Lingzhou.

This is the largest prefecture in Daliang. It has jurisdiction over nine prefectures and 57 counties, which is almost as big as two Yongzhous. Since ancient times, Lingzhou has been a hub connecting the east and west of the mainland, and commerce and trade has been very developed. After the fall of the former Wei Dynasty, Lingzhou

As the border of Daliang, it was repeatedly harassed by the Western Wu cavalry, and the people suffered terribly. In the past ten years, the situation has greatly improved, and Lingzhou has gradually shown some of its prosperity.

The prefecture is located in Xingyang, which is the largest city in the western border of Daliang. It was also the capital of the former Wei Dynasty. The city wall is extremely strong, and in terms of ease of defense and difficulty of attack, it is probably only inferior to Kyoto.

The city of Xingyang is prosperous in commerce. There are numerous warehouses, shops, banks and carriage shops in the east and west cities, selling goods from the east, west, north, south and south. Liquors and tea shops can be found everywhere in the city, and brothels and prostitutes attract beauties from all over the world, especially Yonghefang in the south city.

The nine families in it are the most famous.

In such an extremely complicated environment, no one cared that a dozen Tibetan men quietly entered the city.

They checked into an inn called "Rugui" in Dongcheng. Declining the enthusiastic wine and food recommendations from the waiter, a group of people went to the relatively spacious room in the middle.

"Brother Nian, when are we going to do it? We followed him from Yongzhou to Yunzhou, and then from Yunzhou to Lingzhou. We moved half a mile, and several pairs of boots were worn out. We are about to become someone's follower!"

He kept complaining when he came in.

Another person followed and said: "The prince has urged us several times, asking us if we are greedy for life and afraid of death. He also said that if we can't succeed before July, he will tell us to go back to the countryside to raise pigs, and he will send others."

"Old man, you have to make an idea."

"That's right, we can't delay any longer. What are we afraid of doing to a half-grown boy who hasn't even grown his hair yet?"

"If you ask me, sooner or later we will have to fight with real swords and guns. It is better to go directly to the imperial envoy's office at night. After killing the Pei family, it is best if you can run away. It doesn't matter if you can't run away. Anyway, the prince will take care of me and my family.

."

"That makes sense! Why don't we do it in the next two days! If we continue like this, we will soon become a useless person. Why are we talking about killing people?"

"I'll check out the location tomorrow and do it early in the morning the night after tomorrow!"

"good!"

Although this group of people knew how to keep their voices down to avoid being discovered by outsiders, they still seemed very noisy when they gathered together at this time.

The strong man who is still sitting upright in the middle of the crowd is named Nian Xu. He was recruited by the eldest prince Liu Xian many years ago. He is not part of the royal guard, at least on the surface he has nothing to do with Liu Xian.

He controls some of the masters hidden under the water. These people in the house are among them. They are basically evil people in the grass. They have not cultivated good deeds in their lives and love killing people and setting fires.

Nian Xu listened expressionlessly, and after they themselves felt bored and stopped, he said indifferently: "Before leaving the capital, the prince gave me full authority over this matter. As long as there are no new appointments from Kyoto, you

You must obey my orders, otherwise I will kill the disobedient bastard first, and then kill that Pei family son."

His cold eyes swept over everyone in the room one by one, and after they lowered their heads, he continued: "You have never seen the power of Daliang Rui's soldiers. I won't laugh at you, but don't act in a hot head. If you dare to ruin the prince's important affairs, I will kill you.

Everyone, do you hear me clearly?"

"Understood." Everyone was shocked and agreed in unison.

Nian Xu still did not soften his tone, and said sarcastically: "Ever since Pei Yue left Beijing, he has paid great attention to guarding against danger. He has at least two hundred people guarding him at all times and anywhere. I have told you before that among the five hundred people

There are four hundred and fifty people from the South Camp, elite soldiers trained in hundreds of battles by Hou Guliang of Guangping. With a dozen of us trying to break through the defense of such veterans, are you not so clear-headed?"

He paused slightly, and the cold light in his eyes shot towards the person who spoke first, and sneered: "If you want to die, why don't I make it happen for you now."

The man quickly said in a low voice: "Brother Nian, I didn't mean that. I was just afraid that I would miss the prince's business."

Nian Xu was too lazy to pick on him anymore and said to everyone: "Lingzhou is not peaceful now. It is not as stable as Yongzhou and Yunzhou. Pei Yue will definitely show his flaws. From today on, you will take turns to go to various places in the city to keep an eye on several important places.

Don't let up. If you let me hear your nonsense again, I will recognize you, but not my sword."

"yes!"

After several lessons, these people were as honest as quails and hurriedly left the house and went out to keep tabs on each other.

Nian Xu was still sitting. He remembered the eldest prince's secret instructions before he left the capital, and his always cold eyes couldn't help but show some hesitation.

…

In Beicheng, the imperial envoy went to the Yamen.

It is now the third year since Pei Yue came to this world. From the outside, there is no trace of the skinny bastard he once was. Especially in the past six months, he has traveled to the north and the south to help the imperial court establish the production and sales of honeycomb briquettes that radiate across the five states.

He did everything on the network and everything by himself, and I don’t know how much effort and energy he put into it.

Although his official position is only a guerrilla in the capital, plus the title of deputy imperial envoy, in fact, all the officials sent by Shitan Temple are under his control, plus the 500 soldiers and more than 100 people transferred from Xiangyun Trading Company.

There are experienced shopkeepers and clerks with thousands of people under their command.

The so-called moving Qi nourishes the moving body, and giving orders for a long time makes his demeanor more calm and solid.

The mines in Yongzhou and Yunzhou are in normal operation, but the sales methods are different from those in Kyoto. Taking Yongzhou as an example, there are twelve branches in the prefecture, six branches in the prefecture below, and only two in the county. In other places, there are

After submitting a proposal to the court, Luo Ting established a Supervision Department within Shitan Temple, responsible for monitoring the operation of the state capital below at all times.

But there is one thing that is extremely secretive. After Luo Ting made a private request and Emperor Kaiping agreed, Shitan Temple secretly set up a department called the Feng Ji Department to keep an eye on those in the Supervision Department. This can be said to be multiple interlocking supervisions.

.

Emperor Kaiping thought this was Luo Ting's idea, but in fact this was what was mentioned in the secret letter sent by Pei Yue to Luo Ting.

Three days ago, the imperial guard of honor arrived outside Xingyang City. Pei Yue declined official entertainment and left all the banquet matters to the envoy who liked romance.

Pei Yue has been staying at the back house of Xingya for the past few days, working as a stay-at-home guy, but he doesn't seem to have any leisure time. His desk is filled with papers, all of which contain information about Lingzhou.

"Master, have some tea."

Deng Zai walked into the study carrying the tray and skillfully placed the teacup in Pei Yue's hand.

Wang Yong and Qi Min both stayed in Kyoto, and only sixteen soldiers followed Pei Yue out of the capital.

Pei Yue responded without raising his head, still looking at the files in front of him, and asked calmly: "What's the situation over there in Linqing County?"

Deng Zai replied: "Based on the news sent back by the third team, the situation is not optimistic. The locals are opposed to coal mining."

Linqing County is located northwest of Xingyang City, and the natural coal mines currently discovered in Lingzhou are within the county.

Pei Yue put down the file, leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Why are you opposed?"

"Still checking."

“Are the coal mines in government hands?”

"No, the land deed to that area is in the hands of the local squire Yan's family, and they don't seem to want to hand over the coal mine to the court."

Pei Yue picked up the tea cup and took a sip. He frowned slightly and said, "The Yan family? A country squire doesn't have the guts to confront the court. His family is very powerful in the local area? Or is there someone in the court?"

Deng Zai nodded and said: "The Yan family is the largest landowner in Linqing County, owning nearly half of the fertile land in the county. The current family head is named Yan Linchuan. He is sixty-seven years old this year and was the top candidate in the imperial examination in the 23rd year of Emperor Taizong Taihe."

Pei Yue was slightly startled, picked up a case file on the table, opened it, and looked at it. After a moment, he said in a strange tone: "The former right-hand governor? Lord Luo's advisor?"

Deng Zai said solemnly: "Yes. Master, Yan Linchuan has a very good reputation in Linqing County, and the tenants and even small landowners obey his words."

Pei Yue heard the implication of his words. A local snake like this had a deep relationship with the big shots in the court, so it was very difficult to persuade him. After the coal mining in Kyoto and two other places, Lingzhou naturally also

Upon hearing the news, anyone without Alzheimer's disease would be able to see the huge benefits contained in it.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Yue shook his head and said: "This Yan Zhi is not a tyrannical person, otherwise he would not have followed Mo Haoli's lead. After all, Mr. Mo is several years younger than him. Even if he is envious of the interests of honeycomb briquettes, how dare he

Instigating the villagers to cause trouble? It’s not like he doesn’t know the temperament of our emperor. If he gets really angry, the Yan family’s hundreds of heads won’t be enough to cut him off.”

He thought about it and became more and more sure of his conclusion: "There is still something fishy hidden in this matter, let's take a look again. Has the truth about the civil unrest in Dongqing Mansion been found out?"

Deng Zaidao: "No news has come back yet."

Pei Yue nodded and said, "If you have any news, tell me as soon as possible."

"Yes." Deng Zai responded, then hesitantly said: "Master, do you want to deal with those people?"

"Who?"

"Those people who followed us from Yongzhou must have bad intentions, and they are probably here for the young master."

"Wait a moment, there's no rush."

"yes."

Pei Yue remembered something and was about to tell Deng Zai to do it when a burst of noisy laughter suddenly came from outside. Then he heard the person saying: "Brother Pei, you have to rescue me."

Pei Yue chuckled and said softly: "Our Lord Envoy is really a wonderful person."
Chapter completed!