Zhang Zhao, along with Li Qian, Zhao Gui and Yan Xiang, are handling the government affairs of Lujiang County.
Things are very busy in Lujiang County this winter. The reason is that Lujiang County accepts refugees unconditionally, resulting in the influx of too many refugees from Jiujiang County, Danyang and other places.
Countless refugees came, putting the pressure on Lujiang County unprecedentedly. That is to say, Zhang Zhao was in charge of the overall situation, and Zhou Yu led the troops to coordinate the arrangements. Otherwise, Lujiang County would have been in chaos.
"Oh, this day is so tiring."
Li Qian was sitting not far away, looking at the bamboo slips presented to him, and couldn't help but sigh.
He stood up, stretched, rubbed his tired cheeks, and said: "Mr. Zibu, thank you for taking the lead. If you hadn't been in charge of the overall situation, I, the county magistrate of Lujiang County, would have been unable to carry it.
Stay here. There are too many things happening this year."
Zhao Gui also sighed and said: "At this time in previous years, I basically had nothing to do as the chief clerk. I just took care of people and things for Mr. Lu Kang. This year, we have been on duty every day without any rest time. It's too hard.
.”
Zhang Zhao stroked his beard and said calmly: "Thank you for your praise. I only rely on your help to complete the arrangements for these things. Without your full assistance, even if I have the power to do anything, there is nothing I can do."
He glanced at Yan Xiang again and said with a smile: "Especially Yan Gong's assistance is very important."
Yan Xiang said slowly: "I'm old, so I'm holding you back. You are all young and strong, and you can always be busy. But I am old, and my bones can't support it. Many times, I can't help. It's really hard.
Ashamed."
Zhang Zhao shook his head and said: "Yan Gong is rich in experience and sees problems very sharply. He can directly point out the shortcomings and save us from many detours. This is something that none of us can match."
Yan Xiang smiled and did not answer.
Among several people, he is relatively taciturn. After all, he is the one who has just submitted to Lu Xuan. He usually listens more and talks less.
This is the habit of Yan Xiang.
Li Qian twisted his waist, rubbed his back, and continued with a worried look: "As of now, the number of refugees pouring into Lujiang County has exceeded 40,000. And it is still increasing. The pressure we are facing is getting more and more.
It’s getting bigger.”
Zhao Gui looked at Zhang Zhao and tried to ask: "Mr. Zibu, do you suggest that the lord stop accepting refugees?"
"no!"
Zhang Zhao answered decisively.
His eyes were sharp and he said loudly: "My lord went to Jingzhou to celebrate Liu Biao's birthday, and tried his best to get 90,000 shi of food back, just to help the people. We have been stocking up on food during the autumn harvest, also to help more refugees.
, absorbing more people.”
"Everything is for the sake of population. This is the basic policy of Lujiang County."
"It is currently a cold winter, and there are many refugees. It is true that there are difficulties of one kind or another. But this difficulty can still be overcome. Even if you grit your teeth, you have to resist. After this year, the population of Lujiang County will increase dramatically, and next year it will
better."
"Everyone knows that the current situation is not easy, but we still have a large amount of food, so we cannot relax or retreat."
"The strategy set by my lord has encountered difficulties, and I must persevere even if I grit my teeth."
Zhang Zhao's tone became more serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Even you have some criticisms. It is conceivable that many people below must not understand the lord, and think that the lord's arrangements are unnecessary and that he is a bad person. The people below
I don’t understand, but you should understand.”
Li Qian nodded and said, "I understand."
Zhao Guidao: "I understand too."
Yan Xiang watched Zhang Zhao speak with a hint of approval in his eyes. Zhang Zhao was indeed the person chosen by Lu Xuan. He had courage and ability and could withstand pressure. It was not easy.
Zhang Zhao rubbed his tired face and continued: "I don't want any discussion below. My lord's strategy is set. No matter how hard it is, I will persevere. No one will criticize or publish paradoxes to influence people's hearts. I will
If you hear this, you will be punished severely."
"I understand the humble position!"
Li Qian and Zhao Gui answered simultaneously.
The expressions on the faces of the two people were extremely serious, and they did not dare to slack off any more. When Zhang Zhao spoke, he always said what he said and could do it. When Zhang Zhao was handling government affairs, he once discovered that a person was slacking off and derelict in his duties, and he was directly fired from his official position.
, there is no room for it.
Everyone in the prefect's mansion was in awe of Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao saw Li Qian and Zhao Gui's statements and nodded. His face was cold and solemn, and he smiled and said: "Don't worry, the lord is already on his way back and has entered Shu County. When the lord returns, the pressure will be gone."
It will be much smaller.”
Zhao Gui said: "That's true."
He frowned slightly and said: "Mr. Zhang, there is one more thing. The government is doing its best to relieve the victims, resettle the refugees, and provide the refugees with food every day. You even adopted the work-for-relief method, allowing the refugees to work and make money, and try to keep the people occupied.
.But currently, food prices remain high. How to solve this problem?"
Zhang Zhao handled government affairs very methodically.
There were too many refugees entering Lujiang County, so he resettled the refugees uniformly and opened porridge tents so that the people could receive porridge. Although the porridge in the porridge tents was light, at least it could ensure that the people would not starve to death.
In addition, because Lujiang County sells Feixian Liquor, Lujiang County's finances are relatively abundant.
Therefore, while Zhang Zhao was relieving the victims, he also adopted a work-for-relief strategy, organizing the refugees to cut down forests, reclaim farmland, repair ditches, etc. Although it was a cold day, he organized the people to do the work, settled the wages on the same day, and gave many refugees
Things to do.
Although the money given is not much, at least you can buy some food so that you will not starve to death. Moreover, if the refugees have something to do, they will not cause trouble and will not be prone to trouble, which will reduce maintenance costs.
All Zhang Zhao's arrangements were to the greatest extent possible to ensure that the people would not starve to death.
This is his goal.
It was still winter, so it was impossible for him to open the granary to feed all the refugees, because it was currently impossible.
Zhang Zhao said solemnly: "The relief to the victims is going well, but I have communicated with many grain merchants about the issue of grain prices. However, the effect is not ideal, and these people ignored me."
"Our merchant family in Lujiang County is relatively easy to talk to and willing to cooperate. The problem is that there are several other big grain merchants from other counties in Yangzhou, and they have some relations with the lord. It is difficult to deal with it for the time being. Let's postpone it for now."
"When the lord returns, I will ask the lord to make a decision."
Zhang Zhao said: "After all, directly killing the people behind these big families will cause turmoil. For the time being, such methods cannot be adopted."
Zhao Guidao: "Everything depends on Zhang Gongcao."
Yan Xiang smiled and said: "What Zhang Gongcao said is a mature plan. We adopt tough measures, but once we get out of control, we will easily be unable to suppress them. Our main task is still to resettle the refugees. For other things, as long as they do not involve the bottom line, we will do it temporarily.
in spite of."
Zhang Zhao said: "That's what it means."
The four of them chatted for a while and then continued their business.
Resettling and relieving the refugees cannot be explained clearly in a few sentences. It involves too many things. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are all issues, as well as public security, stability, and other aspects, so it is very busy.
"Report!"
At this moment, an attendant came in and reported: "Zhang Gongcao, the Lord has returned with his men. There is only half an hour left to go to Shu County."
"knew."
Zhang Zhao nodded and answered.
He asked the attendants to retreat, and continued to deal with government affairs with Zhao Gui, Li Qian, and Yan Xiang for a while. Then he took Zhao Gui, Li Qian, Yan Xiang and other assistants from the prefecture to greet Zhang Zhao at the south gate.
, and also arranged for someone to notify Zhou Yu to greet him together.
Zhang Zhao and his party arrived at the south gate of Shu County and waited quietly.
Not long after, Zhou Yu also arrived.
The group of people stood in the cold wind and waited for a while. Zhao Gui suddenly said: "Here we come, the lord's team is here."
Li Qian looked at it carefully and said with a smile: "Something is wrong. When my lord went there, there were only one hundred black armored soldiers led by Zhou Tai. This time my lord returned to Shu County, there were too many people."
Zhou Yu was wearing armor and had a sword hanging from his waist. After careful observation, he said with a smile: "Maybe my lord has recruited another group of people. My lord once said that the purpose of going to Jingzhou is not to celebrate Liu Biao's birthday, but to recruit talents.
It’s normal for more people to follow you.”
Zhang Zhao nodded and said: "Zhou Sima is right. My lord cannot act based on common sense. If you go to the banquet for the large amount of food sent back this time, will you be able to get it? My lord has sent back so much food, and
Thousands of sets of armor.”
Everyone nodded.
Everyone is waiting.
Not long after, Lu Xuan and his party approached the city gate.
Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu came forward with their people to greet them.
The carriage stopped, Lu Xuan lifted the carriage door curtain and stepped down, Zhang Zhao bowed and said: "I wish my lord a triumphant return."
"I wish my lord a triumphant return."
All the people spoke together.
Lu Xuan smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen. Let's go into the city."
"Here!"
Zhang Zhao nodded and answered.
A group of people entered the city. Lu Xuan asked Deng Dang to take the black armor soldiers and Jinfan camp soldiers to the military camp for settlement. Then Lu Xuan and his group returned to the house. Lu Xuan returned to the house, and Xiao Qiao went directly to the backyard. Lu Xuan took Zhang Zhao
, Kuai Liang and others entered the hall and sat down.
Zhang Zhao, Zhou Yu and his party sat on the left side of the hall, while Kuai Liang and Huang Zhong sat on the right side.
Lu Xuan had people bring hot wine and hot dishes, and put a small pot for everyone. After pouring the wine, he picked up the wine glass and said with a smile: "It's freezing cold. Everyone, please take a sip of the hot wine first."
Everyone picked up the wine glasses and drank. After drinking the hot wine, their whole bodies became warm.
Lu Xuan dispelled the chill from his body, stood up and walked to Kuai Liang, looked at Zhang Zhao and his party, and said with a smile: "Everyone, this is Kuai Liang and Kuai Zirou. When Liu Biaodan rode into Jingzhou, it was Mr. Kuai who
As an assistant, he made strategies for Liu Biao and helped him pacify Jingzhou. He is the elder brother of Kuai Yue who was previously sent to Lujiang County as an envoy. He is very talented. Now he is invited by me to serve in Lujiang County."
Wow!!
In the hall, there was a burst of discussion.
Even Zhang Zhao was quite surprised. He was conceited, talented and capable. But in terms of reputation, he was still a little inferior to Kuai Liang. After all, Kuai Liang had already been an official and helped Liu Biao stabilize Jingzhou and made great achievements.
As for Zhang Zhao, he only became an official now.
Yan Xiang, Zhao Gui, Li Qian and other assistant officials in the prefecture were all extremely surprised.
Everyone was stunned.
Lu Xuan went to Jingzhou and found such a strong person. It was like a dragon crossing the river. At this moment, all the assistants in the Prefecture felt tremendous pressure.