Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 70 Jingzhao Duji
Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao traveled west from Luoyang to Guanzhong to take up their posts. Since they were county magistrates under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Yin, they had to go to Chang'an first to pay a visit to Jingzhao Yin Shou Changqia, and then go to their own counties to take up their posts.

Although Luoyang and Chang'an seem very close, they are actually more than 900 miles apart. In order to hurry on their way, Zhang and Zhong traveled almost day and night, and only rested at the post stations.

In May, the two entered the Guanxi area via Mianchi, Shanxian, and Hongnong counties.

When passing Tongguan, Zhang Yu took a good look at the defenses of Tongguan and felt that Tongguan was dangerous and incomparable to ordinary passes.

Perhaps it is because it is close to the Yellow River, and one can see the surging waters of the Yellow River hitting the river banks, and Tongguan is so dangerous.

Zhang Yu expressed his feelings when he saw the scene, and said to his attendants, "Guanzhong is a strategic place with four barriers. When the world is in turmoil, we should defend Guanzhong, store up military supplies, and march eastward. This is the strategy of the Qin and Han dynasties to pacify the world."

Although Zhang Yu did not make his thoughts clear, his words surprised Zhong Yao. After all, no normal person would want to secede and rebel, unless he was also an ambitious person.

Although he was surprised, Zhong Yao did not think much about it and just thought it was just Zhang Yu's interest in military affairs.

After passing Tongguan, you will enter the territory of Jingzhao Yin, and the first county you pass through is Zheng County.

Zheng County was a county under his management, so in order to investigate the people's livelihood in Zheng County, Zhang Yu slowed down his pace a little.

Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao observed that due to the rebels' invasion of Sanfu, there were more refugees inside and outside the county, and because there had been no county magistrate for a long time, the order was somewhat chaotic. It seemed that Zhang Yu needed to solve the problems of public security and refugees as soon as possible when he took office.

On May 4th, Zhang and Zhong finally arrived in Chang'an.

Compared to the prosperity of Luoyang, Chang'an is now much more desolate, with a population of tens of thousands, which is incomparable to Luoyang with more than 200,000 people. And because of the war, Chang'an has become even more deserted.

With the help of the attendants, Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao were able to meet with Yin Shouchangqia.

Inside the hall, Chang Qia welcomed the appointment of Zhang and Zhong.

"Your subordinates Zhang Yu and Zhang Ji'an pay homage to Lord Chang!"

"I, Zhong Yao and Zhong Yuanchang, pay my respects to you, Lord!"

Chang Qia invited the two to sit down and said with a smile: "The government affairs of Yangling and Zhengxian have been unattended for a long time, so I have no choice but to send the county officials to the county to take charge of government affairs. Now the court has sent you two here to help me out of my urgent need!"

The words with Shu accents indicate that Yin Shou Chang Qia was from Shu, and the only Chang family in Shu that could produce a 2,000-stone official was the Shu County Chang family. And Chang Qu, who wrote the Huayang Guozhi, was from the Shu County Chang family.

After a pause, Chang Qia asked in a gentle tone, "I have heard of Ji'an's name. But was he the one who led the cavalry south to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Runan and rescued the governor of Runan, Zhao Junyanxin?"

Zhang Yu tried hard to distinguish Chang Qia's accented elegant language. He was surprised to see that Chang Qia knew his deeds and said, "I was ordered by Wang Yuzhou to go south to fight against the Yellow Turbans with Lord Zhao. I dare not say I saved Lord Zhao."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu asked in confusion, "I wonder how the Lord knows my humble name?"

The campaign of Ru'nan to pacify the Yellow Turbans was not particularly remarkable in the Yellow Turban Rebellion. It was just a small-scale battle and was not worth Chang Qia's memory. Unless there was someone Chang Qia cared about in that battle, could it be that Zhao Qian and Chang Qia were relatives or friends?
Chang Qia smiled and said, "Zhao Yanxin and I are related by marriage. My eldest daughter is married to his eldest son. When Zhao Yanxin wrote to me, he mentioned Ji'an's name. That's why I'm asking this question now!"

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, because the Eastern Han court ruled the country with Confucianism, not only did the Central Plains gentry rise, but the big families from Yizhou and Shu also slowly rose, especially the Chang and Zhao families in Shu County, who basically had a background of seeking to be appointed as the Three Dukes.

Now Zhao Qian was promoted from the governor of Runan to Guanglu Xun, and Chang Qia was appointed the governor of Jingzhao, which is enough to prove that the Shu County gentry possessed considerable political power.

Zhang Yu suddenly realized what was going on and said, "Thank you, Lord Zhao, for your concern!"

Chang Qia looked at Zhang Yu's handsome appearance, and considering that Zhang Yu was still a young man, he was tempted to appoint him as the magistrate of Zheng County.

Suddenly, Chang Qia asked, "Is Ji'an married?"

Zhang Yu was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that Chang Qia might intend to recruit him as a son-in-law. However, how could Zhang Yu, who was already engaged to Wang Ji, marry Chang's daughter instead?

"My Lord, Yu already has a marriage contract!" Zhang Yu said pretending to be stupid.

Hearing this, Chang Qia showed a hint of regret on his face, but he felt relieved in his heart.

After all, being able to be appointed as the magistrate of Zheng County at a young age was a matter of family background and personal ability. With Zhang Yu's handsome appearance and his talents in both civil and military affairs, he might have been targeted by some nobles long ago.

"It's good to have an engagement. Ji'an and Yuanchang can take their wives and concubines to the county after they are settled." Chang Qia said, "Do you two know anything about the current political affairs in Yangling and Zheng County?"

Zhang Yu bowed and said, "I have been ordered by the king to march westwards. I am now the magistrate of Zheng County. I do not know the details of Zheng County, so I hope you can give me some advice!"

"Please advise me on this important matter!" Zhong Yao said. Chang Qia nodded and said, "Zheng County is the main road in and out of Guanzhong. The rebels in the northwest are rampant now, so the road and the post station are key and cannot be lost. Secondly, the last magistrate of Zheng County has not taken care of government affairs for many years. There are many accumulated cases in the county, and the people are gradually complaining. I initially ordered Gongcao Du Ji to temporarily handle criminal cases."

"Du Ji?"

Zhang Yu's heart was slightly moved. In his previous life, he knew about the good officials of Cao Wei. He had heard of Du Ji, the grandfather of the famous general Du Yu. His personal political talent seemed to be very outstanding, but for various reasons, he was wasted.

Perhaps knowing that this was Zhang Yu's first time as an official, Chang Qia described the situation in Zheng County in great detail. Zhang Yu focused his mind and listened carefully to Chang Qia's speech.

Chang Qia warned, "As for the last matter, Zheng County is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north and mountains in the south. There are many mountains and few fields in the county, so the people have no extra fields to cultivate. At present, refugees are traveling eastward to seek food due to the war. County Lord Zhang needs to handle this matter well to avoid causing unrest."

"Thank you for your advice, my lord!" Zhang Yu said gratefully.

What Chang Qia talked about was basically the key tasks for Zhang Yu to govern Zheng County. Except for the difficult issue of refugees, the other two tasks were not difficult to handle.

After all, the court needed to maintain stability in the area, not to let Zhang Yu do difficult work such as checking the land. If Zhang Yu couldn't even do the most basic things like public security, he would most likely lose his official hat and be directly dismissed by the court.

"As for Yangling County?"

Chang Qia pondered for a moment and said, "A new Jingshui Canal has been built in the southeast of Yangling County, but many of the canals are damaged. If we want to irrigate farmland, we need to rebuild the canals. In addition, there are many eunuchs and doormen in the county. If Mr. Zhong wants to govern Yangling, he needs to pay more attention..."

"promise!"

Zhong Yao's face was slightly grim. Although his tasks seemed few, they were more difficult than Zhang Yu's. The most difficult problem in Zhang Yu's county was the refugee problem, while the problem under his jurisdiction was the illegal problems of the eunuchs' followers.

Then, Chang Qia chatted with the two men for a few more words about the political affairs of the two counties until they were interrupted by other matters. Then he stopped communicating and asked his subordinate Gongcao to receive the two men.

The next day, Zhang and Zhong left Chang'an. Because Yangling was on the north bank of the Wei River and Zheng County was on the south bank, the two had to say goodbye on the bank of the Wei River.

After parting with Zhong Yao, Zhang Yu, under the arrangement of Chang Qia, took a boat down the Wei River and landed at Hejin in Zheng County.

Because someone in Chang'an informed them in advance, the officials in Zheng County, led by County Gongcao Liang Mi and County Gongcao Du Ji, waited for Zhang Yu at the entrance of the river.

In order to welcome Zhang Yu, the county officials came out to make a big noise to welcome him. Zhang Yu couldn't refuse everyone's good intentions, so he took Liang Mi and Du Ji with him and got on the carriage.

After a while, Zhang Yu came to the county government surrounded by the crowd and met with the officials in Zheng County.

According to the system of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the county magistrate, county deputy secretary, and county lieutenant were appointed by the central government, while the county magistrate could recruit county officials himself.

The position of county magistrate has been vacant in Zheng County for many years, and the county lieutenant Yin Huai is not in the county. Due to an incident of a tiger injuring people, he is currently leading villagers to hunt tigers in the mountains.

In addition to the county magistrate and the county lieutenant, the chief of the subordinates was Gongcao Liang Mi, who was similar to an official. Liang Mi was a member of the Liang family, a large family in Zheng County, and had great prestige in the county. He had been Gongcao for many years, and Zheng County had changed three or four county magistrates, but Liang Mi was still Gongcao.

Du Ji, the county official, was an outsider who was assigned by Chang Qia to handle criminal cases in Zheng County temporarily. His identity was self-evident. Du Ji was only 20 years old, which made Zhang Yu sigh that Du Ji was really talented.

When in Chang'an, Zhang Yu asked people about Du Ji. Although Du Ji's ancestors could be traced back to Du Zhou and Du Yannian, by the time of Du Ji's father, the Du family had already declined. For several generations, they had not been officials and only made a living by farming. Their family was poor.

Du Ji's mother died and his father remarried. Not long after, his father died, and Du Ji lived with his stepmother. But his stepmother was mean, and although Du Ji suffered a lot from her, he was also famous for his filial piety.

With Chang Qia's appreciation, Du Ji was recruited as Gongcao last year. Due to his outstanding political performance, he was assigned to Zheng County this year to temporarily serve as the magistrate of Zheng County.

In addition to Liang Mi and Du Ji, there were more than 50 officials in Zheng County, who were assigned to various departments. Although there were many names of Cao, after Zhang Yu's sorting, based on the organizational structure of later generations, they can be roughly divided into eight departments.

There are eight departments, namely, public security, armed forces, transportation, finance, civil affairs, Menxia (Secretariat), and Gangji. Gangji is the first, including the chief official, Gongcao Liang Mi, who presides over county affairs when the county magistrate and county magistrate are absent; the discipline inspection department is Tingyuan, who is assigned by the county and is responsible for supervising county officials. Today, Du Ji, the county Gongcao, concurrently holds the position.

Because there were so many county-level departments, Zhang Yu could not remember too many names at once, and could only remember the names of a few chief officials. If he wanted to have a detailed understanding of the officials in each department, he had to wait until Zhang Yu started his work.

However, from the perspective of grassroots structure, the grassroots departments of the Han Dynasty already had the shadow of administrative departments in later generations. The fact that the Han Dynasty was more prosperous than many dynasties was closely related to the obscure grassroots departments.

After the meeting, the subordinates of each department left, leaving only a few chief clerks. After Zhang Yu got to know the chief clerks, he attended the welcoming banquet hosted by Liang Mi.

That night, Zhang Yu did not rush to sleep, but worked late into the night, sorting out the list of officials in Zheng County and thinking about how to carry out his work.

After some deep thought, Zhang Yu decided to start with Du Ji!
(End of this chapter)