Zhao Kuo stayed in Jicheng for half a month and drove slowly towards Liaodong. Officials were trembling with fear along the way, fearing that Zhao Kuo would catch him.
Zhao Kuo was also merciless. All officials who were corrupt and violated the law would have their homes confiscated and beheaded, and those who did not want to make progress would be directly dismissed and never hired.
Zhao Kuo was so powerful that the entire country could almost be said to be his voice. As long as he made a decision, no one could stop him. No one could protect the officials he wanted to execute.
For some officials who performed well and were supported by the people, Zhao Kuo did not hesitate to reward and promote them.
Most of the officials who were killed were former officials of the Yan State. These people were still immersed in the past and did not realize the difference between the Zhao State and the Yan State. By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
The main official roads in Yandi have been built, and official roads have been laid in every county, but even so, it still cannot change the shortcomings of remote areas.
But at least with the efforts of the State of Zhao, the people's complexions are no longer sallow and their bodies are no longer as skinny as wood. Most of the people can have enough to eat and don't have to worry about the northern nomads going south and being exploited by the government.
All this is developing in a good direction.
In May, Zhao Kuo came to Liaoze, the most famous swamp in Northeast China in this era.
Zhao Kuo didn't know how big Liaoze was exactly, but as far as he could see, it was all dense swamps covered with various aquatic plants.
There are many people working hard beside the swamp. They are filling in soil and fixing water step by step, turning the endless swamp into fertile farmland little by little.
These people are all prisoners of the State of Zhao, including the nearly 100,000 Chu troops captured last year who were also sent here. The State of Zhao has established a reward mechanism for these prisoners. For those who perform well, they can get points. A certain number of points can be exchanged for a reduction or exemption of their sentence.
time.
The prisoners not only did not dare to be lazy, but worked hard just to go home one day earlier.
Behind the prisoners, there was a narrow farmland belt filled with rice. The breeze blew and made a pleasant sound.
This is the result of more than two years of hard work.
Zhao Kuo personally expressed condolences to these prisoners, released a thousand prisoners who had performed best in the past two years, and provided them with travel expenses home.
Zhao Kuo told the remaining prisoners that as long as they worked hard and served their sentences, they would be released back home, and he would never break his promise.
The morale of the prisoners immediately increased greatly. Zhao Guo's reputation in this regard is still very good, and a thousand prisoners had just been released, so everyone was willing to believe Zhao Kuo. It only lasted a few years, and now half of it has passed.
, just bear with it a little longer and it will pass.
Zheng Guo has become more vicissitudes of life, his face is dark, and the years have carved deep marks on his face, like the bark of an old pine tree. His legs have no hair on them because they have been soaked in water for a long time.
Only two eyes are still bright and bright.
"Thank you for your hard work these years." Zhao Kuo patted Zheng Guo on the shoulder. Although Zheng Guo could not be called a handsome man back then, he could still be considered handsome. Now he looks much older than him.
"Thank you for your hard work." Zheng Guo shook his head. He had learned a lot about water conservancy since he was a child and hoped to become a water conservancy master when he grew up. It was Zhao Guo who gave him this opportunity.
Without Zhao Guo, he would not be where he is today.
"Pass an order to ennoble Zheng Guo as Lord of Ping Liao, and enfeoff the land as Xi Ling County. The rest of the people will be rewarded." Zhao Kuo ordered, although from the performance point of view, Zheng Guo's achievements are far less than those of attacking the city.
It is intuitive to seize land, but for Zhao Guo, Zheng Guo's merits and effects are greater than that of a famous general.
Zhao State has no shortage of famous generals, but there is only one water conservancy master like Zheng Guo.
"I don't dare accept it." Zheng Guo knelt on the ground and said in fear. As we all know, a prince is either a relative of the emperor or a person with outstanding merits. How can a small person like him be qualified to be granted a title?
"I have always been rewarded for my merits. If I say you can bear it, then I will bear it. If I feel guilty, I will govern Liao Ze well for me." Zhao Kuo helped Zheng Guo up and said kindly.
"I will definitely live up to your Majesty's expectations," Zheng Guo said solemnly.
Since ancient times, he has never heard of anyone who was granted the title of king for controlling floods. This kindness alone was enough for him to repay the favor with death.
"I heard that Aiqing's family is all in Handan?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Exactly." Zheng Guo said. When he first joined the State of Zhao, his family was also taken to Handan by the State of Zhao. Later, he went to Hetao alone, stayed in Hetao for several years, and then came to Liaoze, where he lived separately from his family.
land.
"If you miss your family, you can take them over and live together. Our country of Zhao has no taboos in this regard." Zhao Kuo said.
Under normal circumstances, generals who lead troops to fight abroad or officials who have feudal borders will leave their relatives in the capital, either to ask the king to take care of them in case of an accident or as a pledge.
Prevent the general from surrendering to the enemy or becoming independent.
Although Zheng Guo is not a general, nor is he a feudal official, he is in charge of hundreds of thousands of people, and all of them are strong men. He is the general in charge of the most soldiers in the world, and he has not as many people as Zheng Guo.
Although he is not a general, he is better than a general.
Therefore, Zheng Guo consciously left his family in Handan, but what he didn't expect was that Zhao Kuo actually offered to let him take his family over.
"I thank you, Your Majesty." Zheng Guo knelt on the ground again and said with great emotion.
"Okay, get up and accompany me to take a look around." Zhao Kuo said.
"No." Zheng Guo said.
Soon, the two came to the scene of administering Liaoze. It could be seen that hundreds of thousands of prisoners were in order under Zheng Guo's management. Everyone had their own division of labor, and there was almost no chaos. Even if there were occasional chaos,
It can also be dealt with in a timely manner.
From this aspect alone, Zheng Guo's ability is definitely not limited to water control.
There are only a few people in the world who can play with hundreds of thousands of people without causing trouble, and Zheng Guo is exactly one of them.
However, Zhao Kuo had no intention of letting Zheng Guo change his career. After all, Zhao Guo was more in need of a water conservancy master than a civil servant.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "At the current speed, how long will it take to govern the entire Liaoze?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Your Majesty, it will take another five to eight years." Zheng Guo said. This time is shortened by half compared to the time he mentioned last time. After all, these hundreds of thousands of captives are not working in vain. If the captives had not served their sentences, they would only be
Five years, the time can be shortened.
"What if we can keep so many people?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Huh?" Zheng Guo looked at Zhao Kuo in surprise. Among the prisoners who governed Liaoze, the largest number were Qin prisoners. According to the conditions Zhao Guo promised them, they can go home in more than two years. By then, Liaohe River
The speed of plain governance will inevitably slow down significantly.
And the time he just gave is also based on this.
"If we can maintain so many people, the time will be further shortened. I am confident that within five years, the Liaohe Plain will be turned into thousands of hectares of fertile land." Zheng Guo said solemnly.
"Okay, I believe you." Zhao Kuo said.
However, it is impossible for Zhao to swallow back the promise they made not long ago in order to govern the Liaohe Plain, so the only way is to obtain new prisoners.
Zhao Kuo's eyes swept across the vast mountains and landed in the north beyond the Great Wall.
That is the territory of Donghu.
Under the multiple blows of Zhao State, today's Donghu has long lost its former glory.
A few years ago, Li Mu captured King Donghu and took away the Donghu Golden Eagle.
The various tribes of Donghu swore an oath at that time, and the one who recaptured the Golden Eagle would be crowned king.
Today, Donghu Golden Eagle is still in the palace of Zhao State, but there are three Donghu kings in Donghu.
The oaths once made disappeared like farts, and no one took them seriously anymore.
Donghu, which was in chaos internally, could be said to be no match for Zhao in terms of strength. In addition, Fan Tong, a traitor, kept leaking information. Zhao had already studied the strength of each tribe in Donghu, as well as the topography.
Transparent.
There was only one problem standing in front of Zhao: how to transport grain and grass.
For this reason, the State of Zhao led the official road directly to the Great Wall and built a city outside the Great Wall to store grain and grass. However, even so, the State of Zhao could not dispatch a large-scale army.
"The king wants to..." Zheng Guo followed Zhao Kuo's gaze. After a few breaths, his pupils suddenly dilated, and he understood Zhao Kuo's thoughts.
"Now is not the time. Wait until next year, when we may need to recruit prisoners from you to transport food and grass." Zhao Kuo said.
"Hahaha, these prisoners all belong to the king. Naturally, the king can recruit as many as he wants." Zheng Guo said with a smile.
After leaving the Liaoze Plain, Zhao Kuo finally arrived in Liaodong, which was also the easternmost point of the Zhao Kingdom.
After Li Mu's reminder, Fan Zeng finally showed his ability. Liaodong can be said to be the most developed among the counties in Yandi, except Guangyang County.
Fan Zeng led the people to build roads, renovate some dilapidated houses, move people living in the mountains out, build houses for them free of charge, and distribute land. Under Fan Zeng's governance, no one in Liaodong County froze to death last winter.
Liaodong College has also grown to a certain scale, with nearly a thousand students. It is the college with the largest number of students in Yan District except Guangyang County. Scholars from Jizi North Korea even came here to study.
Zhao Kuo continued eastward and reached the border between Liaodong and Jizi Korea. There were rivers and mountains between the two countries, and the middle was deserted. Only a few merchants who dared to take risks went to Jizi Korea to communicate between the two places.
Of course, Zhao Kuo has no idea about Jizi Korea, at least not yet.
Compared with the Central Plains, it was a barbaric land. Even if it was conquered, it would take a long time to develop it. Zhao State did not have that much population or time to develop it.
If it weren't for the fact that the Liaohe Plain is the main road connecting the Northeast, Zhao Kuo would not even develop the Liaohe Plain in a short time.
But Zhao Kuo doesn't know now what kind of gift Li Mu will give him in the future.
In July, Zhao Kuo returned to Handan by boat from Liaodong.
"I haven't seen you for a few months, do you miss me daddy?" Zhao Kuo did not go to the political hall, but came all the way to the palace, picked up Zhao Ying, whom he had not seen for several months, and happily rubbed his beard on Zhao Ying's little face.
Zhao Ying had not seen her father for several months and had almost forgotten about it. She was pricked by the beard again, and she was so frightened that she cried loudly.
Zhao Kuo laughed happily and hugged Zhao Ying without letting go.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is outside asking for an audience." At this moment, Guo Kai reported outside the door.
Seeing this, An Ning quickly took Zhao Ying and glared at Zhao Kuo, indicating that he could leave.
"Wait for me tonight." Zhao Kuo chuckled and walked outside, "I just came back to see you. Can't you handle it yourself if you have anything?"
"The Prime Minister said there is something urgent." Guo Kai said.
"I'll go take a look." Zhao Kuo strode toward the political hall.
"Your Majesty, you are finally here, please take a look." When Lin Xiangru saw Zhao Kuo, he quickly stood up to respond, and then handed the two memorials to Zhao Kuo with a look of helplessness.
"What happened?" Zhao Kuo took the memorial and did not open it to read, but looked at Lin Xiangru.
"Didn't the imperial court make a plan in the first two years to ensure that everyone has enough to eat and occasionally eat meat? And it also made a promise that as long as 80% of the people under its rule can have enough to eat,
If you can occasionally eat meat, the county governor and magistrate can be granted the title of marquis, and the other officials can also be rewarded." Lin Xiangru said.
"Not bad." Zhao Kuo nodded. He originally set up the reward to motivate everyone.
"Now two counties have achieved their goals." Lin Xiangru spread his hands.
"How is this possible!" Zhao Kuo stood up in shock. He originally set the time limit for ten years. Even so, he did not expect all counties to be able to complete it. It would be good if only half of the counties could complete it.
But it has only been two and a half years. It is no exaggeration to say that even if Lin Xiangru served as county magistrate, he would not be able to do it.
In other words, in terms of ability, the magistrates of these two counties have surpassed Lin Xiangru.
"I sent people to conduct an inspection. Not only did the goal set by the king be achieved, but it can even be said that it exceeded the target. I can guarantee that the people who went to inspect did not conceal anything or lie. But... what happened is exactly what the king wanted.
There may be some discrepancies...the two county magistrates, one is from the Zhuo family and the other is from the Guo family..." Lin Xiangru explained to Zhao Kuo helplessly.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Zhuo family and the Guo family have a rather special status in Zhao State. They are both extremely wealthy businessmen, but they have no foundation in the court. The two families have also tried to find ways to reconcile with the court.
The ministers tried to establish connections, but in the end they all failed.
Until they got the news, the imperial court made a promise that as long as 80% of the people under the rule could have enough to eat and occasionally eat meat, the local officials would be granted the title of marquis.
The two families immediately realized that an opportunity had come. Instead of clinging to the nobility, they might as well become nobility themselves.
It happened that two children of the Zhuo family and the Guo family were serving as county magistrates in other places. They immediately decided to use all the family resources to help them. As long as they could get the title, it would be worth it.
For the two families, money is just a number. What they want is a class leap, from a wealthy businessman to a nobleman. They did not have this opportunity before, but now that the opportunity has come, they will never let it go.
It goes without saying what the level of the Zhuo family and the Guo family is. Helping a mere county is not easy.
Those who live in the mountains are directly invited to come down with money, and houses are built, farmland is planned, and even farm tools and cattle are prepared, and piglets and chickens are distributed to each household.
Just one sentence, as long as you come, leave everything else to me.
Then the two families tried every means to increase the income of the local people. As for how much money they lost, the two families did not consider it at all.
Anyway, as long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem.
It took the Zhuo family and the Guo family just two and a half years to build two impoverished counties into national model counties.
"Krypton gold players are awesome!" After hearing this, Zhao Kuo was stunned for a long time, and finally uttered a sentence slowly.