The sound of conversation came from Zaoban's public room.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hey, the landlord, Bo, who is also the county lieutenant, is very good. Which county lieutenant do you want?"
"Say he's a melon boy."
"If you can get rid of someone named Lu, how can the landlord, Bo, give him any advice?"
In the corridor, Huang Shi was leading the way. He turned around and glanced at Li Xia. Seeing the expressionless expression on the county lieutenant's face, he quickly bent his face, trotted into the squad room, and coughed twice.
"The new Li County Lieutenant has arrived, everyone, get up."
Li Xia held a roster in her hand and walked into the class room. When she looked around, she saw more than ten men sitting or standing chatting.
These people are all Zaoli, that is, followers of the county government, guards of honor, and guards.
They turned their heads one after another and saw Li Xia. Their frolics became quieter, they looked at each other and didn't speak, but they all had blank expressions on their faces.
Huang Shi coughed again and said, "This is the newly appointed Lieutenant of Li County. Everyone is here to pay their respects."
Everyone stood up one after another and called out: "I have seen Captain Li."
Li Xia had a hard expression and just looked at them, neither responding nor telling them to be disrespectful.
Although he is young, he has firm eyes and stands upright. With his status as "county lieutenant", he looks quite majestic.
All the Zaoli felt puzzled and held their hands together, not daring to put them down.
Li Xia looked at it for a while, then walked forward, raised a man's hand, and patted him on the back.
"Stand up straight and be alert."
The man stood up straight.
Li Xia didn't speak again.
For a long time, the silent atmosphere made all the slaves feel uncomfortable. Finally, they all stood up straight and performed the standard hand gesture.
Li Xia then said: "There is no need to be polite."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Li." All the officials breathed a sigh of relief and put down their hands.
Li Xia opened the roster in his hand and said, "Put it in order and report your names one by one, starting with you."
"Yes, the villain Yang Shoufa."
Li Xia took a charcoal pen to mark on the booklet and said, "Tell me carefully, where are you from? How many years have you been a soap official? What do you usually do?"
"A native of Paowu Village, I have been an official for six years. I usually run errands in the Yamen and go on inspections with the county magistrate..."
Li Xia wrote it down and asked the next person to sign up.
"The villain Cui Shen is a groom, a native of Sanqing Village, and he raises horses for Class Three..."
After a while, everyone reported their names one after another.
"Eighteen people." Li Xia said, looking at the book in his hand, and said: "Sixteen Zaoli, two disciples, twelve horsemen, six sedan bearers and fan bearers, and four lamp bearers. These are from Zhong County.
There is a quota for public officials, Qingfu is a lower county, why are there so many people?"
Huang Shi responded hurriedly: "It was Bo, the landlord, who reported to the magistrate that there were many southern barbarians around Yingfu County and that there was a war in the area. Three additional squads were added."
"There are forty people on the register. Where are the twenty-two others?"
"On duty."
"Mark which ones are on rotation for me."
Huang Shi had no choice but to mark it, and Li Xia asked again in detail, and finally said: "There are still twelve people missing, where are they?"
"This..." Huang Shiwei said, "I don't know."
Li Xia put down the book in his hand, walked a few steps, and asked Yang Shoufa: "Do you know Bao San?"
"Reporting to the county captain, I know you."
"Where is he?"
"He...he's sick."
Li Xia said, "Is Jiang Fan also sick?"
"This... villain doesn't know." Yang Shoufa lowered his head.
There was a sound of banging in the distance. Five times, it was already sunset.
Li Xia did not embarrass them and said: "Today I have gotten to know everyone. I will officially take office tomorrow and we will get along well with each other from now on."
After he finished speaking, he left simply.
In the class room, all the slaves breathed a sigh of relief, and some people looked out the door a few times.
"He's gone."
"This county captain is so tense that he makes me angry."
"It looks so messy, it scares me to death."
"I don't know when the landlord will be able to get him away..."
~~
Li Xia walked out of the county government office and saw Han Chengxu standing outside the door.
“Is there something wrong with the accommodation arrangement?”
"Yes, Alang's guess is good." Han Chengxu told what happened, and then said: "I'm afraid the magistrate of Najiang County or the landlord's bookkeeper will give us a warning."
"Mr. Han thinks how to deal with it more appropriately?"
Han Chengxu said: "I guess Alang is in a strong position in the county government today?"
Li Xia said: "Yes, if you want to make it a strong point, you should make your attitude clear from the beginning. It's boring to repeat it over and over again."
"Since you have shown strength in official matters, why not take a step back in private affairs and live in a post house?"
"Okay, let's talk after you settle down..."
Yingfu County Posthouse is located at the intersection of Fujiang River and Erjia River in the north of the city.
Li Xia and others went to the post house, but there was only one big house left. After settling in, they built a big shop in the big house.
It was night, and several people gathered around the lights and talked about their impressions of Qingfu County today.
"Speaking of it, the intensity of the party struggle in the Song Dynasty is evident in this residence." Han Qi'an looked at the Datong Shop and sighed with emotion.
Liu Jinsuo was rarely soaking his feet and asked: "What is the meaning of today?"
"Generally speaking, Beijing officials are not worthy of residences. Local officials all have official residences, most of which are connected to the government offices. Therefore, the officials' children are called "Yamenei." If local officials do not have residences, they are excluded."
"Excluded? Didn't Martin Gui say that he would make arrangements for us again?"
Han Qian said: "He won't arrange it."
"Why?"
"In peacetime, the famous Prime Minister Kou Zhun and Ding Wei fought for power. Kou Zhun was demoted to Hengzhou and had nowhere to live. The people voluntarily built a house for him. Ding Wei then banished him to Leizhou, and finally Kou Zhun died in anger.
; Su Che was also demoted to Leizhou by Zhang Dun and rented a private house. Zhang Dun learned that he punished the owner severely and refused to allow Su Che to have a place to live... Do you understand?"
"not understand."
Han Qi'an said: "Not giving them a place to live is one of the means of fighting for power."
Liu Jinsuo was furious, stood up and shouted: "Damn! Bullying..."
Li Xia was reading a map by candlelight and said: "Sit down and shut up."
"oh."
Han Chengxu sighed: "It seems that the former Lu County Lieutenant was squeezed out by Fang Yankai."
"I'm afraid we have to repeat the old trick." Han Qi'an said: "Shi Jun sent someone to say, 'please take care of the landlord,' with the intention of letting Fang Yankai control the power of the county captain and not let Alang interfere and suppress the governor.
It’s difficult to deal with being squeezed out by the chief clerk.”
"Fang Yankai handed over Zaoban today, I'm afraid he was trying to set up a trap for A Lang."
"Qiao'er." Li Xia suddenly pointed at the map and said, "Do you remember where the Qijun in Wulianghetai is located according to the intelligence?"
Han Qiaoer said: "It's not on this map. I'll draw another one for Brother Li."
"Okay, you draw..."
Li Xia stretched his body.
Han Chengxu said: "It seems that Fang Yankai is unwilling to hand over the power of county captain. How does Alang plan to deal with him?"
"I never thought about it," Li Xia said.
The Han family father and son were stunned.
Li Xia said: "I think it is a good thing to have Shi Jun in Xuzhou and Fang Yankai in Qingfu County."
"Good thing?"
"It's normal not to hand over power." Li Xia said: "If they dare to hand over a county's military equipment to a sixteen-year-old person with no official experience, it would be too irresponsible; if they hear that I am the emperor who gave me the title, they will
If the military equipment is handed over, if there are more officials like this who have no brains and no position, the land of Shu will be destroyed."
Han Chengxu said: "From their standpoint, this is indeed the case."
"Not only are their positions correct, but they are also talented people. Xuzhou and Qingfu County are both well governed." Li Xia said, "I admire Shi Jun and Fang Yankai very much."
It sounds strange that he, a young county captain, admires someone who is a magistrate.
Liu Jinsuo wanted to say something, but finally kept his mouth shut.
Han Chengxu said: "It makes sense that Shu can resist the Mongolian army for thirteen years. When Yu Jie was in Shu, he eliminated bad government, lax corvee and low taxes, and rectified military discipline, which laid a good foundation."
As he spoke, he changed the topic and said: "But officialdom does not ask about right or wrong, only who is in power. Alang must not be merciful."
"It's not that they are soft-hearted." Li Xia said, "I don't regard them as opponents."
"what for?"
Li Xia asked back: "You think what I want to do is fight for power with Fang Yankai?"
"It's natural."
"It's mine, so why fight? I'm here to defeat Wu Liang Hetai, not for them."
Han Qi'an asked: "Looking at the current situation, Fang Yankai is unwilling to return his power to Alang. How about..."
"He has a small style, so don't pay attention to him."
As Li Xia spoke, his eyes fell back on the map and said, "Have you discovered it? There is no navy in Qingfu County."
Han Chengxu and his son were stunned again.
Neither of them understood. They had just arrived in Qingfu County, and when the chief registrar was holding the power and refused to hand it over, why did Li Xia start to care about whether there was a navy?
Also, I just said that I admire Fang Yankai, why do I say that he has a small style?
At this time Han Qiaoer had already drawn another map.
"Brother Li, it's ready."
"good."
Li Xia put the map together, traced it with his fingers, and said, "I am really immersed in the situation. I understand Mongolia's entire strategy. I will try to analyze it. Mr. Han can help me take a look, right?"