Chapter 72: Fighting

Chapter 72: Fighting

Chapter 72: Fighting (Subscription Request)

Zhou Tixue chatted with Xu Qing about family matters and mentioned Li Xunjian's river inspection office. It turned out that in order to increase tax revenue, the reformists planned to set up a large checkpoint called Hudan Pass at the ferry crossing from Jiangning River to Black Water Lake, which was under Qixia Mountain.

There is a lot of shipping here, and it is also a key point in Southern Zhili, with frequent commercial activities.

If we can set up a checkpoint here, it will increase a lot of tax revenue for the country.

Especially after the incident of the government ship smuggling salt was exposed, it further strengthened their determination to set up checkpoints.

Moreover, the core idea of ​​the reformists is to strengthen the military and enrich the country.

This time, there will be about four more similar customs offices in Southern Zhili, especially the Hudan Customs mentioned by Zhou Tixue. They have temporarily discussed and are planning to ask the court to directly send a head of the Ministry of Revenue to serve as a tax collector, who will be directly under the leadership of the court and not subject to local interference.

Because we need to set up checkpoints, the first step is to clear out the bandits on nearby land and water.

Therefore, the burden on the River Inspection Office will increase.

Zhou Tixue also specifically hinted that the higher-ups were very determined this time, so the campaign to eliminate bandits and evil in that area would be carried out resolutely to the end.

In fact, many of the bandits in Nanzhili were backed by local gentry and powerful people, or the dignitaries of Yingtian Prefecture. Therefore, it is not surprising that the news of this bandit-eliminating operation was released in advance.

If the other party is sensible and withdraws in advance, the intensity of the action can be reduced; if they resist to the end, it will be a good opportunity to suppress the power of local powerful gentry.

The court's attitude towards local powerful groups was to use them while guarding against them.

The purpose was to curb the expansion of local areas and suppress land annexation.

Generally speaking, the court's compromise with local forces, which led to the aggravation of land annexation, was often a sign of the end of the dynasty.

This trend is already evident in Southern Zhili.

The significance of Xu Qing's participation tonight is also to understand the intentions of the higher-ups on behalf of Inspector Li, and at the same time to help Inspector Wu integrate into their small group of reformists in Tianjing City.

Otherwise, Zhou Tixue wouldn't have been so anxious to find Xu Qing to discuss the matter.

To put it bluntly, Xu Qing can play a role in lubricating interpersonal relationships.

It is equivalent to a broker, responsible for matchmaking.

After hearing this, Xu Qing actually thought more. If such a bandit suppression operation was to be carried out, it seemed that Black Wind Village would inevitably suffer a great impact.

This matter is a bit troublesome.

He had just cooperated with King Lin not long ago. Now the imperial court is suppressing bandits and it's King Lin's turn. It's hard to say whether this brother King will put the blame on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing always likes to plan ahead and prepare for the worst.

It seems that after returning, I have to find a way to resolve the hidden dangers of this matter.

In fact, although it seems like a bad thing, it may not be a bad thing if you look at it from the right angle.

Of course, in order to turn disadvantages into advantages, the specific operations must be carried out with extreme caution.

Once this business was launched, more and more people from both the legal and criminal worlds started to depend on him for a living. In fact, there were many things he could not control.

The advantage is that the greater the power, the greater the protection of Xu Qing's own safety, and the ability to resist risks will also be greatly increased.

Especially during the period when Prefect He was in charge of Jiangning Prefecture, it was a period of welfare for Xu Qing.

Once a new prefect is appointed, the situation will be different.

Also, I don’t know the quality of the person who will replace Wu Xunan as the magistrate.

I hope the other party can be more sensible.

Fortunately, he managed to get through to Prefect He, otherwise if the new magistrate wanted to do something bad to Xu Qing, Xu Qing would be in big trouble.

Zhou Tixue really treated Xu Qing as his own nephew, which is why he talked about these local government affairs.

Even though he is just promoting academic performance, it is actually a temporary transition.

For families like the Zhou family of Taicang, who are famous for their imperial examinations, they are trained to be familiar with government affairs from an early age. In this way, after passing the imperial examinations, they will be promoted faster than others.

No matter when, capable and practical ministers will always be needed by the superiors.

Zhou Tixue is now in charge of the government affairs of selecting scholars, but after he is done with this work, he may be promoted to the position of governor, or return to important positions in the Six Ministries or the Inspectorate.

Thanks to the ideas Xu Qing put forward in his last examination essay, Zhou Tixue was greatly inspired, so he has a lot to write about in his memorials on current government affairs.

As for the actual effect?

To be honest, the achievements of academic officials mainly rely on bragging. As for practical work, it’s enough to have a good appearance.

What's more, Xu Qing's work on the Xu family in Songzhou really helped Zhou Tixue a lot.

With this incident, Zhou Tixue had enough to report to his superiors for credit.

As for the entire Nanzhili Province, which will conduct a thorough investigation of student records, even if Zhou Tixue has a strong background, he will have to leave in disgrace by then.

If the matter gets out of hand, who knows, the academician of the Zhou family's old nest in Taicang might be asked to take action.

If you mess with me, I'll mess with you.

The two foxes chatted for a long time. Considering that there were other things to do first, Zhou Tixue reluctantly told Xu Qing to go down and rest first and prepare for the evening banquet.

Watching Xu Qing leave the study, Zhou Tixue became more and more satisfied with Xu Qing, because Xu Qing had some natural qualities and could see through the world.

"This boy is brave and magnanimous. If placed in troubled times, such a person will surely have the potential to become a hero and establish his own regime. I praised him that day and he will become a great scholar in the future. It seems that this day will not be long before we wait." Zhou Tixue thought of his sister who passed away young, and felt heartbroken but also relieved for her.

"This marriage must be settled as soon as possible, so that no one can intercept it." Zhou Tixue wrote quickly, preparing to send a letter to the capital. The general idea should be decided first, and as for the engagement, it would not be too late to hold it after the imperial examination.

...

...

The Mansion of Marquis Wuding is luxurious and extravagant.

Everywhere there are rockeries made of top-quality golden mud bricks, glazed tiles, cedar, and strange stones... Such a grandeur cannot be compared even to the homes of ordinary princes.

Moreover, the marquis's mansion is still being expanded and large-scale construction is in progress.

This shows the wealth and power of the Wuding Marquis's Mansion, which really proves the old saying that oil is cooking on a raging fire.

In the meeting hall, a white-faced, beardless, and strong eunuch was meeting with Marquis Wu Ding.

In the general impression of people, eunuchs seem to be the gloomy and skinny type. In fact, if they are castrated early, their development time will generally be longer than that of normal people. This makes eunuchs have a natural advantage over ordinary people in practicing martial arts and are more likely to grow tall.

Therefore, there were many examples of eunuchs leading armies in previous dynasties.

However, this is not without disadvantages. If there is no method of bone training, although the bones of these eunuchs take longer to develop than ordinary people, they are also prone to osteoporosis.

Obviously this eunuch is not an exception.

His temples bulged high on both sides, and his stature was quite imposing, with a tiger back and a wasp waist.

The muscles on his back are extremely explosive, and his waistline is both flexible and powerful, making him a natural military commander.

This eunuch is Zhao Jinzhong, the current eunuch guarding Tianjing.

If Xu Qing were here to see this, he would realize that this dead eunuch could have played the role of Zhao Zilong of Changshan in his previous life.

Zhao Jinzhong clapped his hands and asked someone to bring out a brocade box. The sound was deliberately rough, but if you listened carefully, you could still feel a hint of sharpness. He said, "My Lord, my family spent a lot of effort to get the boy's birth date and hair from Jiangning Prefecture. The person you hire must be reliable."

Marquis Wu Ding asked someone to take the brocade box and nodded, saying, "I have specially invited an expert to come here. She knows the art of losing. This time, she will at least make that kid seriously ill."

Zhao Jinzhong smiled and said, "Then I will wait for good news from you, Lord Marquis."

Marquis Wu Ding waved his hand and said, "You are too polite, sir. If it weren't for that old man Zhou Rucai protecting that kid, I would have made him look bad the moment he entered the city. In this Tianjing City, I can't touch the inspector, so how can I touch a little scholar?"

Zhao Jinzhong sighed, "We are also for the stability of the overall situation, but we didn't expect these treacherous villains to complain to the emperor, causing misunderstandings between our family and the emperor. You said, we make that money for the emperor's inner treasury. If we don't make money, can those treacherous villains hand it all over to the national treasury, which will only enrich their own pockets."

He looked deeply distressed.

To be fair, he earned 30,000 taels of silver, and at least 10,000 taels were given to the emperor.

As for the remaining 20,000, he had to manage his subordinates and deal with various daily expenses. He didn't dare to spend a penny on himself.

How could the emperor not see his loyalty?

If a civil servant was replaced, would only 5,000 taels out of the 30,000 taels reach the hands of the emperor?
Not necessarily.

Upon hearing this, Marquis Wu Ding was also filled with righteous indignation. He sighed, "Outsiders say that I am extravagant and wasteful in building large-scale projects. But I am Your Majesty's representative in the southeast, supervising the local areas. Do I have to live a simple life and let outsiders laugh at Your Majesty? Moreover, Your Majesty has intended to tour the south many times, but has not been able to do so. I built this garden so that I can receive Your Majesty in the future and use it as Your Majesty's palace."

His loyalty was completely misinterpreted by a group of treacherous villains. How could Marquis Wuding not be angry?

A nobleman and a eunuch now found common ground, and they only regretted that they could not go to the court immediately to denounce those treacherous villains.

Well, when they really got to the court, the civil officials were so numerous and powerful that they could not stop them from distorting right and wrong.

It's okay, they know it in their hearts.

There is a god above us, and these civil officials will be punished.

Now, Marquis Wu Ding is going to take his revenge. …

...

"Elder Yun, Marquis Wuding will never amount to anything. I advise you to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible." A maid walked into a room in Marquis Wuding's mansion.

The maid's eyes flickered, and she saw the charm of the courtesan Su Lianqing that Xu Qing had met last time.

Her nickname in the sect is Thousand-Faced Bodhisattva. She is particularly good at disguise and magic. Back then, when she was with Magistrate He, she transformed herself into Yin Sanniang and became Magistrate He's concubine.

Later, when Zhao Xiong got into trouble, Su Lianqing took the opportunity to find a substitute and escaped from the government office.

Now in Tianjing City, Yingtian Prefecture, he uses his other identity, Su Lianqing.

As for the original Su Lianqing, she was sent away.

The person she was talking to now was an old lady with a shriveled face and sinister eyes.

This is an elder of the Lotus Sect.

Su Lianqing belongs to the Luo Sect and is nominally the superior of the Lotus Sect, but in reality he has no control over this branch of the Lotus Sect.

Compared to the Luo Sect's covert and flexible actions, the Lotus Sect is more radical.

The Lotus Sect's rebellion failed this time and its strength was greatly damaged. The Luo Sect planned to take back the power of the Lotus Sect's top leaders.

The two religions, which originally had the same origin, actually also had turbulent undercurrents.

The old lady in front of him was also the one Su Lianqing wanted to win over.

The Luojiao headquarters planned to let Su Lianqing, in the capacity of a saint lady, seize some of the power of the Lotus Sect and deepen the connection with the main sect.

However, Su Lianqing's Taoist skills are far from perfect, so he cannot force his way through. Therefore, he has to resort to the means of forming alliances.

This is also a test from the main sect to Su Lianqing.

Once she successfully seizes some of the power of the Lotus Sect and deepens the connection between the Lotus Sect and the main sect, she will have the hope of entering the candidate series for the leader of the Luo Sect and being taught the supreme secrets of the sect.

The old nanny sneered, "Master Su Xiang, if you don't want to help me, then forget it. Why are you saying such discouraging words? With the power you have in Jiangning Prefecture, you could have eliminated that guy earlier, and I wouldn't have to risk using my Taoist magic to avenge my brothers."

Su Lianqing sighed: "Xu Qing is not such a simple person. Even if you use Taoism, I don't think you can do anything to him. We have lost our strength several times, so we should lie dormant now."

"How long will we stay dormant? It's because you big clans are always hesitant and indecisive that we have never been able to accomplish anything great." The old nanny sneered and continued, "You want to have it both ways, but that's a big mistake. When it comes to doing big things, there is only great success or great failure, there is no middle ground. The decline of Yu Yao was not something we waited for, but was the result of us sacrificing our lives for the people of the world."

Su Lianqing smiled bitterly, "Elder Yun, if the court wants to reform, it will inevitably conflict with the local authorities. Reforms have always made the world worse, never better. We should be patient, the opportunity will not be too far away. Besides, you have sacrificed your life for the people of the world, but the people of the world will not understand you."

"It's enough for the dead brothers to know." The old lady looked as if she had made up her mind and was not moved at all.

Su Lianqing wanted to argue more, but the old nanny waved her hand, signaling Su Lianqing to stop.

Su Lianqing had no choice but to keep silent.

If they continue talking, the two might end up fighting.

Why is it so difficult to do things?

Even if these people sacrifice themselves now and play a role, they are just pioneers for the king. Why don't they understand?

Soon, a maid came over holding a box.

Su Lianqing hid aside.

The old nanny took the box, opened it, asked the maid to go out, and then came to the carefully decorated corner, laughed sinisterly, and a doll appeared in her hand. Then she pasted Xu Qing's birth date on it, sewed Xu Qing's hair on it, and then placed the doll in front of herself and closed her eyes to meditate.

...

...

It was dusk, the sky was dark, overcast and there was no sunshine.

Xu Qing was reciting scriptures in the room when he suddenly observed a wisp of black air coming out from the words evaluating his luck in the bronze mirror.

"There is danger." Without thinking, he threw in the three strands of holy energy that he had gained from the principles of the holy way of knowing things through investigation of things during the day.

The black gas immediately dissipated.

Then I felt relieved.

But Xu Qing was not careless and kept his mind alert.

"What on earth is going on?" he thought while being alert.

Not long after, a cold wind blew in from outside. Xu Qing sensed something was wrong and used his spirit to observe. He heard the sound of ghosts crying, and then saw shadows similar to his own spirit crawling into the room, which was very scary.

If an ordinary person encountered this kind of weird scene, they would definitely be frightened, as if it were a nightmare, and it would be difficult to wake up.

Xu Qing was prepared.

"I don't know which evildoer dared to harm me."

He first used three strands of holy energy to dissolve the black energy. At this moment, his mind was indescribably clear, and even the power of the Yaksha King became several times stronger. He was like a saint, illuminating the evil, and had nothing to fear.

"You have such a trivial skill, yet you dare to show off in front of an expert." Xu Qing scolded in his heart.

Then the visualized Yaksha King appeared.

The Yaksha King suddenly jumped out, raised his steel fork, and picked up a shadow at a time. In a short time, most of them were killed, and the remaining shadows escaped.

Xu Qing sneered, "Yaksha King, chase him and see who is so bold."

He took this opportunity to test the Yaksha King's magical powers and how far he could get away from him.

He drove the Yaksha King to chase the shadow, and within two miles they arrived at a large courtyard with a high gate.

"Marquis Wuding's Mansion." Xu Qing understood everything when he saw this.

It turned out that Marquis Wu Ding had asked the demon to use his Taoist magic to deal with him.

If he had not been prepared, he would have been in trouble.

Xu Qing was immediately furious.

Sure enough, when the perspective was on the Yaksha King, he would easily become angry. At the same time, the angrier he was, the stronger the Yaksha King's power would become. Following the direction in which the shadow escaped, the Yaksha King chased after it and threw out a steel fork, nailing the shadow to death outside a door.

Then a shrill scream was heard from the door.

"You want to harm me, how can I let you go?" The Yaksha King was still angry, and Xu Qing drove the Yaksha King through the door.

I saw an old woman with her head in her hands and her white hair loose.

"It's you!" Xu Qing had no intention of pitying the old and loving the young. He directly ordered the Yaksha King to raise the steel fork and stab the old woman.

...

...

Su Lianqing saw the old lady performing Taoist magic and felt anxious and angry, but since the old lady had already cast the spell, she couldn't stop her.

She knew that Xu Qing also knew Taoist magic and had strong Qi and blood. The old lady's spells could never hurt Xu Qing.

But she couldn't do anything about what happened.

Now she just hopes that the old lady will give up when she sees difficulty.

Unexpectedly, while casting the spell, the old lady suddenly let out a shrill scream and held her head in her hands.

Su Lianqing knew that this was a sign that her spell was backfiring.

She was planning to help, but suddenly, she sensed an evil aura.

Su Lianqing was startled and quickly used the secret technique of the Luo Sect to hide her breath. She did not dare to act rashly, and even her soul did not dare to leave her shell. In less than a moment, Su Lianqing saw the old lady's body arched like a shrimp, trembling all over, and foaming at the mouth.

It turned out that the curse backfired on her, and then the Yaksha King took advantage of the victory to pursue her, and the old lady was immediately severely damaged in her soul.

After a long while, the bad smell in the house dissipated.

Su Lianqing hurried to the old lady's side and called out in a low voice: "Elder Yun..."

The old woman's mouth was foaming with white foam, as if she had seen a ghost, and she muttered, "Holy Son, kill me..."

"The Holy Son killed me..."

Several sentences in a row repeat the same content.

Then his voice became lower and lower, his eyes became unfocused, and he lost his consciousness.

Su Lianqing was horrified when she saw this.

(End of this chapter)