Chapter 49 Nine, two able ministers

Gao Gan was killed, and Huguan was breached. Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army who was active in the Bingzhou area, had surrendered to Cao Cao and was made a marquis.In addition, the southern Xiongnu with traditional forces in this area also expressed their unwillingness to be enemies, and Cao Cao's western expedition to Bingzhou will have a happy ending. But the situation is not entirely so optimistic, and Bingzhou's own problems are easy to solve, including Shuofang County and Yunzhong County in the Hetao area.However, in the south of Bingzhou, Hedong County and Hongnong County, which belong to the Sili Xiaowei Department, have been in turmoil, which directly affects the stability of Bingzhou.

At the same time that Gao Gan raised his troops, Zhang Sheng of Hedong County gathered tens of thousands of people to respond to Gao Gan, and Zhang Yan of Hongnong County also joined in. They were active in Xiaoguan and Mianchi, and their power gradually grew. The prefect of Hedong County appointed by Cao Cao was Wang Yi. Unfortunately, he happened to be conscripted into the court at this time.Wang Yi's boss was Zhong Yao, the captain of the Sili school. Zhong Yao thought Wang Yi was incompetent and wanted to dismiss him.Wei Gu, an official of the county government, and Fan Xian, the head of the local garrison (General Zhonglang), took the opportunity to make trouble. They met with Zhong Yao and asked Wang Yi to stay in office under the pretext of public opinion.On the surface, Wei Gu and others petitioned for the people, but in fact they wanted to mess up the situation so that they could secretly communicate with high-ranking officials (outside they used the name of asking for the city, while inside they actually communicated with high-ranking officials).

Cao Cao was quite worried about the severe situation in Hedong County. Cao Cao wrote to Xun of Xu County: "The generals in Guanxi surrender on the surface but have two hearts in their hearts (the external service and the internal two). Wei Gu and others responded to him again, and it seemed that there would be chaos. Hedong County is an important place in the world, please recommend me a talented person like Xiao He and Kou Xun to guard it." Xun quickly replied: "Du Ji, the prefect of Xiping County, is brave enough to face difficulties and wise enough to respond. He is exactly the man Minggong needs." Cao Cao then appointed Du Ji as the prefect of Hedong County.

Du Ji, courtesy name Bohou, was born in Guanzhong. He is a descendant of Du Yan, a famous minister in the Western Han Dynasty.In the early years of Jian'an, Cao Cao recruited talents in Xu County. He was recommended by Xun to serve in the Sikong Mansion. Du Ji is not from Yingchuan County, and he has no contacts with Xun. It is purely accidental that he was noticed by Xun.According to the book "Fu Zi", when Du Jigang arrived in Xu County from Jingzhou, he met his servant Geng Ji, and the two often chatted late at night.Xun happened to be Geng Ji's neighbor. He overheard their conversation at night and thought he was very talented.

The next day, Xun sent people to say to Geng Ji: "If you have such a talented person around you and don't recommend it to the emperor, wouldn't it be a waste of the court's salary?" He judged well, so he recommended him to Cao Cao. Xun served as Shangshuling, which was equivalent to the secretary-general of the imperial court. The servant was the emperor's senior adviser and personal secretary, and his rank was higher than Shangshuling.The two important officials of the imperial court are neighbors to each other, and they can actually hear the conversations in each other's home at night, which shows how tight the housing was when the imperial court first moved to Xu County.In addition, fortunately Du Ji and Geng Ji did not talk about any conspiracy behind their backs, and Xun Xun is not a person who likes to make small reports, otherwise it would be dangerous to chat late at night under such housing conditions.

When Du Ji took office, the Battle of Huguan was still going on. At this time, there were only a limited number of people who could be dispatched to follow Du Ji into Hedong County. Du Ji simply took a few entourages to go.After Wei Gu and others learned about it, they sent thousands of people to occupy Shanjin (near Sanmenxia, ​​Henan), an important ferry on the Yellow River, and Du Ji was unable to cross the river. Cao Cao sent Xiahou to lead his troops to attack Wei Gu and others, but it will take some time for the army to arrive.Du Ji believed that the people in Hedong County did not want to cause chaos, and Wei Gu and others did not openly disobey Cao Cao's orders, so they should be stabilized first.

Du Ji then detoured to Doujin (now southeast of Ruicheng, Shanxi), another ferry on the Yellow River, and crossed the river from there.Regarding Du Ji's arrival, Wei Gu and Fan Xian had a disagreement, and Fan Xian wanted to kill Du Ji.In order to show off Du Ji, Fan Xian tied up dozens of former county government officials outside the city gate, starting with the director of the office (master book), and killed more than 30 in one go, but Du Ji had an attitude calm.Du Ji's super strong psychological quality suppressed Wei Gu. Wei Gu is a person who doesn't want to do everything. He thinks that killing Du Ji is useless and will only increase his notoriety. Respect Du Ji as the prefect.

Du Ji endured his temper and dealt with Wei Gu, Fan Xian and others, and quietly developed his own power to divide and disintegrate the enemy. Later, he seized the opportunity to break with Wei Gu and Fan Xian, and the two sides fought fiercely in Zhang Bi.At this time, the battle of Huguan was over, and the army sent by Cao Cao also arrived, killed Wei Gu, Fan Xian, Zhang Sheng and others, and pacified Hedong County. Du Ji continued to serve as the prefect of Hedong County for 16 years. During his tenure, he reduced punishments, educated the people, developed production, opened schools, and taught students in person, so that Hedong County was well governed and became the "Cao Dynasty". It is a model area in the "Common Region" and has played an important role in consolidating the situation in Bingzhou and Guanzhong.

Cao Cao sent a good prefect to Hedong County, and selected a competent governor for Bingzhou. His name is Liang Xi. Liang Xi, courtesy name Ziyu, was a native of Chen Guo, the governor of Yuzhou. After Emperor Xian moved his capital to Xu County, Cao Cao selected Liang Xi as the county magistrate. Liang Xi did a good job. To govern always think of him.In this way, in just a few years, Liang Xi successively served as the county magistrate of four counties, the farthest place being Haixi County of Xuzhou Governor's Department. Cao Cao later transferred him back to the Sikong Mansion to work in the personnel department (under the Western Cao Ling), which is equivalent to the deputy director of the personnel department of the Sikong Mansion.After Bingzhou was pacified, Cao Cao wanted to choose a capable person to serve there, so he chose Liang Xi.

Although Bingzhou had been pacified at that time, various forces in the territory were intricate and complex. There were many people with military power in their hands, and the northern minorities were also ready to move. Confrontation was everywhere. After Liang Xi took office, he lived up to his expectations. He first recruited surrenders and rebels to weaken the strength of the hostile forces. For some powerful families, he recruited them to serve in the state government, and then used the imperial court as an excuse to recruit young and middle-aged men controlled by local tyrants. Take away.Through this series of measures, local forces have been greatly suppressed.After the situation stabilized, troops were launched to crusade against those who refused to obey, and the state was quickly cleaned up.

After the political situation stabilized, Liang Xi vigorously developed agricultural production, advocated farming and silkworm weaving, and carried out border trade with northern minorities, which restored and developed the social economy of Bingzhou, and was commended by Cao Cao.The local elders also supported Liang Xi very much, and believed that among the people who served as the governor of Bingzhou, no one could surpass Liang Xi (those who thought that the governor of Bingzhou was not as good as Xi). Du Ji and Liang Xi are representatives of many local administrative officials in the "Cao Tong District". Every time Cao Cao occupies a place, he carefully selects capable ministers who are suitable to serve as local administrators, and fully supports their work, so that these areas can recover and develop smoothly. soon.Although these capable ministers did not go to battle and dealt with specific and trivial matters at ordinary times, their efforts were also indispensable. They played an important role in consolidating the rule of the "Cao Tong District" and supporting frontline warfare.