Su He and Qu Xiangyang, who had just been discharged from the hospital, were walking beside the Han River.
The relationship between the two of them is that of monarch and minister, master and disciple, and friends.
Su He overcame all opinions and arranged for Qu Xiangyang to be the governor of Gansu.
He asked Qu Xiangyang to go to the Imperial College to study and learn how to be a governor of a province.
Wang Zhongce and other senior officials of the Qin Palace, as well as some old officials of the Ming Dynasty who became official.
These old officials were all fine people. They saw Su He survive the Ming Dynasty's siege and changed their previous attitudes.
Qu Xiangyang did not disappoint him and ranked among the best in every exam.
"Xiang Yang, how are you feeling physically? Can you withstand the heavy workload of the governor?"
Qu Xiangyang raised his only arm and clenched his fist.
"Principal, I feel great now.
The doctors told me that as long as there is no infection in the broken arm, I will be like a normal person."
Su He nodded and asked with concern: "Xiang Yang, you have lost your right arm, are you still used to your life now?"
Qu Xiangyang said with a smile: "I was not used to it before. I had to use a spoon to eat, and I couldn't write with my left hand.
Now my left hand is as flexible as my right hand before.
I can eat by myself and write proficiently, and it doesn’t affect my work and life at all.”
Su He looked at Qu Xiangyang's open-minded attitude.
He knew how it was possible that without his most important right hand, it would have no impact on his life at all.
But Qu Xiangyang's optimistic and open-minded attitude allowed him to quickly get over the sadness of losing his arm.
Su He warned: "Xiang Yang, many officials are staring at you, so you must pay more attention.
You must know what to do and what not to touch."
When Qu Xiangyang heard Su He's words, his expression became serious.
He was able to stand out from hundreds of students in the military academy and become the top few.
Of course he knew, what did Su He mean?
He also has a clear enough positioning for himself.
He is a lone wolf, driving the flock of sheep.
As long as you reveal a flaw, the sheep will kill you with their horns.
Qu Xiangyang said sincerely: "Principal, you gave Xiangyang a new life and saved me from the lowly status of Lehu.
I, Qu Xiangyang, don’t have anything else, but I also know how to be grateful.
My family is very wealthy now, with a very high salary every year, and we also run several factories.
The money is enough for our family's daily needs, and I don't have much expenses.
I grew up in a Jiaofangsi, and I have a clear understanding of the misery of women.
I will never touch any woman except my wife."
Su He felt even more relieved after listening to Qu Xiangyang's words.
What can bring down a governor-level official is nothing more than power, money, and women.
Qu Xiangyang's statement shows that he sees things very clearly.
"Xiang Yang, officials from various Shaanxi provinces have taken up their posts one after another, and the governor has been vacant for a long time.
Now that your health has recovered, go to Shaanxi to take up the post as soon as possible.
Many tasks in Shaanxi can only be carried out if the governor takes the lead.
The system has been established. If the impact is not significant, try not to destroy the system.
After you took office, the mutual trading outside the customs carried out by the Third Army was taken over by the Shaanxi Governor's Yamen.
When you took office this time, in addition to stabilizing Shaanxi, you also provided supplies for the Third Army to fight.
There is also a mission to purchase large quantities of cattle, horses, sheep and wool."
Qu Xiangyang was surprised and said in amazement: "Principal, cattle, horses and sheep are extremely important, and things like wool are not valuable at all.
We buy wool in large quantities, what can it be used for?"
"You just need to purchase a large amount of wool. It's hard to say yet. If the experiment is successful, you will know soon."
Su He asked Qu Xiangyang to purchase wool, of course to develop the wool textile industry.
The wool textile industry provided important support for the Industrial Revolution of the British Empire.
There was also the phenomenon of sheep cannibalism in the British Empire.
Su He is well aware of the power of the economy. Grasslands cannot be cultivated and cannot bring huge benefits.
Then no Han people would be willing to settle in the grasslands, and even if they conquered them temporarily, they would have no motivation to defend them in the long term.
They were able to conquer Hetao and other Mongolian areas by force.
But we want to stabilize the backward Hetao area.
This region must be included in the overall economic system.
The anchor points selected by Suhe are the cattle, horse and sheep breeding industry and the wool textile industry.
If the woolen textile industry had appeared in China earlier.
Areas like Mongolia have long been an indivisible territory of China since ancient times and cannot be occupied by nomads at all.
…………………………
After Qu Xiangyang talked with Su He, he became more aware of what he would do when he became governor of Shaanxi.
He was riding a horse, followed by several carriages.
In the first carriage sat his wife and a pair of children.
In the second carriage sat his secretary.
The carriage that follows carries some personal belongings.
Behind the carriage is a large transportation force.
It mainly transports grain and cloth, as well as a large amount of materials, such as agricultural tools and seeds.
Qu Xiangyang entered Baoji Mansion, which is already the most developed mansion in Shaanxi.
Hanzhong County has a special status and is not under the control of the governor of Shaanxi.
He walked along the road to Xi'an Prefecture, inspected the situation in Baoji Prefecture, and had a good idea of the place.
Qu Xiangyang felt happy when he looked at the large number of sweet potatoes grown in Baoji Prefecture on both sides of the cement road.
There is a drought-resistant crop like sweet potato, which can only be extended to rural areas of Shaanxi.
The local people at least have enough food to survive.
The team crossed the Weihe River Bridge and marched for more than ten miles.
The cement road under your feet is no longer a concrete road, but a dirt road with potholes.
Even a carriage designed with shock absorption will be very bumpy when walking on such a road.
Roads are planned by the Ministry of Industry.
Shaanxi's cement roads will be repaired sooner or later.
He knew that the design of the cement road from Baoji through Xi'an to Yulin and Ningxia has now been completed.
As long as the cabinet and the King of Qin agree, this cement road will be built soon.
Qu Xiangyang has been observing the villages on both sides of the road.
He had been here before, when he was leading troops in battle and all his energy was spent on mobilizing soldiers.
Without observing carefully, there are villages on both sides of the road.
Now he noticed that there were very few residents in the village, especially no elderly or children.
You know, it's not far from Xi'an.
This is the most prosperous village in Shaanxi, but what he saw was a depressed scene.
Qu Xiangyang asked the team to continue moving forward. He took his secretary and guards to the nearby village to take a look.
When he arrived at the village, there was a man in his forties pushing a wheelbarrow toward the village.
"Men from every household came out to receive food."
Qu Xiangyang saw many people wearing sacks walking out of their homes.
They had no clothes or pants, only sacks around their waists.
At first glance, these people give the impression that they are extremely poor.
These people ignored Qu Xiangyang at all.
They immediately pounced on the young man.
"Village chief, why did you come back so late today?"
"Village chief, we are starving. The village is recruiting workers. Is there any result from this matter?"
"That's right! They said work-for-relief last time, but I didn't understand what it meant.
But the villagers say that you will be given food if you work, so I have always remembered this."
"Hurry up and work! The few sweet potatoes distributed in the countryside are not enough for us.
Woohoo.
It would have been better if King Qin’s army had arrived earlier, woo woo.
My son and father will not have to starve to death."
A skinny man looked at the sweet potato in his hand and couldn't help crying.
As soon as he cried, cries echoed around him.
The man pushing the cart shouted: "Why are you crying? Bring the sweet potatoes home quickly. Your whole family is still hungry."
You have to remember that it only takes a while to eat sweet potatoes, and they taste better when roasted than when eaten raw."
When Qu Xiangyang saw the villagers leaving, he walked over and asked, "Village chief, can I ask you something?"
Liu Xiaoer had long seen a person wearing gorgeous clothes and being surrounded by other people.
He heard this man's question and knew that this was a big shot and he couldn't afford to offend him.
"My lord, I am the village chief of this village. I was appointed by the township chief."
When Liu Xiaoer said this, he was extremely proud.
In his understanding, the village chief is serving as an official.
"Can I tell you about the situation in your village?"
Qu Xiangyang saw his hesitant look and showed the official seal on his waist.
Liu Xiaoer saw the official seal. He was illiterate, but he could see this kind of thing. The township chief also had one.
He thought in his mind that this person should also be a township chief.
It is said in the storybooks that important officials often pay private visits incognito.
Liu Xiaoer nodded quickly like a chicken pecking at rice.
"Sir, if you have anything to ask, I, Liu Xiaoer, will tell you everything I know."
Qu Xiangyang went directly and asked: "I saw that your village is very big, but the number of people in the village is very small. Where have all the villagers gone?"
When Liu Xiaoer heard this question, his eyes turned red and he said:
"Sir, everyone in the village is gone.
Smallpox broke out in the village, and people were dying in almost every household.
After smallpox passed, widespread drought occurred.
There was no food harvest, but the court had to collect taxes.
If you don't pay taxes, you will be arrested and forced to work as soldiers. Many people are afraid of being arrested by the government, so they flee.
I heard that many people fled to Hanzhong.
The rest of us are too poor to have enough food to escape.
When we meet someone from the government, we hide.
Our place is pretty good. I have received refugees from northern Shaanxi.
These people said that they experienced wars, droughts and plagues there.
Basically the whole village was vacated.
Those who survived all fled south, and they all said that the south was a good place."
After Liu Xiaoer finished speaking, he looked at Qu Xiangyang expectantly.
"My lord, I think your status is unusual.
Do you know about cash-for-work?
A few days ago, the head of the township once again talked about providing work-for-relief, but there has been no news yet.
The mayor has been saying that it will be soon, but there is no concrete news.
The sweet potatoes given out every day are simply not enough to feed the family.
The sweet potatoes are so cheap, but we are afraid that one day we will run out of them."
Qu Xiangyang patted Liu Xiaoer's shoulder with his hand.
"Don't worry, the cash-for-work program will start this month."
Qu Xiangyang asked Liu Xiaoer to learn more about the situation in this village.
He returned to the team and sped up to Xi'an City.
Work-for-relief is a systematic project and has now formed a complete process.
In various places, the governor's office takes the lead to integrate various departments, decompose related tasks, and then delegate them to prefectures and counties to complete work-replacement activities.
Qu Xiangyang did not take office, and he did not approve the work-for-relief project.
These projects are all in the early preparation stages.
Qu Xiangyang had already seen Xi'an City, and he saw a group of officials greeting him at the door.
Qu Xiangyang recognized one of them at a glance. This was his fellow Imperial College student Wang Linjiang.
He studied in the Imperial College for a long time, passed the examination as a prefect, was nominated by the cabinet, and was appointed as the prefect of Xi'an.
In the Imperial College, except for people like him who have been appointed to study systematically.
There are also many students who passed the imperial examination. They are in the Imperial College and have to go through layers of selection.
It mainly depends on the results of the internship. There is no way to cheat. If you can do it, you can do it. If you can't, you can't.
When Qu Xiangyang entered the Imperial College, most of the first imperial examination candidates had already completed their studies.
Only a few people who are confident in themselves still persist in learning.
When Wang Linjiang saw Qu Xiangyang, he immediately went with officials from various yamen in Shaanxi to greet the governor Qu Xiangyang.
These officials are basically at the same level as him and are the heads of various yamen in Shaanxi.
It was only when they heard that Wang Linjiang and Qu Xiangyang were classmates that they asked Wang Linjiang to greet them on behalf of everyone.
Wang Linjiang said excitedly: "Governor Qu, we are waiting for your arrival.
If you don’t take the post with supplies, we won’t be able to hold on to the food we captured.”
Qu Xiangyang looked apologetic, cupped his hands and said, "I've worked hard for everyone during this period.
I arrived in Xi'an and officially took office today.
I will be able to approve all the major projects for relief-for-work by tonight.
I will select talents from the original officials of the Ming Dynasty and let them supplement the various yamen.
All government offices will resume operations soon."
Qu Xiangyang still retains his military style and does things vigorously and resolutely.
He did not chat with these people and learned who these people were and what work they were responsible for.
Qu Xiangyang immediately started working.
He completed the review of the work-for-relief project as quickly as possible.
Work-for-relief projects in various prefectures and counties can be launched immediately.
These projects mainly involve the construction of roads, canals, reservoirs, and other transportation and agricultural facilities.
On the way here, Qu Xiangyang felt that Shaanxi was in dire straits, especially that the population would drop sharply.
When he looked through the information compiled by various prefectures and counties.
These are only preliminary information, which were investigated by the heads of each township and have not been verified.
But Qu Xiangyang can already see from this information that the current population of Shaanxi is too small.
The population of Shaanxi Province, including Baoji Prefecture, is not as large as that of Hanzhong County.
In this era, population is productivity.
Without enough people to cultivate the land, a lot of land will be abandoned.
The siphon power of Hanzhong County is too strong, and he has no ability to snatch back the people from Shaanxi who fled to Hanzhong.
Qu Xiangyang frowned. If the population problem is not solved, he will definitely be the second to last governor.
Next door, Gansu is ranked last, and the situation there is even worse than in Shaanxi.
Qu Xiangyang looked at the map, and an idea flashed in his mind.
“Shaanxi has no population and leaves a lot of land vacant.
Henan has a large population, and these farmers are desperate for land."
Qu Xiangyang immediately made arrangements and sent people to Henan to promote Shaanxi.
When people from Henan enter Shaanxi, they will also be allocated land.
If you want to have your own piece of land, you must go to Shaanxi.
