Chenzhou Mansion is located in the mountainous area of Xiangxi, the location is remote, when Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong made a big fuss in Huguang, they did not bother to pay attention to here, because there was no war for many years, the local people and gentry mentioned the vicious Manchu Tartars, and always felt that it was a very distant thing from themselves.

However, as Kong Youde's army approached Zijiang, the atmosphere in Chenzhou Mansion began to become tense.

100 miles west of Zijiang River, is the second largest river in Hunan, Yuanjiang River originates in Yunwu Mountain, Guizhou, meanders from southwest to northeast, passes through Qianyang County, Chenxi County, Chenzhou Mansion and Changde Mansion and other places, and finally flows into Dongting Lake, runs through most of the mountainous areas of Xiangxi, is an extremely important water communication line, shipping is developed, ships are like shuttles.

The night sailing boat went down the river, and arrived at Chenzhou Mansion early in the morning, Du Ping stood at the bow of the boat, looking at several sailor transport ships that staggered by, and couldn't help frowning slightly, looking a little worried.

It can be seen clearly from the flag on the bow of the ship that the transport ships belong to the loyal battalion, except for some soldiers who escort the boat, they are carrying the family members of the old battalion, they sailed south at dawn, not necessarily in a hurry, but failed to dock in Chenzhou Mansion to replenish, but were bombarded out by Liu Chengyin.

Chenzhou Mansion is the territory of Hunan warlord Liu Chengyin, outsiders are not allowed to touch, if these transport ships are not backed by a strong loyal battalion, they may be swallowed by his soldiers, even the bones and slag are left, can the well water not interfere with the river water, let them walk by themselves, Liu Chengyin has already given Li Guo a lot of face.

The strong enemy pressed the realm, but Liu Chengyin was still busy intriguing, like a vicious dog protecting food, not allowing others to enter Chenzhou Mansion. Du Ping really couldn't figure it out, Liu Chengyin was also a strong party, why would he be so short-sighted. Guarding against friendly forces is even more than guarding against enemy troops, Kong Youde is about to fight, Liu Chengyin himself will definitely not be able to hold Chenzhou Mansion, what is the point of keeping the territory tight now? Maybe...... Are there some hidden secrets?

The old servant who accompanied him came to his side and interrupted his thoughts by whispering respectful questions.

"Sir. The ship is about to come ashore, do you want to change into your official uniform? ”

"Well, that's fine. Let's go directly to the prefect's yamen, it's best to get things done in the morning, and rush back to Chenxi County today. ”

Du Ping is a jinshi of Enke at the beginning of the year and belongs to a member of the Chuxun group. Under Wang Kefan's arrangement. A month and a half ago, he was appointed commander of Chenxi County to prepare for the future Xiangxi Campaign. Due to sufficient financial support, Du Ping's work went quite smoothly, not only raised enough food for 20,000 troops to eat for a month, but also repaired the Yuanjiang wharf in Chenxi County.

But Du Ping was not satisfied with his work, he was an outsider after all. came to take office alone, and the top and bottom of Chenzhou officialdom rejected him. Even the gentry and people in the county deliberately kept their distance, and the prestige of the county and the chief bookkeeper seemed to be higher, and he could never really control Chenxi County, and as for the Chenzhou Mansion, he couldn't intervene, and even the basic intelligence work was not completed.

The time is too short, a month and a half is still in the familiarization stage, Du Ping can only pick up the most urgent things to do first, the grain and straw needed by the army, with the retreat of the loyal battalion army south, they often have to supply in Chenxi County, according to Wang Kefan's arrangement, Du Ping on the one hand is careful to calculate, on the other hand, he tries to help the loyal battalion, these days are very busy.

Yesterday he suddenly received a notice that the prefect of Chenzhou summoned him to meet, so he rushed to Fucheng overnight, although the Chu army was still blocking Kong Youde in Anhua County, but Du Ping knew that they would not fight hard, and it would not be long before Chenzhou would become the front line, and Wang Kefan would be notified as soon as there was any trouble.

Get off the boat and go ashore, go straight to the prefect's yamen, Du Ping presented the name post, and after a short time, a master came out of it, led him to the side hall to wait, made a pot of tea and then confessed and left, left him there alone, waited for more than half an hour, and suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and the prefect of Chenzhou, Bu Zuowen, walked in.

Bu Zuowen has been the Tongcheng County Commander for several years, has always wanted to leave the front line in Hubei, after many operations, transferred to Hunan half a year ago, and by the way promoted to the sixth grade of Baoqing Mansion General Judgment, and then the Chenzhou prefect vacancy, good at drilling the camp Bu Zuowen seized the opportunity, defeated two strong competitors to get this official position, successfully completed the officialdom triple jump, and became the dignified four-pin Huangtang (Huangtang, another name of the prefect).

It is a good thing and a bad thing to be promoted quickly, Bu Zuo's foundation is too shallow, and he suddenly occupies an important position, and he has inadvertently offended many people.

But Bu Zuowen is not a good person, he learned a truth from Wang Kefan, in the troubled times, whoever has a big fist, who has a loud voice, at the beginning of getting off the car, he lowered his posture, slapped the general soldier Liu Chengyin, firmly hugged the other party's thighs, and successfully opened the situation of Chenzhou Mansion, but after a few months of work, he cleaned up the Tongzhi and Tongju obediently, and the key points in the prefect's yamen were also replaced with their own henchmen, and successfully controlled the leadership team of Chenzhou Mansion.

It is a pity that nine times out of ten things in the world are unsatisfactory, Bu Zuowen has just experienced the fun of the respect of a house, and the Qing army has invaded Hunan, and the soldiers are directed at Anhua County, which is only separated by a Zijiang River from Chenzhou Mansion.

Anti-clearing! Seeing that the bamboo basket was about to be empty, and even worried about his life, Bu Zuowen suddenly burst out with a strong anti-Qing enthusiasm, helping Liu Chengyin to raise food and wages, recruit people, and repair the city wall, his heart was full of hatred for the Qing army, and finally transferred Hunan, but these Tartars chased after him with his heels, he was responsible for guarding the land as the prefect, and he would be questioned for abandoning the city and escaping, so he had to do his best to defend the city.

Liu Chengyin guarded Chenzhou Mansion, Bu Zuowen put all his hopes on him, although he knew that this Hunan warlord was not Kong Youde's opponent, but he had a trace of luck, Chenzhou Mansion was located in the mountainous area of Xiangxi after all, Kong Youde may not send the main force to attack, even if there is little hope, there is a glimmer of hope to tide over the difficulties.

He Tengjiao was rampant, the people of Hunan were burdened heavily, and although the officials under Bu Zuowen were like wolves and tigers, they failed to collect enough food, and they were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

This guy is so bold that he dares to take advantage of the war to hoard grain!

Bu Zuowen immediately summoned Du Ping, ready to force him to hand over the grain to Liu Chengyin, if Du Ping knew each other, let him go, if this moth is greedy for profit, clinging to the food and not letting go, Bu Zuowen is determined to kill a hundred people, let everyone see the fate of corrupt officials.

"Du Zhi County, I heard that Chenxi has more than 2,000 stones of grain outside the register, can there be anything?" Bu Zuowen was straight to the point, unceremoniously, his face was as tight as a dry cake, and his tone was even colder.

"Qiqi Fuzun, this batch of grain is indeed there, but it does not belong to the official warehouse of Chenxi County, but the private grain of the local grain merchants." Du Ping's heart sank, he bought grain in Chenxi County with great fanfare, it was impossible to keep a lot of news, but he didn't expect it to reach Bu Zuowen's ears so quickly, since the other party was in trouble, he must have some evidence, and it was useless to deny it, but Bu Zuowen made a mistake, Chenxi County's grain storage was not two thousand stones, but a full four thousand three hundred stones.

"Presumptuous! As a parent official in Chenxi, if you don't have your consent, which grain merchant would dare to raise the price of grain during the war? Now it is a lack of success, the Qing army has reached Xinghua, Chenzhou is in danger, you dare to collude with lawbreakers to hoard grain for profit at this time, can you punish the crime?! Bu Zuowen roared like thunder, and he was upright.

Shangguan held him accountable, Du Ping had no choice but to stand up and solemnly replied: "Fuzun doesn't know, this batch of grain belongs to a trading house called Long Maochang, and the lower officials have repeatedly checked it, and there is no matter of raising the price of grain, so it ......."

Bu Zuowen immediately interrupted him: "What a dragon Maochang snake Maochang!" This batch of grain must be delivered to Chenzhou Mansion as soon as possible, and you are limited to three days to complete it At this time, the soldiers are fighting desperately with the Tartars in front, and they must be fed...... Wait, what did you just say? This batch of grain is from Long Maochang? ”

Long Maochang and Chu Jun have a deep relationship, and they are the most important business houses under Wang Kefan, Bu Zuowen has been an official in Tongcheng for many years, of course, he knows that this is not a secret secret, I heard that this batch of grain belongs to Long Maochang, Bu Zuowen immediately felt that one head and two were big, and his brain suddenly stopped spinning.

Why did Chu Jun reach out to Chenzhou Mansion? However, Wang Junmen has always acted out of nowhere, not to mention Chenzhou Mansion, even Fujian, Guangdong and the imperial court have reached out everywhere, and there is nothing unusual about laying a chess piece in Chenxi County.

"This is Wang Junmen's arrangement?" As soon as Bu Zuowen's question came out, he regretted it for a while, does this still need to be asked? Du Ping and Long Maochang have long been in contact, this batch of grain must have been raised for the Chu army, but he laughed at him and regarded him as a corrupt official blindfolded by silver.

"This matter has been arranged by Long Maochang, and the lower officials have not met Wang Junmen." Du Ping's answer was neither salty nor light, it seemed to be clearing up the relationship with Wang Kefan, and it seemed to be hinting at something.

Although the weather is not hot, a fine bead of sweat oozes from Bu Zuowen's forehead, what should I do? He heard that there was a batch of grain in Chenxi County, and he had notified Liu Chengyin in order to repay his merits, and now he was sandwiched between Wang Kefan and Liu Chengyin, no matter what he did, he would greatly offend people, and they were all people he could not afford to offend.

Liu Chengyin, nicknamed Liu Tieba, has a black heart and a strong hand, but Wang Kefan is even more terrifying, if he delays his major event, the consequences are unimaginable, Bu Zuowen only feels that his heart is weak for a while, and he can't wait to run away immediately, the farther away from Huguang the better.

When I stepped in, I realized that this was a bottomless pool of muddy water, how to get out of it now? (To be continued......)