Fenghou

Chapter 803 Enlightenment
In late November, Chen Qing issued several appointments in succession. Zhang Chunxiao was appointed as the envoy of salt and iron transportation along Sichuan Road, Shangguan Wu was appointed as governor of Jinzhou, Zhang Jian was appointed as Zhiyuan Prefecture, Zheng Yinian was appointed as general judge of Longde Prefecture, and Song Ru was appointed as governor of Jinzhou. In addition, Chen Qing's original recording office joined the army, and Zhu Sui was promoted from a judge in the Sichuan Transshipment Mansion to a deputy governor of the Shangshuxingtai Division on Hedong Road and an inspector in charge of criminal punishment.

In this batch of appointments, except for Zhu Sui's normal promotion, the rest were former high-ranking officials of the puppet Qi State. For a while, public opinion in the officialdom was boiling, and they all believed that the county king should not reuse the puppet Qi high-ranking officials.

This morning, Zhou Kuan, who had just returned from resettling the victims in Gyeongju, rushed to Chen Qing's official room angrily. Unlike Zhang Miao's shrewdness and tact, Zhou Kuan had a fiery personality, jealous like hatred, and could not rub his eyes with sand.

Zhou Kuan used to be in charge of the transfer of finance and taxation, and sent a large number of officials to check the accounts every year, making the local officials miserable and wailing. Now he is in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and he is even more stern and selfless, wielding a sword to wipe out all kinds of favoritism. , was called Zhou Tiebei by the officials below, and won the respect and trust of Chen Qing.

Since Zhou Kuan is the chief inspector of the Ministry of Officials, he is naturally very concerned about the recent appointments. When he found out that almost all of the appointments were fake high-ranking Qi officials, his lungs almost exploded.

According to the division of power between Chen Qing and the Internal Affairs Hall, Chen Qing has the power to appoint officials above the prefectural government and important counties, so this appointment is for Chen Qing to exercise power, and it is not up to the Department of Officials to interfere, but Zhou No matter what, he came to Chen Qing angrily.

Zhou Kuan slapped the table and said angrily: "The king of the county told the Jinshi to have the integrity of a scholar. The mighty can't be subdued, and the rich can't be lewd. Back then, the king of the county also praised Zhang Miao and I for our national integrity many times. He would rather die than serve a foreign race. , are these just words?"

Chen Qing accompanied him with a smile and said, "Don't be angry with Zhou Dujian, put the fire away, and let's talk slowly."

Zhou Kuan said heartbrokenly: "I'm not angry, I just feel worthless for those officials in Lin'an who are sitting on the bench. He didn't want to be loyal to the Kingdom of Jin, and tried every means to escape back to the Song Dynasty, but he couldn't be reused, and he didn't even have the opportunity to serve the country. , can only sit on the bench, this place is good, the officials of the puppet state of Qi are actually reused, it is embarrassing."

"That's right! Loyal ministers sit on the bench, but high-ranking officials from the puppet state of Qi are reused. What's the problem?" Chen Qing asked with a half-smile.

"They deserve it!"

Zhou Kuan said bitterly: "If you don't do good officials from Sichuan, Shanxi and Shanxi, you must flatter the court's stinky feet."

"It's because they think in their bones that we are separatist warlords, which is illegitimate, that's why they don't want to come here to work!" Chen Qing pointed out the problem sharply.

"That's because they are stupid. We continue to recover lost land from the Kingdom of Jin and restore the Han family. We lightly pay taxes so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment. We rectify the administration of officials so that the officialdom can be clear. Powerful, if this is not legal, then the court of Lin'an can perish."

Speaking of this, Zhou Kuan suddenly came to his senses, and said to Chen Qing dissatisfiedly: "You have led me astray, these are not the reasons for you to use fake high-ranking Qi officials."

Chen Qingyu said earnestly: "The Pseudo-Qi Kingdom is not the Kingdom of Jin after all, it is still a dynasty of the Han people."

"and many more!"

Zhou Kuan shouted: "Don't try to fool me, what's the difference between the Puppet Qi State and the Jin State? It's just a puppet of the Jin State."

"It is a puppet of the Kingdom of Jin, a vassal of the Kingdom of Jin, but it is indeed not the Kingdom of Jin, it is just illegal. Strictly speaking, Zhang Bangchang has been emperor for a few months, and the ministers in Lin'an have all bowed down to him. Zhang Bangchang also Illegal, why do those ministers have to be reused now? No one says they are rebellious? Qin Hui was Wan Yanchang's staff, isn't it the same as the prime minister of the Song Dynasty now?"

"This..." Zhou Kuan was momentarily at a loss for words.

Chen Qing said earnestly and earnestly: "The prodigal son will not be exchanged for money when he turns back. If Zhang Chunxiao and others are willing to work for Jin Guo, Jin Guo will also reuse them. They will live well and have high positions and weights, but they would rather repatriate than serve Jin. It shows that their conscience is not lost, and they are unwilling to make mistakes again and again, which shows that they still clearly distinguish the Han people from the Jurchens in their bones.

Shangguan Wu killed the people who persuaded him to surrender several times. Although he was a minister of the puppet Qi in name, he never served for the puppet Qi. Loyal to the Song Dynasty, but loyal to the Han people.

If Gao Qingyi and Han Qixian came to surrender to me, would I use them because they are Han?I will only kill them with one blow and use their heads as a warning to the world! "

Zhou Kuan nodded, "I understand. The king of the county has always used false Qi officials, from Zhang Xiao to Jiang Yanxian, to Guan Shigu, because the king of the county is only loyal to the Han people, not the Song Dynasty."

"You are right. I only have Han people in my heart. If the Song Dynasty is orthodox, what is the Tang Dynasty? If the Tang Dynasty is orthodox, what is the Han Dynasty? It's just that there are outstanding people in Jiangshan, each leading the way for hundreds of years. Who can drive them away?" Tartars, to unify the world, whoever can win the hearts of the world is orthodox, just to put it bluntly, if Liu Yu destroyed the Song Dynasty, and drove the Jurchens back to Liaodong to unify the world, who would dare to say that Liu Yu was not orthodox?"

Zhou Kuan said bitterly: "Liu Yu is a ghost, he governed the Central Plains and made people angry, and the people's families were destroyed. It is best for this kind of person to die early. Who is willing to be loyal to him? The king of the county, the puppet Qi will never have any hypocrisy. .”

"Liu Yu was dragged down by taxes and bureaucrats. At the beginning, they did well. The Central Plains had light corvee and poor taxes, and the people who moved to northern Shaanxi filled Guanzhong to restore the Guanzhong economy. But within a year, their finances fell Unable to support the huge military expenditure, he began to implement the "Tithe Tax Law", which imposed heavy taxes, and later implemented six taxes and one tax. In addition, a large number of corrupt officials flooded the bottom and exploited the people.

I can't laugh at Liu Yu either. If I didn't have Sichuan as a financial and tax backing, if I didn't have the huge war profits from Xixia, I would actually be not much better than Liu Yu? "

Zhou Kuan was no longer angry, and he also understood Chen Qing's principles. Although Zhang Xiaochun and others betrayed the Song Dynasty, they did not betray the Han people. Didn't he also recognize this when he was loyal to Chen Qing?But now I can't see through it.

Zhou Kuan sighed and said, "I have one last question."

Chen Qing nodded, "Duke Zhou, please tell me!"

Zhou Kuan frowned slightly and said, "Since the county king does not recognize the Song Dynasty as orthodox, why did he welcome the late emperor back and use the late emperor to prove his legitimacy?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "I have the Han family in my heart. This is the Tao and the principle. To welcome the return of the former emperor is just a technique and a strategy. On the one hand, there are Tao and principles, and on the other hand, there are techniques and strategies. Do Zhou Gong understand?"

Zhou Kuan realized in his heart, and said slowly: "On the road of the county king, I am a firm follower!"

Just entering December, a heavy snow swept across the north, and the northern land became a snow-covered world. The Yellow River and rivers of all sizes were frozen, and everyone seemed to be frozen by the cold weather. The streets in the city and the official roads outside the city All became deserted.

This morning, the soldiers at the top of Lanzhou City were patrolling the top of the city as usual. After the fall of Xixia, the threat of Lanzhou was almost lifted. There were only [-] defenders left, mainly to maintain law and order in Lanzhou. The Hexi Corridor was still accidental. There will be horse bandits going south, and every time a horse bandit comes, it will bring serious disasters to the people.

"There are people on the ice of the Yellow River!" A soldier pointed at the Yellow River in the distance and shouted.

"What a fuss, it's a caravan!" The rest of the soldiers also saw it, and it seemed to be a team.

Not long after, the team came to the city. It was a camel team with more than [-] camels, but it was not a caravan, but the Uyghur army, and many soldiers had died on the camels.

The soldiers guarding the city were taken aback, and immediately ran to report. Not long after, Liu Zan, the governor of Lanzhou, hurried out of the city with the soldiers.

When we lifted the soldiers off the camels, most of them were dead, and their bodies were frozen stiff, and dozens of people were still alive, but their breathing was weak, and they were about to die.

"Bring them into the city quickly!"

Liu Zan shouted, and suddenly, a Uighur general grabbed his sleeve, gasped and said with difficulty: "The yellow-headed Uighur is dead, save my little master!"

He pointed to a young man in the team, but he didn't catch up, and then he closed his eyes and died.

(End of this chapter)