Zhao Xun and his party stayed in Hezhou for a few more days.
After ensuring that Chu Fengnian, the governor, and Song Liangpeng, the county magistrate, were escorted to Chang'an, Zhao Xun personally presided over the post-disaster reconstruction work in Hezhou.
The first step is to build the house.
This is not difficult.
The main buildings of this era were wooden structures, which were constructed very quickly.
Facts have proven that as long as the government can serve as a role model, even if it is just guidance and guidance, the efficiency of ordinary people will be greatly improved.
To put it bluntly, what the common people lack is just a backbone.
But Chu Fengnian, Song Liangpeng and other officials didn't even want to do this. They deserve to be damned.
Of course, Zhao Xun knew that relying on them alone would not be enough.
Sooner or later, they will leave Hezhou, so someone must be able to take over.
Fortunately, Hezhou's Zuo Erguan Biejia Liu Muzhi was a very capable man. Before, he was only suppressed by Chu Fengnian and was depressed.
After Chu Fengnian was arrested and escorted to Chang'an, Liu Muzhi, the adjutant, naturally took over.
Zhao Xun observed carefully for a day or two and found that Liu Muzhi handled government affairs in an orderly manner and was a man who did important things.
He was relieved and decided to set off and continue south.
Along the way, Zhao Xun traveled from the north to the south. What struck him most was that the place was not as peaceful as the court had heard.
Natural and man-made disasters continue, and the people live in extremely difficult conditions.
If the local officials do nothing, they only need to bribe the superior officials to get their protection.
The big shots in the court turned a blind eye, and the emperor naturally felt that he had personally created peace in the world once in all eternity.
Zhao Xun found that what he could do was limited. After he dealt with one Chu Fengnian, there would be hundreds of Chu Fengnian who would continue to harm the people, act arrogantly and do anything but not do serious things.
In the final analysis, the court still needs to make changes.
Just relying on the so-called inspection censor is unreliable.
Over the past few days, through spending time with these censors, Zhao Xun had a very intuitive feeling.
That is, these censors do not care about the people's livelihood and suffering at all.
The so-called deafening sounds they make are actually just to gain a good reputation.
The so-called direct selling leads to a bad reputation, but the goal is to leave a name in history.
But in fact, they will not speak up for the people, because this will offend people and make too little profit.
The censor is not afraid of offending others, but he must get something of equal value.
If nothing is gained, the censor will definitely not be the one to charge.
Zhao Xun suddenly realized that apart from the presence of practitioners, this world was no different from those dynasties in history.
Continuing to ride the building boat southward, Zhao Xun obviously lost the good mood he had when he first left Chang'an.
His heart was very heavy, and even Wangcai's jokes could not make him smile.
I'm afraid the situation along the Jiangnan coast is worse than here, right?
Monsters run rampant and prey on the people.
Local officials couldn't control it even if they wanted to.
How can a mere mortal fight against a monster?
This is also the fundamental reason why the imperial court asked Zhao Xun to go to Jiangnan Road.
Zhao Xun himself is a practitioner, but more importantly, Zhao Xun has the support of Taoists and academies behind him.
With the blessing and assistance of these two forces, it is impossible for ordinary monsters to do anything to him.
Zhao Xun has now unknowingly become a knife in the hands of the imperial court. Regardless of whether he personally wants it or not, he will be used by the imperial court as a sharp blade to cut through troubles.
I just hope to get to the coast of Jiangnan as soon as possible, Zhao Xun just can't wait for a moment.
...
...
I don’t know whether Zhao Xun’s prayers had an effect, or whether the imperial mission’s bad luck had dissipated.
In the next few days, the building boat traveled very smoothly along the way.
After getting off the boat, changing to a carriage, and traveling for a whole day, Zhao Xun and his party finally successfully arrived at the first stop on the Jiangnan Road coast - Ningzhou.
Ningzhou is surrounded by the sea on three sides and is a peninsula.
The unique geographical location makes Ningzhou an important seaport.
The Zhou Dynasty did not ban the sea like the previous dynasties, so private maritime trade was very developed.
Ningzhou Port was originally very prosperous.
Unfortunately, the monsters that have been raging recently often hurt and ate people, so the fleets did not dare to go to sea and the caravans all went around.
Ningzhou became a lot deserted for a while.
Wan Yan, the governor of Ningzhou, led officials of all sizes out of the city to greet him early.
Zhao Xun led the imperial envoys to the state government office in a mighty manner.
Before Inspector Wan could say more, Zhao Xun asked first: "Infector Wan, I heard that the entire Jiangnan coast has been plagued by monsters recently, and the people along the coast are extremely troubled by the beasts. What is the situation in Ningzhou?
"
It was okay for Zhao Xun not to ask, but after asking Wanyan like this, he burst into tears.
This time Zhao Xun was confused.
After all, these 10,000 governors are also officials of the imperial court. They have been trained in the formal bureaucratic system. They are not so fragile, right?
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, you don't know. This monster is raging along the coast, and Ningzhou is the hardest hit area. Ningzhou Port was originally prosperous half a year ago, but in just six months, it has become such a depression. The lower officials are incompetent.
I have tried every means, but I can't catch this beast. If you don't come again, I will want to commit suicide as an apology."
Zhao Xun saw that his grief-stricken look did not look like he was faking it, so he asked in a deep voice: "So, this monster is absolutely invincible to humans."
"Yes, your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, it is said that this monster has reached some kind of agreement with the people of the Demon Sect, and that is why it is attacking the coast of our Great Zhou Dynasty on a large scale."
Wan Cishi cried with runny nose and tears.
Demon sect?
Zhao Xun couldn't help but frown when he heard these two words.
He didn't have a good impression of the Demon Sect to begin with, and during the Battle of Huangzhou, he even fought to the death with a big demon with a third-level foundation in the Demon Sect.
This guy relied on the Demon Sect's skills to advance to the second level, and even wanted to break through to the first level.
Although the time he could stay in the second-level realm was limited, he was still at the second-level realm after all, and Zhao Xun and the others had to work together to kill him.
Now that he heard the word "Demon Sect" again, Zhao Xun instinctively felt wary.
Why do people from the Demon Sect make an agreement with monsters?
In Zhao Xun's opinion, the Demon Sect should have closer ties with the northern barbarians.
As for the monster beasts, there is a branch of the Southern Barbarians, and then there are the beasts hidden in the depths of the sea.
It stands to reason that people in the Demon Sect cannot have any connection with monsters, whether it is the Southern Barbarians or those hidden in the sea. This is determined by geographical conditions.
To say that Dongyue Kingdom has a connection with monsters and beasts is more reliable than those from the Demon Sect.
Zhao Xun felt that either Wan Jishi was talking nonsense, or there was really a big conspiracy hidden in it.
Zhao Xun is more inclined to the latter.
After all, this Wan Cishi still looks very decent.
Zhao Xun tried to use mind-observation skills to enter his sea of consciousness, but failed.
This proves that Wan Cishi is at least popular and blessed by luck.