Soldiers come to the world

On the pier, Yang Xiu boarded the boat, bowed his hands to Liu Jing and said, "I will reply to the prime minister as soon as possible, and I believe I will return to Wuchang soon."

Liu Jing returned the gift with a smile, "Master Yang has worked hard, and I hope to meet again."

As the ship set sail, Yang Xiu's figure gradually faded away. Liu Jing waved his hand and called Li Qing, the leader of the bodyguard, to come forward, took out a letter and handed it to him, and ordered, "Send this letter to Xudu immediately with a pigeon letter!"

"As ordered!"

Li Qing took the letter and arranged for it to be sent. Liu Jing then got on his horse and headed towards the city with his entourage, but just after walking a few steps, there was a commotion not far away, and someone faintly heard shouting: "No Stop it, we want to see Zhou Mu!"

Liu Jing reined in his horse and looked into the distance, only to see a group of people running towards this side, but they were stopped by soldiers, who shouted loudly, waved their arms, and looked very angry.

Liu Jing felt strange, and hurried forward to ask, "What happened?"

"Report to Zhou Mu, these people say they want to sue!"

Seeing that the group of people were dressed like businessmen, Liu Jing asked from a distance, "Who are you all, and what are you suing?"

A group of people wanted to rush over, but they were stopped by the soldiers, and only an old man was allowed to step forward as the representative. In the past few months, everyone has been driven to death."

After the old man finished speaking, people behind him shouted, "We haven't had any business for three or four months. Everyone is going to starve to death. Please take care of the state pastor!"

Liu Jing was a little strange, "Why, didn't civilian ships also participate in transporting goods from Chibi to Wuchang some time ago?"

The old man kowtowed and said with tears in his eyes, "It's not our turn to do such a good thing. The Tao family takes care of it. We don't dare to expect extravagant business from the official family. We just ask the Tao family to give us a bite to eat. We don't need anything." all monopolized."

Liu Jing understood a little bit, and then his face sank and he asked, "How is the Tao family monopolized?"

"Reporting to Zhou Mu, this wharf along the river is an official wharf. It is either an official ship or a boat from the Tao family. It is not our turn, but there is a commercial cargo wharf on the other side of the Cao River. In the past, everyone could go in and transport goods, but starting this year In the daytime, we can only send the boats of the Tao family into the Cao River, but not our turn, so we can only go in at night to transport some goods and pick up some leftovers from the Tao family.

However, in the past few months, the government has issued an order prohibiting cargo shipments at night, and our business has been cut off. Finally, a few days ago, cargo shipments were allowed in and out at night, but the Tao family recently bought hundreds of boats, and even occupied the night shipping lanes. If it's over, we're completely finished, and I beg Zhou Mu to make the decision for us! "

Everyone kowtowed desperately, "I beg Zhou Mu to give us a bite to eat!"

Liu Jing's face was a bit ugly. This was not the news he wanted to hear, nor the Tao family he wanted to see. He urged his horse to run towards Caohe.

The Caohe River in Wuchang County is located in the south of the city. It is about two miles long and runs directly from the Yangtze River to Shuimen. Usually, the Caohe River is full of private merchant ships, transporting various goods into the city, and transporting various goods from the city. It is busy and lively every day. .

In recent months, due to the closure of the river due to the war, Cao Hanoi has been deserted for a while, but in the past few days, with the end of the war and the recovery of commerce, Cao Hanoi has become lively again.

Liu Jing still remembered that there were not many Tao family merchant ships in Wuchang in the past, mainly in Chaisang and Fancheng, but since he took charge of Wuchang, the Tao family's business began to expand to Wuchang County.

At this time, Cao Hannei was full of large and small cargo ships, and almost all of them had the Tao family's double carp logo on them. Liu Jing walked slowly for a mile, but he still couldn't find a ship that was not Tao's family.

Liu Jing's expression became very ugly. Originally, the Tao family supported him a lot. In return, he was also willing to let the Tao family get more commercial benefits. There is no problem with that.

But he doesn't want to see the Tao family's monopoly, just like any person in power does not want to see his courtiers dominating the family. The same is true for business. Once the Tao family completely monopolizes Jingzhou's business, Liu Jing will have to look at the Tao family for many important decisions. face.

Zhiwei sees that from a small freight monopoly, one can imagine the future situation. This kind of thing can't be allowed to grow, and Tao's must be beaten, and it must be done as soon as possible.

Thinking of this, Liu Jing turned his horse's head and headed towards the county seat.

Although the size of Wuchang City is comparable to that of Xiangyang City, the commerce of Xiangyang City is located in Fancheng. Xiangyang City is mainly for government affairs and cultural education, and there is enough space to build the state government, while Wuchang is a mixture of commerce, military and government, which seems relatively cramped.

It is also for this reason that the Jingzhou prefectural government and the Jiangxia county government actually have two boards for one government office. Of course, this is also related to the fact that Liu Jing only actually controls Jiangxia, Changsha and Anlu counties, so there is no need to set up a special state team.

Liu Jing now needs to find Yiji, the Prime Minister of Jiangxia County. The power relationship here is a bit complicated. Since Liu Jing is also the prefect of Jiangxia, it stands to reason that the Prime Minister of Jiangxia County should control the real power of Jiangxia County.

But in reality, this is not the case. The political affairs of Jiangxia County are actually in the hands of Xu Shu, Liu Jing's chief aide. .

Yiji himself is well aware of this, so he doesn't complain, spends every day leisurely, patiently waiting for the moment of handing over power, which is also his cleverness.

Not long after, Yi Ji hurried into Liu Jing's official room, bowed and saluted, "See Zhou Mu!"

"Jun Cheng, please sit down!"

Liu Jing looked at Yi Ji, hadn't seen him for a few months, and seeing that he had gained a lot of weight, he couldn't help laughing and said: "Yi Juncheng seems to be in good health."

Yi Ji smiled wryly, "I'd rather be dark and thin."

Liu Jing laughed, "This day will come soon, I just hope that when that time comes, Juncheng will not complain too much."

"I have only expectations, no complaints."

Liu Jing nodded, pondered for a while and said, "I'm looking for the magistrate, I want to know about the situation of Tao Xianwei."

Tao Xianwei is Tao Zheng, Liu Jing's brother-in-law. Yi Ji was taken aback. He didn't quite understand what Liu Jing meant, so he said vaguely, "Tao Xianwei is very busy recently, we don't meet much."

Liu Jing smiled, "I'm asking Captain Tao if there's anything wrong, or incompetent, so feel free to speak up, Uncle Ji."

"That... I'm afraid I don't know very well."

Seeing that Yi Ji had concerns, Liu Jing comforted him and said, "Uncle Ji, don't worry, let alone have any worries. I just hope you can be frank. To be honest, I just want to know what inappropriate behavior Tao Xianwei has, or say , what aspects of him are not suitable for being a county lieutenant."

Yi Ji came to understand that Liu Jing was probably planning to use Tao Zheng to get news from him. Yi Ji bowed his head and pondered for a moment and said, "Tao Xianwei was too partial to the Tao family's interests in some merchant disputes. Many businessmen reported that he used his power to benefit the family."

Liu Jing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back. The crime of "using power for personal gain" is a bit too heavy. After all, the support of the Tao family contributed to the final victory of the Chibi War. He just wanted to beat the Tao family, not deliberately attack the Tao family. .

Thinking of this, Liu Jing shook his head, "Is there anything else wrong?"

After all, Yi Ji has been an official for many years, he suddenly understood Liu Jing's intentions, and wanted to find a problem that was neither painful nor itchy. Yi Ji rolled his eyes and said, "I heard that Captain Tao and a man named Liu Yan Prostitutes have had too close a relationship."

Now, Liu Jing was very interested, and asked with a smile, "Are there many people who know about this?"

"I'm afraid there are not many people in Wuchang City who don't know about this matter."

Tao Zheng's matter is rather vague. Since ancient times, the relationship between officials and prostitutes has been regarded as a romantic affair. As long as they are not in business hours, there is no violation of the rules. However, two years ago, Liu Biao issued a law because of the incident of his eldest son Liu Qi's prostitution. , prohibiting Jingzhou officials from interacting with prostitutes, but in fact, this order has never been implemented.

Even so, the laws and regulations are still there and have not been abolished. Using them to make a fuss is a kind of fuss, or to make a fuss. Once Yi Ji understood Liu Jing's intentions, he immediately found a countermeasure.

This kind of association with famous prostitutes is a small mistake in personal life, and it is harmless, because there is no specific punishment regulation, it can be big or small, as long as you correct your mistakes, you can still re-enter the officialdom, and it is completely incomparable with the crime of "using power for personal gain".

Moreover, this crime is also in line with Liu Jing's criteria. It is neither serious nor serious. As far as it goes, it belongs to the scope of warning. Liu Jing nodded, "That's it! Please arrange for someone to submit an impeachment letter as soon as possible. "

"The humble minister obeys the order!"

Liu Jing always pays attention to making decisions before taking action, but once he makes a move, he must act vigorously. Yiji knows this well. That afternoon, Han Ying, the director of Wuchang County, wrote a letter to impeach Wuchang County Wei Taozheng for being drunk and prostitutes. decent.

State Shepherd Liu Jing immediately made a decision to suspend Tao Zheng from his position as Wuchang county captain, and ordered Jiangxia County Government to thoroughly investigate the matter. Once it was determined that he violated the law, he would be severely punished.