Ji Han Liu Zhang

Since the Chuping period, first the traitor Dong Zhuo, followed by Li Jue and Guo Si, and the Qiang and Di tribes, have wreaked havoc in Guanzhong. In addition, natural disasters have occurred frequently in Guanzhong in the past few years, such as the severe drought in Guanzhong in the first year of Xingping, and two consecutive earthquakes in Guanzhong.

Therefore, Guanzhong was desolate and all its people were gone.

After entering Chang'an, Liu Zhang ordered people to investigate and count the household registration, farmland, water conservancy and other fundamental things in Guanzhong. As he controlled Guanzhong, he needed to have a general understanding of Guanzhong in order to implement appropriate policies.

The great man said: "Without investigation, there is no right to speak." Before Liu Zhang had investigated the foundation of Guanzhong, he would not talk about the policy, so he just did some routine operations to comfort the people.

Liu Zhang stepped onto the top of the Chang'an city wall, and the Chang'an prefect Zhang Ji lagged behind him and followed him.

"What's the situation in Chang'an?" Liu Zhang asked Zhang Ji, who had been in office as Chang'an magistrate for nearly half a month. The situation in the entire Guanzhong area still required the chief clerk Xun You to spend time and send people to collect information, but as far as Chang'an was concerned, Chang'an magistrate Zhang Ji should have a clear idea of ​​the situation.

Zhang Ji shook his head when he heard this. He carefully chose his words and answered, "Chang'an was previously the place where Li Jue and Guo Si stationed their troops. Li Jue, Guo Si and other Liangzhou bandits have never been able to govern the country or provide relief to the common people. Most of the military supplies their soldiers needed were obtained by looting and robbing the wealthy families."

“So whether it’s Chang’an City or the suburbs of Chang’an, most of the nobles and commoners who could escape have already fled. After all, if they stayed in Chang’an, they would most likely be slaughtered by the Liangzhou bandits.”

Zhang Ji paused, intentionally giving Liu Zhang a little time to receive this information, and then he continued: "As it is, the current Chang'an City has a sparse population, desolate fields, and overgrown with weeds, as if the world was just created."

Liu Zhang nodded silently. He had roughly observed these situations. Due to the habit of seeking benefits and avoiding harm, most of the scholars and common people in Chang'an, or even in the three prefectures, who could escape, ran away.

In order to avoid the chaos, the young men of Guanzhong either went to Hanzhong, like Fa Zheng and Meng Da, or went to Jingzhou, such as Zhao Jian, who spoke frankly to Liu Zhang. Zhao Jian originally wanted to avoid the swords of Li Jue and Guo Si and go to Jingzhou to temporarily avoid the chaos. However, when Zhao Jian arrived at Wuguan, he heard that Liu Zhang had sent troops to Guanzhong, so Zhao Jian stopped at Wuguan, observed the situation, and waited until Liu Zhang's side had a great chance of winning. Then Zhao Jian returned to Chang'an from Wuguan.

As a result, as the children of Guanzhong ran around and scattered, the population of Guanzhong naturally declined greatly.

Having said this, Zhang Ji sighed, "Although I have been promoted by you to the position of Chang'an Magistrate, my title of 'magistrate' does not quite match the current population of Chang'an, because there are only a few thousand households in Chang'an now. It would be more appropriate to name me the 'Chang'an County Magistrate'."

"The county magistrate of Chang'an?" Liu Zhang repeated the title after hearing it. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, a county with more than 10,000 households was called a county magistrate, and a county with less than 10,000 households was called a county magistrate. Now Chang'an does not have a population of 10,000 households, so normally speaking, Zhang Ji should not be the county magistrate of Chang'an, but should be the county magistrate of Chang'an as Zhang Ji mentioned.

However, Liu Zhang shook his head with a complicated expression: "Chang'an is the ancient capital of the former Han Dynasty and the Western Capital of the present Han Dynasty. How can you be appointed as the 'county magistrate'? If I appoint you as the county magistrate of Chang'an, I am afraid you will be laughed at by the world."

"What you said is right, my lord. The chief official of Chang'an should naturally be called a 'magistrate'. But now the name does not match the reality. He is just in name only, but not in reality." Zhang Ji first affirmed Liu Zhang's words, and then he pointed out that Chang'an City did not live up to its name.

"Name and reality." Liu Zhang walked to the battlements of the Chang'an city wall and looked at the scene inside the city. He saw that Chang'an was in ruins. The palaces were burned to ruins due to the war, and most of the houses and alleys were gone. Only a few lucky houses were located alone in the city.

This scene in Chang'an City was cleaned up by Zhang Ji, the Chang'an prefect, and Li Xiu, a captain who was good at civil engineering. If it was the day when Li Jue and Guo Si fled, the scene in Chang'an City would have been even more desolate, with broken walls, lonely ghosts and wild spirits, like a mass grave.

After Liu Zhang stopped for a moment, he withdrew his gaze from Chang'an City and turned to look at Zhang Ji. He looked at Zhang Ji with burning eyes and called Zhang Ji by his name affectionately: "Derong, although you are not worthy of the title of 'Ling' now, I predict that with your outstanding talents, you will be able to make Chang'an a 'Ling' sooner or later."

"Liu Fu governed Yang, Liang Xi governed Bing, Zhang Ji governed Yong and Liang, Wen Hui governed Yang and Liang, Jia Kui governed Yu, and all of them made outstanding contributions." Liu Zhang was familiar with several talented administrators during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and Zhang Ji was one of the best, so he was very optimistic about him.

Zhang Ji was overjoyed when he heard Liu Zhang's encouraging words. After a moment, he clasped his hands and promised, "Mingsir, if I take the post of Chang'an magistrate, I will definitely not let you down, and I will definitely not let people in the world think that you don't know how to judge people."

"Good." Facing Zhang Ji's bold words, Liu Zhang clapped his hands and praised him.

But the bold words are bold words, and the bold words are bold words. As for how to act and govern, Liu Zhang asked Zhang Ji: "De Rong, how do you plan to govern Chang'an?"

“Anyone who wishes to accomplish great things should put the people first. Even though we are governing the country now, we should still put the people first.” Zhang Ji set the tone.

Since taking office as the magistrate of Chang'an for half a month, Zhang Ji has been waking up at cockcrow every day and sleeping at midnight, concentrating entirely on governing Chang'an. As a result, he has a detailed understanding of the household registration in Chang'an and has a general guideline for future governance.

"The biggest problem in Chang'an nowadays is the small number of registered residents. Of course, this is not limited to Chang'an. Most of the three prefectures are in this situation. Therefore, the most important issue today is the increase in registered residents."

Zhang Ji said: "If we just encourage the people to reproduce, given the small population of Chang'an, it will take a long time to achieve results. So I have always thought that we should recruit the people from Guanzhong who have been displaced to return to Guanzhong."

"Oh?" Liu Zhang responded, indicating that he was listening.

Zhang Ji said with great enthusiasm, "The places where refugees from Guanzhong go are Hanzhong and Jingzhou. There should be no less than 100,000 people in each of the two places. If we recruit these people to return to Guanzhong, the population of Guanzhong will not increase greatly, but it will not be as depleted as it is now."

"Hanzhong? Jingzhou?" Liu Zhang nodded. These two places were relatively peaceful prefectures and counties, and they were also the prefectures and counties closer to Guanzhong. It was normal for the elders of Guanzhong to run to these two places to seek good fortune and avoid danger. Liu Zhang also knew this.

Liu Zhang added, "It is easier to persuade the Guanzhong people who are stranded in Hanzhong to return to Guanzhong. However, Jingzhou is under the rule of Liu Jingsheng. Although he has a good relationship with our alliance, it may be difficult for Liu Jingsheng to release the Guanzhong people who are stranded in Jingzhou."

"But it's not a difficult task." Liu Zhang was 100% sure about Hanzhong under his rule and could persuade the young men from Guanzhong to return home. But as for Jingzhou, although he was not completely sure, he had some confidence that with his current prestige and power, he could force Liu Jingsheng to release the young men from Guanzhong to return to Guanzhong.

Zhang Ji smiled when he heard this. He cupped his hands and said, "If this is the case, then Guanzhong can get a break. Today, Guanzhong has a small population and nothing can be accomplished."

Liu Zhang nodded, but did not reply. He understood Zhang Ji's meaning. To accomplish great things, one must put people first. There is no one in Guanzhong now, so the hegemony he wants to achieve is like water without roots. He must enrich the population of Guanzhong as soon as possible. ...

Tianshui County, the station of General Andi Ma Teng.

Ma Teng, who was in the central military tent, was currently pacing back and forth in the tent, showing how restless and anxious he was.

You know, he was recommended by Liu Zhang, the governor of Yizhou, to be the governor of Liangzhou. Under his military command, no one in Liangzhou dared to submit to him. Only Han Sui, who was guarding Jincheng County, had no intention of surrendering. However, he was soon defeated and Jincheng County was taken by him.

In this way, the entire Liangzhou was under the command of him, the governor of Liangzhou.

However, what Ma Teng had never expected was that the defeated Han Sui would resurrect and revive the Han family. Han Sui even recruited the Qiang and Hu tribes, attacked and killed his wife and children who stayed in Tianshui County, and almost wiped out his entire family.

Upon hearing the news, Ma Teng immediately led his troops out of Jincheng County and rushed to Tianshui County to fight against Han Sui in order to avenge the death of his wife and children. However, after fighting for dozens of months, the two sides still could not determine the winner.

Originally, Ma Teng relied on the two strong generals Ma Chao and Pang De under his command, so it was no problem for him to capture Han Sui. However, he did not expect that Han Sui recruited a brave general named Yan Xing from somewhere, and Yan Xing's martial arts were comparable to that of his son Ma Chao. Naturally, the war between the two sides became intense.

"It's difficult." Ma Teng sighed as he walked. Ma Chao was his eldest son, and he didn't like him very much at first. But when Ma Chao grew up, he was very skilled in martial arts and hard to be defeated. So he got close to this son, thinking that he could rely on him to build a foundation for him. But he didn't expect that he would not succeed.

When Yu Ma Teng was pacing back and forth in the central army tent, the curtain of the central army tent was lifted, and Ma Chao and Ma Xiu, dressed in military uniforms, strode in. Today, Ma Chao and Ma Xiu were going to fight the enemy separately.

"How is it?" Ma Teng asked immediately when he saw Ma Chao.

Ma Chao shook his head, his face not looking good: "Father, Yan Xing's martial arts skills are not inferior to mine. Although I fought him for more than a hundred moves, it is indeed difficult to defeat him."

"But I am confident that I can..."

Just when Ma Chao was about to pat his chest and make a promise to Ma Teng, vowing to capture Yan Xing for Ma Teng and kill Han Sui to avenge his great hatred.

When Ma Teng heard that Ma Chao had failed to capture Yan Xing, his face immediately turned gloomy and serious. After a moment, he turned to look at Ma Xiu and asked his legitimate son with concern, "Xiu'er, you were not injured in today's battle, were you?"

Ma Chao's words were interrupted and a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face. At the same time, when he heard Ma Teng's concern for Ma Xiu, his expression became a little gloomy.

"My son is fine, but brother..." Ma Xiu pointed at Ma Chao and said considerately, "Today, brother and Yan Xing fought fiercely. After Yan Xing's spear was broken, he attacked brother's neck with the broken spear, almost killing brother. Brother had a close call today."

"Oh." Ma Teng responded indifferently, then he turned to Ma Chao and said with emotionless concern: "Chao'er, you have worked hard."

Hearing Ma Teng's caring words, Ma Chao's previous gloomy expression disappeared, and his expression suddenly became very excited. He bowed and was about to speak, trying to bring Ma Teng closer to the friendship between father and son.

But after Ma Teng expressed his concern, he no longer looked at Ma Chao, but muttered to himself: "If Yan Xing is not there, Han Sui will be defeated easily, and if Han Sui is defeated, he will take over the land of Longyou, and who can be my Ma Teng's opponent?"

"How hateful." Ma Teng cursed. He hated Yan Xing who suddenly appeared and hindered his plan to unify Longyou.

Seeing this, Ma Chao unnaturally lowered his raised hands, stood aside consciously, and looked a little lonely.

"General, Shu army, Shu soldiers..." When the atmosphere in the central army tent was a little depressing, a shout came from outside the tent. From the sound of the voice, it was Pang De. From the tone of his voice, it seemed that Pang De was very agitated and anxious, so the shout arrived before the person arrived.

Soon, Pang De, who had spoken, lifted the curtain and almost rushed into the central military tent.

"Shu soldiers? What's wrong with Shu soldiers?" Ma Teng looked a little unhappy. He was a little displeased with Pang De's impatient attitude, but he still asked patiently.

"Shu soldiers, Longdao, Lueyang..." Pang De was running quickly, breathing heavily, but for a moment he could not tell the whole information he knew.

"Shu soldiers, Longdao, Lueyang?" Hearing these words that could not be connected together, Ma Teng couldn't help but frown. If we talk about Shu soldiers, aren't they still fighting against Li Jue and Guo Si? What does it have to do with Longdao and Lueyang?

Matthew was a considerate person. He brought a glass of wine and handed it to Pound, who was breathing rapidly. Pound took the wine and drank it all in one gulp. After drinking the glass of wine, he felt relieved and his breathing was no longer so rapid.

"General, the Shu soldiers came from Guanlong Road and have now occupied Lueyang. This is the latest news from the scouts." Pang De spoke quickly after his breathing calmed down a little.

"Ah." Ma Teng was shocked when he heard this. This matter was beyond his acceptance and understanding. The governor of Yizhou, Liu Zhang, had clearly agreed to recommend him as the governor of Liangzhou, so why did he send troops to occupy Guanlong Road and Lueyang?

Moreover, the Shu army had enough strength to attack Liangzhou, so they could say that they had defeated Li Jue and Guo Si. How could Li Jue and Guo Si be so vulnerable to attack? You should know that he once attacked Chang'an together with Han Sui, but he saw how powerful the elite soldiers under Li Jue and Guo Si were, and was defeated and had to flee back to Liangzhou. (End of this chapter)