Shanyan comforted him and asked the old man to retreat. Wang Zhu was beside him and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief. He had been listening to the exchanges between Wang and Pu, for fear that the common people in this village would be stupid and talk nonsense.
The smile on Wang Pu's face faded and he regained his composure. He turned his head to look at Wang Zhu and said calmly: "Cheng Xiang, you have done a good job as a magistrate of the state! When you first took office, you encountered a major disaster. You have been conscientious and self-denial in the past two months. Come on, thank you for your hard work!"
"The lower official is just doing his duty and not daring to slack off!" Wang Zhu showed a smile and cupped his hands and said: "Compared with the hard work of the prince, there is no need to say the word 'hard work'!"
Although Wang Zhu's words may sound like compliments, they are also somewhat true. In the past two years in Huaidong, Wang Pu worked hard, worked hard, and neglected food and sleep to stabilize the people and manage the government, reform the system and promote laws, and consolidate the newly occupied land under the Han Dynasty. The many silver threads added between his temples are proof that he is not yet fifty years old, and he is already very old.
For the officials in Huaidong, Wang Pu was by no means a good boss. He was harsh, forceful, and even a little unhuman. In the past two years, he personally dealt with dozens of officials from various states.
Among them, in addition to the retained officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty, there were also officials selected by the imperial court to assist Huainan. Because of this, Wang Pushi offended many people both inside and outside the court.
However, Wang Pu was kind to the people of Li, and he was meritorious to the emperor's court. The Huaidong states were able to recover quickly from the disaster of war, and Wang Pu had great merit.
"Your Majesty has entrusted me with the governorship of Huaidong, so I have to work hard and make a difference!" Wang Pu sighed, stood up, and said to the king: "Sizhou is the strategic point of the Huaihe River. Looking at it now, the people are gradually attached to it, and it is effective. What’s more, imaging still needs to be improved upon!”
"Yes!" Wang Zhu responded solemnly.
"Let's go to Guishan. I have summoned Chu Zhizhou to discuss matters!" Wang Pu said and walked out first.
Wang Zhu followed, thought for a moment, and asked, "Is it because of the repair of Baishuitang?"
Wang Pu admired his astuteness, nodded and said: "The imperial court has already agreed, and His Majesty named it himself, Hongze Lake. This lake straddles Si and Chu diagonally, and the two states need to work together to excavate it!"
Guishan is adjacent to the Huaihe River, thirty miles northeast of Xuyi City, with a cliff to the southwest and a deep abyss below. Climb to the top of the mountain and stand in the wind to view the mountains and abyss. Wang Shushu read a lot, pointed to the foot of the mountain and said: "It is said that Dayu controlled the floods and locked the Huaihe vortex with iron locks. The water god Wu Zhi Qi was at the foot of Guishan. It is said that this is the place!"
Wang Pu nodded slightly, glanced at the Huaihe River, considered it seriously for a while, and said: "The water section from Xuyi to Huaiyin has always been dangerous, with hundreds of miles of wind and waves, causing numerous capsizes. To facilitate navigation for the people, I want to open another canal to avoid The danger of the Changhuai River. Start from Guishan, take the Huaihe River as the source, and stretch for fifty miles!"
Hearing what Wang Pu said, a tall middle-aged official next to him frowned and couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, we are about to open up a flood, and we want to build a new river. In this way, I am afraid that we will waste the people and hurt the money!"
This official was Zhang Yanqing, the magistrate of Chuzhou, who was originally the defense envoy of Haizhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty. During the Northern Han Dynasty's southern expedition, in addition to Guo Tingwei, he was another Tang official who performed outstandingly.
After the Southern Tang Dynasty made peace, they also surrendered to the Han Dynasty. After Wang Pu came to power, he selected good talents. Because of his practical talents, he also served as a defense envoy in Chuzhou and was familiar with the people's conditions in the state. He wrote a letter recommending him to know Chuzhou. Among the old officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty, he was one of the few who was trusted by the Han court and entrusted with important positions.
As the leader, Wang Pu was very kind to Zhang Yanqing. However, at this time, he still spoke out and raised objections, saying to Wang Pu: "As your envoy said, although it is only fifty miles, it is not long, but can we delay the construction of the canal for a while?"
Following his advice, Wang Pu frowned subconsciously and turned his head to look at Zhang Yanqing, only to see a steady expression on his face. He opened his mouth, looked at Wang Zhu again, and asked, "What do you think?"
Wang Zhu also considered it seriously for a while, and then said: "The Hongze Project, even if we combine the efforts of the two states, is time-consuming and costly, and there is really no spare capacity to do both. If it is done forcefully, it will only lead to excessive corvee work and breed resentment among the people." !”
Seeing the two of them holding the same opinions, Wang Pu did not answer the conversation for a while, but reflected on himself and murmured: "Could it be that I am really impatient?"
After thinking about it again, Wang Pu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's it, we can discuss this later!"
"But for Hongze Lake, the imperial court has agreed. Before winter, we should send out officials, allocate money and food, recruit corvees, and start the project! I will make Daze a success in three years!" Wang Pu said firmly: " If there are any deficiencies in supply, report them to Yangzhou, and I will coordinate from the Taoist Treasury!"
"yes!"
When Wang Pu said this, feeling his will, the nerves of the two prefects subconsciously tightened.
Wang Pu asked: "How much people can be concentrated in the state?"
"Preliminary estimates suggest that 10,000 civilians can be mobilized under the jurisdiction of Sizhou!" Wang Zhu calculated for a while and estimated a conservative number.
Zhang Yanqing said: "Chuzhou can recruit 15,000 civilians!"
It was quite a lot. Wang Pu nodded with satisfaction, turned to look at Zhang Yanqing, carefully considered his words, and said in a warning tone: "Hongze Lake is basically within Chuzhou. This project requires a lot of effort. In addition to the labor force and Hongze, a large number of people's fields will be occupied. For these people, the state government should provide good care and resettlement for these people, and provide them with additional land to help them rebuild their homes.
In addition, it is necessary to strictly guard against official interference, plunder the people, and breed resentment among the people. This matter is particularly important, absolutely! "
After hearing Wang Pu's instructions, he looked solemnly and said with cupped hands: "Yes! I don't dare to neglect you, and I will strictly control you!"
"The same goes for Sizhou!" Wang Pu added to Wang Zhu.
...
Returning to Yangzhou from Shanyang in Chuzhou, Wang Pu inspected the counties and towns along the way, personally asked the people and carefully observed the public sentiment. He inevitably encountered some omissions and punished them. There were three lawless officials in Gaoyou County, and they were found guilty. He was sent to Yangzhou for investigation and trial.
Today's Huaidong officials are most afraid of Wang Pu's inspections in Xiazhou County. Basically every time, he will deal with some people. The people are happy, but "officials are not happy", especially for the old officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty. They had never been subject to such strict restrictions at the beginning, and they were like a sword hanging over their heads, and they were uneasy...
After more than half a month, he returned to Yangzhou.
Yangzhou City, under Wang Pu's governance, has completely restored its former prosperity, even worse than it was under the Southern Tang Dynasty. After all, under the Han policy, too many government donations were abolished, and "fairness" was promoted to a certain extent.
With Wang Pu, a cold-faced god, under a stable and good order, Yangzhou City quickly burst out with huge energy, and even in disasters, its prosperity was not affected at all.
The first thing he did when he returned to the Chief Envoy's Yamen was to convene his subordinates to listen to the government and make decisions. During his absence in Yangzhou, he had a backlog of official affairs.
In the second hall, Wang Pu was looking at things seriously, and all the officials were sitting in the middle, respectfully gathering their reports, and no one dared to touch his front. Of course, no matter how upright and righteous Wang Pu is, these people still treat him with more fear than respect.
From the afternoon until the evening, the government office had just become deserted again, and a series of Daozhou affairs were piled up on the court desk.
But Wang Pu still did not rest. The sunset was dark and the servant held the lamp. When the old servant walked in lightly with the meal in hand, what he saw was still Wang Pu's figure under the lamp, hunched over his desk and reading documents.
"Your Majesty, you are a day director. You have been sitting at the desk for four consecutive hours. You should rest for a while and have a meal first!" the old servant advised.
Wang Pu raised his head and gestured: "Leave it for now until I finish reading this official document!"
After saying that, he lowered his head again. What he was inspecting were some official documents handled by Taoist officials. He wanted to see if there were any irregularities or omissions...
I looked carefully, but heard the sound of sobbing. He raised his eyes and saw the old servant, who had already laid out the dishes and chopsticks, and was holding up his sleeves while shedding tears. Wang Pu was stunned: "What are you doing? Why are you sobbing?"
"You are so diligent and don't take care of your body. I really can't bear it!" The old servant said: "I will never be able to take care of my official duties. If I continue like this, my body will be exhausted..."
Seeing this, Wang Pu couldn't help but chuckle and said: "It's only been two or three years! I promised the court that Huaidong will be under great rule for five years. After these few years, there will be plenty of time to rest!"
However, following his advice, Wang Pu put down his official duties and picked up the bowl and chopsticks to eat. After eating again, he asked: "Where are Saburo and Shiro? Have they eaten?"
"You two gentlemen, you have already used them."
"You inform them to go to the study room. I will test their academic performance later to see if they have slacked off during my absence!" Wang Pu ordered while putting rice in his mouth.
"yes!"
Wang Pu has four sons. The eldest son and the second son are both adults and serving in the army. The third and fourth sons were young, so he took them with him and trained them personally.
In less than a moment, Wang Pu finished his dinner, stretched, and once he was relieved, he opened the official document again...
The old servant put away the tableware and couldn't help but sigh when he saw it: "You are so busy with official duties, but do you know how others criticize you? I really don't feel worthy of you, little man!"
"Talk too much!" After hearing what he said, Wang Pu raised his head and scolded him lightly.
After a pause, Wang Pu sighed quietly and chuckled: "What I do is for the people of Li, for the security of Huaidong, and for His Majesty's strategy. It is not for the honor and disgrace of these officials, nor can I give them comfort. Even if they Neither the non-self nor the evil self are worthy of the Dao..."
