The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Ye County, Zhao's house.

Zhao Ran asked in astonishment: "Liang Qiling resigned by hanging his seal?"

The next person in the hall replied, "Yes."

"Why quit yourself?"

"The prefect reprimanded him for being incompetent in governing the county, and threatened to impeach him on the charge of 'incompetence' if he did not resign himself, and he would send a dispatch order."

The person who answered was a guest of Zhao Ran's family. Zhao Ran sent him to Liangqi County to cooperate with Liang Qiling to embarrass Xun Zhen. As a result, Xunzhen only arrived in the middle of the county, and Liang Qiling resigned. This doorman had no choice but to go back to Ye County and report to Zhao Ran.

Zhao Ran was born in a wealthy family, and he was always familiar with it. He knew the terrifying crime of "incompetence", and also knew the meaning of "dispatching and guarding order", and even more terrifying that these two combined.

Zhuo Mao, the founding hero of this dynasty and one of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, served as the county magistrate of Mi County, Henan Prefecture in the late Han Dynasty. I can't laugh at it." Under such circumstances, the Henan County Governor adjusted the order.

That is to say, usually only when the county magistrate is extremely incompetent, the county magistrate will transfer the magistrate to replace the original magistrate and govern the county. This is undoubtedly a great political issue for the former magistrate. the blow.

Xunzhen seized Liang Qiling's "incompetence" and threatened to impeach him, and threatened to transfer the guard. It will become a joke in the entire Wei County, and even the entire Jizhou officialdom, and will be regarded as incompetent. After all, he doesn't have Zhuomao's talent, - "shouling and Mao live side by side, and officials and people do not return to guarding orders for a long time." Zhuo Mao, under the circumstance that guarding and him live side by side, "governs freely" and still insists on using him He managed the county in the same way, and for a few years, there was a lot of education, and the road did not pick up things.

Liang Qiling's self-questioning is not as good as Zhuo Mao's, and more importantly, if he refuses to resign himself, even his leader will be ridiculed, and if the court approves Xun Zhen's impeachment, he will be accused of "incompetence". If he punishes his sin, then his advocate will also be implicated. Juzhu had the grace of recommending him, but he could not repay him, but instead made him suffer. This was not only related to his career, but also to his own and his family's reputation. This blow was too great, and he would rather die. It is also unacceptable, so I can only resign myself.

Zhao Ran was extremely angry and scolded: "Yuzhou'er is so overbearing!"

The doorman who came to report the news did not dare to answer, and bowed down to the ground, silent.

"Who does he want to appoint to guard Liang's order?"

"Runan Chen Dao."

"Who is this?"

"It's a righteous servant of the prefect."

"Using a soldier to serve as a guard? Can the officials of the county court accept it? Can the officials and people of Liangqi County accept it?"

According to management, most of the guards are elected from the county officials.

"The prefect was so powerful that no one in the government dared to object. The prefect arrived in the Liang period, and before anyone entered the city, he dispatched the meritorious Cao and Jiashi to jail Wei, the county official. When the county magistrate was expelled, the county officials and the people were terrified, and no one dared to object.”

The officials and people of Liangqi County had no objection. As the guest said, they were frightened by Xun Zhen's thunderous tactics. Xun Zhen had previously dispatched several county officials to be the commanders of the counties. Since the interests of the county officials had been taken into account by Xun Zhen, the county officials would naturally have no objection.

Zhao Ran gritted his teeth and said, "The officials of the county government may not dare to disagree, but I don't believe that the officials and people of Liangqi County will never have objections! ..., you go back to Liangqi now, and go to Liangqi's meritorious officers and chief registrars. , go to Liang Qi's surname Guan Clan!"

"The villain is stupid. After seeing these people, what should the villain say? Please show me the young master."

"Don't say anything, just ask them a question."

"What?"

"Can Liang Qi still have a husband? A dignified meritorious Cao, a dignified chief bookkeeper, a dignified Liang Qiguan clan, are you willing to obey a soldier?"

"Soldier" is a contempt for a soldier.

In the original history, after Liu Bei entered the land of Shu, Zhang Fei wanted to make friends with Liu Ba, a famous scholar who had a talent in his youth, and tried to stay at Liu Ba's house, but Liu Ba ignored him, and Zhuge Liang personally came forward and helped Zhang Fei He said good things to Liu Ba, saying that Zhang Fei "although he is a real warrior", but "respects his steps", and hoped that Liu Ba would "less shy" and put down his body a little, but Liu Ba replied: "When a man is a man, he should be a hero from all over the world. How can I talk to the soldiers?" Zhang Fei was Liu Bei's confidant, but Liu Ba did not give him any face. It can be seen that although the scholars of the world value military merit more and do not despise military positions, they still treat soldiers who are not scholars. will be looked down upon.

Zhao Ran is using the aggressive method.

The doorman listened, agreed to the order, and returned to Liang Qi.

...

Liangqi County Temple.

Xun Zhen arrived in Liang Qi the day before yesterday. Early yesterday morning, Liang Qiling quietly hung up his seal and went home. He checked various case books in the county temple for two days. It was late at night. Cong, Xu Fu, Xu Ji, and the four or five county officials who accompanied him from other Xingxing County gathered in the room, and they were continuing to examine the various remaining books and files by candlelight.

The ancient scholars paid attention to the "six arts of the gentleman", ritual, music, archery, royal, calligraphy, and arithmetic, all of which have practical effects. I don't know rituals and music, I don't know how to live in the world, I don't know how to shoot, I can't lead soldiers, I don't know the number of books, and I can't be a civil official. Not to mention rituals, music and archery, but only talk about books and numbers. The various case books, files, and official documents of official temples have specific formats, and there are also requirements for fonts. If the format is wrong or the font is not neat , or if they write the wrong word, they will be punished by their superiors, and those who are related to numbers, such as households, warehouses, and ratios, have high requirements for arithmetic. Good chief.

That's why, earlier, Xun Zhen regarded the children of the Geng family in Ye County as their respective directors, and arranged for them to serve in various prefectures that suit their own abilities. That's why, when I checked the ancestral books and files tonight, Xun Zhen called Xu Fu and Xu Ji to his side, and used this to test their respective abilities and how well they both learned books and math.

Xun Zhen's current account is not short of military officials, and there is no shortage of literate officials, especially after Xuan Kang and Li Bo were sent out one after another. The prefect of Wei County has written several letters to the clan, the Chen family, and old friends of Yingchuan, such as Guo Jun, Du You, Zao Zhi, etc., and I hope that they can recommend some of their family's children, especially Chen Qun. , and even moved out Chen Zhi for this reason, saying that Chen Zhi misses him very much, but he can't quench his thirst, so he has long planned to appoint Xu Ji and Xu Fu, but before the official appointment, even if Xu Ji and Xu Fu are His close people also need to try it first.

——Speaking of which, Xu Ji and Xu Fu have also reached the age where they can enter official positions. Xu Ji has already been crowned. There is no shortage. For example, Liu Ba, mentioned above, was eighteen years old, and this person was appointed as the history of the county household. Another example was Sun Jian, who was less of a county official and seventeen years old.

Xun Zhen took the lead, and everyone lit the lights and fought at night. On the seats, before each sitting at the desk, they carefully checked the case files and books of the Liangqi counties.

The candlelight flickered in the room, no human voice was heard, only the sound of flipping through or carrying bamboo slips was occasionally heard.

Xu Fu and Xun You are responsible for reviewing judicial cases from the past year.

Xu Fu raised his head, holding the case file, moved to sit beside Xun You, and whispered a few words to Xun You.

Xun You took the case file that he brought, looked it over carefully, nodded, and said, "It's really suspicious." Together with Xu Fu, they came to Xun Zhen's case with the case file in hand, and presented it.

Similar scenes have occurred many times.

Xun You and others are responsible for different case files. Some are in charge of judicial files, some are in charge of money and food, some are in charge of households, some are in charge of official records, and so on. If any doubts are found, after two reviews, it is determined that there is a problem. All presented to Xun Zhen.

Xun Zhen asked Liangqi County to present Cao’s case files in the past year, covering all aspects. The bamboo slips were loaded with several carts, and there were few people and many Janes. After offering it, I put down the case I was looking at and looked at this instead.

He glanced at first and said, "A missing case again?"

Xun You replied, "Yes."

Previously, Xun You and Xu Fu had submitted five or six problematic judicial files, two of which were cases of disappearance, and the reporters belonged to the same family, a certain surname in the county, and they reported the disappearance of slaves. Neither case was solved.

Xun Zhen, Xun You, and Xu Fu were all from Yingchuan. Yingchuan scholars "respected grammar". Even Confucian scholars, many of them had learned "law" and were no strangers to the laws of the Han family. Not only did they know the law, but the three were not stupid people. Based on the doubts in the two disappearance cases, it has been roughly determined that this must be the "unauthorized killing of slaves" in the county. In order to avoid punishment, they bought the county temple. , it may be that the county officials responsible for investigating the two cases were bought off, or even Liang Qiling was also bought off together. As a result, the two cases have become unsolved and cannot be solved.

The laws of the Han Dynasty, inherited from the former Qin Dynasty, punished those who "killed and harmed slaves and slaves" severely. Emperor Guangwu even strictly ordered that "killing slaves and slaves shall not be a commutation" and "burning slaves and slaves is like the law", even if the princes and nobles committed this crime Crimes cannot be spared. Many kings and lords have been "excommunicated" or cut down for killing slaves and slaves. Those below the king who killed slaves and slaves were either imprisoned or paid for their lives. The former Prime Minister of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Wei Xiangjia, had a young and beautiful slave girl. "Have been, I will hang myself." Jing Zhaoyin Zhao Guanghan suspected that "the prime minister's wife was jealous and killed him", so he wrote to the prime minister to accuse the prime minister of the crime. When the rest of the people go, they are responsible for killing the servants.” Fan Feng, a regular attendant in the reign of Emperor An of the current dynasty, “killed the servants and put them in the well”, and Zhu Liang, who was the Luoyang decree at the time, “received his wife and killed her.”

The punishment for killing and wounding slaves is so severe that someone who kills slaves without permission will go to the official temple in order to reduce the punishment. The family name of the family who killed two slaves in a row is expected to be of this type.

Like other problematic cases, Xun Zhen had already handed over the cases of these two disappearance cases to Chen Dao.

Now see another disappearance case.

However, this case is different from those two cases. Those two cases were about the disappearance of slaves, but this case was about the disappearance of the county official.

Xun Zhen looked carefully.

The general facts of the case are:

The county thief Cao was "preparing for thieves". On the afternoon of the afternoon of the previous month, he patrolled the Gongliang Pavilion, but he disappeared, and his whereabouts are unknown. The pavilion chief of Gongliangting suspected that someone who was begging for theft from Benting had killed the county official, so "there is no ultimatum, no news", "no tyranny", that is, the begging robber was arrested without an arrest warrant. Get up, "Fuqiongxun", that is, not a good interrogation.

Xun You said: "It's been nearly a month since the incident happened on Renwu Day last month, and the temple in Liangqi County has remained silent. Without investigation and investigation, it was determined that the thief was a suspect. If there is no good trial, there must be treacherousness in this case.”

Xun Zhen nodded and said yes, called Chen Dao, gave him the case file, and said: "This case is suspicious. The county official was killed but the county temple did not ask, there must be a major case, you can ask and investigate it, be sure to Thoroughly check."

Chen Dao promised.

Xun Zhen looked outside, and before she knew it, the east would be bright.

He asked Xun You and Xu Fu, "Have you checked the case file from last month?"

Xun You and Xu Fu responded, "Yes."

Wang Cong, Xu Ji and others, who were in charge of the money and grain and other cases, had almost all looked up the last month.

Xun Zhen smiled and said to all the people in the hall: "Zhu Qing will work harder, and when you are finished, I will give you a half-day vacation, so you can rest well."

It is customary for officials to take a rest once every five days, but in special circumstances, such as when the officials work out of tolerance once or stay up for two nights in overtime, at this time, the county governor can be very kind and give them a holiday.

Wang Cong and the others replied, "Yes."

After Xun You and Xu Fu retired, returned to the case, and then checked the case file, Xun Zhen said to Chen Dao: "Uncle Zhi, you are a foreigner, you have no reputation in this county, you are from the military, and you have never served in a county or county. Official position, although the officials and people of Liangqi County today dare not oppose your coming to keep the order because they are afraid of my power, they will definitely despise you. After I leave, they may stumble you. It's not easy to take this order well, you have to be mentally prepared."

"Yes."

"Let me ask you, how are you going to govern?"

Chen Dao replied: "As Ming Gong said, Dao is a foreigner, born in the army, and has no name in the prefecture or county. If you want to govern a county, Dao secretly thinks that you need a combination of toughness and softness."

"How to balance hardness and softness?"

"Just be arrogant, and gentle with courtesy."

Xun Zhen nodded and said, "If you can achieve these two points, it will not be difficult to manage the county, but among the two, which one do you plan to take first?"

"Just first."

"How to put the good first?"

Chen Dao pointed to the case file that Xun Zhen had just handed over to him, and pointed to the case file that was piled up like a hill on the side of his case, and said, "In order to help me, Duke Ming, day and night, checked the county for two days and two nights in a row. In the case book, I have found so many problems, almost including all the Cao in the county, and involving many county surnames, with these case books, I can just stand up."

Xun Zhen said with satisfaction: "You can appreciate my painstaking efforts, which is very good! However, you have to remember that although you have these files in hand, not all officials and people involved in these files will be punished. You can endure it for a few days, and secretly check these officials and people to see if there are any people who can take them for their own use, and if there are, take them, and those who can't take them for their own use, you can govern them!”

Chen Dao promised.

"The autumn harvest is coming soon. After the autumn harvest is the autumn planting. The autumn harvest and the autumn planting are both important events. Don't delay. You must hurry up and gain a firm foothold in Liangqi."

"Yes."

"Although Liangqi County is close to Zhao's Handan, there are not many thieves, but there are also some robbers. In addition, there are also refugees. You can do it yourself after you have established a foothold. If you don't want to stay in this county, send them back to their villages. Those who are willing to stay in this county will be registered to increase their household registration in this county; you can cooperate with the civil servants in the case of thieves.”

Chen Dao said happily: "Does Duke Ming want to keep Zhongye in Liangqi? Zhongye is young and old, if he can help him, he will be worry-free."

Xun Zhen shook his head and said, "In the turmoil of the poisonous army, which ravaged the west, south, north, and east counties of the county, although there were no large groups of thieves, there were quite a few small groups of thieves. If these thieves were not eliminated, there would be no farming. The law can be restored, and I am going to order Wen to oversee the thieves in the east and north of the county."

Chen Dao was slightly disappointed and said, "So it is!"

"I have already told Wenpin about this, and I plan to give him two hundred righteous obediences. The east and north of the county are divided into two counties, Wei and Yuancheng. There are six counties in total. Two hundred righteousness is far from enough to suppress this. The thieves of the six counties, this requires the help of the county soldiers of these six counties, and the Liangqi county soldiers are under your supervision."

Liangqi and Quliang in the north of the county, Xunqiu, Pingen, Qingyuan, and Guantao in the east of the county, these six counties each have county soldiers, more or less, together there are more than 400 people, more than 400 counties The soldiers plus two hundred righteous followers are enough to quell the thieves in these six counties.

However, there was only one person in Wenpin, and he could not take care of the six counties, so Xunzhen planned to make He Yi and Feng Gong his deputy.

Chen Dao replied, "No."

"Qing is calm and steady. With you in Liang Qi, I am very relieved. If there is something undecided in the county, you can report it to me urgently."

Chen Dao promised.

Chen's experience in Wuzhi County, although Xun Zhen believed in his ability, but a careful exhortation was indispensable.

This morning, after everyone checked all the cases, Xun Zhen gave them a half-day leave, and left the city early the next morning, and then went to the county.

With Liang Qiling's seal and his resignation first, the chiefs and county officials of the remaining counties were much more honest, and the county officials of Afu Zhao Ran did not dare to blindly follow Zhao Ran's advice for the sake of their own career. Instructing Xun Zhen to make things difficult.

Since they were honest, Xun Zhen didn't take it too seriously. As long as they didn't find any major problems in the county, they would treat each other with courtesy.

After leaving the Liang period, Xun Zhen first went north to Quliang, followed by car and drove south, east to Puqiu, then northeast to Ping'en, Qingyuan, and south to Guantao. All the counties he traveled were in prisons, Guannong, and visiting sages. , and introduced Wenpin, He Yi, and Feng Gong to the commanders and chief captains of the counties, and ordered the county magistrates of the counties to cooperate with them in clearing the gang robbers in the country, and limited the time limit, requiring them to return the domestic robbers within half a month. The group of thieves were all wiped out and told them: "If it is not possible, I will send the guard."

These counties were not beaten by Yu Du, and the following counties such as Yuancheng and Wei were recovered.

To the south of Guantao is Yuancheng, to the southwest of Yuancheng is Wei County, to the south of Wei County is Fanyang, to the east of Fanyang is Yin'an, and to the west is Neihuang.

In Yin'an, Xun Zhen was led by Shen Pei to visit the Shen clan, and selected several talented children from the Shen clan to serve as county officials. In Neihuang, Xunzhen met Li Qiong, the surrendered general, and rewarded him with a treasured saber. Li Qiong was grateful. In Fanyang, Yinan, and Neihuang counties, Xunzhen stopped for half a month.

Just as Xun Zhen and Xun You had expected, half of the nobles and nobles in these counties were lost in the robbery, and more of the people at the top of the city were killed by the thieves, and there were many barren fields without owners. Yes, we have acquired most of the land in the farmland, and if the rest is insufficient, we will rent the crops from the hands of the big surnames in several counties. Quite a bit of effort.

From Neihuang to the south, passing through Huangze, Huangze is the largest lake in Wei County, with a radius of 800 miles. There are two large lakes in Wei County, and the other is Jize. To the south of Quliang, this lake is a little smaller. Covering an area of ​​more than 200 li, it crossed Huangze and then crossed the Qinghe River to reach Liyang, the southernmost county of Wei County.

Liyang is at the border between Wei County and Dong County. A few miles to the east is Dong County, and it is not far from Hanoi County, where Sili Commander is headquartered. Forty miles to the west is Hanoi County.

Xun Zhen's car has not yet reached the border of Liyang County, and from a distance, he can see many people waiting on the border of the county. Looking at it from a distance, many of the waiting people are leaning on long dove sticks. The dove stick is a symbol of status. Only the elderly over seventy years old can be given this stick by the official temple.

In the past, although the counties were much more honest because Liang Qiling was expelled by Xun Zhen, the county magistrates all went to the county border to greet the comets, but the elders in the counties did not have so many elderly people like Liyang County. .

The elders of the villages greeted at the county boundary. To a certain extent, it was more honorable for the county magistrates to greet them than the county magistrates, because it represented the love of the people. Not long after Xun Zhenfang arrived in Wei County, he had not done any good governance. Although he recovered Liyang from the bandits, he also recovered Neihuang and other counties. Why did the people of Liyang love him so much?

Xun You was not surprised by this, he got the news from the front, got out of the car he was sitting in, came to Xun Zhen's car, and said with a smile: "Ming Gong, the elders of Li Yang welcome you, please get off the car and walk, hurry up and go over there. Bar."

Xun Zhen was not surprised by this either, got out of the car and smiled at Xun You.

The two crossed the convoy, walked to the front, and joined hands to meet the welcoming crowd.