Fenghou

"How long has it been since you've been there?" Shopkeeper Tao asked in a trembling voice.

"It's been a long time, almost an hour."

At this moment, the maid Chuntao ran back in a panic, "Master, madam and son are gone!"

Shopkeeper Tao was like a thunderbolt, sitting on the ground with his buttocks, his eyes were straight.

"Master, get up quickly, let's report to the police!"

When it came to the reporter, shopkeeper Tao quickly stopped him and said, "Don't mess around!"

He stood up, took out the letter and walked into the study. After a while, shopkeeper Tao came out of the study in a daze, waved his hand to the two maids and said, "Your Majesty's affairs are kept secret from me. Don't tell anyone. Do you hear me?"

"we know!"

Shopkeeper Tao ordered a clerk to look after the shop, and he rented an ox cart and went out.

Not long after, shopkeeper Tao came to a large inn outside the city called Shunfeng Inn. He found a single courtyard. Shopkeeper Tao took a deep breath, stepped forward and patted the door knocker. The door creaked open, revealing a The face was the young man who delivered the letter before.

"I'm Tao Zhen, come here as you agreed." Shopkeeper Tao's voice couldn't help but tremble.

"Treasurer Tao, please come in!"

Shopkeeper Tao followed the young man into a room. There were five or six big men in the room, all of them burly, and a young man with sharp eyes sat in the middle.

"Sima Qing, shopkeeper Tao, please sit down!"

Shopkeeper Tao couldn't sit still, he quickly took out a bag and put it on the table, "This is 100 taels of silver, and all my savings over the years are here."

Sima Qing narrowed his eyes and laughed, "Wang Mi is really stingy for accumulating a hundred taels of silver over the years."

Shopkeeper Tao's face changed, and he immediately understood that the other party came for Wang Mian, not kidnapping for money.

"The injustice has its head, and the debt has its owner. The matter of Wang Mi has nothing to do with me. He is now in Qinzhou. You can go to Chengji County to look for him. Please let my son go."

Sima Qing said lightly: "We are not evil people, we will not hurt your son for no reason, we are just performing tasks, if you cooperate well, we will not hurt your son, if you don't cooperate, then you will find that we are more powerful than evil people If you don't believe me, I will send you one of your son's ears right now!"

"do not want!"

Shopkeeper Tao yelled in panic, and he begged with tears all over his face: "Don't hurt my son, I will agree to whatever you say!"

Sima Qing sighed secretly, the commander was right. Shopkeeper Tao's biggest weakness is his son, as long as he pinches his son, he will be obedient.

"Let me just say it straight! We are the internal guards of the Xihe Army, and we are ordered to carry out the mission. We know that Wang Mi's report to the court will be handed over to you, and then you will send someone to the court. But starting today, the report will first Let us have a look, and then you send someone to Lin'an."

"But... if the report is revised, it will be seen."

"Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it."

Shopkeeper Tao already understood the other party's intentions. They took the last step and controlled the content of the report sent by Wang Mian to Lin'an. However, Wang Mi has no way of knowing.

At this time, shopkeeper Tao suddenly thought of a fatal matter, what should his son do?

"My son, you can't detain him forever, you have to return it to me!"

"Don't worry, Shopkeeper Tao, we will return your son to you, but I want to warn you that your son can only live and study in Nanzheng County. There is no problem with these, but if you want to hide him or send him away, I will I assure you that you will never see him again."

Shopkeeper Tao nodded silently, he was really a little scared at this moment.

Sima Qing took out a letter of allegiance and put it in front of Shopkeeper Tao, "Sign it and press your fingerprint, and you can see your son."

Shopkeeper Tao knew that after signing and pressing his thumbprint, Wang Mi would no longer believe in himself, but now he couldn't care less about the consequences. He signed his name with trembling hands, and then painted Zhuni and pressed his thumbprint.

Sima Qing put away the letter of allegiance and said: "Probably tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, Wang Mian's first report will be delivered, you come here and give it to us, and it will be returned to you the next day."

"Where's my son?"

"Go back! Your son and wife are already home."

……

Shopkeeper Tao hurried home. As soon as he entered the courtyard, his five-year-old son Tao Zan rushed forward with his arms open, "Daddy!"

Shopkeeper Tao knelt down and hugged his son's young body, tears streaming down his face.

His wife, Shi Ma, stepped forward and whispered, "A carriage took me and Zan'er around the county town, and nothing else happened."

Shopkeeper Tao nodded, "I see, it's actually nothing, let's go to lunch!"

……

In the morning of the next day, Wang Mi sent someone to deliver the first report of the military supervision, and asked shopkeeper Tao to send someone to Lin'an immediately.

After sending the messenger back, shopkeeper Tao came to the Shunfeng Inn outside the city, found Sima Qing, and gave him the report.

Sima Qing looked at the report and asked, "Why isn't the report sealed?"

"I have to do two things. The first is to write a short pigeon letter and send it to Lin'an first. Second, I need to copy an attachment. The official report will be sent to the official, and the attachment will be sent to the Queen Mother. Don't seal it for the time being, when the two things are done, I will seal it together."

Sima Qing nodded, "Go back! I will return the report to you tomorrow morning."

Shopkeeper Tao knew what they wanted to do, he hesitated and said: "I know a master who imitates handwriting, I can introduce it to the general!"

Sima Qing smiled slightly, "No need, we have experts and a complete set of seals, don't worry, we guarantee that even the paper is exactly the same."

Shopkeeper Tao saluted, then turned and walked away anxiously.

Chapter 494 Architecture

Qinchuan Restaurant in Simaqiao, Chengji County, was also the former Xixia Army’s intelligence point, Xuechuan Restaurant. After the restaurant was confiscated by the government, it held an auction and was bought by the Qinzhou Wang family. It was renamed Qinchuan Restaurant. It is still Chengji The largest restaurant in the county.

At noon that day, at a small table by the window on the third floor, what were two men talking about in a low voice?

"Three hundred guan is less, I'm taking too much risk, this is top secret information, at least give me five hundred guan, no! I want 100 taels of silver."

"As long as the information is good, I can give you 100 taels of silver, but when will you give it to me?"

"Pay 50 taels of silver first, and I will give it to you at noon tomorrow at the latest."

The man sitting on the east side took out five ingots of silver from the leather bag, put them on the table and pushed them over.

At this moment, the diners around got up at the same time, rushed up, held down the man in the east, and quickly took him away with his back tied.

The moment he was taken downstairs, the man turned his head and found that the other party he was trading with was drinking tea with his head bowed. He immediately understood that he had been caught in a trap, and felt a burst of strong regret in his heart.

Half an hour later, a large number of inner guard soldiers surrounded Sun Ji's silk and satin shop, and quickly escorted the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper out, and sent them to the carriage to take them away.

……

Wang Hao then hurried to the official room and reported to Chen Qing how they searched Sun Ji's silk and satin shop.

"Reporting to Dutong, the evidence is solid, there are witnesses and material evidence, and a large amount of information collected and investigated by them was found in the silk shop, and it is confirmed that they are spies sent by the Xuanfu Department of Sichuan and Shaanxi."

This action was naturally ordered by Chen Qing. With the Supervising Army, there was no need for the Xuanfu Department of Sichuan and Shanxi to report the situation on Xihe Road to the Emperor, and Lu Fasheng, the envoy of Xuanfu, would not do anything wrong with the Supervising Army.

This was actually an important reason why Chen Qing was willing to accept Wang Mian as the supervisor of the army. He could use money to control Wang Mian, but he could not control the Sichuan-Shaanxi Propaganda Department.

But with the Supervisory Army, the Xuanfu Division of Sichuan and Shaanxi can no longer exceed its authority to monitor itself.

However, Chen Qing still decided not to leave any hidden dangers, and ordered the eradication of the intelligence point planted by the Sichuan-Shaanxi Propaganda Department in Chengji County.

This is actually a warning to Lu Fasheng, if he continues to act unruly, then don't blame yourself for being unruly.

The key is how to deal with these spies?

Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. If he was a commander, he could have killed them all with one blow, but now that he is a Jiedushi, he considers issues from a different height and perspective.

"Dutong, it's better to kill them and give them the strictest warning, so that they won't dare to send spies to Chengji County again." Wang Hao suggested cautiously.

Chen Qing shook his head, "Have you thought about Zhou Kuan? He purchased food in Bashu and recruited civilians. How can his safety be guaranteed? Have you thought about what will happen to the people we send to Bashu to purchase supplies and goods in the future?"

Wang Hao was speechless for a moment, and Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "Send them a gift to Beixian Renguan, along with the goods and money from the shop, and this is the end of the matter."

"Follow your orders!"

Wang Hao was about to leave when Chen Qing called him again, raising the information in his hand and reporting: "Sima Qing in Hanzhong has done a good job. I am very satisfied with this transfer of information. Everyone will be credited once. Let them continue to stay patiently in Hanzhong." , I will reward them heavily when they come back!"

"Thank you Dutong for your love, I will definitely tell them to boost their morale."

Wang Hao turned and left. Chen Qing read the report again. He had two reports in his hand, one was written by Wang Mian to the emperor, and the other was polished by Sima Qing and others.

From Wang Mi's report, it can be seen that the silver has worked. He didn't mention the matter of mining, and he described the expansion of the army as the expansion of the militia. Huang criticized himself for not appeasing the Qiang and Tibetans, but for being too tough and forcibly occupying hundreds of miles of land and salt fields from the Tubo people.

This report is written in a smooth manner. It seems to be all kinds of criticisms, but it doesn't touch on the key points. From another perspective, it is a strategic plan to open up new territories.

Although Sima Qing didn't change a single word, they still copied a report to a high degree, so as to ensure the consistency of the copied reports in the future. This is why Chen Qing admired Sima Qing for his thorough consideration.

After reading the report, Chen Qing finally heaved a sigh of relief, and can temporarily put aside the matter of supervising the army...

During this period of time, Chen Qing has been thinking about reforming the structure of the Jiedu Mansion. Now the establishment of each Cao is simple. It is just the military structure of the Xihe Army, not the government structure of Xihe Road. He is the Jiedu envoy and also in charge of government affairs.

Therefore, he had to set up a more comprehensive Jiedu government office. First of all, he had to set up two chief officials, one in charge of military affairs, with the official title of Sima, and the other in charge of government affairs, with the official title of Chang Shi. It is necessary to set up a judge to implement supervisory powers.

In the official position system of the Song Dynasty, both Chang Shi and Sima were low-level officials with eight ranks, but it was the characteristics of the Song Dynasty that low-level officials held great power.

The army has five cao join the army, the army, the law, the warehouse, the armor, and the field, and then set up the intelligence agency, which is in charge of scouts, undercover agents, and internal guards.

These are all Chen Qing's personal thoughts, but the biggest problem he encounters now is the lack of talents. To be precise, it is the lack of talents he can trust. There are a group of people in the state school, but can they make him trust?

Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. At this moment, Zhu Sui reported at the door, "Jiedu Envoy, Jiang Zhizhou is here!"

"Please come in!"

The only two people Chen Qing can decide on now are Zhang Xiao in charge of military affairs and Jiang Yanxian in charge of government affairs. The other candidates must be discussed with them.

After a while, Jiang Yan walked in quickly, bowed and saluted: "See Jiedushi!"

"Master, please sit down!"

Jiang Yan sat down first, and Chen Qing handed him the framework outline he had drafted, "Take a look first, what do you think?"

Jiang Yan looked at the outline first, and asked in surprise: "Is the Jiedu envoy officially establishing a government office?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Now there are many states and counties under the jurisdiction. The previous management method can no longer adapt and must be expanded. Now that the supervisory army is also in place, basically he has been bought by me and will not object to my settings. The key is that I The setting up is also reasonable and in line with the imperial court’s regulations. I am worried that if it is delayed, the imperial court will appoint officials for me. The right time, place and people are all in place, so now is the best time to set up the Jiedu Mansion.”

"Jiedushi's words are justified. If you don't take it to the court for record, it is very likely that the court will send officials over."

Jiang Yan took a closer look at the frame, and frowned slightly, "Why didn't the Jiedu envoy set up three divisions?"

"Is the establishment of the third division competing for power with the sixth division?"

"No!"

Jiang Yanxian shook his head and said: "The establishment of the three divisions is actually a diversion, so that the power of the first division is not too large. For example, the household division, its power is mainly controlled by population, taxation and financial power, but the mining supervision, smelting, Changping, salt and iron A large number of specific affairs such as land, house, transshipment, trade, and warehousing are handed over to the Household Department, and the Household Department is too inflated. Therefore, the starting point for the imperial court to set up three departments is to manage these specific affairs involving wealth. I suggest Jiedu The envoys also set up three divisions, or called divisions, which are subordinate to each case and manage these specific affairs."

Chen Qingxin nodded, "It makes sense, we can consider it!"

Jiang Yanxian said again: "Isn't it a bit inappropriate to let a lowly official serve as the governor of the Jiedu government? I'm afraid there will be opinions from the Ministry of Officials."

"Actually, it doesn't matter. If Zhizhou changes his name and resume, the supervising army will turn a blind eye."

Jiang Yanxian sighed and said, "It's not impossible to change the name, but I'm afraid that the qualifications will not be enough."

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "You only have one resume, my chief staff officer, whoever is the long history, besides Zhang Xiao has no qualifications, he also serves as Sima, my dignified Jiedu envoy, even a Don't you have the right to recommend the eighth-rank official? I just let you be a small eighth-rank official, and I have wronged you."

Jiang Yanxian was moved in his heart, bowed and said: "Thank you for the trust of the Jiedu Envoy, I will do my best in a humble position, and I will live up to the important role of the Jiedu Envoy."

Chapter 495 Transfer

Chen Qing nodded and said: "Now I have two headaches, I would like to ask Zhizhou for help!"

"Jiedu envoy, please speak!"

"One is the chief officer of each department. I am seriously short of people who can use it. It would be fine to use the backup officials of the state school, but I am really worried. It can be said that I know nothing about them."

Jiang Yanxian smiled slightly and said: "There is a solution. The Jiedushi can transfer local officials to serve as chief officials, and put these spare officials in various places as officials, so that it will be easier to observe their character and ability."

This method is good. Chen Qing has a good impression of several county magistrates and has long wanted to reuse them, such as Li Wanlou and Zhang Hong, the magistrate of Jichuan County, Wei Yun, the magistrate of Qin'an County, Wu Hongwei, the magistrate of Di Dao County, etc., indeed. A big shakeup is possible.

"This method is fine! I will write you a list later, and you can consider how to adjust it."

After solving a problem that gave him a headache, Chen Qing was in a good mood. He thought for a while and said: "The second problem is about Yang Yuanqing. I want to change him to a civilian job. How do you think it is better to arrange it?"

Jiang Yanxian told Chen Qing about Yang Yuanqing's problem in Ganquanbao. Yang Yuanqing's character is not bad, but just like Wu Jie, he is too loyal to the king. Once Chen Qing becomes self-reliant, his attitude will be dangerous. .

Therefore, in order to avoid turning his face in the future and hurting his friendship for many years, it is the best way to remove his military power in advance and reassign him to a civilian position.

Jiang Yanxian also agreed with Chen Qing's plan. He pondered for a moment and said, "I happen to be resigning. Either I will order him to take over the Qinzhou affairs, or I will set up another supervision and inspection department under the Jiedu Mansion to perform the supervision functions of the states and counties. Both roles are important, and he can choose one of the two."

Chen Qing nodded, "I'll find a chance to talk to him!"

……

In the afternoon, Chen Qing came to the barracks. He was going to inspect the situation of the army's farmland. Yang Yuanqing, as the director of military affairs, accompanied Chen Qing to inspect outside the city.