Chapter 182: Mountain Thieves and Tianshi Mansion

Chapter 182: Mountain Thieves and Tianshi Mansion

Chapter 182: Mountain Thieves and Tianshi Mansion (Part 2, please subscribe)

Although Xu Qing repeatedly rejected the good intentions of Magistrate He, he was still very satisfied with his younger brother's attitude and asked, "Mr. Anpin, is there anything difficult?"

Anpin is the name that Mr. He calls himself.

When officials say something, you should listen to it in reverse.

He is content with poverty, which means he is very short of money.

Xu Jieyuan has always been a man who says, "If you have a problem, come to me. If you want benefits, come to me." Xu Jieyuan never lets his people suffer or be disappointed.

Lord Wu is Xu Qing's golden signboard.

County Magistrate He was so hospitable in his hospitality, he must have something to ask of him, otherwise there would be no need for him to be so fawning.

Seeing that Xu Jieyuan was indeed as heroic as the rumors said, Magistrate He did not hide anything and said, "Mr. Jieyuan, I really have something to trouble you with. I heard that when Lord Wu was suppressing bandits in the southeast, it was Mr. Jieyuan who gave him advice behind the scenes. I believe Mr. Jieyuan has a lot of experience in suppressing bandits. The biggest problem in Xijiang Province is the large number of bandits. Don't be afraid of you laughing at me, but since I took office, there have been three cases of bandits coming to the vicinity of the county to collect money."

There are many bandits in Xijiang Province, which has been a problem that has plagued officials in Xijiang Province for decades.

This banditry has hindered everyone from making money.

Because there were many bandits, merchants were unwilling to come. Moreover, Xijiang Province was adjacent to Nanzhili, which had been the place where a large amount of overseas silver had been injected for many years. Looking at the white silver, Xijiang Province could not get much, so it would be a lie to say that the gentry were not anxious.

Xu Qing paused for a moment and asked, "Why are there so many bandits in your province?"

He Zhixian said: "The corvée labor in this province is indeed heavy. Although this province is not rich, the atmosphere of reading is no worse than that of Southern Zhili. However, supporting scholars is very hard and expensive, so..."

Xu Qing had to admit that reality was sometimes ridiculous, but it also made sense.

They became bandits to support their families to study, they studied to take the imperial examinations, they took the imperial examinations to become officials and make money, and in order to make money they had to exploit the common people who were similar to them. The common people couldn't bear it, so they went to the mountains to become bandits...

Xu Qing: "Since the root of the problem lies in corvée labor, don't you have any high-ranking officials in the court who would like to suggest reducing taxes in Xijiang Province?"

He is lying with open eyes.

However, there were some things that he could not say directly, and had to ask County Magistrate He to speak them out.

"Mr. Jie Yuan, you don't know that taxes can't be reduced just like that. Before Emperor Wanshou, a lot of land in this province was occupied by royal family members. But since Emperor Wanshou came to power, he has indeed imposed many restrictions on royal family members, and many illegal lands have been taken back, but..."

Xu Qing nodded when he heard this. Civil officials were very concerned about dealing with royal family members, because royal family members had little power, and dealing with them would have no consequences and would also help improve their reputation.

The old emperor restricted the royal family and took back the land, so of course the civil servants worked hard.

As the saying goes, it is better to let my friend die than to let me die. Moreover, for civil officials, members of the royal family are not even friends.

"But what?" Xu Qing asked when he saw that County Magistrate He had something to hide.

"Your Majesty loves Taoism, and the Tianshi Mansion is also the Yansheng Mansion of Taoism. Therefore, many of the lands recovered from the royal family were also occupied by the Tianshi Mansion."

Xu Qing certainly understood that these lands were tax-free.

The nobles and gentry lived a peaceful life because they had ordinary oxen and horses to carry their burdens.

So they would never allow cattle and horses to lie flat.

Therefore, the taxes that these guys in Xijiang Province did not pay were always paid by oxen and horses. Not only did they have to work hard to pay taxes and serve in the army, but even these taxes and labor services had to be shared by the gentry and nobles. No one knew how much would go into the national treasury.

Gee!

Xu Qing immediately thought that Xiao He was not honest and deliberately pointed out that Tianshi Mansion was the Taoist Yansheng Mansion.

What do you mean?

I don’t know. I, Xu, am known as the nemesis of Duke Yansheng?
Xu Qing was very perceptive and immediately caught Xiao He's flaws and asked him, "Master He, you must have prepared these words for a long time. I wonder who is behind them."

Magistrate He saw that Lord Jie Yuan was indeed a man of sharp eyes, and he said, "To be honest, Lord Jie Yuan, when I took the provincial examination, Lord Tai'a was my teacher."

No wonder!

Xu Qing knew that Xiao He definitely wanted to control the bandits, but he was afraid that the Prime Minister or the old emperor might also want to deal with the Tianshi Mansion behind the scenes.

What's more, as one of the two leaders of the Longmen Sect, the master of Chaotian Temple also plans to send his closed disciple Wei Yuan to Longhu Mountain.

When these things are connected together, the thread of events emerges.

"The Prime Minister wants me to deal with the Tianshi Mansion?"

"I don't know. I just received a letter from Grandpa Tai, telling me about the bandits in Xijiang Province and asking for advice from Grandpa Jieyuan."

Xu Qing asked, "Are there many believers among these bandits?"

"How does Mr. Jie Yuan know?"

Xu Qing suddenly realized that among these bandits, there might be quite a few soldiers from the Tianshi Mansion.

This is also an old tradition.

The Yellow Turban Sect, the Heavenly Master Sect... they are all experts!

But there was one thing Xu Qing couldn't understand. When Dongshan Province was in such chaos, why did the Prime Minister still have the mood to clean up the Tianshi Mansion?

In order not to offend the gentry and nobles all over the world, the Prime Minister would rather forcibly suppress the people of Dongshan Province.

Although the Tianshi Mansion cannot represent the gentry and nobles of the world, but at a time like this, it always feels a bit strange that something is wrong.

It was as if the Prime Minister was deliberately trying to instigate a rebellion.

Xu Qing had previously seen the weaknesses of the Prime Minister and the old emperor. At this moment, he felt that there must be some areas that he had not seen before.

"Is it to lure the snake out of its hole?" Xu Qing thought of the two martial saints in the Dayu Dynasty who had always been elusive.

As for these two legendary figures of the time, Xu Qing still has no confirmed news on whether they are still alive.

Their whereabouts are also mysterious.

After all, it was more than sixty years ago that he became a martial arts master.

Many details cannot be verified, not to mention that the court deliberately downplayed past events.

And Xu Qing didn't have their diaries. Maybe they didn't write diaries either. Not all of them were Yu Yangzi, who liked to write diaries!
If the two Martial Saints were still alive and were willing to help the Prime Minister and the old emperor to carry out reforms, then some things would make sense.

Xu Qing knew that if he wanted to make the reform more thorough, the key was to eliminate the people who created problems.

Therefore, since ancient times, great chaos will always be followed by great order.

In other words, clean the house before inviting guests!
On the other hand, the Tianshi Mansion and the Yanshenggong Mansion are the facades of Taoism and Confucianism, and can serve as a warning to others.

Xu Qing knew that people like the old emperor and the prime minister must understand that the sword is most intimidating when it is unsheathed.

Once the knife is drawn, the subsequent deterrent effect will be lost. Therefore, once the knife is drawn, blood must be drawn to obtain great benefits.

Actually, this matter is a bit against the rules.

Only when the rules are broken can we establish new ones.

Reform itself is about setting new rules.

After Xu Qing figured out these things, he naturally had to plan his own interests from them.

It seems that the civil uprising in Dongshan Province will end in a form he could not expect.

Moreover, the rebellion in Dongshan Province is getting bigger and bigger, which has brought trouble to the leader of Luojiao.

Originally it was just to light a fire, well, now it turns into burning myself, acting as a torch, and leading the way for the king!
This unlucky old guy!
Xu Qing felt no guilt at all for having betrayed the Luo Cult leader.

You have to choose your own path when you get involved. He didn't know at this moment that the red-haired Yan Kong and the other evil demons and the Luo Cult leader were eagerly preparing to make things bigger and bigger.

Well, the higher you stand, the harder you fall.

Xu Qing hoped that they would fall down hard.

"No wonder the old Taoist priest was so eager to invite me to the Luotian Grand Ceremony." Xu Qing finally understood the real reason why the old Taoist priest wanted to find him.

There must be other reasons, but this reason definitely accounts for a huge factor.

The old Taoist priest had actually foreseen that the imperial court was going to deal with the Tianshi Mansion?
After all, the invitation letter from Tianshi Mansion came before Xu Qing denounced Duke Yansheng.

Xu Qing also observed the terrain of Xijiang Province. The mountains there were suitable for hiding troops. The key point was that it was not only adjacent to Nanzhili, but also bordered Lingnan.

Xu Qing realized this was a great opportunity.

While suppressing the bandits, why couldn't he take this opportunity to continue to develop and expand his military strength?

On the other hand, the border between Xijiang Province and Lingnan is very suitable for hiding soldiers and training.

Eliminating bandits can also easily increase soldiers' combat experience.

Of course, he was also trying to protect himself.

Now the more the Prime Minister and the old emperor use him, the more afraid Xu Qing becomes.

Since ancient times, those who do dirty and tiring work have never had a good ending.

Even if Xu Qing doesn't consider himself, he has to consider his relatives and friends.

Of course, this was the price he paid for actively getting involved in the reform movement. But what could he do? If he hadn't gotten involved at that time, he wouldn't have achieved what he has today.

After all, if he doesn't work hard to improve himself, his short life is inevitable.

Continuously improve, increase strength, and there is a possibility of surviving death.

"If that day really comes, it will be you who force me to do it!" Xu Qing thought to himself.

The world is like this, there is nothing we can do about it.

Afterwards, Xu Qing and County Magistrate He roughly proposed a solution to the bandit problem, and Xu Qing mixed in his own private opinions, which was to train a group of elite soldiers first, so that they could easily eliminate the bandits.

Xu Gongming promoted talented people regardless of their relationship with him.

He recommended a military officer, whose full name was Xu Qing's uncle and whose nickname was Li Gongyu, saying that with this man training the troops, great things could be accomplished.

After all, if Lao Li gets promoted again, it will no longer be suitable for him to stay in Jiangning Prefecture.

After all, he is a local.

He was just a minor official before, so naturally he didn't need to care about these things.

Of course, the generals of the Nine Frontiers were different. However, these generals often could not sit in the highest military officer position in the Nine Frontiers, and the court would not give them this status.

County Magistrate He was naturally sensible. If he didn't invite Lord Li over, there would be no way the matter would be resolved.

And with Lord Li already here, why worry about Xu Jieyuan not being dedicated enough?

Being an official is also doing business, it’s all transactions.

Through this incident, County Magistrate He came into the sight of the Prime Minister and opened up the connection between heaven and earth.

However, whether he can rise rapidly depends on Xu Jieyuan.

The Prime Minister was the one who gave him a job, but Xu Jieyuan was the one who could keep him well fed.

After both parties finalized the agreement, both the host and the guests were naturally happy.

Then Xu Qing returned to the post station to rest.

When he was resting, his soul came to Su Lianqing's room.

Su Lianqing's soul also left her body immediately.

"Since this has happened, you don't have to come to the Tianshi Mansion with me. You should first investigate the matter of the bandits in Xijiang Province, especially which bandits are related to the Tianshi Mansion. This is the key point."

"only."

Xu Qing: "Intelligence is indeed our most important thing. I know these things are very hard and tiring. If you have any requests, just tell me directly."

He knew the importance of intelligence. The reason why Han Xin, the military genius, was invincible was closely related to his ability to use spies.

Su Lianqing is indeed good at intelligence work.

She said, "I can still handle it, but I have a bold suggestion. I don't know if I should say it."

"If you have anything, just ask."

"I think you should take more concubines."

"Oh, you have a point."

Of course Xu Qing understood what Su Lianqing meant. He had no adult children or siblings and only one wife, Feng Wu. To be honest, this was a disadvantage for him to unite with those forces close to him.

Isn’t it a reminder that Lord Zhou sent his daughter here?

The marriage relationship is also an invisible contractual guarantee.

Your blood is mixed with other people's blood, so naturally they will recognize you more deeply.

Of course, some families’ daughters cannot be concubines.

But for some forces, taking a concubine is enough.

It is indeed necessary to enrich the harem.

He now has some cognitive obstacles and is limited by his thinking from his previous life, so he didn't expect this.

Feng Wu naturally wouldn't mention it to him.

After all, she is a woman too.

Su Lianqing naturally would not consider Feng Wu.

Xu Qing pondered for a while, and then said: "After I go back, I will discuss this matter with my wife and make a decision. You can pay attention to it first. But if my wife disagrees, forget it."

He knew the benefits of this matter, but if Feng Wu didn't want to, he wouldn't force it.

After all, this disadvantage can be overcome with more effort.

Marriage is an important and useful means, but it is not necessary.

Xu Qing's spirit and soul then returned to their place, and he absorbed the power of the stars as usual, refining it into the Black Tortoise Star Gangsha, transforming it into sword Gang, and storing it in the three yin meridians of his hand.

There is another key to this Three Yin Demon-Slaying Sword, and that is the murderous intent of humanity.

The stronger the human murderous intent, the greater the power of the Three Yin Demon-Slaying Sword.

Xu Qing's fighting in the human world is also the key to continuously increasing the power of this magical power.

(End of this chapter)