Wei and Jin Cooks

 Chapter 1217 Appointment

"Mr. Wang likes Liu Bao's paintings?" A voice suddenly sounded behind the two of them. Director Wang and Zhou Qi were startled. They turned around suddenly and saw Zhao Hanzhang standing behind the two of them. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at them with an incomprehensible expression.

Zhao Hanzhang seemed to have realized something, and said with a smile: "I came here in the morning, and my steps were heavy. I thought that sir should have heard it, but I didn't expect that he was in a trance and scared the two gentlemen. It's not my fault."

Zhao Hanzhang apologized, but the two of them said they didn't dare. Director Wang looked like he was about to speak, but he couldn't hold it back after a while, "General, how did you get these paintings?"

"There are too many. I don't remember when I got them. They were probably just trophies snatched from the Huns and Jiehu during the war." Zhao Hanzhang led them to the back of the last shelf, where there were many large wooden boxes. The calligraphy, painting, inkstone, ink, etc. that are not displayed.

"Whether it is for ordinary people or noble families with family backgrounds, the scourge of war is a disaster for the whole family. From the first year of Yuankang to today, dozens of noble families have been exterminated, and countless direct descendants have been destroyed. "She turned to look at Director Wang, "Fortunately, I redeemed Er Niang and Si Niang from Shi Le, otherwise you, the Wang family, would have lost your heirs."

 Wang Dao was shocked and immediately knelt down to thank him.

Zhao Hanzhang stretched out his hand to support him and laughed loudly, "There is no need to thank me. It is Hanzhang's luck to have the help of his second mother and fourth mother. They have already repaid me."

Seeing that Director Wang and Zhou Qi were still looking back at the two paintings, Zhao Hanzhang gave the "North Wind Picture" to Director Wang and the "North Wind Picture" to Zhou Qi after a brief thought. "It was captured when Liu Cong was attacked. When he kidnapped the late emperor, he also robbed many of the rare treasures in the palace."

After Liu Cong was captured, the looted items were naturally considered spoils of war. Zhao Hanzhang only placed grain, cloth, and most of the gold and silver in public accounts, while the rest was distributed among the soldiers.

Zhao Hanzhang did not take gold or silver at that time, but mostly books, calligraphy and paintings. The people below realized that she liked them, so every time her birthday, Fu Tinghan's birthday, their wedding, and even various festivals, they mostly bought books, calligraphy and paintings.

For people like Zeng Yue who don't value books very much, this gift couldn't be more trouble-free. Just choose something from your pile of trophies. It doesn't cost money or worry, and it can win the other person's heart. What a great gift idea.

In fact, Zhao Hanzhang did not have to use ancient books, calligraphy and paintings. When he did this, firstly, these things were indeed very precious, and secondly, everyone was poor, gold and silver were the most useful, and other utensils were easier to liquidate, so she could not **** these from her subordinates. For popular things, you can only choose these unpopular ones.

 Unexpectedly, it became a label that she couldn't tear off.

However, she really liked these two pictures, otherwise she wouldn’t hang them up and admire them often.

  But she valued Director Wang and Zhou Qi more than the two paintings.

 Zhao Hanzhang was not stingy in favoring those he valued.

 Everyone said that Diao Xie was a bad person, he respected the superior and suppressed the inferior. He only speculated on the superior's will for the sake of power and complied with the superior's will, so he was called a villain.

 But he could see through all the obstacles to see the essence of things. The powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River were even more powerful than the powerful families in the Central Plains.

Perhaps it was due to more than 20 years of continuous war between the Central Plains and the North. The control of the land by aristocratic families was not as strong as that in Jiangnan.

 After all, there is land everywhere, but there is a shortage of people because of the war.

Up to now, the regimes of the Eight Kings, Gou Xi, the Xiongnu Han Kingdom, Shi Le, and Zhao Hanzhang have plowed this land again and again. At present, in the north of the Yangtze River, except for the existence of very small Wubao in some remote areas, all Wubao The forts were destroyed.

The aristocratic families that were originally deeply rooted in the land have long since been exterminated. Those who fled south, those who fled south, and those who fled into exile can be said to be torn apart.

 When they come back, most of them will not be able to get back their share of the ancestral property. All the fields will be owned by the state and redistributed.

 But for Jiangnan, can she take the land back into national ownership?

　　It is impossible even if you think about it with your toes.

 Can a person give up his own interests with a clear sense of justice and benefit the country and the people? How about ten people, a hundred people, a hundred thousand people, or a million people?

 As long as some people are unwilling, war will arise.

War can break the order and then rebuild it. Judging from the current situation in Jiangbei, reconstruction seems to be very labor-saving and can be used more freely. A good city can be reduced to rubble and rebuilt. It is very difficult to develop to the current scale. .

 Let alone the casualties in the war. When a person dies, he or she is dead, and everything disappears.

 Zhao Hanzhang did not want to kill anyone.

 So the bad idea Diao Xie came up with must not work.

If she were not from later generations, she might really be stuck in the quagmire of fighting with the wealthy families in Jiangnan, but she knows how much potential there is for the development of Jiangnan now, and it should not be limited to the existing land.

　　If you want to seize land from a powerful family, there is more than just grabbing it by force.

Zhao Hanzhang asked Director Wang: "What is the current population of Jiangnan?"

Wang Dao said: "There are people who flee every year. Not counting the unregistered refugees, there are 411,400 households and a population of more than 1,687,000 people."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, "Yangzhou is one of the nine ancient states, with a very large area. It has eighteen counties and one hundred and seventy-three counties under its jurisdiction. This population is still too small."

Wang Dao: "This is still the result of a large number of northerners migrating south. If we exclude the northerners who moved south in recent years, it is estimated that 80,000 households would be eliminated, and the entire Yangzhou may only have a population of 1.2 million."

Zhao Hanzhang: "So there is no need for Diao Xie's suggestion at all. Jiangnan is now a vast land with sparsely populated areas. In addition to the existing cultivated land, there are also large areas of wild land that have not been cultivated."

She turned to Zhou Qi and said: "A country and its people are like parents and children. Children have to support their parents, and parents have to protect their children, hoping that they will be rich, have a harmonious family, and live a good life."

Zhou Qi nodded, "The metaphor of a general is appropriate."

"You are the children who have the best life under your parents' knees. You are strong and have contributed the most to your parents. Your parents can't help but favor you. However, they also hope that other children can live a good life, so I want you to help them." What do you think Mr. Zhou thinks about the children who don’t get such good results?”

Zhou Qi lowered his eyes and thought for a while before asking, "What does the general want us to do?"

"Although parents want you to help their brothers and sisters who are living in poverty, they will not rob rich children's things to avoid family disharmony," Zhao Hanzhang said: "The state treasury will use part of the money to redeem the land, and then use this part of the land to Distribute it to poor households for farming, and ask Mr. Zhou to discuss with each household after he returns and allow the country to redeem the land."

 Zhou Qi responded respectfully.

Zhao Hanzhang said: "After the war, the military in Jiangnan needs people to garrison. Mr. Zhou is a native of Jiangnan and knows the terrain of Jiangnan best. It is best for you to guard it."

Zhao Hanzhang wanted to make Zhou Qi the Sima of Yangzhou and General Fenwei, and also serve as the governor of Wuxing County and lead the Yangzhou military.

Zhou Qi was stunned for a moment and asked: "Then who will be the governor of Yangzhou?"

 Zhao Hanzhang looked at Director Wang.

Zhou Qi looked over, his eyes fell on Director Wang's face, and he couldn't help but laugh, "There is no more suitable person than Mao Hong."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly, yes, she was afraid that if she sent others to go, those powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River would eat people alive. King Langya was so well-established, and he brought a large number of soldiers, horses and officials there without being noticed by them. Who could she use to govern Jiangnan?

And if it is handed over to the local powerful families in Jiangnan, what is the difference between that and the previous semi-autonomous state of Jiangnan?

 So it still has to be handed over to Director Wang.

 He has already opened up a situation in the south of the Yangtze River, and he is from the north. Coupled with his talent and ideals, he is the most suitable.

“Mr. Wang, are you willing to answer my call?”

Director Wang suppressed the excitement in his heart and bowed: "Do you dare to obey?"

He still has great feelings for Jiangnan, and he has already had ideas about Jiangnan. He thought that all the ideas in his mind would be useless after leaving. Unexpectedly, Zhao Hanzhang was willing to hand over Jiangnan to him to govern.

The matter was settled like that.

　　On the first day after Xiu Mu returned to the palace, decrees continued to come out of the palace.

Zhao Hanzhang ordered Wang Dao to be the governor of Yangzhou, and Zhou Qi to be the Sima of Yangzhou and Fenwei General. He also served as the governor of Wuxing County and led the Yangzhou military. They were ordered to take office within half a month.

 In other words, the two of them can only stay in the capital for seven days at most before taking office immediately.

In addition to these two people, Zhao Hanzhang also appointed many talented people from the south of the Yangtze River, but most of them were placed in the north of the Yangtze River or stayed in Luoyang and did not let them go back to the south of the Yangtze River.

 Instead, many officials from the court were selected to go to Jiangnan.

Good news from Jiangnan kept coming. Many county guards, magistrates and other officials at all levels who followed Wang Dun's rebellion died. Even if they didn't die, Zhao Hanzhang would not allow them to stay in Jiangnan anymore. These places could be replaced with new counties. Shouhe County Magistrate.

In addition, there were also some officials in the fish and meat village who were corrupt and violated the law, and their reputations were so bad that she even heard about them. They were also questioned one by one and replaced.

For example, Lu Jing, the governor of Wuxing County, is Lu Yuan's cousin. His name has the word "jing" in his name, but he is not quiet at all.

He is a huge black umbrella holding over Wuxing County. As long as you please him, the powerful and powerful will be protected by him no matter what they do in Wuxing County.

King Langya tried to replace him several times but failed.

Lu Jing loved pearls. Sea pearls were found very deep in the sea, so he forced fishermen to hand over a certain number of sea pearls every mile, otherwise they would be tattooed and imprisoned.

In order to complete the task, every village must select pearl fishers to go into the sea to fish for pearls every year. Those who go into the sea do not live long. Not to mention those who die in the sea, some people have come up with clams and died of bleeding from their mouths in a short time. Death.

Zhao Hanzhang knew that this was due to pressure, but along the coast, fishermen thought this was an offense to the Dragon King.

They thought they stole the Dragon King's sea pearls, so the Dragon King punished them.

In order to escape this task, many fishermen chose to leave their homes and become refugees. There were not enough fishermen on the seaside, so the task was assigned to villagers in other villages. It can be said that people in Wuxing County are full of resentment.

King Langya was very angry because of this. He wanted to question Lu Jing several times but was blocked by the Lu family.

This time, Zhao Hanzhang was more direct. After appointing Zhou Qi as the governor of Wuxing County, he immediately telegraphed Yuan Li and asked him to capture Lu Jing and kill him in the street to anger the people.

Yuan Li was very vengeful. As soon as he escaped, he went into the military operation to encircle and suppress Wang Dun. Even though he was still injured, he had to be carried away, and Wang Siniang could not persuade him.

He found out that Wang Dun's family members were all heading east, and wanted to bypass Yuzhang County and go south, so he immediately led a large army to pursue them.

At this time, Zu Ti also led the army southward, and together with Wang Siniang blocked Wang Dun's breakout road to the north and east, and at the same time supported Yuan Li.

In other words, at this time, the enemy's and our armies were swarming in the five counties of Wuchang, Xuancheng, Xin'an, Poyang and Yuzhang.

 The armies of Yuan Li and Zu Ti are closest to Wuxing County, a little further to the northeast.

 Therefore, after Yuan Li received the telegram, he immediately ordered his troops. After informing Zu Ti, he entered Wuxing County with 5,000 people.

He sent someone to report to Lu Jing in advance, "Just say that the army is short of food and fodder. I will raise food and fodder. I want to see the governor of Wuxing County."

 Let the soldiers take the order and leave.

Lu Jing came to see Yuan Li without any precautions. The Lu family sent Lu Yuan to Luoyang, and the information they gave back along the way was pretty good. Zhao Hanzhang was more tolerant and valued them more than King Langya.

So Lu Jing came to see Yuan Li with the intention of making friends. Although he despised officials like Yuan Li who were born as slaves, who made him Zhao Hanzhang's confidant?

As soon as he arrived, Yuan Li detained the people, then sent out troops to surround the governor's office and arrested all those who should be arrested.

Yuan Li is an intelligence officer. He is the best at searching for evidence and interrogating prisoners. Moreover, the secret service is everywhere. He has been operating in Jiangnan for two years and has heard a lot about the deeds of the Wuxing County Sheriff.

He is not a good person to begin with. He has to worry about Zhao Hanzhang's opinion when interrogating other officials, but he can let go of Lu Jing.

He believed that even if Zhao Hanzhang was angry at Lu Jing's torture, he would not be angry for long.

Yuan Li went to carry out the execution himself.

 Not even a night passed, and they hadn't found much evidence yet. Lu Jing confessed on her own.

Not only did he uncover all the hiding places for the property he had raked over the years, but he also gave away many things. Among them, what pleased Yuanli the most was the correspondence between him and Lu Yuan, as well as between him and Wang Dun.

This is a bigger crime than his crime in the fish and meat village.

Yuan Li opened the letter he took out from the secret compartment, read it once and laughed loudly. He came forward and looked at Lu Jing tenderly: "So you Lu family wants to rebel with Wang Dun."

Lu Jing shuddered under his gentle touch, and realized that she had confessed something incredible. She quickly shook her head: "No, no, our Lu family was working with Wang Dunxu to collect evidence and hand it over to the police." The imperial court has no intention of participating.”

Yuan Li reached out and pinched his face and said coldly: "Do you think I am a fool? The letters were written one after another this year. The last letter was twenty-three days ago. At this time, Wang Dun had already plotted a rebellion. The court could confiscate it." to your confession.”

Yuan Li's eyes were full of excitement and he smiled happily, "I know that you, the Lu family, are like the Zhou family. You have been suppressed since King Langya re-appointed Liu Wei and Diao Xie."

"The Zhou family's military strength was reduced and they were pushed away from the Yangtze River to Wu County. Several pieces of fertile land of your Lu family were sold to aristocratic families from the north. You wanted to marry the Wang family and the Lu family, but the two families have been unable to do so. Yes, the children of the Lu family are restricted everywhere under the command of King Langya. The last time Lu Yuan went to the palace to see King Langya, he met Diao Xie. Because his position was lower than that of Diao Xie, he was forced to salute by Diao Xie and was scolded by Diao Xie in public. Hahaha... Has it been since that time that you, the Lu family, decided to rebel against King Langya and get involved with Wang Dun?"

Two chapters combined into one. See you tomorrow

 (End of this chapter)