Liu Xin laughed and said: "Pang Taishou has just passed forty years this year, it is the time when men are the most attractive, how can it be said that he is not young." In the small village where I used to live, an eighty-year-old man married an eighteen-year-old lady, and there is a poem that describes it well: eighteen brides and eighty langs, with pale hair and red makeup. The mandarin ducks are made into a double night, and a pear flower presses the begonia. ”

If Liu Xin didn't treat him as his own, it would be impossible to joke with him casually, Pang Ji thought of this, and also laughed, and praised: "The lord is really good." ”

Liu Xin hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Pang Taishou said that he was joking, I don't have any literary talent, this poem was not written by me, but improvised by a private school gentleman in our village to make fun of that old man." ”

Zhang Xian, a famous lyricist in the Northern Song Dynasty, married an eighteen-year-old concubine at the age of eighty. At that time, Su Shi, who often sang poems and harmony with Zhang Xian, visited him with many friends and asked the old gentleman how he felt about this beautiful family, so Zhang Xian casually read: "I am eighty years old and eighteen, and I am red and I have white hair." It is the same as the Qing upside down, only separated by a sixtieth in the middle. The humorous Su Dongpo immediately made a song: "Eighteen brides and eighty langs, pale hair and red makeup." The mandarin ducks are made into a double night, and a pear flower presses the begonia. ”

Liu Xin doesn't remember many poems, when he watched Zhou Xingchi's movie, there was a classic line "I am known as Yushu Linfeng, suave, handsome and chic, talented and high-minded, rich and five-car, known as a pear flower pressing begonia, and people give him the nickname ......" left the deepest impression on him. Liu Xin didn't quite understand what "a pear flower pressed begonia" meant, and specially searched on the Internet, and found the poem by Su Dongpo and Zhang Xian, the language was witty and humorous, but he remembered it in his heart.

However, Liu Xin can shamelessly steal other poems for himself, but he doesn't dare to admit that this poem was written by himself, if it reaches Ma Yun's ears, it would be strange if he didn't scold him for being a dog.

Pang Ji praised it: "I can't imagine that a private school gentleman can have such a talent, and the small mountain village where the lord lives is really not simple." ”

Liu Xin smiled and said, "Don't talk about this." Pang Taishou, I have already read the letter I asked people to bring to you. If you have any ideas, just say it, don't have any worries. ”

Pang Ji knew that he was starting to get to the point now, so he hurriedly sat up straight and said, "My subordinates don't have any opinions on the things mentioned by the lord in the letter. ”

Liu Xin nodded and said, "Well, I'll tell you more about the situation......

On the basis of separating the military from the government in the five counties of Xiangyang and Nanyang, and through the investigation of Jiangxia and Wuling, Liu Xin already had a relatively clear idea of the basic structure of local political power. He explained in detail to Pang Ji the new terms and concepts of civil power, financial power, taxation power, military command power, and personnel appointment and dismissal power. The Taishou only held the power of civil affairs, and each county had a lieutenant to lead the local army, and a tax collector under the direct leadership of the prefecture to be in charge of local taxation.

Although Taishou did not have the right to military command and taxation, Liu Xin increased the right to appoint and dismiss personnel for Taishou, and in the future, the subordinate officials in the county and the county orders of each county will be appointed and dismissed by Taishou, as long as the situation of these officials is reported to the state pastoral office for the record, which Pang Ji did not expect. In the past, Taishou could only appoint and dismiss officials, but could not appoint and dismiss officials. Pang Ji didn't expect Liu Xin to delegate this power to him, and he couldn't help but be surprised.

Not only that, but what makes Pang Ji even happier is that the taxes are now collected and paid by the state pastoral government, and all the officials in Jingzhou are uniformly distributed by the state pastoral government according to the regulations, so that a relatively poor county like Guiyang will not have to worry about arrears of officials, and the burden on him, the taishou, will be much lighter.

After continuing to listen to Liu Xin's introduction to agriculture and commerce, Pang Ji's heart became more and more confident, and he was also full of longing for the future of Guiyang. Pang Ji's originally nervous mood gradually relaxed, and then he realized that he had forgotten to hand over the things to Liu Xin, and hurriedly took out two books from his arms and said, "There is still an important matter that my subordinates have forgotten, please forgive the lord." ”

Pang Ji wanted to hand over these two things to Liu Xin yesterday, but as soon as he arrived in Wuling, he was pulled by Liu Xin to attend the dinner. said that it was a dinner party, but it actually started in the afternoon and ended until Pang Ji was drunk. Pang Ji also wanted to talk about it at the banquet, but as soon as he mentioned it, he was interrupted by Liu Xin in the name of not talking about business.

Liu Xin understands Pang Ji's complicated mood very well, anyone in Pang Ji's situation will be a little nervous, and it is inevitable to lose three or four, so there is no intention to blame him. Liu Xin took the two books, with a gift list on the top and a letter below.

He flipped through the bill, smiled, and tossed it aside. When he opened the letter again, the expression on his face became solemn, and he was silent for a long time before he asked, "Does Pang Taishou know what is written in this letter?" ”

Pang Ji bowed and said: "Back to the lord, Lingling Taishou Zhang Zhi only said that he asked his subordinates to hand over this letter to the lord, and it is inconvenient for his subordinates to ask in detail, so I don't know what the letter says." ”

Liu Xin gently closed the letter and said, "Zhang Shi said in the letter that he wanted to invite me to Lingling. ”

Pang Ji also recalled what Zhang Zhi had said to him at this time, so he arched his hand and said: "Lord, Zhang Zhi did put forward this idea with his subordinates, and asked his subordinates to wait for the arrival of the lord in Lingling with him, but his subordinates thought about it again and again and did not agree. ”

Liu Xin nodded approvingly at him and said, "Pang Taishou, you did the right thing in this matter, but I am still going to Lingling." ”

Pang Ji has now bet all the treasures on Liu Xin, he is still Guiyang Taishou, but the burden on his body is much lighter than before, he still thinks that one day he can live to the age of a pear flower pressing a begonia, but he doesn't want Liu Xin, the leader, to have anything wrong, and hurriedly said: "Lord, this matter must not be!" His subordinates have been friends with Zhang Shi for many years, and this person has quite a city government, and he proposed to invite the lord to go to Lingling, which must have bad intentions. ”

Liu Xin Zhengse said: "Pang Taishou, you don't know yet, the conditions mentioned by Zhang Zhi in the letter are really impossible to refuse." In the letter, he said that he didn't want to be too guarded, and asked me to go to Lingling to personally settle all affairs with me. In any case, I will not allow Lingling County to study outside Jingzhou as it did in the past, and if what Zhang Shi said is true, it will not be a big move and the lives of people will be ruined. ”

Pang Ji continued to persuade: "Lord, Zhang Zhi wants to invite the lord to Lingling, his subordinates know about it, but he doesn't want to continue to serve as a taishou, but he has never heard him mention a word. The subordinates are worried that there is fraud here, and please think twice! ”

Liu Xin waved his hand and said, "Pang Taishou, you don't have to worry. Back then, Emperor Gaozu faced Xiang Yu's hundreds of thousands of troops, and still calmly went to the Hongmen banquet, could it be that when it came to me, he would be afraid that he would be too guarded? If Zhang Zhi is smart enough, he will honestly do what he said in his letter, and I will arrange a suitable position for him in Xiangyang. If he dares to deceive, hum! I'll make him die ugly! ”

Pang Ji didn't dare to persuade again, got up and said: "Since the lord is determined to go, his subordinates are willing to accompany the lord to go with him." ”

Liu Xin pointed to the gift list and said with a smile: "Pang Taishou, Guiyang can't do without you, Lingling's affairs won't be hard for you, I will immediately arrange people to escort you back to Guiyang." Also, I have received your heart, as for these gifts, you should take them back. As long as you govern Guiyang well and let the people of Guiyang live a good life, it will be the best gift for me. ”

Pang Ji didn't know that Liu Xin didn't like to accept gifts, but he didn't look down on what he sent. It is understandable for Pang Ji to think like this, all he sent was some gold and silver and beauties, gold and silver aside, the four women he picked up alone were not as good as the two that Liu Xin sent to his room yesterday in terms of appearance. Pang Ji secretly made up his mind that in the future, he must find a way to pick a few treasures that Liu Xin would look at and give them to him.

Liu Xin dared to go to Lingling, and he was not brave, he was silent just now, and he was also analyzing the current situation.

At that time, the economy of Jiangnan was far less developed than that of Jiangbei, and Jingzhou had four counties in Jiangnan, of which the best situation was Changsha, and the worst were Lingling and Guiyang. According to Liu Xin's understanding, the two counties have deducted military salaries and defaulted on officials' salaries from time to time, and Pang Ji also said that the taxes he has withheld in the past two years have been used to reissue officials' salaries. The money and food are insufficient, so naturally they can't afford to raise too many soldiers and horses, Cao Yu, who is in a slightly better situation than the two of them, only had 7,000 people in Wuling City at the beginning, and Zhang Zhi can use the most 5,000 people in his hands.

Now stationed outside Wuling City is the Fourth Army led by Zhao Yun, with more than 12,000 troops, and Liu Xin has 200 Flying Tiger guards around him, both in terms of numbers and combat effectiveness, which are far stronger than Zhang Shi.

What's more, if Zhang Zhi dares to plot against Liu Xin, he will definitely not dare to make a noise, and his plan can only be known to a few henchmen. Otherwise, not only will the matter be easily leaked, but no one can say whether the officials of Lingling will learn from Cao Yu's subordinates and arrest him first. As a result, he has fewer people at his disposal.

However, Zhang Zhi took the initiative to invite Liu Xin to Lingling, which was indeed a good move. If Liu Xin didn't dare to come to Lingling, it wouldn't be his problem. I want to serve you, but if you don't want it, who can blame you?

What if Liu Xin really dared to come to Lingling? Zhang Zhi did not think about this question, however, he quickly gave a negative answer. I, Zhang Shi, didn't dare to go to Wuling, in addition to not wanting to hand over power, another reason was that I was afraid that Liu Xin would take the opportunity to cause harm. His Liu Xin's life is much more expensive than my Zhang Zhijin, let him come to Lingling, does he dare? Borrow him ten dares, and he won't dare.

Zhang Shi was lying on the couch, still proud that he could come up with such a clever plan, and his subordinates suddenly came in to report that Jingzhou Mu Liu Xin had arrived in Lingling!