Late Han Zhao Tang
Chapter 186: 4 County Household Registration, Recruiting Talents
Chapter 186: Household Registration of Four Counties, Recruiting Talents
"Dong Zhuo appointed my husband as the governor of all the counties in Bingzhou. I wonder how my husband will treat Yanmen?" Wang Ji asked with a radiant face while lying in Zhang Yu's arms.
After some frolicking, Zhang Yu, who was in the sage moment, closed his eyes and asked, "What do you mean, Madam?"
Wang Ji pondered for a moment and said, "When we passed through Mayi on our way south, Governor Guo led his army to welcome us personally, and there was no shortage of supplies along the way. I talked to Lord Guo about the situation in Bingzhou, and Lord Guo looked worried, and asked about my husband's intentions in his words."
"How do you answer?"
"I said that the Lord's intention was to defeat the enemy and stabilize the country, and mentioned the past interactions between the two families to appease Lord Guo!"
Wang Ji raised her pretty face, looked at Zhang Yu's handsome face, and said: "Mr. Guo is the master of my husband. If my husband wants to appease the people of Bingzhou, he must treat Mr. Guo with caution to avoid being criticized and causing resentment in the Guo family."
"Although the Yangqu Guo family prospered in this dynasty, they have produced many high-ranking officials and are well-known in the prefectures and counties, and have many aristocratic families that they have intermarried with. If you can get the Guo family to work for you, then the counties in Bingzhou will have no problem running for you if you can accomplish your great cause."
Zhang Yu opened his eyes slightly and said, "There are many powerful families in Taiyuan. If we want to gain the support of the various families, we must appease the Guo family. However, the various families have spread their roots and occupied fertile lands, hiding their household registration. Mountains, forests, salt ponds, copper, iron, and lacquer mines are all controlled by the various families, and the government's tax revenue has gradually decreased."
"Now we want to accomplish great things, but it may be difficult to accomplish it by simply appeasing the people. We need to use kindness and power to collect the profits from salt, iron, mountains and ponds to supply soldiers and officials, and let the people of the counties serve us."
As he spoke, Zhang Yu hugged Wang Ji's white shoulders and said with a faint smile: "It is easy to occupy Taiyuan, but it is not easy to completely rule Taiyuan. Guo Yu has done a favor to my Zhang family, I will deal with him properly, Madam, please don't worry about it."
Wang Ji rested her slightly pointed chin on Zhang Yu's chest. With her intelligence, how could she not know the key to Zhang Yu's words? The profits of salt and iron in Taiyuan County were monopolized by the big families, and the only taxes the government could control were the taxes based on household registration. However, the household registration was deliberately concealed by the gentry, resulting in even fewer taxes the government could control.
If my husband wants to achieve his career, he will naturally find a way to get the salt and iron in the hands of the big families, as well as the hidden household registration, so that he can have sufficient money and food to support the army. However, these actions will inevitably offend the big families, so if my husband does not want to cause unrest, he will naturally deal with Guo Yu carefully.
Wang Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "As far as I know, Wang has hidden many people in his name, and he also controls the salt pond. I will go back to my hometown in a few days and see if I can persuade Wang's relatives to help my husband."
"Do your best!"
Zhang Yu said: "Robbing someone of their wealth is like killing their parents. Persuasion alone is useless. We need to divide them and use both kindness and power."
The reason why Taiyuan County became the first county in Bingzhou was not only because of its fertile land and the fact that it was a must-pass place for entering and leaving the border, but also because there was the Daling Iron Mine and the Zhaoyuqi Salt Lake in Taiyuan County.
Zhaoyuqishu was one of the nine major swamps (lakes) in ancient times. Although it disappeared during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, it still existed during the Eastern Han Dynasty and was divided into nine lakes.
Although the amount of salt produced in Zhaoyu Qishu is not as much as that in Hedong Salt Lake, its output is considerable and can meet part of the needs of Taiyuan County. In order to feed the troops, Zhang Yu could not remain indifferent.
Of course, what Zhang Yu valued most was the search for the household registration of Taiyuan County. Zhang Yu could understand that there were few households in Shangdang before, after all, Shangdang had a fragmented terrain and lacked large plains, so it was not a prosperous place.
But it was not the case with Taiyuan. Taiyuan was a place with fertile land and it was not a frontier county. It had not suffered a massacre in the late Western Han Dynasty. It had a registered population of 200,000 and 30,000 households. It was obvious that there were a lot of tricks involved.
Therefore, as Zhong Yao said, Zhang Yu must restore strict laws and search the population of Taiyuan County. At the same time, Zhang Yu must give political benefits to the big families, so that they lose economic benefits while gaining political benefits, which is a kind of exchange.
Nothing happened that night. After breakfast, Zhang Yu went to the provincial government to handle government affairs.
"Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest. Hopefully, all the counties in Bingzhou will have a good harvest next year!"
Zhang Yu took off his cloak, handed it to the attendant in the hall, and said with emotion: "The shortage of food and grass is really a headache."
Zhong Yao smiled and said, "Yao and Shao Ran have been running around these days and have deeply felt that Jinyang is fertile and geographically strategic. If you can make great progress in Taiyuan, Jinyang will surely become your foundation. Not to mention raising 10,000 soldiers, it will be more than enough to raise tens of thousands of elite troops."
There is no need for outsiders to say much about the wealth and strategic location of Taiyuan. In addition to the fact that Li Tang unified the world with Taiyuan, the most typical example is when the Later Tang was almost destroyed by Zhu Wen, Li Cunxu relied on the corner of Taiyuan to first defeat Zhu Wen in Luzhou (Shangdang County). After that, he used Taiyuan as a base to first unify Hebei, then destroyed Zhu Liang and established the Later Tang.
Zhang Yu sat on the couch and said, "There are many powerful families in Taiyuan. If we want to govern Taiyuan, we must govern the powerful families. Now the powerful families monopolize the profits of salt and iron. I want to set up a salt commander to collect the salt and iron in the county for public use. What do you think?"
"The profits from salt and iron can enrich the treasury. However, to seize profits from the big families, one needs to be smooth; to facilitate business and sell goods to the people, one needs to understand the business of merchants. Therefore, the responsibility of the Salt Commander is heavy, and only a wise man can take on the position!" Zhong Yao said.
Zhang Yu tapped the table with his fingers and looked at Guo Tu and Yu Yi. Now, as the stall has expanded, they used to have sufficient manpower, but now they are short of manpower.
"The army's affairs cannot be separated from Gongze for the time being, and Shao Ran will now be appointed as the Salt Commander."
Zhang Yu looked at Yu Yi and said, "The profits from salt and iron have long been monopolized by the big families. If you want to seize the profits from salt and iron, you need to take your time and not rush. Now you can draw up a strategy first."
"Yes!" Yu Yi responded.
Seizing the benefits of salt and iron does not mean robbing. In order to avoid looking bad, Zhang Yu planned to use courtesy first and then force. If you don't know what's good for you, don't blame him for being ruthless.
"It's the end of the year now. I wonder how many households are under the jurisdiction of our army?" Zhang Yu asked.
"My Lord, the household registration of Xihe County was sent to Jinyang yesterday. Now, together with the household registration of the three counties, there are about 75126 households in the four counties. Among them, there are 1100 households in Xihe County, 40252 households in Shangdang County, 30902 households in Taiyuan County, and 2873 households in Dingxiang." Zhong Yao said, "If we calculate the yield of three shi per household next year, ignoring the amount of cotton and linen, we can get 225378 shi in autumn next year. Add the per mu yield from the military settlements, deduct the income of the soldiers, and there should be at least 25 shi, which is more than enough to support infantry and cavalry."
"If next year is like this year, there will be more than 30 refugees pouring into Bingzhou. If we check the household registration of Taiyuan County, we will have shi of grain and grass by the autumn harvest next year. If necessary, we can sell cotton and linen in exchange for grain and grass, and it is not impossible to support infantry and cavalry."
Guo Tu stroked his beard and sighed, saying, "Qinghe County in Jizhou, where I was, had 100,000 registered households. The four counties in Bingzhou are not as rich as Qinghe County, which shows how rich Jizhou is."
As he spoke, Guo Tu bowed to Zhang Yu and said, "The battle for supremacy in the world depends on people. Hebei is vast and has a rich population, but Han Fu is weak and cannot occupy it. Yuan Shao is eyeing Jizhou and is secretly trying to connect with you. Judging from the map, Jizhou will change sooner or later, so you should make plans early!"
Zhang Yu nodded slightly. If he remembered correctly, during the process of seizing Jizhou, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao had a fight because of the uneven distribution of spoils. At that time, he could intervene and see if he could plunder some people and take them back to Bingzhou. After all, Taiyuan had a smaller population.
"Observe the situation in Jizhou and act accordingly!"
Zhang Yu thought for a while and said, "In addition to paying attention to the situation in Jizhou, we must also observe the situation of the Southern Xiongnu. As long as the Xiongnu are not eliminated, they will be a threat to Jinyang."
"Compared to the Xiongnu, Liao thought they should pay more attention to Yanmen!"
Zhang Liao said, "Yanmen is adjacent to Taiyuan. If something happens at Yanmen, Jinyang will be in danger. As the ancient saying goes, one should not allow others to sleep soundly beside one's bed. I hope you will be prepared."
Zhang Yu pondered for a long time and said, "Mr. Guo, the governor of Yanmen County, has no great ambitions. He knows that our army is in Taiyuan and is very worried. I will go north in the first month and invite Mr. Guo to hunt in Mayi. We will discuss the affairs of Yanmen County at that time."
After a pause, Zhang Yu looked at Zhong Yao and said, "During the New Year, Yuan Chang sent someone to invite Cui Jun, the governor of Xihe, to Jinyang to discuss the restoration of Xihe County."
"promise!"
While they were chatting, the attendant stepped into the hall and reported, "My lord, Wang Ji and Linghu Shao are waiting outside the hall for orders."
"Invite the two of you into the hall!"
"promise!"
When Zhang Yu was in Shangdang, he recruited many sons of great families, such as Shentu Bei, Bao Xuan, Cui Tong, Feng Yang, Li Wei, etc. However, Zhang Yu only valued Shentu Bei, Bao Xuan, and Li Wei. Although the others had good family backgrounds, their abilities were mediocre, and they were mostly recruited to win people's hearts.
When he arrived in Taiyuan, Zhang Yu was no exception. In addition to employing Li Jun's old subordinates, Zhang Yu also recruited Linghu Shao of the Linghu clan and Wang Ji, the son of his old boss Wang Rou.
After a while, Linghu Shao and Wang Ji stepped inside and bowed.
"Linghu Shao, Uncle Linghu Kong greets you, my Lord!"
"Wang Ji, Wang Chanping greets you, my Lord!"
Zhang Yu looked kind and said, "No need to be polite. Please take your seats first."
"Thank you, Lord!"
Looking at the same rosacea, Zhang Yu asked, "How is your health, Lord?"
Wang Ji bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern. Although my father is ill, he can still eat and drink. I knew that you took over Jinyang, so I wanted to come and visit you, but I was afraid of bothering you, so I didn't dare to come rashly."
Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Your Excellency is my elder, so I should go and pay you a visit. This New Year, I will hold a banquet in the state capital, and I would like to trouble Your Excellency to come and attend the banquet."
After the Southern Xiongnu rebellion, Wang Rou was left unused by the court. Later, due to health problems, Wang Rou returned to his hometown.
"promise!"
After chatting for a while, Zhang Yu returned to the main topic and said, "The world is in chaos today. The emperor has appointed me as the governor of Bingzhou and other counties, hoping that I can protect the territory and the people. You two are outstanding people from Taiyuan. You should help me govern Bingzhou and make the people of the Three Jins happy and contented."
"I have little talent and knowledge, but now you value me. I will do my best to assist you in governing your country," said Wang Ji.
Linghu Shao was a little shy and said, "Thank you for your appreciation, my lord. I am willing to serve you at my utmost!"
Wang Ji was recruited by Zhang Yu as Gongcao, and Linghu Shao was recruited as Jili. In addition to the two, Taiyuan had many talented people who could be used, such as Wang Chen, Wang Ling, Guo Huai, etc., but because they followed their fathers to serve, only Linghu Shao and Wang Ji could be used.
Linghu Shao and Wang Ji may be unfamiliar to later generations, but Wang Ling and Wang Chang may be known to some people. Linghu Shao's nephew Linghu Yu once rebelled with his uncle Wang Ling, while Wang Chang was Wang Ji's cousin.
(End of this chapter)
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