Chapter 93: The rich are living in luxury, but the poor are dying on the streets

Outside the Lu County Governor's office,

countless people knelt on the roadside, not to seek justice, but to keep Cui Heng.

At this time, more than ten days had passed since Wang Qinghe and Xie Beixing were hung on the flagpole of the city gate tower.

Cui Heng's letter to the governors of each county had long been known to everyone.

The people of Lu County City naturally knew about it.

So, starting three days ago, people would gather outside the governor's office to petition, hoping that Cui Heng could stay as the governor of Lu County.

Although the people lived and worked in peace and contentment when Liu Litao was the governor, everything is afraid of comparison.

After Cui Heng came here, he beat the local tyrants and divided the land. He also cleaned up all the merchants, families, and sects that oppressed the people. The living standards of the people have risen by many levels.

Any normal person would hope that the place where they live will always be managed by an official like Cui Heng.

In the county governor's office.

Liu Litao reported helplessly: "Your Excellency's grace is as great as the sea, and the people cannot bear to let you leave. May I ask how should this matter be handled?"

Cui Heng was still looking at the map of the thirteen counties of Fengzhou, and smiled: "You are the county magistrate, you should have some ideas."

Liu Litao was silent for a moment after hearing this, and nodded: "Your Excellency has a keen eye, and I have indeed thought of a way."

Cui Heng nodded lightly and said: "Tell me."

Liu Litao said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency, what the people are worried about is nothing more than that after you leave, other county magistrates will be replaced, and those who have been purged will counterattack and ruin their current hard-earned life.

"As long as the people know that even if you leave Lu County, your eyes will still be on this place, and the previously issued decrees will continue to be implemented here, the people should be able to rest assured. "What you mean is... "

Cui Heng thought for a moment and chuckled, "Even if I become the governor of Fengzhou, I should not give up the jurisdiction over Lu County?"

"Sir, this is what the people want." Liu Litao bowed and asked, "After you become the governor of Fengzhou, can you follow the system of governors at the beginning of the founding of the Jin Dynasty and set up Lu County directly under the jurisdiction of Changfengzhou Prefecture?" "

Changfeng Prefecture is Changfeng County, the capital of Fengzhou and the location of the Fengzhou Mu's office.

If Lu County is set as a direct jurisdiction of the prefecture, there is no need to set up a county governor. It

is only necessary to retain the county magistrate and the commander to handle political and military affairs, and at the same time send an official directly under the prefecture to regularly inspect the entire army and report back to the prefecture.

This situation is similar to the prefect at the beginning of the establishment of the Jin Dynasty, who was also called the prefectural governor.

At that time, the world was just beginning to settle down, and in order to divide local powers, the court divided the thirteen states of the world into 241 counties, which were independent and equal.

The central government would regularly send inspectors to inspect local government affairs, and then report the inspection results to the court, so as to maintain direct jurisdiction over local government and military affairs. .

At that time, the territory of a state was just a patrol area. The governor of a state did not have direct administrative and military power, and did not even have an official office. He could only visit and record everywhere, and had to report back to the court regularly.

The patrol area was not fixed, and the place had to be changed every year.

The mountains were high and the roads were long, the boats and carriages were tiring, the power was small, the welfare was poor, and they were real coolies.

However, this situation only lasted for a few decades before it was interrupted.

Because each county was independent and local power was too dispersed, it was simply impossible to resist the often rising righteous armies, nor could it suppress the major sects and families. Therefore, the Jin court could only change the governor of a state to a governor of a state, and allowed him to open a government office, recruit subordinates, and manage the military and political power of a state.

"In ancient times, there were governors patrolling a state, but there was no special case of a governor sending a governor to patrol a county. Cui Heng smiled and did not object. After thinking for a while, he said, "We can set up a post to patrol the counties and prefectures, which is called 'Fujun'. Who do you think can be appointed,

County Prime Minister Liu?" "Of course it is Chen Fuxian." Liu Litao understood Cui Heng's meaning as soon as he heard the name of the post.

And Hui Shi is indeed the most suitable.

Hui Shi is now serving as the governor of 17 Fuxians. If he had not been temporarily sent out by Cui Heng to deliver a letter, he would probably have served as the governor of 21 Fuxians in the county.

In order to implement Cui Heng's new policies in various counties, Hui Shi has offended all the families, sects, and merchants in the county, and many of them have been offended. The host's family has dolls with Hui Shi's name on them, secretly cursing him every day.

There is absolutely no room for easing.

In fact, if Liu Litao hadn't known that Hui Shi was the sharpest knife in Cui Heng's hand, he would have wanted to persuade Cui Heng to appoint Hui Shi as the governor of Lu County.

The people would definitely not object.

After all, Hui Shi had long been in irreconcilable opposition to those who wanted to fight back, and the fight would not end until one side died.

"Hui Shi is indeed a good candidate." Cui Heng nodded slightly, "Now that the county has been decided, there must be a county magistrate. You have to choose carefully during this period of time." "

County magistrate? "Liu Litao was stunned when he heard this, wasn't he the county magistrate? However, he reacted quickly and said in surprise, "Sir, are you going to take your subordinates to Changfeng Prefecture?"

"I'll take you there after I choose my successor." Cui Heng chuckled, "The governor must have an assistant to help with government affairs. You have done a good job in recent days. By the way, tell Chen Tong to find a successor to the commander-in-chief."

"Thank you, sir! "Liu Litao knelt down on the spot excitedly, his whole body trembling with excitement. He never dreamed that he would have the opportunity to be a governor of a state in his life.

The governor of a state has many main subordinates, and the most important of them is the governor who is in charge of the history. He assists the governor in managing the political affairs of a state, and his authority and status are extremely high.

If we only consider the territory and authority under jurisdiction, the current governor of a state would even surpass the prime minister of a kingly and hegemonic country during the chaos among the various countries a thousand years ago!

"There is no need to do so. How well you do it depends on you." Cui Heng waved his hand and asked with a smile, "By the way, where is Huishi's letter now?"

"Sir, this morning Chenfu County sent someone back to report on the progress and said that the letter had been delivered to eleven counties. "Liu Litao said respectfully, "There are only Luoan County and Changfeng Prefecture left to be delivered."

"So, he should go to Luoan County next." Cui Heng thought for a moment and then laughed, "I remember that the Luoan County Magistrate is called Ren Yuankui, and it is said that he has won the support of two of the seven famous families?"

There are two necessary conditions for succeeding as governor.

The first is to gain the support of two of the seven famous families, or to have the support of one of Daoyi Palace and Baolin Zen Temple, and the second is that another current governor needs to come to the platform to express support.

This means that Ren Yuankui now only needs to get the support of a governor before he can follow the normal procedures to succeed Fengzhou Governor.

"Yes, sir." Liu Litao nodded and said, "Ren Yuankui is very good at making connections. He has very good relationships with major families, sects, and merchants. It is said that he has already started negotiating with several governors, hoping to gain support from them."

"If you want to get the support of other governors, I'm afraid it's not unconditional." Cui Heng smiled.

"I heard that they want to use the taxes of all the people in Fengzhou as a bargaining chip." Liu Litao was well-informed, "It's just that they haven't reached an agreement on the distribution ratio, so it has been delayed."

"Tsk tsk, using the taxes of the people of a state as a bargaining chip." Cui Hengzhu turned his head and looked in the direction of Luoan County, sneering, "This is really a deal without capital!"

...

Luoan County was once the richest place in Fengzhou, and even served as the capital of Fengzhou in the previous dynasty.

Although it has lost its former glory, it is also the place with the second strongest military power among the thirteen counties of Fengzhou, second only to Changfengzhou Prefecture.

When the former governor Cao Quan was still alive, Ren Yuankui, the governor of Luoan, was a bit arrogant and ignored the governor's order to fight against the Yan rebels.

This directly led to the Yan rebels being unstoppable for a long time, and they quickly captured several large counties.

A few months ago, Cao Quan was assassinated and the Yan rebels were defeated. Ren Yuankui became determined and began to desperately contact major forces. After paying a considerable price, he finally won the support of the Ye family in Jiangnan and the Jiang family in Nanhe.

Next, as long as he gets the support of another current governor, he can become the governor of Fengzhou as he wished.

In order to realize his dream, Ren Yuankui now holds banquets at home almost every day, either to entertain envoys from major forces or to welcome people sent by other governors.

Of course, the most grand banquet is definitely when entertaining the concubines sent by other governors or even the governors themselves.

For example, today.

Wei Xiong, the concubine of Youzhou Governor, came to discuss with Ren Yuankui the matter of recommending Fengzhou Governor.

This is the third negotiation.

According to custom, as long as the result of this negotiation can make both parties more or less satisfied, the matter can basically be settled.

Therefore, Ren Yuankui attaches great importance to it.

The banquet prepared three cattle and sheep, twelve kinds of candied fruits, sixteen kinds of melons and fruits, nine kinds of rare wild birds, various native game such as monkeys, snakes, rabbits, and countless fine wines.

The whole banquet hall was filled with the aroma of wine and meat.

Even if more than a hundred people were invited to this kind of banquet, it would be more than enough and they might not be able to finish it.

But in fact, the "guests" were only Luoan County Magistrate Ren Yuankui and Youzhou Bieji Wei Xiong.

Of course, there were also 72 musicians playing music on the side, and 24 young girls in gauze swaying and dancing at the table.

However, they were not qualified to taste the delicacies at the banquet.

Wei Xiong was over 60 years old, but he was still strong. He was a big man nearly nine feet tall with a beard.

He didn't look like a civil official, but more like a military general.

He squinted his eyes to admire the graceful figures of the young dancers, pointed at two of them and said with a smile, "Sir Ren, these two are good. Send them to my room to play with in the evening."

"Haha, as long as you want, even if you want all of them, it's all fine!" Ren Yuankui laughed, "These are all the chicks we carefully selected. Each of them is in their twenties and has never been in the rain."

"No, no, I'm old, so I won't show off." Wei Xiong's eyes swept over the half-covered bodies of the girls, shook his head and said, "If you were ten years younger, I would definitely fight you to my heart's content, haha!"

"Don't be ridiculous, you are still at an age of vigor and vitality." Ren Yuankui poured Wei Xiong a glass of wine and flattered him, "You must be majestic."

"Haha, I just like listening to you talk. Okay, I'll add two more girls." Wei Xiong laughed and ordered two more young dancers. Suddenly he changed the subject, "But, fun is fun, don't think that you can use these to ask me to help you bargain with the Governor of Shenzhou."

The Governor of Shenzhou is the Governor of Youzhou, Shen Yu.

"Of course, of course." Ren Yuankui nodded repeatedly, then lowered his voice and asked, "Don't drive, what does the Governor of Shenzhou mean, has it been decided?"

"Hey, I've been waiting for you to ask." Wei Xiong took a sip of wine and said with a smile, "The tax rate for Fengzhou's one prefecture and twelve counties will be 30% for ten years. Lu County is rich, so we should add an additional 20%. How about it?"

"This..." Ren Yuankui's brows jumped when he heard it, and he smiled bitterly, "Don't drive, you know, I have already distributed 40% of Fengzhou's tax rates in order to win the support of the Ye and Jiang families. If I distribute another 30%..."

"Haha, Governor Ren, don't hide it from me." Wei Xiong sneered, "I don't believe that you won't increase the tax rate after you take office. The taxes we have set now are all based on the current taxes!

"Even if you give out 100%, as long as you double the tax rate for these peasants after you become the governor of Fengzhou, won't you earn it all back?"

"Don't worry, if the tax is too heavy, the people will rebel!" Ren Yuankui still had a bitter look on his face.

"Fuck you, are you pretending to be a caring official for me now?" Wei Xiong laughed and scolded, "There are people starving to death on the roadside every day in your county town, and no one rebels."

"This, hehe..." Ren Yuankui was speechless. In fact, under his rule, in order to ensure the army's expenses, countless people had already starved to death.

"When I came, Governor Shen told me. "Wei Xiong immediately came up with a killer move," If you can't negotiate here, let me ask the governor of Lu County. "

"Find Cui Heng?!" Ren Yuankui's eyes widened when he heard it, and he stood up, "How can we find him? This guy is promoting decrees in the counties under his jurisdiction, forcibly buying up the property of major forces at 10% of the market price. If we let him become the governor, we will all have a hard time.

"And he also flooded the Wang-Xie coalition, captured Wang Qinghe and Xie Beixing, and offended the Wang family of Langya and the Xie family of Pingshan. How can we let him be the governor? No, absolutely not."

Although after the defeat of the Wang-Xie coalition, all the counties in Fengzhou sent spies to investigate and found out the truth, that is, the county governor Cui Heng used his great magical powers to kill all the tens of thousands of Wang-Xie coalition troops, and there were large rivers and lakes as evidence, but not many people believed it.

Because it was too incredible, it was completely challenging people's common sense cognition. At most, some people were skeptical, and more people thought that it was a trap set in advance using the terrain to flood the army.

This kind of extremely outrageous thing is hard to really believe unless you experience it yourself or see it with your own eyes.

"Hehe, whether it's okay or not, it's up to you, the governor of Luoan County, to make the decision." Wei Xiong took a sip of wine slowly and said with a smile, "The tax rate for Fengzhou Prefecture and twelve counties is 30% for ten years, and Lu County will add another 10%. This is the final bottom line."

"..." Ren Yuankui's face kept changing, and many thoughts flashed through his mind. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll do it!"

...

A grand banquet was held in the governor's office of Luoan County.

The streets outside were cold and windy, and every door was closed. Many beggars were hiding from the cold wind in the alleys, shivering with cold.

It was already night when Hui Shi arrived here. The road was very quiet, with no one around and it was pitch black. He could hear the sound of a dog barking. He turned his head and saw a beggar fighting with a dog for a bone.

Not far from the beggar, a child who looked less than ten years old was lying. His body was stiff and motionless. It was obvious that he had been frozen to death for some time.

"Is this the county town?" Hui Shi frowned slightly. Before he came to Luoan County, he had heard that this was the most powerful county besides Changfeng Prefecture. He didn't expect it to be like this.

However, he couldn't care about this matter for the time being, so he walked straight towards the county governor's office.

There were two yamen runners in front of the Luoan County Governor's office.

When they saw Hui Shi coming over, their eyes lit up immediately and they muttered, "Haha, there are actually people who are not afraid of death and dare to walk around in front of the county governor's mansion at night. We have money for wine!"

So, the two yamen runners immediately stepped forward, stopped Hui Shi, and shouted, "Stop! Who are you, you unruly person, who dares to break into the prefectural governor's mansion at night?!"

"I am an envoy sent by Cui Heng, the prefect of Lu County, to deliver a letter to the prefect of Luoan County." Hui Shi's temper has improved a lot recently, and he explained patiently, "I am not a unruly person, and I don't want to break into the prefectural governor's mansion at night. Please explain to me." "

What bullshit prefect of Lu County, I've never heard of him! I think you just want to break into the prefectural governor's mansion at night!" The two yamen runners didn't understand what they were saying, and they just stretched out their hands and sneered, "Five taels of silver, or go to jail!"

"Oh?" Hui Shi suddenly grinned, "Really?!"

(End of this chapter)