Hengdao Sixteen Kingdoms

Chapter 425 Caning
By September, detailed data from various regions were submitted to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which was basically consistent with the budget.

However, Chang Wei sent an account book, and Li Yue frowned after reading it. Counties on both sides of the Huaihe River had a good harvest, but Qiao County had a bad harvest.

Although Qiao County is only a county, it was one of the five capitals during the Cao Wei Dynasty. It is a land of north-south thoroughfares with many rivers and fertile land. It is not a good harvest, but there is still a poor harvest.

The magistrate of Qiao County happened to be Cui Hong.

"What's going on?" Li Yue was disappointed with Cui Hongda.

Everyone can see that sending him out is just for training and he will be transferred back to the center sooner or later.

He is only 17 years old this year. Even if Li Yue wants to reuse him, he may have to settle down.

"After being released as a county magistrate, Cui Hong drank all day long to drown his sorrows and ignored government affairs, which led to what happened today." Chang Wei sighed.

Cui Hong has been a proud son since he was born. He is known as a child prodigy in Jizhou. He is carefully protected by the Cui family. He has never suffered any setbacks. Now he is just an outsider. He cannot accept the blow...

A person with a high IQ does not necessarily have a high EQ.

If this continues, this good seedling of Cui Hong will be useless.

Li Yue had high hopes for him, but now he hates the fact that iron cannot become steel. It is not a bad thing for young people to experience some setbacks. Is there anyone in the world who can have a smooth life?

Nowadays, everyone everywhere is busy with the autumn harvest, and they are keeping their eyes open to prevent others from plundering. The northern country is temporarily peaceful, so Li Yue decided to go to Qiao County in person.

Yu Gong, Cui Hong is extremely talented and valuable to cultivate.

In private, he was his brother-in-law. He followed him a lot and made suggestions many times. It was a pity that he just lay there and wasted.

Then he led two thousand horsemen to the south.

Hearing is false, seeing is believing. How a country is governed cannot just look at the numbers on the books.

However, this trip south is not all for Cui Hong. Wang Meng has been training for more than half a year. Although he has great confidence in him, he can only know with his own eyes if he sees it with his own eyes.

There is no room for loss in this battle.

From Yecheng to the south, there are groups of Wubao. For defense purposes, most people live in the Wubao, farming when they are busy and training when they are free.

Often shrouded in the shadow of war, the north of the river is still somewhat desolate, and the population has been moved to the south of the river as a precaution.

However, after crossing the river, there were many roads, and young people were busy. Seven or eight-year-old children were fishing and catching shrimps in the ditches, laughing happily. When they saw the black cloud cavalry, they did not panic, but instead gave bursts of cheers to the cavalry.

The once dilapidated city was revived.

There was an endless stream of mules, horses and oxcarts coming in and out, bringing mountain goods and river delicacies to the city for sale.

At this stage, Liang Guo does not encourage business, but it does not completely prohibit it.

There are things to be done at each stage. The most important thing for Liang Guo at this stage is to lay a solid foundation, encourage farming and weaving, and accumulate to a certain level, and only then can we encourage business.

Wang Meng's suppression of business is also based on practical considerations.

The Central Plains specialties include coal, iron, grain, ordnance, and livestock. However, these items are all strategic materials. Selling them is tantamount to endangering the enemy.

In addition to these, there is the population. The old gentry in Jiangdong have a very strong demand for child prostitution and female slaves, but how can a country with ambitions do these things?
If you really want to do business, if you take over Shuzhong in the future, you can actually run Shu brocade.

Li Yue felt that since he was based in the Central Plains, he should farm honestly and talk about other things later.

Although the various parts of the Central Plains are not blooming, they are full of vitality. The wounds left by decades of chaos and Shihu's tyranny are gradually recovering.

Coupled with the substantial reduction in land tax this year, the people can still live and work in peace and contentment, and there is a peaceful scene as far as the eye can see.

It is an ancient rule that great chaos must be followed by great governance.

Li Yue did not make any fanfare, nor did he enter any city to disturb the local officials. There were stations along the way to rest and feed the horses. The road was renovated and it was not too difficult to walk. He arrived at Qiao County on the [-]th.

Compared with the surrounding counties, Qiao County is indeed a bit rundown.

No one was seen in the fields.

Li Yue rode into the city quickly, and dozens of county officials came to greet him. The people in the city were ragged and looked sad.County officials are also having a hard time, with all of them looking sallow and thin.

Li Yue ignored them, kicked open the gate of the county government office, and went straight into the inner court under the leadership of the county officials. He was greeted by the smell of alcohol.

Cui Hong was lying on the soft mat, seemingly asleep. There were empty wine cans around him, and the papers were piled with bamboo slips...

"Cui County..." The county official was about to remind Cui Hong, but was stopped by Li Yue, "Go down."

"Wei!" Several people backed away.

Li Yue and several personal guards were sitting in the hall, waiting for Cui Hong to wake up.

He waited for two hours until the sun went down. Cui Hong woke up leisurely. When he turned over, he saw Li Yue's dark face and trembled in fright. "Your Highness... Your Highness?"

He also rubbed his eyes, as if he didn't believe he was a real person in front of him.

Li Yue stared at him with blazing eyes. After half a year of not seeing him, Cui Hong's temperament had changed. He was a little less heroic and a little more decadent. "I appointed you as the county magistrate because you were allowed to drink and neglect government affairs all day long?"

"No...it's not..." Cui Hong was still in great shock.

"A scholar cannot be without great perseverance. The road ahead is long and arduous. How can we sink to this point after just a small setback?"

Steel is refined, and knives are sharpened. No one can succeed casually.

Cui Hong lowered his head.

"Raise your head!" Li Yue shouted. If he couldn't cheer up today, his whole life would be ruined.

Cui Hong looked up.

Li Yue didn't speak, he just looked at him, and the hall fell into silence.

After a moment of silence, there was dullness.

"Heaven is about to entrust this person with a great responsibility, and he must first strain his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, and deplete his body. If he cannot withstand such a small setback, how will he take on the big responsibility in the future?" Li Yue's voice was calm and calm. mild.

"Your Highness..." Cui Hong's whole body was shaken, and there was a little light in his eyes.

Li Yue said: "Gu will not wait for you, and Daliang will not wait for you. Now I will give you two choices. One, go back to the Cui family, continue to be your playboy, and enjoy wealth. The other, give you another chance, One year later, I want to see that Qiao County is the richest county in Huaizhou, which one do you choose?"

Li Yue didn't have time to talk nonsense with him. This trip south was originally a time to squeeze out of his busy schedule.

Cui Hong is a smart man. If Li Yue didn't value him, he wouldn't have come here. "I choose the second one!"

Li Yue stood up suddenly, "In that case, come here, Cui Honghuang neglected government affairs, caused Qiao County to have poor harvests, and neglected his duties. I will give him a heavy lashing of thirty lashes and keep him under observation for one year to see the effects!"

"Take your orders!" The guard carried Cui Hong and went out.

Li Yue followed behind with a long whip.

Many people gathered in front of the county government office, and county officials were also watching.

pop, pop, pop...

Li Yue slapped Cui Hong on the back over and over again, causing blood to drip out in a matter of seconds. Although it looked scary, in fact, he was very measured, only hurting the skin and flesh, not the muscles and bones. Otherwise, with Li Yue's arm strength, he could have killed Cui Hong on the spot. Life.

After this incident, Li Yue wanted to teach him a profound lesson.

National laws are ruthless, and personal emotions must not affect official affairs, let alone the people.

The surrounding people and county officials opened their eyes wide, probably not expecting a real fight.

Cui Hong was also stubborn and gritted his teeth without saying a word.

"Your Highness, please stop fighting..." An older county official knelt down.

　By the way, Cui Hong in history was also wandering around, experiencing Di Qin, Zhai Wei, Hou Yan, and avoiding troubles in Qi and Lu. His wife and children also suffered from hunger and cold...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)