Shanggao County and Xiagao County are much behind Dongyi. First of all, one of the governors of these two places is an examiner in the Jianning Year. He is from Nanjun, and is called Kuai Yue. This person has sufficient means.
He was tough, and showed no mercy to the powerful right-wingers and former nobles of Shanggao County, making Shanggao County politically clear. However, the main problem was that his methods of governing Shanggao County were not very clever.
In other words, this person is good at planning and strategy, but not good at governance. Such a person can naturally stabilize the local situation, but it is not easy for him to quickly restore and prosper Shanggao County like Liu Bei did.
thing.
The prefect of Xiagao County was an examiner in the Xiping year. He was from Jizhou and was called Min Chun. He was very strong in law. It is said that he was the second best in law at that time. However, like Kuai Yue, he was not very good at politics.
Yes, the newly promoted Ningzhou governor, Wang Sheng, also spent a lot of energy after arriving in Ningzhou, trying to change Ningzhou's decadent situation, but it was of no avail.
Hearing that Yuan Shu was coming, Wang Sheng led his ministers to pay homage, and followed Yuan Shu to inspect them one by one. The more he inspected, the angrier Yuan Shu felt. The desolate scene made Yuan Shu angry just looking at it. It was unbelievable that within the territory of the Han Dynasty,
, there are still such areas, the eyes of the people are full of panic and despair, they are afraid of their parents and officials, and the soldiers are feebly guarding various areas.
Almost barren farmland, nobles roaming the countryside
All of this seems so heavy.
"Why is the farmland here barren?"
Yuan Shu looked at the cracked soil in front of him, suppressed the anger in his heart, and asked. Behind him, Wang Sheng was supported by several officials and walked slowly to Yuan Shu's side with a cane. Wang Sheng was an old minister and had once
He served as the prefect of Hanzhong, the governor of Yangzhou, and Guang Luxun. Because of his age, Yuan Shu did not directly beat him.
Wang Sheng panted and came to Yuan Shu's side. He looked at the deserted farmland in front of him. He shook his mouth but could not speak. He was stunned for a long time and then said: "Yuan Jun, this place is different. It is different from other places."
What a difference, what a wonderful farmland," he said, tears falling down, wiping his tears with trembling hands, "What a wonderful farmland."
"Prince?"
Yuan Shu immediately realized something was wrong, squinted his eyes and asked, "What exactly happened in Ningzhou?"
"Yuan Jun, after Jia Taiwei came to govern Ningzhou, Ningzhou has indeed improved. He ruled by doing nothing, which made a large number of farmers reclaim their farmland. With the land, their lives began to become richer. However,
The good times don't last long. The two major counties in Ningzhou, Shanggao County and Xiagao County, are the old parts of Goguryeo, and they are all Goguryeo people."
"The people of Goguryeo have always lived by their tribes. The tribesmen are called lords, and the adults worship the king. In a country, in addition to the king and his confidants, there are also lords of various tribes. The rest of the people are no different from slaves. These common people
, have been enslaved for hundreds of years, and have long been accustomed to it. Those tribal leaders have been removed after we established the counties, and many of them have been imprisoned for their crimes."
"Despite this, there are still many of them. These people still use the local farmers as slaves, and the farmers have no resistance in their hearts and dare not object. I have arrested many old nobles, but it still has no effect. The people
We still listened to them and were still afraid of them. After I captured most of the nobles, they ordered the farmers to help them build horse farms and raise horses."
"It's a good time for spring plowing. They forced countless people to death. Many people starved to death. We gave a lot of relief. I also thought about catching them all in one fell swoop. However, many people felt sad from the bottom of their hearts.
Afraid of them, when I sent people to arrest people, there were actually people who were instigated by them and came to stop the soldiers, but the soldiers could not attack the people."
"This place used to be very good farmland. It was me and my lack of knowledge that made Ningzhou become like this."
As Wang Sheng spoke, tears filled his eyes, and he slowly squatted on the edge of the farmland, grabbed a handful of soil, and closed his eyes in pain.
Yuan Shu frowned, but he was thinking in his heart, and then said: "Can we open an official school? Let the people learn the way of the saints and prevent the traitors from taking them as slaves again?"
"I tried, but the people didn't dare to come. They didn't dare to go even if the tribe master told them not to go."
"A group of defeated men are so arrogant! Lawless!!"
Yuan Shu helped Wang Sheng who was squatting on the ground, looked at the endless farmland in the distance, and said: "My lord, you can rest assured. Within a month, I will make sure that the traitors here have nowhere to hide, and we will create a better future for Ningzhou."
Get rid of this serious worry"
Wang Sheng muttered: "Thank you, thank you so much"
From this day on, Yuan Shu no longer visited various parties. Instead, he returned to the governor's office and sent officials from Ningzhou to various counties and counties to check the local situation. The main purpose was naturally to inquire.
To see whether the local old nobles were good or evil, they conducted inspections in the name of investigating old soldiers. As a result, they gained very little and they were not able to find out much information.
After waiting for six or seven days, Liu Mo arrived in Ningzhou.
After entering the Governor's Mansion, Liu Mo felt an unusual atmosphere. Of course, he knew why. On the way to Ningzhou, he had clearly seen the decadence and desolation of Ningzhou, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
You can imagine how angry Yuan Shu was. He walked into the governor's house, first visited the governor Wang Sheng, and then went to the study to find Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu's face looked very unkind. It could be seen that he was on the verge of breaking out. When he saw Liu Mo coming in, he was speechless and looked at Liu Mo coldly. Liu Mo sat in front of him and asked
He said: "Why is Ningzhou here?"
Yuan Shu told Liu Mo what Wang Sheng said and what he had learned during these days. Unexpectedly, Liu Mo was not shocked or surprised after hearing this. He nodded and said: "
I know these things about Goguryeo."
He was silent for a long time, and then said: "If this matter cannot be resolved, Ningzhou will never be stable and the people can live in peace, which is just empty talk. Yuan Jun, what do you want to do?"
"I want to capture all these traitors in the two counties and behead them in public, so that the people of Ningzhou can see that these traitors are not as terrible as they think. They can also be defeated and killed.
Only by dealing with these bullies can Ningzhou truly develop and the people will not end up starving to death."
"Then Mr. Yuan wants to mobilize soldiers from counties and counties?"
"No, there are also many Goguryeo people among the county soldiers. They have been enslaved by the nobles for generations. I rashly asked them to capture the nobles. I am afraid that it will not be possible. I wrote a letter to General Taishi stationed in Dongyi and asked him to
Send a battalion of soldiers here, I am going to use Dongli's navy to get rid of these traitors who are causing harm to the country and the people."
"Yeah, that's fine, once and for all." Liu Mo nodded. Yuan Shu noticed that when talking about Goguryeo, Liu Mo seemed to become a little silent and seemed to fall into memories. Yuan Shu thought this was a good thing. He looked at
Liu Mo asked: "Is Mr. Liu familiar with the language of Goguryeo?"
"Know a thing or two."
"There is something that Mr. Liu can't help you with?"
"Yuan Jun ordered"
"Please go to the mansions of various tribe lords and find out who they are, their property, and even their followers. Is it okay if you don't know about their evil deeds?"
Liu Mo thought for a long time and then nodded.
Yuan Shu continued to stay in the mansion. On one side, he sent officials from various places to investigate, and on the other side, he planned how to take action. Regarding the transferred navy troops, Yuan Shu did not let them come in a big way, but stayed in Shanggao County with
At the junction of Dongyi and Yuan Shu, waiting for orders, Yuan Shu did not want to alert the enemy. He was not afraid of these nobles, but he did not want to involve some innocent people, making Ningzhou even more desolate.
And Liu Mo was very busy. He tried his best to pretend to be a villain, looking for those old nobles of Goguryeo as guests, and accepting their bribes. He looked like a traitor. This look is very good.
He deceived some old nobles. These old nobles did not hate such treacherous ministers, but liked them very much. Only ministers who can be bribed are good ministers!
After Liu Mo performed for three or four days, a large number of nobles began to woo him and even invited him to their homes.
During this period, these old nobles treated him with extra enthusiasm. Money, gold, and even beautiful women, and land were constantly thrown at Liu Mo. Most of them hoped to obtain official positions through Liu Mo and return to their families.
As he ascended to his original dominant position, Liu Mo refused to refuse anyone who came, and told them boldly that as long as they had enough money, they could choose any official position in Ningzhou at will!
As the relationship deepened, Liu Mo learned more and more things from it.
Gradually, he got along with these old nobles, and was even regarded as a close friend by them. Together they shared their hatred for the Han Dynasty. Of course, Liu Mo also catered to them and expressed his dissatisfaction after his throne was taken away.
and promised them that they were willing to put aside their past hatred and deal with Wang Sheng and other immortals in unison.
On this day, Liu Mo came to Xiagao County, because he had spied on almost all the nobles in Shanggao County. These people are no different. They are all bastards who harm the country and the people and do all kinds of evil.
All they have to do is wait for the army to arrive and arrest them. However, Xiagao County is different because it is closer to Youzhou and many people from Youzhou have immigrated.
This makes the situation here a little chaotic. Among the old nobles here, not only are they evil-doers, but there are also some who tend to be big men and are kind and loving to the people.
After Liu Mo arrived in Xiagao County, Gao Quzhi, the leader of the largest local tribe, took him to his mansion.
Liu Mo looked at this luxurious mansion and tried his best to look greedy for money. He smiled and said: "Not bad, not bad, your place is very good." Gao Quzhi said with a smile: "If Mr. Liu likes it, here,
How about I give it to Mr. Liu as a gift?"
Liu Mo smiled, patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, then it's settled, don't go back on your word."
Gao Quzhi laughed, pulled Liu Mo, sat at the main seat, and chatted for a long time. Gao Quzhi then said: "Mr. Liu, I am different from those bastards in Shanggao County. Those guys are doing this day and night. I have a dream of restoring the country and want to establish Goguryeo again, but in my opinion, today’s life is so much better than before, why can’t I think about it? All I want is money, and I can make money, no matter what country it is!”
Liu Mo nodded and said: "I think so too, money is the most important thing!"
The two talked very harmoniously. In his words, Liu Mo expressed his desire to meet the tribal leaders in Gaojun. Gao Quzhi was not stupid. He immediately sent people to various places to invite the old nobles. Come here to see Liu Mo. Among the people he invited, there were some who wanted to make money like himself and some who wanted to make money. Naturally, some of them also wanted to be a big man.
The next day, these nobles came from all over the country, and none of them were absent. It can be seen that Gao Quzhi's prestige in Xiagao County is still sufficient. With just one sentence, he can find most of the old people in Xiagao County. When the nobles came, Liu Mo felt a little wary. No matter what his temperament and abilities were, he could never stay in Xiagao County. Even if he didn't kill him, he would be sent to another place.
With this in mind, Liu Mo met the old nobles from all over the country in Gao Quzhi's mansion. Some of these old nobles were old, some were young, some were rich, and some were poor. Liu Mo was really surprised when the old nobles in patched clothes came. These were the people who wanted to be a big man and were unwilling to join in with the traitors.
Although they are now in decline, they are still one of the former tribal masters. In terms of blood, they are regarded as noble by other nobles, so they are qualified to participate in today's banquet. Of course, they are still looked down upon by the other old nobles and think They have lost the glory of the Goguryeo people and have forgotten their ancestors.
The banquet began and everyone sat in their respective seats.
Liu Mo was still sitting on the main seat. Gao Quzhi introduced his identity to everyone. As expected, everyone stood up and paid homage to him. Now, at least openly, they did not dare to treat the Han court ministers without mercy. It was polite, after all, they had already been defeated. Liu Mo smiled and asked them to take their seats, and then started chatting with everyone.
During the conversation, the old nobles were delighted to find that Liu Mo was different from the other ministers. He accepted bribes. In addition, he seemed to pity them. They began to test their words and began to curse Wang Sheng and Kuai Yue. Liu Mo catered to Liu Mo's words, and they felt relieved and began to make friends with Liu Mo. Among them, there were only three or four people, drinking wine gloomily.
For a moment, the wine cups were intertwined and the guests were having a good time. Suddenly, someone slammed his palm on the document. The whole mansion suddenly became silent. Everyone looked over and saw that it was an old man. The old man looked There were some vicissitudes of life, and his clothes were also patched. He said, "Mr. Liu lives in Han Dynasty and is a minister of Han Dynasty. How can he do such an unethical thing?"
Liu Mo said with some disdain: "Who are you and how dare you interfere in my affairs?"
"Oh, the Emperor is not kind to us. Although the country was eliminated, he never harmed any of our people. He also provided food, iron tools for farming, cattle and horses, and there was no shortage. He regards us as the same as the Han people today. They are the kings of the past. They have not been able to give us anything," the man said slowly, but everyone else started to curse him, calling him a villain, a lackey, a traitor and so on.
"I have done many evil things. Now that I think about it, I feel full of guilt and don't know how to behave. In short, I will never take part in anything that kills people or harms others. Don't ask me to take part in these things again in the future. I The fields are about to be harvested and I am doing well.”
The old man said with some emotion, stood up, looked at everyone, and said: "I'll take my leave first. You are all my juniors. Listen to me and do more good deeds. Don't be stubborn anymore. Know how to be content. It's best. "After saying that, he left the temple directly. When he turned around, Liu Mo was stunned and his pupils gradually dilated.
When he turned around, Liu Mo saw his back. On his clothes, there was a bird with an open mouth embroidered on it. The beak of that bird was very long, thin and pointed. This was Goguryeo. It is a tradition that each tribe has its own image on its flag and clothing, most of which are birds. For example, Gao Quzhi has a big bird with arms on his clothing.
The house is burning,
"Ah Qi!! Run!!! Run!!!"
The woman yelled, and the brutal bandit penetrated the woman's neck with a spear.
The man rushed over in pain, but was decapitated with a knife.
Several children fell to the ground in pain and were trampled to death by the horses.
The young Liu Mo turned his head in horror.
He saw the murderer, grinning ferociously, holding a large flag, and hung the captured head on the sharp point of the flagpole.
And on the flag, there is a bird with its beak open,