Master Luo Cao

Kou Luoche wandered in the rivers and lakes and had no fixed place to live. Under Fu Yunshu's strong invitation, he naturally moved into the county magistrate's mansion. There was a courtyard across from the small county magistrate's room. When he looked up, he could see the opposite window.

He was a little reluctant to lie down on the comfortable tiger skin mattress in Qunying Village. He tossed and turned in the middle of the night, finally accumulating a little drowsiness, and suddenly woke up in a hazy moment.So he simply sat up, thinking about getting a glass of water to drink, but turned his head, only to find that the window of the little county magistrate's room was still lit.

Kou Luoche looked at it for a while, then put on his clothes and got up, held up the candlestick, shuffled his shoes, stepped across the corridor, and knocked three times on the door of the small county magistrate's room.

The voice of the small county magistrate came from inside, asking: "Who is it?"

Kou Luoche said, "Brother Fu, it's me."

The door creaked open from the inside, and Fu Yunshu stood behind the door, wearing a loose casual dress, looking at Kou Luoche in surprise, and asked, "Brother Kou, it's midnight, why are you still up?"

Kou Luoche said: "Brother Fu didn't sleep either?"

Fu Yunshu was taken aback, and shook his head with a wry smile, "I looked through the tax ledger before going to bed, and the more I looked at it, the more frightened I was, how could I sleep?"

"What's the matter?" While speaking, Kou Luoche had consciously stepped into Fu Yunshu's threshold, took the doorknob from him, closed the door with his backhand, and shut himself and Fu Yunshu in a brightly lit candle, "It was discovered that the former county magistrate was corrupt. deficit?"

Fu Yunshu shook his head and said, "If it's just a shortfall, then that's fine." After a pause, he sighed helplessly: "What surprised me is that Jiuhe County doesn't even have enough money to be shortfalled. " He tilted his head and smiled mockingly, "I originally speculated that the reason why Qian Yu was imprisoned was because of his excessive corruption, but I didn't expect him to be really wrong."

Kou Luoche raised his eyebrows and asked, "Qian Yu has never been corrupted?"

"If Jiuhe County originally had two cents, after Qian Yu's battle, only one cent is left." Fu Yunshu said: "From the perspective of the number, corruption is not too much, but Jiuhe County's little vitality left, Swallow half of it alive. Today's Jiuhe County has only a chance of survival."

Only the bandits.

Kou Luoche knew the thoughts of the small county magistrate, so he said along with him: "If Jiuhe County's current strength is used to send troops to suppress the bandits, there is a high probability that they will return without success."

"It's not nine times out of ten," Fu Yunshu shook his head, "it's ten out of ten, and it's fine to return without success. What I'm afraid of is that not only will we get nothing, but we will lose our troops. You wrote in the article on bandit suppression, if you want to suppress A bandit must first enrich the people, and if the people are poor, there is no teacher to send out, no soldiers to send... Brother Kou," Fu Yunshu looked up at Kou Luoche, his eyes sparkling, reflecting the flickering of the candle, "you have traveled here for a long time , is there any good strategy to strengthen the army and enrich the people?"

Kou Luoche asked: "Before the county magistrate took office, did he ever visit privately in casual clothes? Can you know how a certain villager in a certain township in Jiuhe County is like? Can you know what kind of crops are planted in various places? How is the harvest? Which village is richer? And why is it rich?"

"I..." Fu Yunshu was left speechless when asked.

Kou Luoche said: "Because Jiuhe County is poor, even though Qunying Village is only a few miles outside the county on Jindiao Mountain, the bandits in the village don't bother to visit. The people in the county dare not go out to do business because they are afraid of bandits, but Because the bandits have never come to disturb the people, they are lucky and do not think about making progress. In the long run, the bandits are always there, but the people are always poor-what the county owner should do is to break this deadlock."

"But... But, in Jiuhe County, the land is barren, there is no special product, and there is nothing..." Fu Yunshu tried to explain in a low voice, and at the end, he gradually lost his voice, and after a moment of silence, he said: "It's me Neglect of duty, since I took over the post, I have consciously thought about it for a long time and prepared a lot, but in fact it is nothing more than talking on paper—how can I know the truth if I have not seen it with my own eyes?"

Kou Luoche said: "Even if you see it with your own eyes, it doesn't necessarily mean that seeing it is believing it."

Fu Yunshu suddenly raised his head to look at him.Kou Luoche smiled softly, put his hands on Fu Yunshu's shoulders, and said, "Before you entered Jiuhe County, you met a bandit on the road. When your life is at stake, you should protect your life. After taking office , There are so many trivial matters in the county government, and there is no time to take care of others, this is also a common thing, you don't need to blame yourself too much."

Fu Yunshu looked at him and murmured: "Brother Kou..."

Kou Luoche said: "Whether it is to suppress bandits or enrich the people, it is not something that can be achieved overnight. When you are free, I will accompany you to turn around the Jiuhe, but the most important thing right now is," Kou Luoche pushed Fu Yunshu took a few steps back and gently pressed him to sit on the bed, "Get a good sleep first."

Blowing out the candles and closing the door, the originally brightly lit room instantly fell into darkness.

Fu Yunshu huddled in the bed alone. It was spring day and the night was cool, but his cheeks were hot for some reason. Together with the shoulders touched by Kou Luoche, they were burning like dry grass covered with sparks.He lay quietly on his back, listened carefully with his ears up, and finally heard a faint sound of the door opening and closing, quietly propped himself up and looked out, the lights in the opposite room were only on for a while, and then went out quickly.As if he had settled something on his mind, he breathed a sigh of relief, and lay down again. After lying down for a long time, he finally couldn't hold back, and pulled the quilt over his head, plunging himself into complete darkness.

After roughly finishing the matter at hand, Fu Yunshu summoned the two main forces of the county government, and expressed his intention to obey the inspection and the people's sentiments.

Xu Meng said in amazement: "Your Excellency, you don't need to be so anxious when you first arrived in Jiuhe. Although there are restrictions on the county gate, if bandits from outside the county insist on entering, they are still hard to guard against. Even if you are in the county, it is not safe. Sir, you have a noble status. , must not put yourself in danger!"

Zhao Ciji didn't quite agree with it either, and persuaded: "It's a good thing for adults to be sympathetic to the people, but it's not in a hurry. This matter should be considered in the long term."

Although Fu Yunshu has never experienced the ups and downs of the officialdom, but he grew up in the prime minister's mansion, he has been influenced by his ears and eyes since he was a child, and he also knows the rules of this dynasty.Leaning back and leaning on the back of the chair, Fu Yunshu tapped the fingers of his left hand back and forth on the armrest twice, and said lightly: "Xia Fu will be collected in August, and now there are still three months left."

Xu Xiancheng and Zhao Xianwei immediately fell silent.

Fu Yunshu asked: "How far is our county short of the number set by the magistrate?"

The two bowed their heads in silence like a quail.

Fu Yunshu smiled lightly, "Don't the two adults know?"

Xu Meng hesitated and said, "It's... still halfway."

"If it's only half, I wouldn't be so anxious." Fu Yunshu looked at Xu Meng with cold eyes, and said, "Xia Fu will be handed in soon, but my county is still two-thirds short!" The index finger of his left hand unconsciously He began to rub repeatedly on the armrest, "Sometimes the county thinks that the group of eagle villages that have been entrenched in Jiangbei for many years must have a rich family background. If they can be wiped out in one fell swoop, our county will have no worries about tax revenue this year..."

Xu Meng and Zhao Ciji immediately dissuaded, "My lord, please think again!"

Before they delivered a long speech, Fu Yunshu waved his hand to signal them to shut up, and then said: "I know the strength of our county's troops, and I will not do things that are too hot-headed to hit a stone with a pebble. Putting aside the bandits to enrich the people and the bandits for the time being, as for This rich man..." He raised his eyes and landed on the two who lowered their heads below, "What do you two adults think now?"

Xu Meng was silent for a long time, then cupped his hands and said: "Your Excellency loves the people like a son, and I will bow down to you as an official."

Fu Yunshu looked at Zhao Ciji.

Speaking of this county lieutenant Zhao, he is in charge of public security, burglary, prisons, etc. in Jiuhe County. He acts seriously and rigorously. He is not very enthusiastic and flattering to Fu Yunshu, but he has always obeyed the orders of the county magistrate, and has few objections. He never thought that Xu Meng would compromise now. Instead, he said: "Even if my lord sets out immediately, and the March period is approaching in a blink of an eye, it may not be possible to find any good ways to get rich, and it is still difficult to get Xia Fu together."

"If we don't make up the Xia Fu this time, the county will write a letter to the magistrate to plead guilty. I believe that the magistrate is sympathetic to the people and should be able to forgive this time. But what if the tax is still not enough next time?" Fu Yunshu stared at Zhao Ci without blinking. Ji, said: "Staying in the county government's Sifang Tiandi does not change anything. As a Jiuhe parent official, I have to go out and see for myself one day."

Under Fu Yunshu's watchful eyes, Zhao Ciji finally compromised, saying: "Thanks to my lord's instruction, I understand."

Fu Yunshu said: "It's good to understand, you go down, Mr. Kou and I will leave immediately, and in the next few days, the important matters in the county government will be entrusted to you." When mentioning the name of that person, Fu Yunshu couldn't help but slightly Looking sideways, looking towards the screen behind him, Kou Luoche is standing there.

When Xu Meng and Zhao Ciji walked past the screen as they retreated, Kou Luoche smiled politely and gave them a little salute.Although Xu and Zhao returned the gift, their gazes were not kind, like an upright and loyal courtier meeting a seductive concubine who seduces the king, their gazes were like knives, wishing they could gouge out a good piece of flesh from him every time they glanced.

Kou Yaoji didn't realize it, left the two of them aside, walked straight to Fu Yunshu, stood still in front of him, and said with a smile: "I didn't know that when the county magistrate still has such eloquent teeth, I can teach you to open my eyes."

Looking at the smile at the corner of his mouth, Fu Yunshu somehow remembered the scene where he was held hostage by bandits that day and he had no choice but to yell for help to attract Kou Luoqi. It's only in the verbal disputes that you can show your skills, so if something unexpected happens during this trip, you still have to trouble Brother Kou."

Apart from looking across the courtroom that day, this was the first time Kou Luoche saw Fu Yunshu in official uniform.He originally thought that Fu Yunshu was young and immature, and his official uniform was dignified and majestic, and he would be a little overwhelmed, but now it seems that the light blue government office against the delicate and gentle eyebrows and eyes, on the contrary exudes a spring breeze.

Maybe it was because he stared for a little longer, but Fu Yunshu couldn't help asking: "What are you looking at, Brother Kou?"

Kou Luoche replied sincerely: "Brother Fu is very suitable for this official uniform."

What he said was only a literal meaning, and it fell into Fu Yunshu's ears, and it might have become another meaning. Fu Yunshu nodded vigorously, opened his mouth, and said, "I will definitely live up to what Brother Kou said."