"The messenger we sent out was three days ago (3 to 5 p.m.). We rode fast and felt that Feng County would need a day and a night.”
"If Zhang Mu had received the edict two days ago, he would have rushed over immediately with his troops. Even with all his cavalry, he would have needed a day and a night to rush over. However, he doesn't have any cavalry, so this time would have been even longer.”
"If he traveled day and night to get here, he would definitely be exhausted. How could he defeat the Yellow Turban bandits, Liu Pi, and Gong Du?”
Cao Bin's question made the four of them calm down.
He Xin's expression changed slightly." Cao Family Head," he said in a deep voice," do you think this is fake news released by Liu Pi and Gong Du? The messenger we sent was captured by the Yellow Turban?"”
"That Yellow Turban bandit is too greedy.”Liu Guang cursed.
"No, no, no!"
Cao Bin shook his head and said," The news is true. I've already sent someone to confirm it. Zhang Mu has already gone to the Provincial Governor's Office."”
He Xin and the other three were stunned. Hengdian squinted his eyes." Cao family means that Zhang Mu happened to be near Qiao County today?" Or did he know in advance that the Yellow Turban was coming?”
He Xin and the others did not believe the latter question.
Liu Pi and Gong Du were originally entrenched in Runan. It was unexpected for them to suddenly travel hundreds of kilometers to Gongqiao County. They only discovered the situation when the Yellow Turban Army was thirty miles away from the city.
It happened that Han Ming was recruiting soldiers in Qiao County and looking for the official seal of the governor of Yuzhou. After receiving the news, he took Liu Pi and Gong Du lightly and led the county soldiers to fight. Who knew that he would be shot dead by the experts of the Yellow Turban army.
In other words, the time they gave Zhang Mu the imperial edict was about the same as when they knew that the Yellow Turban was coming.
How could Zhang Mu have known in advance?
"I hope it's a coincidence." Cao Bin rubbed the space between his eyebrows and said,"But I have a feeling that Zhang Mu doesn't come with good intentions."”
Big brother, this Qiao County is getting harder to defend.
"Who cares." "I only know that Zhang Mu has eliminated the Yellow Turban. Then can the 20,000 dan of grain and 2,000 jin of gold be returned to us?" Heng Dian suddenly stood up and said.
Hearing this, He Xin and the others 'eyes lit up.
One gold was equivalent to 20 million, and 2,000 gold was equivalent to 20 million. A year ago, when Liu Hong was in power, he could buy a prefect position or a few marquises inside the pass. It was quite a lot.
20,000 dan of grain was even more precious than money in this era.
"Should we send someone to ask?" Xia Houjie asked.
He and Cao Bin had received Cao Cao's message and had been gathering food, so they were even more reluctant to part with it.
"Alright!" Cao Bin nodded in agreement.”
.............
Two hours later.
In the Provincial Governor's Office, a soldier entered the study and said respectfully,""County captain, Li Ye of the Li family requests an audience."
Zhang Mu's eyes lit up.
As Feng Xiao said, someone came.
Zhang Mu didn't receive Li Ye immediately and instructed,"Let him wait first."
"Here!"
The soldiers agreed and went down to pass the message.
Zhang Mu had asked Xu Chu to call Xu Jun. The Xu family was a member of the Cao family in the Prime Minister's Mansion in Qiao County. Now, he had been promoted to the position of chief historian."Do you know Li Ye?"
Zhang Mu wasn't too clear about Qiao County's situation.
However, the Xu family was a powerful family in Qiao County and was a servant in the Prime Minister's estate, so they definitely knew about it.
Xu Jun replied," County Magistrate, Li Ye is the richest businessman in Qiao County. The Li family is also a big family in Qiao County like the Xu family. However, the Li family is the number one merchant family in Qiao County. They are only second to the five big families. I heard that they are close to the Cao family.”
"Understood, Cao family's dog!" Zhang Mu nodded.
Scholars, farmers, merchants, and businessmen were the four people system in the history of Yan Huang. Other than that, there were the " untouchables ", which were lower than the four people and were classified as the " lowly class ".
This concept was proposed by Guan Zhong to facilitate the division of occupations.
As a result, following Dong Zhongshu's " rejection of all schools of thought and only Confucianism ", the cultured people began to be superior to others, and gradually, there were people who were superior to others.
The status of farmers was above that of craftsmen. At the end of the day, merchants became the " lowly people " among the four people and were looked down upon by most people.
"Li Ye is quite cunning." Xu Jun lowered his head and continued,"He often ordered people to secretly raise prices and then sell inferior food to make a huge profit."”
"But on the surface, the Li family often opens a private warehouse and sets up porridge tents to help the people.”
"With both methods, the Li family is quite famous in Qiao County.”
"Quite famous?" Zhang Mu laughed, his eyes cold.
For others, Li Ye would be a little tricky to deal with.
The people's hearts and food were too important.
However, it was easy for him to deal with Li Ye.
Speaking of which, the Li family could raise prices and earn ill-gotten gains. They must have hoarded a large amount of food and resources. Perhaps even the five great families were inferior.
If he was removed, he could become rich.
"Let's see if this guy knows what's good for him.”
Zhang Mu pondered for a moment and looked at Xu Ding,""Go, give her to me…"
Bang!
Before Zhang Mu could finish his sentence, there was a commotion outside.
"You're just a small Feng County soldier, how dare you stop me?”
"Hurry up and report to me. I want to see your county captain.”
"This is Qiao County. You can't be arrogant!”
This voice made Zhang Mu frown. He stood up from the table and walked out of the door.
There was a huge open space in front of the door. On both sides, there were ten black armored guards and ten burly men holding long sabers.
Behind the ten burly men was a fat middle-aged man wearing a long crown and luxurious clothes. He had his hands behind his back and looked very arrogant.
This person was Li Ye.
Zhang Mu's gaze was like lightning as he looked down at him and said coldly,"Kill them!"
The sudden order to kill caused everyone to fall silent.
"Thud ~"
Following that, the ten black armored guards followed Zhang Mu's orders and pulled out their swords at the same time, stabbing at the throat or heart of the burly man.
"Puchi!"
The ten of them were caught off guard and died with grievances.
Li Ye shivered, thinking that he was dreaming.
"Die... Is that it?"
Killing people at the slightest disagreement!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。