The demon world I designed

Chapter 43 A bad situation.

South Street in Liuzhou is called Yuquan Road, named after its proximity to a natural mountain spring in Nanshan. The location of the spring was blocked by the government, and outsiders were strictly prohibited from fetching water. On weekdays, only prestigious masters and wealthy households could spend money from it. The government obtained the naturally sweet mountain spring tea, which was exclusive to the nobles.

This project is also a good source of income for the Liuzhou government. After all, the more rich people live there, the more they are willing to spend money to enjoy. Ordinary people can't tell the difference between drinking boiled water and spring water, but they are willing to pay for the sweetness. Lots of gold thrown in.

After Chen Qing was determined to be the prefect of Liuzhou, he had already made plans for the mountain spring. He planned to develop some of the tea and fruits grown in the mountain spring to expand revenue, and then the financial power must be in his own hands. Hetongzhi is something you absolutely don’t want to get involved with.

But now the momentum is completely different from what he thought. Just as Ma Erniang said, there was really no ghost along the way, which made his heart feel cold!

Projects like mountain springs are luxury goods, and they have to be bought by the rich to get them. As a result, everyone ran away, and the ghost uncle drank your broken spring water?

Along the way, looking at the messy and desolate streets, many popular shops in the past were now empty, and Chen Qing wanted to die.

"Master? What are you looking at?" the groom following Chen Qing asked curiously.

Chen Qing stayed for a few seconds, pointed to a shop in front marked Wufangzhai and said: "This used to be the most popular pastry shop on South Street. The proprietress is said to be an imperial chef who retired from the palace. The pastries she makes are not only exquisite in style, but also The taste is even more outstanding. At midnight every day, servants from wealthy families line up here to order pastries. If you arrive later, you may not be able to get them even after queuing all day."

"Such a good business?" The groom was stunned and said cautiously: "Is this... opened by my family?"

"no……"

The groom rolled his eyes, then you look like your own father is dead...

"Just for this shop, do you know how much tax you have to pay every year?" Chen Qing's voice trembled.

"Um...I...I don't know how to keep accounts."

"You go and cool down!"

"oh!"

Chen Qing looked at the silly groom, and suddenly felt weak. She sat down on the ground and continued to be in a daze.

Economic development in ancient times mainly relied on people. Liuzhou was able to attract such a large population because of its business and its excellent educational environment. Many people from other places in the south of the Yangtze River would send their sons to study here.

Now that all the wealthy businessmen have fled, and so have all the wives, what should I do?

These people are excellent resources, especially those famous masters who have gone to the state capital next door. The local officials will definitely try their best to win over and retain them for the sake of political performance. What do they do if they are left with only some villagers who have gone to the countryside to hide?

Sure enough... God just doesn't want me to have an easy time! !

——

"Sir...the situation is not good."

It’s not just Chen Qing who has a headache about the situation in Liuzhou. Gong Qinian, the chief envoy to the south of the Yangtze River, is also having a huge headache at this time. The geographical location of Liuzhou is not a wasteland. There is the best waterway dock connecting the south of the Yangtze River to the north. Every year, people come from the waterway. All kinds of leather goods, gems, and horses from the North are popular here, while silk, tea, porcelain, and handicrafts from the South of the Yangtze River can be sold to the North for at least five times the profit!

This attracted many merchants from the north and the south. Although the status of merchants is not high, officials all know that they must rely on these merchants if they want tax revenue to prosper. Once Liuzhou is abolished, the finances of the entire Jiangnan will be greatly affected!

"Sir..." Daotai, who is in charge of one of the five major waterways in the south of the Yangtze River, shook his head and said: "After the news about Liuzhou spread, except for a few people who were not afraid of death, almost no one was willing to run to Liuzhou Pier. They all headed towards Taizhou, Suyang, and Jincheng. We moved to several docks, but the volume of cargo was too large, and those docks began to refuse ships. "

"Moreover, the cost of changing routes is too high, and many merchants have lost money. This is not a good thing!"

"Are you saying that I don't know this?" Gong Qinian rolled his eyes: "What can I do now?"

Business in the south of the Yangtze River is prosperous, and docks in various places are already congested. The opening of the Liuzhou route has relieved a lot of pressure on the Jiangnan business road. Now Liuzhou has been prosperous for many years, and suddenly it was abandoned. If it is not restarted as soon as possible, the chain reaction will be quite big. If you don't handle the turmoil well, you may lose your official title.

"The situation in Liuzhou is so bad that even the local residents are fleeing and don't want to come back. What can I do?" The chief envoy was extremely annoyed.

The reaction was still slow at first. We should put an end to the escape from Liuzhou City as soon as possible, otherwise it would not be as uncontrollable as it was later. Now it is better. All the wealthy households and wives in Liuzhou have fled, and local officials have ignored their own bans. , secretly wooed them, and it would be extremely difficult to get those people back now.

The key is that no officials are willing to manage the order there, so we can only let it rot like that. If this continues, Liuzhou... I'm afraid it will really be ruined!

"Sir..." Just as the atmosphere in the back hall of the government office was solemn, the servants outside quickly came to report: "Sir Xuezheng has arrived!"

"Master Xuezheng is here?" Gong Qinian and the Taoist next to him quickly stood up to greet him.

Academic administration is from the third rank. In terms of rank, it is half a rank lower than Gong Qinian, the chief envoy to the south of the Yangtze River. However, academic administration is an imperial envoy, and they are all magicians. In the Jin Dynasty, the status of warlocks and non-warlock civil servants was completely Different!

The Nine Ministers and the governors of various places were all born as sorcerers. Although the dynasty had only been established for twenty years, many people had already realized that to be promoted to that level of high position, they could only be sorcerers who could compete with the bloodline family.

As a governor, he was almost the pinnacle of an ordinary official, but facing a sorcerer official who was half a rank lower than him, he could only be polite and dared not be disrespectful.

"Lord Mu, you are finally here!" Gong Qinian came forward very enthusiastically, welcoming him into the house from the door, and wanted to invite him to the first seat directly.

"Lord Gong, you don't have to be polite, please take a seat!" Academician Mu Hongqing seemed to be a very disciplined person. Even though he was so popular, he still maintained respect for his superiors and refused to sit in the first seat.

Seeing this, Gong Qinian did not force it. Obviously, he knew the other party's character, so he personally served him good tea and sat in the first seat himself.

"Master Mu, why did you come so late?"

"Sorry..." Mu Hongqing also looked embarrassed: "I was temporarily transferred back to the capital, and I rushed here without stopping, but it seems that I am still a step late."

When the incident of Mr. Painted Skin broke out, he was transferred back to the capital by the court for inspection before he had time to go to Liuzhou to deal with the aftermath.

There were many people who impeached him at that time. After all, the entire Liuzhou officialdom was a group of puppets with human skins. This kind of horrifying thing happened, and I, the academic official, could not escape the blame!

"Anyway, it's good that the master is back." Gong Qinian said hurriedly.

Most sorcerers have strange tempers. The one in front of him is the academic official he has gotten along with the best. He really doesn't want to change his partner easily.

Local officials are extremely dependent on academic officials for supernatural events. Those who have been senior local officials know that supernatural events are very destructive to local areas and can most affect political achievements. The Liuzhou incident is the best example.

As an official of his level, his political achievements were good enough to recommend qualified younger generations of his family to the secret warlock academy in the capital. He would be able to retire peacefully in a few years, and his political achievements were up to standard. But this incident happened at this critical moment.

"In fact, it doesn't matter whether I come back or not..." Mu Hongqing took a sip of tea and said seriously: "I went to Liuzhou yesterday and checked it out. Except for some puppets left by Mr. Painted Skin, there are no other suspicious things. There will be no more supernatural events in the short term." "The key now is not me, but the local administrative order must be put into operation first. If you want to restore Liuzhou's former business role, you must first restore the people's hearts and let outsiders recognize the safety of Liuzhou." "That's why I'm looking forward to your return, sir!" Gong Qinian said hurriedly: "With you in charge of Liuzhou, those wealthy families and some famous masters in Liuzhou will be willing to come back." "I can't guard Liuzhou, at least not for the time being..." "What?" Gong Qinian was stunned: "Why?" "After the Mr. Painted Skin incident, His Majesty has doubts about the entire Jiangnan. These days, I have to check several other sugarcane-rich states in Jiangnan to avoid such turmoil in Liuzhou." "This..." Gong Qinian choked when he heard it. It is really hard to refute this statement. After all, although Liuzhou is important, the other prefectures in Jiangnan are more important now. If the same thing happened in Liuzhou again, I am afraid that the entire Jiangnan will collapse.

"I will send a capable disciple to garrison Liuzhou, and accompany you to discuss with those famous masters and let them go back to Liuzhou."

"Okay, okay!" Gong Qinian's face relaxed a lot: "Thank you, Master Mu."

"It's my job, you don't have to be polite." Mu Hongqing put down the teacup and said seriously: "But my role is limited. Persuading a few famous masters to go back cannot save the situation in Liuzhou. If Liuzhou wants to restore its previous role, it still depends on local officials. I received news that the new governor of Liuzhou has arrived today. I think he will come to visit you tomorrow at most to seek your support."

"Oh?" Gong Qinian stood up immediately: "Has the governor of Liuzhou decided on the candidate?" He rubbed his hands and said: "It's great, Master Mu, do you know who it is?"

"A new Jinshi named Chen Qing..."

"New Jinshi?" Gong Qinian's smile froze when he heard it.

Isn't this nonsense?

The situation in Liuzhou is a headache for even experienced and capable officials. What's the point of sending a new Jinshi who has no experience in governing?

Besides, how can a new Jinshi be directly appointed as the chief official of a prefecture?

Please read and recommend, hehe.