After rebirth, I tortured the scum and strived to become the empress

"Really? Everyone knows that the Liu family is good at nurturing hidden people and infiltrating them. But as you said, even if the Liu family wants to plant hidden people, they can't enter my county government's mansion, so you invited me here to tell me Is this it?”

Shen Qingjun didn't believe that this person went to such trouble to invite her here just to talk nonsense that everyone knew. Everyone knew what the Liu family's temperament was, and there must be others.

It's just that this man spoke hesitantly, and she didn't have that much time to let him make detours, so she asked directly in order to make Liao Qilong get down to business quickly.

Liao Qilong then sat down, "Of course not! I asked the chief to come here, so naturally I have other secrets to tell you!"

"Please speak..." Shen Qingjun raised his hand and said.

"Hey! Master Wei doesn't know that the Liu family is very domineering. We, the people of Wuwei County, have been suffering from the Liu family for a long time! I have been waiting for you for a long time! Fortunately, the Duke of Wuwei is here, and we, the people of Wuwei County, are hopeful!"

As soon as he sat down, Liao Qilong still did not go straight to the point. Instead, he vented his bitterness to the Liu family, and at the same time hinted to the principal of the Duke's Mansion that Shen Qingjun was the Ming Lord that the people of Wuwei were praying for.

However, he was not worried that these words would displease Master Wei in front of him, because his words of praise and criticism could easily win the favor of the people in Wuwei County Duke's Mansion!

It is true that Shen Qingjun was very happy after hearing this. After all, when he praised himself again at this time, although he knew that Liao Qilong was exaggerating, who didn't want to be the enlightened master that the people prayed for?

"Oh? I'd like to hear the details!" The happy Shen Qingjun raised the corners of his mouth slightly and made a gesture of listening attentively.

Seeing Shen Qingjun's slightly raised corners of his mouth, Liao Qilong knew that what he just said was right... This is right. It is easier to talk things over if you win the other person's favor. This is the secret of his Liao family's business!

"The Liu family has controlled Wuwei County for more than 100 years. As the family's power has consolidated, it has become more and more independent...and in the past 20 years, it has become even more greedy..."

"Natural nature is like greed! Greed is like gluttony!" Shen Qingjun raised his eyebrows and said, "This is an interesting metaphor. I would like to hear how the Liu family is greedy and stingy?"

"How stingy? Let's put it this way, in Wuwei County, before Duke Shen came, all the people or families who had offended the Liu family or said anything bad about the Liu family had disappeared inexplicably... Chief Wei said, Is this the inevitable retribution?"

Liao Qilong tried his best to gain Shen Qingjun's approval, so he used a metaphor: "Speaking of your majesty, there are admonishers in the court. From time to time, you will be scolded by the upright admonishers, but the Liu family can't hear even a word of scolding..."

"Liao Langjun, please don't compare like this. How can the Liu family be compared with your majesty!" Shen Qingjun heard Liao Qilong compare the emperor to the Liu family, stood up and bowed to the south, then took the words and said.

Seeing Shen Qingjun acting like this, Liao Qilong slapped himself twice in the mouth and said quickly: "Yes, yes, it's my fault, it's my fault, you shouldn't compare like this, you shouldn't compare like this...Comparing the Liu family with His Majesty, Not even shit!

Chief Secretary Wei... I have no disrespect to His Majesty at all! "He explained quickly.

"Don't worry, I didn't say that Liao Langjun was disrespectful to Your Majesty. I just reminded him that there are some things that Liao Langjun can say as a commoner without an official position, but as your Majesty's minister, I receive your Majesty's salary, but I can't hear it. , so it has to be like this!" Shen Qingjun said.

The fact is indeed the case. The emperor can be scolded by his officials, and ordinary people can be scolded, but high officials and military generals cannot be scolded no matter what!You can't even listen, otherwise it will be disrespectful to His Majesty...

What's more, she is still a 'prince' with titles, land, soldiers and horses, so she can't be negligent in the slightest. There is nothing trivial about His Majesty's affairs. How many people in history ended up falling for these trivial things because they didn't pay attention to them. On?

At the same time, she also realized that the sky in Wuwei County was indeed high and the emperor was far away, and the emperor's power was weak. Just by looking at Liao Qilong's words, she knew that the people's awe of the imperial power was not as great as that of the capital city.

In the hinterland of the Central Plains, a family like the Liao family would not be disrespectful to His Majesty. After all, they have a family and a career!Still not politically sensitive enough!There are some things that you can think in your heart but cannot say in your mouth.

"I already know that the Liu family's hatred will be repaid, so why don't we just talk about how greedy the Liu family is!" Seeing that Liao Qilong was a bit too reticent to say anything, Shen Qingjun changed the subject.

"Okay, let's talk about the Liu family's greed... I can only sum it up in one sentence: In Wuwei County, everything related to grain, horses, salt, ironware, and all profitable industries are controlled by the Liu family. control!"

"Control them all? What could Liu Jia'an do? The people of Wuwei don't resist?" Shen Qingjun asked curiously. You must know that Emperor Shao Wu had long wanted to follow the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to start a salt and iron monopoly and bring local finances to the central government to strengthen the country. , but unfortunately the resistance is too great...

His idea can be limited to just an idea, and he doesn't dare to test it out in the court, for fear that if he is not careful, he will force a certain place to rebel...or force everything to rebel...

If she only compared Emperor Shao Wu in her mind and didn't say it out loud, nothing would happen.

No wonder Shen Qingjun didn't believe it. Even Emperor Shao Wu, the founding emperor of the country, couldn't monopolize such highly profitable industries as salt, iron, and horses!

At the same time, it also explained why the Liu family had to burn everything down when she first arrived. It turned out that it was to prevent her from even investigating... Without written records, other families in Wuwei County were afraid that the Liu family would not take the initiative to inform Shen Qingjun. Shen Qingjun There is a high probability that the Liu family's power will be misjudged.

Even though she had sent Shen Yan to investigate the situation in Wuwei County long ago, it was impossible to fully investigate because there were some information that could not be found out by outsiders who were not indigenous to this place, even if this information was known to everyone...

But it is also because everyone knows that no one will mention it. For example, the Liu family's control of all Wuwei's industries is common knowledge in Wuwei, but Shen Qingjun just doesn't know about it. No one will mention it, which makes Shen Qingjun How to check Yan?

"Of course the people of Wuwei resisted, but strangely enough, all those who resisted would be killed by wandering horse bandits within a few years...or simply wiped out by the Qiang and Hu people who went south to plunder... It’s like being cursed…”

Liao Qilong glanced at Shen Qingjun meaningfully when he said this, "Master, you need to know that our Wuwei is close to the Western Region and is located on the border. Horse bandits are always easy to kill, and they often come out to do evil. The Qiang people in the west and the Qiang people in the north It is even more common for the Hu people to go south to plunder...

Therefore, gradually, the opponents disappeared, and those who remained were those who surrendered to the Liu family's power. "

"Everyone who goes against the Liu family seems to be cursed? Haha, I really don't believe it. How can there be such unlucky people in the world? They will suffer bad luck whenever they go against the Liu family... The theory of curse is even more ridiculous."

Shen Qingjun sneered in his heart: "Most of the horse bandits were raised by the Liu family, just to do things that were inconvenient for him, and to collude with the Qiang and Hu people to eradicate dissidents for themselves. It's not hard to imagine!" There is nothing new under the sun. Shen Qingjun said that these methods are leftover from the aristocratic family.

"Both the horse bandits and the Qiang and barbarians are the Liu family's means of excluding dissidents. Who in Wuwei County knows this? But the Liu family is domineering, powerful, and cruel, so they are just pretending to be confused!"

"What the Chief Registrar said is true, so when Duke Shen arrived with the army, we had hope. Duke Shen is the master that everyone in Wuwei County hopes for!"

Liao Qilong took the opportunity to flatter Shen Qingjun again. Such straightforward flattery made Shen Qingjun feel a little embarrassed...

"My lord is naturally wise and powerful, and he is expected to become the master of martial arts." Even if he was embarrassed, Shen Qingjun did not forget to play his role as a 'subordinate'.

<divclass="contentadv">How would a courtier react when he hears an outsider praising his lord?Of course it was Yong Yourong Yan, so she also praised herself with a Yong Yourong Yan expression.

"Please Mr. Liao, please talk about the Liu family again!" After praising herself, Shen Qingjun brought the topic back to the main topic, and if she continued to talk, she would get goosebumps.

'You're still too thin-skinned! ' Shen Qingjun thought.

"Yes...yes...after getting rid of the opponents, the Liu family stipulated that anyone engaged in industries such as horses, salt, and ironware must pay protection fees ranging from [-]% to [-]%!

If you are unwilling to accept it and want to rebel against the rules set by the Liu family... think of those people who have suffered unexplained disasters..."

Shen Qingjun nodded and asked doubtfully: "Protection fee ranging from [-]% to [-]%? The Liu family asks for such a high price, can you and other downstream families make a profit?"

Liao Qilong smiled bitterly, "Making money? Of course there is no such thing, but after working hard all your life, you can barely make ends meet!"

"Because of this, our Liao family was very unwilling, so we avoided the Liu family and did horse business with the Qiang people several times. Unexpectedly, the Liu family found out about it. I don't know whether it was informed by someone who was jealous of my Liao family's connections, or whether it was with my Liao family. The Qiang people in business make money at both ends..."

Speaking of which he was gnashing his teeth later, "The chief secretary should have some knowledge of the recent experiences of my Liao family, right? The Liu family in Wuwei can definitely prosper if they follow me, and perish if they go against me..."

Shen Qingjun really doesn't know much about this. There are so many families in Wuwei County, and she is very powerful if she can know just a few. How can she know everything in detail?However, she still nodded to Liao Qilong, who was so excited that he stood up, indicating that she knew. 'If you don't know, just go back home and check again! '

"Sorry, I lost my temper!" Liao Qilong apologized.

"It's normal for people to be careless and occasionally lose their temper when it concerns the family."

After Liao Qilong sat down again, he continued: "The Liu family behaves like this, but it takes a county's financial and material resources to support their family... The scary thing is that under this model, even the county government will inevitably become the Liu family's nourishment!"

"Huh?" Shen Qingjun straightened his body slightly when he heard that he was talking about himself.

"Master Wei, don't believe me? Let's put it this way! Duke Shen brought a large army to Wuwei. I don't know how many troops there are, but there are quite a few people, right? Not to mention weapons procurement, the Duke's people must eat salt and food, right?" Liao Qilong said, stretching out his fat fingers and gesticulating,

"In Wuwei, a dou of salt is worth 420 copper coins. If I tell Master Wei that for every dou of salt eaten by the county government, [-] copper coins will go into the pockets of the Liu family... One stone of grain is worth [-] coins. Copper coins, [-] copper coins were earned by the Liu family..."

Shen Qingjun listened quietly to Liao Qilong's words without interrupting, but was calculating in his mind, "No wonder Ji Wei reported that most items in Wuwei are one or two times more expensive than those in the Central Plains, and some items are more than three to five times more expensive. Originally, She thought the strange prices were caused by the scarcity of supplies here, but to her surprise, it was the Liu family who was responsible! '

"Wait a minute, why does the Liu family take so much of this food? It has reached [-]%..." Shen Qingjun is pretty good at arithmetic.

"Because [-]% of the grain fields in Wuwei County are owned by the Liu family, and the land rent they charge from tenants is [-]% of the grain production that year, and then they resell the grain collected from the tenants at a high price. Of course, [-]% of the grain is not enough. The tenant's family has to buy grain at a high price from the grain store for their annual needs. In this way, they can earn [-]%..."

"Oh, that's it. Then I wonder how much percent the Liu family can earn from my horse purchase today?"

Due to the donation from Zhang Yuancheng and the Beidi family, Shen Qingjun could still eat food for more than half a year. No matter how much the Liu family could earn, he could ignore it for the time being. Therefore, Shen Qingjun didn't ask much, but for the horses, his own army would have to purchase them in large quantities... Army horses She is very lacking, so you have to ask carefully!

"Horses? Just now, Master Wei spent a lot of money and shorted out several horse markets with such momentum that I admire you." He said and complimented Shen Qingjun.

"Liao Langjun is so ridiculous. I'm just purchasing for my lord. All the money is going through public accounts. How can there be any momentum there? Is the price too expensive?" Shen Qingjun has not forgotten his persona as the bookkeeper.

"Haha, it's not expensive, it's not expensive! It's not expensive at all!" Liao Qilong waved his hand, "Master Wei bought it at the right time! Not only at that time, Master Wei's behavior of buying horses today was also considered a living bodhisattva in the eyes of the horse market shopkeepers. Existence really solves a huge problem for those horse dealers!"

"Oh, is this reconciliation?"

"I wonder how Mr. Wei feels about buying horses today?"

"I just feel that Wuwei County has a lot of good horses! And the prices are cheap? But I got the price by comparing it with the Central Plains. There should be another market in Wuwei County, right? Don't try to trick me. Did I really buy a high-priced horse?" "Shen Qingjun asked sincerely.

"This is indeed not true. Not only is it not true, Master Wei's price for buying horses at the moment is [-] to [-]% cheaper than in previous years!"

"Really? I would like to hear more about it!"

"Actually, we usually don't have that many good horses in Wuwei County... Those horse market shopkeepers will sell the horses for sale every year before winter, leaving only stallions or simply wait until spring to go to the north or Purchasing from the west...

Because the horses need to eat fodder when they stay around, and in winter when everything is quiet, there is not so much fodder for the horses to eat..."

Liao Qilong smiled and said, "But it's just the beginning of spring. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be many horses in the horse market, but why did Mr. Wei find that there are so many good horses in Wuwei County? Because these horses in the horse market, in fact, Just from the official horse farm in Wuwei..."