"The clouds on the river rise and the sun sinks into the pavilion. The mountain rain is about to come and the wind fills the building... What does Mr. Gu want to remind me of?" Shen Tang looked at Gu Chi with a smile, opened a jar of wine and handed it to him, saying, "I will help you convey Mr. Gu's reminder to Yuan Liang."
"It's not really a reminder. Qi Yuanliang knows that in his heart."
Gu Chi took the round-bellied wine jar handed to him by Shen Tang.
It’s the size of a palm, enough for a dozen mouthfuls.
Even people who can't drink much can drink a jar of it.
He said, "Based on my understanding of Qi Yuanliang, he doesn't like to do meaningless things. If there is no profit, why would he come to Xiaocheng? Xiaocheng's geographical location means that this place is doomed to be unsafe. Why would he take that risk?"
At the critical moment, he was silent.
This is totally unreasonable!
Gu Chi's words sounded like casual chat.
Shen Tang was just a listener and did not participate in the discussion.
Someone offered free drinks, and Gu Chi was not polite. He drank three or four jars of wine in a row, and his pale cheeks looked a little more red. Shen Tang chatted with him for a while, and a servant dressed as a servant looked around at the corner not far away.
When his sight locked on Gu Chi, his eyes suddenly lit up.
He ran forward quickly, not even having time to catch his breath: "Mr. Gu, why are you here? My master is looking for you everywhere, please come with me."
Shen Tang felt that the servant's attire looked familiar.
It took me a moment to realize that this person was a servant of the county government.
Last time, a servant from a county government bought a lot of wine from her.
Isn’t the master of the county servants the county governor
When did Gu Chi get in touch with the prefect of Sibao County
Shen Tang remained expressionless.
Gu Chi rubbed his brows, his eyes slightly drunken, and smiled apologetically at the servant, saying good-naturedly: "I smelled the aroma of wine on the road, and the wine bug in my stomach was aroused. I ran out without informing the county governor, it's my fault. Please lead the way, I'll be there soon."
The servant was flattered: "No, no, no."
He even tactfully paid for Gu Chi's drinks.
Shen Tang took the change with a smile.
Oh wow, windfall.
Originally, he was treating Gu Chi to a drink for free, but since someone was willing to pay for him, it would be a waste not to accept the money. Shen Tang smiled like a money-grubber, weighed the change, and was very satisfied.
Gu Chi found an excuse to ask the servants to move out of the way.
He asked, "Does Shen Lang know about Lingzhou's situation?"
Shen Tang looked up in surprise: "Lingzhou?"
Gu Chi said: "The fake girl is helping to cause chaos in Beichen, and twenty clouds of dust are rushing into the Purple Palace... Soon, there may really be twenty forces fighting endlessly... Tsk, Lingzhou is not close to here but not far either. This news should have come by now..."
Shen Tang blinked in confusion.
"What does this mean?"
Gu Chi stood up and brushed off the non-existent dust on his clothes. There was no trace of drunkenness on his face. "It's nothing. Take care, Shen Lang."
Shen Tang watched Gu Chi leave until he disappeared around the corner and could no longer be seen. The smile that habitually hung on his face gradually faded, replaced by a frosty expression.
She naturally knew what happened in Lingzhou.
Lin Feng's family was originally from Lingzhou. Because of the war there, the Lin family had to go south to seek refuge with their relatives. These things happened not long ago. The urgent letters about the changes in various places were also intercepted by the bandits by mistake...
With so much delay going back and forth, given the speed of information transmission in this era... Logically speaking, it should not have reached Xiaocheng yet, so how did Gu Chi know about it
Or, he has a more secretive and faster information channel.
Or, he is actually an insider of this matter.
Thinking about his last words, I can basically conclude that it is the latter.
Qi Bushan had previously analyzed that there were foreign forces stirring up trouble in the northwest, either Beimo or Shiwu. Coincidentally, the governor of Sibao County was a fence-sitter who had leaned to Shiwu, and Gu Chi was involved with him—and Gu Chi was backed by Beimo forces.
so-
Beimo and Shiwu have joined forces
Even if it is not a collaboration, there must be cooperation.
The servant invited Gu Chi back. The county magistrate welcomed him warmly. He could smell the faint smell of alcohol on him and smiled even more: "Mr. Gu, do you like wine? I happen to have a few jars of precious vintage wine in my mansion. I'll have someone send them to you later."
But inwardly he rolled his eyes.
Gu Chi looked sick and looked like he would soon die. He didn't take good care of himself but was addicted to alcohol. He didn't know how many more years his body could last. If Gu Chi wasn't really useful, he wouldn't want to deal with him. It was because Gu Chi looked too much like someone he knew before.
Those eyes always made him feel uncomfortable.
Gu Chi seemed not to have heard the county magistrate's hypocritical tone. He bowed casually and thanked him without any sincerity.
The county magistrate did not take his rudeness seriously.
This time he went to see Gu Chi to discuss something.
About that batch of tax silver.
He wanted to delay, but the court was pressing him.
Although Zheng Qiao has lost the support of the people, he is still a long way from falling. The county magistrate still depends on him, so he naturally dares not slack off too much and even has to prepare extra rare treasures to show his filial piety.
If you're going to deliver it, then you have to deliver it safely.
What worries him is that he is seriously short of staff.
The reasons are twofold.
Firstly, the territory of Sibao County was not safe either. In order to ensure the safety of tax silver, several fake teams were set up to confuse the police. Although the things transported by the fake teams were fake, the escorting troops were real.
Secondly, in order to catch Gong Wen who had disappeared to an unknown place, the garrison troops in Sibao County were ordered to arrest him. However, apart from appearing once in the deep mountains outside Xiaocheng a while ago, there has been no news of Gong Wen since then.
If Gong Wen cannot be captured, the troops sent out cannot be recalled.
The county magistrate has not been sleeping well recently.
To solve this problem, he wanted to borrow private troops from the local noble families in Sibao County, but the result was, haha - that group of old foxes, each with their own plans, talked big and beautiful things that sounded better than anything else, but when it came to practical action, they retreated faster than the other.
The county magistrate had a slightly more assertive attitude, but they were not afraid of him and had many ways to disgust him - either they cried poor or they cried weak, saying that these private soldiers were not that powerful and were at most slightly better than the runners on duty in the government office and that they were there to guard the house.
If I don't have my own troops, I'm worried that there will be trouble among the people.
In short, no matter what, I won’t lend it to you.
The county magistrate was forced into a corner and had to find other ways - for example, asking the Zhai Huan brothers to serve as external aid.
One is literary and the other is martial, and they work together in perfect harmony.
The two brothers' ancestral home is in the southeast, and they went to the northwest just for travel. Their roots are not here, and they have no connection with the various forces in the northwest. The possibility of them embezzling is extremely small, so it is safer to use them.
The county magistrate had recently gone on a private visit in disguise and secretly consulted with Zhai Huan. The results of the conversation were quite satisfactory.
Now, there is only one last step left.
The county governor said: "Shiwu and Beimo are allies. They should help each other and seek a win-win situation. Do you agree with this, sir?"
The only thing missing was to tell Gu Chi that Bei Mo shouldn't stab him in the back.
There must be no accidents with this tax money!