Chapter 61: Sects and Clans, Wealthy Merchants

In the reception hall of Juhe County Office.

Cui Heng sat on a chair while Xu Feng’an stood behind him like a follower.

Liu Litao brought Qian Cang here and glanced at Xu Feng’an. He felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen him before.

Then, his attention was focused on Cui Heng.

The county magistrate of Juhe County did not seem to have any intention of standing up and bowing.

However, as the county governor, Liu Litao did not feel dissatisfied.

He casually found an empty seat and sat down. He took the initiative to start a conversation and said with a smile of admiration, “County Magistrate Cui, you’re young and promising. You’ve only been in office for a few days, but you’ve already managed Juhe County in an orderly manner and the people are living in peace.”

“I’m just doing my duty.” Cui Heng smiled and did not continue beating around the bush. He asked directly, “May I know why Governor Liu is here?”

“Ahem!” Liu Litao obviously did not expect Cui Heng to be so direct. After coughing a few times, he said, “Since County Magistrate Cui has brought it up, I won’t keep you in suspense anymore.

To be honest, County Magistrate Cui, I caught a cold some time ago and haven’t been feeling well. It’s already difficult for me to handle the county government. I can’t continue being the county governor anymore.

At this moment, I happened to hear that County Magistrate Cui had defeated the Yan Bandit Army and even restored the livelihood of Juhe County, which had been poor for a long time. Hence, I wanted to ask if you want to be the governor of Lu County.”

With that, he got Qian Cang to open the bag and take out the three items inside.

“Haha, the governor is really well prepared.” Cui Heng laughed when he saw it. “You even prepared a recommendation letter.”

The three things that Liu Litao had brought were the Governor’s Seal of Lu County, the Governor’s uniform, and a recommendation letter.

The first two were necessary to become a county governor.

The recommendation letter was just for the procedure to transfer the position of governor.

Actually, the process of transferring the position of governor was not simple.

According to the Great Jin’s official system, if the governor wanted to give up his position, he could recommend someone who was not related to him to take over the position of county governor.

After the Imperial Court received the recommendation letter, they would send officials over to inspect the recommended people.

After the Imperial Court received the results of the inspection, they would gather the officials for a discussion. In the end, only after they approved it and sent the letter of appointment back to the county could the recommended person take office.

However, this was a policy that could only be fully implemented in an era where the Imperial Court had a strong authority over the region.

From a hundred years ago, Great Jin’s national strength had been declining, and its control over the local area had become weaker and weaker. Gradually, it developed to the point that as long as the recommendation letter was sent to the Imperial City, the new governor could take office.

This was because the inspection officials sent by the Imperial Court could not reach the local area at all. They would always be inexplicably killed by bandits along the way. Later on, the Imperial Court simply gave up on this step.

Now that the world was in chaos, it was difficult for the government decrees to even leave the Central Continent. The counties were even more free. Although the recommendation letter still existed, it had already been reduced to a mere formality.

He didn’t even have to send them to the Imperial City.

He only needed to set up an altar and burn the recommendation letter in the direction of the Central Continent Imperial City. Then, he would pay his respects and complete the recommendation.

The new county governor could directly take office.

It was simply getting approval from the void.

Now, Liu Litao had even prepared a recommendation letter. In other words, as long as he burned the recommendation letter on the spot and bowed in the direction of the Central Plains, Cui Heng would become the legitimate governor of Lu County.

Cui Heng had originally planned to take over the position of governor of Lu County. He did not expect this governor of Lu County to take the initiative to come knocking on his door, which surprised him.

However, he did not agree directly. Instead, he shook his head and said with a faint smile, “Governor, did you really want to give up the position because you caught a flu and am unable to continue handling political matters because you’re not feeling well?”

If it was in the past, he would not care about the reason why Liu Litao gave up the position of governor.

However, after hearing Xu Feng’an’s words, he felt that it was necessary to make Governor Liu tell the truth.

“This…” Liu Litao was speechless.

At the same time, he glanced at Qian Cang beside him in confusion and asked, “Didn’t you say that this county magistrate is determined to become the governor? Why is he asking so many questions?”

Qian Cang was also dumbfounded. Why was his attitude different from before?

Could it be that he had made a mistake in “figuring out the higher-ups’ intentions”?

However, Liu Litao was a sharp person after all.

After a short moment of shock, he realized that Cui Heng should know something. He turned to Qian Cang and said, “You can leave first. I have something to tell County Magistrate Cui.”

“Yes.” Qian Cang hurriedly took his leave.

He now deeply understood that as a small fry, he had to have the self-awareness of a small fry. It was better not to get involved in the affairs of too many big shots.

“Looks like the Governor does have something to say.” Cui Heng smiled.

“I’ve embarrassed myself in front of County Magistrate Cui.” Liu Litao smiled bitterly. He looked at Xu Feng’an behind Cui Heng and hesitated. “This is…”

“This is the Grand Elder of the Yuhua Sword Pavilion, Xu Feng’an.” Cui Heng gave a simple introduction and said with a smile, “Governor Liu, just speak your mind.”

“Xu Feng’an! The top Inner World expert of the Yuhua Sword Pavilion, the number one expert of Lu County, one of the Nine Swords of the World, the White Jade Sword God?!” Liu Litao could not help but cry out in surprise. His eyes widened as he looked at Xu Feng’an in shock.

No wonder he felt that he looked familiar. It was actually him. He had only seen him from afar at a meeting three years ago.

This was a big shot who could sit on the same level as the Governor of Fengzhou. He did not even have the chance to meet him normally. Why was he here?

Furthermore, he was standing behind County Magistrate Cui like a follower!

From the looks of it, even if the rumors of him summoning the wind and rain were a little fake, this County Magistrate Cui was most likely a genuine Immortal.

He stood far above the martial world.

Liu Litao was still skeptical about the news that the county magistrate of Juhe County had destroyed 50,000 troops in the blink of an eye.

He was not completely sure.

After all, this kind of thing was too bizarre. It was completely challenging one’s common sense.

If not for the fact that the few large sects were pressing too hard and that Cao Quan, the magistrate of Fengzhou, had been assassinated first, he would definitely have to investigate in detail before making a decision.

But now that he saw Xu Feng’an standing respectfully behind Cui Heng like a follower, he believed most of the news about Cui Heng.

To be able to make a big shot standing at the top of the pugilistic world behave so respectfully, he was enough to be respected as an Immortal.

When Cui Heng heard the series of names that Liu Litao had revealed, he looked at Xu Feng’an in surprise. He did not expect this old fellow’s name to be so long.

“It’s just an empty title,” Xu Feng’an said awkwardly.

Before Liu Litao came in, Cui Heng had already told him not to expose his identity and to just call him County Lord.

“Governor Liu, if you have anything to say, just say it.” Cui Heng looked at Liu Litao again.

“Yes, County Lord.” Liu Litao subconsciously changed the way he addressed him. He organized his words and took a deep breath. “Since Elder Xu is also here, County Lord, I believe you already know about the hundred years event.

“Now that the 100-year period is approaching, these martial sects that are not at the top of the pugilistic world have begun to covet the position of State Overseer. They want to get a share of the pie. Lord Cao, the State Overseer of Fengzhou, was probably killed because of this.

Actually, before the position of Fengzhou’s State Overseer was vacated, the external affairs deacons of the Taichong Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the He family of Pingchuan, the Dharma Court, and the Green Jade Monastery had come to look for me, wanting to push me to the position of State Overseer.

“At first, I thought that they were just bragging and didn’t take it seriously. But after Lord Cao was assassinated, I realized that it was very likely that they really had this intention.

As long as they push me, a person who’s easy to manipulate, to be a puppet leader, they can distribute the spoils without any worries. They don’t have to care about my thoughts at all…”

“Even if they want to split the spoils, Lord Liu, wouldn’t you also become the State Overseer?” Cui Heng smiled. “This is the best of both worlds, so why not?”

“County Lord, you must be joking.” Liu Litao said with a bitter expression, “They aren’t the only top factions in Fengzhou. Moreover, even if they are the top factions, they might not give up on fighting for the position of State Overseer.

This is a crisis. If I’m not careful, I might lose my life. Lord Cao has already learned from his mistakes, so I don’t dare to not be afraid. Therefore, I thought that I should give up the position of governor and…”

At this point, he couldn’t continue, and he didn’t dare speak further.

“You thought, why don’t you give such a dangerous position to me, a scapegoat.” Cui Heng pretended to sneer. “Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t dare! I definitely don’t dare to think that way!” Liu Litao rolled down from his chair in fear. He lay on the ground and explained to Cui Heng in an incomparably flustered manner, “I, I just feel that you, County Lord, are an Immortal-like figure with the ability to summon the wind and rain. You’re definitely not afraid of those sects, nor are you afraid of being assassinated. That’s why I came up with this plan. If County Lord is unwilling, I definitely won’t mention this matter again. Please forgive me!”

“How are those sects and families going to deal with you? Are they going to use force?” Cui Heng didn’t say if he wanted to accept the position of Governor of Lu County. Instead, he asked another question.

“It would be great if they could use force,” Liu Litao said with a bitter expression. “County Lord, you might not know this, but those large sects and families are not just martial arts practitioners. They are also extremely wealthy and control the livelihoods of a county or even several counties.

For example, the Taichong Sect has been established for hundreds of years and has been in the grain merchant industry for hundreds of years. At the beginning of the establishment of the Great Jin, in order to stabilize the country, the Taichong Sect was given some authority to transport goods in Fengzhou.

To this day, the grain operations of the Taichong Sect in Fengzhou can be said to be as powerful as the clouds and rain. With a command, it’s even possible to cut off the food supply in Lu County.

There’s also the Heavenly Sword Sect. It’s also a large sect that has been passed down for hundreds of years. They mainly specialize in ores and coal. If you make them unhappy, they can make the people have no charcoal to burn in winter. At that time, there will definitely be chaos everywhere.

And that Green Jade Sect… Pingchuan’s He family…”

Following Liu Litao’s description, Cui Heng’s expression became more and more strange. It turned out that the economic lifeline of the Great Jin Dynasty had long been controlled by the various large sects and families.

It was ridiculous that such a ghost country could still last for 200 years.

“There’s one more thing I have to report to you, County Lord.” Liu Litao seemed to feel that since he had already said so much, he might as well go all out. “I don’t think I can hide the fact that I left Lu County from those major sects and families.

They will most likely guess that I want to give up the position of governor. In order to take the new governor down a notch, those sects and families have most likely already begun to restrict the livelihood of the people in Lu County.

If you take over the position of governor of Lu County, I’m afraid you’ll have to face a city full of people who are oppressed by these sects and families and are having a difficult life.”

“Oh?” Cui Heng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

There was actually such a good thing?