When Xu Jie saw Yuan Xi getting on the carriage, he quickly trotted over to the carriage and said with a smile, "Sir, I have prepared some wine in my mansion, please come back tonight."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Don't bother Magistrate Xu. I have to inspect the military camp tonight."
"There are a lot of things going on in the city right now, County Magistrate Xu needs to pay more attention to it."
After hearing this, Xu Jie immediately agreed.
Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said, "There is one more thing. County Magistrate Xu, go back now and gather the officials in the city. When I find a new place to live, ask them to come over. I want to see him."
"Starting tomorrow, buildings will be set aside in the city to build a charity school. Officials will go to the charity school every day to copy classics, and they will be selected for teaching according to their official positions."
"Spring ploughing will begin soon. All officials must follow Han law and plough together with the people without error."
"Finally, I will look at the city's money and grain accounts tomorrow morning."
Xu Jie's head was buzzing with shock from this series of words. He barely remembered what Yuan Xi said, and cold sweat immediately broke out.
Many officials in the city got their jobs through his connections, and many of them are uneducated and unskilled. If Yuan Xi were to meet with them, wouldn't he be exposed immediately?
What does it mean for officials in charity schools to teach?
Also, looking at the accounts early tomorrow morning is obviously not giving myself a chance to prepare!
The envoy is not serious, right?
He got anxious and raised his head, but Yuan Xi had already ridden away on his horse.
Guo Jia followed Yuan Xi and said with a smile: "If I were him, I would probably be trying to save my life now."
Yuan Xi said calmly: "That depends on whether he crosses the line."
"Speaking of which, sir, your plan has achieved what was expected. From my perspective, he is quite greedy."
"I was just worried about having no excuse to intimidate the officials and nobles, but he did it for me."
After hearing this, Guo Jia shook his head and said, "It's only been a month, and he really doesn't know when to advance or retreat."
He thought that Xu Jie was really unlucky this time. Although Jicheng was the seat of Guangyang, it was not taken seriously among the towns and counties of Youzhou.
Maybe Xu You sent Xu Jie here with ulterior motives.
But looking at Yuan Xi's behavior now, I don't know what he is thinking. He attaches great importance to Jicheng. It is possible that he will turn Jicheng into the capital of Youzhou in the future.
It was unlucky for Xu Jie to run into someone else, but he could only blame himself for not knowing what was going on.
Zhao Yun found a place quickly. When Yuan Xi went to take a look, he was quite satisfied. There were just some simple houses inside, straight paths, no redundant and complicated landscapes, and several halls that were extremely spacious and practical.
It's not that he doesn't want to live in a mansion with landscaped gardens. With the financial resources of the Zhen family, it wouldn't matter if they built another one. But right now, Jicheng is in a state of disrepair. What would the people in the city think if he engaged in extravagant and wasteful behavior at this time?
He watched everyone busy moving luggage and books, and had already made plans to summon officials in the afternoon. If the officials selected were capable enough, Xu Jie might be able to keep his life.
Seeing the soldiers coming and going on the street, the small vendors on both sides of the street were frightened at first and moved their stalls back into the house early.
But after more than half an hour, they found that nothing seemed to have happened, so they came out in groups of three or four and gathered together to whisper.
"It seems that this new envoy is not as bad as Xu Bopi."
"Bah, I don't believe it. It'll be exposed in just two days."
"That's right, instead of hoping for him to be kind, it's better to hope that he will leave quickly."
"You are wrong to say that. General Zhao disciplines his soldiers very strictly. The one who is blackmailing us is not Xu Bo Pi's subordinate, right?"
"Do you really believe this? They must be in the same group! They will definitely divide up all the money we gave them as a token of our filial piety after they return!"
The person who spoke was an old blacksmith. He had lived on this street for decades and had seen a lot of things. His words immediately won the approval of the people around him, and everyone nodded.
He was leaning on a crutch at the moment, with sackcloth wrapped around his leg, blood clots seeping out of it, and it was obvious that he had been injured not long ago.
Someone nearby said angrily, "Father Qian was beaten up, and we thought the envoy had come, so we helped him file a complaint together."
"If this eunuch protects Xu Bo Pi, wouldn't we be harming Father Qian?"
Someone immediately said, "That's absolutely impossible. Didn't you see the envoy and Xu Bopi together? They were both laughing happily!"
He asked mysteriously, "Haven't you heard that this new envoy is a descendant of the Yuan family?"
"He is originally a child of an aristocratic family. How can you punish Xu Bo Pi for this?"
"I think you're overthinking it!"
After hearing this, everyone shook their heads and sighed. Old Man Qian was living with his granddaughter, but a few days ago, the granddaughter was noticed by the Xu family, who said they wanted to bring her into the mansion to be a maid.
Naturally, Old Man Qian was unwilling to do so and started arguing with the Xu family's servants. As a result, he was pushed to the ground and beaten, and even his legs were broken.
The other party also threatened that if Old Man Qian did not hand over his granddaughter, he would be thrown into jail. When the neighbors were sweating for Old Man Qian, news came that the governor of Youzhou would come to Jicheng for inspection.
From then on, Xu Jiahao's servants never came to the house again, and the neighbors were all glad that Old Man Qian had escaped.
Old Man Qian touched his waist and found an iron spike hidden under his clothes.
At this moment, a carriage drove over from a distance and several people jumped off it.
When everyone saw these people, they treated them as if they were facing a formidable enemy and stood in front of Old Man Qian. They could see clearly that these people were the slaves of the Xu family who had injured Old Man Qian the day before.
The leading slave stepped forward and said to Old Man Qian, "Father, what happened the other day was all misunderstandings. Let's not talk about the past today."
"I'm here to bring you wealth."
"Today the envoy is entering the city and needs a maid to accompany him. Your granddaughter has been chosen!"
"Father, you are going to be rich now. If your granddaughter follows you, she will be able to gain a high status in the future, which will bring honor to our family!"
When everyone heard this, they hesitated. They wanted to say that they dared to sue Magistrate Xu, but they had no intention of resisting the governor of a state who had the support of the Yuan family.
Old Man Qian's face was gloomy: "My granddaughter has rough hands and feet, I'm afraid she will make the envoy unhappy, so forget it."
The leading servant laughed and said, "Mr. Qian, you are wrong. Is your granddaughter going to be a blacksmith with you for the rest of her life?"
"We are also following orders, please don't make things difficult for us."
At this time, the refugees entering the city were sitting on both sides of the road to rest. A man in tattered clothes listened to the argument between the two sides, then stood up without saying a word and walked out of the city.
He arrived at the military camp outside the city, took the token and found the scout officer, told him what happened in the city, and finally said: "Your Excellency should not have forcibly conscripted women, so I came to report this."
The scout officer was the leader of the spies who was responsible for gathering intelligence. He wrote down what the man said on the bamboo slips and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Now go back to the city and keep an eye on that place. If there is any movement, report back immediately."
After hearing this, the man left the camp and returned to the city.
Before Yuan Xi came to Jicheng, he had already planted some capable spies in the city to gather intelligence. This man was one of them. He heard that Xu Jiehao's slaves had taken women in the name of Yuan Xi, so he left the city to report the news.
More than half an hour later, Tian Yu returned to the camp. The scout officer hurried up to report. After hearing this, Tian Yu thought that Xu Jie was quite courageous.
He asked the scout to open a box full of scrolls. He took out a bamboo slip with Xu You's name on it and flipped through it. Finally, he found Xu Jie's records on several of the slips.
It says that when Xu Jie was in Yecheng, he worked as a clerk under Xu You and also served as a county magistrate in Jizhou. He was corrupt and ruthless, but was finally saved by Xu You.
Shen Pei also reported this matter to Xu You, but he could not find any evidence and the case ended up in nothing.
Tian Yu thought about it and thought, this shows that Xu Jie is careful in doing things, so he shouldn't be so stupid, right?
At this moment, someone rushed in with sweat all over his forehead. The intelligence officer saw that it was the man who reported the news earlier. He asked, "What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The man said anxiously: "When I went back, Mr. Qian and his granddaughter were gone!"
"I asked the neighbors, and they said that the Xu family's servants took the two people to the carriage and headed towards the city gate."
"I chased all the way to the gate and asked the guard, and the carriage was indeed out of the city!"
"I felt that something was amiss, so I came back to report it immediately!"
Tian Yu was in charge of the scouts. He felt that something was wrong with Yuan Xi's arrival in Jicheng. He immediately ordered, "Call all the spies in the camp, get on their horses, and go out to find the whereabouts of the carriage!"
"Come with me and identify those people!"
Seeing the spy following Tian Yu out of the tent, the scout officer wondered why something seemed to be in trouble as soon as the envoy arrived in Jicheng?
Father Qian hugged his granddaughter and shouted coldly in the carriage: "What do you want to do?"
"This is the wrong road!"
After hearing this, Qian's granddaughter buried her head in Qian's arms, filled with fear and shaking all over.
The leading slave laughed and said, "The envoy is in the military camp outside the city. Don't you know?"
Old Man Qian snorted coldly, he knew that he had been deceived by the other party!
Naturally, he was unwilling to let his granddaughter become a maid. He thought that since he couldn't escape, he might as well take a gamble and go see the envoy to severely accuse Xu Jie. Maybe there would be a chance of survival.
So he pretended to agree and asked to meet the envoy to ask for some rewards. To his surprise, the other party agreed easily and let the grandfather and grandson get in the car.
Seeing the carriage leaving the city and heading towards the wilderness, Old Man Qian realized that something was wrong.
How could the servants of the Xu family decide whether a provincial governor would meet with common people?
Old Man Qian thought that he was afraid that he would report me to the envoy, and most likely he wanted to take me out of the city and silence me?
Thinking of this, he lowered his head and said a few words to his granddaughter, and the girl suddenly opened her eyes wide.
The next moment, Old Man Qian yelled and jumped up, hugging his granddaughter and slammed into the car door. With a loud bang, the door was slammed open and Old Man Qian rolled out of the car holding his granddaughter.
This was beyond the expectations of the Xu family servants. They cursed loudly and ordered the carriage to stop.
Old Man Qian fell to the ground, pushed his granddaughter away, and yelled, "Go!"
Instead of retreating, he advanced, pulled out the iron spike from his waist, and stabbed it into the neck of the horse pulling the cart!