Livestock City.

Located in the suburbs of the west of Qingyuan County, less than 100 meters away from the west gate of the county, it was built in the former Sui Dynasty for seven years, the scale occupied less than half an acre at that time, there were only three or five stalls in the livestock market, and the livestock sold were only cattle and goats. With the change of dynasties and the change of time, after more than 70 years of development, the scale of the livestock city has also been expanding, covering an area of three acres of land. There are no less than 15 or 6 stalls for the sale of livestock, not counting the livestock dealers from other places and neighboring counties. And the livestock sold is no longer just cattle and sheep, but also mules, horses, donkeys, poultry and wild goods.

Today's livestock city is not only the gathering place of livestock dealers in Qingyuan County and Sanxiang Bazhai, but also the largest livestock trade concentration in the counties under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou Prefecture. Therefore, in addition to this county, farmers and business travelers in neighboring counties will choose the livestock city of Qingyuan County as the first choice if they want to purchase livestock. Not only are the prices here affordable, but there is also a wide variety.

Gradually, the livestock city has also become an important source of tax revenue in Qingyuan County.

Therefore, two or three servants are stationed in the cattle market every day to collect taxes, and in the case of a market every seven days, the number of servants is increased to more than six.

With the increasing prosperity of the livestock market, many small tea stalls, rice stalls, and wine stalls have also been born around it.

Zhang Kee Wine Shop, although it has a signboard of a wine shop, is actually a temporary stall, to be precise, it should be called Zhang Ji Wine Stall.

However, the business of Zhang Ji's wine stall is one of the best in Cattle City, and it is said that there are cadres of Song Wen, the county government official, so the shopkeeper of this wine stall hangs the banner of the wine shop in a grand manner, and no one dares to laugh at it.

At this time, Zhang Ji was in the wine shop.

Song Wen and the others were sitting around a large round table drinking and eating meat, because Song Wen wanted to be quiet, and there were no guests in the stall.

After three rounds of wine, the mutton was cut into five catties, and a few people took a break.

Song Genhai burped, then picked up a chopstick and picked his teeth rudely, smacking his mouth from time to time, looking at the sitting priest Yao Du and Cangcao official He Jingkui frowned again and again, secretly spitting at the black guy rude.

Seeing this, Song Wen glanced at his uncompetitive nephew unhappily, and scolded in a low voice: "Quickly put away your pickled style, shameful things!" ”

Song Genhai sighed, laughed twice, and became honest.

Song Wen asked, "Have you explained everything to the yamen?" ”

"Well, uncle, don't worry, the group of boys in the fishing squad under my command will definitely listen to me, and I have also dealt with the officials of the other two classes. The boy surnamed Cui came to the yamen today, and his face was embarrassed. ”

Song Genhai said a little proudly: "Hmph, this guy has robbed your uncle of your position as the county lieutenant, and his nephew will definitely not make him sad." In the future, he, the county lieutenant, wants to support me! ”

Song Wen's face softened slightly, and he sighed, and there was a lingering gloom between his eyebrows, and he said with pity: "That's good, today the old man will let him know where the Qingyuan County Lieutenant is so good!" ”

Song Genhai patted his chest and said loudly: "My nephew is doing things, my uncle can rest assured, it's all right!" ”

"Phew!"

As soon as he heard that he was packing the ticket again, Song Wen was angry for no reason, and spat directly on Song Genhai's face, scolding: "You are doing things, the old man has never been at ease!" If you are really relieved, where is there such a thing as Xiantan Village? If you hadn't mistaken your wife and brother surnamed Shen for being a liar, he would have temporarily struck me down, and finally cheapened Cui Geng, a little brute? ”

"Aang? This, hehe, uncle, that was a mistake! Song Genhai scratched his head a little embarrassedly, and said with a smile, "My nephew is also bewitched, damn, the most hateful thing is to write anonymous letters, if it weren't for him, I wouldn't believe it, and I took people to Xiantan Village to arrest people." ”

Song Wen glanced at him again and said, "Wouldn't you have verified the truth of what was said in this anonymous letter before you took action?" Hmph, if you want to blame yourself, you are as stupid as a pig, so easy to be bewitched by others. By the way, who made the anonymous letter, and how did you check it? ”

Song Genhai shook his head, spread his hands, and said, "This... I don't have a clue yet, but my nephew will find it down. ”

Song Wen sighed, gritted his teeth and said: "Check, you must find out for me, if it weren't for this anonymous letter that offended the surnamed Shen, how could the position of this county lieutenant be cheaper than Cui Geng's brute?" ”

Song Genhai lowered his head and promised again and again.

At this time, Song Wen looked at the sky outside the stall and asked the hour.

He Jingkui, a Cangcao official, said: "It's almost the end of noon. ”

However, Yao Du, the official of Shicao, asked worriedly: "Song Hucao, today is the first day of the new county lieutenant, we don't go to the yamen in the morning, and we are doing these small actions behind our backs, will it be a little too much?" ”

Suddenly, Song Wen glanced at him unhappily and snorted, "What? Yao Shicao is afraid? ”

Yao Du saw Song Wen's unhappiness, lowered his head and stopped talking.

There are only three Cao officials in the six Cao Zhong of the Ya in Qingyuan County, and the Cao officials themselves are not officials, and they are no longer in the official establishment of the Ministry of Officials. These county officials are all fallen scholars who have been recruited by the county commanders in the people, and they are temporary workers. Yao Du is a native of Qingyuan County, about forty years old, repeatedly tried and failed, is the last county order to stay in the Shi Cao official, originally Hu Zeyi after taking office to dismiss him, and then re-recruit a new Shi Cao official in Qingyuan County. After all, a generation of emperors is a courtier, a county commander and a official. The temporary workers who stayed behind from the previous prefectural order always had a little lack of trust. However, Yao Du secretly dredged up Hu Zeyi's henchman Song Wen, spent some silver, and Song Wen spoke well in front of Hu Zeyi, so he continued to stay in the position of Shi Cao.

And Cangcao official He Jingkui is even more unbearable than Yao Du, he is Song Wen's fellow villager and young, he is still an old boy in his fifties, and he also walked the relationship between Song and Wen, so he came all the way from his hometown to Qingyuan, looking for this errand of Cangcao official, in charge of the granary and various warehouses of the county government.

So don't look at the three of them are all Cao officials who perform their duties in the county government, but in fact, both of them are the only Song Wen horses. Especially He Jingkui, the official of Cangcao, secretly did a lot of bad things for Song Wen, and how much money he earned with a bad conscience.

Yesterday, Song Wen lost the opportunity to enter the stream, and missed the post of county lieutenant, so he informed the two of them at night that he would dismiss Cui Geng's work this morning, and he would not respond to the problem at the end of the day, so that Liucaofang would enter a state of stagnation. The two were shocked when they found out, but they were even more afraid of offending Song Wen, after all, behind Song Wen, there was Hu Zeyi, the county commander who had just been promoted.

This is the embarrassing scene that Cui Geng saw this morning.

At this time, He Jingkui, the official of Cangcao, hurriedly flattered: "Haha, Yao Shicao is too worried, what about this new county lieutenant?" It's just a rootless wanderer! As long as we follow Song Hucao closely, and there is Lord Mingfu behind us to support us, why be afraid? ”

Yao Du sighed softly in his heart, stopped speaking, and had to continue to follow the crowd.

……

……

At this time, Cui Geng had already entered the livestock city with a group of fast catchers, and listened to the analysis of the current situation in the county government by Qin Liangyou along the way, and now he almost has an overall understanding of the internal situation of the county government.

"Lord County Lieutenant, my family Song Zhutou is in that wine shop!"

Qin Liangyou paused slightly, raised his hand and pointed to a wine stall a hundred steps away in the south of Livestock City, and said, "Song Wen and the other two Lord Cao are also there!" ”

Cui Geng glanced at the wine shop in the distance, waved his hand, and said, "Go on, go back and leave a few people at the door of the wine stall, no one is allowed to let go without my permission!" ”

"Yes!" Everyone agreed in unison.

Soon, Cui Geng led the crowd to the outside of Zhang Ji Wine Shop, and the noise outside the wine shop had already alarmed Song Wen and others.

Song Wen saw more than a dozen catchers surrounding the wine shop through the door, and he was a little inexplicable, and was about to ask Song Genhai to go out to have a look.

However, Cui Geng was one step ahead of him, and rushed in with ten catchers as soon as possible, and said coldly: "During the duty period, he left his post without permission and gathered a crowd to drink, the three adults and Song Zhutou are very elegant!" ”

Poop!

Shi Cao Yao Du stood up in shock, after all, he was weak-hearted, and he opened his mouth wide to look at Cui Geng, who seemed to be smiling, and was so frightened that he couldn't speak for a while.

Song Genhai looked at the catchers behind Cui Geng with some surprise, and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?" ”

However, Song Wen was much calmer, got up slowly, and said, "Isn't this the newly appointed Cui County Lieutenant?" Deserting one's duties without permission and gathering in a crowd to drink...... Ho, what a crime! Don't dare to be a lowly position! Cattle City is also under the jurisdiction of the county government, and people of low rank come here to perform official duties, so why not come here for a drink at lunchtime? ”

When Cui Geng heard this, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, he knew that Song Wen could say this, obviously he had expected that he would come to him, so he had already thought of what to do.

Cangcao He Jingkui next to him got up and immediately echoed: "Yes, Song Hucao is right, I'm here to check the tax situation, this is also official business." The county lieutenant Cui can't be charged indiscriminately, although we are just lowly county officials, we can eat the king's money, and we must be loyal to the king! Therefore, the lowly rank has always been conscientious, and the lowly rank dare not forget ......"

"Forget your mother's head!"

Cui Geng rudely interrupted He Jingkui's for the first time, directly making everyone present dumbfounded.

Nima, you are a dignified Jiupin county lieutenant, actually, actually......

He Jingkui was even more stunned by Cui Geng, and couldn't say the second half of the sentence for a while.

Cui Genghe sneered twice, pointed at He Jingkui's nose, and reprimanded: "You are the sixth Cao Cang Cao official, in charge of the county granary and all kinds of warehouses, when will it be your turn to intervene in the matter of paying taxes?" You don't do your job, but you leave your post without permission, and come to mix taxes, is there something shady in the tax accounts of this cattle city? ”

"What? No, no! ”

This time it was He Jingkui's turn to pee, indeed, Cui Geng got to the point, the duty of the Cangcao official is to take the guards and officials to guard and inspect the granaries and warehouses, as for the taxes on the livestock market, it has nothing to do with him.

Now Cui Geng not only said that he left his post without permission and gathered a crowd to drink, but also added a crime of adulteration and taxation to him, which does not allow him not to be afraid.

For a while, He Jingkui was so frightened that he waved his hand again and again, and said: "No, no, the lowly position did not come to check the tax accounts of the livestock city, and this lowly position has no right to check the accounts, don't splash dirty water!" ”

Hearing him say this, Song Wen's face suddenly darkened, and he secretly scolded a fool, you have been fooled!

Sure enough, I saw Cui Geng's face smiling, and said: "Since you said that you didn't come to Cattle City for office work, that means that it is true to leave your post without permission and gather people to drink?" Hehe, it seems that you are the end of the barn Cao! ”

After saying that, he waved his hand at Qin Liangyou behind him and ordered, "Come on, take him down first!" ”

Crash~

Qin Liangyou stepped forward with two catchers and directly detained He Jingkui.

Without waiting for He Jingkui to shout and cry out for injustice, Cui Geng took the lead: "He Cangcao, because you left your post without permission and gathered a crowd to drink, the county lieutenant now officially informs you, and from now on, you will be dismissed from your position as a Cangcao official." As for the aftermath, the official must first check the accounts of the granary and treasury of the county government before making a decision. If the official finds out that there are flaws in your accounts during your tenure, and there are self-thefts by guards, hehe, you will wait to be tried in court! ”

"No, no, Song Hucao, save me!" He Jingkui's face was frightened, and he had to take Song Wen as the last straw.

"Choi... County Lieutenant Cui, He Cangcao was personally appointed by Hu County, you have no right to detain him, let alone dismiss him! ”

Song Wen was also anxious when he saw this, and almost called Cui Geng's name, but he didn't want to give Cui Geng another chance to grab the pigtails at this time.

But He Jingkui, he wants to save it, because he knows that he and He Jingkui have a dirty thing under their butts, if He Jingkui really goes to court, he will definitely confess him as soon as possible to protect himself.

Who knew that Cui Geng smiled, shrugged his shoulders and seemed to disdain Song Wen's reminder, and said with a smile: "It's unfortunate, Song Hucao." Before this official came, he had already asked Hu County for instructions. He personally confessed that in addition to the responsibility of arresting thieves and preventing bandits and guarding public order, the official also sentenced the six Caos, and he was by no means a person who held power autocraticly. What's wrong? Is Song Hucao going to recruit black for Hu County, or is he going to put Hu County's order in an unrighteous place? ”

Song Wen was stunned and muttered in disbelief: "This, how is this possible?" ”

"Why is it impossible?"

Cui Geng sneered: "Or, you personally ask Hu County Order?" However, now is not the time, wait for the official to settle the matter here today. ”

After that, Chong Qin Liangyou gave a look and said, "Take He Cangcao out first!" ”

"Yes!" Qin Liangyou led the two catchers very loyally, and dragged He Jingkui, who screamed and shouted Song Hu Cao to save me, out of the wine jar.

From beginning to end, Qin Liangyou didn't look at his boss Song Genhai at all.

For a while, Song Genhai's black face turned red with anger, and he was panting.

Cui Geng stepped forward, came to Song Wen, and whispered in his ear: "The surname is Song, today is the first day of Lao Tzu's tenure, you are not happy to find me, okay, grandpa will have a good time with you!" This He Jingkui is just the first appetizer. And what's more! ”

Song Wen glared at Cui Geng angrily and said, "The surname Cui, if you have the ability, you will dismiss all the Cao officials of the six Caos." Hmph, without us people, I see how you can play with this county Yaliu Cao Fang alone! ”

Cui Geng gently patted Song Wen's thin cheek with his hand, and said in a low voice, "Yo, I'm scared to death of your father and me...... But don't worry, there will be no shortage of people in Liucaofang! ”

After that, ignoring Song Wen, whose cheeks were flushed with anger, Cui Geng turned his head to look at Yao Du, who was in a daze, and smiled, and said: "Yao Shicao, according to the feedback from the people below and the official, these six Cao Cao officials belong to you Yao Shicao is the most loyal to your duty, and today it is estimated that you were also deceived by others to come here, right?" ”

Yao Du's eyes widened in surprise again, and he subconsciously sighed, not knowing what Cui Geng meant by this.

Without waiting for him to speak, Cui Geng waved his hand again and continued: "No need to explain, this official knows that the sin is not yours. In the next few days, you may have to work hard, and from now on, you will also serve as the cangcao official. Yao Shicao is holding the position of two Cao, I am afraid that the burden on his shoulders will be heavier in the future! ”

Yao Du was stunned again, but his heart was fluctuating, how could this be? Not only did he not dismiss me, but he also let me take the position of Cangcao official? This... Why does this Lieutenant Cui value me so much?

For a while, Yao Du really couldn't figure it out.

However, Song Wen suddenly shuddered in his heart, and he was secretly unknown, and eight words instantly appeared in his heart - divide and conquer, and break each one?

This book was first published in Reading Book Worm