At the Prime Minister's Mansion in Chengdu, Zhuge Liang also received a report that Wei and Wu were going to war again. Although this was good news for the Han Dynasty, he did not feel much joy in his heart.
Such a good opportunity, but we couldn't take advantage of it to go on the Northern Expedition. We could only sit at home and watch. This helplessness was a bit uncomfortable for the famous prime minister who aspired to Yunei.
But there is no way. Now the country's vitality is recovering, and the rebellion in Nanzhong has not been completely put down. This time, I can only be a spectator.
Thinking of the rebellion in Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang's mind turned to Yang Qing's report yesterday. The good news that the entire Yuexun County was recovered made his frown finally relax.
As for Yang Qing's request for instructions on what to do next in the report, Zhuge Liang has already made a decision.
He decided that the imperial court's march south to quell the rebellion would still be scheduled for next year. After all, the newly recruited sergeants still needed to continue training, and it would take time to prepare materials for the army's expedition.
Yang Qing's subsequent mission was mainly to restore people's livelihood and protect the country and the people. Of course, Zhuge Liang gave him the power to deal with Yong Kai's rebels according to the situation.
The terrain of Qiongdu is flat and wide, with grain fields criss-crossing it. Unfortunately, the farming season has passed this year, and if you want to help farmers cultivate rice fields, you will have to wait until next year.
Although this year's rice has been harvested and put into the warehouse, Qiongdu has experienced wars before, and the barbarians occupied Qiongdu and are not good at civil affairs, so this year's harvest has been greatly reduced, and there is not much grain left in the official warehouse.
Fortunately, a lot of gold, silver and jewelry were seized during the annihilation of the Gaoding rebel army. Yang Qing used the money to buy a large amount of grain from the Haoqiang family, which immediately alleviated the grain shortage in Qiongdu and several other counties.
These wealthy people have accumulated a lot of food over the years. Even if they were plundered by the rebels before, how could these people not be cunning enough to take precautions? What's more, Gao Ding did not go too far to appease them.
Therefore, when Yang Qing personally brought hundreds of grain guards to buy grain from them, these people agreed quite happily, and some even planned to sell half of it and give it half to them. Of course, Yang Qing accepted this intention of relieving the government's worries. As for the price of food, we should still pay it at the normal price. After all, the government cannot compete with the people for profit.
With a large amount of food in hand, Yang Qing felt more at ease, and other political affairs were also promoted one after another.
Since the rebellion started in Gaoding, all the counties in Yuexi, except for Anshang, have fallen into the hands of the enemy. The original magistrates and magistrates of each county have either died, surrendered or fled. Now that the lost land has been recovered, it is natural to re-appoint and remove the chief officials of each county.
Wang Yi and Yang Xi were ordered to take the lead in this matter. Yang Qing asked them to first select a group of candidates with outstanding talents and good morals from meritorious people, and then he would personally assess them in person and finally appoint them.
Now the benefit of the advantageous power given by Zhuge Liang before was reflected. Bailihou such as county magistrates and county magistrates were originally only authorized by the imperial court. Now Yang Qing can appoint them first and then report them to Chengdu for registration.
In this way, the chief officials of each county in Yuexi will be Yang Qing's disciples and former officials, which will be a great help to him in governing Yuexi. Of course, this is inseparable from Zhuge Liang's trust.
However, the greater the trust, the greater the responsibility. In order not to lose face to Zhuge Liang and himself, Yang Qing was very careful in the selection process. He not only asked questions verbally, but also asked them to answer written questions to ensure the officials' accuracy as much as possible. Quality.
Of course, the most important way for the Han Dynasty to select talents was through inspection, which was also the proper way for officials to become officials. After inspection, whether the person could be selected would have to pass an examination, and only after passing the examination could he be hired as an official.
Therefore, the method of recruiting officials based on their talents through examinations actually appeared in the Han Dynasty. On this basis, it was continuously matured and improved in the future and developed into the imperial examination system.
After Yang Qing learned that there was already an examination for recruiting officials in the Han Dynasty, he kept this matter in mind to see if there would be a suitable opportunity to promote the emergence of the imperial examination in the future.
Of course, this is a long-term matter. After all, the emergence of the imperial examination system also involves various factors such as knowledge dissemination technology. For now, it is better to complete the small-scale examination of these dozen people.
It only took three days to inspect and select officials. In fact, most of them, Yang Qing and others, already knew what kind of talents they had. It was just to be rigorous and responsible that they spent time on the assessment.
Just after the rebellion was over, it was a time when everything was waiting to be done. Counties had to have long-term officials in charge of the county temples. Therefore, Yang Qing let these people take office non-stop as soon as they passed the inspection.
After all, they need to take the lead in stabilizing prices, punishing rebels, appeasing refugees, determining land and other matters.
Just as counties across Yuexun were embarking on an upsurge in rebuilding their homes, a group of Han cavalry slowly shuttled through the slightly rugged river valley.
A young man in the lead, General Zuo Dama, walked in front of the military column. Although his face looked calm and relaxed, his sharp eyes kept watching what was going on around him.
This person is none other than Feng Chong. His purpose for this trip is to go to Buwei City, the seat of Yongchang County. It has been surrounded by Yongkai's rebels for a long time and is in urgent need of reinforcements. However, the court's reinforcements will not go south until next year. thirsty.
Recently, the news that Yang Qing had eliminated Gaoding and pacified Yuexi spread throughout the counties in South Central. Although Buwei City was besieged by rebels, it was not completely cut off from the outside world.
Lu Kai, the meritorious officer in charge of the city's defense, and the prince and his wife, the prime minister, were overjoyed after receiving the news. They notified the soldiers and civilians in the city of the news of Yuexun's recovery to boost their morale, and sent people secretly out of the city to rescue Yuexun.
Zhang Ni and the messenger from Dingze met and reported to Qiongdu immediately. After learning about it, Yang Qing thought for a long time and decided to let Feng Chong lead the cavalry to rescue Buwei.
Now that the war is over, Buwei is thousands of miles away from Qiongdu, so it is still not appropriate to send a large army there.
But just sending Feng Chong's troops there is different. Firstly, they are only a few thousand strong, which puts little pressure on logistical supplies. Secondly, although they are smaller in number, their combat power is powerful enough to cause an impact on Yongkai's rebels. threaten.
After being tempered in the war, this cavalry has become quite effective, and with an outstanding Sima like Feng Chong, it is enough to go south and fight alone.
Before departure, Yang Qing also wrote to Feng Chong in a letter that it would be best to force Yong Kai back during this trip. Even if he could not relieve the siege, it would be beneficial for the defenders in Buwei City to see reinforcements coming. After all, this meant that the court had not given up on them. , Only with external reinforcements can we support our long-term persistence.
Although the army traveled through many mountainous roads, Nanzhong's horses are always good at climbing over mountains and ridges, so the army's marching speed was still not satisfactory.
Feng Chong took the map and saw that the army had already entered Yongchang County. He called the guide and envoys. After some questioning, he learned that the army would arrive in Buwei the next day. He immediately called his two commanders to discuss the future battle. deploy.
"Feng Sima, we have made an agreement with Lu Gongcao and Wang Fucheng about the attack on the camp tonight. As soon as chaos breaks out in the rebel camp, our Yongchang County soldiers will come out of the city to attack from both inside and outside." In the valley, the messenger in the city briefly Said with joy.
Feng Chong also said excitedly: "Okay, I will give Yong Kai a big one tonight."
