Chapter 64: Are palace soldiers also considered soldiers?
Liu Hu took in the expressions of the people below and knew what they were thinking at the moment, but he did not expose them and continued.
"Who is this Su family? Why are they so rampant?"
As the person in charge of Lingnan, Sun Xinyuan knew that it was time for him to say a few words. Before he even sat down, he stood up hurriedly and began to explain.
"The Su family is one of the most powerful families in Houcheng. Although none of the family members hold official positions or engage in business, they still have an outstanding status and are very wealthy."
"The Su family relies on two bandits, Su Ming and Su Qiang. These two are highly skilled in martial arts and have hundreds of followers under their command. They are rampant near Houcheng."
"If you want to stay safe, you must prepare a small gift and send it to the Su Mansion. In this way, Su Ming and Su Qiang will turn a blind eye."
Liu Hu became excited after hearing Sun Xinyuan's introduction. He didn't expect that there would be such smart people in this era.
The Su family set up a place to collect money in the city. On the one hand, it could be done in an open and aboveboard manner, and on the other hand, it could protect personal safety. After all, sending money directly to the mountain stronghold could easily lead to fatal disasters. If it attracted soldiers, all the ditches on the mountain would be in vain.
By doing this, the two brothers Su Ming and Su Qiang can gain a good reputation in the underworld for robbing the rich and helping the poor, killing two birds with one stone.
"Did Su Ming and Su Qiang rob us of anything?" Liu Hu thought that he had many businesses in Lingnan, and wanted to see if these two brothers would bully him.
If there were, he wouldn't mind taking down these two people.
Sun Xinyuan quickly agreed, "Of course not. Brother Si led his men a few times and beat them up. After that, they learned their lesson and never robbed our carriages again."
Letting Ah Si deal with these bandits is really too easy.
Liu Hu narrowed his eyes, and thinking of the city lord's attitude just now, he continued: "Does the city lord have any contact with them?"
The local leader, the city lord, was so polite to two bandits. There must be something fishy about it.
If the city lord and these two bandits embezzled money, Liu Hu would not let them off easily.
What Liu Hu hated most in his life was officials who did not serve the people and who took bribes and perverted the law.
Sun Xinyuan hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, the city lord would never do that."
"Hmm?" Liu Hu didn't understand why Sun Xinyuan would speak up for the city lord. It seemed that Sun Xinyuan and the city lord didn't have a very deep relationship.
"The city lord was born a civil servant and doesn't have much courage. In the beginning, he led the palace soldiers to attack Su Ming and Su Qiang several times, but after they were killed without a single piece of armor left, he never mentioned the matter again."
"Besides, the city lord is a man of noble character like all the scholars in the world. It is normal that he is unwilling to get involved with those two brothers. He even refuses to accept the gifts given by the country every year."
Compared with other places, Liu Hu was most confident in Lingnan, so he placed many civil servants here. Zhou Pin, who was good at flattery, was promoted to Shangjing by Liu Hu because of his good performance as the city lord.
After all, Liu Hu has more military generals and too few civil officials under his command. Once the world is at peace, these generals will become time bombs. After all, each general has military power and can do whatever he wants.
Liu Hu was quite satisfied with such a city lord. There were many cities in Lingnan, and it was impossible for every one of them to be his direct descendant. From the current perspective, this city lord was quite qualified.
He had done nothing wrong and was always acting for the people. Although he did not deal with the bandits in the mountains, Liu Hu understood in his heart that after all, the fighting power of the government soldiers was simply not enough to compete with the bandits.
One is for salary, the other is for survival, so their performances are naturally different.
"If you have anything else to say, please go find Miss Huaying. I'm a little tired. Sun Xinyuan, come with me to the backyard and sit for a while." Liu Hu looked at these shopkeepers and went back to the backyard without saying a word.
The purpose of summoning these shopkeepers here today has been achieved. Everyone also agrees that Huaying should take over these industries, so there is no need for me to stay here any longer. I should give Huaying time to show her abilities.
"Xinyuan, Lingnan is not easy to manage." Liu Hu was very familiar with the situation in Lingnan. He had arranged many of the incompetent people around him to Lingnan, which showed how difficult it was to manage.
This sentence really touched Sun Xinyuan's heart. It was not just difficult to manage, it was too difficult to manage.
These people rely on their status and pretend to obey orders but actually disobey them. I can't say anything. Every time they get into trouble, I have to clean up their mess. Otherwise, Lingnan, with such a good foundation, would not have ended up in such a situation now.
Liu Hu patted his shoulder and continued, "I came back this time to discuss with you which people in Lingnan can be used and which ones cannot be used. You make a list for me. Too many bad apples are not good for the team."
Sun Xinyuan was a little confused. He didn't know whether Liu Hu was speaking in anger or sincerely. These old brothers from Lingnan had all followed Liu Hu through thick and thin.
Luo Fanchen just killed one person with one move. Does the boss want to kill these old brothers?
"Boss, it's not easy for many of our brothers in Lingnan. They have shed a lot of blood on the battlefield ." If possible, Sun Xinyuan would rather take less dividends than make things difficult for these old brothers.
Liu Hu chuckled, realizing that Sun Xinyuan had misunderstood his meaning, and continued, "What are you thinking? We are all brothers. As long as you don't go too far, I can turn a blind eye."
"Just go ahead and write. I'll handle it."
When Sun Xinyuan heard what Liu Hu said, he felt relieved and nodded without saying anything. He knew that Liu Hu would never call him over just for such a small matter.
"Su Xing from Houcheng once bullied a tofu maker. Did you know about this?"
Liu Hu did not have much hope for Sun Xinyuan. After all, Sun Xinyuan was in charge of the entire Lingnan area, and he would not take this little thing to heart even if he heard about it.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Liu Hu's words, Sun Xinyuan thought for a moment and asked, "But what about the woman named Lan Xin?"
"Yes, that's right." Liu Hu's eyes lit up when he heard the name. He didn't expect that Sun Xinyuan actually knew Lan Xin.
But he changed his mind and thought that if Sun Xinyuan knew about it, it would mean that the incident at that time was a big deal.
Sun Xinyuan hurriedly explained, "Of course I know that when Su Xing wanted to take possession of the woman named Lan Xin, the entire Su family was shocked and surprisingly united in disagreeing. Old Master Su was almost mad to death and even wanted Su Xing to sever ties with the Su family and expel him from the family tree."
In that era, being expelled from the family tree was already considered a very severe punishment.
"But who would have thought that the woman named Lan Xin was so tough that she broke into the Su family and told Su Xing clearly that it was absolutely impossible. If he insisted on marrying her, she would take her daughter and commit suicide by jumping into the river."
"When Mr. Su found out, he admired Lan Xin's courage very much and told the people in the mansion to take good care of Lan Xin's tofu stall."
After hearing this, Liu Hu was a little confused. According to this statement, the Su family should not have bullied Lan Xin, but instead helped Lan Xin. Why did the Prime Minister say that Lan Xin was often bullied by Su Xing?
Seeing the confusion on Liu Hu's face, Sun Xinyuan immediately continued to explain: "After this incident, Su Xing had a great enlightenment and worked hard to take over all the businesses of the Su family. Then, relying on his status as the head of the family, he began to constantly make things difficult for Lan Xin."
This is a typical plot of love turning into hate. I didn't expect that such a plot existed in ancient times.
Liu Hu touched his chin. He originally thought that Su Xing was a playboy, but he didn't expect that he had quite some skills.
All of the Su family's businesses are now under the management of Su Xing, and I'm afraid he was also involved in collusion with the bandits.
"When the government soldiers went to attack the bandits before, they were either defeated miserably or did not put in any effort." Liu Hu wanted to know the specific strength of the bandits, so he spoke up.
"A miserable defeat." Sun Xinyuan didn't dare to lie and spoke truthfully.
"Hmph, do you think the palace soldiers are soldiers? I'm afraid they are not even as good as thugs." Luo Fanchen was arrogant. When he heard that the palace soldiers brought shame to Daqian, he started to mock.
