The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 77: Chaos in Liangyuan County

"My subordinate Shen Xuemin has met Secretary Zhu Zhang!"

Chen An led a middle-aged man in Confucian robes into the room. When he saw Zhu Xiu, he immediately bowed deeply.

"Please sit down, Magistrate Shen, while Yan Ping watches tea!" Zhu Xiu stood up to greet him.

Years ago, when officials from the two states gathered in Anding for the year-end conference, Zhu Xiu met him and was quite impressed.

Shen Xuemin was a native of Ningzhou (Ningxian County, Gansu Province). He was born in Ningzhou Xianggong in the second year of Changxing reign of Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty (931).

He is also one of the few non-Xue faction officials among the local county officials in Zhangyi Town.

Shen Xuemin has a bitter face, and looks like he is bitter and resentful.

When Zhu Xiu first met him, he was in the front hall of Jiedu Mansion. A group of local officials were surrounding the Xue brothers to flatter themselves, but he was excluded and sat alone in the corner, with a sad face like a mourning heir.

Zhu Xiu thought there was a funeral in his family, so he took the initiative to express his condolences. After talking with him, he found out that he was born with a sad look, and it was not a new bereavement in his family.
After the embarrassment, they had a good conversation. Shen Xuemin started out as a bookkeeper. After Shi Kuangwei took over the Zhangyi Army, he promoted him to the position of Liangyuan County Magistrate. Shen Xuemin also knew how to repay his kindness and always regarded Shi Kuangwei as his My benefactor, take the initiative to draw a clear line with the Xue family.

The Xue family tried to woo him several times, but Shen Xuemin declined.

Shi Kuangwei promoted many officials back then, but now most of them favor Xue.

Who asked the Xue family to be in charge of the money and food in Changyi Town? Even the food and salary of the Ya soldiers had to be distributed by the Xue family.

Shi Kuangwei himself couldn't do anything to the Xue family, let alone his subordinate officials.

Under such circumstances, it is not easy for Shen Xuemin to remain true to his original intention and know that his allegiance is to Jiedu Mansion.

"County Shen came here in a hurry, but something happened in Liangyuan County?"

Zhu Xiu said with concern when she saw that he was tired from all the work and could not hide his tiredness on his brows.

Shen Xuemin put down the teacup, cupped his hands with a bitter face and said: "Mingjian, the secretary in charge, the implementation of the salt policy in Liangyuan County has been hindered, and the lower officials don't know how to deal with it, so they have to rush to Anding to report."

"Oh?" Zhu Xiu frowned and asked Shen Xuemin to go there in person to show that the matter was not a big deal, "County Magistrate Shen, don't be impatient. Please take your time."

Shen Xuemin calmed down and said: "Five days ago, a family of four in Dongshan Township, Liangyuan County, suddenly died of poisoning on the second day after receiving the official salt! Li Zheng invited the widow to examine the body and said it was caused by eating poisonous salt. !

In just two days, word of this incident spread throughout the six townships in the county, causing panic.

The town general Li Guangbo sent people to spread the news, saying that the official salt distributed by Jiedu Mansion was poisonous, which caused widespread resentment among the people.

Li Guangbo led his troops to seize the official salt and occupy the county government office, saying that he wanted Jiedu Mansion to remove me as the county magistrate and send someone else to take office."

"This is happening!" Zhu Xiu frowned, stood up and walked around with his hands behind his back.

Shen Xuemin sat upright and watched eagerly, like a subordinate waiting respectfully for the leader to make a decision.

When Zhu Xiu first came to Zhangyi Town, he used his "Xue Fu" to establish the image of a famous scholar, a talented student, and a talented person.

"Snow Fu" was even circulated among civil servants in Changyi Town. Shen Xuemin also copied it in his own hand and studied it in private many times.

The more I study, the more I admire the talent and learning shown in the article.

At the very least, Shen Xuemin, who was a provincial minister, knew that even if he was given enough time to conceive and think about such an article, he would not be able to write it.

Not to mention that in the court that day, Xue Xiuming came up with temporary questions and wrote them within a time limit. It was simply more stressful and difficult than when he took the provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites in Luoyang.

Shen Xuemin took part in the provincial examination and still has a vivid memory of the feeling of writing a poem on the spot and having his head go blank after picking up the pen.

Therefore, he sincerely admired Zhu Xiu.

Talent does not depend on age. You must admit the gap between yourself and genius.

According to the Xue family, the "Snow Fu" was not written on the spot by Zhu Xiu at all, but was just an old work by his teacher Mr. Siyou of Tanzhou.

Shen Xuemin disagreed. Even if it was an old work, someone who could write such gorgeous prose must be a true hermit master and worthy of admiration.

"County Magistrate Shen" Zhu Xiu thought for a moment and suddenly spoke.Shen Xuemin immediately stood up and bowed slightly as if listening.

"This Li Guangbo, is he the one Xue Xiuming wanted to recommend as Secretary-General?"

"Exactly."

Zhu Xiu nodded, and relevant information quickly emerged in his mind.

Li Guangbo, a descendant of the Dingnan Army Li family from the Dangxiang clan, and Xue Xiuming's brother-in-law.

This boy has been staying in Anding ever since he accompanied his sister to marry him in Jingzhou, saying that he hasn't had enough fun yet and doesn't want to go back to Xiazhou.

Previously, Shi Kuangwei considered that he was a descendant of the Dingnan Li family, and the Zhangyi Army and the Dingnan Army could barely be counted as neighbors. In order to establish a good relationship with the Dingnan Army, he allowed Li Guangbo to stay here.

It wasn't until Xue Xiuming wanted to place Li Guangbo into Jiedu Mansion as the secretary in charge that Shi Kuangwei suddenly woke up. This party boy stayed here for some ulterior purpose.

Xue Xiuming wanted to use the power of the party to consolidate the Xue family's power in Zhangyi Town.

Later, when Zhu Xiu became secretary-general, Xue Xiuming stepped back and appointed Li Guangbo as the town general of Liangyuan County.

At that time, Jiedu Mansion was fully preparing for the Yangjinchuan Salt Factory. In order to appease the Xue family, Shi Kuangwei agreed.

The town general commanded the troops outside the local area and was regarded as the reserve force of the feudal town. If the local county magistrate was weak, the town general could even rely on military power to control the power of the county magistrate.

Shen Xuemin's character was a bit cowardly. At first, Shi Kuangwei and Zhu Xiu were worried that he would not be able to suppress Li Guangbo. Unexpectedly, after a month or two, everything in Liangyuan County was as usual, so they gradually didn't take it to heart.

Unexpectedly, Li Guangbo suddenly jumped out to cause trouble when implementing the policy of free salt for the people.

"First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the white salt produced in Yangjinchuan, and the theory that it is poisonous is even more ridiculous!" Zhu Xiu said in a serious tone.

Shen Xuemin hurriedly said: "Every household in Anding County eats Shangyang Jinchuan white salt, and there are no reports of any accidents. How come there is a problem with the salt transported to Liangyuan? The lower official also feels that there must be a hidden reason in this matter."

Zhu Xiu shook his head and said: "But since someone died, there must be an accurate statement! Otherwise, the implementation of the salt policy will be delayed, the people will not be able to eat good salt, and the reputation of Jiedu Mansion will be greatly affected."

Shen Xuemin said with a bitter face: "Now the people of Liangyuan do not trust the government, and Li Guangbo has led his troops to occupy the county government office, clamoring to make decisions for the people, and to question me as the county magistrate, and to ask the Jiedu Mansion to appoint a new county magistrate."

Zhu Xiu said angrily: "The nature of this matter is too bad. We must not encourage Li Guangbo's arrogance! Local soldiers occupied the county government office and drove away the county magistrate. It is simply an act of rebellion!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Xiu said decisively: "Shuai Shi has gone to Linjing County for inspection. If you wait until he comes back to report, I'm afraid it will be too late! There are still more than a hundred tooth soldiers in the city. Let's order up our troops and rush to Liangyuan immediately!"

Shen Xuemin swallowed: "But the handsome master is not here, and there are no military symbols. How can we mobilize the tooth soldiers?"

Zhu Xiu gave him a calm look, stuck her butt out and rummaged through the locked drawer of her desk, finding the warrant that Lao Shi had left long ago.

With this order, he is the deputy commander of Changyi Army Yanei.

"Yan Ping and Chen An! You two get the commander's order and immediately go to the camp to mobilize troops. Travel lightly and lightly, and set off for Liangyuan in an hour!"

"Follow the order!"

Watching the two men leave after receiving the order, Shen Xuemin's face was filled with surprise.

As secretary-general, he hid the commander's troop deployment order. It seemed that the commander-in-chief had no ordinary trust in him.

Zhu Xiu was a little excited and a little nervous. After all, it was his first time to lead troops on an operation.

Guan Tieshi was stationed at the salt factory and couldn't leave, so he had to go in person this time.

"By the way, take Shi Xiangwen with you. As long as he's here, Li Guangbo won't be able to make waves!"

Zhu Xiu sneered, his chief bodyguard Shi Lingyan went to Linjing with Lao Shi, but it didn't matter, he still had an ultimate killer in his hand.

Thinking of Shi Xiangwen's towering body like a hill, Zhu Xiu felt full of security.

　The next chapter is a bit late, I’ll make it up tomorrow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)