Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

Liangzhou City, the state government office, and the meeting hall.

At the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, the heat in the city was unbearable, but the people in the meeting hall felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar and were trembling with fear.

Zhou Jun sat in the upper seat, An Sishun sat aside, and below stood the officials of Liangzhou City.

There were officials in the hall who called the names and read out the charges loudly. As long as the official whose name was called, his whole body trembled and he fell to the ground. Later, the armed guards dragged him away and put him in prison.

Wang He operated the Daqi Trade Road, and Liangzhou City was the first stop on the long trade route. All the officials in the city, big and small, had more or less interactions with Wang He, either through bribery or collusion.

Zhou Jun, who had mastered Wang's account books, uprooted many forces in Liangzhou City on the pretext of eliminating corruption in the court.

Among them, there are many people with the nine surnames of Zhaowu including Anjia.

Seeing an official who was from the An family, after his name was called, his legs were limp and he was dragged out of the door by the military guards. An Sishun secretly glanced at Zhou Jun, not even daring to breathe, let alone ask for mercy.

The An family secretly communicated with Li Linfu about music, and An Sishun and his father An Bo wrote many flattering letters to show their loyalty and gave them to Li Linfu.

When Zhou Jun arrived in Liangzhou City from Chang'an, An Sishun was still lucky, thinking that the former didn't know about it, and deliberately delayed for a few days before going to see him.

Unexpectedly, the first thing Zhou Jun said when he saw An Sishun was, "Before Jun came to Liangzhou, he visited Li Linfu in the imperial prison. He spoke highly of his family in Hexi, and he also said, "Wang Jun"

Take care of one or two."

When An Sishun heard this, he was sweating from behind, his heart was full of fear, and he almost wanted to apologize.

Zhou Jun ignored him and went directly to the state government office. He also summoned officials, big and small, and started the initial interrogation scene.

The roll call lasted for most of an hour.

When the roster was read out, only 70% of the officials remaining in the meeting hall were the original ones, and everyone's face had the look of surviving a disaster.

Zhou Jun looked coldly at the officials in the hall.

Some of these people have minor crimes, and some should be noted down. Officials who can truly be loyal to their duties and conscientious may not be even three percent.

Zhou Jun looked at An Sishun beside him and said in a deep voice: "Doctor An."

An Sishun was startled. He first responded, then calmed down and replied, "Please tell me, Prince Consort."

Zhou Jun: "Wang He was corrupt and violated the law, and the Daqi trade route was in chaos, which gave the Tibetan army an opportunity to take advantage of it, causing the entire situation in Longyou to deteriorate. There were many officials in Liangzhou who colluded with Wang He for personal gain, causing the court to tax

Damage is really a big mistake."

An Sishun nodded quickly and said, "What the consort said is absolutely true. An is responsible for his oversight."

Zhou Jun waved his hand and said: "As the governor of Hexi Province, Dr. An has to guard against foreign enemies and at the same time be in charge of military settlements and other matters. It is natural that he cannot take care of both sides."

An Sishun breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at this posture, Zhou Jun was not going to use the topic to embarrass himself.

Zhou Jun changed the topic and said: "The Tubo invaded the border, and Dr. An has no skills at all. He should pay more attention to military affairs. The political affairs of Wuwei County can be left to his subordinates, so that he will not be unable to take care of both sides."

An Sishun was stunned. Zhou Jun's words were obviously asking for the power to govern Wuwei County.

An Sishun opened his mouth, intending to refuse, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt helpless.

Firstly, Zhou Jun was the deposed envoy of Longyou, and he was originally in charge of the promotion, rewards and punishments of officials; secondly, most Liangzhou officials were deeply involved in Wang Zhi's corruption case; thirdly, the An family had a relationship with Li Linfu, and this matter became clear.

He got the handle and was held in Zhou Jun's hand.

Thinking of this, An Sishun sighed deeply.

Things are unpredictable.

Just three years ago, the An family and Zhou Jun were allies, and the two families had a harmonious relationship. However, in order to balance the power, the An family got involved with Li Linfu again.

What An Sishun and An Bozhu never dreamed of was that Zhou Jun became the prince-in-law and assumed great power and returned to Hexi, while the arrogant Li Linfu actually fell down and died.

Thinking of this, An Sishun's mouth was full of bitterness, and he just cupped his hands to Zhou Jun and said, "I'll let the consort arrange everything."

After leaving the mansion, Zhou Jun sat on the carriage and looked at the list of Wuwei County officials.

Cleaning up the officialdom of Wuwei County through the Wang Fei case is only the first step.

The next step is to place people who are loyal to you into the vacant positions in Wuwei County.

According to the ritual system of the Tang Dynasty, the Princess Mansion in Bachuan originally set up the Princess City Division, in which officials such as Ling, Cheng, Chief Secretary, Diary, etc. were appointed.

Since the princess set up a mansion, many of these low-level officials, in addition to those from the palace, came from Bachuan Villa. They were all promoted by Zhou Jun and were close to her. All living expenses were paid by the prince-in-law, so they were naturally loyal.

This time he left Bachuan and went to Shazhou to take up his post. Zhou Jun brought many officials from the princess's palace with him.

In addition, Kong You also developed and cultivated many talented sages in Liangzhou City over the years by leveraging the influence of the Jin family and the craftsmen's inner workshop.

At present, there are vacancies for officials in Wuwei County, and these two groups of people can fill the vacancies.

Zhou Jun returned to the Jin family residence while thinking about the official arrangements.

Goldfeng Niang and Chao Mu were waiting outside the gate.

Seeing Zhou Jun's carriage, Chao Mu shouted "Aye".

Zhou Jun heard the shout, stopped the carriage, opened the curtain and walked out, hugged Chao Mu who was running towards him, and burst into laughter.

After not seeing each other for several years, Chao Mu has lost some of his childishness, his eyes have become more spiritual, and his words and deeds can vaguely reveal the demeanor of a wealthy family.

Zhou Jun hugged Chao Mu, walked to Golden Fengniang, nodded and said, "The heat has not subsided, so go inside first."

Jin Fengniang looked at Zhou Jun, hesitated for a moment, and whispered: "Erlang is now the consort..."

Zhou Jun: "It's okay, let's go in."

After entering the hall, Uncle Shen, the chief steward of the Jin family, paid homage to Zhou Junji and then led the latter into the Zhongyuan.

Zhou Jun found a pavilion, first put down the day and night, and then asked Uncle Shen: "Has General Li, who is traveling with me, settled properly?"

Uncle Shen: "Come home, General Li has arranged for you to stay in the inner square."

Zhou Jun: "You will lead the way tomorrow. General Li and I are going to meet the new 'guys' at Jin's Family Workshop."

Hearing this, Uncle Shen nodded understandingly, and then said: "Those guys live in Baocheng in the north of Jialin County, which is some distance from Liangzhou. If you want to go back and forth on the same day, I'm afraid you have to leave early."

Zhou Jun: "Okay, we will set off after breakfast tomorrow."

Uncle Shen responded.

Seeing Uncle Shen walking away, Golden Phoenix, who was waiting at the entrance of the garden, came over.

While Zhou Jun was playing with Chao Mu, he asked Jin Fengniang: "How is the Jin family doing during my absence?"

Golden Phoenix: "When you were in Chang'an, Kong Canjun managed everything in an orderly manner. I am with you day and night, so you have no worries."

Zhou Jun looked at Jin Fengniang, was silent for a moment, and then asked softly: "Fengniang, have you ever blamed me?"

Golden Feng Niang was stunned and asked: "Why does Feng Niang blame Erlang?"

Zhou Jun: "Feng Niang was originally the head of the Jin family, and I took over..."

Jin Fengniang shook her head and said with a smile: "Erlang is worrying too much. If Erlang hadn't taken over, the Jin family would have fallen into trouble with the Kang family because of their long history of misfortunes. I am afraid that the family would have been ruined long ago. Every time Fengniang thought about it, she felt that she would hand over the Jin family to Erlang's hands, but she

It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Zhou Jun sighed: "It would be great if you can think so."

Jin Fengniang: "Not only Feng Niang, but everyone in the Jin family regards Erlang as the wise master. To put it bluntly, if Erlang issued an order today to expel Chao Mu and I from the house, no one would have any objections.

."

When Chao Mu heard this, she looked at Zhou Jun with some fear, her eyes filled with mist, as if she was afraid that her father would never want her again.

Zhou Jun sighed in his heart, first looked at Jin Fengniang, then at Chao Mu beside him, and said softly: "In a few days, I will go to Shazhou to suppress the rebellion. If I win, you can follow me.

Let’s go to the Western Regions.”

When Jin Fengniang heard this, she was stunned on the spot and couldn't help but ask: "Going to the Western Regions? Why did Erlang say this?"

Zhou Jun: "Jun accepted the imperial decree and rebuilt the Daqi trade route. The crux of the matter is not in Shazhou, but in Anxi. After handling the affairs of Liangzhou and Shazhou, he will live in the Western Regions for a long time.

Since Chao Mu was born, she has been with me a lot and has been raised by Feng Niang alone. I feel deeply indebted, so I plan to take you, mother and daughter, to live together in the Western Regions."

When Golden Phoenix heard this, she was a little surprised and couldn't help but ask: "How long will Erlang stay when he goes to the Western Regions?"

Zhou Jun: "A long time, a long time..."

Chao Mu asked from the side: "If you go to the Western Regions, will Aye accompany Chao Mu and never leave again?"

Zhou Jun nodded lightly and said softly to Golden Feng Niang: "In the early years in Chang'an, you and I got married. Although we separated later, we still had a relationship. If he got a girl like this, Jun naturally couldn't leave Feng Niang behind.

No matter what, I will give you a place to settle down."

When Golden Phoenix heard this, she almost couldn't believe her ears. She just stammered and asked: "What does Erlang mean...?"

Zhou Jun touched Chao Mu's head and said with a smile: "You are my daughter, and I am your Aye. Take your A Niang and go to the Western Regions with me."

Chao Mu's eyes were bright. Hearing Zhou Jun's words, he jumped up happily, hugged the latter, and never let go.