I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 468 Chen Gong
"These are chicken ribs. They are tasteless to eat, but it's a pity to throw them away..." Liu Bian complained as he looked at the dishes he specially ordered.

He is inviting Jia Xu to dinner.

Jia Xu was such a smart man, how could he not see what Liu Bian was hinting at?

Although he didn't know why the emperor suddenly used chicken ribs to refer to people, but since the emperor did so, he, as a subject, could only let it go.

He replied: "I have seen a craftsman forging a sword. When the sword blank is just made, it only needs a little forging to make it look very sharp. But this is only shiny on the surface, and the inside is actually weak. After a hundred forgings, it can be used, but it is still easy to break. Only after a thousand forgings and ten thousand hammerings can it become the sword of the emperor."

Liu Bian laughed.

Jia Xu is indeed a wonderful person.

He suddenly had the idea of ​​trying some chicken ribs, and Jia Xu did the same as him, using objects to describe people.

In a word - Jia Xu believed that Yang Xiu was a promising talent, but if he wanted to use him, he needed more training.

"He was too clever and schemed, but ended up costing his beloved life." This sentence is actually quite appropriate to describe Yang Xiu.

Liu Bian said to Jia Xu: "In that case, we can eat the chicken ribs next time!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Xu happily put down the chicken ribs he was holding.

If the emperor had not picked up a piece just now, how could he leave the delicacy in front of him and instead eat some worthless thing?

Putting the chicken ribs aside, Liu Bian said to Jia Xu: "How did Zhongxuan perform in Luoyang this time?"

Jia Xu didn't know whether it was because of Wang Can's close relationship with Liu Bian, but he kept Wang Can in the School Affairs Department to assist Wu Fu in looking after the household.

"Your Majesty, Wang Zhongxuan has a photographic memory and is truly a rare talent in the Ministry of Education for a century. It is great that he is in Luoyang!" Jia Xu replied immediately.

Of course Liu Bian knew what Jia Xu was afraid of. A once-in-a-century event had suddenly emerged, and the School Affairs Department had only been established for a few years!

He simply stopped talking about Wang Can and asked, "We are heading from Wei County to Hejian State. Are there any unusual movements in the three places?"

After leaving Wei County, we will pass through Julu County, Boling County, and arrive at Hejian State. These three places are three of the four counties and states that rebelled last year.

Zhang Rang and Man Chong killed so many people here that they could be described as having countless heads rolling.

When Liu Bian was on tour here, he could take the opportunity to comfort those who survived.

Of course, your own safety still needs to be given priority.

Jia Xu replied: "I have not discovered it, but in Hejian, when the people heard that Your Majesty was coming, they spontaneously wanted to repair the palace for Your Majesty."

"spontaneous?"

Jia Xu answered confidently: "I ordered people to investigate again and again, and it is indeed spontaneous. The governor of Hejian did not allow the people to repair the damage, and there was almost a conflict..."

"Afterwards, the people were pacified by the Prime Minister Hejian."

"There are no casualties, right?" Liu Bian asked with concern.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, there are no casualties. It's just that when the people went to look for the Prime Minister of Hejian, he was tough and refused to give in, which led to a tit-for-tat confrontation between the two sides. Later, the people learned of your Majesty's decree and dispersed."

Liu Bian wanted to laugh again after hearing this. He felt like having a lot of fun recently.

There was indeed a temporary palace in Hejian State. Strictly speaking, it was the old residence of the previous emperor. Later, the previous emperor sent people to renovate it and turned it into a temporary palace.

As early as the beginning of his tour, Liu Bian issued a strict order prohibiting the increase of people's corvée and taxes due to the tour.

This Hejian Xiang is a straightforward person.

But who was he? Liu Bian couldn't remember clearly for a moment.

He didn't have the screen on which he kept records of local officials with him, and for a moment he didn't know where to start looking.

This is the trouble of having too many officials. There are more than a hundred counties and kingdoms corresponding to each other, and they often change, so it is really hard to remember them all.

When Liu Bian ate two more bites of food, he remembered that the Prime Minister of Hejian was Chen Gong, the former prefect of Xingyang. The latter was rated as the best in Xingyang every year under the jurisdiction of Henan Yin, so he was appointed Prime Minister of Hejian at the end of last year. It was not surprising that it was Chen Gong.

This is what is called slow intelligence.

If nothing unexpected happens, then it doesn't matter.

Perhaps God felt that Liu Bian had seen too much fun in Wei County, so his journey to the following Julu County and Boling County was very smooth.

Accommodation is even more convenient here.

Along the way, you will always come across large mansions that no longer have any officials.

In the past, such houses would usually be auctioned off immediately, but from last year to now, none of these houses have been sold.

Ying Shao gave reasons - too many.

Originally, the market demand for large mansions was not great, and some of the people who could afford them were the current owners of these mansions...

Compared with Wei County, the people in Julu County and Boling County have more patches on their clothes.

Even if man-made disasters are dealt with in a timely manner, they are still bound to cause adverse effects.

Ying Shao believed that this place would become even better in a few years - "After last year, the amount of land held by the people in these four counties and states was generally higher than that of several other counties and states in Jizhou."

Ying Shao had a strange expression when he said this.

Liu Bian asked carefully: "I remember that all the land that was not owned by the government should be rented out to the people as government land, right?"

"So, how did the number of acres of land held by the people increase?"

He remembered that the war among the four counties did not cause many casualties, and the number of people killed by Zhang Rang and Man Chong was just a drop in the bucket compared to the population of a county.

Ying Shao replied: "With fewer powerful families occupying wasteland, the people are able to reclaim the land."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bian looked at Ying Shao and thought to himself: I didn't expect that a guy like you with thick eyebrows and big eyes would also learn to play dumb.

Fortunately, he had two honest people around him whose homes had been robbed many times - Man Chong and Qian Zhao - who could tell him the truth.

It should be noted that when the government raided a property, they would confiscate the land according to the registered land, and those hidden lands would naturally remain hidden.

When the original protector is gone, and in theory there is no need to confiscate the hidden land, then as long as the hidden land is transferred to the open, the ownership of the land will naturally belong to whoever registers it.

I guess Jizhou condoned this incident for the sake of political achievements.

After much deliberation, Liu Bian finally decided not to expose the matter.

No matter what method is used, it is a good method as long as it can bring the hidden fields to the surface.

Killing is indeed simple, direct and effective.

When the emperor arrived in Hejian State, Liu Bian met Chen Gong again.

As soon as they met, Liu Bian asked, "Gongtai, has my old house been renovated?"

Chen Gong was neither humble nor arrogant, and had already thought of how to answer the emperor's question: "I have not ordered anyone to renovate it, because I think there are relics of the previous emperor's tours in your majesty's old house. Once it is renovated, there will be no traces of the old things."

Liu Bian nodded, thinking that Chen Gong had passed the test. He then asked, "In Gongtai's opinion, if there was no previous edict from me, would the people's initiative to request the repair of the old house be accepted?"

Chen Gong was stunned. He had never thought about this question before!

But for now, he could only continue with his previous answer: "I think this is not possible. Will the first person to create clay figures have no descendants? If this precedent is set, I am afraid that all future corvée labor will be done under the pretext that the people are willing to do it."

After saying this, Chen Gong suddenly felt that he was quite quick-witted!

(End of this chapter)