Chinese New Year

Chapter 641 Bureaucracy (Part )

After entering October, the weather suddenly turned cold.

The refugees who had just arrived in Henan and Xingyang suddenly felt that they could not hold on any longer and began to wail.

Most of them were from Bingzhou, including both Hu and Han people.

They fled from Hedong and Pingyang, some went to Guanzhong, some went to Hongnong, and some went to Shangdang.

It's not that the Liu Han court didn't provide disaster relief. But just as Shao Xun was troubled by the low efficiency of administration, Liu Cong was also very annoyed. In addition, the Xiongnu were not rich and had a weak foundation, so the relief grain was quickly consumed, and a large number of people still fled.

Those who fled to Guanzhong were absorbed by Liu Can.

There had been peace in the eastern part of Guanzhong for several years, and there had been no disasters, so there was some reserves, and a large portion of it was consumed.

Those who went to Hongnong can only say that their situation is okay.

Wang Mi had been fighting against local tyrants and dividing up their land for many years. He had cleared out a lot of land and accumulated some money and grain. He took the opportunity to recruit able-bodied men and women, granted them land and settled them there, and expanded his power.

Yes, he only wanted able-bodied men and women, not the old and weak, and even slaughtered some to be used as jerky. The rest fled in a hurry, crossing mountains and ridges, running to Xin'an and Yiyang, and countless of them died on the way.

These people were gathered by Shao Shen, one of the two supervisors of the General's Mansion, and after being taken care of, they were sent to Guangchengze.

In the wars in recent years, Guangchengze mobilized a lot of garrison troops, resulting in heavy casualties. In addition, some people were reorganized into garrison troops, resulting in a severe shortage of manpower for farming.

Although the old, weak, women and children have limited strength, they are not completely unable to farm, so they can just make do with what they have.

Some of the refugees who fled eastward were absorbed by the nobles and tribal chieftains in the Xiongnu-controlled areas of Shangdang and Taiyuan, and some went to Jinyang. But last year, Liu Zun led 30,000 families of Hu and Han people southward, and Liu Kun had no surplus food, so he could not absorb them at all.

By the time they got here, the refugees had almost used up most of their food, but they had no choice but to continue heading eastward, toward Hebei. After crossing the Taihang Mountains, only a few managed to make it there.

A considerable number of them entered Henan from Taihang Pass, Baixing Pass and Chenguan Pass. Some of them were gathered by Liu Ya, and the rest fled to Heyang and entered Henan County, and then were transferred as a whole to Xingyang for settlement and recuperation.

After resting for a while and recovering some of his energy and strength, he was escorted to Chenliu by soldiers sent by the prefect. The first group arrived today, with a total of 5,000 households and more than 12,000 people - normally, there are about five people in one household.

Zao Song looked at how skinny they were with numb eyes, and even though he was used to seeing life and death, he remained silent.

The refugees will not wait until the food is gone before fleeing, as they will most likely die a violent death, and there will be no refugee armies running around everywhere.

In fact, most of them were led by local nobles and powerful people, and they took all the necessary things, such as stored food, livestock, farm tools, seeds, etc., and fled to places that were not affected by the disaster.

There may be looting on the way, and food can be obtained by destroying a small manor or earthen wall. If it cannot be destroyed, it can reduce food pressure and the dead people can be turned into food.

Sometimes they would stay in a certain place for a short time, farming for several months, half a year or even a year, and then continue their journey, which was a bit like the nomadic beggar army.

This is a characteristic of the Jin Dynasty, a well-organized refugee army based on clan blood ties, or even an official refugee army...

"…The bandits in Bingzhou have been suffering from famine and have surrendered one after another. They must be pacified so that they can survive. Now I entrust Lu Yan, Yin of Henan, and Du Dan, Taishou of Xingyang, to choose a convenient place to resettle them, provide them with food relief, and also deploy troops and horses for protection. There must be no mistakes." Lou Xiu, a clerk in the Western Division of the General's Office, read out Shao Xun's order in public.

Xingyang prefect Du Dan, Zhongmu magistrate Lu Rong and others present responded in unison.

Zao Song, as the Minister of the Left of Liang, added in a low voice: "After the refugees are taken care of, the state will send generals and soldiers to take them away."

Du Dan smiled and agreed.

Lou Xiu looked at Lu Rong twice more. This man was originally the magistrate of Ye County in Nanyang, and was just promoted to the magistrate of Zhongmu this year. He was the one who handled the formalities at that time.

The Xicao Yuanzhu had no decision-making power in the appointment of officials, but all procedures had to go through them, which was equivalent to the human resources and labor department.

Corresponding to this is the Dong Cao Yuan, who is responsible for the appointment of officials above the rank of 2,000 stones. For example, when Du Dan was appointed as the governor of Xingyang, the Dong Cao Yuan handled the formalities, while the Xi Cao Yuan could not do it because his rank was not high enough.

In fact, the rank of the East and West Caos is not high, and they have no decision-making power. They are not government officials, but they are quite key affairs officials. It seems to have become a trend for them to be appointed from humble aristocratic families like the Lou family of Chenliu.

As a student of Lord Liang and a native of Donghai, Lu Rong did not do well in his position as the county magistrate of Ye County. It was not that he did not work hard, but the local situation was complicated. As a native of Donghai, he had no connections or connections in Ye County, so it was impossible for him to do well, not to mention that the county magistrate was the assistant official of the county magistrate, so it was difficult for him to stand out.

But Lord Liang still trusted and valued him, and transferred him to Zhongmu, a place that had been repeatedly ravaged, to serve as county magistrate, which shows his love for him.

Actually, this is not a bad thing.

Since the war between the three kings of Changsha, Hejian and Chengdu, Xingyang has been repeatedly attacked. Then the King of Donghai fought against the Xiongnu, and then the Duke of Chen fought against the Xiongnu. Calculating the time, it lasted for almost ten years.

The ten-year-long war was so destructive that refugee leaders such as Li Ju took a fancy to this piece of vacant land, and many refugees from Guanxi came here to farm.

It should be much easier for Lu Rong to serve as the county magistrate in Zhongmu than in Ye County.

After Lou Xiu read out the order, he left quickly.

Zao Song stayed behind and said, "This matter is very important and must not be neglected. Is there enough food in Xingyang?"

Du Dan hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth. After all, this matter was too big, and if it went wrong, the problem would be serious. He only said: "It's not enough. Previously, 200,000 hu of grain and beans were sent to the capital to relieve the crisis in Luoyang. Liang Gong wanted to attack Qingzhou and stockpile grain and grass. This county also sent 200,000 hu, which was sent up the river by Captain Yang of Duzhi to Jibei for storage. Bianliang built the palace city, and Xingyang also assisted with more than 100,000 hu of grain and 40,000 bundles of hay. The Xiongnu also sneaked in last time, burning, killing and looting..."

Zaosong thought about it and felt that Xingyang was indeed difficult.

This was a county under the jurisdiction of Sizhou. It had to support the imperial court, which was already a heavy burden, but it also had to support the State of Liang. Life was indeed not easy.

"Try to raise as much as possible first." Zao Song said, "In troubled times, people are the most important. If we can survive the next two years, we will be able to get by. Can the Lord subdue the Zheng family, Pan family and other big families in Xingyang?"

Du Dan's face was a little tangled. After thinking for a while, he said fiercely: "Saving people is a great cause. If anyone resists, they are crazy. I will do my best to raise funds."

Zao Song stood up in awe and said, "I leave everything to you, Lord."

"Don't worry, Minister, we will make sure the refugees are settled," said Du Dan.

Although the Jingzhao Du family had produced Du Yu, they were a Guanzhong gentry family after all, and their influence in Xingyang was very limited. It was a bit difficult to convince people with personal connections, so they had to use both soft and hard tactics - in fact, the Zheng family, the Pan family and other big families didn't have much food either, so they could only raise a little bit at a time.

******
Zao Song traveled between Xingyang and Henan for twenty days. When he returned to Bianliang, it was already late October. The six government offices were crowded in Junyi County, and they had to borrow a house to work.

After returning to the wealthy merchant's house where Zuo Mincao lived, assistants and clerks came in and out, sending him one official letter after another for him to handle.

Zuomin Cao is a hodgepodge department that existed during the Cao Wei period. It was originally in charge of repairs, salt ponds, gardens, etc. It had a connecting relationship with Shaofu, Jiangzuo and the like, and had overlapping business, similar to the "Minister of Works" in later generations.

Later, he began to be in charge of household registration, which was a combination of "Minister of Works" and "Minister of Revenue".

Later, he was in charge of household registration, separated from the civil engineering business, and became the "Minister of Household Registration".

The Zuomin Cao of Liang State was not that complicated. It mainly had two tasks: household registration and conscription.

Under the Minister of Zuomin there is the Minister of Zuomin Lingshi - the "Book of Jin" compiled by Tang Dynasty called it "Zuoren Lingshi", probably for taboo purposes - the number of members is not fixed, and there are four of them now, one of whom is a disciple of Liang Gong, one is from a noble family of Chenliu, and the other two were brought by Zao Song from the State of Yan.

Zao Song still had to pay to support these two trusted men he brought with him.

The State of Liang was just founded, and many things were complicated. The land had just been opened up, the harvest was limited, and the salaries were irregular. Many officials paid for their own work. In fact, even if the salary was paid in full, the money an official received might not be enough, because he not only had to support his own family, but also had to support many clerks who actually ran errands.

But even so, many people are still willing to be officials, even if it means paying for them.

Zao Song picked up several official letters on the desk and read them carefully.

This is the household register of Yongqiu County that has just been cleaned up.

There were many powerful people in Yongqiu, and it was not easy to clear the household registration, and there were even disturbances. However, those powerful people were also useless, and they were defeated by the Silver Spear Middle Camp, which was mostly composed of new soldiers.

Zaosong turned the pages one by one.

Household registers are divided into two categories: genealogy and registration books.

Genealogy is the basis for selecting officials.

The Nine-Rank System was widely used, which first determined a person's character and then his official rank. This genealogy was an important basis for determining a person's character.

The county government searched all the clans, determined their family backgrounds, recorded them, and sent them to the Zuo Min Cao.

The genealogy was made in triplicate, with the original copy submitted to the Bianliang Secret Pavilion for safekeeping, one copy kept in the Zuomin Cao, and the other copy sent to the Libu Cao, which would be needed for the review of official appointments.

After Zao Song read it carefully, he felt that there was no problem, so he called the chief scribe and said, "Take someone to copy two copies."

"Yes." The chief historian bowed and replied.

"Check carefully after you finish writing and make sure there are no mistakes or omissions," Zao Song reminded again.

"Yes."

After waving his hand and asking the clerk to leave, Zao Song picked up the register and started reading it again.

Genealogies and household registers were all written on yellow paper, so they were also called "yellow books" - even though white paper was later used for writing, this customary name continued.

Zao Song's fingers scratched across the lines in the register.

First line: "Zhang Bude and his wife Li, from Jiqiao Village, Lianghe Township, Yongqiu County, Chenliu Prefecture."

The second line: "The eldest daughter cannot take a younger brother, who is seven years old."

The third line: "He has no son, and he is four years old."

Line 4: "..."

Zao Song flipped through dozens of pages, not to see if the records were correct - he hadn't conducted any on-site investigation, so how could he know if they were correct?
He was just checking whether the record format was standard or not.

Since the Wei Dynasty, there have been rules for what to write in which line and column in the register. Even if you write it randomly, you have to write it according to the rules.

Among the ten counties of Liang State, Zao Song estimated that only the registers of Chen, Xincai, Nandun and Puyang counties were the most authentic, while those of Liang, Runan and Chenliu counties were not so authentic, although Duke Liang attached great importance to this matter.

As for the three counties of Ji, Wei and Dunqiu north of the Yellow River, due to lack of manpower and insufficient investigation, the registration books currently in use are still those from the Shi Le era - which are rather fake overall, and probably only the records of soldiers who were allocated land and houses are relatively accurate.

"Mr. Liang is too serious, and we don't have enough manpower. Alas!" Zao Song threw the registration book aside and sighed.

During the Jin Dynasty, household registers had long been a joke, and perhaps only genealogies were more reliable.

When Lord Liang checked the household registration, it was obvious that he did not intend to allow the nobles and powerful families to levy taxes indirectly, but would instead collect taxes directly. His ambition was too great.

Zao Song even doubted whether genealogies would be recorded in the future.

Without genealogy, the official selection system of the Nine-Rank System could not be implemented, after all, there was no basis for it.

That shouldn't be the case, right?

Zao Song had heard that the Hu people would give ranks to the gentry, and since they hadn’t given up, would Lord Liang give up?

If you think about it carefully, he probably wanted to open up more channels for selecting officials to offset some of the influence of the Nine-Rank System.

who cares!
Zao Song rubbed his eyes. Within the ten counties of Liang State, the scholars were not that capable and could not oppose the laws of Duke Liang at all.

It's just that he needs a large number of sons of noble families and powerful families to serve as officials for him, so he deliberately tries to win them over. For example, to check the household registration, he needs a large number of officials and clerks who are temporarily mobilized to do it. The first prerequisite is that they can read and write and understand the format of official documents.

After resting, Zao Song picked up the genealogy and register of Weishi County and started reading them.

(End of this chapter)