After Zeng Yu and the others returned to the manor, they didn't see Xie Jing and others coming back until seven o'clock in the evening. Zeng Yu asked Liu Neng if it would take several days for the few of them to go to the county seat.

"Well, almost, usually they will stay in the county for a few days, which is what Zijin asked us. Since we are usually here at the manor, but we need to keep up to date with the latest information, it is obviously not appropriate to let the tenant farmers go, so we will have people go to the county seat regularly. Liu Neng replied in due course.

"I see, it's just hard work for you." Zeng Yu listened and understood why Sun Hao knew so much about Anping County.

"What is the background of Kelaixuan, have you inquired, I heard you say that if you go to Anping County, you will live there."

"That's where Zhang Fuguang is located, and when we came to Anping County with him before, we lived there. Later, after getting acquainted with him, he was used to staying there, and the shopkeeper of the inn was Zhang Fuguang's cousin. Liu Neng replied.

"Tomorrow I will take Chengyong, Bo Yu and Hongzhi to the county seat, Yachuan you and Wuguan and Wenjiang will draw up a charter for the recruitment of displaced people, and after I and the Zhang family have negotiated the matter, we will officially start recruiting displaced people, which requires you to be responsible."

"Yes, my lord!"

Early the next morning, Zeng Yu, Zhu Wen and Gu De walked towards the county seat under the guidance of He Yan. When Zeng Yu was on the road, he asked about the status of the Zhang family in Anping County, as well as the relationship between the government and the three major families.

He Yan had understood it before, and when she heard Zeng Yu ask, she naturally gave Zeng Yu a detailed introduction to what she knew. The current head of the Zhang family is Zhang Fuguang's father, and the ancestors of the Zhang family also raised filial piety, but he was not a big official and did not leave any political legacy. When Zhang Fuguang's father's generation arrived, although there were poems and books at home, they were mainly engaged in business. At present, there are similar neutral forces in Anping County, and the family power is mainly in business, and the three major families are divided in business. However, the Zhang family does not have any vassal relationship with the three major families, he is the leader of all the small business families in Anping County, forming an alliance to defend his right to speak. It's just that the people don't fight with the officials, so this alliance will regularly pay tribute to the government, that is, the Cui County Order, to avoid being excessively excluded and suppressed by the three major families.

After Zeng Yu listened, he suddenly became clear about the situation of the Zhang family, and knew that it was very likely that he would go to the Zhang family to achieve his goal this time. He also asked He Yan if he knew about the specific forces of the other three major families of Zhao, Wang, and Sun.

He Yan thought for a moment and told Zeng Yu what she had learned. Because the Zhao family controls the army of the county seat, its power can be said to be the largest except for the county order, and the Cui county order will discuss with the Zhao family if there is something to do. At present, in the county seat, in addition to the officials such as catching fast, there are also more than 1,800 county soldiers, all of whom are under the command of Zhao Kang. This Zhao family is now in the county seat, and the Cui County Order can barely suppress it, and the other Wang family and the Sun family, because they have mastered money, food, and personnel, can also fight against the Zhao family under the joint force.

Zhao Kang said before, "I don't make a county order, but it is better than a county order", although it is arrogant, it is almost the truth. If it weren't for the fact that Cui County Ling had been a county leader in Anping County for decades, he had a certain prestige, and Sun Dian, the head of the Sun family, was Cui County Ling's son-in-law, I am afraid that he might not be able to suppress him.

"Isn't it true that the Zhao family, the Wang family and the Sun family are only seeing each other?" Zeng Yu felt from He Yan's report that there was a possibility of operation, if the three of them fought with each other, as soon as he took office, wouldn't he be able to reap the benefits of the fisherman.

"Lord, I'm afraid this won't work." He Yan thought for a moment and said hesitantly.

"Why is that?" Zeng Yu couldn't help but ask He Yan.

"Because of the Cui County Order, although he has been sitting on the county order for so many years and has not done anything, he still has his wrists. Through his coordination, the three major families are now not fighting, but colluding with each other's interests to maintain their rule over the county. He Yan replied.

"It seems that after I came back from Luoyang, I really have a long way to go if I want to sit firmly in this county order." Zeng Yu said with emotion after hearing this.

"The lord will definitely be able to win, it's really not good, I'll help the lord arrest them all, and see if they dare to disobey orders." Zhu Wen listened to Zeng Yu's emotion and interjected. In his opinion, this is the easiest, as long as the other party leads the way, and if you don't listen, you will kill it, won't the world go according to your own wishes.

"Haha, Chengyong, it would be nice if things were as simple as you said, but you really need to take action then, but you have to wait until the time is right." Zeng Yu laughed and said to Zhu Wen.

"Okay, when the lord sends a message, I will help you bring them all over." Zhu Wen patted his chest and said.

Zeng Yu and the others laughed out loud when they heard Zhu Wen's answer. Zhu Wen saw that everyone was laughing, although he didn't know what they were laughing at, he touched his head and laughed along, so that everyone laughed even happier.

Under this laughter, the four of them came to Anping County. I saw that the outside of the county was built with soil as a wall, wrapped with wall bricks, and the city wall was built according to the standard of five zhang high and three zhang wide, at this time, one zhang was almost one person high, so Zeng Yu, who saw the city wall for the first time, faced the city wall with five people high, and felt very tall and thick.

In the middle of the city wall, a gate was opened, and at this time the city gate was opened, and several county soldiers were guarding the city gate, collecting taxes from passers-by. Zeng Yu looked at He Yan and asked, "Hongzhi, does everyone have to pay taxes when they enter the county?" ”

"That's right, since Cui Yu sat in the position of county magistrate, he has taxed every foreigner who enters and leaves the county. Because Anping County runs through the state and Sili, it is located in the north-south traffic artery, and there are many pedestrians in the past, mainly businessmen, Cui Yu levied this entry and exit tax, and there are tens of millions of dollars a year. The money was divided between Cui Yu and the three major families, and after Zijin came here to listen to Zhang Fuguang talk about this, he said that this Cui County Commander was not an ordinary person. This is He Yan's answer.

"Yes, one thousand gold a year, although Cui Yu wants to give at least half of it to the three major families, but over the decades, it is also a lot of money. This Cui County Commander is willing to take out the money in his mouth to buy the three major families, of course, he is not an ordinary person. I guess he's more than just collecting money in this area. ”

"That's right, because there is a lot of small merchants trading in the county, and the northern ones bring local goods here, and then the merchants of Sili buy their goods. In the middle of this, the Cui County Decree ordered that all major transactions must be attended by government personnel, and that a guarantee tax was levied at the rate of thirty taxes and one tax. There are tens of millions of total daily transactions here, and there are millions of dollars when they are small, and they charge this guarantee tax, and after so many years, I don't know how much they can earn. He Yan said another way for Cui Yu to set up a name to collect money.

After Zeng Yu heard this, he couldn't help but sigh that this Cui Yu is really a talent, if he is still young and can be subdued by himself, then he can completely hand over all business-related affairs to him to manage, and he will definitely be able to bring high income to his own forces. However, at this time, Cui Yu obviously could not become his subordinate, but because of his methods, the power of the three major families was even greater. Over the years, according to the degree of their wealth, each family has at least tens of thousands of gold in savings, and they must have raised a large number of private soldiers, which has become an obstacle for those who are interested in becoming the next county magistrate.

"He is accumulating wealth like this, why is there no accountability for the county guard of Shangdang County?" Although Zeng Yu guessed the possible reason, he still asked He Yan.

"Now the county guard of Shangdang County is the Qinghe Cui family, called Cui Ming. Cui Yu was originally a branch of the Qinghe Cui family, and after he became the commander of Anping County, he would send a big gift to Cui Ming and the Qinghe Cui family every year. For all these years, he had been sitting on Mount Tai without anyone interfering. He Yan replied.

"It seems that things are a little tricky." Zeng Yu originally thought that the reason why Cui Yu was able to make a county order for so many years was only because of the Cui family in Qinghe. He knew that this Cui family was very influential now, and it would be easy to keep a county order. But he didn't expect that the county guard of Shangdang County was now a member of the Cui family, and if he went to donate this Anping County Order, it would be equivalent to driving Cui Yu away, then he must have offended the Cui family, that is, offended his top boss.

He couldn't help but think about it, to see if it was possible to operate, or if it was worth the risk. He thought about it, didn't come up with any clues, and put it down first. However, he made up his mind that he still wanted to continue to donate this Anping County Order, and if he changed his plan just because of such a little difficulty, then what would he talk about later. And the unclothed army is nearby, if it is changed to another place, the placement and contact of the unclothed army is a new problem, since this is the case, then find a way to deal with this Cui family's problem.

"Let's go, let's go to the city."

After Zeng Yu finished speaking, he took the lead and walked towards the county seat, and Zhu Wen and the others naturally followed closely. After no one paid a five-baht coin, the four entered the county seat. Zeng Yu, Zhu Wen and Gu De came in for the first time, and they were really surprised to see the scene in the county.

They thought that if this Cui County Order was greedy for money, the county should be built relatively poorly, but they didn't expect to see neat streets after entering, as well as houses lined up on both sides of the street, most of them are restaurants, built very well, some even have three or four floors, in this era, three or four storey restaurants are already very luxurious.

At this time, it was ten o'clock at noon, and all the restaurants were full of people, and some of the teahouses mixed in the middle of the restaurants were also full of people. However, the guests of the restaurant and the teahouse are obviously two classes, and the people who enter and leave the restaurant can be seen from the clothes and the guards who follow behind them, they are all wealthy people with certain assets, and as for those in the teahouse, they are all dressed ordinarily, and some even have patches, all of them are ordinary civilians.