I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 610: Wild Words
"Lord Zhao is still too kind!" During the banquet, Cheng Yu talked about his governance of Dunhuang County.

"When Lord Zhao was in office, he distributed land to the poor and upheld justice, but his policies were too broad and too lenient to those cunning people who did evil." Cheng Yu said in a resounding voice, "I came to Dunhuang County for only one thing, and that is to complete the great cause that Lord Zhao has not completed!"

After arriving at Dunhuang County, Cheng Yu discovered that Zhao Qi had done many good things during his tenure, such as fighting for land from the wealthy and powerful for the poor, but there were also shortcomings. In addition to the drawbacks of the lenient policy itself, there was another point that Dunhuang County was a major road connecting the east and west of the Western Regions, but Zhao Qi only required the local wealthy and powerful not to oppress the merchants, but did not provide enough convenience for the merchants to pass through.

Although Cheng Yu did not trust businessmen, he knew that merchants who valued profit over loyalty could bring benefits to Dunhuang County, and that was enough.

It's a pity that Zhao Qi has never made good use of this unique geographical advantage.

When Langya King Liu Xi heard Cheng Yu's decisive words, stars almost popped out of his eyes.

He asked Cheng Yu expectantly, "Are you going to punish those who break the law and discipline severely and punish them all according to the law?"

The so-called classical punishment is the imposition of capital punishment in accordance with the law.

Liu Xi had long heard that Wang Yun had once hanged all those powerful families and wealthy people who intended to cause rebellion on the city walls. For Liu Xi, who regarded the affairs of the Han Dynasty as his own family affairs, this was naturally a gratifying feat. However, combined with the shadow left in his heart by the rumors about Wang Yun when he was young, he felt both respect and fear for Wang Yun.

And now in his mind, the images of Cheng Yu and Wang Yun are highly overlapping.

Liu Miao, who was standing by, saw that Liu Xi had forgotten his instructions again and continued to speak wildly and with such murderous intent. He could only hope again that Cheng Yu would not bother with Liu Xi.

Cheng Yu did not think Liu Xi had a strong desire to kill. He was still happy to answer questions from a young man like Liu Xi who was so respectful and polite to him: "There are still too few people in Dunhuang. Unless someone who deserves to die has a proper death, it is better to keep them for other purposes."

"Besides, isn't the Western Region in need of people? Some people were unwilling to continue their journey to Dunhuang after seeing the poor environment there... I will send some talents to you today. Please pass them on to Protector Xu on my behalf as a token of my apology."

Seeing that the criminals in Dunhuang County had all become the talents mentioned by Cheng Yu, what else could Liu Miao say?

Before he could say anything, Liu Xi had already agreed.

Cheng Yu was very satisfied when he saw it, and he looked at Liu Xi with some approval, which made Liu Xi very happy.

Jiuquan County.

Zhang Meng was still furious after Liu Xi and Liu Miao left. Zhang Meng never expected that Cheng Yu would not even give him the slightest bit of face.

But he knew very well that he was not in the right in this matter.

Therefore, he was unable to write a letter to impeach Cheng Yu on this matter, and there was even a possibility that Cheng Yu would impeach him in return.

The Chief Clerk, Handan Shang from Chenliu, noticed Zhang Meng's dissatisfaction and suggested, "Sir, the reason why Cheng Yu dares to ignore you is, in my opinion, because he is in Dunhuang, managing the affairs of the Western Regions, and the Governor of Liangzhou is in Hanyang, which is much more important than Jiuquan."

Zhang Meng didn't expect that it would be a merchant from Handan who would come to give him advice.

Generally speaking, the chief secretary of a frontier county is like the county magistrate in the interior, who is the deputy of the chief official and performs duties on his behalf when the chief official is absent. However, this also means that the powers of the two overlap. Generally speaking, as long as the chief official is present, the county magistrate is generally a mascot.

As the governor, Zhang Meng also did not give Handan Shang any power. At most, he let him take charge of trivial matters such as military construction and medicine. Zhang Meng knew that Handan Shang was the same age as him. Although he was not as good as him, he still had some talents. Maybe he really had some good ideas?

He immediately asked, "What do you think?"

Handan Shang replied, "In fact, earlier, the Western Regions Protectorate was under the jurisdiction of the Liangzhou Governor's Office. Even when the counties sent troops to the Western Regions, they were also under the control of the Liangzhou Governor. This was because the Liangzhou Governor was in charge of Guzang County in Wuwei County at that time. Once there was trouble in the Western Regions, the Governor could respond in time."

Zhang Meng was naturally aware of this history. He urged, "But what does this have to do with Cheng Yu? Do we need to petition to move the seat of the Liangzhou governor back to Guzang County?"

"If the court had intended to move back and appoint the Governor of Liangzhou to lead the affairs of the Western Regions, it would have done so long ago. In my opinion, even if we move back to Guzang County, the affairs of the Western Regions will probably still be decided by Cheng Yu. His memorials to the court still carry more weight than mine!"

Handan Shang responded: "Your Excellency's words make sense. Simply moving the governor's seat to Guzang County will not be enough to change the current situation. But what if we move it to Dunhuang County?"

Zhang Meng first thought it was impossible.

For Liangzhou, Dunhuang County is too remote.

Zhang Meng's reaction was not beyond Handan Shang's expectations. He further explained his thoughts - "The emperor today has great ambitions. I have seen the affairs of the Western Regions. The emperor should follow the example of Emperor Xiaowu who opened up the four counties in Hexi, open up the Western Regions, and gradually make them our Han counties and kingdoms."

This is also something that any discerning person can see. Otherwise, why would they go to the trouble of sending the princes with so many people to the Western Regions? It was because the Western Regions were large enough, there were enough small countries, and the Han army had just won a great victory. Otherwise, there would have been a big reaction in the Western Regions long ago.

"But even so, the Western Regions are not Han territory after all, and Dunhuang is still remote for Liangzhou." Zhang Meng continued. He felt that Handan Shang's suggestion was totally unfeasible.

"But if it's not Liangzhou, what if we just use the four counties of Hexi and the Western Regions to set up a new state? By then, will Dunhuang still be considered remote in the new state? Moreover, when the Western Regions gradually become Han territory in the future, given the vastness of the Western Regions, we can set up a new state."

When Zhang Meng heard this, he felt that what the Handan merchant said made a lot of sense.

Although considering the population of the four Hexi counties, it is not worth separating from Liangzhou and establishing a new state. Even if the provincial capital is a bit far away in Hanyang, it can be moved back to Wuwei in the four Hexi counties. However, establishing a new state is for future considerations!

By then, it will be very lively with the governor of the newly established state and Cheng Yu, who doesn't like to be in trouble, in the same place.

Thinking of this scene, Zhang Meng couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

Zhang Meng suddenly realized what was happening. He asked Handan Shang, "You have had this thought for a while, right?"

Handan Shang admitted it straightforwardly: "Your Excellency is wise. Although I can write a letter, my words are not as important as yours."

Seeing that the Handan merchant did not deliberately deceive, Zhang Meng said proudly: "Last year, Mr. Fu, who had served as the governor of Liangzhou for many years, came to the court to serve as Guanglu Xun. I have always respected Mr. Fu."

"Moreover, Mr. Fu's beloved son, Bie Cheng, is my friend and we are inseparable. A few days ago, Bie Cheng wrote me a letter in which he said, 'You and I have a long-standing friendship and a deep bond.'"

At this point, Zhang Meng was extremely proud: "You have found the right person by looking for me. This will definitely work. Don't worry, I won't take credit for your work."

(End of this chapter)