Han family achievements

Beyond Chapter 424
Cui Jun is on duty.

Liu Bian and Cui Jun sat opposite each other. The appointment document was placed on the small table in front of them. When it was opened, Sima Fang's seal was clearly visible.

There were only two of them, and they had been quiet for a while, with no one speaking.

Cui Jun confirmed again and again that the seal was not fake, that is, it was not fake. Only then did he have more doubts about the 'Liu Bo' in front of him.

If it were in the past, 'Liu Bo' would just be regarded as a member of a certain clan or a noble family who was sent to practice and accumulate qualifications.

But in just one day, it was different to be able to get the appointment document personally sealed by Sima Fang, the shepherd of Qingzhou.

Who can make Qingzhou Muyan obey his advice and give whatever he is told?

"Who are you?" Cui Jun couldn't figure it out and asked directly.

Seeing the seriousness and doubts on Cui Jun's face, Liu Bian smiled slightly and said, "Who do you want me to be?"

Cui Jun looked at him coldly and said with a warning: "I hope you are a person who abides by the rules! This is Pingyuan County, and I am the Prime Minister. If you want to mess around, I can take advantage of you!"

Liu Bian was a little surprised and said: "I have only been in office for a few days, why are you so rude to me?"

Cui Jun looked directly at Liu Bian and said: "From now on, you are not allowed to leave the county without my order. Before doing anything, you must inform Wang Cheng. I must know!"

Liu Bian was thoughtful, his smile did not change, and he said: "Okay. However, I have to know about big and small things. It's best for Fujun to take me with you. Well, I don't have any other intention, I just want to learn more."

Cui Jun was very dissatisfied with Liu Bian's casual attitude, and even more worried. He said with a sullen face, "Okay. But if you mess around, I will fight for my position and I won't let you go!"

Seeing Cui Jun talking so nakedly, Liu Bianhui felt regretful and said: "If Mr. Fu said this, something must have happened before."

Cui Jun's face twitched and he said, "If you have nothing else to do, just leave."

Liu Bian pondered for a moment and said, "I still want to know a few things. Please answer truthfully."

Cui Jun's expression became stern, his tone became even more unkind, and he said: "I am the Lord of Fu, and I hope you understand your position!"

Liu Bianhun didn't care and said: "First of all, at present, the tax that Pingyuan County can collect is really less than two thousand acres. Can't it collect any other taxes?"

Despite repeated restructuring and various tax reduction measures by the court, under the complex tax system, Pingyuan County still has many taxable items, such as oral tax, calculation tax, car and boat tax, money, salt tax, corvee, etc. complex business taxes and so on.

Cui Jun took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said: "I can answer you, but you must keep your promise."

Liu Bian nodded, picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea.

When Cui Jun saw this, his face was as steely as he said: "Except for the land tax, other taxes cannot be collected. The reason is that the banditry has just been settled, and peace of mind is the priority, and the people really have no money to collect. As for commercial taxes, salt taxes "

Liu Bian took a sip of tea and said, "Didn't the prefectural pastors distribute it to counties after collecting it? I think there is a clear decree from the Shangshutai, which planned the tax distribution ratio of prefectures, counties and counties."

Cui Jun seemed to notice something from Liu Bian's words, his eyes flashed slightly, and he said: "There is indeed such an order. But the state pastor is also short of money, and what is distributed every year is very little, which is not enough."

Liu Bian nodded slightly, this was a realistic dilemma.

"The second question is that the imperial court intends to rectify and reclaim wasteland and resettle refugees, disaster victims, and landless people. I looked at the account books and it seems that there is no progress at all in Pingyuan County."

Liu Bian held the tea cup with both hands and asked Cui Jun.

Cui Jun said: "Creating wasteland requires people, time, and even more money and food. Pingyuan County is short of these."

"In other words, if there is money and food, Pingyuan County can do it?" Liu Bian asked.

Just as Cui Jun was about to open his mouth, he immediately hesitated and said unwillingly, "Yes, it's better than nothing."

Liu Bian observed his expression and said: "Third..."

"The last one." Cui Jun was a little impatient.

Liu Bian smiled and said: "Okay, the last one. I want to know, what is needed to solve Pingyuan County's predicament? Is it money and food, youth, or the army?"

Cui Jun's face became more strange. He looked at Liu Bian deeply and said, "You are not an ordinary child of aristocratic family, are you?"

Liu Bian took another sip of tea and said, "It's very ordinary."

Cui Jun didn't believe it. Those children from aristocratic families came over, clamoring for their names, and making money wantonly. They didn't regard officials and ordinary people as human beings at all. They showed off their power and arrogance. How could Liu Bo be like this? Generally, ask this most harsh question.

Cui Jun was silent for a while and said: "From my point of view, it's all you said."

Liu Bian raised his eyebrows and said, "Is it so serious?"

Cui Jun also picked up the teacup and poured himself a cup. Seeing that there was not much teacup in Liu Bian's hand, he raised his chin.

Liu Bian naturally put it on the table and waited for Cui Jun to pour tea.

Cui Jun moved the corner of his mouth, and instead of treating Liu Bian as an ordinary subordinate, he poured the tea directly and said: "The bad government has gone on for too long and left too many problems. No matter which one you want to solve, it requires great courage. In addition to courage, we also need to deal with the serious backlash caused by this. Therefore, we must have money and food, as well as an army.”

Liu Bian picked up the teacup again with a thoughtful expression.

Cui Jun told the truth. Liu Bian had actually expected it, but this kind of truth was the most heartbreaking, especially for the emperor Liu Bian.

A small plain county needs a lot of money and food, and prepares enough soldiers and horses. What about the huge Han Dynasty?
"Even with these, it may not be able to solve the problem." Cui Jun also took a sip of tea and continued.

Liu Bian was startled and said: "Money, food and soldiers are not enough to solve the problem? What is the problem?"

Cui Jun put down the tea cup and said without raising his eyelids: "You will know gradually."

Liu Bian showed displeasure and said: "Stop using official talk and don't be too pretentious. Just tell the truth."

Cui Jun frowned. He didn't like Liu Bo's disrespectful behavior. He stood up directly and said, "Go and ask Wang Cheng."

After saying that, he returned to his duty station, picked up the official document in his left hand and a pen in his right hand, ready to do something.

Liu Bian nodded and said, "Okay, this is the first time, I will forgive you."

Cui Jun's hand holding the pen paused, his face turned ugly, and he suppressed his anger and pretended not to hear.

Liu Bian came out of Cui Jun's duty room. As soon as he came out, Chen Yong, who was not far away, rushed over and said eagerly: "Brother, where is my appointment document? When will I take office?"

Liu Bian glanced at Wang Cheng, who was walking over, and said casually: "The official document is with Fujun, and he has to arrange the details." Chen Yong nodded repeatedly, raised his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Brother, I have guaranteed ten thousand yuan." Huayuan, I guarantee your satisfaction tonight!”

Liu Bian ignored him, turned to look at Wang Cheng, and said, "Anchor Wang, I have something to ask you."

Chen Yong seemed not to have heard, almost slapping Liu Bian in the face, and said with great enthusiasm: "Brother, wait a moment, I will go to see the prince first to get back the appointment document, and later I will invite brother to Chen Gonglou for dinner!"

After saying that, he strode into Cui Jun's check-in room.

Liu Bian did not 'wait a moment' and walked towards Wang Cheng. He put his hands behind his back and said as he walked: "Master Wang, the prince seems to be a little hostile to me. Do you know why?"

Wang Cheng looked hesitant, paused, and then said: "Even if the official doesn't tell me, Chief Liu will know it soon. That's right, the year before last, a noble son from Luoyang came to Pingyuan County to serve as the county magistrate. After he came, he really After doing a few things, the prince trusted him and handed over the thoroughfare and irrigation matters to him. Unexpectedly, he took away all the money and food that the prince had worked hard to raise, and secretly blackmailed several big families in the county. , not only was the matter not accomplished, it also left a huge mess, and the Lord is still dealing with the aftermath.”

"Oh, lessons learned from the past,"

Liu Bianming understood and said nonchalantly: "I just had a chat with Mr. Fu. Mr. Fu said that the fundamental problem of Pingyuan County cannot be solved even if there is enough money, food and troops to guard it. I asked him what else he needs, He asked me to ask you."

Wang Cheng was stunned for a moment and looked at Liu Bian's side face with some surprise.

Liu Bo and Mr. Fu are so familiar with each other, why do they talk about such in-depth issues?
Regardless of whether it was true or not, Wang Cheng pretended to be thoughtful and said after a moment: "I will give you an example for Chief Liu."

"Say." Liu Bian said expectantly.

Wang Cheng seemed to be organizing his speech seriously, saying: "Since the second year of Yonghan, Pingyuan County has been fighting against all kinds of bandits. Since the imperial court put down the Yellow Turban Army, various large and small bandits have been entrenched on the hills of Pingyuan County. , and occasionally raided counties. Since then, Pingyuan County has raised a lot of money and thousands of young men, and has been trying to eliminate all banditry and protect the country and the people. It has been four years. "

Liu Bian looked thoughtful and said, "It still hasn't been wiped out."

Wang Cheng snorted and said: "At first, the leader of the army was incompetent, and then he changed people. Later, he kept changing people. More than a dozen people were replaced, and tens of millions of money and food were spent. The number of bandits was suppressed more and more."

Liu Bian narrowed his eyes slightly, and gradually understood the meaning of Wang Cheng's words. He paced, thinking, and said: "You mean, even if there is enough money and food, someone still needs to do it. Suppressing bandits is just the tip of the iceberg. A microcosm. In many urgent matters in Pingyuan County, even if money and food are spent, they will still be corrupted by various means. Not only will it be in vain, but it will make the matter more serious. "

Wang Chengdao: "Yes. It is not easy for the prince to keep Pingyuan County in chaos. If he wants to do more things, he is full of ambition but not strong enough, and even dares not to do it."

"It won't get worse if you don't do it." Liu Bian nodded lightly.

Wang Cheng had been paying attention to Liu Bian's expression. Seeing that he had been deep in thought, he vaguely noticed that this 'Liu Bo' seemed unusual, so he became wary and said, "That's it."

Liu Bian put his hands behind his back, paced, and said, "I...the truth is like this."

Wang Cheng stopped talking. He said too much and made many mistakes.

Liu Bian said with a slight sigh: "Before this, I have always felt that the order of money, food and problems is that the problem comes first. Only when the problem needs to be solved can money and food be available, instead of using money and food to solve the problem out of thin air, which will only make the problem worse. The problem is even more serious. Now it seems that on top of money and food, there is another problem, which is governance, or people’s hearts.”

Wang Cheng frowned. He couldn't understand what Liu Bo said.

Liu Bian stopped and stood under the verandah, looking at the sky.

It's March, the weather is getting warmer, spring has returned to the earth, and things that were hidden by the cold in winter are taking root and sprouting one by one, and are exposed to view.

Liu Bian was still thinking about the "official administration". He had always cared about the "official administration". In the court, he had been exerting his efforts to eliminate the "evil" from generation to generation until he forcibly supported the young "Yingchuan Party". 'Ascend.

But when it comes to places, Liu Bian is always beyond his reach. When he talks about counties, even at the county level, all kinds of monsters and monsters emerge in endlessly, and they can't be killed without stopping.

"The imperial power does not extend to the counties" is really not an empty saying, it is simply a wise saying.

Under the rent-seeking power, the will of the imperial power was reduced layer by layer, and the will of the imperial power was so weak that it became nothingness.

But if the most basic problem of "official administration" is not solved, it will be like a void foundation. If there is a slight fluctuation, the high-rise building will collapse.

This is the situation now in the Han Dynasty.

"It really can't be solved with money and soldiers..."

Liu Bian thought a lot for a while, and finally thought of that sentence again, and said to himself: "Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. Even now, arrogance and violence cannot solve all problems."

"Governing a big country is like cooking small delicacies." This sentence is addressed to the king, and it is only useful to the king.

This 'high-rise building' of the Han Dynasty belongs to Liu Bian. Liu Bian cannot smash the foundation and start over again, otherwise it will only collapse faster.

But it would be different if it were others. Others wanted to smash Liu Bian's foundation and build their own 'high-rise buildings'.

However, Liu Bian is the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and the owner of this 'high-rise building'. He wants to protect this foundation and stop other people's delusions.

"Reinforce the foundation..."

Liu Bian looked calm and said softly with burning eyes.

Now, maybe it's a very good opportunity. The 'foundation' of the Han Dynasty has been seriously broken, and there is enough soil to give Liu Bian a chance.

"time!"

Liu Bian's eyes suddenly became firm and he said: "Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes, and cooking small dishes requires a small fire..."

Wang Cheng stood behind Liu Bian, listening to his vague words, his eyes strange.

This 'Liu Bo' was obviously different from the noble gentlemen he had seen before. He was always looking for problems in various ways and always thinking. He didn't seem to be here for fame and fortune.

"correct,"

Liu Bian suddenly turned around, looked at Wang Cheng, and said, "Is there anything important happening in the house recently?"

Wang Cheng was startled by Liu Bian, and subconsciously took a step back, and immediately said: "Yes, spring is about to begin, and the government needs to raise money to buy grain seeds, farm cattle, and open canals for irrigation. The government wants to entertain the big families in the county and ask them to Lend money to the government."

Liu Bian said, "Okay, I'll go too."

Wang Cheng calmed down and asked hesitantly: "Master Liu is also going?"

He was still worried about Liu Bian, worried that Liu Bian would cause trouble at any time.

Liu Bian didn't care, and said with a smile: "Long experience."

Wang Cheng didn't dare agree. This noble young man from Luoyang seemed to have no etiquette at all and was naturally arrogant.

If you offend those people, it's a trivial matter that they can't borrow money. What's most terrible is that they can't get a foothold in Pingyuan County!
(End of this chapter)