The area further north of Kuizhou City is full of mountains, with few roads in sight. Now standing on the rammed-earth north city wall, Fang Chongyong can see the dark green mountains in the distance and the fierce fire!<

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Thick smoke is billowing! Blocking out the sky!

This wave of rebellion by the Liao people will burn down many mountains and forests.

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but asked Zheng Shuqing beside him in a low voice: "Zheng Shijun, the officials are so troubled, does the city care about them?"

"This is an internal matter for the Liao people. If we help, we will only make the situation more chaotic."

Zheng Shuqing sighed softly and said, there are many things that Fang Chongyong cannot explain in just a few words.

The Liao people are similar to the people of Shanyue, living in scattered groups with no organization and no leader like a chief.

They can be found everywhere in Shu and the southwest. In Kuizhou, only the Kuizhou capital along the river and Wushan County in the east belong to the Han people. The places farther away and closer to the mountains are the settlements of the Liao people.

Although the Han people and the Liao people often had conflicts, because Kuizhou City was a commercial port, it provided many survival opportunities for the Liao people. Therefore, the relationship between the two parties was relatively harmonious. The integration was relatively deep and there was no mutual aggression. Instead, there was more cooperation.

, merchants often hired servants as guides or slaves to make a living on the ship.

If there were officials making trouble in the city, it would be Zheng Shuqing who would act on behalf of the government to resolve the matter. In fact, most of it would be trivial matters.

The so-called big things are all between Liao people and Liao people!

At this moment, several officials with dark faces, green headscarves on their heads, cardigans and trousers, danced and shouted loudly toward the closed city gates of Kuizhou City, vaguely resembling the word "Help!"

, but the voice was weird. It was clearly asking Zheng Shuqing to order the city gates to be opened and allow them to take refuge in the city.

Before Fang Chongyong could say anything, the pursuers behind these people arrived. There were more than a dozen soldiers armed with swords and axes. They were dressed the same as the fleeing soldiers. When they came up, white knives went in and red knives came out.

Those few people had almost no resistance. After being hacked to death, the bodies were dragged away by the pursuers, leaving long blood marks on the ground. After a while, except for the dark red ones on the ground,

Outside of the imprint, it seems like nothing has happened.

Zheng Shuqing, Yang Ruoxu and others at the top of the city all had expressionless faces and looked at this cruel and bloody vendetta very indifferently without saying a word.

"Since we have killed people, the mountain fire must be extinguished."

After a long time, Zheng Shuqing whispered to Fang Chongyong. As if to confirm his words, the mountain fire in the distance was indeed much smaller.

Seeing that Fang Chongyong seemed to still have doubts, Zheng Shuqing explained: "When the officials solve problems, they always come to kill them. They don't blame the father for his son's death, just like animals. In fact, such atrocities can be stopped by uniting the troops in the city, but another person

It’s something that can’t be stopped.”

"Please tell me."

Fang Chongyong humbly asked for advice. Governor Zheng was doing well as an official in Kuizhou. He felt that he had indeed underestimated the governance level of others.

"When the Liao people burned mountains, they were burning she grains. After the fire, there was she fields, and they would cultivate the she grains in the next year. When the land was no longer fertile, they would burn she grains elsewhere. When burning mountains, they often offered sacrifices to pray for rain, and killed their enemies.

Sacrifice to heaven...how can the government stop such a thing?"

Zheng Shuqing said helplessly.

The Han people in Kuizhou no longer farmed much, but the Liao people did not have food or silk to trade with merchants. They still maintained the primitive slash-and-burn farming method. Under such circumstances, the yield and quality of the food grown can be imagined.<

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These things have no market competitiveness at all in Kuizhou Commercial Port. The merchants who come and go are all people who have seen the market. It is impossible to buy things produced in the fields of the Liao people and sell them elsewhere. The things that the Liao people trade with the merchants will not be sold elsewhere.

There is a universe.

Zheng Shuqing felt that there was no need to tell these things to a child with a yellow mouth.

"The officials often kill their enemies and exterminate their families, showing no discipline..."

Fang Chongyong murmured to himself, with mixed feelings in his heart.

Poor people must be hateful. If a person is not restrained by propriety, justice, integrity, and laws and regulations, he will indeed be like those people outside the city at this moment.

The Liao people came to Kuizhou City honestly, not because they wanted to like it so much, but because the Tang Dynasty's official government was strong and Kuizhou's commercial port was prosperous, so they could only rely on this place to make a living.

The world turns people into beasts, and turns "beasts" into people. It's nothing more than that.

At this moment, Zheng Shuqing's personal entourage came over and said in his ear with a very small voice: "Your Majesty, General Wang from Dongyang Mansion has arrived. He seems to have the intention of raising an army to investigate the crime. He is now waiting at the gate of the government office with his

Many soldiers from the government came to build momentum."

Hearing this, Zheng Shuqing's face fell and he sighed helplessly. He shouted to Yang Ruoxu: "Follow me to the government office and let these united soldiers disperse."

There was indeed nothing going on now. Yang Ruoxu said a few words to his subordinates and followed Zheng Shuqing cautiously, with a very nervous look on his face. Fang Chongyong could not understand.

"You should come too, we're here anyway."

Zheng Shuqing felt very unhappy and wondered if that person was here to confirm that Fang Chongyong was still alive. Judging from Fang Youde's old-fashioned character, it was impossible for him to leave his son in Kuizhou without making any arrangements. This guy named Wang came by coincidence.

, it’s hard to say it wasn’t Fang Youde’s prior arrangement.

That guy must have gone to Chang'an to complain!

When Zheng Shuqing thinks of Fang Youde, his teeth itch with hatred.

Yes, Fang Youde's personal integrity is very admirable, but this person is a stickler for the past and doesn't know how to adapt.

He only sticks to his own principles and does not care about the life and death of others. He always talks about "loyalty to the country and even death".

In order to file a complaint, he would throw away his own son at will. This kind of cruelty is really not something ordinary people can have. Zheng Shuqing has no doubt that if Li Longji asked Fang Youde to kill his own son, that one would definitely do it.
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The group of people arrived at the dilapidated government office. In the lobby, they could smell the smell of wood rotting due to moisture. Fang Chongyong frowned slightly. He already understood that Zheng Shuqing lived in the Lotus Pond Courtyard for his own comfort.

There is no way to live in a government office that has no money to repair it.

Officials like them who come from aristocratic families are extremely luxurious in their food, clothing, housing and transportation, and they do not expect a small salary from the court to live their lives. Being an official is to ensure the continuous flow of benefits and protect the territory where their family is located.

As for local officials not building government and county offices, it is easy to understand. If they build them, wouldn’t it mean that the government is very rich?

If disaster relief is to be provided at that time, the local government will have to pay for it, right?

If you have money to repair the government offices but no money to provide disaster relief? How can you have the nerve to find local big businesses to share the funds?

Just as Fang Chongyong was thinking about it, he had already seen a burly general wearing Mingguang armor, leading dozens of fully armed soldiers in front of the lobby.

These soldiers have a horizontal sword on the left side of their waists, two short-handled axes hanging on the right side, arrow pots and horn bows on their backs. They have armor on their bodies, shoulder straps, small round guards on their chests, and riveted helmets, including those with front placket.

Armor. It is no exaggeration to describe it as armed to the teeth.

The troops are well-organized, well-equipped, and impressive!

To them, the government office lobby seems like nothing.

Compare the fifty crossbowmen under Yang Ruoxu's command, these soldiers are the real killing machines.

"Prince Zheng! You have sat back and watched several times when the Liao people in Kuizhou burned the mountains and ignored the majesty of the Tang Dynasty! Today I heard that the Liao people burned the mountains and attacked each other. A certain man specially brought his subordinates to help. Why did you leave your post without authorization?

?"

The burly general surnamed Wang pointed at Zheng Shuqing and yelled, while he slapped his hat on him one after another.

"Wang Zhongsi! You were demoted to Dongyang Mansion to be idle because of your arrogant opinions on the military affairs of Shu! Do you still think this is Tubo! I have not investigated you for the crime of trespassing in the government office!"

Don’t hit someone in the face, don’t expose someone’s fault. Zheng Shuqing is not someone to be trifled with. He explained Wang Zhongsi’s current situation in one sentence:

Cast idle!

Zheng Shuqing does not need to be polite to Wang Zhongsi, because Wang Zhongsi is a good friend of the loyal king Li Sisheng (later Li Heng), and Li Linfu protects the longevity king Li Xuan!

Wang Zhongsi used to fight against Tibet on the border. He repeatedly performed extraordinary feats and gained Li Longji's trust. However... he has now been demoted for saying something he shouldn't have said.

Of course, there may be other reasons, but on the surface, he was demoted because of "making irresponsible remarks on government affairs."

The problem still lies with that Jiannan Jiedushi Wang Yu.

When Wang Zhongsi was on the Tubo border, he wrote a memorial to comment on Wang Yu and the Jiannan Army, saying that Wang Yu's border town policy in Shu was "not good". Therefore, Wang Yu's sworn brother Huangfu Weiming framed him, saying that he "had

"Different ambitions".

So I don’t know what Li Longji was thinking, so he demoted Wang Zhongsi to Zuo Guoyi of Dongyang Prefecture. Not only was this ghost place very far away from Chang’an, it was even within the radiation range of Jiannan Jiedushi. Kuizhou

A lot of the money and food was allocated to the Jiannan Army.

Li Longji's sap beating was extremely cruel.

So what kind of official is Zuo Guoyi? Zuo Guoyi is the deputy of Zhechong Commandery. He is responsible for training soldiers and managing Zhechong Palace. He can even decide whose cubs can serve as soldiers and whose cubs cannot!

Is it powerful?

Well, it was once very big and very impressive. It was one of the important steps for ordinary people to climb up after joining the army. Many generals in the Tang Dynasty had the experience of serving as assistant officers in the military government before becoming famous.

But what about now?

Now it is basically equivalent to not being an official, and there is only a thin line between them and civilians! To put it bluntly, it is nothing! It is useless!

The power and position of Zuo Guoyi in Dongyang Prefecture under Wang Zhongsi was far inferior to Zheng Shuqing, the governor of Kuizhou!

The reason why Wang Zhongsi can stand here to challenge Zheng Shuqing is because he was once a popular figure around Li Longji, a specially trained general, and he had an irreversible friendship with Li Heng.

He is powerful only because he is Wang Zhongsi and his "holy family", not because of Zuo Guoyi's official position.

Although the military government in the mid-Tang Dynasty has not been abolished, it is basically in name only. The common people regard joining the military government as a serious problem, and many people escape from serving. The officers and titles in the military government are also completely different.

Worth mentioning.
To be continued...