After Gao Xide pacified Yanhua and Shunhua, the first thing he did was to seek talents.
As a member of the royal family, he knew the importance of talents. Especially after seeing the failures of people such as Liu Pingyan, he was eager for talents to help him.
And who is the most famous in Pingzhou now?
That must be Mr. Bai.
Moreover, Gao Xide had been in contact with both Princess Lingbi and Ye Ming, and he was even more eager to meet Mr. Bai, who he had heard about for a long time.
On this day, after temporarily entrusting political affairs to a few talented people, Gao Xide took two sworn brothers, Di Feiyu and Peng Chengtu, to Changming Town, Laoyin Mountain, hoping to visit Mr. Bai.
The three of them saw obstacles everywhere along the way, not even a decent road.
The roads that have been blocked since the earthquake have not yet been connected, causing great inconvenience to transportation in various places. In many places, it is impossible to ride a horse and can only walk.
The people along the way were also in dire straits, and it was considered good whether they had a good meal or not.
People in many places are already hungry and go to the mountains to find food, and some go to other people's fields to steal crops that are not good enough to eat.
That's it, there are still many people who can't steal it.
Because of the war, large tracts of farmland were abandoned. No one was planting at all, and the land was full of weeds.
The policies during Liu Pingyan's reign did not encourage everyone's enthusiasm, and the recovery of various productions was very slow. Now the entire Yanhua Prefecture is in a state of complete waste.
Such a scene made Gao Xide, who was originally full of passion, feel a little silent.
When I originally thought that this would be the case along the way, something was different when I approached Changming Town.
The three of them walked through a jungle. Looking up, they saw a large field ahead full of crops, and the ridges looked as regular as a knife or axe.
The farmers in the fields are working hard, and the children are also helping the adults pick up stones in the field and throw them out.
Livestock such as cattle and donkeys are plentiful, as are chickens, ducks, fish and geese.
After scanning around, I didn't find a beggar, let alone a corpse exposed in the wilderness.
They had never seen such a scene even when they were in Lingbi Mansion and Prefecture Mansion. For a moment, the three brothers thought they had arrived in paradise.
"Brother, look, these houses are also very different!"
The third child, Peng Chengtu, pointed to the townhouse over there and said.
Gao Xide nodded repeatedly and saw an old farmer resting not far away, so he stepped forward to ask.
"Old man, is this Changming Town?"
After receiving a positive reply, Gohhid asked again:
"Your town is so prosperous, how do you do it?"
"We can't even talk about being rich, we're just hungry. All of this is thanks to Mr. Bai."
The old farmers respected Mr. Bai very much and almost regarded him as a god.
Hearing this, Gao Xide quickly asked Mr. Bai what he had done.
The old farmer also answered truthfully, and Gao Xide called him "a great talent".
Knowing that under Mr. Bai's governance, even the beggars in Changming Town had disappeared, Gao Xide increasingly wanted to see Mr. Bai and ask him to come out.
However, he also heard that Mr. Bai seemed to be completely disappointed with the government and was unwilling to do anything for the government anymore.
Fortunately, Gao Xide may not be good at other things, but his ability to treat people with sincerity and impress others is quite good.
He felt that it was still possible to invite Mr. Bai.
The three of them said goodbye to the old farmer and went forward. Not long after, they saw a young man directing a group of people to build a house. What they built seemed to be that kind of townhouse.
Next to the young man, there was a boy who didn't look very smart, looking at everything in front of him in a daze.
Gao Xide saw that this young man was so young but had outstanding abilities and was still taking care of his silly younger brother. He couldn't help but take a high look and stepped forward and said:
"Little brother, are you supervising the construction of these houses?"
Speaking of this, the young man said confidently:
"Not only the houses, but also the bridges and fields in the town were all built according to my plan."
The young man's words made Gao Xide stand in awe. There is no doubt that this young man is also a great talent.
Seeing that a young man was so talented, Gao Xide was even more eager to see Mr. Bai and asked again:
"Excuse me, where does Mr. Bai live? I would like to visit."
"Are you looking for my father?"
The boy is naturally Bai Yao.
After taking a few glances at these guys, I felt that they did not look like bad people, so I said:
"My dad stayed up too late last night and is still asleep now. Just wait!"
Hearing that this young man was actually Mr. Bai's son, Gao Xide was surprised and became more determined to meet Mr. Bai.
He repeatedly asked Bai Yao to see Mr. Bai.
Bai Yao couldn't resist the other party's plea, so he said:
"Okay, come with me."
The three of them followed Bai Yao all the way to Mr. Bai's residence.
"My father hasn't woken up yet, I'll call him."
Bai Yao said, going to wake up Mr. Bai.
Gao Xide quickly stopped him and said:
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I don't dare to disturb Mr. Bai's rest. We will wait here for Mr. Bai to wake up."
Bai Yao was still polite and still planned to wake Mr. Bai up.
Gohid grabbed him and said he could wait.
Since the other party was willing, Bai Yao did not force them and asked them to sit down and wait.
The three of them waited until ten o'clock in the afternoon before Mr. Bai finally woke up.
As soon as I woke up, I heard movement outside. When I went out to check, I saw Gao Xide and three others waiting.
When the three of them saw Mr. Bai, they were also attracted by his magnanimity.
Mr. Bai was originally a man of great righteousness. After going through war and various worldly affairs, his whole person exudes an indescribable elegance, which is very disappointing.
When Gao Xide saw Mr. Bai, he immediately greeted him politely and respected him very much.
Mr. Bai saw that the person in front of him was different from the people he had visited before. He had a kind face and had a good impression of him, so he started talking to him.
After the two talked for a while, Gao Xide felt that Mr. Bai was really a rare talent in the world, so he expressed his intention and hoped that Mr. Bai would come to help.
Mr. Bai knew his purpose, but shook his head and refused.
Gao Xide asked why, Mr. Bai said:
"In today's world, there are countless ambitious people, but there are not many people who are truly willing to serve the world with kindness.
What I see now is that you are indeed benevolent, but I don’t know if it will last long.
If, like Liu Pingyan and others, he cannot withstand the erosion of power, then Bai will not obey. "
Hearing this, Gao Xide thought for a moment and said:
"Excuse me, sir, how can I be willing to come out of the mountain?"
Mr. Bai only said the word "people" and stopped talking.
After hearing this, Gao Xide thought thoughtfully, took his two brothers, said goodbye to Mr. Bai, and left.
The two brothers were puzzled and asked Gohid.
Gao Xide said that when he returned this time, he would be the first to treat the people.
After returning from Changming Town, Gao Xide began to organize people to rescue the people, and the official warehouse was directly opened to save people's lives.
In addition, uncultivated land was redistributed, a large number of manpower was organized, and reclamation began...
He also persuaded those who had committed Luocao crimes during the chaos to return, saying that as long as they were willing to come back, they would forget about Luocao's crimes.
Of course, those extremely vicious gangsters will be eliminated directly.
After some actions, the chaos in various places gradually stabilized. The people loved Gao Xide and were deeply aware of his virtues.
In this way, Gao Xide felt that he should be able to respond to the word "people" mentioned by Mr. Bai, so he took his two brothers to visit.
This time, Mr. Bai prepared rice wine, meat, and vegetables to entertain the three of them.
Gao Xide asked Mr. Bai to come out again, but Mr. Bai still didn't agree and said the word "official" again.
The three returned to Yanhua Prefecture again, and this time Gao Xide began to rectify the official administration of Yanhua and Shunhua Prefectures.
Because as he took over the two mansions, the officials, merchants and gentry who had fled in the past also returned, each and every one of them thinking of continuing to squeeze money from the people.
For these people, Gao Xide did not choose to kill them directly. Instead, he strictly implemented various rectification plans and deposed all those useless corrupt officials, mediocre officials, and confused officials.
Re-select available talents within the two prefectures.
At the same time, dozens of young talents were recruited from Princess Lingbi to begin re-examining past unjust, false, and wrongful cases in various prefectures, counties, and towns, and redressing the innocent...
He also paid careful attention to the harm caused by rogues. These people either had no land to farm, or they were lazy and idle.
For them, Gao Xide repeatedly advised and punished them.
Those who can persuade them will be given a piece of land to farm.
Those who are cheating and cheating and unwilling to farm will not be reasoned with you, but will be directly forced to do corvee labor, and they will be forced to build roads, build houses, dig river embankments, and deal with it ruthlessly.
After this rectification, public security in various places suddenly improved, and various security incidents were significantly reduced...
Of course, when Gohid did things, he didn't overturn a whole boat of people with one stroke.
He also gave the local powerful gentry a way to survive.
He said that as long as these people are willing to strictly abide by the rules and regulations and not run rampant in the countryside and oppress the people, they can return to their original residences.
However, most of the land they occupied must be returned to the people, and each family was only allowed to retain a small amount of land.
This is not unacceptable to the gentry and wealthy households who have been driven away and come back.
After all, after suffering the hardship of fleeing, many people have fallen into the same poverty as the poor people. They are gentry in name, but in fact they are all extremely poor.
Now that I heard that I can return to my original residence and still retain part of the land, I am naturally happy.
Among them, Lu Yuanwai was the most surprised.
I thought I would never return to my mansion, but I didn't expect that there would be a day when I could go back.
What's even more unexpected is that Gao Xide didn't use such a nice mansion for his own personal use, but chose to return it to him.
You know, this place was previously regarded as the "Prince's Palace" by Liu Pingyan.
Now Gaoxide and the others live in a newly built government office, which is very simple.
Mr. Lu, who once again "returned to his hometown with honor," was quite tearful.
As an official and the leader of the landowners in Yanhua Prefecture, he announced that he would give up all the fields and real estate in areas including the outskirts of Laoyin Mountain, and only retain more than a hundred acres of private land for farming to survive.
Although even if he didn't say anything, he would be forcibly separated by Gohid.
But the difference between active and passive is huge.
Gao Xide was very happy to see that he was so knowledgeable, and his attitude toward Yuan Lu became much better.
Member Lu was also very cooperative and began to help other local officials and wealthy people do ideological work.
After such actions, the Yanhua and Shunhua mansions were completely reunited.
Gao Xide also became the first person since the chaos to win the hearts of officials, gentry and people.
After doing all this, Gao Xide took the two brothers to Changming Town to visit Mr. Bai.
This time, Mr. Bai received them at the top of a mountain outside the town.
After both parties sat down, Mr. Bai pointed to the mountains and rivers in the distance:
“Since the great upheaval in the world, there has been constant chaos, natural and man-made disasters, and the people have been in dire straits.
Although some people wanted to make changes, they failed in the end, which made it more difficult for the people to survive.
Today, you treat everyone in the world with kindness and kindness, which has won my heart.
The previous two rejections were really offensive. Bai Qian would like to apologize to you. "
Saying this, he was about to salute to Gohide.
Gao Xide immediately stood up and supported Mr. Bai, and said excitedly:
"Sir, what do you mean, are you willing to go out?"
"You are a man of great virtue. If you can help me, Bai Qian will do his best to follow the example of the dog and horse."
Hearing Mr. Bai's affirmative answer, Gao Xide was so excited that he held Mr. Bai's hand tightly and cheered:
"Okay, okay, okay! It's a blessing to have you as my husband now!"
...
