Before daybreak.
Li Yongfang had a nightmare and suddenly sat up on the bed. His eyes were dazed and he was sweating profusely. His heart was restless and his chest felt stuffy. But when he thought about what happened in the dream, he couldn't explain it clearly. He only felt that something bad was about to happen.
"Ye, what's wrong? You haven't been sleeping well these past few days. " The concubine on the same bed also got up. When she saw that Li Yongfang's pajamas were drenched in sweat, she quickly lifted the bed curtain and called for the maid.
Li Yongfang looked outside through the bed curtain. It was dark outside the door and window. Inside the room, there was only a single oil lamp with a veil on it. Inside the lamp, a moth flew in from an unknown place. It was fluttering in the flame, but when it hit the flame, it gave off a black smoke and died.
This wasn't a good omen.
The maid who shared the room got off the bed and walked over to ask. Li Yongfang got off the bed and scratched his head in a daze in front of the oil lamp. The concubine asked the maid to bring some hot water to wipe Li Yongfang's sweat. But Li Yongfang opened the window. He waited for the cool air outside to enter the room before he felt better.
The concubine pulled Li Yongfang's hand, "Ye, the sun isn't up yet. Let's rest a bit more."
"I can't sleep." Li Yongfang waved his hand. He was no longer sleepy. He let the concubine change his wet clothes and sat alone in the room until the rooster crowed and the sun rose. He kept thinking about what he dreamed about. With something on his mind, he didn't stay in the fu. Early in the morning, he went to the yamen of the Thousand Households Office. Everything was normal in the yamen. He called for his advisor to ask if there was anything strange in the city recently.
"Everything is fine in the city recently. Master's business is very stable." The advisor was old. Although he had a natural smile, he was quite nervous standing next to Li Yongfang. This Master You Ji rarely came to the yamen. For him to suddenly come today, could it be that he wanted to check the accounts? "Is there something on your mind, Master?"
Li Yongfang didn't know why he was upset. He sat in the study of the government office, put his hand on the table, and glanced at the stack of documents on the table. He asked, "What are these?"
"These are all properties sold by several cultivators in the city last month. I saw that they were quite cheap, so I bought them for Master. After a few days, we can resell them and make at least twenty to thirty percent profit. "The advisor presented several house deeds to Li Yongfang with both hands, inviting him to look at them.
Li Yongfang, however, waved her hand away and asked impatiently, "Why do these cultivators want to sell their properties? Are they moving away? "
"It's all because of Zhou Qingfeng last month." The advisor smiled and said, "That kid set up some kind of caravan, cooperated with us to purchase goods, and did some kind of insurance claim. He has a lot of tricks. But I think that kid is just trying to cheat people of their money. But that kid's caravan was robbed once. After that, he used the name of Fushun Patrol Officer to wipe out several gangs of old bandits. "
Hmph …
Hearing about the suppression of bandits, Li Yongfang was unhappy and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Liaodong hasn't been peaceful in recent years, and the bandits have become more and more serious. Robberies, kidnappings, murders and robberies, all kinds of complaints were filed one after another. A few years ago, the House of Thousand Households still managed it. Later, some people came to pay their respects, but Li Yongfang completely ignored them. As a result, after Zhou Qingfeng took the position of Patrol Officer, he didn't even say a word and directly killed all the people who came to send money.
The battle to suppress bandits in the suburbs of Shenyang has long spread throughout Liaodong. Now all the peddlers understand that the road from Shenyang to Fushun is much easier to travel than before. This incident won Zhou Qingfeng a great reputation, but it also served as a foil to the muddle-headed and incompetent government of the Great Ming Dynasty. Official Li was especially embarrassed.
Seeing that Li Yongfang was unhappy, the advisor hurriedly said, "Zhou Qingfeng not only killed a lot of people, but also cleaned up a lot of cultivators. It is said that he extorted 4,500 taels from a dozen cultivators. In order to raise money, some people are selling their properties. "
"4,500 taels per person, and a dozen people can have 50,000 or 60,000 taels." Li Yongfang actually knew about this, but at this moment, he still sighed with emotion, "This kid surnamed Zhou really made a lot of money."
"That's right." The advisor also smiled and said, "But more than a month ago, that kid suddenly said that he wanted to go to Oniguchi to find a chance, and he hasn't come back for a long time. However, some news said that Oniguchi is very dangerous now, and even Guo Buyi is trapped in it. Ordinary cultivators are courting death if they go there. I think that kid also died in there. "
The advisor chuckled. He was purposely picking happy things to tell Li Yongfang. Li Yongfang also knew about this news, but he still felt happy when he heard it again. "I also got the news that Jianzhou sent a general to Oniguchi and turned it upside down. Zhou Qingfeng hasn't come back for a long time, so he should be dead. However, the territory in the west of the city has been well managed by him. It's a pity. "
The advisor immediately understood and said with a smile, "Without Guo Buyi's support and Zhou Qingfeng's leadership, the group in the west of the city can only be maintained by a lonely old man." "Recently, I found a few reasons to force the merchants in the city not to do business with them, and I also found some ruffians to make trouble."
"Those people can't hold on for long, so they will naturally lose their hearts." "Master said that it's best to subdue them. That's their blessing. I thank you for your kindness on behalf of those blind people."
Before Zhou Qingfeng went to Oniguchi, he caused a plague in Fushun. Many big families and entangled forces in the city were destroyed. Among them, the focus was on the grass-roots officials used by Li Yongfang to control Fushun.
Li Yongfang didn't know why. He only felt that it seemed that his words didn't work recently, and there were a lot of obedient men. He took a fancy to the group of people trained by Zhou Qingfeng. As a bureaucrat, he subconsciously felt that he should subdue Old Man Sun and the others for his own use. Otherwise, as a guerrilla in Fushun, he couldn't do everything by himself.
In fact, many cultivators in Fushun had been lost in Oniguchi, and there was no news about them. At present, there were a lot of fat meat in Fushun City that could be bitten, not only the forces in the west of the city left by Zhou Qingfeng. However, these people under Zhou Qingfeng were the most united and the most resilient. Although they could make a lot of trouble in more than a month, it was not enough to make Old Man Sun give in.
"Let's hurry up on this matter. If someone is stubborn, we might as well just throw them into prison." Li Yongfang said casually. He was the local emperor of Fushun. It was already the limit of his patience to tolerate the forces in the west of the city for more than a month. The advisor understood and nodded with a smile.
The master and the servant laughed and felt that they would make a lot of money this time. But before Li Yongfang lifted his official robe and left, a servant suddenly rushed in from outside the study. Before he entered the room, he hurriedly shouted, "Advisor, Advisor, something big happened."
"What are you panicking about?" The advisor said angrily. He stood behind Li Yongfang and stretched out his hand, "The lord is here. How can you panic?" But when the servant saw Li Yongfang, he didn't restrain himself. Instead, he shouted even louder, "Master, something big happened."
Li Yongfang frowned and asked with a sullen face, "What happened? Is there a fire in the city? "
"It's not a fire. It's Guo Buyi who came back."
"What?"
"It's Guo Buyi who came back. The people in the city saw his flying boat landing in front of his study. Some people saw Guo Buyi and his daughter, Guo Jiao. But when they came back, they closed the door and refused to see outsiders. His daughter said that she was tired from the journey and didn't want to see anyone. "
Guo Buyi had been away from Fushun for more than half a year, which was much longer than Zhou Qingfeng. But his name was like the shadow of a tree. After leaving for so long, no one dared to go to the Guo family's study. As soon as he came back, Li Yongfang, who was in a good mood, suddenly felt his heart tighten. He was very unhappy. In Fushun, only this great cultivator could wrestle with him.
"It doesn't matter if Guo Buyi comes back. I don't interfere with him. Don't worry too much." Li Yongfang said lightly. Guo Buyi was low-key and rarely fought for power. He didn't have too many conflicts of interest with Li Yongfang.
But the servant's next words made Li Yongfang even more angry. "Not only Guo Buyi came back, but also Zhou Qingfeng from the west of the city. That kid rode a giant wolf and swaggered through the streets, looking very awe-inspiring. Recently, the west of the city has been closed during the day and there are few passers-by. Today, as soon as Zhou Qingfeng came back, all the poor people ran out. They were so happy as if they were picking up gold ingots. "
The name Zhou Qingfeng was like a thorn in Li Yongfang's heart for almost a year. Since last year, when this troublemaker came to Fushun, the whole of Liaodong had been stirred up by him.
Now that he heard that Zhou Qingfeng came back, Li Yongfang felt very uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. Thinking of the nightmare he had before dawn, the guerrilla couldn't help but shout fiercely, "This guy is really annoying. He's so slippery that people can't catch him. This time he came back, I can't be merciful. I have to find a way to get rid of him. "
The advisor had received a lot of benefits from Zhou Qingfeng, but Li Yongfang was very angry. Not only did he not help to persuade him, but he also scolded him. However, Li Yongfang's words were simple, but his servant said with a bitter face, "Master, I'm afraid this time Zhou Qingfeng is a bit difficult to deal with."
"Are you saying that Guo Buyi is back to back him up?" Li Yongfang said disdainfully, "In the past, he wanted to get some benefits from this guy, so I tolerated him. But who doesn't he get benefits from? This scourge really can't be left alive. I don't need to do it directly. I can find a fault and kill this guy. I'm sure Guo Buyi can't say anything. "
Li Yongfang had a lot of experience in using power to suppress people and destroy families, so he didn't find it difficult at all. But this time, his servant still sighed and said, "Master, I'm afraid there's really some trouble this time."
Li Yongfang was annoyed to have her mood dampened by servants one after another. He said sharply, "You dog, always saying such discouraging words. Tell me clearly, what trouble do I have? "
"Not long after Zhou Qingfeng came back, he used his magical power at the west street of the city. He transformed into a terrifying appearance and punched a deep hole in the road at the end of the street. I went to check it out myself. That pit has …. " The servant opened his arms and tried to open them again and again. Finally, he said with a bitter face, "Master, that hole is bigger and deeper than my hand. It's enough to bury dozens of people."
Li Yongfang didn't believe the servant's last words at all. He asked loudly, "A hole made by a fist can bury dozens of people? Are you talking nonsense? No one in the city of Fu Shun could do it, not even Guo Buyi. How can this Zhou boy be so powerful? This is impossible, I don't believe it, I absolutely don't believe it. "
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