After Zhou Yu's death was confirmed, Chen Chong breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he felt regretful.
As the leading general among the Wu people, Zhou Yu commanded several large-scale battles: resisting Cao Cao, defeating Sun Shao, and even defeating Qianjia Huang Quan and Zhou Buyi without a single defeat. Such a brilliant record, Chen Chong asked himself, it would be difficult even for himself to repeat it. Compared with his outstanding military talents, Zhou Yu's personal integrity is even more rare. Since he and Sun Ce became sworn brothers, he worked hard for the Sun shogunate, risked his own life, went into danger many times, and worked tirelessly to secure his victory. The Sun family will never fall. After the Battle of Jianye, people at the time compared him with Chen Chong and considered him the two dragons of the north and the south. Who knew he passed away for inexplicable reasons. Unfulfilled ambitions and endless heroes have always been the cruelest things in the world. Even though Chen Chong and Zhou Yu had never met, they sincerely felt sympathy and sorrow for this.
Therefore, he specially summoned Deng Zhi, hoping that he would go to Jiangzuo as an envoy to express his respect for him. Also presented as a gift was the Jiaowei Qin belonging to his father-in-law Cai Yong. Because Chen Chong heard that Zhou Yu was proficient in music and played the harp exclusively during his lifetime. It happened that this harp was also made by Cai Yong when he lived in seclusion in Wu. It was a perfect match and could also express Chen Chong's close friendship.
But having said that, Zhou Yu's death was a good thing after all. Seeing Zhou Yu's consecutive victories, the imperial court thought that Wu's army was the most aggressive and would be out of control, but it turned out that time was wasted. It is now October of the first year of Yanxi, and another year is about to pass. Chen Chong's policy of supporting the people and appointing officials has begun to bear fruit. Although there is a slight drought in Guanzhong, there is a good harvest in Henan and Hebei. In addition, there is no large-scale military expansion. , the national finances have improved significantly. Shangshutai made a rough calculation and found that there would still be a surplus even if 100,000 troops were trained next year.
Pang Tong reported this to Chen Chong as a happy event, but Chen Chong showed no joy. He carefully looked through the account books of each state and compared them with previous years. He found that the number of households in Jizhou, Cangzhou, and Youzhou did not increase but decreased. Qingzhou and Yanzhou also had a similar trend. This was completely inconsistent with the current policy of the imperial court to be lenient. Although Hebei has suffered from military disasters since the war between the East and the West, the disasters have gradually calmed down since Liu Xie came to the throne. Unconsciously, the last war in Hebei was already a story five years ago. No matter from any aspect, the public sentiment in Hebei should be getting better and better, rather than the hardship reflected in the books.
Regarding this matter alone, Chen Chong sent a special inquiry to Wen Ying, the governor of Jizhou, Zheng Miao, the governor of Cangzhou, and Jiang Ji, the governor of Youzhou, asking them to respond quickly. By the end of the year, all three of them had sent replies on time, and their remarks were similar. Taken together, the reasons can be attributed to four reasons: The first is the commonplace public security issue, but there are still many rogue bandits and thieves left. They gather in the mountains and forests and run around. Although The harm is not serious, but there are signs of getting stronger in the past two years; the second is that the gentry has hidden themselves. After more than ten years of indulgence in the Eastern Dynasty, the gentry in Hebei have flourished, such as the Cui family of Qinghe, the Diao family of Bohai, and the Xing family of Hejian. Although they did not hold high positions in the court, they had thousands of slaves and more than 10,000 acres of land in the countryside, and it was difficult to keep track of their household registrations. The third reason was that the people's customs were unhealthy, probably due to the bloody war between the East and the West for many years. , to this day, many people in Hebei still resist the government and avoid local officials; fourthly, the officialdom is loose, because in recent years the court has focused more on the south and has not paid attention to Hebei. The situation in Hebei is complicated, which has led to the bureaucrats in various counties muddle along. Reluctant to make mistakes that will lead to punishment.
After Chen Chong submitted these letters to the Chancellor's Desk, officials at all levels in Taichung discussed it and thought it was very reasonable. However, everyone was quite troubled as to how to deal with it. Rectifying folk customs and official customs is a commonplace issue. After all, it means giving heavy rewards, promoting officials, and extending favors. This is just a test of the vision, courage, and means of the governor. , I don’t know where to start. These seem to be two problems, but they are actually one problem. The horse thieves can run freely in Hebei, and naturally they cannot do without the support of local scholars. And if the scholars are over-intimidated, they may not take advantage of the chaos and join the horse thieves. What's worse, , will contact Liaodong, which is also very possible.
Some people in the Shangshutai advocated extermination first and then appeasement, while others advocated appeasement first and then extermination. However, the discussions continued until the first month of the year, but no specific plan was yet come up with. Seeing this, Chen Chong simply put aside the dispute and planned to select a few people who could take charge. Since it involves the military, there are really not many candidates available. The most suitable candidate was naturally Qianzhao, the former governor of Jizhou, but after Qianjia rebelled against Wu, he was old and sick and could no longer be used, and most of the people promoted by Liu Xie had died. After Chen Chong thought carefully, he planned to use Chen Lailai to take charge of this matter. Although he had no great military exploits, he took the lead in every charge and was commendable for his loyalty and bravery. As long as he is assigned talented subordinates, he will succeed nine times out of ten. Therefore, Chen Chong plans to promote Deng Ai to the rank of Zhonglang General of Heishan, in charge of Jizhou, and Huangfu Li to the rank of Zhonglang General of Haiping, in charge of Cangzhou. Who can be used to manage Youzhou? Chen Chong had no idea for a moment.
Chen Chong then asked his adopted son Fu Qian about this matter. Fu Qian said: "Do you want to promote the elderly or the younger generations?" When Chen Chong heard that he had several candidates, he couldn't help but his eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "Wen There is no distinction between Tao and seniority, and there is no distinction between young and old when doing things, as long as they are suitable, it doesn't matter if Yancai says so."
Fu Qian then said: "If you want to be mature and prudent, you can use Chen Jiao. At that time, he served in Yunbei with Duke Long of Yuan Dynasty. He served as a special driver for several years. He was able to convince everyone in all matters no matter how big or small. If you want a rising star, you can use Wang Jiao." Ji, he comes from a poor family in Donglai, he is an upright man, he is also familiar with military books, and he has good plans. If you want to use him to control chaos, it is very suitable for you to use him."
Chen Chong knew Chen Jiao. He was originally Chen Deng's staff and was good at both civil and military affairs. Chen Chong planned to train him for a period of time and then directly let him take over as Yunbei Changshi. But he didn't know much about Wang Ji. He only remembered that Xiaolian seemed to be elected three years ago. Now he is serving as the county magistrate in Jing County. His annual performance evaluation is not bad, but it is only above average. He is really a genius. ? He asked Fu Qian about this matter, and Fu Qian smiled and said: "Why are you confused, sir? Wang Ji was born in a poor family and was not well-known. The capital was stable, and he had no place to use it. Only within a state can he perform thousands of miles. What a talent."
Chen Chong patted his head and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, what Yancai said makes sense, then let me meet this Wang Boyu and see what talents he has."
On the same day, Chen Chong ordered the post horse to rush to Jing County to conquer Wang Ji and enter the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Jingxian County and Luoyang were only a hundred miles apart. After Wang Ji received the letter, he rushed to Dongdu late at night and went to Duting to rest for a while. Before dawn the next day, Wang Ji changed his robes and rushed to the Prime Minister's Mansion. There were few pedestrians on the street at that time, but the guards of the Prime Minister's Mansion were still strict. This murderous atmosphere made Wang Ji a little uneasy. After all, this was his first time to meet Chen Chong alone. Unexpectedly, as soon as he handed over the name certificate, someone immediately led him inward. It turned out that he was not only anxious to see Chen Chong, Chen Chong had also been waiting for him.
Without further ado, as soon as Wang Jixian sat down, Chen Chong asked him what his opinion was on the matter in Hebei. Chen Chong had already informed the specific situation in his previous letter, and Wang Ji had also thought about many countermeasures on land. At this moment, he took off his fur hat to keep out the cold and said slowly: "Prime Minister, in my personal opinion, if you want to To eradicate banditry in Hebei and reorganize civil affairs, the focus should be on the prominent families in the county. But the strategy should still focus on combating rogue bandits."
Chen Chong felt delighted when he saw that Wang Ji was confident, so he asked him to get closer and discuss the case in detail.
Wang Ji was born in Donglai. During the reign of the Eastern Dynasty, he also studied in Hebei for a period of time. After personal experience, he naturally had some unique insights into the situation: Because of the war between the East and the West, the gentry in Hebei, in order to consolidate their status and reduce their losses, built many villages in their hometown. There are probably no fewer than hundreds of Xiuwu Forts built so far. These forts are often several feet high and contain tens of thousands of grains. With only a few hundred people to defend them, they can resist thousands of armies. They are like a country within a country. Now that the scholars had Wubao as a base, they had a choice whether to avoid war, hide the population, or fight against the government.
Therefore, in Wang Ji's view, if the court wanted to completely control Hebei, these forts must be abolished first. He suggested to Chen Chong that the imperial court could issue an order to the world to use a wall of one foot high as a boundary and to abandon all Wubao that exceeded this specification. If there is anyone who disobeys the order, he will be regarded as a treasonous bandit, and he will be considered as guilty of the same crime as the rogue bandit, and he will be sent to attack him with troops. The wealthy families in Feiwu did not have a Wubao and could not swing around. They had no choice but to cooperate with the government or join the bandits. Without the long-term support of the gentry, the rogue bandits can only become rootless water, UU reading www. uukasu.et It is natural to destroy nature. After the horse thieves were eliminated, if the imperial court wanted to count the population and restrict the land, the county officials would have no power to resist.
Chen Chong nodded while listening. At the end of the sentence, he smiled at Wang Ji and said, "Bo Yu was really born to stabilize Hebei!" Wang Ji waved his hands in a hurry, saying he didn't dare, and then said, "It's just that this strategy requires the prime minister's full strength." Support, after all, this strategy is short-lived, kills a lot of people, will not lead to peace within a few years, and will also cause a lot of criticism."
Chen Chong deeply agreed with this. He clapped his hands and said: "Of course I know this, but since it is for the sake of the country's peace and the common people, if you dare to do it, I will not restrict you."
Wang Ji thanked him immediately. After Chen Chong stayed with him for a meal, Wang Ji planned to leave. Chen Chong asked him to wait, and then ordered someone to take out two horses from the stable. These two horses are both solid-colored horses sent from Liangzhou. One is red and the other is green. They stand in front of the hall. They look handsome and elegant, making people fall in love with them.
Chen Chong joked to Wang Ji: "I am not a bole. I have delayed you for several years. Now I will give you two thousand-mile horses. I hope you can gallop to your heart's content in Hebei!" Wang Ji also reported in a loud voice: "The Prime Minister has been so kind to Wang Ji that he will die. In return!”
Three days later, the imperial court officially issued an edict. With Chen Dao, the former Dahonglu, as the case executioner, he established the Yitong Three Divisions and envoys to control the political affairs of Ji, Cang and Youzhou. He also had jurisdiction over the three armies of Heishan, Haiping and Dukang, totaling 30,000 people. Suppress domestic bandits. At the same time, Huangfu Li was appointed as the Zhonglang General of Haiping, Deng Ai was appointed as the Zhonglang General of Heishan, and Wang Ji was appointed as the Zhonglang General of Dukang, under Chen Dao's control.
By Dingyou in February of the second year of Yanxi, the Prime Minister's Office issued another edict. On the grounds of purging thieves and putting an end to private fighting, Chen Chong issued an order to abolish the docks to the thirteen prefectures under his jurisdiction: Except for the docks controlled by the troops of the five prefectures, any enclosure with more than one acre of land and a wall higher than one foot or three feet would be punished. All should be abolished.
