Li Brown's body shook, his hands pressed down his vitality, and the water beads and water qi in the Jing column beside him were scattered, and after only a while, with the contraction of the sword qi, it also diffused with the surrounding air, and gradually disappeared.

Xiao Xi opened his eyes, and immediately felt that Li Brown's sword qi was not much different from his own, obviously Li Brown had already stepped into the second stage of the qin state of mind, and in the three or four years since he entered this kendo hall, he was also the second grade of the second stage of the qin state of mind.

Shi Jie was surprised and delighted, and patted his forehead with his right hand, "It seems that I lost my eyes, and you even mentioned two products in a row that night." It's just that the vitality is still unstable, and the sword qi is not too prominent. So you've jumped to the second stage. ”

Li Brown let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "At the beginning, I only felt that it was not as serious as Master said, and I tried to continue to cultivate this "Qi Compilation Sutra", but I didn't expect that the more I practiced, the smoother my heart became, and the sea of qi gradually contained more vitality. ”

Shi Jie came to take his pulse again, this time he felt that the pulse was beating normally, and the speed and intensity were just right, and he nodded: "Your physique is good, your innate sword qi is abundant, and your root bones are good, so the progress of your cultivation is smoother than I thought, and of course, it is faster." ”

Li Brown wiped the moisture on his forehead and said, "Master is also good for me, I was indeed a little tired at that time, but after thinking about it, I felt that I would not be overworked." ”

Shi Jie patted him on the shoulder and said, "There is talent, there is talent." At first, I saw that you were tired, but I couldn't rest assured. ”

Li Brown looked at Shi Jie's majestic and tender eyes, smiled, and said, "Master has a good heart, and he can't bear to overwork his disciples. I can't take my eyes away, but thank you Master. ”

......

Since Zhang Ji attached Gong Zheng to assist in political affairs, there is no need to say much about the trivialities of the past few days. This Gong Zheng is very cunning, and he did not carry his family with him during his tenure, but stayed in his hometown in Gusu. At this moment, Jinan Mansion is in turmoil, and he is on the front line of the imminent outbreak of the war, and he is not at ease, especially his daughter.

Therefore, he was just alone and carried a few family members and personal servants to the north, and the purpose of this trip was not only to write people, but also to get books. Since the previous governor was transferred, the first thing he did when he came here was to work hard to understand the bright and dark markets in Zhuzhou County on Jingdong Road.

Recently, the war rebellion and the sanctions of the Liao State caused the economy to not be too prosperous, so the tax and silver in the Ming City were reduced by one-third, but because of this turmoil, the dark market became more prosperous, and the needs of cultivators increased greatly. Gong Zheng increased the tax and silver in the dark market by half, but even so, the trade in cultivation utensils in the dark market did not decrease but increased.

Gong Zheng is not a cultivator, he doesn't need to practice. According to his understanding, he has no enemies, although he has a lot of silver, he is not afraid of violence, and he only spends money to avoid disasters, because in these years, the country is in turmoil, and the robbers are also stingy and have not planted, even if the extortion is only a small amount, it is more merciful than the official family. This is one of them.

Second, because he is only a local governor, taking charge of local affairs is actually a pretense, this official position is more like a ladder, if you can climb, you can climb, you can't climb, even if you can't make enough money, you can land safely, so that you won't practice for the so-called lofty ideals of scholars, and you won't defend your family and the country because of this.

Neither to protect one's self, nor to serve the country, what do you say about cultivation, it is bitter and tiring, and a fool does this.

But there's one thing that's giving him a headache at the moment. It's not purely about money, it's about the emperor's orders. He was caught between the emperor and the people, and it was difficult to do it.

The emperor wanted to build a dragon boat and send people to the East China Sea to pay homage to the gods. The dragon ship has three floors, 20 zhang long and 6 zhang high, and can accommodate more than 500 or 600 people. To build such a large ship, naturally it could not be built in inland provinces, and it was difficult to transport it to the sea, so it had to be built in coastal ports.

Guangnan East Road is too far away from the East China Sea, and there is no reason to seek the near and far. Huainan Road and Fujian Road are close to Liangzhejiang Road, because Liangzhejiang Road has been a little uneven recently, and it is not a worry-free location, so the task of building dragon boats can only be completed by Jingdong East Road.

Tong Guan was afraid that he would not be motivated, so he hinted at a lot of benefits, saying that once the silver for the imperial court to build the dragon boat was set off, the expenditure was arbitrary. This Gong Zheng is not a fool, according to Qi Yu, no one is a tide, not to mention that he started as a businessman, and this account can be calculated as soon as it is calculated.

As for the little silver allocated by the imperial court, it can only cover the bottom of the timber forest of the people, in addition, the silver money of the craftsman, the silver money of the rubber paint materials, the silver money of the slender man, etc., these must be allocated by the local government finance. The finances of the local government have always been considered to be the accounts of the governor of the prefecture, and this is well known to everyone. Tong Guan gave himself this bad mess, but he actually put himself on the table.

But grievances are grievances, and what should be done still has to be done. The task of the Emperor Qin's faction is a matter of losing his head, and the big things have to be lined up behind the head, and they have to resist.

Gong Zheng sighed precisely for this. The money allocated by the imperial court to this state capital has been stuck by the six adults, and only half of it is left. He looked at it for a few more moments, and then sat down a third of the half of the silver.

When it is to be allocated from Jinan Prefecture to Dengzhou, the officials and yamen of the 38 counties of the Seven Prefectures and the First Army on Jingdong Road will have to come and get a little more, and the people of Dengzhou will have little money left for timber and forest. Some people didn't even get a piece of copper, and their own acre of forest was led by the officials to lead the idle people in the rivers and lakes to force the circle, and even more, the folk once rumored, "Fight each other to take the weak, don't enter the county government, the yamen has indicators, it doesn't matter how many people die."

But there are always a few early birds, and the neck stalk is relatively hard. The timber forest was cut down from Dengzhou, and the petitioners were also from Dengzhou. The harbor here is not without a lot of credit.

A total of 10 petitioning representatives took the courage of Tian Heng to die, evaded layers of pursuit, and finally arrived in Jinan Mansion. Local officials had already reported to Gong Zheng, and Gong Zheng had already set up a card in Jinan Mansion to prevent this group of displaced people from running around, and now they are blocked outside the city. Unexpectedly, they sent someone into the city to send a complaint, saying that they could not solve it in Jinan Prefecture, so they went to Tokyo to beat the drum and petition, and spread the post to the 23rd road of the country, so that everyone would know about it.

Gong Zheng was in a hurry, which meant that in addition to spitting out the silver he had swallowed, he also had to make up more than half of the six adults who had swallowed it, which was also a trivial matter, and he could still be tightened. The key is that the layers of magistrates in the three counties of the seven states, one army, and the first army, and how to make them spit out is a big problem. Could it be that he is a dignified governor and has to wipe the ass of the lower-level bureaucrats?

He couldn't help scolding, and he couldn't help sighing at this customs. In the places under the jurisdiction of Jiangning Mansion, officials also eat, and there is no official in the world who does not eat, but it is not so serious. When I read the petitioner's letter, I felt a little sad, I didn't get the subsidy, and I lost the forest trees I relied on for no reason.

This Shanzuo official is the best at eating human flesh and drinking human blood, and the people of Shanzuo are forced to be the most eager.

Gong Zheng informed Zhang Ji of this and said: "Now we can only liquidate the compensation silver, hurry up and see if there is anything that can be drawn, and make up for the deficit first." ”

Zhang Ji heard this and became silent. He was born in poverty, and he knew that it was not easy for the people. Now that the petitioners are outside the city, he is not very happy.

The two were silent for a long time, and Zhang Ji suddenly came up with a way and said: "The silver is incomplete for a while, so why not make up for it with official food." The people did not need money for money, but for a living. It's just—"

Gong Zhengdao: "Just what?"

Zhang Ji said: "Looking at the accounts, the grain in the granary is still a little short. ”

Gong Zheng took it and looked at it, and said with a smile: "It's not bad, it's just not bad." Grain mixed with sand is enough for two catties. ”

Zhang Ji lowered his head. Gong Zheng immediately handed over the silver and grain to his close people, collected them layer by layer, and the person supervised and escorted them to Dengzhou, and took good care of the petitioners to prevent them from running around.

When the ten delegates saw the grain and silver, they had nothing to say, and they followed the man back to Dengzhou with the money and grain cart.

Zhang Ji's heart was turbulent, and he didn't expect the first major thing he dealt with to be like this. That Gong Zheng is a southerner, so he doesn't have to worry about his hometown, but he is a real Shanzuo person, so he made such a fuss, he didn't say anything on his face, and he secretly worried about those petitioners.

The long wife rested to cover up the tears and mourn the difficulties of the people's livelihood.

When Gong Zheng saw this, he knew that he was uncomfortable, and said: "I was like this when I first came, but then I got better, and it is true that I am alive." You're always too soft-hearted, and it's not good for you to do this. ”