldn't take and threw away gifts from people he shouldn't befriend even if they came to his door.

To avoid making mistakes and ruining your bright future.

Being by Chen Chu's side, he knew best that He Bei's gang had nothing to do all day long, but they only stared at their own people looking for trouble.

While he was thinking about it, Chen Chu read the "Local Government Affairs Evaluation Standards" written by Tang Jing'an, nodded with satisfaction, and suddenly said: "Jing'an will be 30 years old this year, right?"

"Master Lao, I am thinking about you. I will be thirty after the twelfth lunar month."

"Well, turning thirty is the age when you have a lot to do."

Chen Chu looked at Tang Jing'an with a smile. The latter heard some hidden meanings in these words and couldn't help but feel his heart pounding.

Even his hands were shaking slightly with excitement. In order to avoid losing his temper in front of the proprietor, Tang Jing'an secretly hid his hands in his sleeves.

Chen Chu didn't beat around the bush and took out a personal statement from the drawer and threw it to Tang Jing'an, "Take a few days off and spend time with your parents, wife and children. I will take up my post at the beginning of next month."

From Chen Chu's words, Tang Jing'an had already guessed that he might have waited for the opportunity to rise to prominence, but he still couldn't help but trembled and opened the confession form with his hands.
Qi follows the Zhou system, and there are three types of official appointments.

The first type is the imperial decree, which is issued by the emperor and is mostly used to appoint ministers in power.

The second type is the imperial edict, which is directly removed by the current prime minister. It is generally used for the appointment of mid-level officials.

The third type, which is what Tang Jing'an is holding now, is called a memorial, issued by the Ministry of Secretariat, and is used for the appointment and dismissal of middle- and lower-level officials.

There were both the official seal and the royal seal on it. Tang Jing'an looked at the official position of "Magistrate of Lu'an County, Shouzhou Prefecture" on the body, and then looked at his own name. Unconsciously, his eyes were blurred by tears.

Only three years ago, he was still a poor scholar who earned some food money by writing letters for others and copying accounts with others.

That year, Luliuwei was recruiting an accountant, and his friend Liu Changqing recommended him to apply.

At that time, Tang Jing'an only wanted to make a living, but instead of thinking about it, he boarded a Qingyun Road.
"Dongdongzhu"

Tang Jing'an's lips trembled. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't form any decent words.

Chen Chu waved his hand and said with rare sincerity: "Jing'an, this time the official positions are transferred, among the new magistrates of the three prefectures in Huaibei, you are the only one who came from the left-behind divisional officer. After you take office, if you need any help, just contact us I’m writing a letter. You must behave appropriately and don’t embarrass our left-behind department!”

Tang Jing'an's heart was shaken for a while, and he couldn't help but knelt on his knees with a pop, and said in a trembling voice: "Don't worry, proprietor! My subordinates will not let down the proprietor!"

Having been with Chen Chu for a long time, Tang Jing'an knew the shortcomings of his proprietor, which was that he had no available civil servants. Therefore, most of the official positions in Huaibei this time fell to the Cai, Xu, and Ximen families.

Even if the Tongshan family is of the same spirit, the officials who serve in several official positions are born with the brand of each family.

Chen Chu supported Tang Jing'an because he wanted to support the direct lineage of Miao Hong. Otherwise, it would be too unsafe to rely entirely on others for civil service.

Tang Jing'an could naturally see Chen Chu's painstaking efforts. Even the 'Lu'an County' where he worked was the nominal fiefdom of the latter.

This trust cannot be said to be unimportant.
At the beginning of the application period.

When Tang Jing'an left the left-behind department, he felt a little dazed. He pinched the back of his hand hard to confirm that it was not a dream.

The autumn day is bleak, but he can't hide the burning feeling in his heart. Tang Jing'an knows that he is not very capable, but since the proprietor has set himself as a benchmark, he can only repay his "die loyal"
In the duty room, another group of people came.

Chen Chu read the "Government Affairs Standards" handed over by Tang Jing'an again, looked up and saw Li Mulezi and Li Ke standing respectfully in front of the case, and couldn't help but smile: "Sit down, drink the tea yourself, you don't need to be polite when you come to my place. "

Li Mulezi sat on the chair a little restrained, with his upper body straight.

Li Ke smiled and picked up the teapot, first poured a cup for Chen Chu, and then poured a cup for himself and Li Mulezi.

Seeing this, Chen Chu smiled and said: "Didn't I say that I want to get married? Why hasn't there been any news? But I can't find my mother-in-law?"

Li Ke chuckled and said: "I won a reward from my boss last month. I was building a new house in my hometown. My mother told me about a woman from a neighboring village who will get married in the twelfth lunar month. Don't forget that my boss promised his subordinates that we will kiss each other when we get married." "To ah"

"Don't worry, I won't forget it." Chen Chu smiled and said, "Didn't I give you two months of leave? Why did you come to Caizhou when you weren't at home to cultivate a relationship with your future wife?"

"Hey, my boss's wedding is approaching, and all the monsters and ghosts have come to Caizhou. I'm worried that Brother Mule will be busy."

"Oh? Have you made any big discoveries recently?"

"I wonder if it's a big fish."

When Li Ke spoke, he looked at Li Mulezi and signaled the latter to report to his employer.

Li Mulezi then stood up, cupped his hands and said: "Master Hou, the brothers from the Cao Gang brought a boatload of merchants to Caizhou at the beginning of the month. Two of them attracted the attention of Luo Da Stall. After entering the border of Caizhou, our military commander People are targeting them.”

"Oh? What is it for?"

"I'm here to see Mr. Yanagawa. He's from the Southern Dynasties."

"Looking for Mr. Yanagawa?"

Chen Chu touched the slightly prickly stubble on his chin and asked, "Is there any other news?"

"Currently it is only confirmed that the older one is named Hu Quan."

"Hu Quan?"

"Um"

Li Mulezi then took out a piece of paper, which recorded the life of Hu Quan.

'Second Class Jinshi in 14 years of Zhengning'

Oh, I was in the same class as Chen Jingan, so they were in the same year.

"Study under Chen Bokang, the current Minister of War of the Southern Dynasty, and the backbone of the main war faction of the Southern Dynasty"

There are only about [-] words on the paper, which is concise and to the point, and a lot of information can be gleaned from it.

Chen Chu knew that Li Mulezi was not good at writing, so he couldn't help but raise the paper and said with a smile: "The writing on it was written by Jiye's hand, right?"

"My subordinate is just summarizing it for Brother Mule. The investigation is all down to Brother Mule." Li Ke replied with a smile, not claiming credit.

Chen Chu smiled and said, "Keep staring, don't alert the enemy."

After discussing the matter, Chen Chu suddenly asked: "Have the Khitan people who entered the city figured out the details today?"

"Returning to the Marquis, the leader is named Xiao Zhongxian. He was originally a nobleman from the descendants of the Liao Kingdom. After the country was destroyed, he became a retainer of King Hailing of the Jin Kingdom. He was responsible for searching for rare treasures from all over the world and taking care of business for the palace."

"Oh, business is good. I'll meet him if I have a chance."

"Boss, it would be a pity to sell this good thing we produce to them!"

Li Ke said subconsciously.

In his eyes, both the Khitans and the Jin people were barbarians who drank their hair and drank their blood. They did not appreciate the fine objects produced by the Sihai Trading Company and the Luhe Basin Farm Reclamation Company when they were sold to them.

Furthermore, during the Ding Wei crisis, the Jin people were in serious trouble, and the Han family subconsciously did not want to deal with them.

Not wanting to, Chen Chu chuckled, took out an oval-shaped green fruit from the drawer, and said, "There is always one suitable for them. Take a look at this."

Chen Chu threw it casually, and Li Ke took it. He looked left and right and couldn't recognize it, so he simply put it in his mouth and chewed it a few times.

Chen Chu originally wanted to stop him, but then he thought about it and realized that eating one or two pills would not be a problem, so he explained with a smile: "This thing was brought by a businessman from Qiongzhou. Chewing this thing will refresh your mind and make you feel like a fairy." What’s even more valuable is that this guy is addictive and is an excellent product for making huge profits.”

On the side, Li Ke had chewed his mouth full of red juice.

At first, it was a cool feeling that hit my forehead, but then, there was a faint bitter taste.

After a while, Li Ke seemed to be drunk, his face was red and his whole body was dizzy.

Seeing this, Li Mulezi hurriedly stepped forward to help Li Ke and said in surprise: "Master Hou, what kind of fairy fruit is this? It made Brother Li faint from eating it. It's so powerful!"

"Haha, this is called betel nut."

(End of this chapter)