Although he received the order that he was appointed as the Taishou of Changsha at the end of October of the sixth year of Jian'an, Li Sheng did not really leave for Changsha City until February of the seventh year of Jian'an. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info This is also no way, Li Sheng originally thought that the promotion to Taishou was a simple matter, but he didn't want to be in Jingzhou, and it was so troublesome to deal with it. At the beginning of November, when I returned to Xiangyang, I met with the lord and his colleagues, and they were drinking and entertaining, and the trouble was until the end of December. At this moment, it is already close to the end of the year, and although he can already go to the office, Li Sheng himself is unwilling to go. He applied to Liu Biao and spent a big year of reunion with everyone in Xiangyang. Only then did he leave Xiangyang on February 2, after everything was dealt with.

The way to Changsha is all by boat: from Xiangyang to the Yangtze River through the Han River, and then cross the Xiangshui River to the south to Changsha. Because of the multi-party "movement" in Xiangyang, Li Sheng was able to keep his army, although the quota was the same as the original, and only allowed a team of 3,000 people, but Li Sheng did not care much. He knew that the quota of 3,000 only referred to the "official army", and as for the other armed forces, as long as you could afford to raise them, even if they were organized in the name of adopting "family members", no one would care. Just like the Kuai family in Xiangyang, it seems that the Kuai family is a group of Wenchen, but there are nearly 5,000 armed families, and they can be regarded as a decisive force in Xiangyang City.

The army moves with the ship. Eighty warships carried Li Sheng from Xiyang to carry some of his belongings, 10,000 family members, and 3,000 officers and soldiers, and they were cruising on the river. Although the waters of the Yangtze River are not very stable, since Gan Ning, the largest water thief in this area, took refuge in Huang Zu, there has been no large-scale water bandit organization. It's okay for those small-scale water thieves to grab one or two merchant ships, but the idea of letting them fight this Jingzhou naval army is unlikely. Therefore, Li Sheng's journey was calm and calm, and there were no twists and turns.

The absence of twists and turns often means calm and boredom. Li Sheng thinks that he is a very ordinary person, but the idleness on the ship for a long time does make him a little impatient. At this time, he would have his men invited over, set up a round table on the roof of the building, and spend half a day chatting with them and half dealing with work. Because many times it is to pass the time, when talking about some unimportant things, Li Sheng often calls his wife to accompany him. As far as he is concerned, he is usually busy with official business and does not spend much time with his wife, and now that he has time and does not involve those confidential issues, it is okay to let his wife listen to it.

Changsha County is one of the 36 counties established in the Qin Dynasty, and it is subordinate to 13 counties, including Linxiang, You, Tuling, Ancheng, Yu, Xiangnan, Liandao, Zhaoling, Yiyang, Xiajun, Luo, Liling and Rongling. Judging from the name and the compilation of the Han Dynasty government system, Changsha County seems to be the level of cities and counties in later generations, but from the research of later generations, the current Changsha County includes the eastern and southern parts of Hunan and the whole state of Guangxi, Lianxian County, Yangshan and other places in Guangdong, and its area is definitely provincial. Such a large area of land is not less than some states in the Central Plains, but can only be called a county, which is probably related to population. At present, the population of Changsha County is more than 1.5 million, which is comparable to those large counties, and naturally it is not up to the level of the state.

"What do you think we will develop first after we arrive in Changsha?" After reading some preliminary information in Changsha, Li Sheng asked his subordinates with a smile.

On this issue, Li Sheng's people have different opinions: some say that they should vigorously develop water transportation, because Changsha is one of the important strongholds on the Yangtze River; Some said that they should vigorously develop agriculture, because the line from Dongting Lake to the Xiangjiang River is a rare plain in the south. Seeing their gossip and discussion, Li Sheng shook his head and smiled softly. He remained silent and noncommittal to everyone's opinions.

"I wonder what the lord thinks?" Seeing that Li Sheng never spoke, Luo Zhao understood in his heart that Li Sheng had his own thoughts, so he leaned over and asked Li Sheng's opinion softly.

"I think that whether it is the development of water transportation or the development of agriculture and industry, it is up to the people to choose. We cannot interfere with them forcibly, but it is better to make policy preferences in other aspects, to guide, not to coerce. In fact, for a large area like Changsha County, the most lacking thing should be the population. The water depth of Dongting and the purity of the Xiangjiang River mean that both sides of this lake and river can feed more people. I don't think there would be any problem even if we more than doubled the population of Changsha County. Li Sheng said with a smile.

But where did so many people come from? Now that Yuan Shaoyi in the north has been defeated by Cao Cao, although the number of displaced people from the north will not decrease in the next year or so, the estimated number is at most about 300,000, which is far from the requirements of the lord. And ......" Liao Li, who was in charge of political affairs, really hesitated, but still expressed his suspicions: "Lord, can this Changsha County really support so many people?" ”

"No problem...... Li Sheng smiled, his face full of confidence: "Trust me, that's right!" Unconsciously ran out of his mouth such a very famous advertising slogan in later generations. For what hasn't happened yet, for everyone's suspicions, Li Sheng can't explain how he knows this, so he can only guarantee it like this.

Maybe the confidence on his face was really convincing, or maybe Li Sheng's previous actions made people feel that some of his amazing actions were actually very meaningful, so everyone believed in Li Sheng's assurance. They nodded, no longer involved, and took Li Sheng's words as the basis for their future administration -- Changsha can support a population of more than 2 million.

"However, if there are so many immigrants, there will be a certain amount of pressure on our finances. After all, these immigrants did not have any productive capacity in the first place. Shi Tao said with a frown. Although the matter may not be as serious as he said, it is a fact that there is pressure on Li Sheng's side during a certain peak, especially in the next year or two. This is also a matter of no choice, Li Sheng's family background is not thick, it is okay to deal with half a county, but it is not good to deal with one county.

"There's always a way, as long as we're willing to think about it." Li Sheng naturally understands this, but at the moment, he is unwilling to make the meeting that he passes the boring time boring because of this question, so he said so.

"It's also ......" Everyone smiled and nodded, thinking that they also understood what Li Sheng was thinking.

"I don't know if the matter over there in Xiyang has been confirmed. Although we have only been in business there for a little more than a year, the people are so attached that I don't want to make the people suffer again after I leave. Li Sheng raised the issue. In fact, he stayed in Xiangyang for so long, mainly to open up relationships and ensure his interests in Xiyang. For Li Sheng, keeping Xiyang is not because it is his first territory and one of his main sources of military food at this stage, but also because of the important geographical location in the area of Xiyang. That was Li Sheng's proximity to Runande's existence, and it was a fulcrum for Li Sheng to fight Cao Cao in the later Chibi War. Li Sheng, who came from later generations, knew about the battle a few years later, and also knew that with his current development speed and ability, he would not be able to control the entire Jingzhou before that and stop Cao Cao's attack on the northern part of Jingzhou. Therefore, he could only use his foresight to prepare for that battle one step earlier, in order to deal a heavier blow to Cao Cao's forces in that battle. And Li Sheng takes such a fancy to Xiyang, just because Xiyang is a very important base in his plan.

"Well, just received the situation. It is said that Lord Liu Biao has appointed Luo Mao as the head of the four counties of Xiyang. Lord Liu Biao does not seem to have the idea of revoking the Xiyang 'Special Zone'. Luo Zhao said all this in a very calm tone. Although his brother was involved, he had already learned what it meant to be calm and unhurried, who had helped Li Sheng deal with intelligence for so long. He said as if nothing in it had anything to do with him.

"That's good, I can rest assured." Li Sheng nodded with a smile: "I don't want to come here, Lord Liu Biao doesn't want to mess up the four counties that are already somewhat organized." ”

"How do you say that? Luo Mao is not one of ours. Liao Li was not familiar with Luo Mao, so he felt very strange why everyone was relieved when they heard that Liu Biao handed over the original Li Sheng's position to Luo Mao.

"Although Luo Mao is not our person, he has a lot to do with us. You may not know that he is Zhong Ming's brother, and he and Zhong Ming were generally raised by my stepfather as filial piety. Later, my father-in-law was critically ill and asked him about his ambition with Zhong Ming, and he wanted to continue his political career, so he recommended him to be under Liu Biao, but Zhong Ming stayed. Although the two have different aspirations, they are still connected to each other and are friendly to us. It couldn't have been more appropriate for him to take my place. In fact, I went to Xiangyang for so long, mainly to push him up. Regarding Liao Li's doubts, Li Sheng explained with a smile.

"Huh? The lord is actually for this ......" Hearing Li Sheng say this, everyone couldn't help but be surprised. They originally thought that Li Sheng's stay in Xiangyang was purely to reunite with his family, but they didn't want Li Sheng to act like this.

"The lord is really a little unfathomable." Thinking that Li Sheng's actions on his own without consulting them several times seemed to have a deep meaning, everyone felt more and more that their lord was really very capable, and he belonged to that kind of unfathomable person. As a result, they were all awe-struck, and their eyes looking at Li Sheng suddenly became more respectful than before.

At this point, the time was not early, Li Sheng talked to them for a while, and then went up separately. The red sunset on the river has quietly hung in the western sky, and the sparkling red glow ripples away with the flow marks of the boat crossing the river. dispersed, and Fu became calm again. As they calmed down, the fleet was far away.

****

The courtyard was deep, overgrown with weeds and shaded greenery, and the gray waddang hung wobbly under the broken eaves. If no one specifically explains, I'm afraid no one will think that this was the private residence of the "Jing Nanmu" and Changsha Taishou Zhang Xian. It used to be a lively place with constant traffic and a lively city, and as the permanent residence of the rulers of the entire southern part of Jingzhou, it was also a place where Liu Biao could compete with each other. But since Liu Biao defeated Zhang Xian last year, this place has been defeated. Left unattended for nearly half a year, this place has become like a century-old ghost house, full of gloomy atmosphere.

There was no one here, and everything that could be removed from the house had already been moved, some of them had fallen into the pockets of the soldiers, and some had fallen into the hands of Liu Biao, and there was nothing left except such an empty house. At first, there were some homeless people, but after a long time for weeds to grow, there was a rumor that it was haunted. After three or four homeless people died, no one came here again. Not only that, but even the families who originally lived around this mansion have moved away, completely abandoning this place.

The night was dark, and the sky was cloudy and starless, except for a crescent moon with a faint silver glow. The cold light was quietly projected onto the earth, like a calm bystander watching everything happen without saying a word. For the high moon, perhaps this frightening haunted house is nothing scary. Because it's a very hidden game from beginning to end, and it's not really a ghost.

On the earth under the moonlight, among the bushes of grass, several black shadows who couldn't see their faces clearly stood looking at each other. They whispered about the information they had only recently received, the focus of which was none other than Li Sheng, who had just been appointed by Liu Biao as the Taishou of Changsha.

"What do you think of this kid? From scratch, he ascended to the position of Taishou in the year of a weak crown, which is not only in Jingzhou, but also in the whole world. One of the men in the shadow said so, listening to his old voice, it seemed that this man was an old man with excellent hands, his voice was like a bell, but his tone was full of vastness.

"Rare? I don't think so. It is said that he has a lot to do with Liu Biao. It seems that he did not rise to this high position entirely on his own. The three battles he fought: the Battle of Xiyang, which was nothing more than a rabble with a group of local tyrants and rogues; The battle of Runan was nothing more than a fight with a bunch of hungry Yellow Turban remnants who couldn't even walk; The battle of Shaxian was only with the help of the Jingzhou naval army. If you say that you have the ability, it is only slightly better than the average gentleman. We really don't need to pay too much attention to it. Another voice in the crowd said. Audible, this is a young man, and his words are full of haughty. For reasons of being inferior to his age, he looked down on Li Sheng.

"Jing'er, you're a little careless. Not to mention whether this Li Sheng is what you imagined, you can't say it directly. We are not capable enough now, and we are still weak compared to them. In such a situation, we are not wrong to look at the enemy highly. Because we have no room for failure, we are afraid that we will fall to the ground if we have a slight mistake. Old man, these people will die when they die, so naturally we don't care. But Jing'er, you, are the blood and blood of the lord, if you go away like this easily. I am waiting under the Nine Springs, how can I wait for your lord? A man in the shadows who had not spoken all this time spoke. Like the first person to speak, his voice was very old and loud, and he thought he was also an old man. It's just that unlike the old man in front of him, his words are more majestic. From the words of the three people, it can be seen that the proud young man is the master of the two old men, but the old man behind can teach his young master like a child who teaches himself.

"Got it, Grandpa." The young figure bowed his head and resignedly admitted his mistake.

"Alas......" The old man who spoke in front of him sighed: "If it weren't for Ke Xing, the villain, who took refuge in Liu Biao and knew everything about the truth in Changsha City, how could Liu Biao's army enter Changsha Jiancheng." ”

"Brother Ziheng, don't say it again. It is useless to sigh any longer. Ke Xing, this guy, is now a high-ranking Changsha long history, this is not something that you and I can bring down with the current strength. Besides, the new Taishou is coming, and how to deal with him needs to be carefully considered. We don't know much about Li Zixu, and we don't know whether he is famous, lustful, or wealthy, so we have to suspend the original plan for a while and observe him first. As long as we can find his weaknesses and control him, I think our success may go further. Li Zixu brought 3,000 soldiers and horses this time, as long as they can be controlled and reconciled with Jiangdong, this Changsha City will be our lord's again. The young grandfather calmly and steadily laid out his plan. It seems that he is the backbone of this group.

"I know...... Looks like that's the best thing to do right now! The old man named Ziheng nodded lightly.

"That's right, Jing'er." As if he remembered something, the young man's grandfather asked the young man, "How are you getting along with the princess of Shanyue?" This is another way for us to gain troops. These Shanyue people are very good at fighting. As long as you can become Shanyue's colt, these thousands of Shanyue people will become our warriors. This is a big deal for us, who are short of troops at the moment. ”

"My grandson knows." The young man nodded solemnly and reported the situation to his grandfather: "In fact, Rose has been very willing to her grandson. It is only said that her parents have not yet approved of this - and it is strange that their part has fallen, although they are barbarians, but they have learned enough from us in their style. Rose is not as bold as other Shanyue women, and she is shy to answer like our Han women. ”

"That's your business." The boy's grandfather said, "All I want is results." As for what happens to you and her, that's your own business. ”

"My grandson understands." The boy nodded honestly.

At this point, the three of them stopped talking. The cool night breeze gently blows, and everything is calm again.

*****

At the same time that Zhang Xian's remnants were discussing how to deal with Li Sheng and his party, a meeting with a similar content was also launched in the Changsha mansion. The person presiding over the meeting was the villain Ke Xing in the mouth of the "Black Shadow Trio". I saw that this Ke Xing was about forty years old, his face was white and beardless, his face was covered with thick powder like that woman, and he was wearing a wide cyan robe, sitting on the main seat of the hall of the mansion with a big grin, staring at a pair of eyes that seemed to be a thin slit even if they were wide-opened, and shrewdly looked at the people in the hall.

Although it was late at night, the hall was indeed brightly lit, and nearly a hundred oil lamps were placed on their own stands to illuminate the spacious hall as if it were day. Under the illumination of the bright lamp, more than a dozen doormen sat quietly and listened to the story of the lord above.

Ke Xing still has some ability. Although Zhang Xian's remnants didn't look down on him very much, and Liu Biao didn't look down on him, thinking that he was not enough to be useful, only because of his power here in Changsha and his contribution to Liu Biao's southern expedition, and set him up such a position as the long history of Changsha, and threw him in the south, but he took care of this Changsha city very quickly, and in only half a year, he had already made this Changsha a place stable, and gradually regained the prosperity of the past, far from being as depressed as other counties in Jingnan. Of course, he is not a perfect person, for others, he is a suspicious person, a pragmatic person, but also a careerist, those small eyes that are always shining with essence, people always feel that they are stared at by a poisonous snake and generally uncomfortable tight-this is one of the reasons why Liu Biao hates him. In Liu Biao's opinion, he is undoubtedly a difficult person to control.

Because he is ambitious, because he always wants to control everything, and because he is suspicious, he attaches great importance to Liu Biao's appointment of Li Sheng as the Taishou of Changsha.

“…… According to the information, our new Taishou has already entered Dongting Lake, and will come to Changsha City in a few days. It seems that our original estimate was wrong, he really wanted to come to Changsha to take office. For Li Sheng's arrival, Ke Xing was both annoyed and helpless. The reason why he betrayed Zhang Xian and took refuge in Liu Biao was because Liu Biao was stronger than Zhang Xian, he didn't want to die for Zhang Xian's loyalty, he just wanted to use Zhang Xian's head to get a high position for his future. Although because Zhang Xian, the old guy, died early, he never really obtained his head as a qualification for promotion, but he really introduced Liu Biao into Changsha City. He originally thought that with this merit, he could make himself the Taishou of Changsha, but Liu Biao ended with a sentence "Jun is not qualified enough." "I decided back and forth, and only appointed myself as the chief historian of Changsha. Well, long history is long history. The fact that Lord Liu Biao did not immediately appoint the four county guards gave Ke Xing great hope. He thinks that as long as he can work harder, it is not impossible to become a taishou. He also confessed. But he didn't think that half a year later, when he handled Changsha City well, Liu Biao appointed Li Sheng as the new Changsha Taishou.

"Isn't that making me a fool! I developed Changsha, but I had to be picked by him. Such an imbalance made Ke Xing annoyed, he not only hated Liu Biao, but also hated his boss Li Sheng, whom he had never met.

For Li Sheng, Ke Xing is not as ignorant of him as everyone else. At that time, Ke Xing was in charge of intelligence gathering under Zhang Xian, and he knew very well about his enemy, Liu Biao. After the rise of Li Sheng, an upstart, he was also ordered to investigate Li Sheng, and he knew all the "big things" that Li Sheng had done.

"This is a capable young man!" He is twice as old as Li Sheng, and Ke Xing made such an old-fashioned comment on Li Sheng. Although he also admires Li Sheng, for this young man, he always looks down on him with the eyes of his juniors. He never imagined that one day he would become one of his subordinates. When he received the order not long ago, he felt that it was an insult to himself.

"Do you want to be a Taishou before the smell of milk dries? Okay, you can do something about it. After receiving the order, Ke Xing's face was not very good, he tightly held the newspaper delivered from Xiangyang, his face was very ugly, and the original appreciation for Li Sheng in his heart turned into a deep resentment at this moment.

Hatred, sometimes it comes so suddenly.

Kirshing is a man who can win people over. He longed for the style of raising a warrior during the Warring States Period, so whoever asked for him, he gave him quite good treatment, whether rich or poor. With the support of his family's huge financial resources, he still has a good status in the hearts of some people. There are indeed a few people who have some skills around him.

They are the ones sitting in front of Ke Xing right now.

"So, what does the lord plan to do with them? Need something special? After listening to Ke Xing's introduction, the people below were silent for a while, and then a young man with an indifferent expression and a murderous face stood up and asked. Ke Ping, Ke Xing's younger brother, was good at fencing at a young age, tasted the ranger Quartet, and is now the head coach of the Ke family, responsible for the training of the Ke family.

"Not for now." Ke Xing shook his head slightly, he knew what his clan brother meant: "Now that they are all on the ship, our people are not too easy to approach. Fighting and killing is always the last resort. At the moment, I am more or less the biggest official in Changsha, and if our Lord Taishou goes like this, then I am afraid that we will be the last to be questioned. ”

"Oh!" Ke Ping nodded, sat down coldly but stopped talking.

"Ziyuan, the grain stores you control are still there." After being silent for a while, Ke Xing thought that he already had an idea in his heart, and he began to assign tasks: "Hold these shops for me, and when the time comes, I am not afraid that there will be no vote to act." ”

"Understood!" A thin and capable man in white stood up and surrendered his hand to Ke Xing like a sergeant.

"Ye Tao, your subordinates are all right." Ke Xing nodded to the man in white with satisfaction, asked him to sit down, and then called the name of another person.

"Yes, my lord." A stout man with a fleshy face stood up and lifted the tall man like a tower.

"You go back and discuss with your second master, be sure to let the whole city of Changsha understand what kind of person our new Taishou is within these three days." Ke Xing said in a flat tone, looking at Ye Tao's eyes with an inexplicable light. Obviously, what he asked Ye Tao to do was not as simple as he said on the surface.

"Got it." Ye Tao nodded and left the table. Speaking of which, he is not really a guest of Kexing. As a person who has no livelihood but has a lot of money, he Ye Tao is one of the leading people in Changsha City who can speak in private, and he is also the strongest boss on the ground in Changsha at the moment. He is strong because he has the help of Kirshing. And the reason why Ke Xing helped him was nothing more than to use him to do some unseemly things. Ke Xing, who has been in charge of Zhang Xian's intelligence management for a long time, understands very clearly how capable these so-called gangsters are.

"Gao Heng, you go and contact Alta in Wuling, and say that this Changsha City will soon have a big deal." Ke Xing looked at Ye Tao's departing pace, a faint smile rose slightly at the corner of his mouth, and he gave this final order lightly.

"Yes!" A man of thin stature stood up to take orders.

All the bureaus have been laid out, and now we are waiting for Li Sheng to make a move to crack it.

The night was deep, and the city of Changsha was surging.