Standing in the rain, Xu Ping calmly looked silent.

Zhang Rong, who was standing aside, sighed: "Prime Minister, it's really inconvenient to do work like this. Why not take a break for two days and then resume work when the day is ready?"

Xu Ping shook his head: "This is the rainy season, and it's not over. Who knows when the rain stops? When the rainy season passes, it's the sugar-squeezing season again. One person wants to be used by two people, and he can't make any moves."

Zhang Rong shook his head impatiently and stopped talking. This is the weather in this place, and there is really no way. It is not easy to let God give face.

Xu Ping's accompanying soldier Wu Xiaoyi ran over from a distance. He glanced at Xu Ping, then turned his head to cover his ears, and looked nervously at the front of the road.

Frowning, Xu Ping also blocked his ears.

Zhang Rong looked at the two of them, shook his head, but ignored them.

After less than a cup of tea, Wu Xiaoyi made a dull roar from where he came, and the earth was like a beast awakened, trembling restlessly.

"Oh my god, why is there such a big disturbance? If this is buried under the village and exploded, wouldn't the entire inspection village be gone all at once?!"

Zhang Rong rubbed his ears hard, and watched the gravel rising in front of him tear the rain curtain apart. The huge roar echoed in the valley, and his face changed.

Wu Xiaoyi put down his hand and said, "We are all blowing up the mountain, what is a patrol camp!"

Zhang Rong looked at Xu Ping and remained silent. This gunpowder was much more powerful than the kind made of gunpowder in the capital that only smoked. I really don’t know how this magistrate made it. If it were piled up too much, wouldn’t it even be able to blow up the city wall? The inspection village built by his own bamboo and wood was like paper.

Xu Ping and others had gone away the smoke of gunpowder. They were about to ask everyone to go up and pick up the broken rocks. Tan Hu ran over from above and shouted loudly from afar: "Officials, don't be here soon! The rain is too heavy, and the mountain torrents above have already risen. Don't rush here at most!"

Xu Ping whispered and said to the people around him: "Forget it, rest today, wait until the rain stops before starting work. Let's go back, everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to take a break!"

Xu Ping was a little irritable when he lowered his head and walked on the wet stone road. It was not that he insisted on working in this kind of weather regardless of everyone's life and death. There was no way to do it. The road in this mountainous area was rugged and uneven. The best section from Ruhe to Yongzhou could not be used for the whole journey. The cargo could only be carried on the horses on the shoulders. What should I get when it was the sugar-pulling season? During the harvest season, the sugar-pulling sugar cane would be reduced by one minute a day later. We had to race against time and keep going day and night. How could we go without a road?

For convenience, immigrants from Fujian were lined up along the road by Xuping, with about a hundred people being considered a team, and they stretched out dozens of miles. This road is the lifeline and must be repaired before the end of the rainy season. Fortunately, these immigrants are eating well and sleeping well now, and even though they are tired, they have no complaints.

Immigrants returned to their residences on the roadside, and Xu Ping told them to rest well one by one. The rain was heavy and there were many mountains and torrents around, so don’t run around to catch small animals to satisfy their cravings. Seeing the people agreeing with a quarrel, Xu Ping also felt impatient. There were so many strange people, and it was not so easy to manage.

From Yongzhou to Ruhe, and from Ruhe to Guwanzhai, Xu Ping must repair this road this year, and next year, he will build from Guwanzhai to Taipingzhai. As long as this road is connected, the barbarians along the way will no longer be able to make waves. With the support of Shendong, Zhongzhou and Shangsizhou will be completely sealed in the mountains. Only then will Xu Ping free up his hands to deal with them slowly. Xu Ping dared to throw his letter to their faces together with the Eighteen Prefectures.

Before I could return to my residence, I saw more than a dozen people in front of me braved the rain and were spinning around the pond. Who wasn't Sun Qilang?

Xu Ping was so angry that his teeth were itchy. This was not the time to be in Zhongmu. Sun Qilang was now his person, and others looked at him with his eyes. He was not at all self-conscious and became more and more reckless. He followed Huang Tianbiao, who was like a big child, and he had no idea of ​​restraining himself.

When he arrived at the door, Xu Ping was about to ask the soldiers to call Sun Qilang and his friends to come back, but a surprise voice came from the door: "So the judge is back, let the students wait!"

Following the voice, several people came out. The one walking in front was Li Anren, who had not seen him for many days. A middle-aged man in his thirties was wearing a shirt like Li Anren.

After seeing Li, Li Anren introduced the person next to Xu Ping to know: "Prime Minister Tong, this is Brother Huang Shimi, a student mentioned to me. He is from Guangzhou. He has been doing business in Zuojiang for generations and has just returned from Guangyuanzhou."

Seeing that Huang Shimi's expression was a little cold, far less warm than Li Anren, Xu Ping couldn't help but wonder, he was the God of Wealth for these businessmen, so why didn't he want to make friends? But he didn't think much about it, especially since this man had just been to Guangyuanzhou and was about to ask for some information from him.

When he arrived in the hall, Xu Ping asked the two of them to sit first, and went back to change their clothes. When he came out, he saw the two of them whispering with their heads down and smiled and said to them: "Why do you choose such a day to purchase goods? It's really a matter of keeping customers. You didn't even encounter the purchases the goods the previous few times. If it weren't for the rain, I'd probably missed them again today."

"The judge holds an important position and is busy all day long. We have nothing to do, so how dare we talk about it."

This place has now become Li Anren's most important purchase channel, but Caoshi is gone. Since the people from Fujian came, thousands of people gathered together. Many stores have quickly appeared from the miles from Xuping's residence to Ruhe County. One day it is prosperous and one day, it has become the lively place in Yongzhou second only to Zhoucheng, and it is no longer comparable to Wuyuan County.

After a few polite words, he returned to the topic. Xu Ping asked Huang Shimi, who had been sitting next to him without saying anything: "I heard that you are from Guangzhou, and I don't know what business you are doing?"

Huang Shimi said: "When the magistrate returns to the Tongzong, the road in Guangzhou is far away. The students sell some light goods and transport satin from Guangzhou. They exchange them for gold, silver and cinnabar from the barbarians to make some money."

Li Anren smiled and said, "Brother Huang is so kind. Tongzong is not an outsider. I have received more care in the past few months, and the business is much better than before. Tongzong, this Huang brother is not simple. The barbarians I know are all from Zuojiang, but Brother Huang's business is in Youjiang. It is not something that ordinary people can go there, and the interest rate is also high. I heard that in Guangyuanzhou, gold is produced in one or two golds for a good piece of satin. The interest rate is not comparable to that of us in the tea and salt business. Brother Huang, do you think so?"

Huang Shimi nodded silently and said nothing.

Xu Ping looked coldly, knowing that Huang Shimi and Li Anren were different and were not keen on cooperating with him. It’s no wonder that what kind of business can make more money than buying and selling gold and silver? There is a big gold mine in Guangyuanzhou. It is said that dozens of taels of gold are not uncommon there, and they don’t know whether it is true or not. Regardless of whether it is true or not, it is always right that Guangyuanzhou is the richest in all Tuzhou. He is strong with wealth and power. In recent years, he has vaguely become the leader of a barbarian.

The power of the Song Dynasty was reasonable in the Zuojiang area. On the surface, the barbarian chiefs all praised the vassals and offered sacrifices. Although there were many small moves, no one dared to make a big noise. The Youjiang area was different. The court even had difficulty maintaining the ban on the face. Places like Guangyuanzhou all paid tribute to the Song Dynasty and Jiaozhi at the same time, swaying and profiting in the middle. When there were benefits, they recognized the Song Dynasty, and when there was no benefit, they became their own mountain king.

Seeing that Huang Shimi was cold, Li Anren felt embarrassed and had to hide it by drinking tea.

Xu Ping asked Huang Shimi: "I heard that you just came back from Guangyuanzhou. What's the situation there?"

"Although the students made transactions with them, the specific situation was not clear. I just heard that a few days ago, the leader there had been arguing with the court. The court had already agreed and appointed the leader as a sanitation official. Later, for some reason he refused and did not sue him there."

Xu Ping said lightly: "Acquiring the land and sanctions meant to express his loyalty to the court. However, this leader Nong Cunfu had a little too much appetite and asked the court to let him take charge of several states around him. Not to mention this, Guangyuanzhou is Guangyuanzhou, a subordinate of Yongzhou of the Great Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizong was under his rule during the reign of Emperor Taizong, so he needed him to accept the land. What's especially abominable is that before he surrendered to the Great Song Dynasty court, he actually submitted a complaint to Jiaozhi. How did the officials of the Great Song Dynasty be like this?"

Nong Cunfu's letter first went to Yongzhou. Cao Keming did not check it carefully and agreed according to the convention. When Wang Weizheng asked Xu Ping for his opinion, Xu Ping was the first to object. With his previous experience, Xu Ping would not take this false name to heart, but it was the essence of the matter. Nong Cunfu used force to annex Guangyuanzhou. The so-called accepting land and surrendering is just a legality from the Song Dynasty, not to mention other requirements. That is, Yongzhou is now in poor strength, otherwise such people should be directly sent to destroy it, otherwise he would be allowed to annex. Sooner or later, he would have to develop a great problem. His son is called Nong Zhigao, and Xu Ping remembers it.

The rise of the Nong family in Guangyuanzhou was still in Jiaozhi. In the fifth year of Tiansheng, Jiaozhi greedyed for the wealth there and sent troops to destroy the former prefect, but had no strength to station for a long time, leaving this loophole for Nong Cunfu to get in. The Song Dynasty was a big country for Jiaozhi, but Yongzhou was not worth mentioning compared to Jiaozhi. The court was greedy for peace and pretended not to know about this matter. It has become a big deal now. If Nong Cunfu is recognized as the lord of Guangyuanzhou, he will take back Guangyuanzhou in terms of face, but actually encourage his ambitions.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wang Weizheng rejected Nong Cunfu's request and asked him to return to his own state and not choose the descendant of the former governor to serve as governors. The two sides had no contacts again.

After hearing Xu Ping's words, Huang Shimi said in a deep voice: "The students have never heard of what Tongzong said. The students just know about the matter there."

"It's probably enough to know. Then do you know that Nong Cunfu secretly made his territory the country of immortality, usurped the emperor, appointed the queen, and appointed his son Nong Zhicong as the king of Nanya? This is clearly a rebellion!"

Huang Shimi's face twitched for a moment, and she said with a thorn in her mouth: "Students don't know."

Xu Ping stared at Huang Shimi and said coldly: "I tell you, I will give you merchants all kinds of conveniences here, and even the tax revenue is not heavy. In addition to the mutual exchange, the court also wants you to be my eyes and ears of the Song Dynasty. Whenever the barbarians have any abnormal movement, you should be aware of the court, rather than profit from it! The things in Guangyuanzhou have long been known. You have been doing business there for many years, but you dare to be careless in me! Humph, Cao Zhizhou has not started surgery for many years, and your courage is getting stronger and stronger!"

Huang Shimi lowered her head, looked at the teacup on the table without saying a word.

"Li Anren brought you to see me with good intentions, but he didn't expect that you were such a person, which would have ruined his enthusiasm. From now on, you should not do business in Yongzhou anymore, so as not to cause any disaster in the future."

Li Anren didn't expect this to be the result and was stunned: "Tongjustment, how did this make it happen? The Huang family has been doing business this way for many generations. If this is banned, isn't it absolute their family's life? How can students explain to their peers when they go out in the future?"

"What are you telling them? You also let them know that although they are doing business in the barbarians, they are still subjects of the Song Dynasty. Don't forget your surname like this Huang Shimi! From now on, Yongzhou will announce the list, and Huang Shimi's family will dare to go to Yongzhou to trade with the barbarians, and be punished for tyranny by colluding with the enemy and treason, and kill them!"

Xu Ping did not know that the Guangzhou Jinshi in front of him was the mastermind when Nong Zhigao raised his army in his previous life. Later, Di Qing quelled the rebellion and killed the riots at Kunlun Pass. But he knew very well that the power of the Nong family in Guangyuanzhou had extended to less than 200 miles outside Yongzhou City. In terms of territory, it was larger than the places directly under Yongzhou. If it weren't for the old Tianzhou in Youjiang area and the old Tianzhou area, Guangyuanzhou, the Li family in Bozhou blocked Zuojiang, and the Nong family would have encompassed the left and right rivers until the city of Yongzhou.
Chapter completed!