Liu Xin looked at everyone present and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, since the emperor appointed me as the pastor of Jingzhou, I have to take this responsibility. You are all people I can trust, how to manage Jingzhou well, I still want to hear your opinions. ”

Han Xi didn't expect to be able to gain his trust just after serving Liu Xin, so he was excited in his heart, got up and said: "Lord, a few days ago in Wancheng, according to my observation, Taishou Chu Gong is very disobedient to Yang and Yin, and he seems to be unwilling to obey the Lord's orders. The situation in other counties is also not optimistic. ”

Zhang Fei's surname was irritable, and after listening to Han Xi's words, he immediately jumped out and said: "What is he Chu Gong, if you dare not listen to my eldest brother, I will take three hundred soldiers and horses to arrest him back." ”

Liu Xin raised his hand and motioned for him to sit down, and said: "Third brother, don't be impatient, I and the county guards are all officials of the imperial court, and this is not the solution to the problem." ”

Kuai Yue listened to Liu Xin's words and nodded secretly, got up and said, "Lord, I have a plan to know the intentions of the county guards. The lord can issue an order to the county guards, and transfer the elite soldiers of each county to gather in Xiangyang, if there are those who refuse to send troops to come, they will naturally have different intentions. ”

Liu Xin knew that there were only more than ten days before the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Uprising, and what Kuai Yue said was also a way, if the county guards were willing to send troops, they would be much more sure to deal with the Yellow Turbans in the north, so he said: "This plan is very good, so please ask Mr. to repair the book immediately and send it to the counties." In addition, now that everyone lives in the governor's house, it is too crowded, and if you look at some part of the city where there is vacant land, I would like to build a few houses and give them to the gentlemen. ”

Cai Mao is the county commander, and he is most familiar with the situation in Xiangyang City, so he quickly got up and said: "Back to the lord, Xiangyang City used to be a state city, and the population increased rapidly, and now there is no place to spare in the city." If the lord wants to build a house, he can only make room for it by demolishing some of the people's houses. ”

Liu Xin shook his head and said, "This is not appropriate, I came to be the state pastor to let the people live a good life, how can I forcibly demolish their houses." The city is already overcrowded, so why not expand it? ”

Kuai Liang got up and replied: "Lord, it is not easy to expand the city, first of all, the land on the outskirts of Xiangyang is owned by the owner, and it takes a lot of money to expropriate it. There are also a lot of manpower and financial resources to build city walls and dig rivers, and Xiangyang City can't afford it. ”

Liu Xin thought about it, and he really didn't have much money in his hands, so he had to say helplessly: "In this case, let's talk about expanding Xiangyang and building a house later." The most important thing now is to manage Xiangyang, Fancheng, and Xinye well, and when the reply from the county guards comes, let's make the next step. ”

Everyone dispersed, Liu Xin sat alone in the hall, there was a feeling of no way to start, now there are a lot of talents under his command, but there are no soldiers, no money, empty ambitions, but no use.

Just when he had nothing to do, the Flying Tiger guard outside the door came to report that Guo Jia was coming. Liu Xin was overjoyed, he didn't expect him to come so soon, as long as he left his mother in Xiangyang, he didn't have to worry about him not working for himself in the future.

In fact, Guo Jia persuaded her mother for one night, and then said that she agreed to come to Xiangyang to live temporarily, and packed up for two more days, three days later than Liu Xin before setting off from Yingchuan, but Liu Xin bypassed Bowangpo and delayed for three days, so Guo Jia only arrived in Xiangyang one day later than Liu Xin.

Liu Xin met Guo Jia's mother Lin for the first time, and saw at a glance that this was a typical rural woman with traditional virtues and able to bear hardships and stand hard work.

When Lin learned that the young man in front of him was Liu Xin, the pastor of Jingzhou, he hurriedly said, "The people have caused trouble to the adults. ”

Liu Xin said with a smile on her face: "Sister-in-law Guo, what are you talking about, when you come here, you will treat it as if you are at your own home, and I will let Mrs. arrange a place for you to live." ”

Lin Shi excused himself: "The women don't dare to have a worker, so they just ask the adults to find a house for the women, and the women go to take some work to make a living." ”

Liu Xin paid more respect to the Lin family and said, "Since you have come here, how can you make you suffer again, then I will be scolded by Brother Guo." Besides, I'm a lot of people now, what kind of work do you take, isn't that a job with others? ”

Guo Jia said strangely: "Lord Liu, when you first arrived in Jingzhou, you should have a lot of things to do, how could this be?" ”

Liu Xin told him about the discussion just now.

Guo Jia was silent for a moment, and suddenly said, "Lord Liu, there is a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not?" ”

Liu Xin took his hand and said, "You and I are not outsiders, so it doesn't matter if you have anything to say." ”

Guo Jia Zhengse said: "Lord Liu, now the dark tide in the world is surging, and according to my calculations, there will be chaos soon." ”

Liu Xin was shocked when he heard this, he didn't expect a fifteen-year-old child to say such a thing, if he didn't know that he was a celebrity in history, otherwise he really suspected that he had also crossed over. Liu Xin was stunned and said, "Why did my brother say this? ”

Guo Jia's face was worried, and he said: "Now the ten most important lands in the world are in the hands of the scholar family, and the people have worked hard for a year, and the harvest is not enough to fill their stomachs. In recent years, the imperial court has sold official beards, and officials from all over the country have expropriated and extorted money, making the lives of the people more and more difficult. After a severe drought in the north last year, many local officials did not obey the orders of the imperial court and went their own way, and did not even bother to pay taxes. Take Jingzhou as an example, I estimate that there will be no more than two people who can listen to the orders of the adults and transfer troops to Xiangyang, these Taishou have already regarded themselves as the lords of a county, how can they tolerate more hoops on their heads. ”

Liu Xin saw that all the things he was worried about were said by him, and he secretly sighed and said: "I can't imagine that my brother doesn't go out, but he knows the world." Let's be honest, I also have an ominous premonition that there will be chaos in the north. Some time ago, Taiping Road was popular in various states, and this is the source of chaos. ”

Guo Jia stood up "Huo" and said: "Your Excellency must not rely too much on the soldiers and horses of the counties, you should immediately recruit troops and form your own army, even if it is not to deal with the Taiping Road, when there is a great chaos in the future, you can calm the world by entering, and you can ensure the safety of one side by retreating." ”

Liu Xin has heard from Guo Jia's words that he is a person with great ambitions, and such a talent will not let go of him no matter what. After making up his mind, Liu Xin hurriedly asked someone to settle the Lin family, and then sent Guo Jia away. After all this, Liu Xin reconvened his subordinates and said the idea of recruiting soldiers.

Kuai Liang got up and said: "Back to the lord, the people in the Xiangyang area live a rich and comfortable life, I'm afraid not many people are willing to be soldiers, and it may be a little difficult to recruit." ”

Liu Xin has now made up his mind and said decisively: "Since it is difficult to recruit troops, then recruit soldiers, draw them according to households, and recruit 20,000 soldiers first." The matter of conscription is to ask Mr. Kuai's brothers and Cai County Ling to be responsible, and Xu Huang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun are responsible for training. ”

Waiting for the six of them to go out, Cai Yong asked, "Does the lord have anything to hand over to the old man to do?" ”

Liu Xin looked at him in surprise, he didn't expect this old scholar to take the initiative to do something, thinking of Guo Jia and Han opera, he suddenly had an idea, so he said: "Mr. Bo, I want to build a academy like Yingchuan in Xiangyang, and I haven't found a place to do it again, but it will be solved in the future, so I will ask Mr. to take the position of dean at that time, and please don't shirk." ”

Cai Yong readily agreed and went happily. Liu Xin also instructed Dian Wei and Xu Chu to lead the Flying Tiger Guard, responsible for the safety of the Prefecture Pastoral Mansion and the adults.

Liu Xin was busy, Ma Yun was not idle, she dragged her tired body, checked the inside and outside of the state pastor's mansion, determined the places that needed to be repaired urgently, and clarified the key points of fire prevention and theft prevention, these are her old jobs. The courtyards were redistributed, and Liu Xin's five brothers were assigned to separate courtyards, and maidservants were also sent.

After more than ten busy days, it is February in a blink of an eye. The 20,000 soldiers who were forcibly conscripted were undergoing basic military training under the leadership of Xu Huang and others. Because they didn't have enough money, they looked like peasants, not to mention decent armor, and even decent weapons. Fortunately, Liu Xin was reluctant to stay in the river because of the thousands of catties of iron he bought from Zhang Shiping at that time, and he also brought it to Xiangyang and recruited some blacksmiths to build blades. As for horses, it is even more difficult to acquire them in the Jingzhou area.

And the order sent to the counties to transfer troops was like a stone sinking into the sea, and not even a drop of waves was splashed, obviously not only Chu Gong, but also the other county guards did not treat Liu Xin as a dish.

Ma Yun managed the state pastoral mansion in an orderly manner, and the back garden was also renovated, so that the daughters and children of several families could also have a good place to rest and play in their spare time.

Liu Xin now finds that every step in Jingzhou is extremely difficult, even more difficult than when he was in Hejian, the biggest problem is that he has no money in his hands, the soldiers are recruited, and the food and salary are not known where. How can we make the counties bow their heads? Is it only possible to solve the problem by force?

Liu Xin was bored, and unconsciously walked to the back garden. In the garden, some trees have just sprouted, and some unknown small flowers on the ground are already eager to bloom with smiling faces.

Ma Yun was talking and laughing with Bian Yu in the pavilion by the pond, and when she saw Liu Xin from afar, she hurriedly greeted him, saw him with a depressed face, and said with a smile: "Why are you so free today, come to appreciate and appreciate the fruits of my labor." ”

Liu Xin was pondering, and when she looked up and saw that it was Ma Yun, she couldn't help but smile: "Well, yes, you can go and become a gardener." ”

Ma Yun pushed him and said, "Hmph, I can't help it." Oh, by the way, there's something I want you to help me with. ”

Liu Xin said strangely: "If there is anything between our husband and wife, you can just say it directly." ”

Ma Yun's face became serious, and she said seriously: "It's not me begging you, it's the little girl from the Cai family." Let's see if you can go and talk to Mr. Cai and quit the Wei family. If you help him save the piano, he will definitely listen to you. ”

Liu Xin also said with a straight face: "Wife, I didn't say you, don't be too troublesome." As the saying goes, it is better to demolish ten temples than to destroy a marriage, not to mention Cai Yong's temper, you don't know it, you can't do this. ”

Ma Yun heard Liu Xin's refusal and was about to get angry, but she heard someone outside shouting: "Report!" Enlighten the lord, the big thing is not good! ”