Full text without ads Chapter 14 The Way of the Prefect
Early the next morning, Asiduo went to Jianhe in the far north under the escort of a group of soldiers. Yang Yuanqing was preparing to leave for Jiuyuan County to have a good talk with the prefect Yang Shidao. Unexpectedly, before he set off, Yang Shidao came on his own initiative.
Dali County. (Free download of full text e-book)
Yang Shidao was about twenty-seven or eighty years old, and he had not been an official for a long time. Before that, he had served as a cangcao in Zuowei for several years and participated in the military. When he was sent to an official position for the first time, he became a prefect.
In the Sui Dynasty, when one could become a prefect at the age of four or five, Yang Shidao only became a prefect at the age of twenty-eight, so he was considered a late bloomer.
Yang Shidao is handsome, six feet tall, full of knowledge, and has good cultivation and temperament. Although he is a noble royal family, he quickly adapted to the environment here when he came to Wuyuan County. He patrolled around, visited ordinary households, and treated orphans and widows.
It is highly praised in Wuyuan County for greeting the poor and asking for warmth.
Today he came to see Yang Yuanqing for an important matter. He seemed a little worried. Yang Shidao came to the general manager's office with a few followers, got off his horse, and walked quickly up the steps.
Although Yang Yuanqing moved the general manager's office to Dali County, obviously not wanting to be monitored by him, it was also a good thing for Yang Shidao. It also made him free from Yang Yuanqing's control and could use his talents and skills. Therefore, Yang Yuanqing and he were not in the same city.
I accepted it gladly without any complaints.
As soon as Yang Shidao walked up the steps, Yang Yuanqing came out after hearing the news. He laughed and said: "I was in Jiuyuan County to see the prefect, but I didn't expect the prefect to come by himself. I'm ashamed!"
Yang Shidao smiled slightly and said, "Does the manager come to Jiuyuan County to see me for anything?"
"There's something going on. Let's talk about it in the house!"
Yang Yuanqing led Yang Shidao into his office, and the two of them sat down separately. Yang Yuanqing ordered tea to be served, and then asked with concern: "Wuyuan County is very cold in winter, can the prefect adapt to it?"
"It is indeed much colder than the Central Plains, especially at night. The coldness can almost freeze one's bones to pieces, but..."
Yang Shidao changed his words and said with a smile: "Millions of people can live here safely, but my dignified officials of a county cannot support it. This is too ridiculous, doesn't it, Manager Yang?"
Although there is no deep friendship between Yang Shidao and Yang Yuanqing, there is no personal enmity. However, he is a royal family after all, and there is always a sense of superiority in his bones. However, he hides it very well and does not usually show it, and there is no need to show it.
But when talking to senior officials like Yang Yuanqing, his tone and demeanor would unconsciously reveal this sense of superiority.
In the past, he envied Yang Yuanqing for being reused by the Holy Emperor, and was even a little jealous. However, things have changed, and now the Holy Emperor trusts him more than Yang Yuanqing. Before leaving, he specially summoned him and told him to pay attention to Yang Yuanqing's ambitions.
This made his sense of superiority overwhelm Yang Yuanqing's, and his tone was a little bit condescending.
Yang Yuanqing also felt Yang Shidao's sense of superiority, but he was not dissatisfied. On the contrary, he thought it was good. At least it showed that Yang Shidao was not a cunning and tactful person, and he still had a little bit of the arrogance of a young man.
Yang Yuanqing smiled and said: "I plan to go to Wuyuan County to find the prefect to discuss winter defense. Every winter, this is the top priority of Wuyuan County, and almost everyone is mobilized."
A wry smile appeared on Yang Shidao's face. He also came to Dali City to find Yang Yuanqing for the purpose of mobilizing the people, but it was not for defense.
Yang Yuanqing saw the wry smile on his face and couldn't help but be startled, "Why, does the prefect think something is wrong?"
Yang Shidao pondered for a moment and said, "Does the general manager know about the civil unrest in Qi County?"
"Heard something."
"Now six counties in Shandong have written to the court one after another, saying that the disaster was serious and hungry people were everywhere. They asked the Holy One to postpone the transfer of local grain depots in Shandong. I heard that the Holy One agreed, and transferred the food to Luokou, back to Luo, and Liyang's grain to Liaodong. This will make
The grain stored in the official warehouse has been greatly reduced, and I have received news from my brother that the imperial court is planning to set up a new official position of field supervisor in the border towns. Can the general manager understand the mysterious meaning of this? "
Yang Yuanqing nodded slightly, "You mean that the imperial court may reduce the food supply to the border towns, that's right!"
"That's true!"
Yang Shidao let out a long sigh, "A battle in Goryeo, against a small country, actually used an army of 1.2 million, which is almost an overwhelming number of soldiers, and countless logisticians. How much food is needed?
Every increase must be followed by a decrease, and the imperial court’s intention to cultivate self-sufficiency in the border areas is already obvious.”
"But a piece of land needs to be cultivated for at least one year. After it becomes mature land and can be planted with crops, it will take two years. Is it too late to start farming now?"
Yang Shidao waved his hand, "Let's not worry about other places. Let's talk about Wuyuan County. I have specially inspected it and asked many old farmers for advice. They all said that the land in Wuyuan County is very fertile and can be directly cultivated with a little cultivation.
The biggest problem in growing grain now is water shortage. If we can use this winter to develop water conservancy projects and dig rivers, then next year’s grain output can be increased by at least 30%. In this way, the problem of grain self-sufficiency will basically be solved. If we can do this for three consecutive years
By building water conservancy and increasing farmland production, not only can we be completely self-sufficient in food, but we can also hoard food to prepare for disaster years. What does the general manager think?"
Yang Shidao's idea was quite appreciated by Yang Yuanqing. He was indeed a famous figure in history. Although he was a member of the royal family, he was very accomplished, especially young and energetic. Although this person was ordered to monitor him, if he handled it well, he could
Become your own right-hand assistant.
Yang Yuanqing originally regarded Yang Shidao as his enemy. During this period, people kept saying to him that Yang Shidao was good, and he had an idea in his mind. He originally wanted to go to Jiuyuan County to have a good talk with Yang Shidao, but unexpectedly he came to his door in person and asked for Dongxiu.
water conservancy.
Autumn can be seen in a leaf. From the fact that he fully advocated the construction of water conservancy, we can see that Yang Shidao is a capable and pragmatic person. He is the kind of talent Yang Yuanqing needs. At this moment, he changed his mind and decided to win over Yang Shidao.
Come here and be your own person.
But Yang Yuanqing also knew that Yang Shidao was the person sent by Yang Guang to monitor him after all. If he wanted to win over him, he must not be in a hurry. He needed to take his time. The first step was to establish a relationship of mutual trust with him.
Thinking of this, Yang Yuanqing said sincerely: "The prefect has prepared for a rainy day and is self-sufficient in farming. Yang Yuanqing should give full support to make Wuyuan County a truly prosperous place for the people. If you need me to do anything, the prefect can make requests and I will fully cooperate."
Yang Shidao was overjoyed and said quickly: "I came to the manager this time for the matter of the militia. Can I..."
Every winter is a time of leisure for farming, but it is also the time when defense and combat preparations are most intense. The training of the militia is carried out almost every day, and a training session within 20 miles must be conducted every ten days. The time is very tight.
The existence of the militia was actually the most depressing thing for Yang Shidao. He didn't quite understand it at first, but soon he discovered that although Yang Yuanqing was the general manager, and according to regulations, he was in charge of the military and not the people, the system of the militia allowed him to indirectly control
The young and strong people living in Wuyuan County.
A month ago, Yang Shidao wanted to build a warehouse and recruit 3,000 young people. Unexpectedly, a militia order transferred all 3,000 people he had recruited with great difficulty. The warehouse has not been built yet, which made him feel annoyed and angry.
It was helpless, this was the borderland, and the self-protection of the borderland militia was specially approved by the Holy Father, and he could not apply for revocation.
Not only did the militia system restrict his power as a prefect, but there was also the military household system. More than 20,000 military households were directly managed by the military and were not under local government. Although in the sixth year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, military households were under local management.
The edict was issued, but that was only for the interior of the Central Plains, and the border areas were still under the direct jurisdiction of military households.
It was these systems that forced him to seek help from Yang Yuanqing. Yang Shidao's condescending sense of superiority at the beginning had completely disappeared.
Although Yang Yuanqing had decided to support Yang Shidao, he could not agree so easily. He pondered for a moment and said: "I can understand the prefect's difficulties, but the situation this year is really special. The Western Turks have been unified by She Gui Khan, while the Eastern Turks have
The Khan is newly established and his foothold is not yet stable. Although the Turks also have the custom of not sending troops in winter, winter is a good opportunity for sneak attacks. I am very worried that the Khan of the Western Turks will use this winter to sneak attack the Eastern Turks or Fengzhou.
To build up his prestige, the defense will be particularly heavy this winter, and the Ministry of War's transfer order came yesterday to mobilize 10,000 troops to Liaodong to prepare for war. Fengzhou has insufficient troops, so I dare not be careless."
Yang Shidao had a look of disappointment on his face. What Yang Yuanqing said made sense and he could not refute it. Unexpectedly, Yang Yuanqing smiled slightly and changed the topic.
"However, building water conservancy is equally important and there is no need to delay. This way! This winter, the militia will not need to train and will devote all their energy to the construction of water conservancy canals. However, the army is still vigilant. Once a threat report comes, the militia will immediately stop the construction of water conservancy.
how?"
Yang Shidao did not expect that Yang Yuanqing would finally agree to his plan, so that his trip would not be in vain. This made him breathe a long sigh of relief, and at the same time, he was also moved in his heart. Yang Yuanqing did not make things difficult for him on major issues involving people's livelihood.
, still fully supports him.
"I completely agree, and I would like to thank General Yang for his understanding and cooperation!" Yang Shidao expressed his gratitude sincerely.
Yang Yuanqing looked into his eyes and said slowly: "Actually, like the prefect, I hope that the Hetao Plain can return to its prosperity in the Western Han Dynasty and will no longer be ravaged by barbarians. As long as I, Yang Yuanqing, are here, I will never let the barbarians.
The horse takes one step into Wuyuan County."
.........
The prefect and the general manager reached an agreement, and the entire Wuyuan County was mobilized. All men over the age of sixteen and under fifty must participate in various winter water conservancy projects. Starting in late November, hundreds of thousands of young men
The young people were organized, and a vigorous winter water conservancy campaign broke out in various parts of the Hetao Plain, making it seem that this year's winter was no longer so cold.