Huan Rong

In June of the third year of Taihe, the envoys of Diren and Murong Xianbei arrived in Luozhou successively and entered the jurisdiction of Wubao of the Qin family.

Before that, Fu Jian sent troops twice, Murong Xianbei was not to be outdone, and fought several battles in succession, winning and losing each other.

The defeated soldiers flee and wreak havoc, while the victors plunder.The Han people suffered, and some Hu tribes were not spared either.For example, Yumei, Shangyu and other counties and counties close to the battlefield are deserted for hundreds of miles, and deserted Wubao villages can be found everywhere.

Under the scorching sun, the scattered corpses of the people and the bones of cattle and sheep gradually dried up, and desolate scenes can be seen everywhere.

Natural disasters and man-made disasters struck at the same time, and the counties and counties controlled by the Qin family became places for the people to flee.

In addition to the people of the Han family, many Hu people also brought their cattle and sheep property, and moved their tribes to Xihe County and the vicinity of Luoxian County in Luozhou. territory.

Because of the increasing number of people migrating, a strange "prosperity" appeared in Qin's Wubao.Small markets were also set up in nearby counties and counties, attracting fearless merchants from the Western Regions and Tuyuhun, which can be called a unique phenomenon in troubled times.

The Di people's envoy was sent by Wang Meng, and the one from Xianbei was Murong Liang's brother, Murong She, the king of Yuyang.

The two teams entered Luozhou, but before arriving at Qinshiwubao, they first clashed fifty miles outside Luoyang.More than a dozen Di people were killed or injured, and Murong Xianbei was also in decline. Murong She was the first to charge and was almost cut off by the Di people.

The two sides did not give in to each other, almost fighting while walking, and finally alarmed Qin's Wubao. Qin Jing personally led the troops to "go out" and almost took all the gold and silver treasures brought by the two warring parties as spoils of war.

"Misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

The official led by the Di people was a Han Chinese, and because he was appreciated by Wang Meng, he was highly valued in front of Fu Jian.He had never met Qin Jing before, but he knew the name of the Qin clan's lord, so he got out of the car and saluted first, and everyone in the entourage did not leave, lest they really fall under the sword of the other party.

Murong She is not an idiot, seeing Di Ren's style, he also knows that this person is not easy to mess with.With a snort through his nostrils, he got off his horse and clasped his fists at Qin Jing, saying, "Little Wang Murong She, heroes are polite!"

Murong's appearance is very different from that of Han people, and also different from most Hu people, with fair skin, deep facial features, and thick beard and hair on men, more like people from the Western Regions in the far west.Murong She was even more so.With a beard on his face, he speaks nondescript Chinese, and his words are very awkward.

Qin Jing immediately returned the salute, attracting several eyes from the opposite side.Then the horse turned around, and the visitor went to Wubao.

Along the way, the team passed through three small markets and encountered several businessmen from the Western Regions.

The Di official frowned deeply, looking at Qin Jing's back with fear.The eyes of Murong Shetong's generals and soldiers widened. They never thought that the nearby prefectures and counties are battlefields, and this place is so prosperous.

"Please."

After passing through the two gates, there is a stone road in front of you.There are high walls on both sides. If Qin Jing has murderous intentions in his heart, as long as he ambush the archers, dozens of people present will turn into hedgehogs.

The Xianbei people and the Di people subconsciously gathered together, looking around vigilantly.

Qin Jing never made a sound, and the servants who followed showed mockery, looking at the barbarian who entered Wubao, like a tiger staring at a herd of deer.

The Diren official walked two steps quickly, trying to speak, but Qin Jing ignored him at all, walked into the last wooden door, dumped him to the director of Wubao, went to Murong Liang's place by himself, and continued to discuss with the other party about getting pearls. Substitution.

Seeing the teams of both sides, Qin Jing already knew that Xianbei was rich and powerful, far surpassing the Di people.The so-called high price wins, [-]% of Murong Liang will be bought back by Murong She.

As for whether the Di people would rob halfway, that's not what he should care about.

Just like this war that started over Shancheng, the Di people underestimated Murong Xianbei's strength, and the battle that they thought would be victorious fell into a stalemate.

Even if Murong Xianbei couldn't win, the Di people still couldn't take advantage of it. At most, they seized a few counties, provoked them from time to time, and waited for an opportunity to launch another conquest.

If Murong Xianbei could learn his lesson and end the internal strife as soon as possible, he would be able to suppress the Di people and force Fu Jian to back down.If not, wait for the Di people to recharge their energy and store up their energy, and send out troops with all their strength, the day of Murong's demise is not far away.

Thinking of this, Qin Jing immediately decided to try to persuade Murong Liang to replace more members of the Han family.Strive to expand strength in the shortest possible time, in case of future.

Murong Liang still doesn't know that he has been quoted a high price of "[-] gold" and has the potential to continue to appreciate in value.Seeing Qin Jing appearing, his eyes lit up immediately, and he took the initiative to go forward.

At the same time, Huan Rong and his party headed north along the Zhongdu River, passing through several small counties and villages where refugees gathered, and getting closer to Yandu.

On the way, the convoy encountered two groups of bandits and was almost ambushed.Fortunately, there was no danger, no loss of property, and more than 30 thieves were captured by the government army sent by Xi Cishi.

"Mr. Lang, these thieves will cause trouble for a long time, it is better to kill them!" The accompanying officials suggested.

Huan Rong shook his head, picked up the bamboo fan and shook it lightly, looked at the prisoners walking outside the car, and rejected the officials' suggestion three times.

"Thieves are certainly hateful, but they only robbed money and did not kill people. Only by taking Yandu and punishing them according to the law can we warn other bandits and inform the people. The government will never be lenient in punishing bandits. .”

These remarks seem reasonable, but in fact they are very far-fetched.

The bandit was captured in Sheyang County, so it's time to hand it over to the Sheyang County magistrate.However, Huan Rong has to spend a lot of time to bring it back to Yandu County, and it's hard to say what his intention is.

The official was puzzled, but Huan Rong had no intention of answering, just smiled.

When the other party left, Huan Rong leaned against the wall of the car, took out Xi Yin's letter and read it carefully, and gained a deeper understanding of the powerful people in Yandu County, and felt more and more that the strength at hand was not enough.

He has personally interrogated, and most of these bandits are farmers, who were forced to go to the mountains and fall grass.If it can be used, it may not become a force.

If it really doesn't work, it's better to be fined to farm in the field and get more food than to chop it up with a knife.

Ah Mi sent honey water, remembering what Princess Nankang said, she couldn't help sighing secretly.Mr. Lang is really kind-hearted, if he can't think of a way, he may suffer in the future.

"Lang Jun, we will arrive at Yandu in half a day, so we need to be prepared in advance."

"Preparation?" Huan Rong looked up from the letter.

"There is a powerful Chen family in the local area, whose ancestor is Chen Kongzhang, a talented scholar in Jian'an. Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the Chen family has been cooking salt for business. The tree in Yandu has deep roots and cannot be easily shaken. There are more than [-] officials in the county, half of them are from Chen and his in-laws."

Huan Rong blinked, comparing the list in Xi Yin's letter, he couldn't help taking a breath.

What is a ground snake?

This is!

"In the past, Yandu often changed county magistrates. Could it be related to the Chen family?"

Ah Mi said that there was no evidence, but his expression told Huan Rong that his guess was very likely.

Speechless for two seconds, Huan Rong gritted his molars hard.

He knows it!

With the character of a scumbag father, how could he be sent to Xi's territory for no reason, to give him an extra layer of "protective umbrella", and it turned out that he was waiting for him here!

The Chen family is not an overseas Chinese surname, but a branch of the Wu surname.The family thought that cooking salt was their business, so one can imagine how rich they would be.

Why Xi Yin didn't move them, I can't think about it for the time being.But Huan Rong knew in his heart that if he wanted to master Yandu, a family like the Chen family would definitely be a lot of resistance.

The other party does not make trouble, but still has time to plan slowly and work out a path of "harmonious coexistence and common development".Once you take the initiative to come to the door, if you want to avoid being killed, you must cut the mess quickly and pull it out as quickly as possible.

Considering the previous situation, the possibility of "peaceful coexistence" is infinitely close to zero.Otherwise, the county magistrates of Yandu would not be replaced by two in three years and three in five years, and two of them "violently died" in office.

However, with his current strength, it is not easy to cut through the mess quickly.Without a think tank, without force value, is it possible to smash it with gold and pearls?

"Difficult!"

Huan Rong pinched his forehead, he really felt a headache.

"Prepare a generous gift." After thinking about it, Huan Rong decided not to confront it head-on for the time being, "After arriving in Yandu, send someone to the Chen family's residence."

It is really impossible to think of a way after the ceremony.When necessary, Huan Da Sima's banner can be carried.After all, the scumbag still owes him

a debt.

Calculating the time, the messenger should have arrived at Gushu, right?

Ah Mi poured another cup of honey water, picked up the palm fan and shook it gently.

Thinking of the story of Xinhui Pukui, Huan Rong wanted to sigh even more.

If you don't go out, you don't know that the road is difficult, and if you don't become an official, you don't know that the official career is difficult.Thinking about Xie An's celebrity effect, and looking at himself now, it's really hard to describe.

No matter how far the road is, it will come to an end.

In the evening, the convoy finally arrived at Yandu County.

Hearing the guard's report, Huan Rong pushed open the car window, glanced at the scene outside the window, immediately frowned, and turned to the guard in front of the car, with three large characters all over his face: Are you kidding me?

Yandu is an ancient county, which was divided from Sheyang County in the Western Han Dynasty.From the Han Dynasty, Cao Wei Dynasty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, salt cooking pavilions were set up all over the area, and the waterways extended in all directions, and nine out of ten of the rivers were salt boats.

In Huan Rong's impression, Yandu is not as prosperous as Jiankang, at least it should be on par with Jingkou. What's going on with this scene?

A county town does not even have a city wall, the city gate is just two stone piers, the salt pavilions passing by are covered with weeds, the houses in the city are scattered and dilapidated, and the paddy fields outside the city are uncultivated. How can this be explained?

"Is this place really salty?"

"Mr. Hui, it is true." The government army was not at all surprised that Huan Rong would ask this question, and immediately replied, "During the Su Jun Rebellion, Jiankang was robbed by bandits, and Yandu was also robbed several times. Bandits are plundered here. The most serious thing is that it has been deserted since the chaos, and only fifteen li east of the city is where the common people live, and the refugee villages are further away."

After some explanation from the government army, Huan Rong came to a sudden realization, and immediately ordered the convoy to go east.

Passing by an abandoned building, Huan Rong couldn't help sighing when he knew that it used to be the location of the county government.He also heard from A Mi that most of the fields given to him by Princess Nankang were nearby, so Huan Rong didn't speak for a while.

"Isn't Mom preparing fields?"

"Nature is a field." A Mi explained, "It's just that it hasn't been cultivated for many years and needs to be recultivated."

Huan Rong: "..."

"Lang Jun, this is the land of the Wu surname. It is not easy to get ten hectares of the upper field and fifteen hectares of the middle field in a hurry."

"I know." Huan Rong rubbed his face, looked at the dilapidated houses passing by, took a deep breath, and said, "I also own these houses?"

Ami nodded.

"Okay." Huan Rong pushed open the car door and said loudly, "Stop!"

"Lang Jun?"

The government army and guards didn't understand what he meant, seeing Huan Rong push the car door, fearing that his foot would miss, they hurriedly pulled the reins, and the convoy stopped immediately.

"What are your orders, Mr. Lang?"

"Don't go to the east of the city." Huan Rong bent down and walked out of the carriage, stood on the shaft, and ordered, "Clean up the county office, clean up the houses, and stay here!"

"Are you tired, Mr. Lang? I want to rest for a while. The servants can build a wooden pavilion, which is far better than these old houses."

Huan Rong shook his head.

"Since I am the magistrate of Yandu County, I should live in the county government office. If you follow me, you should also live here forever."

What? !

The government army will return to Jingkou sooner or later, and forget it after being surprised.The guards and healthy servants were all stunned, looking at the crumbling earth-walled wooden house, and then at the resolute face of their own husband, they collectively lost their voices.

What are you going to do, sir?

Before they could figure it out, Huan Rong ordered Ah Mi to open the box and fetch some cloth and a small amount of coins from the market. He ordered the health servant to go to the east of the city to trade with the government army, and recruited the local people to come to the west of the city.

"It is stated that to build a county government house, one meal a day, and after fifteen days, you can receive cloth or copper coins."

"promise!"

The healthy servant took the order, emptied the two carts, led the way by the familiar government army, and disappeared among the vines with a whip.

Huan Rong jumped down from the chariot and asked the officials about the general layout of the county government, and then ordered the servants to clear out two or three courtyards as resting places for the time being.

Hearing the movement, people came out of the dilapidated house one after another. They were all unkempt and ragged.

Knowing that it was the new magistrate of Yandu County, everyone's expressions were still numb, only when the health servant took out the dry food, their eyes lit up, they swallowed unconsciously, and their Adam's apple rolled up and down.

The health servant brought a man forward to answer the question. Huan Rong saw that his face was covered with mud, his frame was tall, but he was so thin that he was almost out of shape. He immediately handed out half a bowl of water and a plate of dry food, and asked, "You are from Yandu County." ?”

The man didn't reply, he just grabbed the grain cakes on the plate, swallowed them in two or three mouthfuls, then picked up the water bowl and drank it all in one gulp, licking his lips like aftertaste, and said hoarsely: "I wait for the ancestral home of Nanpi, Bohai Sea, to cross the river in case of war, All the family property I brought was plundered by bandits, and I just ended up here."

"Hearing your words, you must have read a book?"

The man nodded, took the cloth towel from the boy, and wiped off the dirt on his face. His facial features were profound, and he was extraordinarily handsome and young.

"Hui Langjun, my servant's great-grandfather was surnamed Shi, who used to be the prefect of Yangping. The servant and his family were separated, and the whole family was imprisoned by the Hu people. In order to save the lives of the family, they had to be officials under the tent of the Hu people. Later, when a good opportunity was encountered, they provoked civil strife in the tribe. I was lucky enough to escape Nandu."

At this point, the man's expression became more and more ashamed.

Associating with Hu people is a stain that will never be erased. Even if there are people from his clan in Jiankang, he dare not come to recognize his relatives.

Huan Rong continued to ask, and the man continued to answer, without hiding anything.Finally, it was revealed that the surname of his great-grandfather's brother was Shi Mingchong, who was the Dahao of the Western Jin Dynasty who fought for wealth with Wang Kai!

"you sure?"

"Back to Lord Lang, how dare I speak falsely about my ancestors."

In other words, in the present age, no one would mistakenly recognize their ancestors except for ulterior motives.

Looking at Shi Shao in front of him, Huan Rong swallowed with difficulty, and suddenly realized that his fortunes were changing, and after he was extremely unlucky, he finally started to pick up treasures.