Chapter 108 Yu Fan vs Gu Yong
In mid-February, Yu Fan finally arrived.

Gu Yong had heard of Yu Fan's name, but he never expected him to be such a person.

There are two prominent families in Qu'a County, namely the Yin and the Wei.

As soon as Yu Fan took over the affairs of the county, he began to take action against the Yin and Wei tribes.

The two tribes were required to hand over the 3,000 acres of land under their names to Yu Fan for unified management, and the powerful tribes below the two tribes were also required to actively cooperate.

When Gu Yong was in office, there were not so many troubles in Qu'a County, and all the ethnic groups came to Gu Yong for help.

When Gu Yong heard this, he thought that Yu Fan had gone too far. How could he force others?

Now, Yu Fan has only learned his lesson in front of Jin Mao, but that doesn't mean he will be more restrained in front of others.

"Gu Yong, Gu Yuantan! I know the Gu family is a prominent family in Wu County, but you can't lie with your eyes open, right?"

Yu Fan asked: "There are 6,000 households in Qu'a County. How many acres of arable land are there? How many people are there? And how much is controlled by the people?"

Before coming, Yu Fan had done a detailed investigation and got a hint from Jin Mao that he had to go all out today!

Gu Yong answered them one by one.

Yu Fan sneered, "There are 5,000 households, but they own less than 3,000 acres of land. One household owns less than half an acre. I would like to ask County Magistrate Gu, how did the people survive?"

Gu Yong was silent.

"Selling children and daughters! Making them slaves!" Yu Fan said fiercely: "Is this how you govern the area as a county magistrate?"

"In your eyes, what are the people any different from livestock?!"

Gu Yong continued to remain silent.

The various ethnic groups in Qu'a County were not happy about this and brought the matter to Jin Mao.

"Yu Zhongxiang, I've told you so many times to be mature and steady, why don't you listen?"

Jin Mao's tone was very dissatisfied, but his words were not painful: "Everything should be done slowly. How can you use such cruel means right from the start?"

"Look how anxious you all are. Let's put this matter aside for now and talk about it later!"

Yu Fan accepted it humbly: "Yes."

Xi Zhicai, who was watching the show on the side, had a stern face and looked very uncomfortable.

Gu Yong also noticed Jin Mao's attitude, but did not remind him.

Some ethnic groups in Qu'a County heard it and some did not, and the attitudes of each party were different, so they could not form any fighting power.

After everyone had dispersed, Xi Zhi nudged Yu Fan with his shoulder and said, "Hey, did you understand what the lord meant?"

Yu Fan squinted and said, "I am not stupid!"

Xi Zhicai didn't interrupt and asked, "Why are you cursing?"

Yu Fan left with a look of disdain on his face.

On the other side, Gu Yong was surrounded by people from all tribes and left the restaurant to discuss matters.

Everyone knows Gu Yong's temper, and he drinks tea instead of wine.

Gu Yong listened carefully to the opinions of all parties and did not say much.

Until nightfall, the various tribes had not obtained any useful information from Gu Yong and could only leave in embarrassment.

The next day.

Jinmao is almost ready. In another day, he will be able to set out from Dantu County, go up the Yangtze River to Yuzhang County.

"Yuan Tan, what do you want from me?"

Jin Mao curiously took the bamboo slips from Gu Yong's hand, read it with interest, and then looked at Gu Yong.

The latter saluted and said, "I heard that you often teach your subordinates to move forward step by step. I think it is right."

"In my opinion, we can't be in a hurry to govern counties, we have to take our time."

Jin Mao praised: "That's right! That's what I'm doing. Yuan Tan, come with me and I'll tell you my plan."

Jin Mao came to the feng shui map, pointed at Yuzhang County and began to explain.

Gu Yong listened very carefully, but the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong.

"Yu Fan and Wu Fan would get together to observe the celestial phenomena at night when they had nothing to do."

"guess what?"

"They discovered that the Yangtze River might flood this year, which is a big deal!"

you do not say.

"The people of Yuzhang County are so lazy. Do they think they can always rely on the weather for their livelihood?"

"I wonder if they are in a hurry this time?"

Gu Yong didn't know whether the people were anxious or not, but he was very anxious now: "This involves tens of millions of people, how can the county government treat it like a joke?"

Jin Mao joked: "Isn't this your suggestion?"

Gu Yong shook his head bitterly and said, "I really don't know."

Jin Mao said seriously: "Now you know, if this really happens, what do you think these powerful families will do?"

"How many more people will die because of this? Ten thousand? One hundred thousand? Or one million!?"

Gu Yong didn't know, but he understood that Jin Mao was not talking nonsense.

The Gu family is a prominent family in Wu County, and they are also a family that treats the people kindly.

Even so, various injustices often occurred in the Gu family, and countless people suffered as a result, but at least they did not lose their lives.

This is also the belief that Gu Yong has always adhered to since he entered the officialdom.

Now, when he met Jin Mao, who completely stood on the side of the people, Gu Yong realized that his fairness was so naive and ridiculous.

His so-called justice always stood on the side of the nobles and never considered the common people. But this could not be blamed on him, as the current law stipulated this, and he was just acting in accordance with the law.

Jin Mao didn't care and said, "Yuan Tan, I don't have much time. I must govern this place with thunder and lightning."

"Otherwise, I will be powerless in the face of a great disaster."

"Even if I have to bear the infamy and be infamous for eternity, I will still do this!"

At this moment, Gu Yong saw the shining charm from Jin Mao.

For the first time, he said emotionally: "Gu Yong is willing to contribute to the county court!"

"Hey." Jin Mao said mischievously: "I wish you could call me Lord."

Gu Yong's face was full of confusion.

"Haha! I was just kidding!"

Gu Yong was helpless, and then he remembered that the famous Jin County Magistrate was only 18 years old, two years younger than him!

"You'll get used to it." Xi Zhicai waited until Jin Mao left before reminding him, "This is how the lord is, with a heart of justice but a youthful mind."

Gu Yong's face suddenly turned stern, and he scolded, "As a subject, how can you speak ill of your master behind his back?"

At this moment, Xi Zhicai saw the shadow of Yu Fan in Gu Yong, but there was a big difference between the two.

Gu Yong was a true gentleman who was strict with himself; Yu Fan was a hypocrite who was strict with others.

“I’ll gladly accept your advice!” Xi Zhicai bowed deeply.

Gu Yong immediately returned the greeting with a bow no smaller than Xi Zhicai's: "Please give me your guidance in the future."

"mutual encouragement."

...

This time when he goes to Yuzhang County, Jin Mao must bring enough soldiers.

All the royal guards must be brought along. After a series of major events, the royal guards have been expanded from more than 400 people to 600 people, with Shiraishi as the chief officer and Dong Xi as the deputy officer.

The weapons and equipment are luxurious, with full armor as standard. There are 200 cavalry, 200 heavy infantry, and 200 spearmen.

The cavalry were actually crossbowmen on horseback. Before battle, each cavalryman would be equipped with an assistant to load the crossbow.

In addition, when marching in the mountains, war horses become baggage horses, serving multiple functions.

In addition to 600 personal guards, Jin Mao will also bring 2,000 newly recruited Baiyue and more than 2,000 veterans from the recruit camp. These people will be led by Ling Cao, through the Zhejiang tributary, to the north of Wuyi Mountain to meet up with He Qi.

At that time, Ling Cao will lead the second battalion back to Wucheng County to guard and ensure the safety of the transportation route.

As for the battalion led by Gong Lei, they stayed in Kuaiji County to prevent rebellion by villains.

...

February 28th.

Jin Mao led his troops to clear out the bandits on both sides of the Yangtze River, and became famous, even to the north bank of the Yangtze River.

Shu County, Lujiang County.

On this day, Jin Mao led people to visit the Zhou family, a prominent family in the county.

That's right! Jin Mao is here to see Zhou Yu!
The only prominent Zhou family in the whole of Yangzhou is the one in Lujiang County, which can be found out with a little inquiry.

The door of Zhou's house was wide open.

The 13-year-old Zhou Yu was delicate and pretty, with no hair yet. If he let his hair down, he would be no less beautiful than the beautiful Tang Ji.

Zhou Yu's father Zhou Yi was the magistrate of Luoyang, and the one in charge of their branch at home was Zhou Yi's brother Zhou Shang.

However, Zhou Yu is not the main branch of the Zhou family. The main branch is Zhou Yu's great-grandfather Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing and his son Zhou Zhong are the representative figures of the Zhou family, one is one of the Three Dukes and the other is one of the Nine Ministers.

Therefore, the honored person for this welcoming ceremony was Zhou Jing's son, Zhou Chong, Marquis of Anyang, who was also Zhou Yu's uncle.

Zhou Yu was still closer to Zhou Shang.

Zhou Yu didn't understand why the Zhou family made such a big fuss when Jin Mao came to visit.

He whispered, "Uncle, the Yuzhang governor is only acting as governor. He was originally just the commander of the southern part of Kuaiji County. Why is it so grand?"

Zhou Shang whispered, "In the middle of the month, the Yuzhang governor defeated the joint army of several thousand troops led by the Wujun commander and the governor in the name of justice."

"Do you know how many casualties there were?"

Zhou Yu: "I don't know."

“Less than a hundred people!”

Zhou Yu's eyes widened and he said, "No wonder."

Little Zhou Yu just didn't know the specific information, but now he immediately understood the reason.

Who would want to provoke a governor with such a powerful army? It’s always right to treat him with courtesy!
Half an hour later.

Zhou Yu saw the neat and orderly appearance of Jin Mao's army and couldn't help but exclaim: "What an elite force!"

He couldn't help but watch intently, from the battle array to the armaments to the mental outlook.

Young Zhou Yu was already familiar with the Art of War, and he couldn't help but verify and compare it silently in his mind, becoming more and more absorbed in it.

So much so that he didn't notice that the people around him were looking at him strangely.

By the time Zhou Yu reacted, a dark face came up to him.

"Are you Zhou Yu?"

"She looks so beautiful!"

(End of this chapter)