Xiyang County, Bi County, and Pang County are the three northern counties of Jiangxia.
The southeast of these three counties is the Dabie Mountains. Most of the land is close to the branches of the Dabie Mountains. The geographical location is relatively remote, there are many mountains, the arable land area is relatively small, and the registered population is not large.
Among them, Xiyang County is considered to be a relatively prosperous county among the three counties in the North. Because Xiyang County is a little south and relatively close to Xiling, and there are relatively abundant water resources to the west of Qishui, it is considered to be the most prosperous county among the three counties. the best.
These three counties were attacked by Zhang Liao three years ago when he sent troops from Runan and occupied them for more than half a year.
Later, Zhang Liao withdrew, but he also took away part of the population and treasury property. Huang Zu had repaired the holes for a long time. Until now, the holes in Beisan County have not been completed.
Beisan County is still in a stage where there are few people and little land, agriculture is sluggish, and people's hearts are unstable.
When Zhang Xi entered Beisan County, he often heard that there were powerful thieves hiding in the mountains and forests of Beisan County. The security situation here was really quite bad.
Zhang Xi wrote this down in a small notebook, and when he returned to Xiakou, he asked Guan Yu to mobilize troops to calm down the place.
Without a stable environment, who can produce with peace of mind? !
Of course, this is just one point. The most important factor is the lack of population and cultivated land, which has caused unrest in Beisan County.
In fact, Zhang Xi really couldn't understand this point. What about the 70,000 to 80,000 people who followed Liu Bei to Hanjinkou? !
Liu Qi wanted to take away these people, saying that he wanted to enrich the population of Jiangxia. Where did they go? !
Even if part of it may be divided up by the aristocratic family, even the Huang family cannot afford so many common people in Jiangxia, right? !
Besides, the Huang family doesn’t have the courage.
Zhang Xi spent half a month in Beisan County. Taking the household registration atlas and topographic atlas, he carefully checked the population and available arable land of the three counties, inspected the water conservancy facilities, and interviewed the city officials and iron officials. Waiting for someone, I suddenly felt very anxious.
There are so many problems in the three northern counties of Jiangxia that even aristocratic families are reluctant to come and annex the land. That is to say, some people in Liu Bei's camp cannot compete with the local aristocratic families because of Liu Bei's strict management. Only then did he reach out to Beisan County.
Zhang Xi really didn't know what to say to these people.
Still writing it down in the notebook, I will settle the score with these people later.
It's not that Zhang Xi doesn't want to plead for the people, or that he doesn't want to pretend to be cool. These are troubled times, there are a lot of bandits in the mountains, and local powerful people are not people who will just admit their guilt if you reveal your identity.
Zhang Xi only brought thirty guards, and he was accompanied by Xiao Deng Ai and Xiao Ba. He didn't want to encounter some bandits for no reason and rob him. Although he was not afraid, it was still troublesome.
After inspecting the three northern counties, Zhang Xi set off to inspect the counties in western Jiangxia.
The counties in the west of Jiangxi were not affected much by the war. Only Jingling was slightly affected by the attack by Cao Jun's Middle Route Army. However, last year's spring plowing work went smoothly, and this year's harvest was good, so the people could live well.
Of course, the problem of land annexation still exists, and water conservancy facilities are also in disrepair, but because it is close to the Han River, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, the problem does not appear to be serious.
Zhang Xi also roughly recorded the problems in these counties, and still wrote them down in a small notebook. He planned to sort them out when he went back and submit them to Zhuge Liang.
After inspecting Jingling, Zhang Xi went down the Yangtze River to E County.
E County is still Zhang Xi's famous place. Zhang Xi always has a special affection for E County, so when he arrived here, Zhang Xi stayed for a few days.
One is to take a good tour of E County and understand the needs of the people.
The other one also wanted to talk to Wenpin, not only about defense but also about people's livelihood.
Wenpin was a military general, so Zhang Xi was not too worried about defense issues. With Wenpin's abilities, even if Jiangdong led troops to invade, they would only do better than Zhang Xi did at the beginning.
But Zhang Xi was a little worried about Wenpin's management ability.
Although there is basically no separation between civil and military affairs these days, it is an indisputable fact that civilian officials generally have better governance capabilities than military generals.
The same is true for Wenpin. He had his own set of thoughts on defense. He not only regained the defense measures from Huang Zu's period, but also improved these measures to a certain extent to facilitate his command.
But in terms of politics, civil servants basically follow the old routine left over from the past, not seeking merit, but just seeking no faults.
Different emphasis will naturally lead to different effects.
Zhang Xi will not strictly require Wenpin to govern the place like a civil servant, but on the contrary, Zhang Xi will not refer to Wenpin's opinions when encountering some inappropriate situations.
For example, the population of E County and Zhu County seriously exceeded the standard, and the cultivated land could not meet the needs of the people. However, from the perspective of defense, Wenpin resolutely refused to allow these people to leave the two counties, and even recruited new soldiers to support the army, which increased the financial burden of the two counties. These are all questions.
Zhang Xi briefly mentioned it to Wenpin, and then told Wenpin that corresponding orders would be issued after the year. He hoped that Wenpin would do the relevant work first and cooperate when the time comes.
After chatting with Wenpin for a while, Zhang Xi continued along the river to Qichun and Xiazhi counties.
Qichun is close to E County and also north of the Yangtze River, so Zhang Xi was the first to arrive in Qichun.
Then Zhang Xi saw the refugees.
Not a small number of refugees, but a large number of refugees, tens of thousands.
These refugees did not go to the city. Instead, they cut wood and built houses in the corners of the mountains, or built straw sheds. They gathered together in twos and threes. When they were hungry, they went out to dig wild vegetables. When they were thirsty, they went to the river to fetch water. Seeing Zhang Xi like this When the convoy came over, not only did they not give way, but they also stared at the convoy with fierce eyes, as if they were thinking of some unfriendly ideas.
Zhang Xi was puzzled at that time, where did these refugees come from? ! Why didn’t local officials mention this at all in their work reports? !
This is not a small number of refugees, these are tens of thousands of refugees. Judging from the location, the refugees outside the city are placed randomly and are now almost blocking the official road.
If someone incites a civil uprising, how can Qichun City defend itself? !
Zhang Xi frowned, knowing that the matter was not simple, and quickly asked thirty guards to strengthen their alert. He hid in the carriage and marched all the way to Qichun City.
It wasn't until he entered the city that Zhang Xi finally let go.
After entering the city, Zhang Xi saw another scene.
The market in the city is prosperous and there are crowds of people, including old people and children. They are all laughing and talking, preparing for the upcoming Spring Festival and planning to have a good year.
In these days, due to the war, frail people such as the elderly and children generally do not go out easily, but in Qichun County, you can see such a scene, which can only be said to be the result of excellent governance by local officials. .
But what Zhang Xi couldn't understand was what was going on with the refugees outside the city? !
Now Zhang Xi is a little unsure whether the local official of this county is a good official who is close to the people, or a garbage who doesn't care about the lives of the people.
Fortunately, you can go directly to the county government office and ask the local magistrate.
The county magistrate's surname is Cheng, who comes from a Runan family. He was one of the old ministers who fled to Xinye with Liu Bei.
It's just that his ability is limited, so Liu Bei didn't arrange any particularly important positions for him. Even though the territory is now large, he only arranged for him to be the magistrate of Qichun County.
When Zhang Xi met this veteran Liu Bei, he treated him politely.
Then, he asked about the refugees outside the city.
County Magistrate Cheng stroked his beard, shook his head and said, "So Governor Liu arranged for the refugees in Xiangyang to come here, but did not say how to resettle them. My predecessor also did not do anything, so he ordered the refugees to resettle themselves, and opened warehouses every month to provide food to the refugees so that they could not When trouble comes. Although I have tried my best to manage the situation since I took office, the refugees are stubborn and unwilling to work, so I leave them to fend for themselves. I just follow the old system and provide some monthly relief."
Therefore, Liu Qishi was talking about Liu Qi.
Liu Qi originally sent people to send all the refugees who followed Liu Bei south to the four counties of Qichun, Xiazhi, E County, and Zhu County to replenish the population plundered by Jiangdong.
But Liu Qi didn't seem to have any measures to resettle the refugees, so local officials didn't know how to arrange them.
If it is done more responsibly, for example, like Wenpin did, selecting young people from the refugees to recruit soldiers, even if it increases the financial burden, it is still a measure to calm the people.
But more county magistrates basically just don't care. As long as they ensure that there will be no large-scale civil unrest, they will let the refugees resettle on their own and decide whether to stay or leave on their own.
After all, Liu Qi didn't say anything. If he didn't do what Liu Qi wanted, he would get himself into trouble for nothing.
Really, this Zhang Xi is understandable. After all, Liu Qi’s methods were like that. Liu Bei had just settled in Xiakou at that time. Cao Cao’s hundreds of thousands of troops were pressing down on the border. God knows whether Jiangxia could be saved. It’s not impossible to understand the dereliction of duty by these officials. .
But Old Man Cheng, you are wrong. You are a veteran of the Liu Bei Group, and you are the county magistrate appointed by Liu Bei, and you took office after the Battle of Chibi. Why should you act like a fool? !
This old man said it nicely, blaming his predecessor for not doing a good job, and saying that I just followed his predecessor’s measures. But the problem is, you all know that your predecessor didn’t do anything, so the things you are doing now are not inappropriate. Has it been done? !
The refugees don't want to work. Whose refugees don't want to work? It's because you, the bastard old man, don't give them the chance to work.
Really, if he hadn't entered the city and saw that the city managed by this old man was quite prosperous, Zhang Xi would have wanted to slap this old guy's official hat on the spot, regardless of whether he was Liu Bei's Yuan Cong Yuan.
On the one hand, the prosperity of the city and the smiles on the people's faces prove that this old man Cheng is also somewhat capable.
But on the other hand, this old man Cheng ignored the tens of thousands of refugees outside the city and just gave out some rice and rice every month to ensure that the refugees would not rebel. This was indeed a huge dereliction of duty.
Zhang Xi really didn't know how to deal with such an official.
I stayed in Qichun for two days and carefully inspected the living standards of the people in the city. Whether it was on the surface or asked Xiao Deng Ai to lead people to inquire privately, I found no trace of being able to cope with the inspection.
Zhang Xi didn't know what to do with the whole old man Cheng for a while, so he left Qichun and went to Xiaji first.
When he arrived at Xiaji, Zhang Xi knew that he probably wouldn't be able to leave here in a short time.
Outside Xiaji City, there are actually tens of thousands of refugees wandering around, and the condition of these refugees is even more sallow and skinny than under Qichun City. Some people are already selling their sons and daughters.
Zhang Xi's heart suddenly became angry, and he rushed directly into the Xia Zhi City government office. He would beat the county magistrate after he was found out.
Then Zhang Xi was surrounded by the people in the city.
(End of chapter)
