Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 535 Concentric
Without going into how the Luotian Grand Ceremony was held in Yidu City to pray for blessings and ward off disasters, it is only said that after Song Jiang reported the matter to Song Taigong, he dug a hole in a secluded place in the backyard and buried the bones of Song Qing and the other two.

It wasn't that Song Jiang was afraid that people would guess something after seeing the bones of the three people. On his way back, Song Jiang secretly buried the bones of the three people on a hillside.

However, Song Jiang was afraid that he had killed countless people in Qingzhou, and after he left, some people would bear a grudge against him, and since the graves were unattended, they had people dig them up.

After comforting Song Taigong, Song Jiang selected valuable items from his own storehouse and collected the agreed amount of 100,000 strings of gold and pearls. After folding them up, he asked his farmhands to escort them to Hu Yanzhuo's camp outside the city, and Hu Yanzhuo sent someone to deliver them to Linqu.

When Zhao Zhen received this batch of treasures, Liu Hui Niang made a rough estimate and found that most of the treasures sent by Song Jiang were valuable and rare, and the treasures were more than those sent in previous chapters. One hundred thousand strings of cash was no more and no less.

They put all of it, along with what had been sent before, into the storehouse, under the charge of the female cavalry.

Five days later, Xiao Rang, Wu Yong and Zhu Wu arrived in Linqu. After resting for only one night, Zhao Zhen called everyone together to discuss their future plans in the temporary residence.

In the hall, in addition to Zhao Zhen and Liu Huiniang, on the left and right sides were Cheng Wanli, Liu Guang, Chen Xizhen, Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan, Jiang Jing, Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, Kong Hou, Xu He, Xu Huai, Hu Cheng, Wei Fuliang, Gongsun Sheng, Qiao Daoqing, Fan Rui, Wu Jiao, Xu Qingniang, Wang Gongren, Wang Lun, Sun Zheng, He Chong, Shi Gugong, Zhu Hongji, Lü Mu, Yuantong, and Yuanguang.

Zhao Zhen spoke first, "Everyone, now the Qingzhou bandits only have Yidu, an isolated city, and Song Jiang has no intention of fighting. The surrender will only be offered this month. What should we do next? Please speak freely."

Everyone who came here naturally had already thought about what they were going to do. However, for a moment, they didn't know how to start.

Everyone looked at each other, and Wu Yong stood up and said to Cheng Wanli and the other two who were at the top, "Old Master Cheng has been an official for many years, Master Chen has been in and out of the rich families in Bianjing, and Old Master Liu has been doing business in the local area for a long time. What do you three adults say first?"

After hearing this, Cheng Wanli and the other two pushed each other to take the lead, and Chen Xizhen was pushed to take the lead. "Since I started practicing Taoism, I have been slow in official positions. In the city of Bianjing, treacherous officials are in power, and the treacherous and corrupt officials are in power. They only employ relatives and take money. Now that you want to take charge of the whole area, the court will definitely not agree. Even if we don't mention it now, once it is done, we will definitely have to fight. I only ask one question, are you ready?"

Seeing Chen Xizhen speaking, Zhao Zhen said, "Father-in-law, it is precisely because the court is full of slanderers and power, and only relatives are appointed, that I have made up my mind to be independent. If the court wants to cause trouble, in addition to the Hebei Tian Hu who is being suppressed, there are also Huaixi Wang Qing and Jiangnan Fang La. It will take three to five years to eliminate these two places. By then, I have already sorted out my situation. I only need to guard against the court forces in the east. What's more, I can use the power of destiny to withdraw the occupied territory."

After listening to this, Chen Xizhen nodded.

Cheng Wanli asked, "Sir, do you really have to fight the imperial court?"

"It's not that we have to fight. If the court can acquiesce to the current situation, I naturally don't want to fight with the court and commit murder. The court is full of people who form cliques for personal gain, take bribes and pervert the law, indulge in debauchery, and exclude those who are different from me. If I don't fight, the territory I have occupied with great difficulty will go back to the old ways, abuse my power, bully the people, and make the place a mess."

"Also, in order to expand my power, I took in many wanted criminals and outlaws. Many of them were framed by corrupt officials. For example, Pei Xuan is a loyal and smart man who is not willing to compromise. He is wise and brave. But because a corrupt prefect was sent to the court, he was exiled to Shamen Island."

"Generals Lin Chong and Wang Jin, good instructors, were forced to have their faces tattooed with golden seals and to leave their hometowns. If I give in, what will happen to these brothers? If the court issues an order to separate us, will that be a sign of compliance or rebellion? If the generals are alienated, how can we survive? I'd better let the court know that I don't want to rebel, but I don't want to follow the court either."

After hearing this, everyone was happy and worried. Not mentioning the generals who were not here, only talking about the people in the hall. Cheng Wanli, Liu Guang, Chen Xizhen, and Hu Cheng were Zhao Zhen's relatives, so they had no choice but to follow Zhao Zhen to the end.

Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan, Jiang Jing, Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, Shi Gugong, Wang Lun, Sun Zheng and others were all frustrated. Now that they all held high positions and enjoyed generous salaries, they naturally did not want Zhao Zhen's power to fall apart.

People like Zhu Hongji, Lu Mu and others were not originally from the Song Dynasty and had no loyalty to the Song Dynasty.

Zhao Zhen treated Taoists such as Gongsun Sheng and Qiao Daoqing with great favor and never lacked the money, companions, and land they needed for their practice. They were also in charge of all the Taoist scriptures, so naturally they were loyal to Zhao Zhen.

Only literati such as Kong Hou, Xu He, Xu Huai, Wei Fuliang, Xu Qingniang, Wang Gongren (Chen Lingwei), and He Chong still had a good impression of the Song court.

These people are all capable people in local governance. Although they are few in number, they are the most important. In the future, local governance will not be possible without the efforts of these people.

At that moment, Xu He asked, "From what you said, you don't want to go to war with the court. If one day the emperor wakes up and gets rid of the treacherous officials and revitalizes the government, will you still do this?"

"If there really comes a day when the six thieves are all eliminated and all my brothers are employed by the court and contribute to the country, I may even bring my family with me to practice Taoism with Senior Brother Gongsun."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kong Hou opened his mouth and said, "Mencius said: If the king treats his subjects as his own hands and feet, then the subjects will treat the king as their own heart. If the king treats his subjects as dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the king as their fellow countrymen. If the king treats his subjects as dirt, then the subjects will treat the king as an enemy. Your Excellency's independence is also for self-protection. What else is there to argue about? As long as your Excellency is alive, the people of Jingdong Road will have a good life. We read books and understand reason, and we govern a place, not out of blind loyalty. Your Excellency is better than Gao Feng and Murong Yanda, who rely on nepotism, do not care about official ethics and achievements, open their eyes, only like to ask for money, take bribes and pervert the law, let officials abuse the people, and bring disaster to the place."

Xu Qingniang and Wang Gongren also said, "We both think the same way."

Seeing that no one in the hall was against Ji Mi anymore, Zhao Zhen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Unlike military generals, if these people were not there to govern the local area, there would be a lot of chaos.

Just as Li Gun said, being cautious every day is not only very unpleasant, but there is always a lack of powerful people in the local area who manipulate the local area. If you are not careful, you will become an accomplice of these people who bully the people.

Now, of the territory occupied by Zhao Zhen, only Liangshan Prefecture can be governed down to the villages and towns. Yizhou and a small part of Yanzhou have also been under his control for a long time, and they have also begun to slowly infiltrate Liangshan's system.

As for Mizhou, Yunzhou, Weizhou, Laizhou, Dengzhou and Qingzhou, they still have a long way to go.

(End of this chapter)