In front of the Chongzheng Hall, five eunuchs hurried away under the leadership of their leader, each one walking quickly. Due to the hot weather, all of them had red faces and sweat on their backs. Everyone is carrying a square box in their hands, which looks very strenuous and heavy. Through the gaps in the wooden box, you can faintly see the cold air seeping out...
Arriving at the front of the palace, looking at Zhang Dejun standing there with a cold face, the leading chamberlain hurried up, bowed his head, and said respectfully: " Chamberlain!"
Zhang Dejun had a serious face, glanced at the ice boxes, and looked at the leading eunuch coldly: "Why are you so slow? You dare to delay the ice cubes in Chongzheng Palace? Officials have always been afraid of heat, don't you know? ?”
"Internal officer, little one, little one..." The leading eunuch, whose name was Yan Tuo, was a little flustered when Zhang Dejun questioned him like this, and he hesitated to explain.
"You don't need to explain! I think you don't want to do this offering!" But Zhang Dejun didn't give him a chance to speak and still scolded him.
With sharp eyes, Zhang Dejun asked again: "Are you ready for the ice handkerchief?"
"It's all in the box!" Yantuo said quickly.
The frown on his brows finally eased, and Zhang Dejun waved his hand: "Why are you still standing there? I handed over the ice box!"
"Yes Yes!"
He greeted his eunuchs and respectfully handed the ice box to the chambermaids and palace maids of Chongzheng Palace for inspection and use. However, looking at Zhang Dejun, who only had his back after showing off his power, Yantuo muttered silently in his heart: "Why are you so arrogant? Serving an official is amazing? Sooner or later you will fall into my hands..."
There are still an older group of people in the palace, and the current leadership team, if nothing unexpected happens, is stable enough to dominate the world. What is being discussed is still the matter of Jinghu.
Now it is May, the report from the south has arrived, the southern expedition army is in full swing, Zhou Xingfeng is killed in battle, Changsha surrenders, and all the states in the north of Lingbei are owned by the imperial court.
However, as expected, the real busyness was still after the war. We had known that Hunan was a vast country with a sparse population and complicated people's sentiments, making it easy to obtain but difficult to manage. But after we understood the situation in depth, it became even more troublesome.
Due to repeated chaos, the ruling order collapsed, various books and records were seriously damaged, and many confidences were lost. However, judging from Changsha's preliminary report, the population of the entire Lingbei Prefecture and County, even including certain hidden households, never exceeds 90,000 households.
And these people are scattered across the vast land of Hunan, 80% of them are hungry, and half of them are waiting for relief. The Han army took over the various states and counties, clearing the way for food and maintaining stability for the army.
Of course, for today's Han Dynasty, it is not a problem to relieve tens of thousands of refugees and hungry people. In the past few years, there was no major disaster that involved dozens or even millions of people.
But the problem was that Hunan was under new control, thousands of miles away, and the imperial court did not have the organizational power locally. Of course, the efficiency of the army played a very positive role in this. The more direct problem is that it is too dispersed.
So far, the Han troops entering Hunan have been scattered, distributed in various states and counties in Hunan, either an army or a battalion, and some counties even have only one team.
The bad news is that relief is needed almost everywhere, and due to road traffic, food transportation is very difficult and there are safety issues. The advantage is that relying on the relief points established by various states and counties, most of the hungry people in Hunan have been gathered together, making it clear at a glance, which will make future management much more convenient.
Before the new government agencies and ruling order were established, Hunan was still under military control, which was even more thorough than when Zhou Xingfeng ruled. However, such a state of governance is also prone to problems. The so-called "military governments" have always been expedient and unsound.
As the ice cubes were placed, the heat in the palace immediately dissipated a lot. Liu Chengyou took the ice handkerchief, wiped his face, felt a little refreshed, and made a gesture with his eyes: "Prepare some for all the ministers too!"
"yes!"
While thanking him, Li Tao still reported the situation in Hunan to Liu Chengyou: "Zan Jurun has arrived in Changsha. The first priority is still to establish the chief minister's office, fill up the officials, reform the administrative system, relieve the hungry people, and restore peace to Hunan. Jing Jing Xiang’s food is also being transferred south one after another.”
After careful consideration of the candidate for the chief envoy of Jinghu, Liu Chengyou finally agreed to Prime Minister Li Tao's suggestion to advise the official Zan Jurun on his transfer.
"Are the official manpower sufficient?" Liu Chengyou asked.
"More than thirty officials have been transferred from central Beijing and Shannan counties to go south to Hunan!" Li Tao said: "However, in order to quickly determine the counties, a group of local scholars need to be recruited. The former Hunan Military Mansion Officials should also recruit a group of people. The Ministry of Officials has sent special envoys south to conduct assessment and appointment!"
Nodding, Liu Chengyou said: "I always feel that there is not enough talent, and I intend to start another examination this autumn. What do you think?"
After hearing this, several ministers looked at each other, and Fan Zhi spoke up and persuaded: "Your Majesty, since the founding of the country, the imperial court has held regular and institutional examinations many times, almost every year. I think this is too frequent. , the organization from the local to the central level is extremely heavy, and in recent years, the people recruited by the imperial court have become increasingly inferior in terms of articles and talents. I think that if there is a need to launch a system due to the rule of Hunan, there is no need!"
Paying attention to Liu Chengyou's expression and seeing that he was not surprised by the refutation, Fan Zhi continued: "I think that although Huxiang has a large area, the population is sparse, so we only need to merge prefectures and counties and centralize management!"
"What Fan Qing said is true!" After thinking for a moment, Liu Chengyou nodded.
In fact, he was hesitant when he proposed to open the system. After all, it is not a good thing to take scholars too frequently. After years of selection, the elite talents within the Han Dynasty were picked up a bit harshly and forced to do so, fearing that their quality would be compromised and some crooked melons and dates would be selected. Furthermore, if the appointment of surrendered ministers and generals is considered, the talent gap will not be so big.
"The matter of merging prefectures and counties is a good suggestion. We should send a notice to Changsha and let Zan Jurun investigate in detail and submit a statement to Tokyo as soon as possible and report it to the Central Committee for approval!" Liu Chengyou walked to the newly made map and stared at the Hunan area. Looking at a large area of land: "In addition, the newly settled people must be reorganized into households and divided into land, fruit trees, and farming tools."
"Your Majesty, does this mean you should take it easy?" Li Tao seemed to have some objections.
Glancing at him, Liu Chengyou said directly: "Now tens of thousands of troops are stationed in Hunan, just to protect the imperial court's policies. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to solve it in one fell swoop, what's the point of delaying?"
Startled by the emperor's eyes, Li Tao quickly changed his mind and said yes. Liu Chengyou also knew what Li Tao was worried about. Any issue involving land was no small issue.
Take the reform of farmland as an example. It has just begun to be implemented. During Bian Guangfan's handling, some problems have already arisen. Many people inside and outside the government and outside the government have reached out to deal with it. Whether they are the powerful or the common people, their attachment to the land is really deep in their bones. For this reason, under Liu Chengyou's will, several more "patches" were added to the farmland restructuring.
As for Li Tao, he was afraid that the knife would be too harsh and would directly target the interests of the powerful local clans, which would easily cause a backlash.
However, given the current situation in Hunan, how can Liu Chengyou be afraid of it? Today's Huxiang is just a destroyed building. If he is allowed to rebuild it, from top to bottom, no matter what monsters or monsters jump out, they will be ruthlessly wiped out.
"Have you decided on the candidates for the Jinghu Inspectorate?" Liu Chengyou changed the subject.
"Hunan Xuanwei envoy Shi Wende can be appointed!" Li Tao said.
The choice of Li Tao obviously suits Liu Chengyou's wishes. He is one of the "Eighteen Scholars" and is quite famous among Hunan scholars. Most importantly, he can take the initiative to join the Han Dynasty four or five years in advance and persist in doing so over the years. He relentlessly promoted the benevolence and majesty of the Han emperor to Huxiang based on Lizhou. Such loyalty should be adequately rewarded.
"There is another question. How to control the Miao, Yao and other barbarians in the five western states?" Liu Chengyou looked more serious.
"Your Majesty, the barbarians in Hunan are very different from those in the Rong and Di. They are eager to be kings, and they are obedient to the Central Plains and the imperial court. I believe that the new rule in Hunan will put stability first, and temporarily treat the barbarians. Use the rule of restraint and wait until the military and political affairs are stable, then calmly educate and change customs!" Li Tao suggested.
On Liu Chengyou's side, of course he wanted to get it right in one step. After all, compared to the southwest, the barbarians in Hunan are indeed quite highly Sinicized. There are many officials in the five states in western Hunan who were appointed by the barbarian kings, and their governance is based on the Han system.
After thinking for a while, Liu Chengyou asked: "What's going on with Fu Yantong? Doesn't he want to come to court?"
"The news came from Chenzhou, and I'm afraid that the barbarian chief still has doubts in his mind!"
"That's understandable. It seems that I have to find a way to dispel his doubts!"
