Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 121 The Arrival of Full Favors
The second year of Xingping, the sixteenth day of the first lunar month in spring.

In Changyi, where the Yanzhou prefecture was located, Liu Bei ordered the abolition of the conscription system for soldiers from counties and kingdoms and replaced it with a conscription system for military offices. He also strictly selected the auxiliary soldiers to gradually reduce the influence of the wealthy families on military power.

He also made a series of adjustments. He ordered the Jibei Xiang to lead his troops to station in Dongping County, Zhao Yun was promoted to the prefect of Jiyin, the head of the Wu family in Juancheng was appointed as Gongcao, Li Qian of the Li family was appointed as Duyou, and Wei Feng of the Wei family was appointed as Wuguan Yuan.

Taishi Ci was appointed Commander of the Cavalry and in charge of the Huben Cavalry. Guan Hai was promoted to Commandant of Qi County and was appointed to station the vanguard camp in Qi County.

Liu Bei specifically asked Jinan Prime Minister Zhang Fei and Guan Hai to put pressure on Taishan County. Taishan Prefect Ying Shao had a good relationship with Yuan Shao, so he was reluctant to surrender.

What is interesting is that Ying Shao did not send troops to help Yuan Benchu, and did not attack Jibei, Jinan and Qi County, so Liu Bei just let him go.

At present, Chenliu County has surrendered openly. Although the county soldiers are still retained and many affairs of the county can be dispatched and controlled, Liu Bei did not intervene and still let the Zhang brothers manage Chenliu.

He only asked them to submit the county's account books, household registers, and registers of land, taxes, and so on to the provincial government so that he could get an understanding of Chenliu County first.

Taking power is not something that can be done overnight, especially for those forces that were ambiguous in the beginning and then came closer. If you take power too hastily, it will easily make those who want to rely on you later feel uneasy.

While Liu Bei was reintegrating Yanzhou, he was also keeping an eye on the movements of Yuan Shao in Jizhou. Seeing him withdraw his troops, he couldn't help but sigh, "It's not like Benchu ​​to give up so easily and sit back and watch me take over Qing and Yanzhou."

Based on his understanding of Yuan Shao, he certainly didn't have such a broad mind, unless there was a compelling reason...

Liu Bei thought that it was not because of the sudden cold weather in Hebei, but most likely because something happened in Youzhou. Gongsun Bogui defeated Liu Yu, and Yuan Benchu ​​had to temporarily retreat and adjust his plan in order to avoid being attacked from both sides.

Liu Bei sincerely thought to himself, "I owe Bogui another favor. I must find a way to make it up to him."

The connection between Qingzhou and Youzhou was cut off by Yuan Shao as Gongsun Zan lost Bohai and Hejian after his defeat in Jizhou. Yuan Shao feared Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan joining forces more than anyone else. Anyone from Qingzhou and Yanzhou who went to the north would be detained in Bohai, Hejian and Changshan.

If they wanted to send an envoy, they could only take the few ships left by Gongsun Du and cross the sea to Youzhou.

Taking out a scroll of wooden tablets and spreading it out on the table, Liu Bei held the pen in the air for a while, considering how to take care of Gongsun Bogui's self-esteem with his words while preventing him from killing Liu Yu, a member of the royal family.

If he had sent people to keep a close watch on Liu Dai like he did, he would not have ended up being deserted by his friends and relatives.

After Liu Bei pondered for a while, he quickly wrote on the pale yellow bamboo slips with his bold pen, analyzing the situation for him in the letter as if he was speaking from the heart.

After writing it, he sealed it with mud and put a seal on it. He was about to send someone to deliver it to Donglai County and then take a boat to Youzhou. Suddenly, he frowned and thought of something, so he ran to the door and called back the military officer.

He sat down and took out a scroll of paper, wrote to his teacher Lu Zhi, asking him to write a letter to Gongsun Zan in his own handwriting.

He solemnly instructed the military officers that when delivering the letters, they must make sure that Master Lu's letter arrives in Youzhou first, as his would arrive half a month later.

The reason was that he didn't want Gongsun Zan to mistakenly think that Liu Bei asked the teacher to suppress him. Instead, Master Lu was afraid that he could not persuade his disciple, so he asked Liu Xuande to write a letter to persuade him.

The timing of arrival can make a huge difference.

Just after sending away the military officials, hurried footsteps were heard in front of the hall, and the officials came to report: Man Chong, a man from Changyi, Shanyang, was waiting outside the mansion.

Liu Bei said in surprise: "Please come in quickly."

As he spoke, he put down the official documents he was reading. He had been looking forward to seeing Man Chong for a long time.

The next day after entering Changyi County, he ordered people to search for him.

Upon learning that Liu Shijun had sent someone to look for him, Man Chong, who had been at home for several years, was also surprised. Previously, when he was serving as the magistrate of Gaoping County in Shanyang County, a county supervisor was corrupt and perverted the law. Man Chong led his troops to arrest and torture him, and after finding conclusive evidence, he directly executed him.

Liu Dai was shocked that the county magistrate dared to execute the Inspector. If someone hadn't persuaded him that the Man family was also a famous noble family and that the Inspector Zhang Bao had a case to investigate, he would have stopped pursuing the matter when he saw that Man Chong had voluntarily resigned.

He was idle for several years and no official was appointed to work for him. The reason was that people in the county privately said that Man Chong was a cruel official and was ruthless, so he was not a good official.

Man Chong, wearing a dark brown turban on his head, stood outside the mansion. He could just see many clerks running around busily inside. Some had runners carrying baskets of bamboo slips on their shoulders, while others were holding documents and reading them as they walked, muttering to themselves.

After bumping into someone, he quickly apologized, picked up the documents scattered on the ground, and quickly went to another Cao's office.

Except for the soldiers who were guarding and standing still with their weapons in hand, no state or county official was able to sit idle.

Man Chong was stunned for a long time. When had Shanyang County ever had such high efficiency? He had never seen such a scene since Liu Dai became the governor of Yanzhou.

The officials also complained bitterly.

More than 900 clerks in Yanzhou state all lived and worked in the various offices in front of the hall. But when Envoy Liu arrived, he was dissatisfied with the large number of clerks and wanted to streamline the clerks. All those who did not do their work would be dismissed and sent home.

The assessment period is within three months. In order to screen useful talents in the state and ministry, Lord Xuande will personally conduct the assessment and no one else can interfere.

An anonymous reporting method has also been set up. The number of spots for the notice is limited, and every time a mediocre official is reported, there is one less competitor.

For this purpose, Liu Bei spent a whole day memorizing their appearances and situations one by one.

I can't help but sigh that it's no wonder that Yanzhou was slow to react. There were less than 400 officials in Qingzhou, but Yanzhou had twice as many. The bloated officialdom actually affected the implementation of government orders.

The famous local and county scholars recruited by Liu Gongshan were slow and inefficient in their work. Three of them combined were not as good as a single official in Qingzhou.

Seeing this, Liu Bei shook his head secretly.

Although the two places surrendered, these people could not be employed any longer, so they had to find an excuse to send them back.

"Envoy Bo Ning invites you, please follow me into the front hall." The official who came to invite happened to be a member of the Li family in Shanyang County, so he naturally knew Man Chong, who was famous in the county.

"The senior official, please come first." Although Man Chong had the style of a cruel official, he was still a gentleman and easy-going person.

The county official couldn't persuade him, so he walked in front and led the way.

In the busy courtyard, when they saw the clerks accompanying Liu Shijun, no one dared to ignore them or disrespect them, and they all stopped to greet them.

Curious about who Lord Xuande was inviting, I looked up and was stunned at first, thinking that the man looked familiar.

When they saw the man behind the official clearly, their hearts skipped a beat and they cursed in their hearts, "Who is so impatient to recommend the cruel official Man Chong to the envoy?"

This kind of cruel official climbs up the ladder by stepping on the corpses of his colleagues. He is ruthless and cruel, and applies harsh punishments without mercy, such as Zhidu, Zhang Tang, and Dong Xuan.

With them in the court, all the other officials and clerks must be worried, because they are specifically working against the officials.

Even if you are a high-ranking official, you will be skinned alive if you are thrown into prison.

(End of this chapter)