At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 624
In Yanmen County at the end of February, the sun was shining and the warmth was melting. The thawed Hutuo River was flowing, and the water was crystal clear. Under the sunlight, the stones in the river bed were countless.

Gao Bufan squatted down by the river, took a sip of the water, felt it was sweet and sweet, and couldn't help but praise: "The water quality is good."

Hearing the words, the big green horse also leaned forward, leaned forward to take a few sips, then snorted and grinned disdainfully, as if to say: "That's all."

Chen Xiaoyi was a little amused, and stroked his beard and said: "This Hutuo River originates in the upper reaches of Fanwan County. It is a tributary of the Hai River. It flows through hundreds of miles and feeds the people of more than ten counties. It is a veritable mother river. Yanmen County Nearly one-third of the agricultural land is irrigated by it."

At this moment, Chen Xiaoyi is obviously not so thin. After putting on a new set of clothes, he looks more energetic. In fact, he is not old. He is in his early fifties. He has rich experience as an official, and his energy is not bad It's just that he was loyal to the Sui Dynasty, and after hearing the news of Yang Guang's death, he was a little disheartened, and he didn't want to be the prefect of Yanmen County again.

However, after getting along for this period of time, Chen Xiaoyi found that Gao Bufan was easy-going and easy-going. Not only was his knowledge and style far superior to ordinary people, but he was also magnanimous. Gradually, Chen Xiaoyi's attitude couldn't help changing, so today Gao Bufan invited him out of the city for a visit, and he gladly accompanied him on the trip.

The two set off early in the morning and visited several villages and towns along the Hutuo River to learn about the difficulties and sufferings of the local people.At first, Chen Xiaoyi only thought that Gao Bufan was putting on airs to buy people's hearts. Later, he found that the questions Gao Bufan asked were very professional and hit the point everywhere. Some problems that could be solved on the spot were solved on the spot, and those that could not be solved immediately Questions are written down in detail.

Gradually, Chen Xiaoyi couldn't help being awe-inspiring, and unknowingly worked hard, and offered advice and suggestions. It has to be said that Chen Xiaoyi is indeed an experienced local official with strong practical ability, and he is even more familiar with Yanmen County, so he The opinions put forward were quite pertinent, and most of them were adopted by Gao Bufan.

As the saying goes, Chollima often exists, but Bole does not often have it. It is rare for someone to appreciate his talent. Chen Xiaoyi is naturally energetic and more active. In this way, Gao Bufan is happy, and Chen Xiaoyi is also happy, but each takes what he needs, and everyone is happy .

At this time, Gao Bufan picked up a piece of smooth gravel by the river and threw it, regretfully said: "It's a pity that Yanmen County missed the planting of last winter wheat, and this year's summer grain shortage is a foregone conclusion."

Chen Xiaoyi nodded and said: "Food is related to the life and death of the country. If the farming season is delayed, the people will go hungry, and if the people go hungry, the country will be unstable. Fortunately, it is only the end of February, and there is still time to replant spring seedlings. There must be no delay."

Gao Bufan nodded and said: "The king has written a letter a few days ago, ordering people to prepare grain seeds, but it will take ten or eight days to deliver them."

Chen Xiaoyi said regretfully: "That's a bit late. After the grain seeds are delivered, they have to grow seedlings. It will take at least half a month to land, but something is better than nothing. Try to recover some losses. This year's Yanmen harvest may be more than half , Qi Wang, it is best to exempt this year's tax."

"It's natural." Gao Bufan smiled, and while he was leading the horse, Chen Xiaoyi followed step by step. He only felt that this way of getting along was very relaxed and happy, without any pressure. A wise monarch, of course, people will change. Before Wang Mang usurped the throne, he was also very humble.

"Li Tang is currently doing his best to deal with Xue Ju and Li Gui in Longxi, and he has no free hand, so he will not be an enemy of Qi State for the time being. The troops stationed at the border of Yanmen are more to guard against us, so it is not a worry, but Liu Wuzhou. People must be retaliated against, so we have to guard against it." Chen Xiaoyi said.

Gao Bufan noticed that Chen Xiaoyi used the word "we" and couldn't help but secretly pleased. It seems that this "old stubborn" who was so loyal to Da Sui finally returned to himself and regarded Gao Qi's interests as his own. He smiled and said, "It's okay, no Diamond diamonds don't do porcelain work, since this king dares to slap Liu Wuzhou, he is not afraid of his revenge."

Although Chen Xiaoyi didn't understand what a "Diamond Diamond" was, he understood Gao Bufan's words, and said solemnly: "King Qi, don't be careless, if it's just Liu Wuzhou, it's really not a problem, but behind Liu Wuzhou is the Turk Shibi Ke Khan, the Turks are powerful now, and they claim to have millions of people who control strings, even with a discount, there are still hundreds of thousands, if the Turks send troops to attack, Yanmen will definitely not be able to resist."

Gao Bufan nodded and said: "Turkic people are indeed difficult to deal with, does Mr. Chen have a clever strategy to deal with them?"

Chen Xiaoyi frowned and said: "The Turks are very powerful now, Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu and Guo Zihe are all attached to the Turks, and even Li Tang flirts with the Turks. Li Yuan was able to easily break into Guanzhong, thanks to the help of the Turks , but at last Li Yuan still has a bottom line. He is not like Liu Wuzhou and Liang Shidu, who are completely attached to the Turks and shamelessly accept the canonization of Shibi Khan.

As a result, Liu Wuzhou became the Dingyang Khan, and Liang Shidu became the Dadu Vija Khan. Originally, Shibi Khan wanted to make Guo Zihe the Pingyang Khan. At last, the thief was a little ashamed and declined. The price of this title is to send his son to Turkic as a hostage. "

Gao Bufan's heart moved: "Could it be that Mr. Chen agrees with Li Yuan's approach?"

Chen Xiaoyi said coldly: "Although the lower official hates Li Yuan as a traitor, he has to say that his approach is very smart. He temporarily confederates with the Turkic people, borrows the strength of the Turkic people, and does not rely on the Turkic people. He maintains his independence. If the king can bear this grievance, he can refer to Li Yuan's practice and send more treasures and utensils to the Turkic people to stabilize them for the time being. When his strength allows, he can no longer sell Turkic people. account."

Gao Bufan couldn't help frowning his sword eyebrows and said: "Master Chen's words are not unreasonable, but Yanmen and Turks are so close, if you just blindly show weakness and compromise, I'm afraid it will have the opposite effect. Make a hundred fists, if you seek peace through war, peace will survive, and if you seek peace through compromise, peace will perish. Therefore, this king thinks that we should let the Turks have a taste of our iron fist and let them know that we are not easy to mess with. Just sit down and talk."

Chen Xiaoyi's eyes lit up, revealing the color of thinking, and after a while, he sighed and said: "If you hit with one punch, don't use a hundred punches. If you seek peace through war, then peace will survive; if you seek peace through compromise, everyone will perish." This remark pierces through the whip, it is extremely subtle, and the officials admire it very much!"

Gao Bufan secretly sweats, these two sentences are not original by me, but from a great leader of later generations, so the level is naturally extraordinary.

"So, is King Qi ready to go to war with the Turks?" Chen Xiaoyi asked.

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "It's not possible to start a full-scale war, but there will definitely be local frictions. In fact, General Li is in charge of Yanmen, so the king is very relieved."

Chen Xiaoyi thought of seeing the strength of the Qi army and those terrifying firearms with his own eyes that day, and couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "By the way, Wei Changshi can't find a suitable candidate to be the prefect of Yanmen County at the moment. Can you please Mr. Chen and continue to be the prefect of Yanmen County?"

"This... Since the King of Qi doesn't think that the official is too old, then the official is ashamed to take this position."

Gao Bufan said happily: "Master Chen can take up this position, this king can't ask for it, why should he be ashamed?"

A smile appeared on Chen Xiaoyi's face, and he saluted solemnly, "Your official will definitely do his best to live up to King Qi's entrustment."

Gao Bufan laughed and said: "With General Li and Master Chen sitting in Yanmen, this king can rest easy."

At this time, Gao Dahe, the captain of the personal army, rushed over from a distance, and reported: "Sky Eye found a group of troops five miles away. For safety's sake, please return to the city immediately."

Gao Bufan hurriedly asked, "Which direction?"

"East!"

Gao Bufan said calmly: "The east side should be our own people, don't panic, send someone to investigate."

"The subordinates have already sent people to check." Gao Dahe replied.

Soon, the scouts came back to report, and as expected, it was a team transporting grain from Laiyuan County, and the person in charge of transporting it turned out to be Chu Liang, the magistrate of Laiyuan County.

A hint of surprise flashed in Gao Bufan's eyes. Chu Liang was the Sihu of Laiyuan County. When he left Laiyuan County, Gao Bufan dismissed the ignorant county magistrate Guo and promoted Chu Liang to be the county magistrate. , I planned to let him hone and test in the position of county magistrate, but I didn't expect this guy to personally escort the army rations. Could it be that this person is actually a sharp-edged person who came here to show his face to show his presence?

If this is the case, then I really misjudged the person this time. A county magistrate and parent official, in order to show his face in front of his superiors, actually left his post without authorization and did some work that was not his job.

Gao Bufan said with a gloomy expression, "Go, go and meet him!" After speaking, he got on his horse and galloped away.

Chen Xiaoyi was slightly taken aback, it was just a grain delivery team, and he bothered the King of Qi to greet him personally?But he didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he quickly got on his horse and followed.

The crowd drove for several miles, and they saw a grain transportation team coming in a hurry, with hundreds of carts of grain stretching for several miles.

Chu Liang, who was in charge of escorting the food, was surprised when he learned that Gao Bufan came to meet him in person, and hurriedly got off his horse and saluted, "My subordinate, Chu Liang, pay my respects to the King of Qi."

Gao Bufan frowned and said, "Magistrate Xuan has worked hard, how much is this batch of grain?"

Gao Bufan deliberately bit down the word "county magistrate". Chu Liang was also a smart person, and he recalled it as soon as he heard it. There is also a batch of grain seeds."

Gao Bufan couldn't help being surprised and said: "Grain seeds? The king just wrote back yesterday to ask Wei Zheng to collect the grain seeds, and they are ready to be delivered so soon?"

Chu Liang shook his head and said: "These grains were not sent by Wei Changshi, but prepared by the officials earlier. It is almost March, and the farming season cannot be delayed any longer, so the officials made their own decisions..."

Gao Bufan was overjoyed, and blurted out: "That's great, Magistrate Chu really helped me a lot this time."

Chen Xiaoyi was also very happy. He thought it would take ten to eight days for the grain to be delivered, but he didn't expect it to arrive as soon as he said the words. This county magistrate of Chu is really talented.

Chu Liang said calmly: "This is what a subordinate official should do. By the way, Wei Changshi felt that it was inappropriate for me to stay as the county magistrate in Laiyuan County, so I sent me to serve as the county magistrate of Wutai County, Yanmen County." Order, the next official sent the first batch of military rations by the way."

Gao Bufan couldn't help but feel ashamed secretly, it seems that he really blamed this person, he quickly said: "I just blamed the county magistrates for leaving their posts without authorization, I dare to have other reasons, I'm really sorry, it's my fault!" After finishing speaking He bowed to Chu Liang.

Chu Liang couldn't help being flattered, and the grievance in his heart disappeared, and he quickly returned the courtesy: "The king of Qi is serious, and he is down!"

Chen Xiaoyi couldn't help but stroking his beard and said with a smile: "The king of Qi is a virtuous corporal, and if he makes mistakes, he will correct them. With such a heart, why not worry about things not being done!"

Chu Liang was also very excited in his heart, this time he really met the Ming Lord!
The three of them exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then they went to Yanmen City together, talking with each other along the way, and the atmosphere became more and more harmonious.

Chu Liang was able to be appointed by Yang Guang as a scholar of the Eastern Palace, so he was a man full of knowledge, and he quoted scriptures and classics in conversation, which made Chen Xiaoyi admire him.

Gao Bufan couldn't help sighing, this time he really picked up a treasure.

(End of this chapter)