Chapter 255

It will take some time for the heads of the three counties and counties to arrive in Huaiyang, and Tang Yin has no time to spare during this period. The list of corps commanders, deputy corps commanders, and centurions submitted by the four corps of Pingyuan, Sanshui, Chifeng, and Zhizhu is enough for Tang Yin to review for a while. Basically, the list submitted by each corps is a thick stack, which includes detailed information of the candidates and military merits, etc. Tang Yin only selected the corps commanders of each corps, and as for the deputy corps commanders and centurions, all were handed over to Qiu Zhen to deal with.

During the time he lived in Huaiyang, there were naturally many local officials who came to visit him. People came to visit every day, and there was a constant stream of people in front of the inn. Tang Yin was casual by nature and did not like this kind of courtesy in the officialdom. He pushed the people who came to visit to Zong Yuan to meet them instead of himself. After all, Zong Yuan was originally in Huaiyang and was familiar with the local officials. He could handle it more easily.

These officials all knew that although Yu Tao was still the head of the county, Tang Yin was the one who really controlled the power. For their future prospects, they naturally tried to please him a hundred times, and brought a lot of gold, silver and jewelry from home when they came.

Since Tang Yin refused to see them, they could only see Zong Yuan, and the officials could only get information from the latter. Of course, they had to take care of Zong Yuan. Zong Yuan never refused anyone. If someone wanted to send money to Tang Yin through him, he would accept it. If someone wanted to bribe him to speak well of Tang Yin, he would agree and accept all the money.

However, Zong Yuan accepted money from people, but he did not do things for them. He gave all the gold and silver that officials gave to Tang Yin to Tang Yin, and he did not give any money to him, and put it all in his own pocket. His actions could not be hidden from the eyes of the secret arrows. Tang Yin hated this kind of private money collection. Logically, the secret arrows should have detained him first, and then handed him over to Tang Yin after a thorough investigation. However, Zong Yuan had given Tang Yin a clever plan to attack Tongmen. Now he was a big shot in front of Tang Yin and was deeply appreciated by the latter. The secret arrows did not dare to touch him easily.

Cheng Jin, as the leader of the secret arrows, also went to Tang Yin for this matter and reported all of Zong Yuan's actions to Tang Yin, asking him what he thought. At this time, the secret arrow organization was gradually transforming from an intelligence department to a secret service department, similar to the two factories and one guard in the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Cheng Jin's report, Tang Yin felt quite puzzled. If Zong Yuan accepted bribes privately, he must have done things for others. However, he had never said good things to an official in Huaiyang in front of him. On the contrary, he often came to him to tell him which official was not capable enough to be reused, which official had a bad character and was not trustworthy, etc.

He asked Cheng Jin uncertainly, "Are these things you checked okay?"

Cheng Jin's face straightened, and he hurriedly said, "Sir, how dare I falsely accuse Master Zong?"

Tang Yin nodded. Cheng Jin was a little ruthless, but he was very upright. If there was no solid evidence, he would not say anything bad about Zong Yuan in front of him. He lowered his head, rolled his eyes, and thought for a long time. Instead of being angry, he smiled and said, "Even if Master Zong accepted everyone's benefits, he did not do anything irresponsible. Let him go!"

"Oh... Yes! Sir! I understand." Cheng Jin bowed and turned away.

After learning that Zong Yuan had privately accepted bribes, Tang Yin was not angry, but trusted Zong Yuan even more.

Everyone has preferences. As long as you know his preferences, it is easier to control him. The fear is that he has no preferences and cannot find his weaknesses. Zong Yuan loves money and is greedy for it, which is a good thing. It can also be seen from this that his ambition is not big. What we should be afraid of is people like Zhong Tian, ​​who are not conspicuous around you and have no desires, but you don’t know when to seize the opportunity and suddenly stab you in the back.

This is the brilliance of Zong Yuan.

He has long seen that Tang Yin is very suspicious and it is too difficult to gain his trust. Now is Tang Yin’s starting stage. He can treat everyone around him well, but once he becomes successful in the future, with Tang Yin’s evil and cruelty, the people around him may not be treated well. Zong Yuan deliberately showed his greedy habits at this time, just to dispel Tang Yin’s doubts, and also to show that he has no ambitions, let alone threaten Tang Yin.

There are so many advisers and staff under Tang Yin, including Qiu Zhen, Zhang Zhe and other geniuses who are extremely smart and far-sighted, but in terms of long-term vision, they are not as good as Zong Yuan. When the birds are gone, the good bows are hidden, and when the cunning rabbits die, the running dogs are cooked. This is an eternal truth.

Ten days later, Shangguan Yuanji and others who were the farthest from Huaiyang also arrived in Huaiyang.

At this time, high officials from Tianyuan County, Guannan County, and Jinguang County all gathered in Huaiyang.

In the official residence of the county capital, Yu Tao prepared a banquet to entertain Tang Yin and the county heads and county governors of other counties.

There were three counties in Tianyuan County, three counties in Guannan County, and four counties in Jinguang County. There were more than ten county heads alone. The two sides of the large main hall were filled with officials of all sizes. The attendants of the county capital came in and out, and from time to time, plates of wine, food, and fruits were delivered to each table.

According to Tang Yin's intention, a whole roasted lamb was set up in the center of the main hall. The lamb was already six or seven points cooked, and the aroma of meat filled the room. It was rare for officials from the three counties to gather together. Many people did not know each other. At this time, they greeted each other and toasted each other. The hall was extremely lively, with cheers and laughter.

Of course, people knew who the protagonist of this banquet was. More people went to toast Tang Yin and formed a large circle around him. Before he had even taken a few bites of the food, Tang Yin had already drunk more than ten cups of wine.

No matter how good Tang Yin's alcohol tolerance was, he couldn't handle so many people toasting him in turn. Seeing that everyone was endless, he stood up, waved his hand, and said, "Everyone, please go back to your seats. I have something to say!"

Hearing this, everyone did not dare to neglect it, and hurriedly returned to their seats, waiting for Tang Yin to speak.

Tang Yin stood in place, first looking around at everyone present, then smiled leisurely. He picked up the dagger on the table, walked around the table, walked to the center of the hall, cut a piece of meat from the roasted whole lamb, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it twice, and smiled, "It tastes good!" As he spoke, he turned his eyes and looked at Yu Tao, saying, "This time, we were able to successfully repel the Ning army, and Lord Yu has made an indelible contribution!"

"Ah! Lord, you are polite, Lord, you are polite!" Yu Tao was flattered and bowed repeatedly, and his face was full of pride.

Tang Yin said, "If Lord Yu had not surrendered, our army's rear would not have stabilized so quickly, and we would have had worries about the battle against Ning, and we would not have been able to exert our full strength." After a pause, he smiled and asked, "Lord Yu, what reward do you want?"

Yu Tao hurriedly said, "Assisting you in resisting the Ning army is what I should do and what I should do. I dare not ask for a reward!"

It sounds better than singing! Tang Yin sneered in his heart, shook his head, and said, "Rewards for merit and punishments for faults. This is the law of Dafeng. Lord Yu does not need to be modest." As he said that, he looked at the others again. Their expressions did not change, but their eyes were all drifting towards Yu Tao, and there was a hint of envy in them.

"Zhong Tian is a traitor who killed the king and seized the throne. Everyone has the right to kill him. Now our three counties should unite and fight against Zhong Tian together. What do you think?"

"Master Tang is right!"

"Yes!" Tang Yin nodded and smiled to Yu Tao: "I think this way, Master Yu is only the head of one county, which is really a waste of talent. You can be the chief inspector of the three counties and inspect the major and minor events of the three counties. What do you think?"

"This..." Yu Tao's face changed when he heard it. The inspector is just a nominal position, with no real power, and he is not liked by others. He is looked down upon wherever he goes. This is a hard job that is laborious and thankless. How can it be as stable and comfortable as being the head of a county?

Yu Tao took a breath of cold air, and hurriedly stood up and said: "Tang...Tang Lord, I...I'd better be the head of my county. I really...really can't bear the position of the chief inspector of the three counties!"

Tang Yin smiled and asked: "Are you dissatisfied with my arrangement, Lord Yu?"

"No, no, no, I definitely don't mean that. I just think that my ability is limited and I can't...can't take on this important task, which will ruin the big thing..."

Before he finished speaking, Tang Yin waved his hands and said with a smile: "Lord Yu, there is no need to be modest. I have made up my mind. The position of the chief inspector belongs to Lord Yu!"

"But..."

"There is no joking in the army, and there is no joking in the officialdom. Since I have said it, Lord Yu does not need to say more." Tang Yin said with a smile. He was smiling, but his eyes were shining. His sharp eyes fell on Yu Tao's face, which made the latter shiver involuntarily, and he dared not say the words that came to his lips.

He could hold it in, but the four county heads under him could not. These four people were Yu Tao's confidants, and they relied on Yu Tao to become county heads. Once Yu Tao left, their positions would be lost.

One of the county heads in his early forties, with a sharp face and monkey cheeks, said: "Isn't it inappropriate for Lord Tang to arrange this?!"

"Oh?" Tang Yin turned his head and looked at him, questioning: "What's wrong?"

"Although Lord Tang has promoted Lord Yu's official rank, this general inspector is just a nominal position. Isn't this equivalent to a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality? Lord Tang kept saying that he would give Lord Yu, who had made great contributions, a heavy reward, but he used this method of ostracizing people. Isn't Lord Tang afraid of being laughed at?"

His words were heavy and to the point, leaving Tang Yin no face.

Yu Tao didn't say anything, but he was very happy in his heart. A confidant is a confidant. When it comes to the critical moment, he still has to rely on them to speak for him.

As the county chief spoke bluntly, the atmosphere in the hall immediately became tense. People took a deep breath, not daring to breathe, and looked at Tang Yin one after another.