Nanyang.

"Hmph, you really have to rely on me!" Yuan Shu, who received Cao Cao's letter, smiled proudly. Cao Cao, who knew Yuan Shu's character well, praised him in his letter to Yuan Shu that there was no one in the sky and no one in the ground, and even without him Yuan Shu, it would be impossible to defeat Dong Zhuo.

Although Yuan Shu also knew that this was just Cao Cao's polite words, he ...... He just likes to hear that. And Yuan Shu's subordinates also knew his lord's character very well, so after hearing his words, they immediately slapped them with a burst of sycophants.

However, although he looked triumphant, Yuan Shu didn't really get carried away. "Is there any news about that Liu Biao?" Yuan Shu's expression returned to seriousness, and he turned his head to look at Yan Xiang and asked.

"Nope." Yan Xiang shook his head when he heard this, and said, "Calculating the time, it stands to reason that I should have arrived in Jingzhou a long time ago, but there is no news at all." ”

"Could it be that because I was afraid of the lord, I gave up my post? Maybe the reason why he agreed was just to take the opportunity to leave Luoyang. Yang Hong chuckled and analyzed. However, even if he plans to sneak into Jingzhou incognito, the lord does not have to worry, now that Xiangyang City has been occupied by Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng, the thieves of Jiangxia, even if Liu Biao wants to make a name for himself, we can quickly know. ”

"In addition, the lord can also send people to strengthen the search in the area of Deng County and Fan County. At the same time, they sent people to contact Chen Sheng and Zhang Hu, so that as long as they had news of Liu Biao, they would immediately report to the lord, and even let them kill Liu Biao directly! As long as Liu Biao wants to control Jingzhou, he must control Nanjun, so no matter where he goes to Jingzhou from, it is impossible to hide it from the lord in the end. Yan Xiang said with a smile.

"That's it! But don't be exposed! Yuan Shu groaned. He is a person who cares about reputation very much, although Liu Biao is a person sent by Dong Zhuo, but he is also a member of the Han family. And uniting the thieves or something, it doesn't match his identity as the head of the Yuan family at all.

Well, since the death of Yuan Feng and Yuan Kui, Yuan Shu has always regarded himself as the head of the Yuan family. Although Yuan Shao did the same, where would Yuan Shu pay attention to him? Not to mention that he is closer to the Yuan family's nest in Runan County, Yuzhou, than Yuan Shao, just because he occupies Jingzhou and Yuzhou, he is not a mere one that only Yuan Shao of Bohai County can compare.

But then again, although it is said that Jingzhou and Yuzhou were taken, because Yuzhou took advantage of the gap after Kong Ling's death, and used the family power to rob it. Therefore, in order to consolidate the rule of Yuzhou, Yuan Shu had to put most of his energy and convincing on the side of Yuzhou.

This made Yuan Shu's rule over Jingzhou actually only Nanyang. The rest of the counties were either occupied by thieves who took advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos. However, Yuan Shu doesn't care about this, after all, the entire Jingzhou is not as good as a Nanyang in his eyes, let alone Yuzhou, which is more developed in terms of economy and culture.

About 3 miles outside Ren County, Nanyang County, Jingzhou, two men dressed as traveling merchants were walking slowly towards Ren County. They looked like they were dusty, and their faces were full of tiredness.

"Uncle, the front is Ren County. According to the information I got before, I will be able to enter Nanjun after walking south from Ren County for another 1 or 2 days. The slightly younger man said as he wiped the sweat from his cheeks.

"Well, then hurry up and go into the city, find a place to live and have a good rest, and leave early tomorrow morning." The older man looked ahead and said in a deep voice.

A moment later, in front of the city gate, more than a dozen people were standing in line in front of the city gate, allowing two guards to check it. Although Yuan Shu said that he would increase the scope of the search, all he could do was to post notices and order the soldiers to strictly investigate at the city gate.

After all, compared with searching Liu Biao, getting the people of Nanyang to support Yuan Shu faster and recruiting troops to attack Dong Zhuo is the most important thing in Yuan Shu's heart.

"What's it called? Where did you come from? What's in the wagon? When it was their turn, one of the doormen asked quickly without raising his head, his tone full of impatience. Next to him, another doorman held a portrait and watched the two compare each other.

"Back to Shangguan, the villain is a traveling businessman, named Zhao Erya, he is my nephew Zhao Xiaomeng, but this time he came from Yuzhou and wanted to go to Yizhou through Jingzhou to sit in a small business." Zhao Erya replied respectfully.

"Hmm." The two guards looked at each other and nodded to each other. Then, he came to the carriage and lifted the covered cloth, only to see that inside, there were some Yuzhou specialties.

"Alright, let's go over there and count the goods and money, and then go in." The doorman said after taking a look at the goods, then turned his head to look at the people behind the two and shouted impatiently, "Next!" ”

Seeing this, Zhao Erya and the others hurriedly pulled the carriage to the captain on the side of the city gate, preparing to ask the captain to count the goods and money. The reason why the goods are counted is not for anything else, but for the convenience of tax collection. For example, if you bring 10,000 yuan into the city, and when you go out of the city, you only have 5,000 yuan and some goods, then you have to pay taxes. And if you go out of the city with less money, but don't add anything else, you don't have to pay taxes.

In this era, every time you enter and leave the city, you need to check it, and you have to pay customs duties if there is a transaction. And if you evade taxes, there will be very serious consequences, because the Han Dynasty punished tax evaders very severely.

The doorman was about 40 years old, and he was sitting on a small stool, and on the table in front of him, in addition to the simple plan used to register the money for the goods, there was also a pot of wine. Well...... It's obviously not right to drink at work.

As they got closer, a rushing smell of wine came to their nostrils, which immediately made the two of them frown, but soon they regained their calm expressions, looked at the drunken doorman and said respectfully, "Please count the goods and money." ”

"Huh?" Hearing the words of the two, the doorman slowly raised his head, glanced at the two of them with his hazy eyes, and then staggered up and walked towards the carriage. After a while, he walked back and looked at the two of them and said lightly, "Where's the money?" ”

"What about this~" Zhao Xiaomeng replied respectfully when he heard this, and then revealed the package on his back a little.

"Yo, it's a lot~" The captain glanced at the two of them and smiled, "It seems that you are not only going to Yizhou to do business, I'm afraid you plan to live there for a long time, right?" ”

"Huh...... Scold...... Shangguan also knows that the Central Plains is in a lot of chaos now......" Zhao Xiaomeng laughed when she heard this, said, took out a small bag from her arms and handed it over vaguely.

"Hehe......" The captain took it and weighed it, and suddenly got up and whispered in Zhao Xiaomeng's ear, "I think you are not actually going to Yizhou, but to Nanjun......