Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 247 Taking over

County Office, Donghua Hall.

The servants lit several large fire pots outside the hall, which could keep the hall warm as spring without choking the magistrates.

On the third day after the turmoil, Lu Linghao convened some people to discuss the follow-up handling matters.

Present are Xue Bai, Du Youlin, Guo Huan, Song Mian and several gentry. Du Wulang and Yin Liang are standing behind Xue Bai as aides, while Xue Xin is standing with a sword as a squad leader. On the side.

"Reporting to the county magistrate, the villain and others searched inside and outside Yanshi, but could not find Gao County Cheng."

Following the guard's words as a prelude, Lu Linghao let out a long sigh.

The magistrate's face showed just the right amount of worry, but his eyes were calm.

"You have also heard that something like this happened, but now you can't hold Gao Xiancheng back, what should you do?"

Although it was just a question, Lu Linghao actually had a plan.

He told Xue Bai that big things must be reduced to trivial matters, and he reported the crime to Henan Prefecture on Guo Wanjin. The mastermind had been found, and Gao Chong fled in fear of the crime. At that time, Xue Bai had a straight face and was reluctant to agree.

Today, the meaning of Fu Yin Wei Ji and Shao Yin Linghu Tao has been conveyed back, and they all agree with this statement. Lu Linghao decided to set the tone of the case and let the county officials and gentry reach a consensus.

Sure enough, Song Mian said: "Since Gao Chong has escaped, the county has not found the person responsible for the murder and arson, so it is better not to make a big fuss."

"Yes, if it is really reported as a major treason case, the court will conduct a thorough investigation without disturbing the people. If many people are implicated, then it will be inappropriate."

“After all, the people of Yanshi should be our priority.”

Everyone discussed a few words, and almost all had the same meaning.

For example, the Wei Jian case involved the unjust deaths of numerous Jianghuai waterworks and caused a huge uproar, but was eventually suppressed.

Lu Linghao was very willing to listen to Xue Bai's suggestion. He smiled and said, "What do the county captains think?"

He thought he would have to waste a lot of time, but unexpectedly, Xue Bai looked very decent and responded calmly: "I respect the county's wishes."

This official tone made Lu Linghao look at him with admiration. He didn't expect that the young man who had just entered the official career would have a flawless attitude, even though he was so impulsive and fierce before.

"Well……"

"I'm still here!" Du Youlin suddenly said.

Lu Linghao quickly apologized and asked, "What is Mr. Du's advice?"

"I saw with my own eyes that Gao Chong gathered a crowd to rebel, killed people, set fires, and plundered the arsenal. It was in full view of everyone. How could you hide it? You want to make me deceive you, but you can't do it?!"

"Misunderstanding, Du Gong misunderstood."

Lu Linghao quickly explained, but Du Youlin refused to let go.

To be honest, Lu Linghao was already very considerate. The deputy land and sea transport envoy was in charge of water transportation. He was only responsible for the transportation of grain between Chang'an and Luoyang, but he really had no control over Yanshi County. Du Youlin had always been mediocre and did nothing, so he suddenly intervened in Yanshi County. It must be Xue Bai's instructions to be the county official, so he looked at Xue Bai.

Xue Bai then started to persuade Du Youni and said, "Please Du Gong be more considerate, so that for the sake of the people of Yanshi, big things can be made trivial."

Du Youlin said: "It is for the sake of the people of Yanshi that we cannot protect such a vicious person!"

"Let's do this." Xue Bai said: "The county office will definitely cooperate with Du Gong in rectifying water transportation. If Du Gong has any requests, just ask him."

"Can Magistrate Lu's calming attitude help me complete the errands ordered by the sage?"

"..."

Lu Linghao had known that the two men were harmonizing, but they were actually forcing him. He then looked at each other and expressed his dissatisfaction with Guo Huan with their eyes.

Finally, Xue Bai said: "Then, as Du Gong said, I will inspect Guo Wanjin's property in Yanshi County and take over the dock office for Gao Chong to assist Du Gong complete his mission. I wonder what the county magistrate wants?"

This is simply a blatant seizure of power. Du Youlin's perfunctory performance is nothing more than a threat, indicating that if Xue Bai is not allowed to take over the dock, the rebellion will still get bigger.

Of course Lu Linghao didn't want to agree. It should be noted that this section of Caohe was also under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate. It was only Gao Chong who took power from him with his profound background and superb methods. Fortunately, he had profited from it over the years, so he could bear it. .

After finally "fleeing in fear of crime" this time, Gao Shang also wanted to take back the power of taxation, but before he could deal with it, Xue Bai took it away.

Really abominable.

But doesn’t Xue Bai have a deep background and strong means? This is a boss who dares to attack local snakes as soon as he takes office.

When Gao Chong gathered a crowd to seize the arsenal, Lu Linghao hid in a safe place, temporarily causing the county magistrate's prestige to fall to a low ebb; Xue Bai's prestige of brazenly competing with Gao Chong was still frightening everyone.

After much thought, Lu Linghao finally could only nod his head in front of all the gentry.

"In this case, I agree to what the county captain said."

~~

After talking about this matter, everyone dispersed. Lu Linghao asked Xue Bai to stay. During the conversation, he felt a little like when he talked to Gao Chong.

"By the way, Xue Lang is here for the first time. What should he do if there is no one to take care of him? But those servants are so clumsy that Xue Lang is dissatisfied?"

"There is no need for the county magistrate to send someone to my side."

Xue Bai calmly shook his hand, not even giving a reason, and directly refused to give Lu Linghao a chance to block him again.

He no longer even uses the honorific title of "Mingfu".

This is not a question of politeness or not, but if he wants to take power, he must have a change in attitude. If his attitude affects his psychology, he must suppress Lu Linghao.

"Is it related to Mrs. Zhang Sanniang? I heard that Mrs. Zhang Sanniang has been living in seclusion recently..."       "That's false."

Xue Bai did not continue to conceal it, but said: "That was deliberately arranged by me in order to find evidence of Guo Wanjin's crime. I will explain this matter to the saint. Would the county magistrate want to explain it with me?"

Lu Linghao covered up his embarrassment and said with a smile: "No, no, this is Xue Lang's private matter, I shouldn't interfere too much."

In fact, he had also heard what Du Youlin said, and he didn't know much about the romantic stories of these powerful people in Chang'an. In short, they had nothing to do with his interests.

"I said that I will help Xue Lang get promoted in the spring. Now that you have made another great contribution, the matter will be more secure. Unfortunately, I am afraid that I will not stay in Yanshi for too long. Before he gets promoted, if Guo Wanjin can be dealt with well It's enough to help Mr. Du take care of the water transportation. How about leaving the land and household registration to someone else?"

Xue Bai nodded and asked: "Who does the county magistrate think is appropriate?"

"Guo Lushi is from Yanshi and is familiar with the situation in the county. It is most suitable for him to handle it."

"In the past, Guo Lu did not have time to re-create the register. Now that Gao Xiancheng is missing, he has no time?"

Lu Linghao smiled and said, "Without Gao Xian Cheng, some things have gone smoothly."

"What the county magistrate said is reasonable." Xue Bai said: "There are some officials in the Six Cao Cao, such as Chief Sun, who help Gao Chong to do evil. Now it is time to rearrange the arrangements. I think that Liu Tu, the accountant, should be the chief; the concierge Zhao Liuneng Writing accounts can be used as account history; Old Bingtou, the accountant in the Tianjin Department, also pays the chief executive a salary, what does the county magistrate think?"

This was still a distribution of interests. Lu Linghao didn't want Xue Bai to change his land or household registration. He hesitated for a moment and nodded.

And Xue Bai still had a lot to digest right now, and he was willing to solve the intertwined problems in front of him one by one.

So finally one more condition was put forward.

"The county has a shortage of officers, so I plan to recruit another team of officers. This matter is the responsibility of the county captain. I believe the county magistrate has no objections, right?"

This question made Lu Linghao feel a little inappropriate, but he had already agreed to all the conditions this time, including this one.

~~

"County Lieutenant."

"County Lieutenant."

Xue Bai walked out of the county office, and all the officials saluted him on the way.

Especially Zhao Liu, who finally got into Liu Cao from the concierge, his gratitude was beyond words.

Since being appointed, Xue Bai can now feel the authority, even though it is only in this small county. But compared to Chang'an, where he was borrowing the power of others, now this authority belongs to him.

Outside the county office, Du Wulang was standing there looking around. He had to go back to Luoyang again to pick up Xue Yunniang before he planned to officially start working as Xue Bai's staff.

In addition, Wang Yi also had to be picked up.

Unfortunately, in the end, Wang Yi did not persuade Wei Ji, and fortunately he did not hand over the evidence. But for Xue Bai, if there were any accounts of Gao Chong's smuggling, it would be far better for him to stay and look at it himself than to hand it over to the court for credit.

The next batch of iron stones will be delivered in the next few days, and he is now worried about how to get them.

……

Back at the house, the only ones discussing how to take over Tieshi were Xue Bai and the Du family siblings.

"I have interrogated Gao Chong. He just received the goods, loaded them on the ship, crossed the Yellow River, and transported them to Yongji Canal. He still refused to explain the situation in Tieshan. Maybe he really didn't know, but he knew the route."

As he spoke, Xue Bai made a few strokes on the map.

"Start from Wuyang, go northwest, go upstream along the Ying River, and arrive near Songshan Mountain. Then go west, bypass Shuanglong Mountain, go north, and enter the territory of Fengshi and Yanshi."

"Wow, this road is not easy." Du Wulang said, "If I were lucky, I would go directly north to Xingyang, cross the Yellow River in Xingyang, and enter the Yongji Canal. Would it be easier?"

"almost."

"Don't say it's useless." Du Jin said: "The most troublesome thing right now is, will the people transporting the iron stones get wind of it in advance and know that Gao Chong has been convicted?"

Du Wei said: "It's only been three days, and Gao Chong's cronies were either arrested or dead. It shouldn't be too fast for the news to spread, right?"

"Lu Linghao suppressed it deliberately. It will definitely not spread so quickly in a large area. It just depends on whether the other party will learn about it accidentally." Xue Bai said: "If the other party comes, Gao Chong is in our hands, and the ship is also in our hands, or But he accepted this batch of iron stones under false pretenses, then captured the people who transported these iron stones, and used them to track down Iron Mountain."

"Who is transporting the iron stone?"

"It's unclear whether the person who runs Tieshan is an official or a businessman. According to Gao Chong's confession, if the iron stone is about to arrive, the other party will send someone to the pawnshop one or two days in advance and ask him to prepare the transaction. Instead of using money, the other party will often I prefer silk, Sichuan peppercorns, or some handicrafts.”

"They are all light goods, so they can transport them back easily." Du Jin mused: "These days, those who dare to carry such valuable goods through the mountains are often desperadoes. They are afraid that they will see their flaws, which is not good. Take it.”

Xue Bai said: "Let's recruit some available manpower from the canal workers first."

Manpower and weapons complement each other, and a bare-handed fireman cannot be said to have very high combat effectiveness.

And Xue Bai already had a sense of crisis. After all, his removal of Gao Chong would definitely arouse the vigilance of some people in Fan Yang, leaving him time to accumulate strength to deal with such a counterattack. It could be two to three months at most, or more than a month at least. .

As they were talking here, Shi Zhong had already hurried over.

"Alang, someone sent a message to the pawnshop."

"What's the content?"

"There is only one message for Gao Chongruo to escape. Meet him in Nanshi tomorrow night and take him away."

Xue Bai and Du Jin looked at each other. The other party asked, because they knew something happened to Gao Chong, but they didn't know that Gao Chong fell into their hands.

(End of this chapter)