Zhu Nao

Zhu Nao didn't give the Chengdu government a chance to reason at all, and the guards with swords had already entered the state capital.As a result, Chen Wu and the others were stuck on a tiger and had no choice.

Lu Jia looked at the team of guards with knives, startled and angry: "What do they mean? Do you want someone to invite you into the urn, wait for us to enter the state capital, and attack us?!"

Xu Yi was a little embarrassed: "This...it shouldn't be possible..."

Chen Wu also didn't think so.This Langzhou was originally their territory, if Zhu Nao really wanted to harm them, they would not be able to escape if they could not enter the state capital.But the truth is one thing, and what you think is another.As long as the knife is in the hands of others, it doesn't mean that others may do it at any time. How can they not panic?

——He originally wanted to take this opportunity to give Junao a blow, but who would have thought that instead, he asked Junao to give them a blow.Moreover, this matter was originally an opportunity for him to sway the Chengdu government to coerce the Langzhou government, but Zhu Nao's simple sentence "broken the rules" completely dispelled his purpose.

Chen Wu was so angry that his chest was tight.Had I known this earlier, it would have been better if they had unloaded their weapons just now!What's the deal now?Go in, don't be reconciled; don't go in, he has to complete the task assigned to him by the officer!

He gritted his teeth, and after a while, he could only resign himself to order: "Let's go, let's go into the mansion!"

……

Chen Wu and others entered the state capital along the wide corridor, and officials from Langzhou Prefecture were standing on both sides of the corridor.

All the officials bowed their heads respectfully to welcome the distinguished guests.It wasn't until the procession had passed them that they began to whisper to each other.

"Why did Chengdu mansion come here suddenly? What are they doing here?"

They received the order to greet them in a hurry, and they were all at a loss at the moment.

"I don't know either. Speaking of which, this Chengdu Mansion is really unethical. When Song Zhoumu was still there, how many people and letters did we send to ask for funds and send people to help us wipe out the mountains?" Thieves, they ignore them! Now that we have managed to put an end to the bandit disaster, they think of us?"

"Hush...be gentle, don't let them hear this."

"By the way, they brought so many horses and chariots. Could it be that they heard about the rewards and subsidies that we sent us to wipe out the bandits?"

"If this is the case, then they still have a conscience!"

……

Passing through the corridor and passing through the Yimen, the envoys of Chengdu Mansion arrived at the lobby of the State Mansion.The officials of Langzhou Mansion followed suit. Officials with lower ranks stood outside the hall, while those with higher ranks entered the hall together.

After everyone was seated, Zhu Nao said, "I don't know what business is the envoy coming from afar?"

It is said that Chen Wu should explain the purpose of coming at this moment, take out the commendation letter, and present the gift.But he was full of resentment in his heart, and he wanted to take Joe one more time to show Zhu Nao some color.

So he raised his head and said coldly: "Zhuzhou Mu, I am here to represent Chengdu Yin, and I have some business to do. The first one is that the capital has some questions, and I need your answers."

Zhu Nao took his time and said with a smile, "My envoy, please ask me."

Chen Wudao: "Zhuzhou Mu, how long have you been in office?"

Zhu Nao thought for a while and replied, "Seven months."

"Seven months?" Chen Wu emphasized, "Why didn't you report to the Chengdu government before taking office? And why didn't you report political affairs to the Chengdu government in the past seven months?! Zhuzhou Mu, don't you know the regulations for officials to do things? ?!"

The atmosphere in the lobby immediately became tense.The officials of Langzhou Mansion didn't expect that the other party came to Xingshi to inquire about the crime, so they broke into a cold sweat.Cheng Jingzhe, who was standing behind Zhu Nao, also clenched the handle of the knife in his hand, for fear that the other party would make trouble.

However, Zhu Nao remained calm: "I don't know, but I did plan to go to Chengdu to report on my duties that day. However, the road I passed by was occupied by bandits, and Langzhou's affairs were urgent. As a matter of expediency, I had to take up the post first. This matter is my responsibility." No, in the future, if I have the opportunity, I will make amends to the governor. As for reporting on political affairs..." He was surprised, "Could it be that the Chengdu government has not received all the letters I have written to the Chengdu government in the past few months?"

Chen Wu was taken aback for a moment, and everyone in Chengdu Mansion was also taken aback.Langzhou wrote to them?They never got it...

When everyone was wondering, Zhu Nao sighed leisurely, and said: "Oh! It seems that my application has been blocked by those hateful bandits! Those bandits control the road and block the passing business travelers. Not only when I took office Afterwards, even before I took office, Honshu wrote to the Chengdu government many times asking for help, hoping that the government could help us eradicate bandits, but we never received a reply. I think those letters were blocked by bandits halfway. Let’s get down, that’s why we haven’t heard from the government.”

Chen Wu: "..."

It turned out to be this trick again!

He finally found out that as long as he wanted to find out the fault of Langzhou Mansion, he would be able to turn his back on the army, saying that Chengdu Mansion hadn't helped Langzhou manage bandits in the past two years.But this trick is very effective, as long as the other party says that, he has nothing to say.

Knowing that the other party was looking for excuses, the bandit's interception of the letter was pure nonsense.But Chen Wu didn't know how to refute, so he could only grind his teeth.After a while, he said in a strange tone: "It turns out that the letter was intercepted by bandits, so take it as my misunderstanding. But there is one more thing, I still want to ask Zhuzhou Mu for help."

Zhu Nao said, "Your envoy, please tell me."

Chen Wudao: "Zhuzhou Mu, it's almost winter now, but the Chengdu government has not received the tax payment for the summer and autumn seasons submitted by Langzhou. I would like to know, where did the money go? Could it be half a year?" Was it intercepted by bandits on the road?"

As if he was afraid that Zhu Nao would have the audacity to throw the pot at the bandits, he immediately added a sentence: "Even if the bandits really cut it off, I heard that Zhu Zhoumu has been quite effective in dealing with the bandits recently, so the food money should be recovered, right?" ? I don’t know where the food money is now?”

As soon as this remark came out, Zhu Nao hadn't responded yet, but the Langzhou officials in the lobby were already in an uproar!

"Are they here to ask for money??"

"They actually came to ask for money???"

Originally, when receiving distinguished guests, these officials should abide by the etiquette, and they must not interrupt at will when they are not talking.However, after hearing what Chen Wu said just now, many people couldn't help it, and all the hellish etiquette was thrown aside!

Some officials were angry, some were surprised, and some were sad.The angry ones were especially Qian Qing.His face flushed instantly, he was shaking with excitement, and a few obscene words popped out of his mouth: "I hate the gods! When we were robbed by bandits, how many letters did I write asking them for money and food? They didn't answer a single letter! Now they have the face to ask for taxes!!!"

It was rare for Yang Chengping to reach an agreement with him: "Yes! Are they crazy?!"

Langzhou is under the rule of Chengdu Mansion. According to the rules, the salaries of officials and some fortification expenses are deducted from the taxes paid by Langzhou every year, and the rest should be turned over to Chengdu Mansion.After the Chengdu government received the taxes from the states, it turned part of it over to the imperial court, part of it distributed the salaries of its own officials, and the rest of the money and food were managed as a whole.Once disasters and difficulties occur in various states, the Chengdu government should help, instead of watching the fire from the other side.

However, when Langzhou experienced the calamity of bandits, the Chengdu government did not fulfill its due responsibilities at all.Langzhou Mansion was robbed by bandits, and the government closed down. Chengdu Mansion still neither sent anyone nor sent money.If it weren't for a Zhu Nao falling from the sky, Langzhou might be in chaos now!And just as their chaos subsided, the envoys from the Chengdu Mansion returned!dare!Come!want!money!

"It's outrageous, it's outrageous!"

"It's really chilling!"

The officials no longer cared about the superiority and inferiority, and the voices of discussion and condemnation in the lobby became louder and louder.

Although they had just recovered a lot of money and food from the bandits, the summer tax and autumn tax were also collected smoothly.However, Langzhou, which has just been reborn from adversity, still has a lot of places that need money. Many fortifications need to be repaired, and the livelihood of the people destroyed by bandits also needs to be repaired. If the money is really taken away by the Chengdu government, they will do everything. No way!

The crowd was chattering and excited.Surrounded by the crowd, Chen Wu and the others were suddenly at a loss.In fact, when they came this time, no one gave an order to them to pay Langzhou's taxes.This matter was purely a topic that Chen Wu himself provoked in order to establish his prestige in front of Zhu Nao.

Chen Wu was terrified by this scene. He was afraid that the angry officials would rush up and beat him, so he didn't dare to fart anymore.

Xu Yi behind him shook his head again and again: "Chen Gongcao, tell me about you, why are you doing this?"

Lu Jia kept a dark face and remained silent.

In the end, it was Jun Nao who raised his hand to stop the noise of the crowd.He said with a half-smile, "Isn't the envoy here to settle accounts with us?"

Chen Wu immediately said: "No, no, no!"

Zhu Nao couldn't help but sneered when he saw his instant cowardice, and said, "Even if you don't mention this matter, I still want to find a chance to have a game with the envoy. In order to maintain the expenses of the Langzhou government, the state government paid money to the rich merchants in the city. I borrowed a lot of money for turnover, but the money has not been repaid. Should the government allocate a sum of money to help us tide over the difficulties?"

Chen Wu: "..."

He wished he could slap himself in the mouth!What's the point of mentioning this?In case Langzhou really doesn't have to pay taxes, the Chengdu government still needs to provide financial support. If it is passed back and the governor and Shaoyin know that this matter was caused by him, why don't they despise him to death?

When it came to this point, not only did Chen Wu not stand up, but he was suppressed by Zhu Nao everywhere, and he was so depressed that he didn't know how to continue the conversation.

Xu Yi couldn't stand it any longer, left Chen Wu behind, took the initiative to take a step forward, saluted politely, and said, "Zhuzhou Mu, I'm here under the order of the prefect to commend the Langzhou prefecture for its service against thieves." I wonder if the commendation letter can be read out now?"

The officials in Langzhou were in an uproar again!If the letter of commendation had been brought out earlier, they would naturally be happy.But now they were disturbed by Chen Wu, they were simply baffled.What on earth are these people from Chengdu Mansion doing here?Is there such a commendation?

Zhu Nao looked at Xu Yi with great interest, and then at Chen Wu, Lu Jia and others behind him.These people have different expressions, except that "each has a ghost" written on his face.

He smiled and said, "There is still a letter of commendation? Then I will trouble the envoy."

Xu Yi hurriedly winked at Chen Wu.So far, what choice does Chen Wu have?I can only reluctantly take out the commendation letter.After reading, he ordered people to present various gifts from Chengdu Mansion, and read out the list of gifts.

Since the gifts were given this time to commend Zhu Nao for his meritorious service in suppressing the bandits, most of the gifts were quite satisfactory, some ordinary gold, silver and jade wares, not too expensive, but not shabby either.But there was one thing among the gifts that caught Junao's attention.

He stepped forward, picked up a piece of jade, looked at it for a while, and found that it was a finely carved dragon tortoise.This thing is placed in the gift, it seems a bit out of place.

Before Zhu Nao could ask, Xu Yi interjected with a smile: "Zhu Zhoumu, the dragon tortoise is an auspicious animal that attracts wealth. Xu Shaoyin chose this one specially after hearing that you had business experience in the past."

As soon as these words came out, Lu Jia rolled his eyes, and Chen Wu was also speechless.

Zhu Nao raised his eyebrows, looked at everyone's expressions, and accepted it with a smile after a while: "Thank you Yuan Fuyin, thank you Xu Shaoyin, Shaoyin has a heart."

The commendation book was also read, and the gift was also given.Chen Wu was so unhappy that he didn't want to stay any longer.However, he still has some other things to do during his mission this time, and he needs to stay in Langzhou for a few more days.So after delivering the gifts, he led everyone to rest on the pretext of being tired from the journey.

……

When everyone from Chengdu Mansion came to their residence, it was getting late.However, the crowd did not stop there, but quietly left the room and joined each other.

Soon, Xu Yi's room was full of people from the win-win faction; on the other hand, Lu Jia's room was also full of officials from the suppression faction.The only difference is that there is one more person on his side than Xu Yi's - Chen Wu, who is not from the suppression faction.

This time they are on a mission to Langzhou. Although Xu Yu and Lu Qinghui have differences on how to deal with Zhu Nao, they have a tacit understanding on another mission-they both asked their subordinates to take advantage of this mission. The opportunity to investigate the situation in Langzhou carefully.Let's first look at the degree of Zhu Nao's control over Langzhou, and then they need to investigate the people's livelihood, government officials, and military situation in Langzhou.

The two young men were far away in the Chengdu mansion, and they only heard about what happened in Langzhou before. If they want to fully understand, they have to send someone to investigate.However, it is also an investigation, but the purpose of the two Shaoyin's investigations is different.Xu Yu wanted to see how capable Zhu Nao was and how hard he was worth trying to win him over; while Lu Qinghui wanted to find out the weakness of Langzhou so that he could eradicate the scourge of Zhu Nao.

So after Lu Jia and the others met, they immediately discussed countermeasures.

"From today's perspective, Langzhou City is completely under Zhu Nao's control." Chen Wu sighed heavily.The better Zhu Nao controls Langzhou, the greater the price the Chengdu government will have to pay if it wants to eradicate Zhu Nao.

Lu Jia retorted: "That's not necessarily the case. Today we only dealt with the officers and soldiers of the city and the officials of the Langzhou government, and have not had in-depth contact. In short, Lu Shaoyin explained that it is difficult for the Chengdu government to send troops to suppress Langzhou. If we want to get rid of Zhu Nao, it is best to start from the inside of Langzhou. There are three forces that we can use: one is the common people, the other is soldiers, and the third is officials. If we can make good use of these three forces, even if we can make good use of one It will not be difficult to take down the sinner Zhu Nao!"

Hearing these words, everyone immediately regained their spirits.

"Brother Lu, what should we do?"

A cold light flashed in Lu Jia's eyes, and he said with a sneer, "We will stay in Langzhou for seven days. During these seven days, our troops will be divided into three groups to approach the common people, soldiers and officials respectively. We must find someone who can overthrow Zhu Nao." Come to the breakthrough!"