"It's not yet time."
"Pingcheng is too far away from Zhou people."
Hearing Liu Taozi's words, Zu Jue felt dumbfounded.
Otherwise? The capital city had to be some distance away from the front line. Wuchuan was right under the eyes of the Zhou people. Once the war started, the enemy didn't have to think too much and could just surround Wuchuan and fight fiercely.
He persuaded again: "Lord, the capital city needs to be a little further away from the battlefield. Only in this way can we be safe. Even if we are defeated several times, we can still sit back safely and continue fighting. Otherwise, the capital city will be taken over in one battle.
, then there will be no strength to fight anymore.”
Liu Taozi's face was very calm.
"With me in front, the soldiers from all over the country can fight to the death and not retreat."
"We'll talk about the correctional center later."
Liu Taozi said very firmly, Zu Jue sighed and did not persuade her again.
The banquet was still very lively, but the divisions between groups were also so obvious. Different people gathered in different places, and they were completely different in appearance, words, deeds, and temperament.
Most of Cheng'an's elders were unbridled, arrogant, and talking loudly, while the new followers seemed more restrained, refined and easy-going.
The cold wind blew and the sky began to gradually turn gray.
Liu Taozi sat in the upper seat and looked up at the sky.
Heavy snow is coming.
The wind and snow mixed together and roared by.
The snow in Wuchuan was extremely heavy, and pieces fell down, covering the entire city. It was like a hell of snow.
The strong wind was blowing hard, beating the doors and windows of the official office.
The wooden windows of the mountain are constantly screaming.
The stove in the house was burning, and the dazzling red light illuminated the whole house.
Zu Jue, Lu Qubing, Tian Zili, Cui Gang, Chu Jiande, as well as the newly arrived old people from Yecheng, who are Liu Taozi's current "officials", gathered together.
Everyone wears very thick clothes.
Lu Qubing was shivering and wrapped his clothes tightly around him again. He seemed to be in a bad state of mind, his eyes were blurred, and he had little energy.
Wei Shou and others in the distance looked even more ugly at this moment, curling up into a ball.
They know that the environment and climate of the frontier are harsh.
But many of them never thought that it would be so bad, especially when these people were accustomed to a wealthy and comfortable life in Yecheng. Like Wei Shou, he suffered hardships in his early years, ran away, and was almost dragged to participate in diving.
Those who competed in the competition were more or less able to withstand it, but those celebrities who came from Henan were just filled with regret at this moment.
This period of more than a hundred years also happened to be the time when the climate was most abnormal. There were heavy snowfalls in the frontier fortress areas year after year. It was so exaggerated that many counties established in the frontier fortress in the early Jin Dynasty were turned into empty cities and even garrison towns at this moment.
None of them can be used anymore. These areas have been destroyed by the harsh climate. Even the Hu people outside the Great Wall cannot survive there, leaving a lot of blank spaces in the frontier fortress.
Liu Taozi looked at Gao Mai aside.
Gao Mai immediately walked out, and soon he led a group of petty officials in and brought out hot tea for everyone present.
Everyone hurriedly took it.
Liu Taozi said slowly: "This is the favorite food of Huaishuo people. It is called hot tea. It contains many medicinal materials that are not available elsewhere. Eating it can resist some diseases and warm the body."
Looking at the somewhat restrained crowd, Liu Taozi said again: "Eat, there is no one to speak here."
Lu Qubing smiled and took the lead to eat. The tea was thick, like soup. There were many things added to it, but it still tasted sweet.
"That's what this frontier fortress is like."
"There are strong winds and heavy snow in winter and spring. It is extremely hot in summer and there is no place to escape the heat. In autumn, the sky is filled with yellow sand."
"This is the coldest place in the world."
Liu Taozi said softly, then looked at Wei Shou and others, "If you feel scared, you can resign now and leave."
"After this meeting, we will start to do things. If we talk about resigning and leaving when it is time to do things, I'm afraid it won't work."
Hearing Liu Taozi's words, Wei Shou immediately laughed and said, "We, the humiliated ministers and the guilty ones, can be valued by the lord and stay by his side and entrusted with important tasks. This is already a great favor. What is the wind and snow?
"
Several people had ugly expressions. Lu Sidao looked at Wei Shou and then at Liu Taozi, his eyes full of worry.
Many of the ministers who came following Liu Taozi had committed crimes and were dismissed. They couldn't survive in Yecheng and wanted to follow Liu Taozi.
Lu Sidao's articles and edicts were very good, but unlike Wei Shou, a literary master with outstanding writing style, his writing method was simpler and more capable. In other words, he was better at writing temple documents.
He had previously been dismissed for leaking secrets, and Gao Rui found out about bribing He Shikai. He couldn't survive in Yecheng, so he came to hang out with Liu Taozi.
But he really didn't expect that the environment here could be so bad.
He felt like he was going to die here.
Just when he was about to speak, Wei Shou suddenly touched him with his elbow, and Lu Sidao held back his words.
Liu Taozi waited quietly for a moment, no one spoke.
Only then did he look at the doors and windows that were being beaten continuously.
"The frontier is very harsh all year round. There are not many people, the cultivated land is barren, and there are enemies on three sides. There is nothing fun and nothing to enjoy."
A steady stream of cold air came in from everywhere, going straight into everyone's arms.
Liu Taozi added: "If you want to enjoy happiness, then this is really not a good place to go."
"However, if you still have any ambition in your heart and want to accomplish great things, this must be the place."
“There is so much to do here and so much to do”
The fire brought scalding heat waves, blocking the bursts of cold air outside.
Liu Taozi looked at Zu Jue and signaled that he could give the order.
Zu Jue stood up and looked at the people around him. He raised his head with extraordinary momentum and slowly opened his mouth.
"Everyone, from this month to March next year, we have only one thing to do."
Everyone looked at him.
Reclamation? Keep out the cold? Recruit troops?
Different people have different guesses in their minds.
Zu Jue said slowly:
"Replenish all the officials."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, Wei Shou and others immediately clapped their hands, Wei Shou nodded, his face turned red, "Grandpa is right, everything depends on man-made things, aren't these officials the ones doing the work? If we don't make up for them, how can we do anything?"
event?"
Lu Sidao followed closely, citing scriptures and began to actively support Zu Jue.
Tian Zili, Lu Qubing, and Cui Gang didn't rush to speak. They looked at each other.
At this moment, an old man with a short beard stood up. The old man had a big frame and a stubborn look on his brows. "Ancestor, the most important thing right now is to keep out the cold."
"Nothing is more important than protecting the people. With the heavy snowfall in Wuchuan, the situation in various places is not optimistic. The most important thing for the Miaojiang Mansion now is to keep out the cold in time. It has ordered all places to prepare for disaster relief and start dispatching supplies.
Go to various places in advance to stock up on winter supplies to avoid road damage and being too late.”
This little old man is called Yuan Xiubo.
That's right, the descendants of Tuoba who are Zhengerbajing.
However, he was a distant relative of the previous dynasty's clan, and Gao Yangla had no share in feeding the clan's fish.
The little old man became a minister when he was young. He held many official positions, and was sent to other places to serve as a prefect and a governor. He was very successful in different positions. Later, he served as the Minister of Duzhi (Hubu) in the court.
Shangshu).
This is a rare kind of courtier who cares about the situation of the people at the bottom. During his tenure as Duzhi Shangshu, he worked day and night and tried his best to reduce the burden on the people. He is a very good person.
The only blemish is that he has a good relationship with Zu Jue.
As soon as Yuan Xiubo finished speaking, his best friend Tang Yong stood up and agreed with him. Tang Yong was actually much younger than Yuan Xiubo. Although he was young, he had extremely high qualifications. He had worked with Gao Huan and formulated policies with Gao Cheng.
I sent troops with Gao Yang, and I fought against the rich clan with Gao Yan.
This man was strong and upright, and he also had some "people-friendly tendencies". When he was an official in the past, he always struck hard at wealthy families without mercy. Every time he handled a case, he would not let go of anyone who could kill the powerful family members.
Everyone looked at them secretly.
This is true even for Lu Qubing. Both of them have been Lu Qubing's idols for a long time. He can understand why Wei and Lu Sidao came to seek wealth with Zu Jue.
But he couldn't figure out why these two people came to the frontier together.
Facing the two people who stood up, Zu Jue was not angry. He stroked his beard and nodded. "Mr. Yuan's idea is right, but he just made a small mistake."
"This is not a temple, but the palace of General Wei, officials from various places, let alone the local officials you have been in contact with before."
Zu Jue said seriously: "In the past, disaster relief matters were always unresolved. There are three reasons for this. The first is that local officials are bad. They are afraid of delaying their future, are slow to do things, and like to hide things when they happen."
"The second is that the temple officials are corrupt and line their own pockets on the pretext of dispatching and providing disaster relief."
"The third is that the temple is too far away from the place, and it takes time to go back and forth, especially in winter. It is often too late for the place to wait for the order from the temple and then go to provide disaster relief."
Yuan Xiubo was stunned and did not refute again.
Tang Yong was convinced. He nodded, "There are indeed too many traitors."
Zu Jue put on a rare serious face and continued: "But the situation in General Wei's Mansion is different now. The governors who go to various places, not to mention their talents, at least their character, do not need to worry too much. They will do their best to provide disaster relief.
There is no doubt about this. Temples and temples have been excessively established in counties. Now we have reduced the number of counties. The prefects we have arranged are also useful talents. And many of the county magistrates in various places are from petty officials. They have made many contributions and have proved their talents and talents.
It’s your moral character that comes with it.”
"So I am very reassured about the local situation. I will not tell them how to resist snow disasters."
"What we have to do now is just to increase their strength and play a good role in logistics so that they can go all out."
"Therefore, I say the first thing should be to make up for the officials."
"Do you still think it's inappropriate, Mr. Yuan?"
Zu Jue asked again.
Yuan Xiubo sat down slowly, "You are right, but the transport of supplies still needs to be done by the Temple General's Office, right?"
"Hahaha, Mr. Yuan has never been to the frontier fortress, so he doesn't know the situation here. Snow disasters in the frontier fortress are not just this year, they happen every year. Therefore, food and materials are stored separately. If there is a situation, all places can provide relief at any time.
Local officials also have enough experience."
After listening to Zu Jue's explanation, Yuan Xiubo finally stopped talking.
Zu Jue looked around again, making sure that no one objected, and then said, "The current official system is quite excellent, and there is no need to change it!"
"The only thing I want to change is about the promotion of casual officials. The performance and promotion of local casual officials should also be valued by officials and should be part of local political achievements!"
"The other thing is the law school. I think the law school needs to be expanded and formalized."
"In the past, we were very impatient and needed people to run as soon as possible. We could take part in the assessment on the 30th day in the school, and the rest had to be learned and mastered after taking office."
"The officials I trained in thirty days are still not enough!"
Tian Zili frowned, but still did not interrupt. Zu Jue continued: "The current situation is no longer so tight. I think the teaching in the law school will take at least six months!"
Lu Qubing finally spoke at this moment, "Zhang Shi's idea is very good."
"However, casual officials are mostly held by people from lower-level backgrounds. They often have to support their families. It is unrealistic to ask them to take six months off work to study."
"The school can provide them with food and drink, but what about their families?"
"They come to work as officials so they can support their families faster."
Zu Jue groaned, sat down quickly, picked up the documents on the side, and started reading. Lu Qubing thought he was going to refute him, but unexpectedly, Zu Jue put away the documents and nodded, "You said
It makes sense, I thought it was simple before, so what do you think should be done to improve the abilities of casual officials?"
Lu Qubing, as the official who had the most dealings with casual officials, pondered for a long time, "Regularize the assessment of casual officials, and set up different assessments for individual officials at different levels such as state, county, county, township, etc. If we want to have unified assessment
, I’m afraid it’s not realistic enough, but we must urge the local government to attach importance to the assessment and not be perfunctory, and the difficulty must be reasonable.”
Zu Jue gently stroked his beard, "That's a way."
Gao Mai sat aside and recorded their conversation carefully.
This is the first meeting of the General's Mansion. There is only one core, the official.
Everyone discussed and formulated the content for the training, assessment, promotion, disposal, and supervision of officials.
Liu Taozi remained silent from beginning to end, just listening to what he said.
It can only be said that everyone was a little restrained at the beginning. As Lu Qubing successfully rebutted for the first time and opened up the situation, the subsequent court meeting became lively.
The more everyone talked, the more excited they became. The red light from the fire shone on everyone and the room was steaming. Even Wei Shou took off his coat and stood beside Zu Jue, scolding him.
Yuan Xiubo was the most positive. He actually had a good personal relationship with Zu Jue, but at the meeting, he had to refute, blame, and question every word Zu Jue said.
"What you said is simple! If local officials can no longer deal with the scattered officials under their command at will, when the officials gather together, the official's orders will become a blank piece of paper!"
"Officials cannot hold official positions in their own homes, but don't forget that it is okay to leave local officials. When local officials join forces, wouldn't they become powerful people?!"
Yuan Xiubo pointed at Zu Jue's nose, and his hand almost touched the tip of Zu Jue's nose several times.
Zu Jue still maintained his own point of view, "In short, it is not appropriate to allow officials to decide the promotion and disposition of officials privately. Officials can be county officials, but they cannot be their slaves. To remove them, they must first go to the temple!"
"Nonsense! If you do this, the memorial will not even reach the temple!"
Cui Gang said, "I can probably figure out what Duke Yuan is worried about, and then we can find a way to solve it. For example, those officials with high authority should imitate officials and not be allowed to serve in their own homes."
Yuan Xiubo glared at Cui Gang, "Isn't it because officials can do things because they are familiar with the place? If they are also transferred, think about how many clerical transfers the temple has to handle every day! Is that okay?
"
"Then return the township to the county, and the county to the county, and let the superiors handle it."
"Isn't it still back to the old problem? Can the local government deal with it?"
Zu Jue's eyes widened in anger.
"Old man, are you looking for trouble??"
The meeting lasted for more than two hours. Everyone was exhausted. Gao Mai's hand was about to break. Zu Jue had no choice but to suggest that it continue tomorrow.
The officials saluted one by one, said goodbye and left.
Zu Jue carried the thick paperwork and walked out of the door.
A strong wind came, and the sky was filled with snow.
Just as Zu Jue was about to walk out of the official office, he saw a figure blocking the door.
Zu Jue was stunned. He looked carefully and saw that the person blocking the door was Yuan Xiu Bo. He had his back to Zu Jue and blocked the door.
Zu Jue smiled, looking slightly embarrassed, "Mr. Yuan, the dispute just now was all about government affairs."
Yuan Xiubo slowly turned around, and Zu Jue saw two tears on this guy's face. They were still flowing and the tears couldn't stop at all.
Doesn't this make this little old man cry?
Zu Jue cleared his throat and was about to comfort him when Yuan Xiubo suddenly said: "After Emperor Wenxiang, it has been a long time since we discussed important matters like this."
"There is no one fighting for power, no one seeking personal gain with power, no one sharing the same party and opposing dissidents. Everyone wants to do something, even Wei Shou is like this."
"Zu Jue. It's really good."
As he talked, he cried even harder. Although he didn't sob or cry out, his tears couldn't stop flowing, almost soaking his entire collar.
Zu Jue smiled softly, "During these years, Duke Yuan must have suffered a lot of grievances."
He took the other person's hand and said slowly: "It's okay."
"It's over, it's over."
This gesture was not like comforting an old friend, but like coaxing a child. Yuan Xiubo took a deep breath and looked at Zu Jue.
"However, Xiaozheng, I still think your idea that officials cannot deal with their subordinates privately is wrong."
"Hahaha~~~"
Zu Jue laughed, Yuan Xiubo glanced at him, and then he also laughed loudly.
Inside the house, Lu Qubing was still a little dizzy, and the weather suddenly turned cold. Thanks to his youth, he still wore thin clothes when traveling. Who would have thought that he would become so sick after just going out once.
He sat next to Liu Taozi, and even though he was ill, he did not delay his talkativeness.
"Taozi, your government meeting is more reliable than the court meeting. I have participated in the court meeting in the past, even when Emperor Xiaozhao was there. Even with Mingjun, the court meeting was full of smoke and demons, and I couldn't stay there at all."
"I always feel that in this most remote and barren place, those of us who are not tolerated by the temple are going to do something big."
"Ah sneeze!!"
ps: It works very well. After I got home, my coughing decreased and my throat didn’t hurt so much anymore. However, I was still in a dazed state. It took me a whole day to write this chapter. Alas, it’s still the same sentence, go out.
Wear more clothes and pretend to be struck by lightning.
Chapter completed!