Three thousand miles in exile

After sending Song Fenglin away, Liu Zhan did not return to the barracks, but went to the city to find Pei Wanshan. He already had a plan in mind.

Of course Prince Rui and Zhou Chan couldn't hide such a big commotion in Cenzhou.

In his previous life, Liu Zhan started from scratch, he had his own way of how to win over the people above, he would definitely explain this matter to Prince Rui and Zhou Chan himself, and he couldn't go empty-handed.

The temporary residence of the Great General of Jinyang City, the study of the other courtyard.

"It's been three full months, and you can't even take down a small firm under the Yan family?" Zhou Chan was so angry that he smashed the teacup in his hand.

A room full of cronies and counselors kept silent, and everyone felt bitter. The Yan family has a solid foundation in Jinyang for a hundred years, how can outsiders just intervene if they want to?

There is an old saying that a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake, which exactly corresponds to their current situation.

Zhou Chan was annoyed and anxious, the Chen family and the Lu family in the capital together with other aristocratic families who did not like the Zhou family were in the Baoyan family.

It stands to reason that a criminal like the Yan family would not be enough to atone for his crime by destroying his family ten times, but Emperor Xuan hesitated. Others may not be able to guess what Emperor Xuan was thinking, but Zhou Chan knew very well that Emperor Xuan was afraid of the Zhou family!

The head of the Zhou family is the prime minister of a country and the leader of the world. The Zhou family has already trampled on all the families. Now Zhou Chan has become a general of the Northern Army in charge of military power in northern Xinjiang. Not only that, the Zhou family is also a relative.

The Zhou family is the son and mother family of the eldest prince, and the eldest prince is the governor of Beijiang and has been granted the title of King Rui. The Zhou family can be said to be extremely prosperous, and it is obvious that the Zhou family will have a great future!

Emperor Xuan was suspicious by nature, how could he let the Zhou family's influence grow in northern Xinjiang, and the Yan family could not be defeated in order to check and balance Zhou's influence in northern Xinjiang.

Because of Emperor Xuan's attitude, the Yan family became more and more arrogant, and even began to gather private soldiers, showing signs of reorganizing the Yan family army.

"We can't be so passive anymore." Zhou Chan paced back and forth with a burning heart. "Once His Majesty invites me back to Beijing, our plans in northern Xinjiang will come to naught."

Although Zhou Chan usually advised the eldest prince not to worry, in fact he was more anxious than anyone else.

Not only did he want to take down the Yan family before Emperor Xuan intervened in Northern Xinjiang, he also had to take down the Yan family before King Rui. On the surface, he was on the same boat as Prince Rui, but in fact Zhou Chan's heart was weighed by the From the beginning to the end, it was only towards the Zhou family.

At this moment, someone came to report, and Cenzhou Wei Liu Zhan asked to see him.

Zhou Chan squinted his eyes, that young general that Prince Rui sent to Cenzhou?

"The Liu Zhan who killed Fang Cuo's cousin?" one of the counselors was surprised.

"What's going on, please explain carefully." Zhou Chan sat down again.

"It happened more than half a month ago. I heard that Lieutenant Liu Zhou clashed with the Fang family on the first day of his report in Cenzhou. He not only killed Fang Zhao, but also expelled the Cenzhou Fang family from Cenzhou."

"The following defeats the great treason!"

"How dare a humble bastard be so arrogant?"

"This person can't be used, I implore the general to drive him out of Jinyang."

There was a lot of discussion in the study for a while.

"After all, he is Prince Rui's man, so I still have to give Prince Rui a little favor." The counselor who first told Liu Zhan's killing method said.

Zhou Chan's expression remained unchanged, he raised his hand and the waiter hurriedly brought another cup of tea.

"Gongli stay, everyone else go down."

All the cronies and counselors got up to leave, their faces were submissive and did not dare to disobey, but their eyes kept looking at the young counselor who was left behind.

Everyone is very disdainful in their hearts, this person is used to flattering and flattering, and he is born in a second-rate family.

"What do you think?" Zhou Chan flicked the tea foam.

Pei Gongli is neither humble nor overbearing. "The Fang family of Cenzhou is the common family of the Fang family of Daizhou. The Fang family of Cenzhou is not as good as the previous generation. It has been hollowed out by the Yan family long ago. Now it is just a second-class family."

So the Cenzhou Fang family is just a declining second-rate family, no wonder they were bullied by a little Cenzhou Wei.

"Liu Zhan is very smart." Pei Gongli said again.

"Oh?" Zhou Chan became interested.

Pei Gongli smiled. "Take the risk of taking down a declining second-rate family, but in exchange for the surrender of the entire Cenzhou, who will dare to touch him from the local small clans in Cenzhou?"

Zhou Chan was stunned for a moment, he put down the teacup, his eyes flickered with joy or anger.

In the side hall, Liu Zhan waited for about half an hour before being led to meet the general.

"Liu Zhan, the last general, pay homage to the general!" Liu Zhan made a firm kneeling salute as soon as he entered the door.

Zhou Chan didn't waive his salute immediately but reprimanded him in a deep voice. "Bold bastard, how dare you dispose of the children of the aristocratic family without authorization, this general can kill you today."

"General, please make amends!" Liu Zhan was startled, as if frightened, he lowered his head even lower.

"The Fang family has no one in their eyes. After all, I am a Zhonglang general under the general's command. It's fine if I'm humiliated, but these local families obviously don't take the general seriously. I was so angry that I lost my hand. People killed..."

As the saying goes, it depends on the owner's face when beating a dog, and Zhou Chan's words hit Zhou Chan's heart.

Yan's actions have been incessant for the past few days, Zhou Chan's heart is simmering, those local families just don't take him seriously, no matter what Zhou Chan sends people to do, Yan will always stop him with various reasons.

Zhou Chan hummed heavily. "You get up first."

Liu Zhan thanked him again and again and stood up tremblingly.

"It's fine if you accidentally killed someone, why did you expel Fang from Cenzhou?" Zhou Chan asked again.

Liu Zhan hesitated to speak, he looked at Pei Gongli who was on the side.

Zhou Chan suddenly remembered about the private bank, he raised his hand to signal Pei Gongli to go down first.

When there was no one else in the study, Liu Zhan knelt down again. "The last general did not forget what the general told him. As soon as he arrived in Cenzhou, he began to investigate the source of the private money. However, the connection between the local aristocratic family and the powerful small clan is like an iron bucket."

This statement is true, Liu Zhan did investigate the private silver mine immediately, but the content of the report was naturally mixed with water, and Zhou Chan believed it even more if it was true or false.

"The Fang family is the most arrogant among these small clans. If you don't break it, there is no way to get started. So after killing Fang Zhao by mistake, the general will simply do nothing to drive the Fang family out of Cenzhou."

Zhou Chan's expression froze. "Have you found anything?"

Liu Zhan said: "There are some clues. There are rumors in the area north of Qiyun Mountain. The end general is planning to take people to verify."

"Okay, okay!" Zhou Chan nodded repeatedly, and suddenly changed the topic. "Have you been to Prince Rui's residence?"

Liu Zhan bowed his head and said, "Not yet, the last general is a general under the general's command, so he should meet the general first."

There was a look of satisfaction in Zhou Chan's eyes. "Sit down, what are you doing kneeling all the time?"

"Thank you, General!" Liu Zhan sat down on the edge of the Grand Master's chair tremblingly.

"How's Cenzhou?" Zhou Chan picked up the teacup and pecked again.

"Most of the tyrants have surrendered to the general, and there are still some remote counties that have not been dealt with. In the spring of next year at the latest, they will be taken by the general at the end." Liu Zhan said sincerely, and then remembered something and couldn't wait to say it again.

"The magistrate of Cenzhou also came to Jinyang with the last general. Mou Ran asked for a meeting because he was afraid of being rude, so he asked the last general to meet the general first. He is now living outside the residence."

Zhou Chan's mood improved a lot, and she laughed. "Let him in, no need to see outside."

Soon, Pei Wanshan entered the study under the guidance of his attendants.

"I pay my respects to the general, general Ankang!" Pei Wanshan had never seen a first-rank official in his life, and he was truly afraid at this moment, his chubby and fat body was lying on the ground like a stupid bear, and he did not dare to move.

"Get up." Zhou Chan looked down on the appearance of the local officials who had never seen the world, but he still wanted to maintain his demeanor of being a corporal.

"General, this trip brought congratulatory gifts from the three powerful surnames in Cenzhou. Congratulations to the general for taking back Yangguan."

After Pei Wanshan finished speaking, the attendants respectfully presented the congratulatory gifts brought by Pei Wanshan. There were four small boxes in total, and when they were opened, they were all filled with gold. At least 2000 taels at a rough look.

"I am willing to follow the lead of the general."

This was the first time in three months that a local tyrant voluntarily surrendered, Zhou Chan smiled a little more, he nodded, and the attendant immediately closed the box and took it away.

Liu Zhan said: "The last general also prepared a little heart for the general, please accept it with a smile."

Another attendant presented Zhou Chan with a tray with a 3 taels of silver bill on it.Zhou Chan had already investigated Liu Zhan's background, and was not unhappy that he could only take out 3 taels of silver.

Then they chatted about some trivial matters in Cenzhou, Zhou Chan didn't plan to stay for dinner, so he sent the two of them away on the pretext of having something to do in the army.

"You still have to use a sledgehammer to kill a cow." Zhou Chan stood up with his hands behind his hands, and he seemed to have found a way to break the situation that the aristocratic families in Northern Xinjiang were entrenched.

So what if the following overcomes the great treason?This is the kind of person he wants!

After a cup of tea, the servant came to report that Liu Zhan and Pei Wanshan had gone to the eldest prince's mansion.

Zhou Chan seemed to have a plan in mind to see through everything. "Let him go, train the dog. This general has a lot of ways to let the dog know who is his master."

At the same time, Liu Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Zhou Chan would insert someone beside him to monitor his every move, but Zhou Chan really let him do it.

This surprised Liu Zhan, maybe Zhou Chan felt that he was nothing to worry about as a humble bastard, or maybe a high-ranking official like Zhou Chan didn't bother to spend too much time on him, a little state captain.

No matter what the reason is, Liu Zhan is very clear that it will never be because Zhou Chan trusts him.

Later Liu Zhan led Pei Wanshan to meet Prince Rui.

Prince Rui had always been neither salty nor insipid, and had a very high airs, he asked about the situation in Cenzhou, accepted Pei Wanshan's loyalty, and then sent the two of them away.

Song Fenglin's guess was correct, Prince Rui was indeed not in charge, most of the affairs in northern Xinjiang were handled by Zhou Chan.

Not long after the two went out, the guard came to report, saying that Pei Zhizhou had left behind two women, and asked Prince Rui how to deal with it.

Prince Rui was taken aback for a moment, then waved his hand. "Bring it up and show it to the king."

The two women were led over by the guards tremblingly, their frightened expressions were so charming and weak that one could only hug them into their arms to comfort them.

These two beauties are brothel women that Liu Zhan asked Liu Cheng to find from Jiangnan. They are both clean virgins and have been raped very well. Liu Zhan holds the deed of prostitution and his family in his hands, so he is not afraid of the two of them. Queen Rui is begging for glory.

Ever since Prince Rui set off on the expedition, he has been short of caring and confidant people around him. Jinyang Haoqiang dare not associate with Prince Rui, and Prince Rui is not good at showing off too much so as not to be left behind by others. He has always been surrounded by guards and no one is paying attention. to this point.

Looking at the two beauties, Prince Rui was extremely satisfied.

I also know in my heart that this is the first time that Pei Zhizhou came to Jinyang, how would he know that the person beside him who lacks self must be the beauty that Liu Zhan found for him, but the eldest prince still generously wrote a note to Cen Zhizhou Pen.

On the way back to Cenzhou, Liu Zhanpei and Wanshan rode along the post road with dense forests on both sides. Occasionally, pedestrians who passed by would avoid it far away and dare not come face to face.

"Let me tell you, the first time I saw that lord, I knew what kind of mouth he was good for. When he came to Cenzhou to see, I would arrange a few more beauties for him, so that he would never forget to return."

This guy Pei Wanshan boasted a lot along the way, and the dirty jokes were one sentence after another.

Cao Zhuang and the others all became pro-nature and had no scruples, only Li Xiaolian, who hadn't eaten meat, blushed.

Wei Chenggui smiled and asked, "May I ask Mr. Pei, which one do you think is better?"

Pei Wanshan chuckled. "The one who definitely likes a woman who is older than himself, preferably one who still has charm."

Liu Zhan walked in front with a half-smile and didn't answer.

At this moment, Pei Wanshan thought of something. "General Liu, do you want me to find you two beauties as well?"

The team that had been laughing and joking suddenly became quiet, and Pei Wanshan continued to talk before he noticed the strangeness.

"I see that there is no one around you to serve you. With your status, you will definitely marry a lady from everyone in the future. Our small clan here is not good enough for you. How about taking two concubines first? I think the young lady will understand. "

Liu Zhan chuckled. "Forget it, I don't want to die young yet."

With Mr. Song's temperament, if Pei Wanshan really gave him two concubines, how could he still be alive later.

"What's the matter? Are you engaged?" Pei Wanshan saw that Liu Zhan obviously had someone in his heart.

Cao Zhuang and Li Xiaolian looked at each other in blank dismay, they would see some clues as they lived with Liu Zhan for a long time, but they never dared to talk too much about this matter and only saw the truth without telling the truth.

Liu Zhan smiled and said nothing, and ran with a whip.

Time passed quickly and Qiyun Mountain came to winter again in a blink of an eye. The first snow fell in November, and the entire vast mountain range of Qiyun Mountain was covered with snow-white coats.

The husbands-in-law sent by the Liu family in the capital city to report on their work arrived, one named Feng Xuesong and the other named Ren Wenhui.

Feng Xuesong was born in the Feng family in Suzhou. His branch is about to release five uniforms, but it has been more than three generations without official status.

The Great Chu expressly stipulated that the common branches of clans that have no official status for more than three generations and have five uniforms must be downgraded to small clans. This is also to prevent the number of families from being too large.

Ren Wenhui's situation is similar to Feng Xuesong's. Both of them are in their [-]s. They want to become an official but don't have enough money to buy contacts.

Both of them married the daughters of the concubine family of the Liu family, and they both came to take up the post with their families. This arrangement is Liu Tongxin's intention. Since their parents, wives and children are all in northern Xinjiang, they are not afraid that they will have disagreements.

On the same day, Liu Zhan arranged a banquet for the two of them.

Feng Xuesong and Ren Wenhui knew the inside story before they entered Northern Xinjiang, and they were more respectful and cautious when they met Liu Zhan. Liu Zhan was also very satisfied to see that both of them were honest and responsible.

Among the six counties in Cenzhou, Wuyuan County, Dingbian County, Yongning County and Zhangtai County are all in Liu Zhan's hands.

The county magistrate of Zhangtai County was an old friend of Pei Wanshan, so he took it without much effort, and now only Shanyang and Shanyin counties remain.

The county magistrate of Shanyang County is a relative of the Yan family, and the county magistrate of Shanyin County has the direct surname of Yan.

Cenzhou Prefecture and the six counties of Cenzhou belonged to Ruichang County. How did the Yan family reach out to find a county magistrate under Cenzhou Prefecture?

Liu Zhan intuitively felt that there was something tricky in Shanyin County. Before he inquired about private mines, all the information he got pointed to Shanyin County.

He is very clear that if he wants to go further, that private mine must be taken down, no matter what method is used, even if it is robbed!

Just when Liu Zhan couldn't help but want to go to Shanyin County to find out the truth, Wen Qingshan personally brought Liu Xueyuan's family letter to Cenzhou.