Jiuxi

Chapter 657

As soon as Xu Zuo said this, the atmosphere in the main hall suddenly became stagnant.

Liu Yuan frowned, but Chen Xun, who was sitting next to him, shook his head slightly at him, signaling him not to be impulsive. After all, Lu Chen had not spoken yet, and they, the subordinates, had no right to act rudely in front of the Governor of Dingzhou.

Under the official system of the Great Qi Dynasty, the provincial governorates and military governorates in the border states did not interfere with each other and each had its own set of operating rules.

Even someone as powerful as Lu Chen could not interfere in the specific government affairs of government at all levels. Conversely, Xu Zuo had no power to interfere in military affairs. The only contact between the two sides was that the Governor's Office had to provide food, fodder, military pay, and civilian laborers for the border troops, and either recruit local troops or rely on supplies from the court.

Generally speaking, whether it was Yao Chong, the former governor of Huaizhou, or Chen Chun, the later governor of Dingzhou, they did not dare to tamper with the logistics, so they got along quite harmoniously.

But for Xu Zuo, there happened to be something that not only required the permission of the governor, but was also related to Lu Chen himself, and that was the resettlement of tens of thousands of people from the Seven Stars Gang.

In fact, the matter itself is not complicated. The Seven Star Army has made great contributions to Da Qi. Regardless of the relationship between Lu Chen and Lin Xi, the Da Qi court should treat the Seven Star Gang well.

What's more, this is an opportunity to set an example. By giving preferential treatment to the Seven Star Gang, the people of Da Qi living under the rule of the Jinglian people can see hope, which will be of great benefit to the future Northern Expedition.

Before Xu Zuo arrived, the former governor Chen Chun had already received Lu Chen's signal. Naturally, he would not go against Lu Chen's opinion. With a wave of his hand, he allocated an area in the northeast of Dingzhou and the ancient county of Dongting Prefecture to the Seven Stars Gang and asked the other party to move there.

In order to show goodwill to Lu Chen, Chen Chun even planned to let Ran Xuanzhi under Lin Jie be the county magistrate of Gu County, so that tens of thousands of members of the Seven Star Gang could have a more secure situation.

After Xu Zuo arrived in Ruyin City, the accompanying eunuch read the imperial edict to Chen Chun, and the two began the handover. There were no problems in other aspects, but Xu Zuo expressed his objection on this matter.

He did not make things difficult for Chen Chun, but simply shelved the decision temporarily, and then went to the Governor's Mansion to meet Lu Chen.

In the silence, Lu Chen suddenly smiled faintly and said calmly: "What is wrong with this matter? Please tell me clearly, Lord Fang."

Xu Zuo coughed lightly and said slowly, "Please allow me to report, Lord. For more than ten years, the Seven Stars Gang has been isolated in the north and has never stopped fighting against the Pseudo-Yan and Jing Kingdoms. There are countless stories of heroic deeds. Although I am far away in the south of the Yangtze River, I have heard the stories of these grassroots heroes and I admire them very much. Three years ago, the Lord personally went north and joined forces with the heroes of the Seven Stars Gang to fight the enemy, which was a feat that was spread all over the world. Later, the Seven Stars Army raised the flag and cooperated with our border troops to defeat the powerful enemies, making great contributions to our dynasty."

Whether it is the saying "first criticize before praising" or "praising highly", Xu Zuo's words really come from the bottom of his heart.

Even though he did not approve of Chen Chun's response, he would not deliberately erase the contributions of those green forest heroes.

Lu Chen nodded slightly.

Xu Zuo continued, "The court should commend this righteous army, and I think so too. However, this is a matter of military affairs, which is beyond my authority, so I dare not say more. This righteous army is now under the command of the county lord, and will surely make more achievements in the future. However, if we want them to stay in the army with peace of mind, we must relieve them of their worries, that is, we must properly settle their families."

Lu Chen said calmly: "Could it be that Lord Fang thinks that the previous resettlement plan is inappropriate?"

Xu Zuo did not answer the question directly, but said rationally: "County Lord, there are currently 53,227 people from the Seven Stars Gang who have migrated south, not including the soldiers of the Seven Stars Army. Gu County is a medium-sized county. According to the statistics in the Yellow Book, there are only 24,339 households, totaling 73,920 people. If tens of thousands of people from the Seven Stars Gang all move to Gu County, it means that at least half of the original Gu County residents will need to move away, otherwise they will not be properly resettled."

The others in the hall couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

This is a very real problem.

It’s not that Da Qi doesn’t have a place to accommodate tens of thousands of people from the Seven Stars Gang, but they must take their living environment into consideration, rather than just finding a piece of barren mountain and wilderness and throwing it to the Seven Stars Gang.

The reason why Lin Jie was interested in the area of ​​Gu County was, firstly, because it was very close to Baotai Mountain and he could still take care of his foundation in the mountain; secondly, there were large tracts of fertile land in Gu County, which could feed so many people relatively easily.

Looking at Xu Zuo's sincere expression, Lu Chen said slowly: "I have discussed this issue with Lord Chen before. The reason why Gu County was chosen as the new home of the Seven Stars Gang is that several defense lines inside Baotai Mountain are still very important and need the Seven Stars Army who are familiar with the terrain to continue to garrison. Their relatives live in Gu County, so they can take care of each other, and as Fang Bo said, it can also make those soldiers feel at ease. For the people who originally lived in Gu County, it is indeed not easy to relocate, but the court will give them enough compensation, and I will have someone supervise the whole process."

Huang Gongfu, who was sitting below, couldn't help but look at Xu Zuo when he heard these words, hoping that he would not bear any grudge.

There is nothing wrong with the first half of Lu Chen's explanation. The key point is that he wants someone to supervise the actions of the Governor's Office. Isn't this a form of interference?
I have never heard that the Grand Commander can directly send people to monitor local officials.

Xu Zuo was neither impatient nor impatient, and said calmly: "My Lord, the Seven Stars Gang was originally the people of Da Qi, but was forced to become bandits for some reasons. Now that they have returned to the rule of Da Qi, I will not have any prejudice. But I want to ask you, my Lord, are the people of Gu County not the people of Da Qi?"

He did not dwell on Lu Chen's slightly overstepping behavior, but only focused on the root of the matter. Lu Chen said calmly, "They are naturally the people of Da Qi, but I have no intention of treating them harshly. Whether they want to stay in Dingzhou, go to Huaizhou, or even go to Jiangnan, I will give them a satisfactory explanation. Isn't Fangbo willing to help?"

Xu Zuo shook his head and said, "How could I not want to help? It's just that the county lord has never dealt with similar matters in the past, and obviously doesn't know the meaning of the four words "difficult to leave hometown". It is true that the government can force those people to move, but what if some of them refuse? Will the county lord send troops to forcibly move those people away?"

These words are very sharp.

Among the people in the hall, Huang Gongfu's heart couldn't help but rise. Huang Xianfeng, who was sitting opposite him, was no longer calm and looked at the young Duke with a little worry.

Lu Chen looked at the gaunt middle-aged civil servant, suppressed his anxiety, and asked calmly, "According to Fang Bo's opinion, how should this matter be handled?"

Xu Zuo was still in a bad mood. He had dealt with Lu Chen before and knew that although he was young, he was very cunning. So he said frankly: "In my opinion, if we want to properly resettle tens of thousands of people from the Seven Stars Gang, we have to choose more areas. Just one ancient county is obviously not enough. There are six prefectures and forty-three counties in Dingzhou. There are twelve counties with conditions similar to those of the ancient county. We might as well disperse and resettle tens of thousands of people from the Seven Stars Gang in these thirteen counties. Of course, if Gang Leader Lin is not satisfied, I think the scope can be expanded to Huaizhou. I believe that Governor Song will not object."

This is prudent advice, but it raises a very core issue.

From Lu Chen and Lin Jie's perspective, they certainly don't want the Seven Star Gang to be disbanded.

There will be no impact in the short term, but after two or three years, the centripetal force of the Seven Star Gang will be gone.

Human hearts are fickle, and this has been the case since ancient times.

The reason why Lin Jie chose to relocate collectively to Gu County was due to this consideration, because he was still not very confident in the Da Qi court and was unwilling to easily hand over the Seven Stars Gang's largest capital and become a fish on the chopping board.

But Xu Zuo had already figured out the whole story during his journey.

For Da Qi, a closely-knit force like the Seven Stars Gang is a very unstable factor. In addition, the other party has a precedent of gathering in the mountains, so who knows if they will return to their old ways?

From Xu Zuo's perspective, he would also feel a headache to have such a powerful force under his rule that is backed by regular troops.

Not to mention the magistrate of Gu County, I'm afraid even the magistrate of Dongting Prefecture can't control these people. Even if he doesn't take into account the countless martial arts masters of the Seven Stars Gang, can he still not care about Lu Chen's influence?

After all, one of the Duke's wives is the daughter of the leader of the Seven Stars Gang.

If the Seven Star Gang's power cannot be broken up and they are allowed to continue to unite, it will undoubtedly form a country within a country.

Of course, this is not the issue that Xu Zuo is most concerned about. He can already make it clear that the existence of the Seven Star Army and even the Seven Star Gang is a situation that the young Duke of the county intentionally promoted.

Back in Heluo City, Xu Zuo, as an envoy negotiating with Jing State, had quite a few contacts with Lu Chen and actually admired him very much. But now he is in Dingzhou under the imperial order and has too many issues to consider, so he cannot pay too much attention to personal opinions.

After a long silence, Lu Chen finally gave his answer: "No."

Xu Zuo was slightly startled, with a look of confusion and disappointment on his face, and said in a deep voice: "County Lord, this is government affairs."

What he meant was that he took the initiative to discuss the matter today because it was related to Lu Chen. Otherwise, as the governor of a state, why would he bother to try to please the other party?

He was outspoken and courageous in the court. Even Li Daoyan and Xue Nanting had been impeached by him, but he never bowed his head. The reason why he made this special trip was ultimately because of his good impression of Lu Chen and his gratitude for the contributions he had made to Da Qi over the years.

Lu Chen looked at him calmly, and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "From common sense, this matter is indeed a government matter, and I have no right to interfere. But I have just said that the placement of the Seven Stars Gang is related to the stability of the Seven Stars Army, and even more to the safety of the northern defense line of Dingzhou. I cannot ignore it. Lord Xu, I respect your integrity, so I am willing to listen to your detailed explanation of the reasons, but this does not mean that you can interfere with the military affairs at will."

"If there is nothing else, please go back, Master Xu."

He picked up the teacup, with a hint of sharpness in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)