Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 404 Arrangement ()

As it was getting late, Zhao Zhen held a banquet to entertain everyone.

On the second day, Gongsun Sheng and his two companions, together with Guanghui and his two companions, selected soldiers from the three cities from Baozhu Temple, brought along the cooperating public servants and scribes, and divided into three groups, first going to the Taoist temples and monasteries in Shouzhang County for inspection.

Zhao Zhen and others gathered in the hall of Baishi Manor to continue discussing the arrangement of various positions. In the whole Liangshan Prefecture, there were only three people who had the title of scholar or had studied seriously, namely Sun Zheng, Wang Lun and Zhu Hongji. Among the heroes, there were only Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, Xiao Rang, Pei Xuan and Jiang Jing.

There was really no one available, and after a day of discussion, we finally decided on candidates from various places.

First of all, there is Liangshan County. All the villages in Liangshan in the center of Shuibo are assigned to Liangshan Township. The area around Xixi Village is Shuibo Township, and there is Heihu Temple Town. This is also the seat of the state government. The affairs of the county are managed by Xiao Rang and Pei Xuan. There is a bandit-catching camp in the state, commanded by Li Yun [Blue-eyed Tiger] and Li Wang [Hidden Rabbit], the commander of the camp. The bandit-catching camp is equipped with 500 cavalry horses, which patrol everywhere.

Shouzhang County has five townships under its jurisdiction: Zhaodui Township, Xiaolukou Township, Dalukou Township, Shouzhangji Township, and Shanglaozhuang Township. The county magistrate is Sun Zheng and the county magistrate is He Chong.

Yanggu County also has six townships under its jurisdiction: Anle Township, Mengdian Township, Zhukou Township, Jingyang Town, Jingmen Town, and Dulonggang. The county magistrate is Liu Guang, the father of Liu Huiniang, the county magistrate is Zhu Hongji, the former head of Jingyang Town, and the chief clerk is Ren Tinggui, who has a better reputation.

As for Li Datian and his son, Zhang Chuang, the commander of the militia, Qian Cheng, the county magistrate, Qian Lao, the clerk, Xia Gongji, and others, they were all beheaded at Caishikou for colluding with Song Jiang of Qingzhou according to the order of the Grand Tutor, and their families were not made slaves of the government. Ren Tinggui also saw this and knew that if he went to Bianjing to select an official, he would probably not have a good place to go, so he stayed.

The people of Yanggu County were all delighted to have Li Datian and his son removed. The gentry also calmed down and hibernated, which made it easier for Yanggu County to clear land and register its population.

Fan County has nine townships under its jurisdiction: Pucheng Township, Longwangzhuang Township, Gaomatou Township, Wanglou Township, Zhangzhuang Township, Yangji Township, Baiyige Township, Yancunpu Township, and Luji Township. The county magistrate is Wang Lun, the former head of Dulonggang Township, and the county magistrate is Gao Qiao, the former head of Heihu Temple Township.

Yuncheng County was a large county with 12 towns under its jurisdiction: Huang'an Township, Houyanji Township, Wangtai Township, Wu'an Township, Guotun Township, Yuhuangmiao Township, Zhangying Township, Shuangqiao Township, Tangmiao Township, Zhangluji Township, Shuibao Township, and Chenpo Township. Zhu Wu concurrently served as the county magistrate, with two chief clerks on the left and right, one was Ding Chou, and the other was Sun Guang, the former head of Jingmen Town.

Zhongdu County has ten towns under its jurisdiction: Wenshang Township, Shankou Township, Nanwang Township, Liulou Township, Ciqiu Town, Yinsi Township, Guocang Township, Yangdian Township, Baishi Township, and Yiqiao Township. Zhongdu County is close to Yanzhou, and now most of Yanzhou has been captured by Song Jiang. Therefore, Wu Yong was temporarily selected as the county magistrate, Chao Ning, the former head of Liangshan Township, and Xu Qing, the son of the head of Xiaoxu Village in Jingmen Town, was the county lieutenant. Xu Qing had decent martial arts skills and was young, which was a time of passion. Zhao Zhen wanted to hone his skills by sending him to Zhongdu County.

I'm afraid most of these people are not qualified for the job. It's just that there is no one in the state, so they are forced to do it. When Zhao Zhen announced the appointment, he called all these people together and explained it in advance. If they are not qualified, they will be replaced as soon as a suitable person is found.

The newly appointed officials took office under the protection of soldiers. As for the weakest counties of Fan County, Zhongdu County, and Yuncheng County, Zhao Zhen divided the cavalry of the Southern Camp into two, and the left and right guard camps, led by Lin Chong and Wang Tianba, were transferred to Fan County.

The vanguard camp, led by Qin Ming, was transferred to Zhongdu County. Zhao Zhen did not expect anyone to make things difficult for Zhongdu County, which was governed by his father-in-law Cheng Wanli. He sent Qin Ming there only to guard against bandits in Qingzhou.

As for the nearest Yuncheng County, Zhao Zhen personally led Lü Fang, Guo Sheng, Huo Wancheng, Wang Liang, and the female cavalry team to follow Zhu Wu. Zhao Zhen was not worried about the handover of Yuncheng County. First of all, the county magistrate had just arrived not long ago, and Lei Heng, who was familiar with the affairs of the county, was there to help. In addition, Miao Shanggao, the governor of Jizhou, and Zhang Yong, the military commander, did not dare to provoke Liangshan.

The main task of the group was to make a clear handover with the original county magistrate and check the treasury and granary for accuracy. Therefore, Zhao Zhen mobilized the capable bailiffs and clerks from Liangshan County and Shouzhang County to go together. He also sent orders to the troops in various places to cooperate with them.

But the first task was to post a call for talents.

Zhao Zhen did not think much about this, and copied Cao Cao's "Order to Seek Talents" verbatim: In the past, Yi Zhi and Fu Yue were from humble families, and Guan Zhong was a traitor to Duke Huan, but they were all used to prosper. Xiao He and Cao Shen were county officials, and Han and Chen Ping had a humiliating name and were laughed at, but they were able to achieve the kingship and their reputations will be remembered for thousands of years. Wu Qi was greedy for generals, killed his wife to be confident, spent money to seek an official position, and did not return home until his mother died. However, when he was in Wei, people did not dare to go east, and when he was in Chu, the Three Jins did not dare to plan south. Today, there are people of great virtue in the world who are placed among the people, and are brave and reckless, and fight hard in the face of the enemy; if there are officials of common culture, they are talented and have different qualities, or they can be generals and guards; those who have a humiliating name, are laughed at, or are unkind and unfilial but have the skills to govern the country and use the army: each of them should mention what they know, and do not leave anything out.

At the same time, Zhao Zhen once again asked all the heroes to recommend heroes they knew.

Tong Wei and Tong Meng recommended six people: Li Jun, the Dragon of the River; Zhang Shun, the White Shark in the Waves; Zhang Heng, the Fire in the Boat; Mu Hong, the Unrestrained; Mu Chun, the Little Rejection; and Li Li, the Judge of Death.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen asked Tong Wei and Tong Meng to write a letter. Zhao Zhen also planned to send the good runner Li San and the fast-moving woman Wang Dingliu to go together to make the request.

Wu Yong heard this and said, "Sir, I have a dear acquaintance who is now serving as a jailer in Jiangzhou. His surname is Dai and his name is Zong. He has magical powers and can travel 800 miles a day. People call him the "God of Speed". He is very generous and kind. I have also written a letter to him, and maybe I can invite him here."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen asked Li San and Wang Dingliu to go and invite them together since it was on their way.

Besides recommending Kong Hou, my grandfather Liu Guang also recommended his brother-in-law Chen Xizhen, who is over 50 years old and currently serves as the chief officer of the Nanying in Bianjing. He is best known for practicing Taoism.

He had only one daughter, who was born with supernatural strength and was as brave as ten thousand men. Therefore, he taught her all the skills he had learned in his life. This girl was smart and learned to be an excellent archer. She could shoot arrows through willows and lice, and she never missed a single shot. She had a nickname, "Female Flying Guard".

Before he finished speaking, Lin Chong, who was listening nearby, asked, "Could it be that he lives in the Bixie Lane on East Street and his courtesy name is Daozi?"

Liu Guang said: "It is this person."

Lin Chong said, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten it. This Chen Xizhen had a brother named Chen Xiyi, who was very good at martial arts. Last year, he dueled with me for the position of the instructor of the 800,000 imperial guards. We fought eighty times, and I narrowly defeated him with one move. Unfortunately, he fell seriously ill and died a little over a month later. Many people have rumored that I killed him, but they don't know that when we were in the capital, Chen Xiyi and I admired each other and often competed with each other in martial arts. Chen Xizhen also met me before."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen wrote a letter to Liu Guang, inviting Bai Sheng, the White Day Rat, and Li Si, the Green Grass Snake who was familiar with the road, to go with a few companions.

Zhao Zhen was just regretting that most of the people recommended by the crowd were good at fighting and could not solve his current predicament. Then Liu Guang said, "There is another person who may be able to help the son-in-law."

Zhao Zhen said, "Please speak, Grandfather."

Liu Guang said: "This man is my good friend. His surname is Xu, his name is He, and his courtesy name is Rongfu. He has been very smart since he was young and can read ten lines at a glance. Like Hui Niang, he was well-versed in ancient and modern times when he was fifteen or sixteen years old. He has studied astronomy, geography, rituals, music, and numerology. Although he has never been to a war, he knows the methods of battle formations and attacks like the back of his hand. He has a noble character and does not care about the dirty things of wealth. He lives in poverty. Now he takes his wife and two sons and hides in the foothills of Gaoping, selling medicine for a living."

"Although this man has no fighting skills, he is in charge of the overall civil affairs, encouraging farming and sericulture, and settling lawsuits. His virtues and decrees are publicized in the area under his jurisdiction. He makes household registrations and collects taxes. He exempts the victims of floods and droughts. He comforts and reassures refugees, and does not make them unemployed. He promotes filial piety, brotherhood, and righteousness, and encourages good customs, and everything goes as planned."

Zhao Zhen was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "This is exactly what the state needs. My father-in-law wrote a letter and said that if this person is willing to come, I will appoint him as a county magistrate."

Liu Guang stroked his beard and agreed, and also handed a letter to Zhao Zhen, who asked Shi Qian to bring people to invite him.

(End of this chapter)