“Hahaha! It’s good that Governor Ren has agreed!” Wei Xiong laughed heartily and took the initiative to raise his wine glass. “Come, let this old man toast you.”
“Alright!” Ren Yuankui nodded heavily and raised his wine glass as well. “In the future, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of me. Please also help me to say a few good words in front of Governor Shen.”
“Of course. There’s no problem.” Wei Xiong drank the wine in one gulp and smiled comfortably.
After all, as the State Overseer of the Prime Minister’s state, it was almost equivalent to him obtaining the taxes of Fengzhou. It was obvious how many resources could be allocated at will.
This was a huge gift!
“Then I’ll have to trouble you not to raise it anymore.” Ren Yuankui toasted Wei Xiong again and pretended to be bitter. “I’m really so poor this time.”
“Hehe, you’re still singing opera with me?” Wei Xiong scolded jokingly, “Would you suffer a loss? You can just increase the taxes of the people. As long as there’s no one like Heavenly King Hongwu in Fengzhou, it’s impossible for you to suffer a loss.”
“Hahaha.” Ren Yuankui laughed loudly and stopped talking Actually, to him, this deal was still very worth it.
As long as he could become the State Overseer of Fengzhou.
It was all worth it.
He could get back everything he had sacrificed now!
Moreover, even if he promised the You Prefecture benefits, he did not use his own money.
In the end, the people who were oppressed were ordinary people. They could not even touch the interests of the families, sects, or even merchants. This would not really affect his rule over Fengzhou.
It did not matter even if a rebel army really erupted.
At that time, he could easily persuade the families, sects, and merchants to suppress the rebel army.
After all, these people held the foundations of the ordinary citizens. If their foundation collapsed, so be it. They would definitely join forces to suppress them.
“They’re just a bunch of bumpkins. Without a powerful backer, it’s impossible for them to rebel.” Ren Yuankui looked outside and sneered, “There’s no Heavenly King Hongwu now.”
Since ancient times, there have been countless kings and generals. Only Heavenly King Hongwu from more than 200 years ago could sweep through the world.
Even after so long, the name Hongwu was still the nightmare of all the “superiors” in the world.
Unfortunately, there was only one Heavenly King Hongwu.
There would never be a second one, and there could never be a second one.
This was the common understanding of all the rulers in the world.
“That’s right. There’s no Hongwu now, and there won’t be any in the future!” Wei Xiong nodded in agreement. However, he seemed to have thought of something else. He looked in the direction of Lu County and frowned, “By the way, how much do you know about the Governor of Lu County?”
“Why? Sir still wants to look for him?” Ren Yuankui immediately became vigilant when he heard this. “We’ve already agreed on this earlier.”
“Haha, what are you thinking?” Wei Xiong waved his hand and said with a smile, “It’s just that when we talked about Hongwu just now, I feel that Cui Heng’s style of doing things is a little similar to that person. Don’t you think so?”
“Yes, he divided the fields of the rich, seized the businesses of the various families and sects, and took control of the livelihoods of the people…” Ren Yuankui nodded and said in shock,” That’s right, it’s indeed very similar. However, he was using the method of implementing a new government decree and conducting experiments in the various counties under his rule, so it didn’t attract much attention. Thinking about it carefully, this is completely a replica of Heavenly King Hongwu!”
“Actually, when I said that Governor Shen wanted me to cooperate with Cui Heng, it was just a provocation.” Wei Xiong suddenly smiled and said, “Actually, after Governor Shen heard about Cui Heng’s actions in the various counties of Lu County, he asked me to investigate the truth. How much do you know about him?”
“Hahaha, Sir scared me quite badly just now.” Ren Yuankui heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this and said with a smile, “As for Cui Heng, I’ve indeed understood him a little. This person seemed to have suddenly appeared half a year ago.”
At this point, he paused and recalled as he said, “A few months ago, he appeared in Lu County’s Juhe County and became the county magistrate. He used the method of eliminating a rich and oppressive lord to split the fields to win the hearts of the people and was loved.
Later on, he accepted the transfer of power from Liu Litao, the former Governor of Lu County, and became the new Governor of Lu County. As soon as he arrived, he started a food and salt war with the merchants controlled by the Wang Clan of Langya and the Taichong Sect.
After fighting for a month, he completely won over the hearts of the people in the county city. Then, they brazenly attacked and wiped out those merchants. Even the eldest son of the second branch of the Wang Family in Langya, Wang Jinsheng, and the fourth branch’s head, Wang Qingquan, were captured. They could be said to be extremely daring.
After that, he began to send one of his subordinates to the various counties under his rule to implement the new government decree. He even beat up the rich to distribute the fields. To this day, he has almost offended all the major forces in the country.
Finally, there’s the major event that happened recently. The Wang Family of Langya and the Xie Family of Pingshan joined forces with the major forces of the various counties of Lu Prefecture and attacked Lu County with tens of thousands of troops. In the end, they were drowned by a trap set by him and were completely wiped out… To be honest, this fellow is indeed a character!”
“Was it really a trap?” Wei Xiong stroked his beard and frowned. “Why did I hear that this Governor Lu has great divine abilities and can summon the wind and rain?
Previously, when we were in Juhe County, he summoned a flood to drown the Yan bandit army. This time, the Wang and Xie alliance army was destroyed and they failed to attack Lu County. There was also news that the Governor of Lu County used a great divine power.
It’s said that at that time, the ground under the feet of the Wang and Xie alliance army collapsed, and tens of thousands of troops were instantly buried in a deep pit. After that, the deep pit was connected to the giant river, leaving behind a large lake and a long river. Governor Ren, how trustworthy do you think this is?”
“It’s Impossible.” Ren Yuankui shook his head and frowned. “I’ve heard the rumors about Cui Heng’s great divine power as well, but they’re too exaggerated. How can there be such a person in the world? Even the Immortals of the Upper World can’t do it.”
“Governor Ren, have you sent someone to take a look?” Wei Xiong thought for a moment and said, “It’s that big river and the big lake. The first time might be luck, but it’s too much of a coincidence if it’s the second time.”
In most people’s understanding, the saying that Cui Heng had great divine powers was only about the incident in Juhe County summoning the wind and rain and the time in Lu County where the Wang and Xie’s allied forces were defeated.
After all, both incidents had happened in public.
As for what happened in Xiling City, because no one saw Cui Heng casting the spell, very few people would link this to Cui Heng.
Only a portion of the people who had migrated from Juhe County from Xiling County guessed that it might have been Cui Heng’s doing. However, it was only a guess. Most of them thought that the Yan bandit army had committed too many injustices and suffered the wrath of the heavens.
In this ancient society, feudal superstitions were the mainstream values.
“Of course I went to take a look. Seeing is believing.” Ren Yuankui smiled and said, “The river is surging, and the lake water and smoke are indeed astonishing. It’s simply a creation of nature!
“If this was really caused by a single person, then the Governor of Lu County would be an Immortal Saint walking in the mortal world, an invincible Buddha. Unfortunately… Hmph!”
“Oh?” Seeing this, Wei Xiong hurriedly asked, “Governor Ren has clues to the truth?”.
“Hehe, actually, it’s not much of a clue. Many of the county governor’s spies should have already found out.” Ren Yuankui smiled and said, “Guess who our spies saw in Lu County
City?”
“Who?” Wei Xiong asked curiously.
“Zhou Hongyi!” Ren Yuankui clapped his hands and said with a smile, “In fact, when the so-called giant river connected the deep pits and gathered the river water into a lake, it was Zhou Hongyi who did it.”
“Zhou Hongyi, isn’t he the personal disciple of the Daoyi Palace’s Sect Master, Zhang Shuming?” Wei Xiong was instantly bewildered when he heard this. Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and he suddenly jolted as if he had suddenly thought of something. “You mean to say that all of this is actually Daoyi Palace…”
“That’s right!” Ren Yuankui nodded and said solemnly, “If I’m not wrong, this Cui Heng has been a chess piece of the Daoyi Palace from the beginning, a chess piece that interfered with the once every 100-years Immortal Opportunities event, and even the interests of the human world!
Perhaps you don’t know yet, but just a few days ago, this Lu County Governor has already started to send letters to the various county governors, openly proclaiming that he wants to be a State Overseer. He even asked us to behave ourselves.”
“Yes, then everything can be explained!” Wei Xiong felt that everything had suddenly become clear. He smiled and said, “A person with no background became a Governor in just a few months. He even did shocking things one after another and wanted to fight for the position of State Overseer.
It’s obviously impossible to do this with just one person’s strength. There must be an extremely powerful force secretly adding fuel to the fire. And the force that can fake the summoning of wind and rain, or even collapse the earth and connect rivers, is definitely the Daoyi Palace!
Daoyi Palace claims to have a legacy passed down for 10,000 years and has an extremely deep foundation. It’s unknown how many Immortal artifacts are hidden there. Their martial arts are also very close to nature. It’s very likely that they have Immortal artifacts that can affect the weather for a short period of time!
If I had the power of an Immortal artifact and the help of a Deity Realm expert, it’s not impossible to dig a huge hole in the ground in advance to set up a trap. It’s enough to forge a world-shaking divine power!
Using the so-called ‘Great Divine Power’ twice to strengthen Cui Heng’s might, he took the opportunity when his might was at its strongest to send a letter to the Governors of the various counties to demonstrate his might, intending to subdue them without a fight!
Alright, what a good plan! As expected of the head of the Dao Sect, Daoyi Palace is really good at scheming. It’s no small matter.”
After a round of review, the two of them clearly analyzed Cui Heng’s “true appearance”. Ever since Cui Heng appeared, every major thing he did could point to the schemes of Daoyi Palace!
“That’s right. This Daoyi Palace is not simple.” Ren Yuankui smiled bitterly and said, “Cui Heng is at most a chess piece of the Daoyi Palace. He’s nothing much, but the Daoyi Palace behind him is extremely troublesome.
Don’t worry, I won’t hide it from you. If not for the fact that I had already handed over 40% of my taxes to win the support of the Ye and Jiang Families, I really wouldn’t have wanted to fight for the position of State Overseer. Now, I have no choice but to do this.”
“Hehe, don’t tell me you’re going to give up the position of State Overseer to Cui Heng.” Wei Xiong saw through his thoughts and sneered. “Don’t even think about bargaining. Even if you don’t fight for the position of State Overseer and let Cui Heng take it, with his political authority, you’ll also be hung on the flagpole.”
“Hahaha, since Sir can also tell, I won’t bargain anymore.” Ren Yuankui’s expression changed as he laughed again. “Actually, I’ve discussed this with the other county governors before and finally thought of a solution.
Since Cui Heng has the support of Daoyi Palace, why don’t we just look for the enemies of Daoyi Palace?”
“You mean… the Baolin Buddhist Hall?” Wei Xiong was stunned for a moment before he laughed loudly. “Haha, that’s true. That group of monks are indeed mortal enemies with the Daoists of the Daoyi Palace!
In that case, Cui Heng will be sandwiched between the two giants, the Daoyi Palace and the Baolin Buddhist Hall. Under the pull of the two sides, it’s impossible for him to sit in the position of the State Overseer.
In the end, you will still be able to take that seat through normal procedures.”
Bang!
At this moment, there was a loud noise outside, as if the door had been kicked open. Immediately after, two figures were thrown in.
“Who is it!” Ren Yuankui shouted sternly. “Someone, come quickly! There’s an assassin!”
“Whoever dares to approach will be killed on the spot!” Hui Shi pulled out the steel saber at his waist and casually slashed out a 30-foot saber beam, blocking the group of soldiers outside. Then, he looked at Ren Yuankui.
“You’re County Governor Luo’an? I’m the envoy of Governor Lu. I have a letter for you. Come and receive it!”