The full name of the Salt and Iron Department is the Salt and Iron Transfer Department. It has a very high status in the Jin State, and salt tax has become the largest contributor to military expenditures and fiscal revenue.
Zhang Wenying was a judge of the Salt and Iron Division. He had previously served as a supervisor in Fengxian Salt Lake and had dealt with Han Yu.
He warmly asked Han Yu to sit down, poured him tea again, and said with a smile: "This time the Salt and Iron Department recommends you to be the magistrate of Lucheng County, Cangzhou. I hope you can overcome the difficulties and make the 200,000 acres of salt fields in Lucheng available as soon as possible."
Get it working."
"This is why I came to see Judge Zhang. What happened in Lucheng County that caused the county magistrate to stay for a short time?" Han Yu asked in confusion.
Zhang Wenying was a little confused: "The officials should have told you about this matter. Since they refused to say it, I can only tell you. After the Jin State occupied Cangzhou, Lucheng County had three county magistrates, among whom the first
The county magistrate died in office. The second and third county magistrates both resigned and refused to continue their work. The other county magistrates were also dawdling and did not care about anything. As a result, the salt fields of Lucheng County, which has the highest production volume, have been destroyed until now.
Not a bushel of salt was produced."
"How could he die in office?" Han Yu asked in horror.
"The result of the investigation is that the people were accidentally injured during a fight. It was just an accident, not a deliberate murder. The local people are fierce, and the interests involved in the salt fields are complex and difficult to handle, so the two county magistrates resigned."
"I don't understand. Aren't salt fields all official fields? Why are there so many complicated interests?"
Zhang Wenying sighed and said: "Most of it is official land, and a small amount of private land. The salt produced in private land is sold to the Salt and Iron Supervisor at ten cents per dou. The problem lies in the tens of thousands of acres of private salt fields, which belong to
There are several big families, but the property rights have always been confusingly defined, so they have been fighting for more than ten years, and almost the entire county is trapped by these families."
"If we don't start working, what will these people eat?"
"That's the problem. From last year to now, the government has been providing relief to them. The two county magistrates wanted to change the status quo, but in the end they ended up hastily and had no choice but to resign and leave."
Han Yu thought for a moment and finally made up his mind, "Then let me try it!"
...........
Han Yu went through the formalities at the Department of Civil Affairs the next day, left Chang'an that day, and took an old family member with him to Cangzhou, Hebei to take up his post.
Four days later, Han Yu unexpectedly encountered the triumphant army of the King of Jin at Pujin Pass.
An iron cable bridge was pulled up at Pujinguan to connect the two sides of the Yellow River. The army passed through the iron cable bridge in great strength. Thousands of people stood at the bridgeheads on both sides, waiting for the army to cross the river.
Surrounded by dozens of autographers, Guo Song rode slowly across the chain bridge. Some people at the bridge recognized King Jin and cheered together.
Guo Song stepped forward to wave to the people, but he unexpectedly saw Han Yu standing in front of the crowd. Guo Song met Han Yu once when he met with the imperial examination scholars last year, and he still remembered it clearly.
Guo Song felt a little strange, why was Han Yu here?
He asked his soldiers to bring Han Yu forward. Han Yu stepped forward and bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, Han Yu, pays homage to His Highness the King of Jin!"
"I remember you were appointed as the captain of Fengxian County, why are you here?" Guo Song asked in confusion.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the Salt and Iron Division recommended Bei Shi to be the magistrate of Lucheng County. Bei Shi has been appointed by the Department of Civil Affairs and will go to Lucheng County to take up the post."
"Lucheng County?"
Of course Guo Song knew about Lucheng County. This county is the largest county in Cangzhou. From the mouth of the Zhangshui River in the north, which is today's Tanggukou, Tianjin, the entire county is almost a saline-alkali land, and it is also the largest salt-producing land in Cangzhou.
There are three large salt fields in this county. Among them, the two salt fields in the north belong to the Salt and Iron Department and are currently operating normally to produce salt. Only the third salt field in the south belongs to the local salt field and is owned by Cangzhou and Lucheng counties. It is very troublesome and conflicts between the government and the people have intensified.
.
In such a troubled place, Guo Song didn't know why the Yantie Division recommended the young and inexperienced Han Yu to be the county magistrate, but since the Ministry of Personnel Affairs had already decided, he couldn't say much.
He asked again: "How many people will you bring to take office?"
Han Yu was a little embarrassed and said: "I have no staff in my humble position. I only brought an old family member with me."
Only then did Guo Song remember that officials who were county magistrates generally had to be in office for at least ten years before they had their own staff and entourage. Han Yu, for example, only became an official last year and basically had no financial resources.
He called Yang Jun up and said to him: "This County Magistrate Han is going to take office in Lucheng County. There is no peace there. You can take fifty brothers to follow him for half a year and help him stabilize the situation in Lucheng County. When he comes back, he will have a good time."
reward!"
Yang Jun bowed and said: "I humbly obey my orders!"
Guo Song arranged for Han Yu to have two experienced staff members join the army. Han Yu was so moved that he bowed to express his gratitude.
"Go! Stabilize Lucheng County as soon as possible, and open the Zhanghe Port in the north as soon as possible."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Han Yu bowed deeply, said goodbye and left, followed by everyone on horseback heading east.
Guo Song led the army to continue westward. That afternoon, the army finally returned to Chang'an and was warmly welcomed by the people of Chang'an with singing and dancing.
...........
Returning to Jin Palace to reunite with his family, the family was extremely happy. Needless to say, Guo Song rested at home for three full days. On the morning of the fourth day, Guo Song came to the official room to handle government affairs as usual.
There were more than twenty important documents piled up on the desk waiting for his approval. Lu Lun, who joined the army in the recording office, had already compiled the catalog. Guo Song flipped through it and pulled out the details of the imperial examination plan. This was also a relatively urgent document at the moment and he needed it.
Approval as soon as possible.
Guo Song said to Lu Lun: "Go and invite Du Sima and Pan Changshi!"
Now Du You and Pan Liao are equivalent to his left and right prime ministers, and basically all important government affairs are discussed with them.
Not long after, Pan Liao and Du You hurried over.
The two met with Guo Song. Guo Song asked them to sit down, raised the details of the imperial examination plan in his hand and said: "I have roughly read the imperial examination plan. Last year, we admitted 116 people. For some southerners,
Children of aristocratic families receive special care, but it was not mentioned in this year’s report, why?”
Pan Liao bowed slightly and said: "Actually, there is still one this year, but this plan was only implemented during the admission stage. It is a separate report that has not been released yet. According to the usual practice, we still have to take care of around twenty people today. We will take care of it later.
Get the list out in a few days."
Guo Song nodded, "I think we are still planning to admit 100 people this year, but there are less than 60,000 applicants this year, which is much less than last year."
Du You said from the side: "Your Highness, although the total number of people is a little smaller, the number of people participating in the Jinshi subject is still the same as last year, so the number of Jinshi admissions has not decreased. Considering that we have won Wei this year, a large number of low-level officials are needed. Ming Jing
The number of students admitted to the subject is also the same as last year.”
Guo Song asked with a smile: "How could you think of letting my father-in-law be the examiner?"
"This year, Xue Zizheng took the initiative. Several official doctors also said that he was in good health and could bear the burden. In addition, we also arranged five deputy examiners to reduce Xue Zizheng's burden. In fact, he, the examiner, only marked the papers in the final stage.
That’s enough, basically it won’t be too hard.”
Guo Song immediately wrote and approved the imperial examination plan. He put down his pen again and asked Du You: "One more thing. I met Fengxian County Lieutenant Han Yu on the way to Beijing. He was going to Lucheng County, Cangzhou to take office. To be honest
, I don’t understand a bit, he has only been an official for one year, why did he become the county magistrate?”
Du You smiled and said: "He is the county lieutenant of Chixian County, Gyeonggi Province, which is equivalent to the county magistrate of the upper county. Lucheng County is the lower county of more than a thousand households. Strictly speaking, the Chixian county lieutenant goes to the lower county to serve as the county magistrate.
It still falls into the category of leveling, but because the county magistrate is at the lowest level, he is from the seventh rank, so he got an advantage."
'Getting a bargain?'
Guo Song smiled and said: "This is not a reason!"
"This is certainly not a reason. In fact, the Salt and Iron Bureau strongly recommended him. When he was in Fengxian County, he successfully handled many salt workers' troubles. The Salt and Iron Bureau spoke highly of him. The Salt and Iron Bureau believed that Lucheng
The county salt workers are causing trouble and the three officials have not been able to handle it well. I believe he can handle it well."
"So the Department of Civil Affairs accepted the recommendation of the Department of Salt and Iron and arranged for a person who has only been in office for one year to be the county magistrate?"
Next to him, Pan Liao said: "Your Highness, going to Lucheng County is definitely not a good job. You may die or lose your official career. All officials know the risks involved, and no one envy him."
"I gave him a little bit of manpower."
Guo Song said calmly, "I hope he can handle it well!"
After saying that, Guo Song temporarily put aside the matter of Han Yu and said to the two of them: "Next, the focus of government affairs is to manage Hebei. We need to conduct a thorough investigation of all the officials in Hebei. I don't care who these officials were loyal to before.
, This is not important, what is important is talent and virtue. Find out those officials who are corrupt and bend the law, and also find out the mediocre officials. I will give you three months. After three months, we will conduct an investigation on the officials in various prefectures and counties in Hebei.
Complete overhaul.”
Pan Liao and Du You nodded, "We will do our best to get this done!"