A group of gentry from Lujiang Prefecture had already been waiting outside the city gate. After sending away batch after batch of occupiers, they ushered in a batch of new occupiers. However, this group of occupiers seems to be different from the previous two groups. The emperor's famous consort, the northwest king with great military exploits, and the vanguard of external expansion. These series of names made many businessmen and gentry think that maybe this The continuous wars for a period of time may have come to an end. Although starting from the Taiping Rebellion, experiencing the rule of the Lin family, and even the Lang family taking over for a short period of time, the three families did not make much changes in their policies, but the frequent wars still brought troubles to Lujiang. Many injuries.
The trade routes were intermittently open, the city was damaged by sieges, and the waterway transportation was interrupted. These all inevitably affected the normal life of the people and gentry in Lujiang. Now a new owner has arrived, and the neighboring city of Bashan has already moved ahead. Lord, what kind of changes will the new owner bring to Lujiang? This is what everyone urgently needs to know.
The northwest officials responsible for reception did not adopt a unified takeover policy. Almost all ordinary officials retained their original jobs. Except for the interior department, which was taken over by officials sent from the northwest, everything else seemed to have remained unchanged. The officials appointed by the Lang family disappeared when the Lin family took over the management of Lujiang, and the officials of the Lin family also automatically gave way with the withdrawal of the Lin family's army. All these changes did not seem to have much impact on the situation in Lujiang Prefecture. The chaos and inconvenience showed that the gentry in Lujiang City were no longer surprised by the situation of the king's flag changing at the top of the city.
But there are also many people who are eagerly looking forward to the new owner. During the period when the Taiping Army took control of Lujiang, the exile of many noble landowners left a lot of things that the Taiping Army could exploit and auction. The Taiping Army confiscated and auctioned these things without exception, and some people who had some special relationships with the Taiping Army were naturally the beneficiaries of this. However, with the end of the Taiping Army's rule in Kansai, the Linlang family's After successively taking over, the forces attached to these two families also appeared one after another. The continuous changes in power in Lujiang City also caused many changes in the economic interests of the various forces in Lujiang City. Taking advantage of the new owner's arrival, Everyone hopes to take this opportunity to have an end.
For a time, there was an undercurrent in Lujiang City, and all forces were trying their best to use their relationships to win the favor of the new master, hoping to get a share of the ensuing profit distribution war.
The Lin family's army in Hanzhong has obviously accepted the reality that they can no longer control Hanzhong City. The huge losses caused by the continuous fierce battles have made them at the end of the war. They can only rely on inertia to resist the crazy attack of the Lang family's army. The coach himself In my opinion, if the emperor is slower for two more days, I am afraid that Hanzhong City will have changed hands. The arrival of the imperial army relieved their danger. Handing over the defense of Hanzhong City to Situ Jun was an acceptable outcome for them, at least far better than handing it over to the Lang family or the Northwest Army. After all, the Lin family already had a deep relationship with Situ Jun. The exchange of opinions, even without this reason, is better than letting the emperor control it than another evil neighbor who peeks at Hanzhong - Northwest Li Wufeng.
Therefore, when the Lang family's army began to withdraw from the outskirts of Hanzhong Fucheng, the Lin family also sent envoys to join the envoys sent from the northwest to discuss the ownership of Hanzhong and the fate of the remaining Lin family troops in Hanzhong City. Everything was carried out in a peaceful and friendly atmosphere. The northwest representatives agreed that the Lin family's army would return to Sanjiang via the Lujiang River, and the representatives from Situ Jun's side also promised to hand over the six northwest towns of Hanzhong Prefecture to the northwest side for temporary control and management as originally proposed. However, the northwest side There will be no troops stationed in these six towns, and the control of Hanzhong Fucheng and the remaining twelve towns will be handed over to the new Hanzhong City Governor appointed by Situ Jun through the Imperial Administration. Both parties also agreed that the post of Guanxi County Governor will be temporarily vacant. After the situation in Kansai stabilizes, the issue of the six towns in Hanzhong will be discussed together by both parties.
All in all, everything passed in this slightly peaceful October. Whether it was Bashan and Lujiang taking over from the northwest, or Hanzhong changing flags, everything seemed so calm, as calm as everything was. But there is an undercurrent brewing in the calm, and many people are looking forward to some kind of change that will break this dull situation. Of course, this does not mean that everything remains intact. The economic policies of Bashan and Lujiang have changed as the businessmen hoped. The unification of tariffs, the adjustment of commodity taxes, the repair of the road from Bashan to Lujiang, etc. A series of changes have given businessmen new hope, but it is not as wonderful as they imagined. First of all, there is no preferential tax rate in the northwest. Although tariffs have been unified, this only refers to the unified tariffs with the northwest region. More goods from Kansai are exported to the hinterland of the empire rather than the northwest. In fact, this does not mean much. Many changes have occurred, and the reduction of commodity tax once made businessmen ecstatic, but compared with the northwest, it is still much higher, which has disappointed all forces in Lujiang.
The large-scale repair of the road between Bashan and Lujiang was not so much for the development of commerce and transportation, but more importantly from a strategic perspective. Without Hanzhong, Bashan would be under the control of the Lin family, the empire, and the Macihans. Among the mausoleums, the geographical location of the Lujiang River seems too remote and far away, and this is precisely its most important place. This is a tentacle, a tentacle stretching to the south of the empire. It can be clearly felt The beating pulse of this large granary in the south of the empire can also touch the body of the Lin family, one of the three major vassals. It can even draw bows and arrows to make the Machihan people feel the chill from the northwest. In short, its location is too important. .
Wu Feng naturally knew the importance of the location of Lujiang, so he did not accept the suggestion of some people below to immediately carry out restructuring in Lujiang. Firstly, his foothold in Lujiang was not stable, and secondly, the internal situation in Lujiang was indeed complicated. , both the Taiping sect and the Lin family have retained a large number of residual forces in Lujiang. Military occupation cannot completely eradicate all the intricate hidden forces. Wu Feng is very clear about this. Even during the short period of the Lang family's occupation of Lujiang, Over time, their espionage forces also began to infiltrate into Lujiang, combining with the existing forces in the darkness to maintain the Lang family's existence here. Of course, this information was provided by the intelligence department, mainly the Gu family, to Wu Feng.
The Machi Khans, like the empire, have not forgotten this place. Since the Machi Khans occupied Baling, the number of Machi Khans infiltrating into the Lujiang River from Baling has been increasing day by day. Although many of them are normal business travel activities, the same There are a large number of spies hiding in Lujiang. They use various professions as cover to continuously develop and consolidate their presence here. Even during the period of Lin family control, the Lin family's counter-espionage forces were unable to eliminate these Machihan forces. What's more, many merchants have seen the tyrannical strength of the Machihans and believe that the Machihans may be the masters. The future master of Lujiang River, therefore, spared no effort to make good friends with the Machihan people, which greatly protected the Machihan people's hidden power in Lujiang. The empire still retains considerable strength in Lujiang. This is inherently fair. The empire with a good foundation is still a symbol of orthodoxy in the eyes of the local gentry. Whether it is the Lin family or the Lang family, it is difficult to win their complete approval. The Taiping Sect Not to mention the people and the Machikhans.
Perhaps his intervention will break this delicate situation, but Wu Feng does not intend to do so immediately. He will need some time to find out the details of Lujiang, and conduct a thunderous sweep to completely clear up these complicated situations. All forces were cleared. But to achieve this goal, the power he currently has is obviously not enough. He needs to establish a force in Lujiang that knows the inside story to help him. Unfortunately, the power of the Bashan Gu family in Lujiang is still weak. It seems that he needs another force. Looking for a helper who can serve me.
There are many candidates, and there is no shortage of forces that express their allegiance to the northwest king. Everyone knows that it is not others but him who can call the shots in Kansai. Situ Jun is just a figure on the surface, controlling the affairs of the country. He, who holds the most power in four of the six Western Prefectures, is the real person in charge.
"Sir, the Kansai matter should not be delayed for too long. It is better to make a decision early, especially for the Lujiang River. The situation seems to be unclear now. I am worried that it will be difficult to fully integrate the Lujiang River into our northwest just by stationing the army. " Seeing that his boss seemed a little absent-minded and undecided, Gu Quan, the intelligence director who had been waiting for instructions, couldn't help but suggest: "My subordinates have already formulated several goals and discussed them with Lord Diao. I hope Your Excellency can identify one or two of them, and using their power, we can quickly integrate Lujiang and wipe out those rebellious forces."
After not speaking for a long time, Wu Feng calmly placed a note presented to him on the desk and just played with the Xuan Jade paperweight in his hand. Anyone familiar with Wu Feng knew that this was Lord Jiedushi thinking about a problem. Quan is no exception and can only wait patiently for his boss's decision.
"Gu Quan, do you think now is the best time to launch?" After a while, Wu Feng put down the paperweight thoughtfully and replied slowly: "By the way, I am only in charge of the northwest prefectures. , the name is not justified, and the empire is in this state now. No more people will interfere with me, otherwise the pressure of public opinion will be too much for us. The Lujiang River is relatively stable now, although I also know that there is no It’s not peaceful, but is it necessary to bring it to light now?”