The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 273 Seeking Talented Individuals
The officials did not oppose the reclamation of the Northeast, but they opposed large-scale construction in a short period of time.

Given the extreme distance, it's unlikely to happen in the near future, let alone in the next decade.

Even if grain were grown, it wouldn't be able to supply Xianyang, and its terrain provides a natural barrier to the Great Wall in the Yan region.

The development of Guanzhong, including Longxi, has taken more than ten years to achieve its current progress, and now it also needs to take care of the immediate Sanchuan County and Xingyang.

Prince Fusu was wise; he knew that he should focus on the present and lay a solid foundation before he could see further.

Du Shui Changlu's ideas were ahead of their time, perhaps too far ahead of their time. Prince Fusu also supported Du Shui, but only in a limited way. For example, he agreed to the matter of annihilating the Donghu.

As evening approached, scrolls of documents concerning the circulation of officials were sent out.

Sima Xin remained the prefect of Weinan this year, and when he visited Jingye County again, Shusun Tong was not surprised.

Many people in Guanzhong will be transferred this year, but Sima Xin has been in the position of prefect for so many years.

Shusun Tong had long believed that the furthest Sima Xin could go was to become a prefect.

This person is hardworking and conscientious, but in terms of talent, he is indeed not as outstanding as the people in the Prime Minister's office.

"Today, the Prime Minister's residence bestowed upon me five bushels of new wheat, and I also learned of my friend's promotion. That's why I came to seek out the old master for a drink."

Zhang Jing, Gongzi Heng, and Gongzi Li were all away from the county, making this the most peaceful winter solstice that Shusun Tong had ever experienced.

Taking the wine bowl from Sima Xin, Shusun said, "It's a bit deserted here."

Sima Xin nodded and said, "It is indeed deserted. Zhang Jing and Gongzi Heng went to the army in the north with Wang Taiwei, and Gongzi Li went to Yongcheng to pay respects to his ancestors. The children in this county are no longer playing."

Shusun Tong took a sip of wine, frowned, and said, "Your good friend Xiao He has been promoted?"

Sima Xin said, "I will serve as the Prefectural Assistant."

"Yes, this person does have some skill."

Sima Xin said, "I admire him too."

Shusun Tong added some more wine to his bowl. Sima Xin was originally from the Qin Dynasty, so he had the good qualities of being hardworking, loyal and devoted.

Being hardworking and conscientious is certainly a good quality, and such people are needed everywhere and in whatever position.

The previous generation of Qin people did not have an easy life, and now, in Sima Xin's generation, the teachings he received were all from the old Qin people.

Therefore, compared to Xiao He, Sima Xin appeared much more down-to-earth and hardworking.

When Sima Xin was serving as the county magistrate, he greeted the young master on the bridge when he arrived and saw him off on the bridge when he left.

The two were drinking, like two down-on-their-luck middle-aged men, exchanging words of comfort to each other.

Shusun Tong felt he was getting old. In fact, he had long been used to having his two sons by his side. Now that even Zhang Jing had gone to the north, who would grind tofu for him in the future?

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Sima Xin got up to open the door and saw a eunuch carrying a food box.

The visitor said, "This is a steamed rice cake bestowed by the young master for the old master."

Sima Xin accepted the food box, bowed, and said, "Thank you, young master."

After the visitor left, Sima Xin closed the door, sat down opposite Shusun Tong again, and opened the food box to take out a plate of steamed rice cakes.

The steamed rice cake had cooled down; it was covered with a layer of jujube paste, and underneath were several layers of rice, as if red beans and jujube paste were separated. Shusun Tong placed it on a stove to reheat it, and then served it out as a steaming hot steamed rice cake.

Shusun Tong and Sima Xin shared a large piece of steamed rice cake, and then they started talking about Xiao He.

Shusun Tongdao said, “Xiao He is not rigid in his actions and is good at adapting. He knows that when the county encounters difficulties, he will look for solutions from outside and then benefit the people in his own county. You are much more rigid. When your own county encounters difficulties, you only think about solving them within the county and do not know how to seek help from outside. Do you think it is shameful to ask others for help?”

Sima Xin lowered his head, unsure how to refute what he was being told.

Shusun Tong continued, “This year, Luoyang City will be built again. Perhaps Tongguan can provide some manpower. In recent years, the amount of labor in Guanzhong has begun to decrease. After those constructions are completed, people will look for work again.”

"I know."

"Then send some manpower to Luoyang."

Shusun Tong pointed out a clear path for development to Sima Xin: the construction of various counties in Guanzhong was nearing completion, and in the future, even the construction of fields and paths in Guanzhong would be relatively simple to maintain, as the main labor force would gradually leave Guanzhong.

As for what Guanzhong would be like in the future, Shusun Tong didn't know; he was just a teacher.

"I've heard you young masters say that in the future, the western and northern parts of Guanzhong will be boundless fields, and the population will continue to concentrate, with people's houses being built very close together."

Sima Xin took another sip of wine and nodded.

He just drinks silently and doesn't say a word. Uncle Sun said, "You usually don't talk enough and don't do enough, otherwise you would have been in the Prime Minister's mansion long ago."

Sima Xin replied, "Yes, that's always been my practice."

Seeing that Sima Xin was still proud of this, Shusun Tong took another sip of wine. Since the wine was brought by the man, he couldn't continue to criticize him.

In Jingyang County, north of the Wei River, the county will have a good New Year this winter solstice. County Magistrate Xiao He has been promoted to Prefectural Assistant and will be able to govern three counties, which makes people inside and outside the county very happy.

The people and hearts of the neighboring counties of Gaoling and Sanyuan had long since turned to Xiao He.

Can't the people of the county tell which magistrate is capable and which is not? They simply believe that the quality of life is related to the magistrate's abilities.

Inside the county government office, Xiao He was still looking at the documents. The documents appointed him as the prefectural assistant, but he could not slack off. He had to continue to increase the arable land and population, and also produce more taxes.

The document also contained a sentence stating that at the spring equinox of the following year, all county magistrates and officials above the rank of chief should go to Xianyang to inquire at the Prime Minister's residence.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister's residence also sent a scroll, which turned out to be a map—a map of the waterways of Luoyang.

Congratulations rang out outside the county government, but Xiao He showed no smile. It would be even more difficult for him to serve as an official in Guanzhong in the future. Prince Fusu ordered all the county magistrates to come to the Prime Minister's residence for questioning one by one, which shows how harsh Prince Fusu was in managing state affairs.

In the past, the counties and the Prime Minister's office mostly communicated through official documents. It is likely that in the future, the communication between the counties and the Prime Minister's office will become more frequent, and Prince Fusu will personally inquire about the situation in each county. Those county magistrates will probably be terrified in their dreams.

This inevitably raises suspicions that Prince Fusu may still be dissatisfied with the governance of the counties in Guanzhong.

That's probably the case; otherwise, Xiao He really couldn't guess any other reason.

That night, the magistrates of Gaoling County and Sanyuan County came to visit.

Although Xiao He was the prefectural assistant, he also served as the magistrate of Jingyang County and remained in the old county government office.

Two county magistrates came to visit and expressed their concerns about going to the prime minister's residence next year. The two young magistrates mentioned one reason: they wanted to find talented people.

In other words, if counties want to govern well in the future, they will probably need to seek out talented people from other places.

(End of this chapter)