Chapter 23 1. Young officials

"My colleagues, you should make plans for this prefect," Wei Zhong, the prefect of Hanoi County, leaned on the square couch, reached out and picked up a book silk and shook it in mid-air, frowning. , His face was full of worries, "Will the task of 'exploiting 300 hectares of reclamation villages and resettling 600 households of refugees' assigned by Shangshutai to our Hanoi County this year be completed?" After hearing his question, Liang Guang, the captain of Hanoi County, who was sitting on the seat to his left, also sighed deeply: "Master Wei! Well, this mission seems a little daunting to Liang." On the other side of Kansai, Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Dong Zhuo's Xiliang remnants are fighting endlessly, and nearby Bingzhou is invaded by Wuhuan, Huns and other barbarians from time to time, and our Hanoi County has just recovered from the Zhangyang and Suigu Rebellion How many refugees will come here after being stabilized in the middle of the country? If you say, 'Treat the village with 300 hectares, resettle 600 households', it will really be a matter of luck!"

When Wei Zhong heard this, the worry on his brows suddenly became a little more intense.He coughed lightly, and turned his gaze to Du Chuan, the prefect of the county, who had been sitting silently on the chief seat on his right. Du Chuan is the oldest official in the prefect's mansion of Hanoi County who has served for many years.In the past five or six years, Hanoi County has changed four or five prefects like Wang Kuang, Zhang Yang, Sui Gu, etc., but he, Du Chuan, has been sitting as firmly as Mount Tai in the second position of the prefect's office. . ——This point, in the eyes of everyone, understands that if he, Du, has no extraordinary ability, he will definitely not be able to support today.

Wei Zhong encountered such a problem at the moment, so he naturally had to ask Du Chuan for help, so he took the initiative to ask him: "Du Juncheng—what clever plan do you have to help this county complete the mission of the people's village assigned by Shangshutai? " "Oh? Is your lord asking about Du?" Du Chuan raised his head in response, and gently touched the pair of "eight" mustaches on both sides of his lips with his hands, with a hesitant expression on his face. He said, "Oh! The task that Shangshutai has given us this year is really difficult, and Du is also worried about it."

Upon hearing his faltering words, Wei Zhong's face immediately became stiff, and his heart became very unhappy: You Du Chuan!You have done well in Hanoi County's Mintun missions in the past few years-what circles did you and the prefect have around today?I'm afraid they are making some small calculations again, and want to exchange something from the prefect, right? With a glance, Du Chuan could clearly see all of Wei Zhong's expressions at this moment.He pretended to be thoughtful and turned the conversation back: "However, my lord, don't worry, let Dumou slow down for a few days, and then plan a perfect plan for you, how about it?"

"Well... that's good." Wei Zhong calmed down and nodded slightly to him, "Since that's the case, then you have to worry about it..." Du Chuan's right hand, which had been stroking his "eight" mustache before, slowly lowered down, and a light flashed in his eyes.He turned his head, looked at a young official sitting in the lower chief seat opposite him, and said with a chuckle: "My lord, in order to complete the task today, you were a little confused for a while--speaking of it, The matter of developing villages and resettling refugees should have been exclusively managed by the county's planning department, so you have to ask this Mr. Ma, who is a planner, what kind of strategy he has!"

"Well! Du Juncheng is right!" Wei Zhong's eyes lit up, and he immediately shot his gaze at the young official sitting on the seat under Liang Guang's left hand, who had been very humble, and asked with a smile, "Ma Yijun! Can you What's the countermeasure? Let's come to the prefect quickly." This Shangji Mayi is only 21 or 20 years old this year. He was transferred by the Hanoi County Government at the end of last year after winning the first place in the public examination of officials from the following 12 county offices.He previously worked as a planner, chief bookkeeper, and county magistrate in the Hezhi county government, and he was known as "sophisticated and capable".Moreover, this Ma Yi seems to be from a poor family, unlike those sons of celebrities and gentry who prefer easy things and fear hard things, love leisure and hate hard work, they do everything like a healthy calf plowing the field, down-to-earth, serious, and hard-working.This made Wei Zhong very satisfied - he had only been working in the government office for four months, and Wei Zhong made him the chief planner of the county.

When Ma Yi heard that Wei Zhong had called her name in public, she looked serious, as if she had already made up her mind, looked up at Wei Zhong, and said calmly: "Since your lord is shameless to inquire, I will not be ashamed." Ugly show: In fact, the national policy of promoting the settlement of the people promulgated by the current imperial court is just like what Cao Sikong said: "The art of establishing a country is to have strong soldiers and enough food. , This is a good style of the previous generation.'It is actually a general idea that benefits the country and the people, and it is extremely wise! As far as I know, there are more than 3,000 hectares of official land in this county, so don't worry about using it like other counties and counties. There will be a shortage of land to cultivate. The only thing to worry about is how to attract refugees and how to settle them!

"Your Majesty, you don't have to worry too much about this point—the imperial court stipulates that for refugees who rent official land to cultivate, their rent and tax shall be the six-four system (if official cattle are used, the official six guest four) or the five-five system (use private cattle Then the officials and guests will be divided) and the grain will be divided. I checked the picture book yesterday and saw that there are a lot of official cattle in the official stables of this county, which is very convenient for the refugees to come to rent fields for farming. In my opinion, only It is necessary to publicize this policy of convenience in all counties and townships, and it will definitely attract refugees from all over the world."

Although Ma Yi's words sounded very bookish, he still spoke clearly and logically.When Wei Zhong heard this, his confidence was instantly ignited by him, and he nodded again and again: "Well... Ma Jun's words are very good." Du Chuan also heard clearly from the side, with a slight smile on his face, thinking to himself: Is there any reason why the old man doesn't know the countermeasures that you kid said?It’s just that you don’t know—the actual situation in Hanoi County is quite different from what you saw in the picture book. Let’s talk about it after you have touched your nose.

As soon as he thought of this, he touched his "eight" character and said to Wei Zhong with a smile: "My lord, it seems that Mr. Ma is well aware of this problem. Then, please ask your lord to garrison the land to calm the people." Assign the task to Ma Jun, Ma Jun is intelligent, talented and young, and he will certainly be able to live up to the great trust of the Fujun." Wei Zhong nodded, pondered for a while, and ordered, "This prefect is here to instruct Mr. Ma to do it. However, Du Juncheng, you have always been familiar with official affairs and have rich experience, so you will take care of this prefect. How about being responsible for supervising and assisting Ma Jun to complete this task smoothly?"

Hearing this, Ma Yi bowed deeply on the seat, and respectfully replied: "This subordinate takes orders." "Oh! Your Majesty's words made Du feel ashamed! Du is old and lacking in talent, so there is no such thing as 'supervising' or 'assisting' or 'assisting'... It all depends on the horse." You are such a young man who can take the lead!" Du Chuan rolled his eyes a few times, raised the "eight" mustache on his lips slightly, and said with a smile, "However, since your lord has ordered you to do so, how dare you not Obedience? You should work together with Mr. Ma to complete it." At this moment, Wei Zhong felt as if he had let go of a huge boulder, and the corners of his eyes overflowed with joy: "Okay! Okay! Now that this difficult matter has been settled, the prefect can breathe a sigh of relief. Let's do it! Today is the prefect's day." So I held a banquet in the mansion to have fun with all my colleagues, what do you think?" Liang Guang and other bureaucrats in the prefect's mansion listened, all of them smiled and nodded in agreement.Suddenly Du Chuan let out a long laugh, and said leisurely: "Your Majesty, wait a minute—I don't need you to host today's banquet!" When Wei Zhong heard this, he couldn't help being startled, and turned his head to stare at him, not knowing what he meant.Seeing this, Du Chuan smiled again, touched the pair of "eight" characters at the corner of his mouth again and again, and said politely: "The two brothers Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun, the wealthy businessmen in this county, are very familiar with each other. The two of them have set up a feast at the Four Seas Tower, and Tuo Du is here to invite His Majesty and colleagues to attend on their behalf! So, today's gathering will not be a waste of your money, Your Majesty!" "Brother Yuan?" Wei Zhong's complexion changed slightly, and he said with some hesitation, "Why did they host a banquet and invite people from our prefect's mansion? I'm afraid it's inappropriate for people in the officialdom to mix with merchants and powerful people. ?” "Oh! The Yuan Brothers hosted a banquet and invited people in our prefect's mansion just to exchange songs and ask us to have fun with their officials and people!" Du Chuan smiled deeply in his heart: You Wei Zhong, in private I'm afraid they also received a lot of filial money from the Yuan brothers?Today, someone Du is here to pretend to be serious!He stretched out his hand to touch the two "eight" mustaches, and said lightly, "Well, Du thinks... I'm afraid that if the Yuan family brothers invite you so grandly, if we ignore their good intentions, we will not be able to get along with you in the future. .” After hearing this, Wei Zhong couldn't help but jump in his heart: the two brothers Yuan Xiong and Yuan Hun are important powerful families in Hanoi County, and it is said that they have some relatives with Yuan Shao, the most popular general in the world today. How can I afford to be negligent? !As soon as his face became tense, he no longer hesitated, and said softly: "Well... Du Juncheng is right. Then, everyone will go with this prefect to participate in the Yuan Family Brothers' feast for officials and people..." As soon as he said this, Ma Yi, who had been silent in the next seat, raised her eyebrows, looked up at Wei Zhong's reluctant expression, and then at Du Chuan's complacent expression.His mind wandered, and he was about to say something to decline, but he thought to himself, and finally closed his mouth again, no more words.