Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 393: Encouragement
Li Yuan's face was filled with excitement, and he said solemnly, "Don't worry, Governor. I will implement these new policies and ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

An Dingyuan smiled upon hearing this and took a sip of tea. "County Magistrate Li, don't be too sure. Take your time and don't rush. Slow work produces fine results!"

Check household registration, clear hidden households, reform the land system, increase commercial taxes, stabilize prices...

To implement this series of new policies well is not as simple as just talking about it.

If the new policy was so easy to implement, it would have been implemented in Anguo long ago. Why would there be a need to set up a pilot site first?

"Yes, yes, yes..." Li Yuan said quickly, "Your Excellency is absolutely right."

An Dingyuan said leisurely, "You haven't been given any deadline by your superiors, so I won't put any pressure on you. Just do what you want to do and do what you can. But don't mess it up or lose face."

Li Yuan quickly said seriously, "Don't worry, sir. I won't mess this up even if I risk my life."

An Dingyuan raised his hand and pointed at the two followers who had followed him, saying, "These two are my personal guards who I brought with me from Tai'an City. They are quite skilled. From now on, let them stay by your side and protect your life and property."

Things like new policy reforms will offend countless people, and you might even be assassinated in the street. Such incidents have happened before.

Even in a small place like Kaiyang County, where there are no powerful characters, we still have to be on guard.

Li Yuan's expression flashed, and he couldn't help but say: "Thank you for your kindness!"

An Dingyuan continued, "You are fully responsible for the affairs of Kaiyang County. If you encounter any problems in the future, you can act first and report later. In urgent cases, you can act according to your discretion. Do you understand?"

Li Yuan's eyes flickered. Was this letting him do things freely?
Li Yuan nodded and said, "I understand."

"Very good." An Dingyuan slowly stood up. "I won't disturb you any further. Send an official to take me to the various villages in Kaiyang County. I'll come back after the inspection."

Li Yuan also hurriedly stood up and called a confidant who was familiar with the situation in various parts of the county to serve as An Dingyuan's guide.

An Dingyuan did not stay for long and took his men to leave Kaiyang County quickly.

Li Yuan watched An Dingyuan and his group leave, then returned to the lobby of the county government office with an uncontrollable excitement on his face.

He didn't expect that the eldest princess of Tai'an City would choose herself to pilot the new political reform. This was a recognition of him!

Lu Zhengcheng doesn't bully me! Li Yuan was excited and felt that he had to work hard to seize the opportunity to hug his thigh.

Next to him, the two personal guards left by An Dingyuan followed Li Yuan.

Li Yuan couldn't help but ask, "What are your names?"

"From now on, County Magistrate, you can just call us Zuowei and Youwei." One person said.

They are here in secret to protect Li Yuan's safety, so it would be best if they don't reveal their real names.

Li Yuan nodded slightly after hearing this, and then asked curiously, "Is this the only testing site in Hongzhou?"

One person said, "For now, there is only one in Kaiyang County."

"Are there any in other states?" Li Yuan asked again.

The guard said, "I don't know."

Li Yuan thought about it and thought that there might be more than one place like this, so he had to do better than others.

Li Yuan then asked, "Do you know where Mr. Lu, who left our county, is now?"

Upon hearing this, the guard said, "Mr. Lu's whereabouts are beyond our reach."

Mr. Lu... Li Yuan thought to himself that it seemed that Lu Zheng had a very special position in the hearts of these people. He might have really become Mr. An Dingyuan.

He shook his head slightly, put aside some distracting thoughts, picked up the thick document and slowly looked through it.

It is quite troublesome to implement the above policies, and some trouble is bound to occur.

"Checking the household registration..."

Li Yuan's mind turned. As a county magistrate from a local family, how could he not know about the hidden households?

In order to avoid land taxes and corvee labor, some ordinary people would rely on local gentry and leave their own household registration.

The government could not collect taxes from these people, and instead benefited the local gentry.

There are many such people in their Li family.

Nowadays, checking household registration and clearing out hidden households has always been a very offensive task.

Li Yuan pondered for a moment and ordered someone to call the county lieutenant and county magistrate.

Li Yuan looked at his two colleagues and said sternly, "The new policies from above are an opportunity for us to show our talents. Can we use this opportunity to rise to prominence and achieve higher positions? Let's work hard together!"

……

Yunmengze, Xinghai Bay.

As the sun sets, the water and sky merge into one.

Mu Bing prepared a banquet to welcome Lu Zheng and Qing Wan, showing her hospitality.

Mu Bing felt that Lu Zheng's identity and background were not ordinary, so it was not appropriate for her to invite other people to a banquet on her own initiative. She only invited some mermaids who had been on the ship before to liven up the atmosphere.

Afterwards, Mu Bing took the two of them to play at the harbor of Xinghai Bay. At night, the harbor was brightly lit.

The stars in the sky are reflected on the water, reflecting the starlight.

Not only the stars, the entire bay is sparkling, and there are densely packed, countless blue light spots flashing, which looks very dreamy.

This inevitably reminded Lu Zheng of a poem: After getting drunk, I didn’t know that the sky was in the water, and the boat was full of clear dreams that pressed down the starry sky.

Qing Wan stared at the Starry Sea Bay, which was brighter than the night sky, and couldn't help but ask, "What's in this water?"

Mu Bing, who was standing next to him, smiled and explained, "Many tiny insects emit a faint glow at night. There are also some special dust particles in the water that can reflect light."

Qing Wan looked at Xinghai Bay, then looked at the large lake in the distance, and found that the light fluctuations in the two waters were different.

"No wonder this place is called Xinghai Bay, it's quite beautiful." Qing Wan couldn't help but say, "This place is nice."

Mu Bing said, "It's a rare habitat for us demons."

Qing Wan pondered, "This place is so good, don't those immortal sects want to occupy it?"

Even in Yunmengze, the human race is a very powerful force. She was a little curious why so many forces did not choose to occupy this precious land.

Mu Bing said, "There are also some powerful demons here, and the demonic energy here is heavy, so it's not suitable for human cultivators to live here."

Qing Wan tilted her head. "Isn't it because there are so many demons here that the demonic energy is so strong?"

Mu Bing said, "It is said that the spiritual energy that originally existed here was very suitable for the demon race to practice. Over time, the demonic energy has become so strong. Even if the demon race here is gone, it will not be suitable for others to practice for a long time..."

Mu Bing thought for a moment and explained, "It's like when a person dies, they're buried in a feng shui treasure land. The aura of a burial site is inherently different from that of ordinary places. Over time, that place becomes a gathering place for ghosts, making it unsuitable for living people to reside permanently. In short, people and their environment influence each other."

"Even if there are cultivators living here to practice, they are most likely practicing demonic magic. Ordinary cultivators would not be interested in such a place..."

Qing Wan nodded when she heard this and understood what Mu Bing meant.

Qing Wan couldn't help but ask, "With such an environment, how did the monsters here cultivate Confucianism and Taoism?"

Mu Bing said, "There are always some monsters with extraordinary talents. As for how they cultivate Confucianism and Taoism, I can't explain it clearly at the moment."

Although she had read a lot of books, she had not cultivated any literary spirit, so it was difficult for her to explain the reasons.

Mu Bing paused, then continued, "If you're interested, I can take you to meet the Confucian and Taoist members of our mermaid tribe. However, they're not here. We need to go deep into the heart of Star Island, to our mermaid tribe's main city."

Lu Zhengdao: "Will this be inconvenient?"

After all, they are outsiders, and if they go to someone else's main territory like this, they will inevitably be disliked.

Mu Bing smiled and said, "If I take you there, there won't be any problem."

After these days of contact, Mu Bing still has a good impression of Lu Zheng and the others.

Furthermore, Lu Zheng and the other person have cultivated the righteous spirit of Confucianism and Taoism. This alone is enough to prove that they are not like other outsiders who have any evil intentions.

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I don't want to trouble you too much. We plan to slowly go upstream, enjoy the scenery along the way, and then walk around Star Island."

"Is that so?" Mu Bing couldn't help but say, "It just so happens that I have some things to take care of right now. You two can rest here for a few days and then enjoy the sightseeing."

Mu Bing took out another jade token and said, "With this token, you can go to our main city, which is located in the southeast of Star Island..."

Mu Bing described the location of the mermaid tribe’s main city.

Lu Zheng noted the location and put the jade token away.

Mu Bing led the two of them along the shore again, pointing to a dimly lit spot on the opposite bank. "That's the Turtle Clan's port city, over there is a dock of the Mirage Clan, and there's another city..."

"If you want to buy a spirit boat, you can go there. Customizing a spirit boat takes time, so you can go there to place your order first, and then go sightseeing around Star Island..."

Mu Bing took her time to tell the two about the situation on Xinghai Bay, and especially about some of the rules on the island.

There are many monster tribes gathered in Xinghai Bay, and the rules in each place are quite different.

Sometimes, conflicts would arise between different demon tribes due to friction.

Some of the monsters here don't like humans very much, and Mu Bing is worried that the two of them have gone to some place they shouldn't go.

Qing Wan asked curiously, "Who is the most powerful person on this island?"

Mu Bing shook her head slightly and said, "I'm not sure, but every major clan has at least a Sixth Realm cultivator in charge, so it's best you don't provoke certain monsters... Of course, powerful monsters like the Sixth Realm rarely show up, and are usually in seclusion practicing."

As a fourth-level demon, Mu Bing is considered a high-level manager among the mermaids and usually handles various affairs.

However, the real strong ones in the clan do not know how to manage these trivial matters, and they are always elusive.

Even Mu Bing didn't know the strength of the most powerful mermaid.

Qing Wan put her hands behind her back and said, "We are reasonable people and won't cause trouble."

Mu Bing thought that living in a place like this was not about reason, but about fists. Sometimes, even if you didn't cause trouble, trouble would find you.

(End of this chapter)