Chapter 789: Power

Chapter 789: Power

Chapter 789: Power (Part )

"No one wants to be an official in Hebei now." In the former Censorate of Pingyang, now the Chief Censor's Mansion, Pei Shao told people about his experiences.

He had just been ordered to take a trip to Hebei.

He first went to Yecheng to pay a visit to Lu Zhi, the commander of the Right Army, and then to various counties in Jizhou. The farthest he went was Changshan, and he just returned to Pingyang two days ago.

When talking about Hebei, one thinks of lawsuits and sighs.

"How is it?" Wei Zhan, the left chancellor of the Five Armies, looked at Pei Shao while picking up some dishes, and suddenly found that the mutton in the plate had been eaten.

Pei Shao laughed when he saw this and said, "Daoshu, Wenxi hasn't sent any sheep yet. We've already eaten today's portion and there are no more. We can't buy any sheep now."

Of course, this is an exaggeration.

With his status as the left chief secretary of the shogunate, could he really not buy sheep? He was just pretending.

Now that food is in short supply and people are having a hard time, even King Liang has called for reducing meals and saving food. How dare they go too far?

If those present here today go out and spread the word that Pei Changshi entertained distinguished guests with only coarse meals and everyone enjoyed it, wouldn't that enhance their reputation?
Wei Zhan certainly understood the twists and turns, and after hearing this, he put down his chopsticks and said, "Didn't the king defeat many tribes in Taiyuan and Kelan and capture more than 200,000 cattle, sheep and other livestock?"

In fact, the tribes that had rebelled before were also in a difficult situation. But after they were slaughtered and their people, cattle, sheep and pastures were divided up, the difficulties of other tribes were alleviated.

The world is actually so cruel. There are two ways to feed people: one is to get more food, and the other is to kill more people and divide their food.

The Hu people know the Hu people best, and they are not ambiguous when it comes to fighting.

After clearing out the "rebels", more than 40,000 people from the tribes of Kelan and Taiyuan counties were killed or captured - it is obvious that there is a trend of expansion. It is possible that someone took revenge and forced some tribes to rebel, but the situation was not serious and no one pursued it.

"Daoshu, Taiyuan is Taiyuan and Pingyang is Pingyang, how can we generalize them?" Pei Shao said, "Even if you go to Puzi and other counties west of Pingyang to buy cattle and sheep, the Hu people won't sell them. They know that life is hard now."

"That's right." Wei Zhan agreed, picked up the wine jug, and found that there was not much wine left in it. The servants did not bring up new wine. He immediately laughed at Pei Shao for putting on a complete show.

"Let's go back to what happened just now." Pei Shao glanced at everyone and said, "Yesterday, I received news that Changshan had an earthquake and many landslides. Zhongshan, Zhao, Julu and other places were also slightly affected. Especially Lingshou County, I have been there before. I heard that the ground cracked dozens of feet and muddy water gushed out. It was extremely terrifying."

When Wei Zhan heard this, he was extremely shocked.

I heard that it rained heavily in Hebei throughout July. Although not as much as last year, it was still very severe.

After the wheat harvest in May, people were about to sow millet and beans in June. However, the rain continued and the people became desperate. So they simply withheld the seeds and used them as food, and transported the little food they had to higher places, enduring the hard times.

Some people could not bear the blow of three consecutive years of heavy rain, and under the leadership of the fortress lord, they went south to beg for food in relatively wealthy places such as Yecheng, Anyang, Qinghe and Pingyuan.

In addition, the beastly Yuwen Xianbei would go south to plunder almost every year.

Sometimes they were repelled by the generals of various towns and the troops of Youzhou, and sometimes they succeeded in looting.

This year it was a success, and several counties suffered heavy losses.

In such a situation, if given a choice, who would be willing to be an official in Hebei?

"The king has dealt with the Kelan matter. I heard that he will go east to Changshan and Zhongshan counties for the second time." Pei Shao added: "In a few days, you will all be busy. The king may relocate a group of disaster victims to Bingzhou, register them as households, and reclaim wasteland."

Wei Zhan smiled bitterly when he heard this.

Bingzhou didn't have much food, so what difference did it make whether the disaster victims came or not? If I had to say, it was probably that some Bingzhou people planted a batch of grains in June and could harvest them in early September.

In addition, if the disaster victims from Jizhou were relocated here, then there would be very few people left in those places in the north, right?
Changshan, in particular, can be described as a white land.

Zhongshan is not much different from Baidi.

Gaoyang, Boling and Fanyang were severely damaged.

Hejian, Zhangwu and other places suffered heavy losses.

It is really a pity that Jizhou, a densely populated and extremely prosperous place, has fallen to its current state.

"Daoqi, won't you fight for the official position in Hebei? They say no one is willing to go, but I think they are just pretentious." Someone said at the table.

Pei Shao put down the wine jar and took a closer look. It turned out to be Xue Tao from Fenyin.

In the past one or two years, Xue's status has risen dramatically and his clansmen have also become more proud.

"Zhonghua is interested in an official position in Hebei?" Pei Shao asked.

Xue Tao smiled awkwardly, cupped his hands and said, "Dao Qi, could you teach me?"

To be honest, Xue Tao was willing to go to Hebei to be an official.

After much difficulty, the Xue family was admitted to the county, but it seems that the Xue family still has no chance of being selected in this year's selection. Such a large family needs official positions, the more the better.

"The Xue family is from Hedong after all..." Pei Shao stroked his beard.

Xue Tao nodded repeatedly, but was complaining in her heart: You don’t call me “Shu Xue” anymore?

To be honest, the Xue family's current status is still due to King Liang. The next time King Liang recruits troops to suppress a rebellion, he must not fool around. People must show their own value, otherwise King Liang will have no place to help you.

"Wang Yifu has been active in Bingzhou recently." Pei Shao added: "Whether it is to pacify Dai or Liu Han, Bingzhou is the top priority, so -"

Pei Shao looked at Xue Tao and said, "If Zhonghua wants to become an official, he might think of a way in Bingzhou." Hedong County, where Pei's family was located, was theoretically a subordinate county of Sizhou, but that was all bullshit; it was purely a random demarcation by the imperial court.

Geographically speaking, Hedong is undoubtedly Bingzhou.

Culturally speaking, Hedong has the characteristics of both Bingzhou and Yongzhou, but is slightly more inclined towards Yongzhou.

Therefore, the Pei family must make an effort in Bingzhou - if they can't even handle things at their doorstep, what face do they have left?
After hearing this, Xue Tao was secretly puzzled: in recent years, the Pei family of Wenxi and the Wang family of Langya have intermarried several couples, and they seemed to be in harmony on the surface, but now it seems that they are not so harmonious.

Maybe they were just temporarily united because they had a common enemy.

Once the enemy falls, the Pei and Wang families will definitely start fighting each other.

Thinking of this, Xue Tao lamented again that the Fenyin Xue family had never been able to squeeze into the upper power circle, because their vision was not broad enough and their information was not well-informed enough - to put it bluntly, others treated you as a thug and didn't play with you much, and you couldn't get in touch with the core level.

But he soon became happy again.

He was invited to today's small private gathering, which obviously meant an improvement in Xue's status.

Worrying about gains and losses, starting a small family is really a bitter experience.

"Your Majesty, you want to set up a county and build a fortress at Tianchi. Both the county and the fortress will be named 'Ningwu' and will be under the jurisdiction of Kelan County." Pei Shao said, "We may not be able to build the fortress for the time being, but Ningwu County must be established. I heard that the post of county magistrate will not be given to the Liu family, and the Xue family may send an outstanding son to take the position."

"Thank you, Mr. Chang, for your cultivation." Xue Tao said happily.

At this time, he no longer pretended to be cool and called others "Daoqi". He just knelt down smoothly when he should, without being afraid of being embarrassed.

You started out as a county magistrate, what else do you want?

Generally speaking, one has to go to the shogunate first and work as a staff member for a few years before becoming a county magistrate. Now, you can get the position directly in one step, saving a few years of wasted time as a staff member. Although it is a life-threatening border area, it is also very good.

Pei Shao smiled and glanced at Xue Tao, raised the wine jar and said, "Wang Yifu has been too hasty in the past two years. Don't act rashly when you go to Kelan. Just make friends with the tribal chiefs and stabilize the border."

"As you wish." Xue Tao picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

Bingzhou was mainly fought over by the Pei and Wang families.

Xue Tao was clear about her family's position and could only stand on the side of the Pei family.

He suddenly thought of Yu.

Why are the Pei and Wang families fighting? Shouldn't you unite to defeat the Yu family? Or is there something else going on that I don't know about?

But speaking of the Yu family, they were truly the local tyrants in Henan. At most, they could reach out to a few prefectures under the jurisdiction of Sizhou on the north bank of the Yellow River. The farthest they could reach was Yecheng, and they only took a brief stab at it.

It is not even possible to say that he is a local tyrant in Henan. It can only be said that he is more influential in western Henan.

To be more precise, the three famous capitals of Bianliang, Xuchang and Luoyang are more powerful.

If Daliang establishes its capital in Luoyang in the future, the Yu family should have more advantages.

Perhaps, this is what they were thinking.

We will focus on the western counties of Henan, while taking into account Ji, Dunqiu, Hanoi and other places on the north bank of the river, and jointly build a sphere of influence around Bianliang, Xuchang and Luoyang.

They are in an advantageous position now and really shouldn't be too anxious.

"Daoqi, are there any good men among Madam Pei's sons?" After a moment, Wei Zhan asked a more practical question.

Everyone present quickly pricked up their ears.

"The third son, Xu, is ten years old this year. I heard that he is quite filial." Pei Shao said after pondering for a moment.

Wei Zhan was a little disappointed.

Generally speaking, filial piety is mentioned only when there is nothing special to pick out. He had heard that Shao Xu was a bit soft-tempered and not strong enough, which was not a good thing.

"Wu Ziyan has been smart since he was young." Pei Shao said again.

Wei Zhan was still a little worried.

Shao Yan is only six years old, how can he be considered smart? At best, he is just a child's cleverness, but it takes great wisdom to fight for power and govern the country.

Perhaps Pei Shao also felt that it was not appropriate to talk too much about this matter, so he changed the subject and said, "You are all talented people. You know that in the next five years, Bingzhou will be the top priority. Some people are short-sighted and don't care about Bingzhou. That's their business. The counties that the king is most concerned about now are Kelan, Taiyuan, Xihe, Shangdang, Pingyang, Hedong, etc. You should tell your sons and nephews to serve in these counties more often. If they make some achievements, the king will know about it."

"In the land of mountains and rivers, there are actually four things to do. First, resettle disaster victims and enrich the county population; second, convert the barbarians into Chinese and train them in Chinese customs; third, strengthen the border defenses and train the soldiers; fourth, repair the post roads, ponds, and mansions."

"Don't complain about the hardship and tiredness now. If you still hold on to your old idle talk style, you'd better not go. If you work hard now, you will reap great rewards in the future."

When everyone heard this, their expressions varied.

But this is actually true. The current officialdom is really not a place for people to work. Not only are salaries decreasing day by day, but the children of each family are also competing fiercely. A large group of low-level nobles and even powerful people are trying their best to perform, which makes these big families feel more pressured.

But at this time of transition from the old to the new dynasty, they did not dare to slack off. Bingzhou was a good place to accumulate political capital and should be taken seriously.

(End of this chapter)