In the matter of the Long family, Sun Bi was still more cautious than Li Ling, so he not only sent people to Liping as agreed, but also wrote a letter to report everything here to Xiao Ding, the Marquis of Dingxi, and finally he had to decide on how to arrange it.

However, in their opinion, if they really want to decide, they have to wait a month or two, so what they need to care about next is Xunyang City and some big and small matters nearby, and they must maintain peace here.

Time passed again, and it was the end of June in a blink of an eye. Xunyang City was always peaceful. Li Ling and the other two were also familiar with the errands and managed all the affairs in the city in an orderly manner. Sometimes Li Ling had the illusion that he had really become the local official of Qianzhou.

Until this evening, someone finally came to southern Yunnan.

There are quite a lot of people here, including officials who listened to Xiao Ding, and they don’t know each other. It is said that they were officials from Zhongyuan, and there is also Bai Xianyang, who is familiar to everyone.

After the officials in charge were told, Li Ling and others understood the purpose of these different identities. However, the main master was the officials from Central China. They were ordered to come to Xunyang to take over the relevant official positions, namely Sun Bi, Li Ling and Xiao Chengzhi's current powers.

It turned out that during this period, the court had received an urgent report from Xiao Ding. In addition to being happy, he quickly made arrangements and drew capable and reliable officials from various places to come to the southwest to take office. He must want to control Xunyang and even the entire Qianzhou in the hands of the court.

Both the emperor and the adults in the court knew very well what the southwest meant to the entire Dayue court, and knew that the southwest was called the imperial land for so many years, but in fact, it had always had a great problem of autonomy. Now that I finally saw an opportunity, it was naturally impossible to let it go.

As for whether these officials who came under the order had any complaints about this, the emperor and the big men in the court would not care too much. However, as far as Li Ling looked at, these officials who were about to take over the important positions of Xunyang were just forcing their faces to smile, and obviously they didn't want to be an official here. After all, in everyone's opinion, this is no different from being exiled.

As for the officials who came from southern Yunnan, their responsibility lies in assistance and cooperation. These officials are also outstanding in yamen in southern Yunnan and deeply trusted by Xiao Ding, so they were allowed to work in Xunyang. This is not only obedience and cooperation with the court's policies, but also a support for these subordinate officials, because as long as they really do a good job in Xunyang, it is also a contribution, and rewards will naturally be indispensable in the future.

However, Bai Xianyang's arrival seemed a little strange. After all, he was not a member of the government. Why did he come here specially this time? Could it be that Xiao Ding thought that he should support Li Ping in terms of food, so he asked him to make corresponding preparations?

As a result, before they could ask questions, Bai Xianyang had already taken out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Sun Bi solemnly: "This is the letter from the Marquis asking me to hand you in person, saying that it was from the capital."

"Beijing..." Sun Bi felt that this place sounded so strange, but she still took the letter and opened it unexpectedly and looked at the contents. After just a glance, his face turned white and then his body trembled violently. Even the letter was almost unable to hold on: "This is impossible..." Seeing that he was so disobedient, Xiao Chengzhi was also shocked: "Cousin, what happened?"

"I..." Sun Bi opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but for a moment she was blocked by something and couldn't say a word. This made Li Ling feel a little worried. Although the other people didn't know Sun Bi's identity, they also knew that the matter must be very serious. Since they had explained the matter clearly before, they did not keep inquiring about the news and stood up to say goodbye.

Seeing that Sun Bi was already confused, Li Ling sent these official gifts on his behalf. When he returned to the room, he saw that Sun Bi's eyes were red and he kept muttering: "This is impossible! Impossible!"

He had never seen Sun Bi so panic. Even if he was taken by the Luotian Sect that day, his life would be lost and he seemed very calm. But what news made him feel at a loss?

Xiao Chengzhi was also very concerned, but it was not easy to grab the letter and read it carefully. He could only comfort him: "Cousin, just tell me if you have any difficulties, and our brothers will definitely help you deal with it."

"Yes, our friends have acquaintance. As long as I can help you, I will never stand idly." Li Ling also immediately stated that even some disputes within the royal family would not dodge at this moment.

The words of the two brothers finally calmed down a little, but saw tears suddenly flowing in his eyes: "I...my mother...she's gone..." After saying this, he could no longer keep his mind and started crying bitterly, like a child.

This sentence completely stunned Li Ling and the others. They thought they had something big trouble, but they got such bad news, which made them unable to come up with better words to comfort Sun Bi except for saying "sadness".

Bai Xianyang, who was silent after delivering the letter, sighed heavily at this time. He obviously knew the content of the letter, but it was not easy to tell Sun Bi in one step before. Compared to Li Ling, he obviously knew more about how deep the relationship between the seventh prince of the Great Yue and his mother was, so he naturally felt more and more sad about it.

Just when Li Ling and the others wanted to comfort Sun Bi, he suddenly stood up and walked out: "I... I want to be alone and wait for something to say later." After that, he left without waiting for the other people to react.

Li Ling and the other two looked at each other again, but did not follow. The grief of losing their mother was indeed not something that outsiders could calm down. Now he really needed to do self-regulation quietly, and others couldn't help at all.

The only thing that makes people feel relieved is that Li Ling knew that Sun Bi was definitely a smart and rational person, so even if he was sad for a moment, he would never do anything stupid. However, he could imagine that Sun Bi would not stay in the southwest for too long. His mother died of illness, and when his son received the news, he naturally had to go back to attend the funeral.

And similarly, is it time for me to leave the southwest?

After all, I was not a real Southwest official, and the head of the Ministry of Revenue of the Court. I originally came to the southwest for this year's taxes, but I fell into a series of changes. Now things are almost perfectly resolved, and it is time to retire and return to the Central Plains after success.

The only regret is that the commercial tax on southern Yunnan and future taxes have not been finalized.

Just when Li Ling felt something in his heart, Bai Xianyang looked at Li Ling again: "Mr. Li, this time I came to Qianzhou, in addition to sending a letter, I also discussed some things with you."

"Well? I wonder what Boss Bai has to do?" Li Ling's heart moved and suddenly felt energetic.

"I have discussed with many trading partners during this period about raising trade taxes that day and making our caravan safer in the southwest. Many of them are quite interested in this."

"You're serious?" Li Ling became more and more excited, and immediately stared at the other party with his eyes lit up.

Bai Xianyang nodded vigorously: "How could I say such a big thing? Especially now that the situation in Qianzhou has changed and the court has further control over the southwest, I feel that raising the commercial tax will open up a larger trade route and even further stepping into the southwest corner is an excellent opportunity for our merchants to go further.

"We have discussed this with the Marquis several times, and he is quite supportive. Although in the short term, we will pay more taxes, in the long run, these efforts are worth it. And in this way, it will be of great benefit to the southwest. It will have a lot of benefits for both others, ourselves and the country. How can we refuse?"

Hearing his conclusion in such a certain tone, Li Ling became even more excited and couldn't sit still. He immediately bounced off the chair: "It's great!" As he said that, he quickly took a few steps in the room: "Boss Bai, and other businessmen can have such a vision, it is really a blessing for hundreds of thousands of people in the southwest, and it is also a blessing for me. Boss Bai, on behalf of the court and the people in the southwest, I would like to thank you!" After saying that, he solemnly bowed to the other party.

Bai Xianyang quickly stood up and avoided him slightly, then stepped forward and supported Li Ling: "Mr. Li doesn't have to do this. I really want to thank you. Thank you, the natives in the southwest, for everything you did for the southwest. It was your statement that provided us with a better future. It was you who worked hard here to quickly recover from several accidents, so you are our benefactor of the southwest."

It was not until then that Xiao Chengzhi interrupted: "What I said is that Wen Zhong, everyone has seen what you have done for me in southern Yunnan and Qianzhou these days. If you say thank you to us, I will be ashamed."

"Haha... OK, I won't say these false conspiracies. I will only say one thing. Boss Bai, the decision you made this time must be correct, and you will definitely be able to make dozens or hundreds of times the profit in the future." Li Ling immediately changed his words and said with a smile.

The other two people laughed loudly when they heard this, and finally diluted the sorrow of Sun Bi's incident a lot.

Next, Li Ling talked to Bai Xianyang about forcing the three sects of the Long Family to open a road to the Central Plains. He heard the other party nodding frequently again. This was the key point for him to be optimistic about the business in the southwest in the future. Relying on the two southwest provinces alone is certainly not enough for them to make such a big concession, but if the trade routes in the entire Central Plains are added, the situation will be completely different.
Chapter completed!