Chapter 480 – The Pen Can Kill
The next days Xue Mu lived quite relaxed and leisurely, unlike in the capital that the surface of the palace free, but in reality, there is always the tension of the rain. He didn’t need to do any more scheming, and he didn’t even have any enemies in the short term. He just practiced regularly every morning and evening, usually wrote songs and dramas, and when he wanted to take a break, he corruptly recruited Qianxue and the Night Dance Troupe, with Meng Lan’s zither music, and they all gave him a one-man show.
He then lay in Zhuo Qingqing’s arms, squinting his eyes and beating the beat to watch the girls sing and dance and offer their favors, and the beauty guards fed him fruits to eat.
When he was in the mood, he pulled over Qianxue for a burst of nibbling, and the Acacia Demonesses ate and laughed as they dispersed.
This kind of day is actually not any different from the emperor.
A few days ago and Zhang Bai Ling discussed the development, not not go to do, but at this time is not suitable to do, even the city officials feel that this lord of the city eighty percent to remove the situation, things are not good to do, it is better to wait for the Chajuqin ambassador to take care of it.
Of course during the rest, his mind is also turning the development of ideas.
Zhang Bai Ling’s suggestion was very clear and easy to implement, he had already asked the demonesses to secretly collect the corruption status of the officials in Ling Zhou City so that they could act at any time. This is good to say, but about the “city construction”, the suggestion is good, but how to do it still needs to be considered.
When he first arrived in Lingzhou, he felt that the city planning of Lingzhou was not as good as the capital, and the east and west were in a mess. But urban planning involves demolition and relocation of such very troublesome things, afraid of a moment is not good to do, should wait until the authority is established before doing. Then right now should focus on what aspects of priority?
First of all, paving roads, this is something that can be done directly. The capital city Lingzhou section of the cement road pilot has begun to pave, looking for the divine opportunity door to ask for a batch of cement to the Lingzhou city road with, is not difficult.
Secondly, brainstorming about the feeling of a tight cement road, Xue Mu quickly thought of an underground drainage system.
The city drainage system in this world was more primitive, only aiming to keep the road surface from becoming waterlogged when it rained, Xue Mu from the modern era naturally knew that the use of the drainage system wasn’t limited to this. Done well, maybe thousands of households can also come to the point where they can get rid of the primitive toilets …… At the same time, maybe it can also help with irrigation outside the city.
As long as these could be done well step by step, he would be the most prestigious city lord in the history of Spirit State, bar none.
“I need the assistance of an expert from the Divine Mechanic Sect. I can only have the general idea, and I need a real expert to implement it.” Xue Mu lay in Zhuo Qingqing’s arms and whispered, “Help me send a letter to Li Yingqing, and send someone to help out, favoring the direction of architectural research.”
“Shen Ji Sect has government offices in the city, there are also city division officials in the city.”
“Not enough, I want an expert, not something to do some gadgets.”
Zhuo Qingqing and Meng Lan exchanged a glance, the two women had a heart-to-heart. Meng Lan put up her pen to write a letter, and while borrowing someone from Li Yingqing, she added, “…… A mature and stable old man is preferable.”
They are all afraid of another Ye Lujing ……
In fact, the girls are too worried, the Divine Mechanic Sect wants to find women are difficult to find, not to mention the “experts”, without them to say that it is only possible to be an old man ah.
Xue Mu didn’t pay attention to the girls’ small movements, still sighing to himself: “It’s a good thing there’s a Shen Ji Sect in the world. Otherwise, in a world where everyone practices martial arts, the quality of life would have to drop at least a hundred times.”
Zhuo Qingqing couldn’t help but say, “Hmph …… the Tsa Jiuzhu ambassador is coming, does Gongzi have an idea? Should we go and kill him? It’s a time like this to see if Gongzi still needs force.”
“Killing this kind of thing, it doesn’t always need to be done with your hands ……”
The days passed by, Li Yingqing received the letter without a second thought and immediately sent an expert to help Xue Mu. The expert has not yet moved, the court inspection and examination envoy first arrived in Lingzhou.
In this world, there is no imperial examination, and the system used by officials to enter the civil service is the probation system, which is similar to the ancient filial piety and honesty, plus part of the combination of the martial arts examination, and the martial arts examiners mainly enter the Department of Six Sectors.
At the beginning of the year, the examination is not only to assess the new official recommendation, but more importantly, to assess the performance evaluation of grassroots officials, whether it is promoted or demoted depends on this time.
In Xue Mu’s eyes, the entire bureaucratic system is relatively rough, with strong traces of rule of man, and the power of the inspectors and envoys is strangely large, so according to reason, the productivity of this world shouldn’t correspond to such a structural relationship. It’s probably still an aberration caused by the world of martial arts, and it’s pretty good that it’s not slavery.
Xue Mu had always suspected that if the Harmonized Daoists were to appear in this world, too outrageous a difference in individual strength would likely cause social relations to regress back to slavery. From this perspective alone, he didn’t want anyone to merge with the Dao.
Of course, if his own sister merged with the Dao, then there would be no problem.
Chaju Envoy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Liu Yong stepped into Ling Zhou and stepped off the carriage, he narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the city. He knew what the biggest significance of his visit to Ling Zhou was.
It was nothing more than a passing gesture to get Xue Mu, the derelict city lord, out of the way, so that even the Noble Consort and Princess had no reason to back him up. As long as he didn’t have the name of the city lord of Spirit State, Xue Mu couldn’t do a lot of things and lost his development backlash.
Thinking of the stern look in the eyes of the Crown Prince when he explained his mission, Liu Yong’s heart still had some palpitations. Having interacted with the Crown Prince for almost ten years, he had never seen such a stern look in the eyes of the always calm Crown Prince, an expression that chose to devour people.
Having just walked into this city without walls, Liu Yong froze for a moment. He had not notified the officials of Ling Zhou of his arrival in advance, and he had expected no one to come to greet him, but at this time several little demonesses appeared in front of him, smilingly waiting by the roadside: “How are you, Servant Liu!”
A group of guards nervously protect Liu Yong in the center, looking at the interview plate hanging on the neck of the leading demoness, Liu Yong cautiously asks, “What is the meaning of this from the Star Moon Sect?”
“No no.” The demoness in the lead smiles and says, “I am Star Moon reporter Lai Xiaorui, regarding this probation, the people of Lingzhou are very concerned, I wonder if I can interview Servant Liu about some issues?”
“No comment!” Liu Yong knows in his heart that he can’t be taken into the ditch by the Star Moon Demoness, and whisks his sleeves to get on the carriage.
“Eh eh eh ……” Lai Xiaorui chased after him, “The imperial court inspection is a major event in the world, Servant General Liu was interviewed in Kyoto and said that he will definitely be impartial in his assessment, so as not to make the wild have leftover sages, and not to let the worms in the hall. How come you can’t speak to people when you are in Lingzhou?”
Liu Yong coldly said, “Didn’t you already know what should be said?”
“Can you say what you think about Ling Zhou? The people of Ling Zhou are eager to know.”
Liu Yong was annoyed by this cowhide-like little demoness tugging at him and angrily said, “This envoy hasn’t observed Spirit State yet, so what can I think?”
Ri Xiaorui blinks, “For example, what do you think about the green houses in Ling Zhou?”
Liu Yong froze, laughing in his heart, this little girl is a bit stupid, right, what is the benefit of exposing yourself to Lingzhou’s greenhouses right after opening your mouth? He asked back with a smile on his face, “So Lingzhou is famous for its green houses? Such a trend, it’s a long time to learn.”
Without waiting for Lai Xiaorui to regret his slip of the tongue, he immediately hurriedly boarded the carriage, “Go to the county governor’s mansion!”
Lai Xiaorui eyed the carriage as it went away, an amused smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
The people of Lingzhou found the news of “Chaju Envoy to Lingzhou” on today’s Lingzhou Daily News, with a reporter’s interview attached.
It reads as follows, “Servant Liu arrived in Ling Zhou after traveling in the dust and is very interested in the local green houses.”
Liu Yong reads the newspaper in the county governor’s residence, his hands shaking: “Outrageous! This is slander! Star Moon Sect reporters are so shameless!”
Zhang Bai Ling smiled and added tea for him, “It doesn’t matter, the Spirit State Daily is still under the auspices of Department Six, would it be alright for my humble servant to accompany Servant Liu to negotiate?”
Liu Yong anxiously followed Zhang Bai Ling to Department Six, and when he entered the door, he saw Li Xiaorui sitting there with a smile on his face. Liu Yong was furious: “How dare you fabricate this official’s words?”
Li Xiaorui blinked her eyes: “I didn’t make it up, when I asked about the green house, Servant Liu was really more interested than before.”
Liu Yong is so angry that he spits out blood: “This official is not interested! You must clarify!”
Ri Xiaorui shrinks his shoulders pitifully, “Oh …… I know.”
Early the next morning, a new issue of the daily newspaper came out, and it was clearly written, “Servant Liu has seen a lot of things, and the local green house was coldly received.”
Liu Yong, who was eating breakfast, almost sprayed a mouthful of old blood on his dinner plate.