When Li Yao was the county magistrate in Jinping County, Lou Dongfang had worked with Liu Gongfu and was well aware of this head-catching ability.
Later, Li Yao was transferred to Tongren Mansion to serve as general magistrate. He could not bring his subordinate officials with him, so he had to part ways with Liu Gongfu. Unexpectedly, this separation would last for several years.
After Li Yao was transferred to Liping Prefecture, he checked the files of Jinping County for the first time.
He discovered that Chen Changsheng, who had replaced him as county magistrate, had been transferred, and the arrester had been replaced by a man named Wang Biao, while his former subordinate Liu Gongfu was missing.
With the huge crowd, Li Yao had no choice but to give up his plan to recruit Liu Gongfu to serve him again.
What he didn't expect was that when he was employing people, Liu Gongfu came back on his own and brought more than thirty people with him. This was a great gift.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry to greet Gongfu."
Li Yao straightened the black gauze hat on his head, his excitement uncontrollable.
"Okay, my lord, you sit quietly in the mansion while I go to the city gate to greet Brother Gongfu."
Lou Dongfang quickly left the yamen, mounted a thin horse, and galloped towards the east gate.
It was now completely dark and the lanterns were starting to turn on.
Zhu Renxia and Liu Gongfu led more than thirty people and arrived at Liping Mansion on time after a day's journey.
Like Jinping County, this capital city in southeastern Guizhou is also closed at the moment, as if facing a formidable enemy.
However, there were not many guards on the city wall. It looked like there were only a dozen of them. This made Zhu Renxia puzzled. Is the security of Liping City considered strict or lax?
If you want to say that he is slacking off, the huge city not only closes the city gates, but also pulls up the drawbridge.
You have to say that it is heavily guarded, with sparse torches on the high and long city walls, and only a dozen militiamen patrolling, which does not seem to be as strong as the civilians patrolling Chang'an Town.
While everyone was talking, they saw a scholar wearing a gray turban and long robe carrying a lantern and climbing up the city wall: "Where is Brother Gongfu? Lou Dongfang is here, come out and talk."
"Haha...Master Lou, I haven't seen the New Year in several years, and it hasn't changed at all!" Liu Gongfu laughed and urged the horse to come out.
"Oh...it's really Brother Gongfu!"
Lou Dongfang was overjoyed after seeing it clearly, and hurriedly ordered the government officials to open the door: "Quickly lower the suspension bridge, open the city gate, and let people from outside come in."
Jin Zhu, who was behind, quietly said to Zhu Renxia: "The prefect's master personally came to greet Battalion Commander Liu. This prefect is so proud of you!"
Zhu Renxia nodded: "It seems that Brother Gongfu gets along well with them. Being able to connect with Liping Prefecture will be of great benefit to Chang'an Town without any harm."
"Hehe... This is the master of the magistrate. He should be more powerful than the fifth county magistrate, right?" Jinzhu said with a smile.
Zhu Renxia smiled: "That's natural. The prefect is a fourth-rank imperial official, while the county magistrate is only a seventh-rank official. The master who is the prefect is naturally more prestigious than the master who is the county magistrate."
With a "squeaking" sound, the suspension bridge slowly lowered, and the heavy city gate slowly opened.
Lou Dongfang came out quickly and said, "Brother Gongfu, you're fine!"
Liu Gongfu dismounted and held hands with Lou Dongfang to exchange greetings: "Brother Yu is fine. Are you fine too, Old Lou? How do you do, Lord Magistrate? After three years of separation, I miss you very much."
"My lord, he may be good or bad!" Lou Dongfang said with a wry smile.
Liu Gongfu was puzzled: "How do you say this? Your Excellency, being promoted from general judge to prefect is considered a move to the right. Why is it bad?"
Lou Dongfang said: "It's a long story. I'll take you to see the prefect."
"Wait a minute, let me introduce you."
Liu Gongfu was not in a hurry to enter the city, but grabbed Lou Dongfang's sleeve and introduced Zhu Renxia to him: "This is Mr. Zhu Renxia, the mayor of our Chang'an Town."
"Mayor?"
Lou Dongfang only knew that the head of a town was the mayor, but he didn't know what the mayor's position was, let alone where Chang'an Town was?
But since he is a friend brought by Liu Gongfu, he should show respect and immediately greet him with cupped fists: "Haha... Hello, Mayor Zhu, I am the master of Mr. Li, the prefect of Liping. My surname is Dongfang."
Zhu Renxia cupped his fists and returned the greeting: "Hello, Mr. Lou. I'm Zhu Renxia, this is polite."
"Mayor, please come in!"
Although Liu Gongfu was a distinguished guest of Magistrate Li, he did not forget Zhu Renxia, his immediate boss, and he politely asked Liu Gongfu to leave first.
Zhu Renxia smiled slightly, saluted Lou Dongfang and said, "Master Lou, please go first."
"Young master, please, brother Gongfu, please!"
Lou Dongfang was polite, but he was secretly surprised in his heart. Liu Gongfu had always been arrogant, so why would he treat a mayor with such respect? Does this young man have extraordinary abilities?
"Follow me into the city!"
Liu Gongfu waved his hand and got on his horse.
Jin Zhujiao shouted: "Brothers, follow along!"
After Liping City was looted by the rebels, the prefect's Yamen had only one horse left, which Li Yao brought when he took office.
Looking at the team led by Liu Gongfu, the soldiers and horses are strong. The man on the horse is burly and majestic, with sharp eyes;
"When will our master have such an elite team? I don't know if this team belongs to Liu Gongfu or to Mayor Zhu. Why does it seem that Zhu Renxia is the leader of the team?"
This made Lou Dongfang feel a little bad. It seemed that Liu Gongfu was working for this person, which was very unfavorable for recalling him to Li Yao's command.
Although Li Yao is now a fourth-grade prefect, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a polished commander.
There are only more than 300 people under his command, and they are still a patchwork of people, some from Guiyang and some from various counties under the jurisdiction of Liping.
These people form cliques, obey the magistrate's orders, and do things half-heartedly, but you still can't drive them away because they don't want to stay in the first place. Do you think it's irritating or not?
"But this Zhu Renxia is just a mayor. He sounds like the mayor of a town. How did he get such power?" Lou Dongfang secretly wondered.
Liu Gongfu patted the carriage passing by on his horse and warned: "Be careful and try to avoid bumps."
"Okay, battalion commander, don't worry!"
The driver and the people in the carriage all agreed.
Lou Dongfang, who was next to him, couldn't help but ask: "Brother Gongfu, what's in the carriage?"
Liu Gongfu pretended to be secret and said: "The secret must not be leaked. You will know it when the time comes. But I can tell you that this is my meeting gift to the prefect."
The wheels of the carriage pressed against the bluestone road, and the silver ingots in the box made a "ding-dong" collision sound. This made Lou Dongfang couldn't help but listen carefully with his ears raised, and secretly guessed in his heart.
"It sounds like it's silver, but to pull a carriage, you must have at least a thousand taels of silver, right? Will Mayor Zhu or Mr. Liu be so generous? Maybe weapons like swords, guns, swords and halberds?"
When the carriage entered the city, Liu Gongfu asked, "Master, could you please find a place to settle my brothers?"
"The barracks in Liping City are all empty. There is plenty of space, but there is a shortage of people."
Lou Dongfang rode on his thin horse and led the way, leading Liu Gongfu and his party to the empty Minzhuang barracks.
Not long after, the team arrived in front of the door and saw that the huge camp was silent. The two broken lanterns in front of the door were swaying in the cold wind, adding a sense of desolation and loneliness.
There were only two people in front of the door, holding spears in their arms and taking a nap. When they saw the prefect's master arriving, they didn't mean to stand up straight. They just said a vague greeting: "Hello, master."
Lou Dongfang was too lazy to pay attention to them. He pointed his riding whip towards the barracks and said, "Stay wherever you want."
Zhu Renxia told Jin Zhu: "You and Captain Ding will guard the carriage carefully, while Brother Gongfu and I go to meet the prefect."
"Put it on me, and I guarantee that not even a fly will fly into the carriage." Jinzhu pursed his lips and said confidently, with a bit of cuteness in his proud expression.
Zhu Renxia couldn't help but joke: "It's just after the Spring Festival, it's still winter, where are the flies?"
Jin Zhu disagreed: "Winter in Guizhou is similar to autumn in the north. Mosquitoes bit me last night. Since there are mosquitoes, how can there be no flies?"
