State government.
At this moment, the yamen was ajar, and a county official was sitting at the door in despair, with his head lowered and his face ashen.
Cui Jishu walked into the yamen holding his cane, but the man didn't get up, he just sat there blankly.
There was a dead silence in the entire official office.
There are the most officials in the state, including the governor's subordinates, there are more than thirty people, plus many other officials. On weekdays, it can be said that there are people coming and going, noisy and lively, and there has never been such a dead time.
Cui Jishu walked in the corridor and looked to the left and right.
There were officials sitting in the rooms on both sides, and the doors were also ajar. They sat motionless, just staring blankly ahead.
The entire state government office seemed to have been under a restraining spell. Everyone was sitting in their original positions, motionless.
The atmosphere was very weird and depressing. The huge rockery in the inner courtyard was lifeless, as if it was suppressing all the officials.
Cui Jishu couldn't help but hit the ground with his crutch, "Where are the people?! Where are the people?!"
Finally, an official slowly walked up to him and saluted.
"Meet Mr. Cui."
Listening to this feeble voice, Cui Jishu was helpless, "General Hu Fen is coming back today, are you going to greet him like this?"
"Gather everyone quickly and tell them not to do this."
"only."
The officials simply replied and left immediately. Soon, many officials began to gather here, preparing to go out to meet General Hu Fen.
But for some reason, they stood here obediently and did not speak, but Cui Jishu felt a deep sense of death from them. Their eyes were empty, without joy or sorrow.
Cui Jishu subconsciously felt a little frightened.
The scholar-bureaucrats led by Yang Min were killed, which had a huge impact on the world.
Yang Min has been the prime minister for many years. Although he has not been able to do his best, he has always tried his best to maintain the stability of this crazy empire, so that this crazy empire can barely continue to operate. At least there is order on the surface, that is, killing people.
You also need to make up a reason and raise a flag before grabbing something.
Yang Min is dead.
The officials of Dingzhou Yamen were neither happy nor angry about his death.
They did not cry or resist.
Everything is as before, they are submissive and obedient.
However, they seemed to have no emotion to express, as if they had suddenly given up on the court, and also as if they had suddenly lost all fighting spirit.
At the moment, the people standing in front of Cui Jishu were not the local officials who were in charge, but just some dead zombies.
They don't care anymore.
A rescue operation launched from the top down, at least what the scholar-bureaucrats thought was a rescue operation, officially failed with the death of Yang Min. Since there was no way to save him, only real despair and cold eyes remained.
Cui Jishu frowned and led everyone out of here.
They began to prepare for the work outside Zhending County.
The officials were very busy, walking around and occasionally chatting. However, they kept silent about the government affairs, Liu Taozi's purpose of coming, and Yang Min's incident.
Cui Jishu was leaning on a cane, with his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.
The ground trembled slightly, and the officials quickly returned to their respective positions, looking calmly into the distance.
The army arrives.
The changes in the Dingzhou soldiers have been great, and they are far from the state they were in when they left Zhending. They have almost changed their appearance. They are marching forward in formation, and there are not many left behind.
Cui Jishu was secretly surprised when he saw it.
Liu Taozi rode up to the crowd, and Cui Jishu led the officials to bow before them.
Liu Taozi asked Yao Xiong to take the army to the university field, while he took Tian Zili and others to the state government office.
Liu Taozi gave Cui Jishu a horse. Cui Jishu rode the horse and followed Liu Taozi with a slight smile on his face. "Liu Gong, I have taken care of Boling's affairs. This time it is
Come and help you with Dingzhou affairs."
"Although there are talents under Liu Gong's command, there is no one who can handle local government affairs."
"If Liu Gong doesn't dislike it, I have a son. He is called Cui Gang. Although he is stupid, he is simple, kind and has no bad habits. He has read many books and is quite knowledgeable, but he lacks experience in doing practical things."
Liu Taozi said nothing and led everyone back to the office.
Liu Taozi sat directly in the upper position this time.
Many other officials were sitting on both sides.
Cui Jishu looked at the expressionless Liu Taozi, then at the expressionless officials, with a complicated look on his face.
Liu Taozi said, "Spring planting."
Then, he looked at Cui Jishu and said, "Mr. Cui is in charge."
When this mandrill, who came back with a large army and had a strong backing and could control the life and death of everyone in Dingzhou, came back, he did not go on a killing spree as everyone expected. He immediately dismissed the soldiers from other counties.
Let them return to their original places and reduce the expenditure of the state government.
Then he asked Cui Jishu to take charge of the spring planting matters, and then followed Cui Jishu and watched him handle many things.
Dingzhou is also the granary of Hebei, and the five counties under its name are also fertile lands. At present, the Dingzhou government has taken back a large amount of official and public land, and also obtained a lot of farm tools and livestock.
Cui Jishu reasonably allocated the resources in the state. The temples had their own cattle. The cattle were managed by the village officials and raised by specialized farmers. During the mulberry farming, these small officials could decide who should go first.
Then, distribute them uniformly.
Official land and public land in various places in Dingzhou began to be re-granted. According to the Qi law, men over the age of fifteen can be granted 40 acres of land, and women can be granted 20 acres of land. Slaves can also be granted land.
It's just that their assigned fields must belong to their owners.
Dingzhou released a large number of tenant slaves and granted open fields in various places to everyone.
These things sound easy, but in practice they are quite difficult.
Especially when looking at the counties from a state perspective, there are five counties and more than ten counties. The situation in each county is different, and there are many issues that require mediation.
The sides of the official road became green again. On the cultivated land not far away, stood an old farmer. His dark skin shone in the sun. His clothes were extremely simple. His legs were bare and he stepped on the soil.
Pulling the cattle, the cattle lowered their heads and moved forward slowly as the old farmer dragged them. Behind the cattle was a plow, and a young boy with his head lowered pushed the plow, and the plow broke through the soil.
, weeds, rocks and other debris were dumped on both sides.
Cui Jishu was riding a horse and walking on the official road. He pointed at the old farmer working in the distance, "We can't do everything according to the system."
"Earlier Liu Gong asked me why the number of land grants did not match the number of people. This is the reason."
"A lot of the cultivated land distributed is wasteland. If it is left fallow and rotated, it will take two or three years to distribute 40 acres of cultivated land to the people, of which 30 acres are wasteland, and then levy a tax on 40 acres. This is different from the past.
What's the difference?"
"Therefore, when allocating fields, you have to know the quality of the cultivated land. If there is a lot of wasteland, you have to compensate for some fertile land. This was a habit from the previous dynasty, and the people also called the land allocation Beida Liu.
You must remember that this system is dead, but people are alive. You must pay attention to skills and use it flexibly. Otherwise, no matter how good the system is, it will become a harmful system."
Liu Taozi was riding a blue lion, following him, and was several heads taller than him.
But at this moment, he listened very seriously and nodded frequently.
"Now, does Liu Gong still suspect that I secretly hid and granted land?"
Liu Taozi shook her head calmly.
The local officials following the two men were silent at the moment, and some of them quietly wiped their sweat. As expected of Cui Gong, he was not polite at all when talking to the mandrill.
Cui Jishu pointed to the water canal in the distance and said: "This water canal is also a big problem. If the distribution is uneven, there will be fighting and killings in the countryside. But the situation in different places is different, and the water use is also different. It is difficult to average it out. Therefore, we have to
Officials are stationed at the gate and cannot be directly used by the people. They have to be frightened. This is not to prey on the people, but to prevent the local area from fighting and fighting!"
Cui Jishu talked all the way and finally arrived at the gate of Xingtang County.
The county magistrate had already led everyone to stand at the door. The magistrate's round figure was full of pride at this moment.
Seeing the crowd, he hurried over and bowed to see them.
"Xing Tang ordered Qi Lian Kui to pay homage to Duke Cui!"
"Meet General Hu Fen!!"
Cui Jishu glanced at Liu Taozi, shook his head slightly, walked down, stroked his beard, and helped him up with a chuckle, "Jun Qilian, please don't be too polite. General Hufen learned that you were the first to complete the land transfer.
You have done a great job and came here specifically to watch.”
Qi Liankui's face was full of smiles. He quickly waved, and the county magistrate came forward with a thick document.
"Please check! I have completed the land granting and strictly followed the system. The number of all the land granted matches the number of people who received the land. You can send someone to check now."
Hearing this, Cui Jishu turned to look at Liu Taozi.
"General, do you understand now? Even if a mediocre official like him distributes farmland indiscriminately, regardless of the quality of the farmland, and then confiscates it, the disaster he will cause will never be less than before.
And those who have not completed it so far and whose numbers do not match the amount are not necessarily corrupt officials who are greedy for money and land."
Qi Liankui's face changed drastically, and his eyes widened, "What does Cui Gong mean by this?!"
Liu Taozi looked at his county magistrate, examined him for a few times, and then said: "Qi Lian Kui has not done well in his affairs. He will reflect at home and wait for the temple to issue a punishment. The county magistrate will temporarily take over everything."
The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward to take the order.
The two were walking on the road again.
Cui Jishu stroked his beard and said helplessly: "Most of the officials in Dingzhou have lost their character."
"If the temple doesn't find a way to deal with it anymore, I'm afraid it will lose people's hearts from now on."
Jinyang Palace.
In the rough hall, the soldiers stood in various places.
Gao Yan sat directly on the upper seat, and many of his cronies and nobles sat on both sides.
Gao Yanzong was also among them. He was whispering something to his brother Gao Changgong who was sitting next to him, and his expression was particularly excited.
"He just slashed, and the guy's head flew up. There was really no pause, you don't know."
Gao Yanzong was talking vigorously when Gao Yan suddenly cleared his throat.
Gao Yanzong quickly closed his mouth, looked straight ahead, and made a solemn expression.
Gao Yan glanced at the two brothers intentionally or unintentionally, and then looked at Wang Xi who was sitting on the left. He asked: "Who do you think the prince can take on the big responsibility?"
"Zhongshu ordered Zhao Yanshen to take over Yang Min's duties."
As soon as these words came out, many nobles were in an uproar.
Gao Zhan kept a straight face and said nothing, but Gao Guiyan couldn't help it.
He opened his mouth and said coldly: "If I hadn't watched you speak, I would have thought it was Yang Min who was playing."
With his start, the nobles were no longer afraid, and they all said, "Yes, that guy is the closest to Yang Min on weekdays and never interacts with us. How can we create another Yang Min?"
"That guy is also from a wealthy family and is Han Chinese. He should have a prime minister who is Chinese!"
Everyone started talking, and Gao Yanzong also said, "As long as he is capable, it doesn't matter whether he is a Chinese or a Han."
But Gao Yanzong was too young, so no one paid attention to him.
Gao Yanzong sat on the spot angrily.
Gao Yan looked at these nobles, his face was very serious. As he looked at them like this, the people who were originally noisy gradually became afraid to make a sound.
Gao Yan nodded, "What you all said makes sense regarding Yang Min, so I will take his place first, and we will decide on the candidate later."
Everyone walked out of the other halls one after another. The dignitaries gathered together, discussing something in low voices, and most of them looked excited.
Wang Xi did not leave with him. He and Shedi Xian'an stayed where they were, waiting for everyone to leave. Then they followed Gao Yan, following him on the left and right.
Gao Yan suddenly asked: "Why recommend Zhao Yanshen?"
"Because this person is talented, humble and restrained, and his conduct can be considered upright. Your Majesty, you have destroyed Yang Min, and now you are required to govern Daqi."
Wang Xi smiled bitterly and said: "Your honor can bring peace to the country, but you cannot govern it."
"Whether it's Shangshu or Zhongshu, the affairs are complicated and the relationships are confidential, which is definitely not something ordinary nobles can do. Otherwise"
Wang Xi didn't say it clearly, but Gao Yan already had a guess in his mind.
Gao Yan walked in the corridor, "She Dijun, you have been to many places, can you tell me how the conditions are in those places?"
Shedi Xian'an replied: "If you want to speak frankly, please ask your Majesty to forgive my crime first."
"Say it and I will forgive you."
"Most of the scholars in the world have given up on the temples and no longer regard it as their duty to help the world. I am afraid that the king has lost the support of the people of the world."
Gao Yan suddenly stopped and looked slowly at She Di Xian'an. Gao Yan's eyes were full of murderous intent, and the sharp murderous intent made She Di Xian'an tremble.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Shedi Xian'an spoke again, "We have to win over these scholars again. At the beginning, the king was the head of the nobles, but now the king is the master of the temple. Therefore, the king must let go of his prejudices. The first thing is to open up schools and Imperial Colleges in various places. Chinese studies, the schools of prefectures and counties, must be ordered to recruit students, teach classics, appoint officials, supervise classes, and improve their academic style. The most important thing is to let the world know that the king is by no means a martial artist, but a man who values ​​literature."
Wang Xi added: "The second is to restrain the nobles. At present, supervisory officials such as Tingwei, Yushi Zhongcheng, and Governors are almost all held by nobles. These people are lawless, act arbitrarily, ignore the law, and impose punishments privately. , Your Majesty should issue an order: Those who enforce the law must be sentenced according to the law, and those who practice favoritism and malpractice shall be sentenced to death."
Shedi Xian'an nodded and said, "There is still a problem of money and food that needs to be solved."
Wang Xi said: "We have to send famous ministers to go to various places on behalf of the king to investigate the local situation."
Gao Yan stood in front of them and listened to their continuous suggestions. There was no trace of irritation on his face. He listened very seriously. When the two of them finished speaking, he nodded.
"What you said makes sense, but it cannot be implemented yet."
Wang Xi smiled and said, "What your Majesty said is that the important task at hand is only half completed. If we rush to offend you now, it will be detrimental to the next step."
Gao Yan frowned and pondered for a moment. He suddenly looked at the two advisers and said, "We have to speed up. I need to ascend the throne as soon as possible."
The two counselors also smiled bitterly at this moment, and Wang Xi said: "Your Majesty, how can you say it so straightforwardly? Besides, this kind of thing cannot be rushed. Your Majesty must first secure your current position, and then go to war and make meritorious deeds, and then If the ministers try to persuade us to enter, the king will still have to refuse, and it will take a year at the earliest."
Gao Yan shook his head and looked at the two of them coldly, "I'm not eager to enjoy the fun of being an emperor, nor am I afraid of war. It's just that there are too many bad policies in Da Qi at the moment. As a minister, I have limitations after all. , I need to get to the position as soon as possible so that I can give my best performance. I don’t like to show off, so don’t wait for a year. Let’s start now. Is three months enough?”
Wang Xi was completely in trouble, "Your Majesty, this."
"Four months?"
"Your Majesty, within five months, it will be done."
"Okay, then five months."
Gao Yan walked forward again, and while walking on the road, he suddenly asked: "What happened to Liu Taozi in Dingzhou? How many people were killed?"
Shedi Xian'an said: "I have never killed anyone."
"oh??"
"He hired Cui Jishu to help him with spring planting. He did a great job. Dingzhou's harvest this year will definitely be extremely high."
"Oh, there is also Cui Jishu. We can recall him to the temple."
As Gao Yan spoke, a smile suddenly appeared on his solemn face.
"It turns out that Liu Taozi is not only good at killing people. He is also good at it."
"Your Majesty, please arrange for him to go to the frontier fortress and let him farm there to defend against the enemy. Firstly, it will provide money and food for the frontier fortress. Secondly, it will also prepare me for my expedition against the bandits in the future. I still have to have military merit to convince everyone. obey."
Wang Xi was stunned and pondered for a moment, "Your Majesty, then let him go to Youzhou?"
Gao Yan glanced at him, "Where are the most powerful people?"
Wang Xi suddenly realized, "I understand."
Gao Yan smiled, "I didn't expect that one day I would be like Yang Min, thinking about how to do something to my family. However, this peach is very useful. You have to use it sparingly and don't give it to me." broken!"
Shedi Xian'an suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I have something to report to this Liu Taozi."
"Say it."
"He is the son of Liu Taozhi, the warrior commander."
"I know."
"So that's how it is, you are a talkative minister."
Chapter completed!