After leaving the city, a long-awaited court meeting in the prefect's palace was held until noon.
After most of the civil and military courtiers dispersed, Luo Chuan and the few important ministers he named left behind went to the west side hall opposite the Huo Wutong behind the main hall to have dinner.
Luochuan ranked himself at the top, and several important ministers lined up on both sides in civil and military positions just like they did during court meetings.
There are only Zhao Wuji and Luo Jiang on the military general side, and there are more civil servants on the civil servant side, in order: Dou Qiushi, the chief officer of the department, Zhou Zhongqing, the chief household officer, Chen Yu, the chief agricultural officer, Xie Wushang, the chief treasurer, Yan Tieying, the supervisory officer, and Mu, the adjutant general of the department. Zeyan.
Except for Luochuan, a few important ministers, and the maids who occasionally brought food and drinks, only Gao Shixian could serve in the palace.
The prefect's banquet was as simple as ever. Everyone, including Luo Chuan himself, only had simple meals and fruits on the table. Naturally, they were enough to eat, but they always looked a little shabby.
Luo Chuan had been hungry for a long time, and he said casually without raising his head while eating, "Master Dou, all the chief officials at the court meeting have explained it before, but you, the Chief Executive Office Department, did not say it, but what's the problem? "
Dou Qiushi didn't seem to be a big eater. He simply ate some and then stopped using his chopsticks. Hearing this, he didn't even get up. He just bowed his hands and said, "For the record, the Grand Administrator, when I was here, I had appointments with the chief officials of various ministries. We have a court meeting." What can be said clearly above is limited, especially the matter of appointing officials to the government offices. Moreover, the current affairs of the government offices are closely related to civil and military affairs. Matters that have not been decided in private with the prefect should be determined according to past practice. Matters cannot be discussed publicly directly at the court meeting."
"Oh?" Luo Chuan looked up at Dou Qiushi and said, "Then what kind of things did father agree with you that it is not appropriate to discuss it directly in the court meeting?"
Dou Qiushi said, "There are three parties to the agreement. The first involves confidential matters such as military affairs, grain depots, and intelligence. The second involves undetermined national policies, laws, and the appointment and dismissal of officials. The third involves private matters such as the royal family, the prefect clan, and the powerful human race." , these three types of people may first discuss with the prefect in private, or pretend to discuss it in the court." He paused and looked at Luochuan, "The affairs of the officials' offices and civil and military affairs were postponed by the minister, and they will be discussed first. The prefect will discuss matters in the court after private discussion, while the treasurer's office will conduct false discussions in the court as usual on matters related to food and grass."
"Fake discussion in the court?" Luo Chuan stopped his chopsticks curiously and asked Chen Yudao, "Sir Xie, since there is a fake discussion in the court, what about the real discussion?"
When Xie Wushang heard Dou Qiushi talking about the false proposal, he stopped cutting his chopsticks and said, "To inform you, Lord Taishou, I said in the court hall that I have three million stones of refined grains in various places in Li County and in the warehouses in Li City." , this is a false number following the old calendar of the former Grand Administrator. In fact, since the former Grand Administrator took the throne ten years ago, the Treasury Office has been secretly expanding the granary and grain storage every year. Even now, even if I leave during the New Calendar War, The amount of grain stored in the county is more than four million dan. Even according to the scale of the prefect's current increase in troops, it can supply the entire army for more than a year. In addition, whether it is this year's grain storage expenditure that far exceeds previous years, or the three counties in Hanoi The quality of the food supply is a matter of fact."
Luo Chuan asked, "Are you really worried about the income and expenditure of grain produced in my new land in Li County?"
Xie Wushang shook his head, "The land of Sancang is all fertile plains. The arable area is as much as the entire Lijun Basin, and the climate, water and soil are better. The Anling land is no less generous. These two newly gained areas If the land is managed properly, I can more than double the annual tax and grain production of Li County. Even if I need to support more troops and officials now and wars may be inevitable in the future, I can still barely achieve self-sufficiency on paper. , but in fact it cannot be calculated like this, not to mention the losses of tax collection, preservation, transportation, etc., just talking about the storage of grain in warehouses, and considering the size of Li County today, four million stone grain reserves are far away. It’s not enough, because the grain storage in Li County is not only to supply the army, but more importantly, to prepare for disaster prevention and war damage. The population of Li County is nearly 20 million, and the Sihu government office has not yet thoroughly prepared the newly acquired land. After an inventory, it is conceivable that the population could double. Once some natural or man-made disaster occurs..."
He did not mention the result but continued, "In addition, it stands to reason that Anling County as a complete county should have grain reserves, but now, except for the areas belonging to Lutou City and Sichuan City, the core cities in Anling have been exhausted. In Guili County, the total grain reserves in all the major cities are less than one million dan. This also includes various confiscated war proceeds. This is especially true for the land of Sancang, which is the important grain-producing area of Yongchang County. It’s true, but the grain storage areas in Yongchang County are concentrated in the central part. In this way, we all have obtained the land and the people but not the food. If the weather goes well in the next few years, that’s it. As for the people in Anling or Sancang who are unable to eat, can we ignore it? Therefore, I think it is not alarmist to say that Li County is still in a state of food shortage."
Luo Chuan said, "The troubled times are coming. Since there is peace in my county, the people in the territory will probably only increase, but the grain reserves and even the cultivated land may decrease..." He nodded to Xie Wushang. After nodding, he said, "I understand, I will keep this in mind."
He turned to Dou Qiushi and said, "Master Dou, let me tell you all the unfinished business in today's court meeting. Although I will probably stay in Licheng for a long time when I come back this time, there are things that need to be dealt with decisively. I have to do it one by one, but at least I have a foundation first."
"When the Grand Administrator said this, I feel much more at ease," Dou Qiushi said with a smile after hearing the words, "Originally, in the old land of Li County, all ministries and yamen had old rules to follow, so there was no problem most of the time, but now there are two more places in the north. The land is very different. In fact, various ministries and yamen have many matters that need to be reported to the prefect for decision-making. For example, Mr. Zhou of Sihu Yamen is struggling with the newly compiled household registration and the unification of education for the people in various places. Mr. Chen of Simongfu Yamen is concerned about the newly acquired land. The local government is responsible for the distribution of land and changes in the collection of taxes and grains. Lord Yamu of the Silufu is responsible for the legal discrepancies between the two counties of Nan'anling and Yongchang and Woli County, as well as the trial of the former generals and officials of the two places, etc., etc. There are priorities, but when there is no precedent to follow, most matters still need to be decided by the prefect. Of course, it goes without saying that the bureaucracy that I am responsible for is in charge. Each ministry yamen now has a lot of affairs and is seriously short of people. As a result, many affairs cannot be operated normally, and it is difficult for me to make up for it in a short period of time, so the next civil and military examination is the top priority of the Si Lifu Yamen now, and it may solve many problems."
Luo Chuan pondered for a moment. When he looked up, he found that everyone in the hall was looking at him, so he smiled. "Unexpected, but reasonable," he picked up the wine glass and said, "Now, I would like to say that the troubles I have with all of you are As for the troubles of happiness, it is always more difficult to go uphill. The most important thing is naturally the shortage of officials. But let’s not talk about the civil and military affairs for now. In my opinion, there is a more important thing that needs to be done first. To solve it, now that the post of Jun Cheng is vacant, how can all the ministries under it operate smoothly?"
He glanced at the civil servants who were bowing their heads, then smiled and looked at Yan Tieying, the chief supervisor, "Master Yan, who do you think is suitable to take over the post of county magistrate?"
