Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 275: Taking office

How many things does a provincial governor have to do on his first day in office?
Hmm... a lot.

According to regulations, specific etiquette activities need to be followed and there is a complete set of procedures.

No one was allowed to enter a private residence unless the Jiedushi was in the court.

First, one must meet with the officials of the Censorate in the corridor, which is called "Corridor Visit", and then go to the main office to perform the ceremony of greeting and thanking, and then perform the ceremony of bowing and dancing.

After completing this set of procedures, the next step is to meet with garrison officials, officials from various government offices, big and small officials...

Xiao Ran thought that once he entered the house, everyone would set up a banquet, eat and drink to his heart's content, and then go home to sleep. However, it turned out to be a boring day, and Xiao Ran was so confused standing there.

The generals and officers of the garrison were okay, they spoke simply and directly.

But the other officials were all full of nonsense. Nine out of ten sentences were empty words. They kept talking about how the areas under their rule were, how every household left their doors unlocked at night, no one picked up things on the road, and how the people were simple and honest, etc.

Finally, I would like to complain about the recent situation of my own government. It can be summed up in one word: poor.

In just one morning, Xiao Ran heard more than ten different interpretations of the word "poor".

What are the words "I am ashamed of having an empty purse, so I save a penny to look at." "A sliver of moonlight falls on the bed, and the wind blows into my clothes from the four walls." "I have not had a fire in the kitchen for three days, and I have not tasted the aroma of minced meat."

Although the word "poverty" is not mentioned in every sentence, it cannot be separated from this word.

As he listened, Xiao Ran also felt that something was wrong.

why?
Too fucking poor.

This is not the Ruzhou, Henan in reality. At this moment, Ruzhou is still the gateway to the Central Plains. Whether you want to go to Chang'an or to the Eastern Capital, you have to pass through this place. Every day, there are countless caravans heading into the Central Plains from here.

Although Xiao Ran didn't know what the tax policy was like in this place, he could see the prosperity of Ruzhou along the way. In such a good place, why were these officials crying poor? ?
What is the mission of the Jiedushi?

Recruiting soldiers!

What does it take to recruit soldiers? Of course, money.

How can we recruit soldiers without money? How can we expand our military without money?
Xiao Ran thought about it and understood that there was most likely someone secretly trying to trip up Lu Chengshang and get him before he could gain a foothold.

They definitely wouldn't dare to do it openly, as that would be rebellion.

That's why we came up with this trick.

It was not until the evening that Lu Cheng finished all the procedures for the day, and the two were placed in a house behind the government office.

Xiao Ran took out some wine and meat and sat in the room with Lu Cheng to eat. Lu Cheng looked distressed. He also felt today that this group of people were playing tricks on him.

"Hey, it's just about money, there's nothing to worry about. Just stay here for the next two days and I'll get you the money tomorrow morning."

As for money, the 110,000 taels of silver they brought are still there. This amount of money is not much, but it is enough for a short period of time. As for the remaining money, Xiao Ran does not intend to let Lu Cheng take his time. Time waits for no one. The sooner Lu Cheng can gain a foothold, the better it will be for him.

Hearing Xiao Ran say this, Lu Cheng was no longer distressed. He nodded and smiled, "Okay, I'll listen to you. What do you want me to do?"

"You have met those generals today, right? Spend the money first and win them over as soon as possible. Assess the soldiers and generals and find out the situation of their garrisons. If they don't obey you, give them a promotion. Transfer them out and send someone you think is good enough to take his place. We have to act quickly. If it doesn't work, then..."

Xiao Ran made a gesture of wiping his neck.

"it is good!"

Lu Cheng nodded and wrote it down. After the two of them had eaten, Xiao Ran released the archers, the Senbingwei, and the tigers to keep watch outside.

"Squeak... squeak..."

The wind was blowing very hard outside at night. Xiao Ran couldn't sleep well while lying on the bed. Or maybe he was too energetic and couldn't fall asleep at all.

So, being too energetic is not a good thing.

So he simply decided not to sleep, sat up, took out a cup of hot milk tea from the space, and while drinking it, he took out Beast Master's memory book and started reading it.

I don’t know if it’s because Beast Master is old, but the contents of the memory book are very long and diverse.

But there were many things in it that Xiao Ran didn't understand.

Such as Lee's surprise.

Different from the story in [Meng Chi], in Shouye's memory, he learned that the person who secretly fanned the flames and pushed everyone to kill Li Jingqi was his grandfather, the old man of the Sun family.

The old man’s original purpose was actually quite simple, which was to force Li Jingqi to hand over the complete secret recipe of Iron Sand Palm.

But as time went by, the old man of the Sun family was no longer satisfied with this idea. He wanted the treasure on Li Jingqi's body, which was the bracelet on Xiao Ran's wrist. Later, everyone fought with Li Jingqi and both were injured. At that time, Li Jingqi was not as strong as in the mystery city. When he was injured, he could only pretend to be dead to buy time for himself to recover.

After seizing the treasure, everyone turned against each other immediately.

In the end, the elders of Zhou and Yang passed away. Li Qing, the master of the bald old man, also died after three months of suffering. The old man of the Xie family was paralyzed for life, the seventh aunt lost her eyes, and Zhao Qingming's grandmother passed away...

It can be said that the local tyrants in Los Angeles were already dead in name only at this moment, and this scene only came to an end when Li Jingqi faked his death and escaped. However, at this time, although the relationship between Shouye and his brothers was not as good as before, the relationship was still pretty good. It was not to the point of never seeing each other again as he understood.

When Xiao Ran read this, it was already dawn outside.

So he put away the memory book, asked Lu Cheng to select some runners from the yamen to serve him, and then went out with his men.

"Sir, where are we going?"

On the way, the chief constable who came with them, Yang Mingjie, asked in a flattering manner that although Xiao Ran had no official position, he should still be courteous to him even if he was his master.

After all, this is the confidant of the Jiedushi. Official position? Isn't it just a matter of a word from the Jiedushi? To put it bluntly, local officials, whichever government office Xiao Ran takes a fancy to, will be the boss of that government office.

There is no other reason, it is because the Jiedushi has the power to appoint and dismiss officials.

If Lu Cheng could gain a firm foothold, Xiao Ran could become a governor with just a word from Lu Cheng.

Xiao Ran randomly found a teahouse and sat down with his people.

When the waiter saw that they were government officials, he couldn't help but cursed his bad luck in his heart, but he greeted them with a flattered look on his face: "Please come in, sirs. What would you like to drink?"

"Whatever."

After Xiao Ran responded casually, he sat down with a few officials.

Before Xiao Ran opened his mouth to ask, he heard a few people whispering in the distance, discussing the newly appointed governor.

"This gentleman is really powerful. Lady Tieshan has been tyrannical for so many years, and this time she has finally hit a wall."

"That's right. It is said that even the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple was smashed. That is the main temple. It is said that several CEOs were inside at the time. It is said that they wanted to give Iron Mountain Goddess a big surprise."

As a result, instead of seeing the surprise, he was stepped on to death.

"It is said that Mr. Lu's face has turned green now. He spent a lot of money, but he hasn't seen any results yet. This old man from Jinshan has run away with the money."

"Don't mention it. The master of the Lu family is still good. Master Zhang, Master Lin, Master Liu and others just went there yesterday. They just handed the money to the host, but the next second, Empress Tieshan suddenly died."

"Now the money cannot be recovered and it is said that he has become seriously ill."

Xiao Ran pulled the official to sit on a chair and drink tea, listening to people in the teahouse talking about Niangniang Tieshan.

Of course, most people have mixed opinions about the so-called Jiedushi's words of wanting to wipe out demons and evil spirits.

Some people think that Lu Cheng is a liar in name only, saying one thing but doing another behind the scenes: "Just wait and see, in a few days, I'm afraid that this Jiedushi will start to raise taxes and collect money under various pretexts."

"More taxes? The taxes are already sky-high. If we continue to increase taxes, how are we going to survive?"

Apparently, these people are so familiar with the money-making methods of previous officials that they can predict the next Jiedushi's every move. It's so familiar that it makes people feel distressed.

Of course, there are also people who have great hopes for Lu Cheng. They heard that this time the governor is different from the previous ones, and he even specially allocated money to compensate the losses of those affected merchants. Based on this point alone, many people are willing to believe the words of the governor.

Xiao Ran was sitting in the corner of the teahouse. No one noticed them. When they had almost finished their tea, Xiao Ran stood up and said, "Let's go!"

After he said "let's go", a group of officers followed him out of the teahouse for some unknown reason.

"Um... where is the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple that they mentioned just now?"

"This...is not far from the suburbs."

"That's great. Grab your stuff and let's go to the Iron Mountain Goddess Temple first."

Hearing this, several officers were stunned. Yang Mingjie asked curiously, "Sir, the Iron Mountain Goddess has been smashed to pieces. What are we going there for?"

Xiao Ran sneered and took out a document from his arms: "I obey your orders, Goddess Tieshan, who is called a god but is actually a bandit, I have to seal the temple, smash the door, and dig three feet into the ground to find evidence of their crimes..."

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(End of this chapter)