"I've been really busy lately." Jiang Chun asked Li Xia to sit down in the teahouse and said, "Did you know that Mr. Lu, the Tongchuan Road pacifier, has arrived in Xuzhou?"
Without waiting for Li Xia to answer, Jiang Chun thought to himself and said, "You probably don't understand much about this. You are a young official and don't know much about the information. There is a big difference between a state official and a county official."
"When I came to Xuzhou to take office, I not only had to resettle the people who had moved from western Sichuan, but also prepared troops and ships to go north to meet Pu Shuai. Alas, the current situation is difficult, and I am afraid that the Mongolian army will attack Xuzhou... This official promotion
After three transfers, there are many things to worry about, which is very different from being an official in a county."
Li Xia said: "Tongpan hasn't received the news yet? Niulin's army has temporarily retreated from Jianmen, and Pu Shuai is preparing to return to Chongqing."
"How did Feiyu find out?"
"I just came from Chengdu."
Jiang Chun was slightly surprised, waved his hand and said with a bitter smile: "I thought you were from Qingfu County. You must have been taken to Chengdu by Lu Annuo?"
"Roughly the same."
From the moment Li Xia entered the house, Jiang Chun has been nagging him. He is not well-informed and loves to show off his promotion.
Li Xia didn't say much about his experience in Chengdu, so as not to embarrass Jiang Chun. He just said: "I can see that Tongpan has been really busy recently."
"I'm busy and I have to take care of you. I won't be vague about it." Jiang Chun leaned forward and lowered his voice and said: "I was about to send someone to tell you that the Supervisor of Qingjing is investigating the illegal salt in Qingfu County.
The transfer envoy was stabbed."
"oh?"
"Feiyu really hasn't gotten the news yet."
"I haven't heard about this."
"This matter is difficult to handle." Jiang Chun patted his knee and said, "After all, it is a transit envoy. It is difficult for me, a small general magistrate of a state, to interfere. You need to find a way to take care of it."
"Thank you, Tongpan, for your concern." Li Xia said casually, mentioning his purpose, "I passed by Xuzhou today, and I wanted to ask Tongpan for help in settling the population in Qingfu County."
Jiang Chun raised his eyebrows and said, "Qingfu County? How can we accommodate so many people?"
"Just open up wasteland and expand the city."
Jiang Chun twisted his beard and said: "To be honest with Feiyu, the newly appointed Wei Zhizhou is very troubled by this matter. It is good that Qingfu County is willing to share the worries for the state government. But there is a big gap in the money and food needed to relieve the refugees."
Li Xia said: "According to the regulations of the imperial court, the land tax for land reclamation is exempted for three years. However, to resettle such a large population, the county is slightly short of money and food. The state government should provide some support, even if it can reduce the county's two taxes."
Jiang Chun didn't answer for a long time, and finally said in deep thought: "I'll discuss it with the magistrate first... By the way, you should also pay attention to the private salt matter. The transfer envoy must take care of it."
"yes."
While the two were talking about this, a servant came into the hall and said, "Alang, Lu Fudu has sent someone to ask Magistrate Li to come over."
"Lu Annuo?" Jiang Chun was stunned.
Li Xia had already stood up and said, "Tongjian, I'll take my leave then."
Jiang Chun watched Li Xia's upright figure leave, with a look of worry in his eyes, and murmured: "It seems that the private salt matter has been brought to the comfort of the envoy... Li Feiyu, I have reminded you to take it seriously."
After a while, Jiang Di and Jiang Cang came running.
"Father, where is Brother Li?" Jiang Cang turned his head and looked around as soon as he entered the hall, and said, "Hey, I heard he is here."
Jiang Chun was too lazy to respond to his son and looked at Jiang Di. He saw that she was dressed in men's clothes, with a long sword on her waist and a book in her hand. She walked calmly, looking more and more like a child of a noble family, but not like a lady.
"Look at what you look like." Jiang Chun pointed at Jiang Di and cursed, then pointed at Jiang Cang and cursed: "And you, you are shrinking and following your sister like a follower."
"oh."
"Everyone, go down. Li Feiyu is a person who does business. He has no time to mess around with children like you."
Jiang Chun sent his children away, and then thought about what Li Xia said, and couldn't help but think that this boy was in trouble, and he came to beg for immigration to Qingfu.
"Help him, just help him. After all, he has become a state official, so he can help his old subordinates..."
It was not until the next day that Jiang Chun received news from the Tongchuan Road pacification envoy Zhu Xusun, including detailed information about the Battle of Chengdu.
"Although Feiyu is young, he is a rare general." Zhu Xu and Sun Fuxu sighed: "This time, Pu Shuai specifically mentioned his contribution in his letter."
Jiang Chun was quite surprised and secretly wondered how Li Xia could not even show off a word after doing such a big thing.
"After he arrived in Xuzhou, he met you first." Zhu Xusun said again: "It seems that you and Feiyu are close?"
For a moment, Jiang Chun felt honored and said hurriedly: "Yes, friendly, friendly. Qingfuguan County is a small town, and Feiyu has nowhere to live, so I arranged for him to live with me.
If you violate the rules of the imperial court, you will be forgiven by the superior officials."
Zhu Xusun nodded and said: "Young people cannot show their talents without the help of the elders."
"I dare not call it help." Jiang Chun looked ashamed.
He recalled how he showed off his status as a state official yesterday, and he couldn't help but feel really ashamed.
Thinking about the private salt thing again... Li Feiyu has such friendship with the Sichuan Zhizhi envoy and the Tongchuan Road pacification envoy, so why should he be afraid of a small salt supervisor?
His own warnings seemed ridiculous, and it was hard for Li Feiyu not to expose them.
Zhu Xusun's face became more serious and he started talking about business.
"How does Zai Yang view the resettlement of the more than 100,000 people who moved from western Sichuan?"
"Zaiyang" is the name of Jiang Chun. When he was in Qingfu County, he was the chief official of the county, and no one called him in this tone. It was different when he arrived in Xuzhou. He was always called "Jiang Zaiyang" after a long absence.
"This matter." Jiang Chun said: "It is better to move to the south of the Yangtze River. But there are so many people, and only capable officials can accommodate the people without causing chaos."
At this point, Jiang Chun recalled Li Xia's visit and suddenly realized something.
It turns out that Li Xia didn't ask for anything, but came to give him some advice. And he was willing to visit his old boss before entering the city, which was also a sign of respect.
"Zhu Anfu, looking at the entire Xuzhou Prefecture, the north is prone to war. Junlian is the place where the governor is, but Qingfu County has the largest area. The county magistrate and the bookkeeper are all capable of serving as officials. Why not leave this matter to them?" Jiang Chun said:
"To be honest, Feiyu came to see me yesterday and also took the initiative to invite me."
Zhu Xusun was not surprised, and simply asked: "How to prepare the money and food for the early relief of the people?"
"Xu, Lu Shi has no money for food relief. How about... exempting Qingfu County from paying taxes for two years?"
Zhu Xusun seemed to have nodded and said: "Wei Wenbo, the governor of the state, is afraid of getting into trouble and avoids trouble. You are more diligent than him."
"Don't dare to take it, don't dare to take it."
"But you must not regard these people as a burden. Pu Shuai worked hard to get these people back from the Mongolians, and they are not just for you to push around!"
"Yes, that's absolutely not the intention."
"Get up, I'm not blaming you." Zhu Xusun said, "Public is public, private is private. Li Feiyu asked Qingfu to be exempted from taxes for three years, and you know that a one-year reduction is not bad."
"Yes, yes." Jiang Chun quickly wiped his sweat, feeling grateful to Li Xia for his thoughtfulness.
"Since Li Feiyu has such a responsibility, there is no need to disperse the more than 100,000 people in various states and counties. They can leave it to Qingfu County Government to arrange farming. However, the officers and soldiers in central Sichuan have no food and grass, and Pu Shuai relocated the people in order to see them as soon as possible.
When you go to work in the fields, you can only be exempted from Qing Fu's tax for one year."
The difference in official position is a few levels, and the vision is completely different. For state officials such as Jiang Chun and Wei Wenbo, it is troublesome to spend energy, money and food to settle the people.
Zhu Xusun was thinking about the overall situation, and his momentum changed as soon as he spoke.
"In the autumn of the following year, not only will there be autumn taxes, but I will also see the grain harvested by these more than 100,000 people being transported to Chongqing."
"Yes, I understand what the pacifier means."
"Don't just understand what I mean. When you encounter someone, think more about serving as an official. How can you be good to your subordinates and good to the Song Dynasty?"
Jiang Chun quickly handed over his hand and said: "Yes, the state government will do its best to purchase all the farm tools and cattle needed for the people to open up wasteland."
Zhu Xusun then stroked his beard and chin, feeling a little satisfied.
"Zaiyang, it's not for nothing that I invited you to come to talk to me instead of Wei Wenbo..."
Li Xia has traced the Fu River north and is returning to Qingfu County.
Liu Jinsuo led more than a hundred Qingfu troops to return with him, chattering non-stop since they met.
"Since you are not here, Magistrate, these gentlemen had no choice but to let me lead the troops to the Divine Arm City of Luzhou. They thought I was going to fight, but it turned out that I was to replace the Luzhou garrison. I was regarded as a leader of the people, which made me angry.
When Zhu Nuan came back, he transferred me to his barracks, saying that he was going north to join Shuai Bo. I was really busy building ships every day. Magistrate, look at my skills... Hey, I didn't go again.
Do you think it’s naughty or not?”
Li Xia said casually: "Wouldn't it be bad not to go?"
"When the magistrate is fighting with Brother Nie, I will be the housekeeper in Jingri. What good can I do?"
"Um."
"Magistrate, please say something."
"Everyone else has to work hard, but you, Liu Jinsuo, are the bravest and best at fighting, so I leave you to look after the house."
"Hehe." Liu Jinsuo couldn't help but grin, "Don't leave me to look after the house in the future, okay? I don't think Yang Ben's injury will last for three to five years, so it's best for him to look after the house."
"Well, you don't need to look after the house anymore."
While Li Xia was thinking about various things, where he looked, the green mountains on both sides of the Taiwan Strait slowly receded, and Qingfu County was now in front of him...