Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 295 It’s You!

In December, near the end of the year, many local officials, including those with a rank of 2,000-stone official, had to come to Pingyuan County to submit their account books in response to orders from the state.

The annual government affairs, the people's household registration, cultivated land, local tax revenue and expenditure, prison affairs, etc. were compiled into a book and submitted to the state department.

In the Han Dynasty, the end of the year was calculated in September. The Qin Dynasty used October as the beginning of the year. Because of the double farming season in spring and autumn, Liu Bei changed it to November. This year, due to the Battle of Hebei, it was postponed a whole month to December.

Liu Bei conducted responsibility assessments and rewarded, punished, and dismissed officials based on whether they had achieved the goals set at the beginning of the year. Military, civil, and water and soil affairs of various government offices were all within the scope of the assessment.

Except for special circumstances when it is inconvenient for some officials to leave the county, officials who performed well or poorly had to return to Qingzhou in person to report to Envoy Liu. Officials who performed just barely but had no outstanding political achievements would send one of the Gongcao, Zhubu, or Zhuji to present the account books, and at the same time they would have to face detailed inquiries from the Envoy.

At this moment, all the chief clerks were employed by Liu Bei. Many of them were not very close to the prefects and prime ministers. They regarded Lord Xuande as their lord and even secretly monitored the prefects. Once they found something wrong with the prefects, they would immediately write to the envoys.

After Sun Ce took office as the Prime Minister of Langya, he learned that the two thousand stone officials under the rule of Lord Xuande had lost the power to appoint Gongcao, Zhubu, Duyou, and Zhuji, and could only appoint miscellaneous officials, clerks, and shuzuo as subordinate officials.

This undoubtedly dumbfounded him. In addition, the fact that the captain was in charge of traitors and thieves and the military government was in charge of matters such as conscription, training, and pensions were all decentralized and took away most of his power.

Sun Ce smiled bitterly and said with a sigh, "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, you have lost so much power, why are you still hiding it? Didn't we say that we are childhood friends and we should not deceive each other?"

Sun Bofu had made outstanding achievements in killing illegal tyrants in the past six months, and he was also going to come to Pingyuan to report on his work. However, Liu Bei kept in mind that he had just arrived in Langya County and might not be familiar with many laws and governance methods. He also received a document written by Sun Ce himself, proposing to take advantage of the cold weather and launch a thunderous offensive to wipe out the Langya bandits in one fell swoop.

After agreeing to let him send troops to suppress the bandits, he temporarily gave up the idea of ​​letting Sun Ce come to Pingyuan.

At the end of the year, the streets of Pingyuan County were gradually filled with people. Some of them had already returned to Pingyuan County. Although some houses were damaged in the war, Liu Bei transferred the surrendered soldiers of Zhang He and Gao Lan to various places and ordered them to repair the damaged houses, farmland, canals and other facilities in various parts of Pingyuan before their service status could be lifted.

Whichever year the repairs are completed, I will be able to return to my hometown.

Originally, these Bohai surrendered soldiers complained privately after hearing this. They didn't know how long they would have to do labor service in Pingyuan. Moreover, since they had surrendered as well, why did the Ganling surrendered soldiers not have to do labor service while they did? Was it because they had attacked the counties in Pingyuan?

But this is not something that these soldiers can decide. Military orders are passed down layer by layer, and military marquises, military secretaries, lieutenants, generals, and even prefects and governors are all involved. It would be better to distribute armor, bows and crossbows, swords and shields, and let them fight back to Jizhou, capture all the escaped military officers and officials alive, and make them do corvee labor together.

But when everyone heard that the surrendered soldiers of Gongsun Du who had crossed the sea to attack Qingzhou were still doing labor service in Donglai County, either reclaiming wasteland, building canals, or building highways, apart from having corn every day and not having to worry about food and clothing, they feared they would never have the chance to return to their hometown in this lifetime.

Compared with those surrendered soldiers from Liaodong, they, the surrendered soldiers from Bohai, were much better off. The voices of discussion died down within a few days. Whether life was hard or not depended on comparison with others. They were both attacking Qingzhou, but when they saw that some people were worse off than them, they had no complaints.

Many officials from Xu and Yan states, as well as Henei, Henan, Yingchuan, Pei, etc., came to Pingyuan for the first time at the end of the year to report on their work. They were all very curious about Qingzhou, especially Pingyuan County, where the envoy started his career. As the head of all states, the officials saw and heard many new things along the way.

There were even many agricultural utensils in the fields, all of which were unheard of.

Between the field roads, steles were erected to indicate the direction, and water wheels were irrigating the fields.

There were even people who mined ice from the river and stored it in their basements for use next year.

Every common people had a happy smile on their face. They were happy with their clothes, satisfied with their food, at ease with their homes, and pleased with their customs. The roads were connected and the chickens and dogs could hear each other.

All who saw and heard it could not help but marvel at the scene of prosperity. The reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, Emperors Xiao and Xuan, and Emperors Ming and Zhang should have been no more than this.

When the whole country was in turmoil and the four seas were in turmoil, Lord Xuande managed to establish a prosperous governance in Pingyuan County...

No wonder we always hear that the people of Qingzhou are wealthy. Whenever there is war or chaos in other places, the people want to flee to Qingzhou for refuge.

Many common people heard that some officials, after seeing many things, would open their mouths blankly, as if they were frozen in place, and stood there in a daze.

Some people were so curious that they would rather put aside their family affairs and go to see the expressions of amazement on the faces of the foreign officials when they saw the changes in the plain.

When they bowed and asked for advice, he would either put his hands behind his back or straighten his back and stroke his beard, and then tell them in detail what had happened in Pingyuan County over the past few years.

He glanced at the stunned and surprised reactions of officials from various states. Although the people were extremely proud in their hearts, they looked indifferent and even shook their heads in dissatisfaction.

When Liu Bei heard that many common people had volunteered to act as guides and led officials to various places in Pingyuan County, he could not help but smile and thought to himself, "That's good. Facts speak louder than words. Let them experience for themselves how I govern Pingyuan, learn more, and see more."

Mobilize the enthusiasm of the people to govern the place, instead of simply and forcefully conscripting them to do corvée, and treat the people more as human beings, then many problems can be easily solved.

Jian Yong, who had been the governor of Donglai for three years, also came back to report on his work. He smiled and joked with Liu Bei, "I heard that a noble family in Hebei sent a daughter of the Zhen family. She has red lips and white teeth, a face as white as cream, and an extraordinary appearance. It seems that Xuande is indeed blessed!"

Then, Jian Yong shook his head and sighed, "It's a pity that they don't understand that Xuande likes young girls. It can be said that a slight mistake can lead to a great mistake. It's a miscalculation."

This reminded Liu Bei of the girl from the Wuji County named Zhen who was sent to Pingyuan, the famous "Zhen Mi", which left him speechless.

The nobles and powerful families liked to use young girls from their clans for marriage alliances, and even hired fortune tellers to increase their status.

However, when Liu Bei heard Jian Yong talking about young girls, he was slightly moved, but he could not see any clues. He smiled as usual and said, "Xianhe, it is strange to say that the Xuzhou nobles somehow knew that I like young girls, so they found a young white jade beauty for me. She has fresh and smooth skin, and her beauty is delicious. She is as soft as jade and warm and gentle as water when I hold her in my arms."

Jian Yong was stunned. How could Xuande always encounter such good things? He blurted out, "Someone actually believed this. I just said it casually."

How come some people actually believe what was said as a joke while drinking?

Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat and when I looked up, I saw Liu Bei smiling softly.

Liu Bei sighed and said, "Xianhe spent several years to govern the devastated Donglai County and quickly restored people's livelihood, which won the people's praise. There is no minister more loyal to him than him. Now the people's livelihood in Ganling is in decline and there is a lot of work to be done. Only Xianhe can do it."

"I hope that he will take up the post of Prime Minister of Ganling right after the new year, work hard for the people, promote benefits and eliminate evils..."

Although Liu Bei's eyebrows were filled with gloating, he gave the instructions solemnly.

Among all the states right now, Ganling is the busiest. Jian Xianhe, who else but you can be the one to take charge?
Let’s see if you dare to make up rumors about me again.

(End of this chapter)