Three thousand miles in exile

The city of Jinyang has just experienced the war and has not yet recovered its vitality. The conflict between the Northern Army and the Yan family has brought chaos to the order that was finally restored in the city.

The first thing Liu Zhan did when he took over Jinyang City was to control the yamen, and took this opportunity to remove the dirty officials from the yamen.

These dirty officials, large and small, are hereditary from local tyrants, and the tyrants bully others because they have power in their hands. If their teeth are pulled out, they will no longer be able to shake their prestige.

It just so happens that Yunzhong Academy has cultivated a lot of talents, who can meet these shortcomings.

Song Fenglin rushed to Jinyang City a few days later, and the students selected by Yunzhong Academy to serve as officials also arrived, so Liu Zhan pulled Song Fenglin to arrange the specific official positions of these students.

Because Liu Zhan dismissed all the dirty officials in one go, the huge county government seemed cold.

In the study, Song Fenglin put down the student's background history in his hands.

"The officials below the eighth rank are easy to arrange, and the students in Yunzhong Academy are also qualified enough. There are three official positions here. Order."

General judgment, food administration, and book orders are all important positions.

"What do you think?" Liu Zhan didn't know much about the civil service system so he couldn't make a conclusion.

"Whether it is based on ability or closeness, Lu Shusheng is suitable for the post of general judge." Song Fenglin showed a trace of regret.

"It's just that civil servants are not like military officials who can leapfrog promotions with military merits. Civil servants can only be promoted step by step, and officials must record in the record and cannot make fakes."

Lu Shusheng is now the county magistrate of the seventh rank, and according to the Chu system, he cannot be promoted to the fifth rank.

"I originally wanted to give Brother Lu the position of the general judge." Liu Zhan felt it was a pity.

Yan Qixiu is an idiot, if you want to count on him to take care of Jinyang City, it's fine, in the future, the burdens inside and outside Jinyang will definitely be shared by the officials.

The position of Tongjuan is very important, he is No.1 under the county guard, and it would be perfect for Lu Shusheng.

One is that he does things more vigorously than Pei Wanshan, and the other is that Lu Shu was born under the guidance of Song Yijun and Liu Xueyuan, and his ideology is also big. After all, Pei Wanshan has been delayed by the local government for many years, and he acts too forward and backward.

But now the two have no choice.

"It is generally judged that Pei Wanshan can only be promoted to this position, Lu Shusheng will succeed the prefect of Cenzhou, and Wen Qingshan can be promoted to Jinyang Liangdao, who will be in charge of the money, food and taxes on Qiyun Mountain." Song Fenglin finally made up his mind.

Liu Zhan nodded. "feasible."

Song Fenglin suddenly thought of someone. "The post of Secretary-in-charge can be filled by Lu Changquan who was just elected last year. This person has served as a corrupt official in Wuyuan County for four years. He handles things fairly and is quite practical."

The list of official promotions was determined. Song Fenglin asked the secretariat to draft the documents, and Liu Zhan stamped General Qi Yun's seal.

These promotion documents are in duplicate for each official, one is sent to the Ministry of Officials for record, and the other is handed over to the promoted official to take office with the document.

Jinyang City is in ruins, and it has just experienced the battle of the Yan Army's siege, and Zhou Sui has tossed it without recovering. Many people are discouraged and moved their families out of Jinyang. Come chill and clear.

Seeing this, Song Fenglin was anxious. The promotion paperwork was sent out, and job transfers required a handover. It would take half a month at the earliest for new officials to be in place. During this period, Liu Zhan and Song Fenglin could only handle it on their behalf.

The two leave early and return late every day, so busy that they never touch the ground.

It is under such circumstances that there are still powerful people bumping into each other recklessly.

Song Fenglin has announced the latest grain price in Jinyang. The announcement clearly states that Jinyang follows the grain price set by General Qi Yun, and price gouging is not allowed.

Some grain companies are not sure about the situation, so they simply close their doors and do not do business. There are also some large grain companies that still hold the price of grain because of their background.

"Which one doesn't have eyes?" Liu Zhan looked sideways, and the murderous look in his eyes could hardly be restrained.

"It's the Chen family. It is said that it is of the same clan as the Chen family of the big family in the capital." After Wen Qingshan finished speaking, he remembered Song Fenglin's explanation, and said hurriedly. "General, Mr. Song wants you to be gentle and not scare the people in the city."

If the people in Jinyang City scare away another group, there will be no one left.

"Got it." Liu Zhan snapped his fingers. "Pass to Guo Donghu and order him to bring hundreds of people here."

A group of soldiers suddenly ran across the streets of Jinyang City, which had been quiet for a few days, and the people were so frightened that they gave way.

"Chen's Grain Shop sells grain to Yan bandits without authorization, collaborating with the enemy and treasoning the country, an unforgivable crime! According to General Qi Yun's order, the Chen's family ransacked their homes and expelled from Jinyang!"

The Patriarch of the Chen family was kidnapped by the soldiers and slipped out of the mansion with disbelief on his face. "I am of the same clan as the chief minister of the dynasty! How dare you touch me!"

The next moment, Patriarch Chen's mouth was stuffed with a stinky rag.

"Stop their stinking mouths, the general said, don't scare the people." Guo Donghu has the essence of Liu Zhan, don't scare the people, just beat them quietly and drive them away.

The Chen family, one of the most powerful and powerful in Jinyang City, ceased to exist in just one day.

Liu Zhan ordered in a cold voice. "I want those grain stores to open for me to do business immediately, and the price is the price of Mr. Song's grain. Any extra cents will destroy the store."

If you don't listen to good words, don't blame him for being arrogant. Liu Zhan has always been too lazy to use his mouth when he can move his fists.

The effect of using fists was also obvious. The price of goods in Jinyang City fell the next day, and the price of grain dropped by two times. The people in the city couldn't believe it.

But some people really went to buy it, and within two hours after opening for business, the food store said it was sold out.

The clever grain company immediately saw General Qi Yun's vicious name, and saw two burly soldiers holding the owner of the grain store hostage and escorting him directly to Liu Zhan's horse.

"Sold out? Would you like the general to send troops to carry the grain for you?" Liu Zhan was riding on the horse in a red official robe, with mockery and disdain in his eyes.

"No, it's not sold out, yes, the shopkeeper made a mistake, and the little old man immediately arranged for the assistant to pick it up from the warehouse." The boss trembled with fear.

Liu Zhan snorted coldly. "You have already accounted for at least [-]% of the profit from the price of food. You don't have enough people to swallow an elephant. I don't need this general to teach you this truth, right?"

The boss burst into tears. "The grassroots know their mistakes, please forgive me, the general!"

"Next time, the Chen family will be your end." General Qi Yun has always said that after this rectification, no big or small tyrant dared to stand up again.

Food and commodity prices were stabilized, and the people in Jinyang City quickly returned to normal life, without the displacement of a large number of people after the war.

The order in Jinyang City is becoming more and more stable, and Yan Qixiu has not yet come out of the grief of his family's ruin and death, and spends his days in the brothel to get drunk.

Daily official duties cannot be without the seal of the county magistrate, so Liu Zhan sent Zhang Xiaoman to ask Yan Qixiu to work in the yamen.

In the end, he was so drunk that he threw the county sheriff's seal out of the room and threatened that he would not be the county sheriff, which made Liu Zhan very angry. If Song Fenglin didn't stop Liu Zhan, he planned to arrest him and beat him up.

Yan Qixiu gave up on himself, Liu Zhan simply let him go, and he didn't return the seal of the county sheriff.

Liu Zhan handed over the prefect seal to Song Fenglin, and from now on Jinyang's important tasks would be assigned to Song Fenglin's instructions.

In this way, the two cannot leave Jinyang City.

Song Fenglin asked Liu Cheng to buy a four-entry house in Jinyang City as the general's mansion. Liu Zhan meant that there would not be many people living there, so there was no need to buy too much.

At night, the hall of the General's Mansion was still lit, and the four lamps at the four corners illuminated the front hall.

Pei Wanshan, Wen Qingshan, and Lu Changquan took office, and Song Fenglin and Liu Zhan led the three to discuss the future development of Jinyang City from the afternoon to the present.

Lu Changquan's maternal ancestor's family is from Hecang County on the Cangxia Plain. He grew up in the Cangxia Plain until he was 15 years old, so he knows a lot about the Cangxia Plain.

"Earlier, there were villages in Furong Pingding and Dazhu Pingding, which belonged to Dongluo Township and Fuxi Township. When the Yan army went south to burn, kill and loot, these villages were all defeated." Speaking of his hometown, Lu Changquan was full of emotion.

"Now that Jinyang City has lost the Cangxia Plain, there are only a few remaining villages in Fengwei Ridge that still have fireworks. Although Jinyang is large, there are actually not one town or village under its jurisdiction."

To put it bluntly, Jinyang City is just an empty shell. After the Cangxia Plain was lost, it was all up to the Yan family to maintain its prosperity on the surface.

If you really want to develop Jinyang, the villages around Jinyang City must be full of people, and everything without people is empty talk.

Song Fenglin frowned lightly. "The land in Furongpingding and Dazhupingding is fertile, unlike Qiyun Mountain where the land is full of rocks. I have already thought about restoring the vitality here, but the people are like a bird frightened by the Yan army, and I am afraid they dare not go."

The fertile land around Jinyang City, such as Furong Pingding and Dazhu Pingding, are all good cultivated land. However, the Yan army tortured and displaced the people.

"Then the reward will be increased and the tax will be exempted for two years." Liu Zhanhao said arrogantly.

As the saying goes, there must be brave men under great rewards. The biggest problem in the surrounding villages of Jinyang is the lack of people. We must first solve the population problem and then talk about taxation.

Pei Wanshan heard that the head of the Qingshan Road was all intimidated by Liu Zhan's arrogance, and it was really unheard of for two years of tax exemption.

Song Fenglin has long been used to Liu Zhan's astonishing actions. After thinking about it, he thinks it's feasible. If he doesn't let the people talk about how to win the hearts of the people.

It is not enough to benefit the people, it is also necessary to gain the trust of the returned people.

Liu Zhan added: "I will set up barracks at Rongpingding and Dazhupingding and send troops to station. In addition, the young men of the new village can also set up militias to work in agriculture on weekdays, and the Yan army will invade and fight against the enemy together. Long live the peace."

On the second day, Jinyang City issued a new policy.

One is to exempt all exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes, and the other is that all refugees can re-register as households. The yamen will provide grain and seeds to help open up wasteland, and the new fields will be exempted from taxes for two years.

Song Fenglin asked Liu Ji's caravan to spread the news along the way.

Most of the refugees in the Cangxia Plain gathered at the border between Northern Xinjiang and the Central Plains. The refugees could not enter the city or be resettled locally.

The news spread, but there were very few refugees who returned every day. After all these days, a complete new village could not be assembled.

Seeing that no one is cultivating these good lands, Song Fenglin was extremely anxious, but he was helpless.

Seeing that Song Fenglin was free this day, Liu Zhan deliberately took the time to come. "Shall I go out with you?"

Song Fenglin often tossed and turned at night recently, and Liu Zhan knew he was anxious.

The two rode away with a team of guards, and ran up to Furongpingding all the way, until they came to the bank of Huangchuan.

The autumn wind is bleak, and the wilderness to the north of Huangchuan River is full of withered yellow, but on the other side of the river, all you can see are good rice fields that have just been harvested.

Due to the natural barrier of Huangchuan, Ruichang County on the other side has never been affected by the war in northern Xinjiang.

"I still haven't thought about it thoroughly enough. When the new policy was promulgated, it happened to be the beginning of autumn, and winter is about to begin. How can the refugees survive in winter." Song Fenglin looked at the other side with a faint worry.

After all, northern Xinjiang is extremely cold in winter, and it might freeze to death in midwinter.

"You can add one more thing. The refugees settled down to help build houses, and I will ask the soldiers to help." Liu Zhan said bluntly.

Building a mud house is just a matter of effort, and the most important thing in the army is strong labor.

Seeing that Song Fenglin's brows couldn't open, Liu Zhan said softly, "The time for the promulgation of the new policy is not coincidental. It's almost winter. Naturally, there are few people coming back. It will be different in the spring of next year."

Knowing that Liu Zhan was worried that he was thinking too much, Song Fenglin nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Liu Zhan also laughed. "Go ahead and walk."

It's not that they didn't do well enough, it's just that the timing was unlucky. When the new policy promulgated by Jinyang City spread to the south, the northern border had already entered winter, and Qiyun Mountain was frozen for thousands of miles.

This year's great victory in northern Xinjiang, the Yan army could not shrink back, and it was the calmest winter in northern Xinjiang since the Yan army went south.

In December, Liu Xueyi's eldest daughter, Liu Yuexin, was married to Chen Gong, the manager of Liuji Commercial Bank.

The Liu family married a two-entry house in the county seat and [-] acres of land, and gold and silver jewelry worth thousands of taels. The eldest wife Zhao wanted to give more, but Liu Xueyi refused.

He didn't like Chen Gong from the beginning to the end, but Liu Xueyi finally got tired of him and nodded because of his daughter's death and life.

On the day of the wedding, there was fine snow in the sky, and the welcoming procession came to Liu's mansion, and the bride was carried by the groom on the sedan chair, and left the family who gave birth to her and raised her amidst the sound of firecrackers.

"Second Uncle?" Liu Zhan was about to go back to the house but saw Liu Xueyi sitting in the corner wiping tears.

Don't look at Liu Xueyi's harsh words on weekdays, but he still loves the eldest daughter in his heart. Parents don't really hate their children.

Liu Xueyi's face was full of pain. "You said my silly daughter, there are so many students in Yunzhong Academy who can choose her to look down upon, she has to marry a servant, and after she is married, she has to take care of the old and young of Chen Gong's family. I don't know much about these days bitter."

Married as a woman and started to take care of a family, you will understand that life is not as easy as you imagined, especially Chen Gong's family is so poor that they count on Liu Yuexin's dowry to live.

"My mother said she would give me more land as a dowry, why don't you want to?" Liu Zhan sat next to him, and the uncle and nephew sat in the corner chatting.

Liu Xueyi sniffed and said negatively: "Giving so much land makes that kid not want to be aggressive and spend his days and nights? It's enough to have food and flowers, and let that kid earn it himself if he has the ability."

Otherwise, men understand men, and a poor peasant who has been poor for several lifetimes turns into a rich man overnight, who can guarantee that Chen Gong will not change his mind.

Unknowingly, the Liu family has been rooted in Qiyun Mountain for 13 years. Some juniors like Liu Xueyi's second son Liu Mingche is 21 years old and his daughter Liu Yuelan is 14 years old, and Liu Xueli's only son Liu Mingdan is also 17 years old.

Liu Mingche's marriage is scheduled for May next year. The girl is Miss Zhao from Zhao Hengfu's family. It can be regarded as a close relationship. Liu Zhan feels that there is no need to marry a woman from an aristocratic family. It's just that the elders in the family insist that he can't say much.

The winter in Cangyun Town is not as severe as on the mountain, and the amount of snow is not as waist-deep as on the mountain.

The backyard of the Liu Mansion is full of laughter and laughter every day. The juniors gather together to play flower cards, trace lanterns, and sing pairs.

Liu Mingcong spent most of his time next door with Song Fengxi, and Liu Mingdan was very envious of him, arguing with Liu Xueli for a wife all day long.

And Liu Zhan naturally accompanied Song Fenglin every day, the two of them sipped tea and chatted, it was a simple day.

The author has something to say: add a new chapter at 3 pm