After a few tours of drinking, Du Zhongxiao ordered the wine to be removed because he was going to Yongcheng to meet the magistrate in the afternoon.

After drinking a bowl of sobering soup, Du Zhongxiao said to Wei Tao: "A few days ago, a murder case occurred in the state. The deceased was a public man from Yongcheng, with his surname Lu and known as Lu Yuhou. Have you ever heard of this person?"

Wei Tao bowed: "When I work, most of the officials who are in the county know each other, and this Marquis Lu Yu has met several times."

"Then let me ask you, are he familiar with the idle people in the county? Have you ever been mixed up in daily life?"

Wei Tao thought about it and replied honestly: "I have never heard of this man being mixed with a gangster. However, he is a relative with a wealthy family in the county who is a gangster, and has a lot of contacts. That gangster is very wealthy and has dated all kinds of people."

Du Zhongxiao asked, and then he found out that Yongcheng was close to the Bian River, with a developed business and a few large merchants who made money by relying on the river. Yaren, the surname Ma, was one of them. After working on this Yaren for a long time, he had a strong capital, and had all kinds of businesses, and his family was rich.

Guilds and Yaren were the two keys of business in the Song Dynasty, which was very different from Du Zhongxiao's business model in his previous life. The government of merchants who lived in the same place were mainly governed by the guilds, whether it was tax collection, statutory payment or purchase, mostly through guilds. For merchants from other places, they mainly used Yaren. When they arrived at a certain place, they did not sell the goods themselves, but through Yaren, or found customers, or asked Yaren to underwrite them.

The yaman has a special identity. He is connected to the government, to the merchants selling goods, and to the buyers. He is the core of business. Some wealthy and powerful yamans monopolize a certain industry in a certain place and have a very generous profit. Du Zhongxiao read "Water Margin" in his previous life, and when Zhang Shun was not in the past, the fishermen dared not sell fish. This is the reason. Only when the yaman arrives can the price be set.

Whether it is a guild or a yakusai, it is not a spontaneous organization among the people. It has a close relationship with the government and is a tool for the official to manage business.

Du Zhongxiao asked about the situation of Ma Yaren's surname again in detail and frowned. It turned out that this Yaren is not only rich and powerful, but also has close ties with the government. Many idle people in Yongcheng County, even the yamen officials, have close ties with him.

Seeing that it was getting late, Du Zhongxiao stood up and said to Wei Tao: "I'll go to the county town to visit the magistrate. You can prepare here. If it is inconvenient in the county town, you might have to rest here. The inspection village and the county town should be kept on both sides of the Bian Canal, and there are people on both sides of the inspection camp."

Wei Tao sent Du Zhongxiao onto the ferry all the way, and parted with his hands.

On the boat, Du Zhongxiao looked at the endless ships on the river and said to Chai Xin beside him: "Send someone out and check the details of Yaren, the surname Ma, I just talked about. Remember, don't expose your actions, which makes people wary. Otherwise, our affairs will be difficult to handle in the future."

Chai Xin agreed and discussed with Kongmu Jin Shuzhao and sent a clever official to investigate. This was someone brought by Jin Shuzhao. He used to investigate cases and had rich experience.

After crossing the Bian River, the magistrate He Kun had already brought officials and others outside the city and welcomed Du Zhongxiao into the city.

When he arrived at the county government office, Du Zhongxiao gave a routine statement and finally said: "A few days ago, a major case occurred in the city. The victim is a public servant named Lu from you. Can the magistrate know about this matter?"

He Kun bowed: "The county has received official documents from the state, asking us to find out the identity of the surname Lu. The surname Lu is innocent, but the state wants to find out his whereabouts in the past few years. It took some time and has not been transferred back."

"Oh, a public official, what are the things he has handled over the years, especially what official duties he has gone to the state city? Is it still difficult to investigate?"

He Kun sighed: "What happened a few years ago is so simple in the county, so how could I remember it so clearly. I had to ask each other alone. There were too many people asking, but I was afraid that someone would remember it wrong, so it was difficult to do it."

Du Zhongxiao was silent for a while and did not speak. According to the fact that the transfer of official documents in the yamen should be recorded. Remember clearly what matters, when, and whoever sends them. However, the county is a small place, so it is difficult to explain whether it is so strict. Du Zhongxiao was an official at the beginning and did not understand the actual affairs of the yamen, so it was difficult to directly question the place.

As for more detailed matters, the magistrate He Kun didn't know much about it. In the countryside, autumn grain, urban commercial taxes, and ships coming and going on the Bian River, there were things almost every day, so he could not focus on such a small matter. The murder did not happen in the county town, but the county just helped to understand the situation of the deceased, and it was enough for a public official to do enough documents.

After talking about miscellaneous things, He Kuncai said: "It's autumn now, and the last time the grain is offered, there are many ships coming and going on the river. Every day, because the boatmen and boatmen are not inadequate enough food and clothing, or disputes over goods, there are countless chaos. Cheng County Wei is at the dock outside the city every day, and most of the county officials are transferred there, especially inadequate. When they are engaged, they can go there more often to resolve disputes in their daily lives."

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are envoys to inspect the rivers in the canal transportation affairs, so why bother too much? As long as we manage the place well, we should not let the villagers get into trouble. How can we manage everything in a county?"

He Kun sighed: "That's the case, but many things cannot be divided so clearly. There are docks here, and there are many merchants from Jingxi Road who buy and sell here, and do business with the canal ships on the river. They have enough capital and have a lot of people. Once something happens, they often have a wide connection. How many dozens of archers in the county can suppress them. It's not a big case, so it's difficult for the inspection camp to come forward, and the county is very difficult."

The annual grain transported to the capital city by the Bian River is 6 million shi. This is an official grain transported by the boatman. The boatman uses sergeants, and the boatman hires soldiers and civilians. In order to save costs, the rewards are very low. As a compensation, they are allowed to transport private goods on official ships. That is, the official ship transport rice is loaded with 80% of the official goods, and the remaining 20% ​​are allowed to transport private goods. This item alone has extremely considerable commercial value.

Many of the grain ships from Jianghuai were traded in Yongcheng area, and exchanged goods from Jinghu to Beijing north, making the commerce in this area particularly busy. The grain ships transporting grain were always connected together, and if there were disputes, they were not resolved by a county town. The inspection camps were in charge of local security, and the commercial disputes of Bianhe ships did not interfere. Du Zhongxiao's role was to coordinate the two parties.

Du Zhongxiao asked about the business situation on both sides of the Bian River and frowned. Things were much more complicated than he had originally thought. The scale of commercial activities involved in the official canal ship was very large, and coupled with the private merchant ships on the river that were endless all night, the business in this area was very prosperous.

However, there are not many profits for prosperous commercial areas. The court built several places here, and the commercial tax was directly taken away. This was completely different from his previous life. The local area was carrying the burden of governance but did not get any benefits, so it was very difficult to manage. For example, the public security force, Yongcheng was equipped with more than 70 archers according to the specifications of the county. The burden of raising these archers was mostly used to serve the transportation of the Bian River, which was not beneficial. The idea of ​​facing prosperous business and using the means of the previous life to stimulate the local area was not practical at all.
Chapter completed!