South Street in Liuzhou is called Yuquan Road. It is named after it is close to a natural mountain spring in Nanshan. The location of the spring is blocked by the government and outsiders are strictly prohibited from drawing water. On weekdays, only famous masters and wealthy households can spend money from it.

The government obtained the naturally sweet mountain spring tea for tea, which was exclusive to the nobility.

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 drink it for that little 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, and the assigned tongsuan

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 is really not a ghost along the way, which makes his heart feel chilly!

Projects like mountain springs are luxury goods. They have to be bought by the rich to get them. In the end, everyone ran away. Why are you drinking your broken spring water?

Along the way, looking at the messy and desolate streets, many popular shops that were once popular are now empty, and Chen Qing wants 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 beautiful in style.

The taste is even more outstanding. At midnight every day, young men from wealthy families line up here to order pastries. If you come later, you may not be able to get them all after queuing all day."

"Such a good business?" The groom was startled 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 horseman 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 urban residents who have gone to hide in the countryside?

Sure enough...God just doesn't want to see me having 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 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 were transferred 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!"

"You think I don't know?" 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, but it is suddenly 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 have to 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 response was still slow at first. We should put an end to the situation of fleeing 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 very 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: "Master Xuezheng has arrived!"

"Master Xuezheng has arrived?" 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!

Jiuqing, the governors of various places, are all warlocks. Although the dynasty has only been in power for twenty years, many people have realized that the only way to be promoted to such a high position is to be a warlock who can compete with the bloodline family.

As a chief minister, he was almost at the top of an ordinary official's career, but when faced with a warlock official who was half a rank below him, he could only be polite and did not dare to be disrespectful at all.

"Mr. Mu, you're finally here!" Gong Qinian stepped forward with great enthusiasm and greeted the person from the door into the room. He immediately wanted to invite the person to the front seat.

"Master Gong, you don't have to be polite, please take a seat!" Xuezheng Mu Hongqing seemed to be a very well-behaved person. Even though he was so popular, he still maintained his respect for Shangguan and refused to sit in the first seat.

Seeing this, Gong Qinian didn't force himself. He obviously knew the other person's character, so after personally serving tea for him, he still took the first seat.

"Master Mu, why are you here?"

"I'm sorry..." Mu Hongqing also looked embarrassed: "I was temporarily transferred back to the capital, and my subordinates rushed here non-stop. It seems to be a step too late."

When Mr. Painted Skin's incident broke out, before he could even go to Liuzhou to deal with the aftermath, he was transferred back to the capital for examination by the court.

There were many people who impeached me at that time. After all, the entire Liuzhou officialdom was just puppets in human skins. If such an appalling thing happened, I, as an academic and political student, could not escape the blame!

"No matter what, it will be good if the master comes back." Gong Qinian said quickly.

Most warlocks have weird tempers, and the one in front of him is already the best academic he has ever gotten along with. He really doesn't want to change partners.

Local officials rely heavily on academics and administration for supernatural events. Anyone who has served as a senior local official knows that supernatural events are very destructive to the local area, and they can most affect political performance. The Liuzhou incident is the best example.

As for an official at his level, his political performance was good enough to recommend qualified juniors from his family to the secret warlock academy in the capital. He still had a few years to be able to securely serve as an official, and his political performance was up to standard, but it happened at this critical time.

That's what happened.

"Actually, it doesn't matter whether the official comes 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 is nothing else suspicious, and there won’t be any more supernatural incidents in the short term.”

"The key now is not to subordinate me, but that the local administrative order must be put into operation first. If we want to restore Liuzhou's former role as a commercial road, we must first restore people's hearts and let outsiders recognize Liuzhou's safety."

"That's why I'm looking forward to your return, sir!" Gong Qinian said quickly: "You will be in charge of Liuzhou. Only the big families and some famous masters in Liuzhou are willing to come back."

"The lower official cannot guard Liuzhou, at least not for the time being..."

"What?" Gong Qinian was stunned: "Why...why?"

"After the Mr. Painted Skin incident, His Majesty has become suspicious of the entire Jiangnan area. Your Majesty must conduct investigations on several other sugarcane-rich state capitals in Jiangnan these days to avoid turmoil like Liuzhou again."

"This..." Gong Qinian suddenly choked when he heard this.

It's really hard to refute this. After all, although Liuzhou is important, the other state capitals in Jiangnan are even more important now, because if something like Liuzhou happens again, the entire Jiangnan will collapse.

"The lower official will send a capable disciple to garrison Liuzhou and accompany you to discuss with those famous masters and let them return to Liuzhou."

"Okay, okay!" Gong Qinian's face suddenly relaxed a lot: "This is Master Lao Mu."

"It's your duty, you don't have to be polite." Mu Hongqing put down his tea cup and said seriously: "But the role of a lower official is limited. Persuading a few famous masters to go back will not save the situation in Liuzhou. Liuzhou wants to restore its previous role.

, we have to rely on local officials. I received news that the new Liuzhou magistrate has arrived today, and I think he will come to visit you tomorrow at the latest to seek your support."

"Oh?" Gong Qinian stood up immediately: "Has Liuzhou Prefect decided on a candidate?" He said while rubbing his hands: "That's great. Master Mu, do you know who it is?"

"A new Jinshi, named Chen Qing..."

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

Isn't this nonsense?

The situation in Liuzhou is such that even experienced and capable officials will have a huge headache. What's the use of sending a new Jinshi with no experience in governing?
Chapter completed!