Chapter 34: Zhou Bu Yi

  Liu Zhang led the guard cavalry into the city, and Wang Lei said to Liu Zhang: "My lord, the aristocratic families are connected very widely, and there are also branches of the Jiangzhou aristocratic families in Chengdu and other areas of Yizhou. How should we deal with them?"

  Liu Zhang said, "Don't worry about the east, it's very poor there, Wang Fou of Chengdu will take care of it. As for the north, if Pang Xi doesn't handle it, I'll just eliminate him."

  "Another internal conflict?" Wang Lei's heart skipped a beat, the whole day of slaughter had already made him numb, if possible, Wang Lei hoped that he would never see such a scene again in his life.

  "The threat of internal instability often outweighs that of the enemy army in front. " Liu Zhang furrowed his brow and struck the horse whip, he didn't want to say too much now.

  At night, Fa Zheng led a dozen or so officials to the provincial government office. Liu Zhang rubbed his temples and still received them in a narrow side room. These people were transferred from Jiangyang, Linxian County, Jiangzhou to make up for the shortage of Jiangzhou, where there are fewer aristocratic families, mostly from humble origins.

  Liu Zhang did not believe it, the local officials of a small city could not control a big city. Every time there was a change of dynasty, wasn't it the case that the three teachings and nine flows replaced the imperial court? The King of Yan, Zhu Di, used a group of palace staff to replace the old men of Nanjing, didn't they do well?

  "Do you know why I have called you here?" Liu Zhang asked.

  County Magistrate Dong He stepped forward and said: "Your subordinates thank you for your trust, we will definitely not betray your important entrustment."

  "En." Liu Zhang nodded and said: "First, I'll tell you that taking over the governance of Jiangzhou is fraught with difficulties. Firstly, the aristocratic families of Jiangzhou have almost been exterminated, so you must handle their remaining property with care. My suggestion is to confiscate the land for the imperial court and then resell it to private individuals. Secondly, there will definitely be remnants of the aristocratic families in Jiangzhou, which will be a huge burden on the security of Jiangzhou."

  Thirdly, the rice and cloth shops controlled by the Jiang state aristocracy have all stopped operating, which must have a serious impact on the lives of the people of Jiangzhou. This is an urgent matter that needs to be resolved. Fourthly, the political situation left behind by the previous officials of Jiangzhou is in shambles, and there was no handover procedure with you, do you have confidence?

  Liu Zhang looked at this group of literary officials from a small county, hoping they wouldn't be intimidated by the difficulties. Dong He smiled easily and said: "Your Excellency, what's the big deal? We can just treat it as if we're receiving a newly captured enemy city."

  Liu Zhang looked at the local official in surprise, not expecting him to be so talented. He nodded in satisfaction and said: "Good, Yan Yan will follow me into Chengdu. From now on, you are the Taishou of Jiangzhou. The four departments will take office in Jiangzhou for trial, and you will personally supervise it. By the way, who is preparing to take over as Duwei?"

  Below, Jiang Yang's inspector, Li Hui." A thin young man stood in front of Liu Zhang.

  Li Hui? Liu Zhang furrowed his brow, seeming to have heard the name before, but couldn't quite recall it. He simply said: "Alright, remember this: currently, Jiangzhou has a troop strength of 5,000, but in reality, there are only over 1,000 true soldiers, and they're all not even worth fighting. Once you take office, immediately disband those old, weak, sickly, and disabled ones, and recruit new troops to fill the quota of 3,000. Ensure that Governor Dong's governance goes smoothly. Any questions?"

  "No problem." Li Hui replied directly.

  Liu Zhang looked at this group of people, from a small place, each and every one of them looked very capable, much more pleasing to the eye than those pigs from Jiangzhou who were full of themselves. Standing in this room didn't even make it feel crowded, he felt much more at ease, waved his hand to let them leave, and had the officials from Jiangzhou take them to receive their assignments. These officials now regretted not answering the call to replace the main official that night, or else they wouldn't have been replaced by these outsiders.

  Those officials had just left when Liu Zhang suddenly collapsed to the ground, and Fa Zheng was startled and hastily went forward saying: "Your Excellency, what's wrong?"

  Liu Zhang weakly waved his hand and said with difficulty: "I have a headache, Xiaozhi, you go out, I'll be fine after resting for a while."

  "My lord..."

  "Get out."

  Fa Zheng glanced at Liu Zhang, left with a worried heart. Liu Zhang lay on the ground alone, struggling to climb onto the couch but eventually gave up. He felt his head throbbing and didn't want to think or do anything, so he just lay there. The scenes from the day replayed in his mind, making him feel like his whole body was churning, with a splitting headache.

  More than 2,000 heads fell to the ground. It's false that Liu Zhang was not moved by this. Even in the process of beheading, Liu Zhang thought countless times to stop the execution, especially Ma Xiaolian's cries, which made Liu Zhang's heart knot up.

  He also knew that many of the people he killed were innocent, but he had to endure it and put on a ruthless appearance, because he knew that killing a few culprits would have no effect, and would instead provoke the aristocratic families to retaliate, and at that time Shu Nan would really be in chaos.

  Have I truly become a tyrant now? The road ahead is more difficult than ever; can I still keep going?

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  After resting for two days, Liu Zhang still felt a dull pain in his head. However, it had been over a month since he left Chengdu, and the longer he stayed away, the more turbulent things would become. The aristocratic families of Chengdu were far more numerous than those of Jiangzhou, and then there was the time bomb that was Governor Fa Zheng of Baxi, Pang Xi.

  "Jiangzhou is busy with official duties, Governor Dong doesn't need to see you off."

  "The master will slow down, and Dong He will return to the government office first. Two months later, the southern Shu region must complete the local selection of officials, and select qualified scholars to enter Chengdu for the final exam."

  Liu Zhang nodded, leading the civil and military officials from Chengdu, and the army retreated north. Soon after Liu Zhang left, a tall man with a follower entered Jiangzhou City. The two rushed to the governor's mansion, but only saw the county officials coming and going, without any signs of the army staying.

  "Big brother, it seems we're too late, Liu Zhang has already left Jiangzhou."

  This man is none other than Gan Ning, the leader of the Jinyun bandits, also known as Gan Xingba.

  "Are you calling the master, is the name of the governor also what you call?" Gan Ning pretended to be angry and scolded, then smiled and said: "Dare to kill more than 2,000 people in one day, I like such a master, I, Gan Ning, will follow him."

  Just as he was about to turn around, Gan Ning suddenly saw a notice posted outside the Jiangzhou Prefectural Government Office: "Four categories of officials are being recruited. Anyone with expertise in literature, martial arts, medicine, or craftsmanship can take the test. Those who pass the initial test will be rewarded with five taels of silver and assigned to a post in southern Shu. Those who pass the re-examination will be rewarded with twenty taels of silver and go to Chengdu for the final examination. Registration is free, and meals are self-paid, or you can bring your own...

  Gan Ning licked his lips and chuckled: "Looks like I won't have to go to Chengdu after all."

  In the small shop of Dongshu Fuling, a man in his fifties and a young girl around seven or eight years old were eating noodles. As they ate, the girl suddenly looked up and said: "Old man, I think this whole thing is completely unreliable, the news spread too quickly, it's obviously artificial, and those legends about Aguda are also too exaggerated to be believable. Plus, there's a person from Yizhou who asked you to go treat the illness of that barbarian chief, I'm sure someone is intentionally stirring up trouble."

  The young girl had a childish face, but her words were old-fashioned and arrogant. She looked determined, without any respectful expression towards the old man, instead treating him as if he were of the same age as her.

  The old man didn't get angry, but instead smiled and said: "Don't worry, you're cleverer than most people. Logically speaking, I should believe what you say. However, that rumor about the blood transfusion method makes sense to me. There have been cases in history where it was used, but most patients still ended up dying. I just think that if that Aguda barbarian really understands this method, it would be a major breakthrough in medicine. The world is full of amazing people, and we can't let such an opportunity slip away. Even if we're being deceived, it's only to save one person."

  The old man was one of the two great divine doctors of the Han Dynasty (Dong Feng had not been born yet), Zhang Zhongjing, and Tongzi also had a great origin, one of the two great divine children of the Han Dynasty (Zhuge Ke had not been born yet), Zhou Wuyi.