The Wujiang River is vast and flows northwards.
A group of officials wearing various colors of green and green prostrated themselves under the huge official ship.
"The guilty officer, Xu Wen, the magistrate of Lanxi County, and the county magistrate, Hu Yi, led the government officials to pay homage to Nanchang County Prince Qianqiu."
The leader, a seventh-grade official, was in his forties, very thin, and looked a little empty under his light green official robe.
Li Xuan stood at the bow of the boat, looking over everyone's heads, and said with a cold face: "The county captain, the chief secretary, the chief of staff joining the army, the judicial officer joining the army, and the chief executive joining the army, none of them came. It seems that they He must be a real thief."
"This official is guilty!" Xu Wen half-bowed his body, took a step forward, and then bowed in deep obeisance under the boat.
This time, clear blood stains on the hem of Xu Wen's clothes appeared in front of Li Xuan's eyes.
Li Xuan's face suddenly became serious, but then he relaxed, looked at Xu Wen and said: "Of course you are guilty, and everything will be punished by law; you are also meritorious, Mr. Zian has written it for you and others. A memorial to plead for mercy.”
Li Xuan paused deliberately when she said this, and then saw Xu Wen and others couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Li Xuan's eyes flashed with a cold look, and then she said expressionlessly: "When the Wujiang River is opened again one day, this memorial will be sent to Hangzhou, and then via Hangzhou, sent to the capital of God."
When Li Xuan said this, everyone present couldn't help but look at each other in awe.
They are all veterans of officialdom, how could they not know what kind of tricks Li Xuan is playing.
It's nothing more than coercing them to do their best during this period.
Of course, this is what they should do.
The King of Nanchang can't be that simple. Could it be that... if they do well, the King of Nanchang will praise them a few more words in the memorial...
"Lan Xi teaches Wu Sheng to arrest Du Ming!" Li Xuan suddenly shouted.
Below, a white-haired old man and a middle-aged man with scars on his face raised their hands at the same time: "I'm here."
"You two..." Before Li Xuan finished speaking, an earth-shattering roar sounded in the distance.
Immediately, tall horses jumped into Li Xuan's sight.
The Qianniu Guards in red and gold armor, and the Kuaiji soldiers in blue and black.
The two teams of men and horses rushed towards the official ship as fast as the wind.
In the blink of an eye, in front of the people who had arrived, a group of Lanxi officials turned around subconsciously.
With a "boom", a group of Qianniu Guards and Kuaiji Mansion soldiers stopped in front of the official ship almost at the same time, unusually neatly.
Li Xuan looked calmly at the leader Qiu Zhenmu, and Yan Tao nodded.
The next moment, they saw two people waving back.
Immediately afterwards, the many Qianniu Guards behind them were thrown directly towards the ground.
One after another, bloody heads were thrown to the ground.
After rolling a few times, he arrived in front of Lanxi County Magistrate Xu Wen and others.
Even if the faces of these heads were covered in blood, Xu Wen could tell at a glance that these were all the people who had gone out of the city to ask for help at Meiling Pass.
It was precisely because of the departure of these people that Xu Wen and others were given the opportunity.
At that time, Xu Wen guessed that this was probably a trap, but now that he saw that all these people had been beheaded, he could not help but feel chills all over.
Is this the art of war, or is it calculating people's hearts?
Seeing everyone bowing their heads deeply, Li Xuan turned to look at Wang Qin on one side and said lightly: "Wang joined the army, please register all these military exploits immediately. The sergeants have worked hard. We can’t let them down.”
"I obey the order." Wang Qin quickly handed over his hand, and then hurried down to check.
At this time, in the north of the county, groups of dark figures appeared.
The leaders were Feng Hua, Li Zhu and Qi Guang. The men and horses that Li Xuan sent out as bait before were all back at this time.
Li Xuan's eyes fell again and he said calmly: "Wu Jiaoyu and Du Baotou, I now order you two, together with Mr. Zian, to go to the city and issue a notice to inform the people:
The state government will no longer pursue them for the crime of rebellion; however, during the period when the Tianyin Sect captured Lanxi, anyone who robbed other people's money and insulted other people's children will be punished by one level of crime;
In addition, among the county government officials under review, any Lanxi officials who oppressed the people and embezzled acres of land during this period were all punished according to the law. If they acted as thieves, their crimes would be increased to one level. "
"I will obey the order," he instructed Wu Sheng and Du Ming, the head catcher.
The two people just hesitated a little and then completely agreed.
Li Xuan waved her hand, and Wu Sheng and Du Ming were taken down by the surrounding Qianniu Guards, and then headed towards Lanxi County.
Li Xuan stood on the bow of the boat and leaned over to look at County Magistrate Xu Wen: "Magistrate Xu, although the state government does not pursue their crimes of rebellion, there are still many loyal believers of the Tianyin Sect among these people. , now do you have any way to prevent them from taking refuge in the Tianyin Sect again when the Tianyin Sect makes a comeback."
"It's easy!" Xu Wen stood up, looked at Li Xuan, and said seriously: "The prince only needs to send someone to send a message, saying that as long as there are Tianyin believers in the city, then this year's taxes will be reduced. And taxes will be doubled for many years from now on. So..."
"So as long as they get rid of the Tianyin Sect believers in the city, everything will be solved," Li Xuan already understood Xu Wen's method.
As worthy of being praised by even Wang Fanglin, he used taxes to force local people and Tianyin cultists to perform cuttings. Although the method was old-fashioned, it was very practical.
Li Xuan suddenly raised her eyebrows, looked at Xu Wen in surprise, and asked, "Why, does the Tianyin Sect also collect taxes from people's homes?"
"Reply to the prince, they do not recruit, but they ask believers to donate." Xu Wen bowed deeply and said: "The more donations you give to them, it means the more devout your faith is, and devout believers do not care about many things. If you need to do it, you only need to recite scriptures at home, but if you are not religious, you need to do various labors.”
"Isn't this just selling an official position in disguise?" Li Xuan shook her head in disbelief.
In the Tianyin Sect, believers are actually divided into three, six or nine levels. How ridiculous is this.
"They will definitely fail in the end." Xu Wen looked at Li Xuan, bowed his hands and said, "Please let the prince go back. The official will definitely capture all the Tianyin Sect believers in the city."
"Don't worry." Li Xuan waved her hands lightly, and then said: "The imperial court has expressly stipulated that local states and counties are not allowed to increase taxes at will. The same is naturally true for this king today."
"Your Majesty knows this well, and I am very impressed." Xu Wen quickly handed over to Li Xuan.
"Put aside the compliments for now. It's not that your methods cannot be used, you just need to slow down a little." Li Xuan raised her head and looked in the direction of the county seat.
At this time, Li Xuan stopped talking, and the entire area around the official ship became completely quiet.
It was almost summer, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. The people under the boat were sweating on their foreheads.
Each of them seemed to be tortured, but in fact, in the eyes of the real slick officials, Li Xuan had actually let them go, and now this action was already punishing them.
…
"Tap, tap, tap..." The sound of horse hooves sounded in the distance like raindrops, and then fell on his ears.
Someone raised his head slightly and saw two Qianniu Guards in red clothes and golden armor turning over and dismounting very neatly, and a piece of paper was handed directly to the ship.
The black clothes appeared in everyone's sight, and everyone quickly bowed their heads.
At this moment, an indifferent voice sounded: "Magistrate Xu!"
"I'm here!" Xu Wen quickly stepped forward and bowed his hands.
"Now I order you to return to the county seat and interrogate the arrested criminals in detail. If they are guilty, they will be convicted and not guilty. Those who have committed the most heinous crimes will be executed immediately."
After hearing Li Xuan's initial instructions, everyone present finally felt relieved, but then as soon as the four "immediate beheadings" came out, everyone present shuddered.
Everyone present bowed their heads deeply again, not daring to let the expressions on their faces show at all.
It's wartime now, and this is even a war zone. The earlier method of reporting for trial and then executing someone in the officialdom simply won't work here.
It doesn’t have to be OK.
Li Xuan now has the authorization from the governor Wang Fanglin, which means that he already has the power to act expediently.
Not to mention that they can be executed immediately without the approval of Dali Temple of the Ministry of Punishment, even if they are all killed now, it is still within the bargain.
Li Xuan stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the expressions on everyone's faces, and suddenly spoke again: "By the way, Magistrate Xu! There are a few of you here, please take them back... Capture Hua'an, capture Qu Ye We will take them back and interrogate them in detail. If the evidence is conclusive, they will be executed immediately."
"Ah!" Everyone present suddenly raised their heads, their faces full of astonishment.
At this moment, two Qianniu Guards in red clothes and golden armor had already walked up to the two agents.
"Your Highness, I am not guilty of being a lowly official, I am not guilty of being a lowly official!" Hua An suddenly knelt down with a plop, wailing all over his face.
"How did shopkeeper Zhou and his daughter in the south of the city die? Do you still remember, Hua An?" Li Xuan looked at Hua An coldly, and Hua An was immediately stunned.
Then I heard Li Xuan continue to say in a cold voice: "Don't you remember? Some people remember that more than ten shopkeepers and clerks in the south of the city sued you at the same time, saying that you sought money and killed people, insulted women, and caused people to commit suicide by throwing themselves into wells. You said Should you die... take away, damn, these people are really disgusting!"
As soon as Li Xuan waved his hand, a Qianniu Guard had already grabbed Hua An's collar and dragged him away.
Although Ou Ye on the other side was trembling, he still slightly cupped his hands towards Li Xuan, then turned and left.
The Qianniu Guard on one side had already pulled out half of the blade and put it back silently.
"Your Majesty, Shengming!" I don't know who shouted, and everyone present bowed to Li Xuan at the same time.
…
Xu Wen watched a soldier pull the horse, looked back at Li Xuan on the boat, turned over and got on the horse, and then headed towards the county seat very quickly.
When he arrived in front of the county government office, Xu Wen was in a daze for a moment when he saw a large number of people crowded in the street at the door.
He smiled reluctantly, and then entered the county government office in full view of everyone, and saw a dozen of the county's famous ruffians, bullies, and powerful men, all arrested.
Xu Wen suddenly understood what was going on.
There are few ordinary families in Lanxi who have not been bullied by these people.
Now as soon as these people were arrested, the people immediately rushed to the county government office to see what happened to these people.
If these people are severely punished, the hearts of the people will immediately return to the court. At that time, if tax rumors are used to force them, there will not be many Tianyin believers left in Lanxi.
But if these people were let off lightly, the people would immediately become agitated.
At that time, the King of Nanchang only needs to do one thing to win back all the people's hearts.
That means beheading him...
Thinking of this, Xu Wen immediately felt cold and stepped forward to deal with it quickly.
Be strict, fast and strict.
Including the police officer Hua'an, all the police officers from the district were sentenced to death and immediately taken to Caishikou to be beheaded.
Seeing the people rushing to the market entrance cheering, Xu Wen breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, Wang Bo and Feng Hua, as well as the instructor Wu Sheng, came over at the same time.
Wang Bo raised his hand to Xu Wen: "Xu County Magistrate, the prince has an order to order Lanxi County to start harvesting summer grain from now on, with tax grain as the first priority, and the harvested tax grain will be sent to Meiling Pass immediately; Lanxi County, From now on, soldiers will be recruited and sent to Meiling Pass; Lanxi County will be ordered to recruit craftsmen, forge ordnance, and medicine will be prepared from now on; Lanxi County will be ordered to reopen county schools, recruit students, and stabilize people's hearts from now on... …”
The series of orders made Xu Wen a little confused, but he still complied with them all.
Better to be busy than dead.
Carefully raising his head, Xu Wen looked at Wang Bo: "Mr. Zian, I wonder if I need to prepare a residence for the prince..."
"No need, the prince has gone to Meiling Pass now. There is still a big battle to be fought there."
(End of chapter)
