My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 623: One policy for each county, tailored to local conditions
"Since ancient times, I have never heard of such an assessment of the performance of local officials. They don't even assess the collection of taxes and grain or the maintenance of public order. Instead, they only assess whether the efficiency of spending money and employing people is high or not. What kind of chaotic politics is this!"

As soon as Zhuge Liang arranged the assessment criteria for the main officials of Shu County this year, such words quickly spread. It can be seen that those old officials of Liu Zhang were already complaining, but they could not resist.

Of course, when faced with such depressing words, there are certainly voices of suppression and appeasement, and there are quite a few of them, but most of them are for self-comfort.

For example, "Zhuge Envoy did not say that the collection of taxes and grain and the improvement of people's morals would not be evaluated. He just bypassed the prefects and county magistrates and took charge of these matters himself, and then temporarily recruited some people and subordinates to help with the specific handling.

Since they are confident that they can manage it well, we have to wait and see for a year to see what the results are. If we jump out to oppose it right away, we will be treated as the first to do so!"

And those old officials who spread complaints could only endure it after being appeased in this way, just like they could only endure and wait and see when Wang Shang and Chen Shi were removed not long ago.

Zhuge Liang had told everyone not to worry about certain aspects of the work, as he had other ways to handle it. So before the results of Zhuge Liang's first round came out, everyone had to keep quiet. If they wanted to object, they had to wait until they were sure that Zhuge Liang had messed up the first round before they could object.

For example, they had to wait until Zhuge Liang could not raise enough money or recruit enough corvée laborers, and then they could see Zhuge Liang's joke. However, these results would not be effective until at least half a year later.

If you jump out too early, you're seeking death.

It can be said that both Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang have recently played the card of "historical credit" to the extreme, using their past accumulated credit and power to endorse and make numerous promises, forcing the group of old ministers to endure and cooperate, waiting to see the joke, thereby delaying the outbreak of the conflict.

Doing so will, of course, put more pressure on yourself, but it will allow you to move forward with your work very smoothly. As long as your hard power is strong enough and you can fulfill and reconcile your promises in the future, potential rebels will have no choice but to accept their fate.

……

Because Zhuge Liang's other big-ticket initiatives would not expose themselves to attack until at least half a year later.

At the moment, the only thing that Liu Zhang's old ministers can find fault with is Zhuge Liang's "selection of infrastructure projects."

The reason is simple. Whether the project is done well or not will only be known half a year later. There is no point in talking about it now.

However, the issue of "whether it should be done and which projects should be given priority" can be criticized and questioned during the planning stage, and it is at this time that it should be questioned to avoid waste and blind implementation.

In mid-April, after Zhuge Liang announced the infrastructure plan for Shu County this year, mainly to repair the Dujiangyan, he went to Du'an County to conduct field investigations, surveys, and in-depth planning. He did not return to Chengdu for a full half month.

The infrastructure plan for Jianwei County should have been announced at the same time, but it seemed to have been forgotten by Zhuge Liang, or it was because he was hindered by the restoration planning of Dujiangyan and had no time to deal with it for the time being.

Zhuge Liang's attitude soon made many people restless again and started to make sarcastic remarks.

"In my opinion, although Zhuge Kongming is a man of great foresight, he is too arrogant and overestimates his own abilities. He has only been in Shu for less than a month, how could he know the situation below? In order to save time, he made a wish to repair the Dujiangyan this year without thinking about it. He is simply overestimating his own abilities!
Now that he has been in Du'an County for more than half a month, he must have been shocked by the state of disrepair of Dujiangyan, so he has to find another way to gather manpower, money and grain. In my opinion, the plan of Qianwei County must not be taken out rashly. Maybe he just came to Shuzhong and doesn't know what is worth investing money and grain in the construction of Qianwei County. "

Within five or six days, these words reached the ears of some of Zhuge Liang's newly promoted staff. These people's interests were tied to Zhuge Liang's, so they were naturally quite anxious and wanted to find an opportunity to remind the envoy.

One day in late April, Zhuge Liang had just returned to Chengdu from Du'an County after completing his inspection and planning. The newly promoted Shu County Magistrate Yang Hong quietly came to his house and asked for a meeting overnight.

Although Zhuge Liang was not in Chengdu, he basically guessed what Yang Hong wanted to say.

So when he entered the room, he didn't ask, but just waited for Yang Hong to reveal it on his own initiative with a slightly testing look.

Yang Hong pursed his lips and said anxiously, "During the days since the envoy went to the capital, there have been many rumors in Chengdu, saying that the envoy is ambitious and only wants to establish his authority as a new official, and is blindly building large-scale projects."

Zhuge Liang listened to Yang Hong's frank and daring words, and then he put away his relaxed look, put down his feather fan, and asked solemnly: "So what do you think?"

Yang Hong was a little nervous: "I know that you are not a man who seeks glory and success. But people's words are scary, and large-scale construction projects are related to the long-term, so we should think twice before we act."

Zhuge Liang nodded and asked thoughtfully, "Do you know who are the people spreading this rumor?"

Yang Hong took a deep breath and said, "We don't know everything yet. Currently, those who have surfaced are all Cao officials and county clerks. No colleagues in prominent positions have said this. But there must be other people behind the scenes. Are you trying to convict someone because of what he said?..."

Zhuge Liang raised his hand and said: "I have never punished anyone for their words. Anyone who gives advice for government affairs should be encouraged, even if it is not well-founded. As long as they are sincere, they should be encouraged."

When Chen Shou later wrote "The Book of Shu. Biography of Zhuge Liang", he recorded his evaluation of Zhuge Liang's governance of Shu. There are a few very classic sentences: Those who are loyal and beneficial to the time will be rewarded even if they are enemies, those who break the law and are lazy will be punished even if they are relatives, those who admit their guilt and show feelings will be released even if the crime is serious, and those who use clever words and rhetoric will be killed even if the crime is minor.

Therefore, although Zhuge Liang was a man of great foresight and could certainly screen out opponents and bring them all to the surface with his intelligence, he was completely unwilling to do such unpresentable things as retaliation.

He has plenty of ways to make the other party repent, or if he still refuses to change his ways, he will be severely punished. He tries to understand the other party's mentality in advance, just to weigh whether there will be aggravating circumstances such as "euphemisms" in the end.

Yang Hong hasn't had much contact with him yet, so he can't understand this level.

But it doesn't matter. After working together for half a year at most, Yang Hong will know what kind of person his direct leader is. The same is true for Huang Quan. They will soon see the true noble character of Zhuge Envoy.

Yang Hong believed Zhuge Liang's words for the time being, and continued to advise him kindly: "Since you are so confident, I am a little curious. I wonder how you plan to build a large-scale project in Qianwei County to ensure that it will not disturb the people and that the people's hard work can be quickly rewarded and benefit the people."

Yang Hong's question was also from the bottom of his heart. Because with his intelligence and knowledge, he really couldn't think of any projects in Qianwei County that were worth building, which could help Zhuge Liang quickly promote the replacement money and rent and labor law this year and make the people's corvée labor cashable as soon as possible.

The work you just do should generate profits and you can earn back your investment as soon as possible.

Even for a project like repairing the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which will benefit future generations, it will take at least three or four years to recoup the investment, and the profits will not make you rich overnight.

This is just "restoration". If the Dujiangyan was built from scratch like Li Bing did in the pre-Qin period, it might take ten or twenty years to make a profit.

What else can be gained from Qianwei County?
When Yang Hong gave his advice, Zhuge Liang was always observing him. Zhuge Liang had kept the subsequent plans strictly confidential in order to observe the reactions of Liu Zhang's old ministers and see who was the loyal and righteous person who really wanted to do things.

Now, hearing Yang Hong's earnest words and flawless tone and expression, Zhuge Liang finally felt that Yang Hong had passed the test.

Some things can only be revealed in a limited way.

"In fact, I had thought about this issue long before I came to Shu, and I had done a lot of research. My brother also made preparations and gave me some advice." Zhuge Liang said slowly. Yang Hong immediately pricked up his ears, bowed respectfully, and listened carefully.

Zhuge Liang continued, "I once asked Zhang Ziqiao and Fa Xiaozhi about the geography of Shu. At that time, they talked about the salt in Shu. Most of it was produced in Anhan County, Qianwei. However, Anhan well salt is mostly produced in natural caves that are slightly deepened and ooze brine, so the output is really not high.

Therefore, the price of salt in Shu was expensive, and most of it needed to be subsidized by salt shipped from Jingyang along the Yangtze River. Even in Zangke and Qianzhong areas, people often ate bland food, and when eating, they needed to dip their food in the juice soaked from the ashes of burned plants to make up for the salt.

I also heard that when the people of Jianwei County expanded the dissolution wells to increase brine production, they did not dare to dig too deep because a fire well had been dug before. Once the ground gas leaked, the people in the well would suffocate to death. The fire gas had to be led out of the ground and burned out with an open flame before the poison could be detoxified.

I didn't know how much I should believe in these strange stories, and whether I had any way to deal with them. But my brother, who is a great scholar, taught me a method after hearing about it. I have tried it before, and now I am promoting it in Qianwei County.

If successful, not only can the salt production of Qianwei County be greatly expanded, but also the harmful fire gas can be turned into a treasure, which can be directly used to boil salt, and even the surplus can be used to smelt iron ore and forge steel. The heat of burning fire gas is far better than coal. By then, the benefits of salt and iron in Shu will be doubled, and there is no need to worry about not being able to quickly recover the cost of conscripting corvée. "

Yang Hong, who was standing by, became more and more horrified as he listened to Zhuge Liang unraveling the mystery step by step.

He didn't expect that Zhuge Liang, who had just arrived in Sichuan for a month, could know the actual situation of Shu County and Qianwei so well.

Yang Hong's native place was Wuyang County, Jianwei County. Although he was an official in Shu County, he often lived in his hometown of Jianwei when he was a child. Of course, he was very familiar with the situation in Jianwei.

He knew that there were well salt in Anhan County, and also that there were a few fire wells, but unfortunately, the mysterious "fire" had not been tamed, stored, or transported, so it could not be used. When the locals found that the salt wells were emitting fire, they would quickly set fire to it to avoid suffocation due to excessive accumulation.

These so-called "fire gas/fire wells" are actually the "natural gas wells" well-known to people in later generations.

Under the natural science conditions of the late Han Dynasty, there was perhaps only one scholar-official who knew what natural gas was. Zhuge Liang had never been to Qianwei, but he kept saying that he knew how to manage and utilize it, and that his elder brother taught him all this. How could this not shock others?
"The envoy actually knows how to control the fire well? Hasn't the envoy never been to Qianwei in his life? Is there really someone in the world who knows this naturally?" Yang Hong's heart was filled with shock.

Zhuge Liang just smiled faintly, without further explanation, and asked him back: "These will be clear in due time. Ji Xiu, since you are sincere in offering advice and are willing to help me find out the gaps, I am also willing to listen to your opinions.

I know that you are from Jianwei, and I know the officials there quite well. Tell me, when I try to manage the fire wells and dig more salt wells in Jianwei, are there any officials who are trustworthy and can easily achieve results? I only need those who are capable of managing finances and corvée labor, and who are honest and upright. As for empty reputation and false virtue, they are not enough to rely on. "

Yang Hong knew that this question was a great trust in him, so he had to be energetic and try his best to cooperate. So he racked his brains for a long time and said two people:

"I do know these two people. They were just like me before, serving as county magistrates. But when they were in Qianwei, they performed well in civil affairs and taxation, kept clear accounts, and were good at eliminating evil and greed.

One of them was named Zhang Yi, Zhang Junsi. He had served in Yufu County of Ba County and Deyang County of Guanghan. Before Liu Zhang surrendered, he had just been transferred to Niubi of Jianwei and concurrently served as Gongcao of Jianwei County. Now he was on the probationary list of the envoy.

The other person is Wang Lian and Wang Wenyi. Although they are from Nanyang County, they have been officials in Shu for many years. They were previously serving in Anhan County, which is rich in well salt. They are also on the list of candidates for investigation. They are both good at arithmetic and can personally check the accounts and enforce discipline. You can wait and see how they perform. "

"Very good, I will give these two people more responsibilities and observe them carefully." Zhuge Liang also trusted his people and immediately said that he would consider adjusting the weights when assigning specific tasks.

Although Zhuge Liang intended to give all officials involved a chance and ultimately reward and promote them based on their performance, he also knew that in practice it was impossible for everyone to have completely equal tasks.

Because such a large project always requires division of labor, and with division of labor, tasks will be prioritized. Some people are more likely to get opportunities to perform. Therefore, in the initial task allocation, Zhuge Liang must assign officials who seem most likely to achieve results to important tasks that are easy to achieve results.

If after completing this year's tasks, he found that the actual performance was not as good as he expected, then he would assign the most important tasks next year to the officials who performed relatively well this year. If Yang Hong's suggestions were accurate enough, it would help Zhuge Liang save the cost of trial and error in the first year of inspection.

Only division of labor can lead to specialization, and only specialization can produce efficiency - although these words were not formally written into economics works until the time of Adam Smith, Zhuge Liang already had a vague idea of this concept in his mind.

This was partly because of Zhuge Liang's own extraordinary talent, brilliant strategy and foresight, and on the other hand it was also due to the repeated training and influence of his elder brother over the past ten years.

Zhuge Liang's current ability in domestic affairs has even slightly surpassed the level when he held all the power in the middle and late period of history.

After listening to Zhuge Liang's arrangements, Yang Hong was completely convinced and had no more advice to give.

When he said goodbye, he was just a little confused: "Since the envoy is so sure about how to govern Qianwei County and benefit the people, why didn't he announce this plan before? If it is announced sooner, it can also calm people's hearts as soon as possible."

Zhuge Liang just sneered at this: "Isn't it unstable now? I won't punish people with words, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try my best to see the character of my subordinates.

In Shu County, the plan to repair the Dujiangyan Irrigation System has to be announced immediately because I really don’t know the current situation of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, so I have to conduct a careful survey and plan it myself.

As for Qianwei County, as long as these preparations are completed before the slack season when corvée labor can be conscripted, it will not delay the event, so why rush it?"

Yang Hong was stunned, but then he thought about it and realized that this was indeed the truth.

Envoy Zhuge was very meticulous in his work and even made a clear schedule.

Several projects are progressing in parallel, and we have a clear idea of which stage and step will require the coordination of other supporting resources.

This kind of thing is indeed a basic skill in the eyes of project managers of major projects in later generations. However, in China in the third century, few people could do it.

However, now that Yang Hong already knew some of the inside story, Zhuge Liang would not let him sit idle. He took the opportunity to instruct Yang Hong on a few things and asked him to help coordinate resources and make preparations separately.

-

PS: I'm sorry... sorry to everyone. Yesterday, a few friends from Shanghai came to Hangzhou, and I took them to Lingyin Temple. I thought it would take half a day (so I updated it before I left yesterday morning).

It turns out that these people are more knowledgeable than me. They said they wanted to pray to the God of Wealth and go to the North Peak. The cable car was under maintenance recently, so they said it was a good opportunity to show that sincerity can bring good luck...

I'm a fat guy and I haven't recovered yet. I've delayed the update until this time today and I'm not very satisfied with the progress.

I will definitely resume updating twice a day tomorrow! And I will definitely speed up the plot! I will briefly explain the initial internal affairs arrangements for governing Shu, and then change the map to write about Jingzhou in two lines.

(End of this chapter)