"There are thousands of bird sounds in the New Year, and the poplar flowers are all over Luffy in February."

Yangzhou is in the south, and it is much earlier than Chang'an in the north. Li Ke returned to Yangzhou after two months, and the frosty and white willows on both sides of the canal have already turned a light green.

On the willow trees, snow-white, fuzzy catkins are flying all over the February sky in Yangzhou against the soft breeze. Sometimes there are those that fall in the water, and they are as crystal clear as snowflakes floating on the river.

Today, the bustling and bustling Yangzhou Jiangdu Ferry seemed particularly quiet. Even the merchant ships that were coming and going were gone. The water surface that should have been slightly crowded became very wide and the entire dock was vacant, because today the gentle Yangzhou City was waiting for his master to sail south.

"The Grand Governor is here, the Grand Governor is here." As not far from the ferry, an official boat gradually appeared. The crowd who were standing quietly on the ferry and waiting suddenly became lively. Looking at the boats on the water not far away, they said one after another.

Zhu Cong, the newly promoted Yangzhou governor, and Ma Zhou, Sima of the Yangzhou Grand Governor's Office, looked at each other, raised their hands and gave in, and walked forward.

Last year, Ma Zhou was praised by Li Ke as the Sima of the Grand Governor's Office of Yangzhou for his contribution to stabilizing Huainan after Li Ke's capture. He was in the fourth rank. In terms of official rank, he was much lower than Zhu Cong, the governor of Yangzhou who was in the third rank. However, Ma Zhou was Li Ke's confidant. He was in Yangzhou for the power of the Le Ke and was in charge of Yangzhou's military and political affairs. He had a bit of competing with Zhu Cong, who governed the people, and Zhu Cong dared not neglect it.

A moment later, when the official ship Li Ke was on the dock, Ma Zhou and Zhu Cong stepped forward together and bowed to Li Ke who was disembarking towards him: "I am the governor of Yangzhou Zhu Cong, and Ma Zhou, I am the governor."

Ma Zhou was Li Ke's confidant, so Li Ke naturally didn't have to be very polite. Since the assassination of Luzhou, Zhu Cong also joined Li Ke's disciple. However, Zhu Cong was also a member of the country after all, and Li Ke should not neglect it.

Li Ke came forward in person, raised his hand and helped Zhu Cong up, and smiled at Zhu Cong, "Governor Zhu is interested, please get up quickly."

"Thank you, Governor." Zhu Cong responded and stood up. Behind Zhu Cong stood up, everyone who was originally worshiping behind him also stood up.

"Is the governor Zhu used to staying in Yangzhou?" Zhu Cong stood up and walked half a step behind Li Ke. Li Ke glanced at Zhu Cong beside him and asked Zhu Cong.

Zhu Cong replied carefully: "When I first came, I was not familiar with Yangzhou's government affairs, but I got help from Binwang. After asking for advice a few more times, I gradually became familiar with it."

Zhu Cong's words seemed to be grateful to Ma Zhou, but in fact they were expressing loyalty to Li Ke.

The former governor of Yangzhou, He Xiu, did not buy Li Ke's account, and seemed to be far away from Li Ke, but was distant from Li Ke. He was transferred from Zhu Cong here by Li Ke's excuses. Ma Zhou was Li Ke's confidant. Zhu Cong asked Ma Zhou for advice, but was just asking Li Ke's meaning. Zhu Cong was telling Li Ke that he, the governor of Yangzhou, was not like He Xiu, and he should follow Li Ke's orders and obey the orders.

When Li Ke heard the sound of Zhiya, he smiled and said to Zhu Cong: "Governor Zhu is intent."

Zhu Cong heard Li Ke's words and said respectfully: "I am the subordinate of the Grand Commander. I have received the grace of the Grand Commander. Today, the Grand Commander calls me as an official name. I will never be able to be the Grand Commander. The Grand Commander will only call me as a deed in the future."

Yangzhou is the foundation of Li Ke. Li Ke transferred Zhu Cong from Luzhou to Yangzhou, and the intention of using Zhu Cong as his confidant was self-evident. If Li Ke only called Zhu Cong's official name, he would inevitably feel that there was an extra layer of estrangement and no closeness, so Zhu Cong said this.

Li Ke also knew Zhu Cong's meaning and smiled and said, "Haha, Wei Zhen (Zhu Cong's word) is very true, but I am not here to see you."

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At the Jiangdu Ferry Crossing, Li Ke was still greeting Zhu Cong. At this time, Li Ke didn't know that in a teahouse not far from the Ferry Crossing, a woman was staring at him quietly through the half-open window.

If Li Ke were here, he would definitely be able to recognize this person, because this woman was not someone else, but Xiao Yuexian, who had been entangled with him for a long time.

Since the Huai River flood, Xiao Yuexian took Li Ke away from Jiangling, but he deliberately tried to escape from Li Ke by using water bandits to attack the boat on Honghu. After disappearing for half a year, he returned to Yangzhou.

"This Zhu Cong is a good luck. Li Ke was assassinated in Luzhou, but he made him confusedly obtain the title of protecting the emperor and jumped into the governor of Yangzhou." Xiao Yuexian looked at Zhu Cong who was following Li Ke at the ferry entrance and snorted softly.

Qing'er, who was standing behind Xiao Yuexian, heard this and glanced at Zhu Cong who followed Li Ke from a distance, saying disdainfully: "The governor of Luzhou and the governor of Yangzhou are all governors. I don't expect that Zhu Cong is such a person of such a power. For this little bit of rank, he is willing to be a lackey for Li Ke."

Yangzhou was Shangzhou, and the governor of Yangzhou was in the third rank, while Luzhou was in the Zhongzhou, and the governor of Luzhou was in the fourth rank. The difference between the third rank and the fourth rank was indeed only half the difference. When I heard about it, there was not much difference.

But after hearing Qing'er's words, Xiao Yuexian shook his head and smiled and said, "Qing'er, you don't know anything. Although the Yangzhou Governor and the Luzhou Governor are only half a rank, they are a world of difference.

Not to mention that the Yangzhou governor is in a dangerous position, Zhu Cong had Li Ke in the court to show his attention, and in the future, he would be promoted to the position of worshiping the nine ministers. It would be not easy to do just the fourth rank to the third rank, and it would be impossible to do it for ten years. Zhu Cong had no military achievements, and with his current age, he could reach this point."

Qing'er looked surprised when she heard this. She never thought that this Jin official, who seemed to be a third-rank rank, had such interests mixed behind her.

Qing'er said, "As soon as He Xiu has left, and Zhu Cong is used by Li Ke, so it's even more difficult for us to go step by step in Yangzhou."

When Xiao Yuexian heard this, he looked at the people at the ferry, but his eyes were inadvertently turned to Ma Zhou behind Li Ke. Xiao Yuexian said, "Although Zhu Cong is talented, it is just that. What really makes me uneasy is Ma Zhou behind Li Ke. This person seems ordinary and has little reputation. However, last year, he was ordered to stabilize the southeast when Li Ke disappeared. It is really great. I don't know where Li Ke got such a minister."

Qing'er looked at Xiao Yuexian's face with a worried look and comforted her: "Young lady, don't worry. Although Li Tang had pillar officials like Ma Zhou, there were also many worms that steal Inter Milu, and it was definitely not a single piece of iron."

Xiao Yuexian heard the "country-boring insect" from Qing'er, and suddenly remembered something and asked: "Li Ke has arrived in Yangzhou, and there is news about the transaction in Suzhou Armament. If he mopped the floor for a long time, he would probably have a long night and dreams."

Qing'er said: "Don't worry, little girl, there has been news from the Gusu Military Office. All the swords, bows, guns, and weapons are all ready. Zuo Xianshi has already gone to take it personally."
Chapter completed!