I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 154 The Governor of East County

Dongjun, the county governs Puyang County.

The prefect Qiao Mao was a descendant of the late Sangong Qiao Xuan. He received official edicts and documents from the court one after another, and he didn't know how to decide for a while.

It's okay to name the talented people, but to rectify the township officials and ensure the implementation of the imperial government's three-year oral tax exemption?

It's a troublesome thing to do well.

Qiao Mao was hesitant as to how far he needed to go.

Dongjun is just east of Hanoi County, and Qiao Mao knew exactly what Guan Yu was doing in Hanoi.

If Guan Yu is willing to come to Dongjun to do this for him, he will definitely support it fully, but if he is allowed to do it by himself...

Qiao Mao was very well-informed and knew that when problems arose between township officials and officials in Henan and Hanoi, Henan Yin Yuan Shu and Hanoi Prefect Zhao Qian were both punished with official accountability documents, but they were later exempted from punishment because of their good cooperation.

But now, Qiao Mao is worried that if he fails to do a good job, if someone like Guan Yu comes to investigate in the future, he may receive a criminal edict again.

Losing one's official position is a small matter, but losing one's reputation is a big matter.

Once the reputation is gone, there is no hope of recovery.

Qiao Mao was accustomed to wielding power, so he didn't dare to bet. Dongjun was still too close to Luoyang.

After thinking about it, he called Xue Fang, the county governor. The county governor's office, as the name suggests, manages money for the county governor's office, which is used to support the governor and maintain the operation of the county government.

The amount of money deducted from taxes by the county magistrate's office is customized. But since it is public funds, various problems will arise in actual use.

Xue Fang is a powerful person in Dong'a County, Dongjun County. It stands to reason that with his status, he would not be able to hold such an important position in the county government.

However, Xue Fang once played an important role in defending the city during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the Xue family was a wealthy family in Dong'a.

Xue Fang is not at a loss either. His descendants can use this relationship to have famous people as their teachers. If he can succeed in his studies, or has the opportunity to obtain the quota of Xiaolian, or cross the class to become a county magistrate through other means, then the Xue family will be equivalent to stepping into the ranks of the wealthy family with half a foot.

Facing Xue Fang, Qiao Mao was not polite.

As soon as Xue Fang sat down after paying homage to him, Qiao Mao asked directly: "Do you know the official document sent by the imperial court? Let me ask you, do the people in the village know that the country exempts them from paying oral taxes for three years?"

Xue Fang was able to reach this point and reacted very quickly. He answered truthfully: "I dare not deceive the prince. The people in this county are ignorant and the taxes are as usual."

The positions of small officials in the countryside are not looked down upon by children of wealthy families, and are often filled by powerful men. Xue Fang was once one of them and knew these situations well.

Seeing that Xue Fang was doing his duty as always, Qiao Mao asked further: "In your opinion, how can the country's moral policy be implemented?"

Xue Fang understood as soon as he heard this that his prince was unwilling to follow the example of Gai Gong, the governor of Hedong in the official document, who patrolled the countryside for a long time.

He replied: "According to my official's opinion, we only need to send the official documents to the magistrates of each county, and send postal supervisors to inspect, and find out a few falsifiers to serve as a warning to others."

Qiao Mao did not comment and continued to ask: "What if I want to imitate what happened in Hanoi, Henan?"

Xue Fang was shocked, and regardless of the status gap between the two, he hurriedly persuaded: "Master Fu, the situation in Dongjun is different from that in Henan and Hanoi. If you do this suddenly, I'm afraid there will be chaos!"

Qiao Mao originally wanted to use Xue Fang to frighten the township officials and urge them to implement the edict exempting them from three years of oral tax.

But when he saw Xue Fang's reaction being so strong, he immediately said angrily: "Do you think I have no soldiers?"

Xue Fang immediately apologized and explained: "Master Rongzhen, I am just worried that if I do this, my household registration, field registration, and taxes may be affected in the next two years. The imperial court values ​​​​population, land and acres. If it affects the above plan, wouldn't it? The gain outweighs the loss?”

Qiao Mao thought that Xue Fang was still useful, so he put away his anger, but his face remained stiff.

Xue Fang sighed and added: "To be honest with you, many rural officials in this county seem to have nothing to do with the big families in this county, but in fact they follow their orders." Of course, the Qiao Mao noble family was aware of this. Although the scholar-bureaucrats were restricted by There are three mutual laws, but there is some tacit understanding between them. If the local wealthy family wants to protect these rural officials, it will be difficult for him.

After all, except for a few of his confidants, almost all of his officials in the prefecture were these people.

After that, Xue Fang said many words of praise and said that he had prepared a gift for Qiao Mao, but he had not yet had time to bring it to the county government at home.

He also racked his brains to help Qiao Mao come up with several harmless ideas that could rectify the township officials to express his position.

Seeing this, Qiao Mao regained his kindness towards Xue Fang.

He didn't think it was difficult to push forward the free speech tax for three years. The sum of the money was quite a lot, but when it was distributed, it was not something that wealthy families would take seriously.

As long as the importance of this matter is emphasized to the family members, it will not be difficult to promote it.

After all, Qiao Mao still had some ideas about rectifying the governance of the village officials. At least he was trying to show off and have an explanation to the outside world.

At this time, Xue Fang dared to say boldly: "The lower official is ignorant and wants to recommend a talented person to the prince."

"That's what you said." Qiao Mao didn't care.

"Cheng Yu and Cheng Zhongde, fellow countrymen of Xiaguan, are very talented..."

When Qiao Mao heard the name, he frowned: "I had good intentions to recruit him last year, but he didn't deserve it... What's the use of talent for such a madman!"

"You want me to recommend him to the court?" Qiao Mao asked.

The recommended quota in the imperial edict was very popular in Dongjun, and Qiao Mao was planning to use it to make a fortune, or to find a talented person who could repay his talents in the future.

Xue Fang understood this very well. He still had some sense and persuaded him: "Master Fu, now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, the atmosphere of the court will change."

"Cheng Yu can make good decisions, and once he gains power, he will rise rapidly."

Qiao Mao knows that Cheng Yu is talented, but the key lies in whether Cheng Yu can be relied on.

And even if he wanted to recommend truly talented people, there was a better choice in his mind - Chen Gong.

However, there is no need to tell Xue Fang.

……

It was with the help of Cheng Yu that Xue Fang was able to defend the city.

In Xue Fang's eyes, Cheng Yu's talent is undoubted and he is quite famous locally.

But Cheng Yu's shortcomings are also obvious. He is not from a high family background, and his place as Xiaolian is not available to him.

He also had a violent personality. When he became famous later, he would not be accepted as an official by any county or county. Such disrespectful behavior, unless the prefect is a real celebrity, how could he recommend him.

Obviously, Qiao Mao is not a real celebrity.

If Xue Fang hadn't mentioned it, he would never have considered recommending Cheng Yu.

Xue Fang left the prefect's mansion and returned to his residence. He immediately wrote a letter and asked his servant to bring it to Cheng Yu who lived in Dong'a.

He took the risk to recommend Cheng Yu to the prefect, of course, so that in the future when Cheng Yu becomes rich, he can turn around and take care of his Xue family. How can he not take credit!

(End of this chapter)