"Today is the third day of the Lunar New Year. Is it appropriate for us to visit at your door like this?"
Jin Zhu, who was wearing a bright red shirt, asked while eating candied haws.
Her clothes were red, her candied haws were red, and even her face was white and rosy, making her whole person look full of joy.
Liu Gongfu laughed and said: "It's appropriate. Let's take advantage of the Chinese New Year to give gifts to Master Li to make it look festive. Maybe when Magistrate Li is happy, he will upgrade our Chang'an Town to a county."
Zhu Renxia also laughed: "I don't expect to be upgraded to a county. It would be great if we were upgraded to a town. Then we can openly claim Chang'an Town to the outside world, and we no longer have to cover our ears and call ourselves Chang'an Town Village." "
Not long after, five thousand taels of silver ingots were loaded onto the truck.
One thousand taels of silver was put into a box, and a total of five boxes were packed, plus two hundred taels of gold.
In addition to Zhu Renxia and Liu Gongfu, Jin Zhu and Ding Xiao led thirty elite escorts to Liping.
"Mayor, have a nice trip!" The fifth man stood at the gate of the city and waved goodbye.
Jiang Guanjun also waved: "You must pay attention to safety during this trip, be careful when speaking, and do not reveal secrets."
Zhao Yun smiled and clasped his fists: "I send the mayor off on his way. I hope you can bring back good news!"
Zhu Renxia rode on a white horse and clasped his fists: "Everyone, stay here. When I'm not at home, you can take care of the current affairs in the town!"
The fifth man shook his folding fan and said: "Brother Ren Xia, don't worry. Tianzun replenished the warehouse for us yesterday. The coal warehouse, rice warehouse, and refined salt warehouse are all full, and the wine storage warehouse is also piled up. No matter what the merchants are. Whether it’s the south of the country or the north of the sea, your fifth brother guarantees that they will come back with a full load and make their trip worthwhile.”
"drive!"
Zhu Renxia whipped his horse whip and took the lead.
Jinzhu urged the "rouge blood" on his crotch to follow closely. Liu Gongfu, with a saber hanging on his waist, followed on horseback.
The carriage drove on the cement road, making a cheerful rumble sound. Under the escort of thirty elites such as Ding Xiao, it left Chang'an Town and headed west, gradually farther and farther away.
The road westward from Chang'an Town stretches for eighty miles, almost reaching Jinping County.
What usually took a day to walk now only takes an hour and a half to complete.
Liu Gongfu looked up from the carriage and saw that the gate of Jinping County was closed and looked heavily guarded.
"Eh... It's been more than a month since the last war. Why does this county feel like it's facing a formidable enemy?" Zhu Renxia slowed down his horse, surprised.
"I'll find out when I go ask."
Liu Gongfu's legs lightly knocked on the belly of his horse, and the horse neighed, spread its hooves, rolled up smoke, and headed straight for Jinping County.
Without a cup of tea, Liu Gongfu rode his horse to the east gate of Jinping County.
"Hey...which brother on the city wall is on duty?"
Liu Gongfu reined up his horse and shouted loudly from the saddle, "Do you recognize me, Liu Gongfu?"
Although Liu Gongfu has left office for more than half a year, he still enjoys a lofty status in the hearts of the third team of Jinping County government officials. It can be said that no one in Jinping County's government does not know Liu Gongfu.
"Captain Liu, why is it you? That's great!"
"We will immediately report to Li Tou to open the door for you."
The government officials on the city wall opened the door happily and reported to the new leader of the third squad, Li Cheng.
In the sound of "squeaking", the dilapidated city gate slowly opened, and more than a dozen government officials gathered around to ask for help.
"It's been a long time since I last saw Mr. Chief. I miss you so much."
"The last time the bandits in Wulong Mountain robbed the city, it would have been nice if Capt. Liu was here. Son-of-a-bitch Deng Kewei and Wang Biao ran faster than a rabbit."
"Boss, you look good, your face is glowing."
"Of course, you haven't heard that Chang'an Town has developed and prospered now, even more prosperous than Liping City. I even want to quit this job and go to Chang'an Town to join the chief arrester."
"It's a great advantage to Sun Quan and Cao Wan. They are really discerning!"
Liu Gongfu turned over and dismounted. He patted this person's shoulder and touched that person's head like an old leader revisiting his old place. His hearty laughter came from the bottom of his heart, as if he had seen a long-lost old friend.
"Xiao Meng, you have grown a lot. You will be nineteen after the new year, right? It's time to get a wife."
"Hai Bo, you've lost so much weight, why can't you eat meat recently?"
"Dongzi, how did you get the scar on your face? Was it scratched when you were chasing a thief? You are no good, you were injured like this by a little thief."
While he was talking, Jinping County's new head catcher Li Cheng came quickly from a distance with two government officials. Before he came, they clasped their fists and exchanged greetings from a distance.
"Chief Catcher, you finally came to see us? The brothers miss you very much. If we hadn't been unable to leave, we would have gone to Chang'an Town to have a drink with you."
Liu Gongfu looked Li Cheng up and down, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Not bad, Dachengzi has shown promise, and now he has become the head catcher of Jinping County."
"Oh... don't make fun of me, my brother."
Li Cheng rubbed his chin and felt ashamed, "I am only temporarily acting as a head catcher. When the new county magistrate takes office, I will have to take off my clothes."
"Oh...it's been almost a month and a half since Deng Ke abandoned his official position and fled for his life, right? The new county magistrate hasn't arrived yet?"
Liu Gongfu was surprised, "Prefect Li has been in office for almost a month. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have left the county magistrate vacant for so long?"
Li Cheng explained: "An official document came from the prefecture's Yamen a few days ago, saying that an official from Tongren Prefecture was to be transferred to our Jinping County to be the county magistrate. Unexpectedly, he was intercepted and killed by the rebels on his way to the post. Therefore, the county magistrate Positions remain vacant.”
"I see."
Liu Gongfu suddenly realized, "Yang Yinglong's rebels are really bold."
Li Cheng said helplessly: "They even killed the local magistrate Tian Zongren, so why would they care about a small county magistrate? In their view, killing a county magistrate is probably the same as killing a chicken."
"Then who is in charge of the government affairs in the county now?" Liu Gongfu asked patiently, stroking his sword.
Li Cheng laughed and said: "You don't know, chief arrester, that just a month and a half ago, a group of bandits under the banner of Wulongshan passed through our county and scared the county magistrate Deng Kewei and chief arrester Wang Biao into abandoning the city. And escape..."
"Haha... I heard that these people really disgrace the Ming Dynasty." Liu Gongfu laughed.
Li Cheng continued: "But the strange thing is that the bandits did not rob the people after entering the city. They only rushed into the county office, took away the county magistrate's seal and ribbon, and opened the warehouse and robbed our uniforms. Er Jing.”
"Why is this?" Liu Gongfu asked knowingly.
Li Cheng said with admiration: "Later we found out that this bandit was helping the rebels attack Liping Mansion. He robbed our Jinping County official equipment in order to fraudulently open Liping's city gate.
It can be said that if Deng Ke had not abandoned the city and fled, causing the seals and uniforms to be snatched away by the bandits from Wulong Mountain, Liping City would not have been captured so quickly, and Tian Zongren would not have died so quickly! "
Liu Gongfu stroked his beard and laughed: "It seems that this bandit is quite capable. He actually knows how to use war."
Li Cheng said: "It's a pity. If you were in the city as the chief arrester, our Jinping County would never be captured by hundreds of bandits without blood."
"The three teams of county police officers only have 200 people in total. I'm afraid it won't help if I'm here."
Liu Gongfu laughed and thought to himself, the champion of Guangjiang can open the city gate with a spear, not to mention that he is accompanied by 70 or 80 brave and capable Qi family troops, whoever comes will be in vain!
"Who is currently in charge of government affairs in the county?" Liu Gongfu asked again. The topic had gone too far, and he did not get the answer he wanted.
Li Cheng said: "Deng Kewei and Wang Biao ran away. The king was so frightened that he vomited blood and died. At present, the government affairs of the county are temporarily handled by Wu County Cheng."
"Wu Xian Cheng, this person's character is not bad, but he is a bit timid and lacks courage." Liu Gongfu raised his eyebrows and commented on Wu Xian Cheng.
Li Cheng agreed: "No, I doubt that when the rebels or bandits come again, Wu County Prime Minister will be Deng Kewei who abandoned the city."
Liu Gongfu asked again: "Is it because Wu County Prime Minister is timid that he closed the city gate in broad daylight?"
"That's not true."
Li Cheng explained: "This is an order from the prefect's yamen. It is said that the governor organized five thousand soldiers and horses to fight fiercely with the rebels in Bozhou. And Yang Yinglong also sent out 20,000 soldiers and horses to attack Tongren. It is very likely that he will A small group of rebels entered Liping to cause trouble, so Magistrate Li asked all counties to close their city gates and strengthen precautions."
Liu Gongfu sighed: "Alas... Now that the war has started, I'm afraid it won't be extinguished for another three to five years. I'm afraid the people of Guizhou will suffer!"
As he spoke, he cupped his fists and raised his hands: "I'm going to Liping Mansion to meet Mr. Li, and I'll say goodbye now!"
Li Cheng was overjoyed: "Master Li valued you very much when he was the county magistrate in Jinping. Maybe he will let you come back as the county magistrate when he is happy."
"impossible!"
Liu Gongfu laughed and got on his horse, "I'm just a head catcher, far from being a county magistrate! Besides, I don't have the talent. It's okay for me to catch thieves and gangsters, but it's just a rush to let me take care of political affairs." Duck on the shelf.”
Li Cheng enthusiastically persuaded him to stay: "Commander, since you're here, how about we have a bowl of wine before we leave? You come and go in such a hurry, don't you think of us as brothers?"
Liu Gongfu pointed his riding whip in the distance: "You see, there is a team of more than thirty people over there! We are in a hurry and hope to reach Liping before dark, so we won't bother you."
Li Cheng and the other servants had no choice but to give up and waved goodbye to Liu Gongfu together, repeatedly inviting him to go to the city for a drink when he returned.
