Dragon map of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 952 The Ultimatum
In March, the grass grows and the warbler flies.

The Mu army returned to the north from Dianchi Lake, and the first stop was Qianwei County. After [-] days of arduous march, the army appeared in the outskirts of Jiangyang City and stationed in the southeast outskirts.

"Your official, Zhao Ting, welcome my lord!"

The camp had just been set up, and Qian Wei, the newly appointed prefect Zhao Ting, entered the camp to meet Mu Jing in person.

"In the military tent, you don't need to be too polite!"

Mu Jing took off his battle armor, knelt down in front of the desk, and said with a smile, "Sit!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Ting sat on the right side in a somewhat reserved manner.

"Meng Xu, you used to rule one county, but now Qian is in charge of twelve counties, all of which are under your control. The responsibility is heavy, but is there any pressure?" Mu Jing asked gently.

Zhao Ting, courtesy name Meng Xu.

The children of the aristocratic family have more rules than the poor family, Bo is the eldest son, Zhong is the second son, and Meng is the bastard.

Zhao Mengxu himself was born as a common son.

In aristocratic families, the illegitimate son always has much more resources than the concubine son, so Zhao Mengxu was in Fuling County before, and he stayed there for ten years.

He was highly valued by Mujing last year, and was promoted to be the prefect of Qianwei in August.

The previous prefect Qianwei did not have a problem, the key is that he had too much involvement with the local power, and his actions were not decisive enough, which instead affected the development of Qianwei. Qianwei is a salt land, and salt is one of the pillars of Yizhou's finances.

But salt has always been in the hands of these wealthy salt merchants.

There are many salt merchant families in Qianwei, and their salt wells and salt farms have been operating for more than a hundred years. They are deeply rooted in the salt industry and control most of the salt market in Yizhou.

To govern Qianwei, the first to govern the salt market, but the local forces are too strong, and it is difficult for the government to do anything.

Mu Jing had already discussed with Hu Zhao about using Zhao Ting. Behind Zhao Ting was the Zhao family, a top aristocratic family in Yizhou. Zhao Ting himself was also capable.

On the battlefield, a good fighter has no great achievements, and in the officialdom, a good government has no brilliant reputation.

Mujing and Hu Zhao had discussed that they should not be too forceful on the wealthy salt merchants. After all, they didn't want to make chickens fly and eggs, and what they wanted was to boil frogs in warm water, and the salt business was under control step by step.

Zhao Ting's character is stubborn and firm, but he will not act too strongly, so he is placed in Qianwei.

However, Mu Jing was a little bit worried that if he did it overnight, it would backfire. After all, Zhao Ting only managed a county, and had no experience in the chief book of the prefect, or the long history of the prefect.

"Reporting to my lord, there must be some pressure!"

Zhao Ting nodded: "The subordinates are highly regarded by the lord, and they became the prefect of a county in one step. Some management of the prefect's mansion is far from the county government. Looking at the land of twelve counties, after all, it is the same as staring at the land of one county. The difference, from the perspective of the overall situation, the subordinates are far behind. Compared with the prefect, the long history, and the chief book of the prefect, they are far from enough. It has been half a year since he took office, and he has not yet fully controlled the prefect. !"

"Don't worry!"

Mu Jing didn't blame him, and said comfortingly: "I trust you, so I put you in Qianwei's place. Qianwei's importance to Yizhou is very clear in your heart, but you can't rush anything. A nail, keep a firm eye on this place!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Ting nodded.

"I heard that Qianwei was the prefect's Sima, and Han Liuyi, the chief arrester of the six sects, was murdered two months ago?" Mu Jing asked softly.

"I have withdrawn from this matter. According to the superficial evidence, Han Liuyi had an affair with Butcher Liu's wife, and was killed by Butcher Liu. Butcher Liu and Han Liuyi were both knight-errants with good martial arts skills. It is said that Butcher Liu can kill Han Liuyi with his sudden attack!"

Zhao Ting said in a low voice: "But I have some doubts about this matter, so I suppress it for the time being. The Fa Cao of the Minghou Mansion has sent people down to investigate, and there is no clue yet!"

"Six Gates was set up by me to manage local order. The head arrester of Six Gates is the highest political judge in a county!"

Mu Jing said calmly: "I have recalled Han Liuyi. He is confused in small things, but shrewd in big things. He has slight faults, but he is well-measured. There are some mistakes that he dare not make. Facao probably will do the same for this matter!"

He handed a token to Zhao Ting, and said: "This is Jingwu Ling, I allow you to mobilize the power of Jingwu's office for this matter, you are new here, you should stand up, so that you can gain a foothold here!"

"Thank you my lord!"

Zhao Ting's eyes flickered with excitement.

Jingwu Siya, the most mysterious government office under the Minghou Mansion, is mysterious and powerful.

"What do you think of Dong Guo's family?" Mu Jing asked.

"A snake can't do without a head!"

Zhao Ting said softly: "My lord's southern expedition, pacified the four counties in Nanzhong, subdued the barbarians, and shocked Yizhou. This will surely suppress the ready-to-make people, and Yizhou will submit to them. However, these rich salt merchants still go their own way and run rampant. , because they think that as long as they stick together, they can firmly pinch the weakness of the lord, after all, the salt industry is the pillar of taxation in Yizhou!"

"So, they have nothing to worry about!" Mu Jing sneered, "Dong Guo's family, is it that they have something to rely on?"

"My lord, the Dongguo family, don't move easily!"

Zhao Ting thought for a while and said, "Before I came to Qianwei, I learned some news about the Dongguo family through the channels of the Zhao family, but after I came to Qianwei, I really understood the influence of the Dongguo family in Qianwei. , there is not a single salt official left, they are all related to the Dongguo family, and in this prefect's mansion, the officials don't say anything, but [-]% of the officials are ties to the Dongguo family, and the prefect's mansion is a leaky sieve!"

"It seems that I underestimated the Dongguo family's century-old business!"

Mu Jing narrowed his eyes slightly.

Officials, the structure of one party's government, officials, who hold great power and issue orders, but the people who do things below are all officials.

The Dongguo family seems low-key by not following the policies of the upper echelons.

But they got through all the lower-level officials, which showed their influence even more. It was really stomping that could collapse Qianwei's prefect's mansion.

"But the arrow is on the string, if you don't move, you have to move!"

Mu Jing said: "You don't need to worry about them, I only have one request, I asked you to come to Qianwei for the purpose, even if the Minghou Mansion wants to move them, you must ensure the safety of Qianwei, I hope this matter can be done in silence. It was completed in the midst of the chaos, not the boiling of public opinion!"

"Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates will do my best to ensure Qianwei's stability and never disappoint my lord's expectations!"

Zhao Ting nodded.

"Go!"

"Subordinates retire!"

………………

The [-]-day march, and sometimes high-intensity training, made the soldiers look very tired, so the army was prepared to stay in Jiangyang for three days to take a rest before continuing north and returning to Jiangzhou City.

On the second day of rest in Jiangyang, Dong Guofeng did not come to visit, but Mu Jing went to Dong Guo Mansion to visit in person.

This is his first visit to Dongguo Mansion.

"Your Majesty is here, I am really flattered!"

Dong Guofeng brought the Dong Guo family members to meet him at the door.

"Old Feng has high virtue and prestige, so he deserves the younger generation to visit!"

Mu Jing dressed very casually today, wearing a sky blue robe with one hand pinned to his back, giving him an extraordinary imposing manner.

"Your Majesty, the banquet has been prepared at the mansion, please come inside!" Dong Guofeng was holding a cane. Although he looked old, he was in good spirits.

"Then you're welcome!"

Mu Jing strode in.

After drinking for three rounds and singing and dancing, Mu Jing entered the theme of visiting Dong Guo's house this time. His purpose was to be courteous first and then soldier. He could persuade things with words, and he didn't want to easily form an endless feud.

"Mr. Feng, the Dongguo family has a large number of talented people. They are familiar with poetry and books, but they rarely make official careers. I feel quite regretful. I heard that under Mr. Feng's knees, there are three heroes from Dongguo. Now Yizhou is full of waste and needs talents. At that time, I didn’t know that Elder Feng would be willing to give up his love!”

Holding up the wine cup, Mu Jing said with a smile: "I will never treat the talents of the Dongguo family badly. The Xicao of the Marquis of Ming Dynasty is in charge of the people's livelihood in the world, but there is still a lack of a master book. In addition, I plan to establish a salt affairs department to reorganize them. Yizhou Salt Industry, accelerate the development of Yizhou Salt, and continue to be in charge of talents..."

He murmured for a while, basically expressing his meaning very clearly.

Then he was stunned by Dong Guofeng's response.

"Your Majesty attaches great importance to me, I shouldn't have refused, but the children of Dongguo's family are not talented, and they really can't take on such an important task. Please ask the Marquis to find another good talent!" Dong Guofeng said slowly, it takes a lot of courage to say this. of.

"Since that's the case, I won't force it!"

The corner of Mujing's mouth raised.

He has already issued the final ultimatum. Since the Dongguo family is stubborn, don't blame him for being cruel. The salt of Yizhou must be in his own hands. Even if it is a family of hundreds of years, he doesn't mind killing a family. Blood flowed like a river.

(End of this chapter)