Early Tang Dynasty: forge ahead

Chapter 45 Seeing Through the Essence

The fact that a chief registrar replaced the affairs of the county is obvious. It shows that the administrative system of the imperial court in Qingxi County has not been restored and is still in the laissez-faire stage.

The reason is mostly due to caution.

After all, Qingxi County is Chen Shuozhen's lair, and the environment here is very special.

Qingxi County is later known as Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. The topography here is very unique. It is composed of low mountains, hills, basins, valleys and reservoirs. The terrain is mountainous on all sides, with hills in the middle, and numerous islands scattered among them. Therefore, Later generations also had a nice name... Qiandao Lake.

Under such complex terrain, a small group of rebels is hiding, making the search extremely difficult.

No one can guarantee whether there are still rebels hiding in which mountain or island.

Therefore, even though Chen Shuozhen has been dead for more than a year, Qingxi County is still under the control of the imperial court. It was only recently that the control was lifted and officials were arranged to take over.

The position of chief registrar was several levels lower than that of the county magistrate. A prestigious county magistrate or county lieutenant might be able to threaten the county magistrate's status.

However, no matter how prestigious the district or county chief registrar is, the county magistrate still has the right to remove him from office.

Chen Qingsi thought that in her previous life, she had always been the second or third person in command, and was known as the second-in-command and golden secretary. Now, no matter what, she was a veritable head of a county. She took pleasure in her hardships and handed her letter of appointment to the middle-aged Confucian scholar. He said: "I am Chen Qingsi, the new magistrate of Qingxi County. Why is the county government doing this?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar confirmed the appointment letter and was surprised by the age of the man in front of him. He hurriedly said: "County Magistrate Chen doesn't know something..." He glanced around and said: "This is not the place to talk, why not move to a humble house? Just next to the government office..."

He pointed to a rather luxurious mansion in the Fuya area.

"Okay!" Chen Qingsi winked at Kuang Zheng, and the three of them walked into the mansion next to the government office.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar invited Chen Qingsi to take a seat.

Chen Qingsi was not polite to him and directly took the seat of honor.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar also sat down beside him.

Chen Qingsi asked: "I haven't asked the master to tell me what my surname is. What is the situation in this government office? Is it in such a dilapidated state?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar straightened his knees and bowed: "Go back to the county magistrate. My surname is Du, and my twin names are Chunbin. The county magistrate has just arrived and doesn't know much about the situation here. The people here are so seduced by monsters that almost everyone wants to be a thief. They are hostile to court officials, and the situation in the government offices is all their fault."

Chen Qingsi looked confused and said angrily: "Why is this? If the Fire Phoenix Monster hadn't caused chaos, why would Qingxi County be like this? Our Tang Dynasty is at its peak, and all nations are congratulating them. They are good people, so why do they want to rebel?"

A trace of contempt flashed in the depths of Du Chunbin's eyes. A young boy who knew nothing, but was extremely respectful, said: "The county magistrate doesn't know something. The thief Chen Shuozhen is too treacherous. He is the best at deceiving people and fooling the people."

"Back then, Qingxi County suffered a once-in-a-century flood. It was a natural disaster that no one could avoid. But Chen Shuozhen, a thief who understood other people's faults, forcibly opened the treasury of a wealthy local businessman and distributed the food without the owner's consent. Giving it to the victims has won the hearts and minds of the local people.”

"Later, she deceived the public with her evil words, claiming to have obtained the true biography of the Supreme Lord, and even more unscrupulously deceived the people of Qingxi County. They rushed into the government office and killed the former county magistrate, chief historian, and county captain with brutal means. Crushed their bones and spread their ashes, and hang their heads in the government office."

He deliberately lowered his voice to create a terrifying atmosphere.

As expected, Chen Qingsi's face changed slightly, showing a hint of fear, and said: "It's too wanton."

Du Chunbin said quietly: "In our eyes, Chen Shuo's true crime is extremely evil. But in the eyes of some people in the county, he is his reborn parent. Although the imperial court's power has wiped out the rebels, it's hard to say who the people in the county will turn to. Magistrate Chen, please remember that you must not talk nonsense in this county. In their eyes, those of us with imperial salaries are more like enemies."

Kuang Zheng was a little dissatisfied and said: "They really dare to kill the imperial officials?" Du Chunbin said: "Ordinary people may not dare. Who can guarantee that there are extreme and violent people among them? Magistrate Chen is young and already a The head of the county has a bright future. As the saying goes, if a gentleman does not build dangerous walls, how can he take risks?"

Chen Qingsi thanked her repeatedly and expressed her understanding, but changed the topic and asked: "Master Du, where are the official population and household registration documents of Qingxi County?"

Du Chunbin said: "In my house, the court has never arranged for a county magistrate, and the official population and household registration documents are too important to be placed in the dilapidated government office, so they were moved to the lower official's house."

Chen Qingsi said: "Since I have taken up my post, these documents and files will naturally be kept by me. Could you please Chief Du arrange some people to move all these things to the government office?"

Du Chunbin's face changed slightly and he said: "The government office is in ruins, so the county magistrate might as well live in the government office."

"No need!" Chen Qingsi said: "As a county magistrate, I naturally live in the government office. If I really live in the chief registrar's house, those unscrupulous people with ulterior motives would think that I am afraid of them. Huh, I don't believe it. , They really dare to risk the disapproval of the world."

Then he said to Kuang Zheng: "You should also lend a hand and help us."

After leaving Du's house, Chen Qingsi strode towards the dilapidated government office.

There must be something wrong with this Du Chunbin.
He described the situation in Qingxi County as so bad, just to make himself listen to him more and rely on him more.

I just don’t know if it’s just greed for power, or if there are deeper interests that need to be investigated.

That night, Chen Qingsi stayed up late reading, looking at the county annals of Qingxi County, as well as the population and household registration files and official documents left over from past dynasties.

"Husband, drink a bowl of ginger tea to warm yourself up."

Xiao Miaochen walked into the room carrying a bowl of hot ginger tea.

"Thank you, madam!" Chen Qingsi responded, took the ginger tea, blew it, and took a small sip, but still kept his eyes on the official document in his hand.

Xiao Miaochen sat down behind him naturally and rubbed his shoulders.

Chen Qingsi chuckled and said: "Madam, don't worry too much. In fact, contrary to appearances, the situation in the county is much better than what we see with our eyes. This is where we can show our talents."

If you want to change a place, the biggest problem is not the policy, but the lack of cooperation at the local level.

No matter how small or poor a place is, there are interests involved, and when interests are involved, there will be differences and opposition.

Qingxi County does not have this problem.

Because of Chen Shuozhen's uprising, the first thing to do was to clean up the uncooperative local gentry, and then re-employ the cooperative gentry and reward those who cooperated.

Following the failure of Chen Shuozhen's uprising, the imperial court directed its butcher knife to reward the wealthy gentry in cooperation with Chen Shuozhen. They cleaned up all the wealthy gentry in Qingxi County.

Strong dragons cannot suppress local snakes. Now there are no local snakes in Qingxi County. They are just a group of loaches at best.

Local snakes are not easy to deal with, but loaches can't be handled?

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(End of this chapter)