Chapter 19 6. Find a fierce person to be the county magistrate

Cao Cao spent money and trouble to build a super building, and then made a lot of construction work to rebuild Yecheng. It is definitely not an image project, nor is it just a joke with too much money. From a political point of view, as the current prime minister of the empire, Cao Cao did not intend to return to Xu County to work. He wanted to put his roots in Ye County, not to mention fighting against Emperor Xian, at least in fact he had to start a new one.Therefore, he spared no expense to build Yecheng. As for the construction of the Tongque Terrace, the starting point is similar to that of Gongsun Zan's repair of Yijing and Dong Zhuo's repair of the dock, mainly out of safety considerations.

In the past, Gongsun Zan's Yi Jing kept the powerful Yuan Shao Group out of the door for several years. When Cao Cao went to Wuhuan and passed by the Yishui River, he would definitely visit those outstanding buildings and leave a deep impression on them.In fact, the architectural form of "Taiwan" was the most developed during the Qin and Han Dynasties. When gunpowder was not widely used and the siege technology was still very primitive, tall castles were still the safest place. So far, the important status of Ye County has been further elevated, Luoyang, the nominal capital of the empire, and Xu County, the current temporary capital, can hardly compete with Ye County.

As mentioned earlier, due to its developed economy, abundant commodities, and high level of education, Ye County has also become a place where dignitaries and dignitaries yearn for.Non-directed generals such as Zhang Yan and Zang Ba, as well as the leaders of ethnic minorities such as Northern Huns and Wuhuan, all took the initiative to send their family members to live in Ye County, to express their loyalty to Cao Cao, and to enjoy the most modern and fashionable Life. Ye County gathered all kinds of powerful people and wealthy people from all over the world.People in modern times like to say, "If you don't come to Beijing, you don't know that you have a small official, and if you go to Guangdong, you don't know that you have little money." At that time, people all over the world would say, "If you don't go to Ye County, you don't know that you are a small official and have little money."

However, usually such places are also the most difficult to manage. According to the book "Wei Lue", when Cao Cao was training troops in Qiao County, he heard that the public security situation in Ye County was not good, there were too many privileged people, and they did not respect laws and regulations (Hui Taizu went to Qiao, and Wen Ye's subordinates were quite disobedient. ban).Cao Cao thought that he must send a ruthless character to Ye County to rectify it. More than 20 years ago, Cao Cao, who had just started working, served as the head of the Public Security Bureau in northern Luoyang (Luoyang Beiwei). , Using thunderbolt means to rectify social order left a deep impression on people.In this regard, Cao Cao lacks neither courage nor experience.

But now it is impossible for Cao Cao to do these things himself. The most effective way is to find a suitable parent officer for Ye County, so he ordered the relevant departments to find a suitable candidate (it was issued an order to select Ye). The relevant departments quickly reported the candidate, but it turned out to be a prisoner serving his sentence, whose name was Yang Pei.Cao Cao knew this person, Yang Pei, whose name was Kongqu, was from Zuo Fengyi Wannian County (now Lintong, Shaanxi) of the Sili School Captain.There are two things that impressed Cao Cao deeply. One thing is that when Yang Pei was the magistrate of Xinzheng County (now Xinzheng, Henan), he encountered a great famine. As mentioned earlier, at that time, mulberries were cooked twice a year. One year, Yang Pei asked the common people to collect more mulberries and dry them in the sun, so as to save them for emergencies. Finally, he saved more than a thousand dendrobiums and hid them in the warehouse.At this time, Cao Cao led the army to Luoyang to meet the emperor, passing Xinzheng County, the troops were worried about food, Yang Pei took the initiative to go to see him, and offered more than 1,000 Dendrobium dried mulberries, Cao Cao was very happy.

Another thing is that Cao Cao later appointed Yang Pei as the county magistrate of Changshe. Cao Hong had a guest who was in Changshe at that time, and he did not abide by the law by relying on Cao Hong's influence.Yang Pei didn't care about that. He was arrested and beat the board first, breaking his feet, and then ordered to kill him before he finished. Cao Cao likes such officials who are not afraid of power and enforce the law strictly, because he did this when he was young. When he heard about Yang Pei's deeds, he fully affirmed (Taizu thought he could).Yang Pei was later promoted to be the prefect of Jiujiang County, the prime minister of Dongping, and the prefect of Le'an County, with outstanding achievements.However, he had a conflict with the local garrison general because of something, which resulted in a struggle. The relevant department filed a case for investigation, and Yang Pei was sentenced to five years in prison (Kun was sentenced to five years old).

Yang Pei was still serving his sentence when he was recommended to Cao Cao. Cao Cao expressed his satisfaction with this candidate and ordered Yang Pei to be the county magistrate of Ye County.At this time, Cao Cao was probably still in Qiao County, so he summoned Yang Pei there.Cao Cao asked him what method he used to govern Ye County, and Yang Pei replied: "Do your best, obey and promote the law, and do things according to the law (do your best, and follow the scientific law)." Cao Cao was very happy.Cao Cao turned his head and said to the people in front of him: "Everyone, see clearly, County Magistrate Yang is not easy to provoke (gentlemen, this is scary)."

Cao Cao ordered Yang Pei to be given ten slaves (ten live populations) and one hundred bolts of silk, to repay him for his dedication to offering dried mulberries, and to express his support and encouragement for Yang Pei's upcoming appointment. Hearing that Yang Pei was going to be the county magistrate in Ye County, Cao Hong, Liu Xun and others hurriedly sent their family members back on fast horses to send a message to their family members, asking them to restrain themselves and not fall into the hands of County Magistrate Yang. Zhonghaoyou Cao Hong, Liu Xun, etc. were afraid of being famous, and sent their families to gallop to report to their children, so that they could each check the edict).

Cao Hong needs no introduction.Liu Xun also mentioned before that he and Cao Cao had known each other since they were young, and later served under Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu appointed him as the prefect of Lujiang County. After Yuan Shu died, Sun Ce sought Lujiang County.Because of his "old relationship" with Cao Cao, Liu Xun was granted the title of Marquis and was quite powerful.But relying on this relationship, he was arrogant and did not abide by the law, and he did not pay attention to what he said (he believed that he had a long-term relationship with the Taizu, he was arrogant every day, broke the law many times, and slandered), and was finally accused and punished.

You can say a little more about Yang Pei.He served as the magistrate of Ye County for many years, and because of his outstanding political achievements, he was later promoted to the division commander (school lieutenant) of the Western Frontier Army. Cao Cao once led a team to the west, and Master Yang’s department was in charge of guarding Mengjindu, an important ferry on the Yellow River. Cao Cao had already crossed the river, and there was a staff beside him ("Wei Lue" said it was Zhonghuangmen, but it was an eunuch, Cao Cao could not have eunuchs around at that time, maybe guards, secretaries and other staff) forgot to take an important thing, and wanted to go back to get it after crossing the river, so he asked Yang Pei's men for a boat to cross the river.

Yang Pei's subordinates refused to agree, and a dispute arose between the two sides. Yang Pei came over and asked the man, "Do you have a pass (with Shu Xie)?" The man replied that there was no.Master Yang was furious when he heard this: "Then how do I know that you are not running away (how do you know that you don't want to run away from evil)?" Then he called his subordinates to beat this old man. Later, Master Yang was still saving face and didn't beat him hard, but he tore the old man's clothes.This person saw Cao Cao complaining face to face, Cao Cao asked about the situation, and said with a smile: "It's lucky that you met Master Yang and you didn't die (it's lucky that you didn't die)!" When the news spread, Yang Pei became even more famous, and Cao Cao later promoted him to be the mayor of Chang'an Special City (Jing Zhaoyin). However, after Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, his employment strategy changed. He paid less attention to actual work ability and more attention to background and reputation. Practical talents like Yang Pei who came up from the grassroots step by step were not reused, and finally they were given a idle job with nothing to do. Yang Pei does not consider personal interests, does not cater to high-ranking officials and dignitaries, no one likes to see him after he stepped down from the "leadership position", and is even in financial difficulties. There is no servant at home, and the house is borrowed from his nephew. , Later, he reluctantly acquired two hectares of wasteland in a place called Jiyangting in Henan Province, and built a simple house to live in, which made his wife and children suffer from cold and starvation. (He cured the disease at home, borrowed from his son, and had no other slaves. Later, he occupied two hectares of barren land in Jiyangting, Henan, and built a melon and cattle hut, where he lived. His wife was cold and hungry. Pei died of illness, and his relatives, friends and former officials People are also funerals.) Yang Pei's ending is a bit of a pity. It can only be said that the world has changed. People like him who are upright and honest were highly respected in the Cao Cao era. Later, due to the evolution of the world and the implementation of the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, the selection policy is more inclined to the rich and aristocratic. If he pays more attention to fame, he will have no choice but to sit on the bench. What's even more regrettable is that such good cadres who are able to work, work hard, be upright, and be honest in politics don't even have a biography in "Three Kingdoms". If Pei Songzhi hadn't quoted a passage from "Wei Lue" In writing, we know even less about him.