I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 624: Current Situation in the North
On the outskirts of Luoyang, Fu Xie sat in a carriage, opened the curtain, and watched from afar as Fu Gan followed Xu Shu away.

Seeing this, the old servant outside the carriage asked, "Why don't you see me off in person, sir?"

Fu Xie shook his head and said, "I have already told Bie Cheng everything I should tell him... He has been by my side for so many years. It is time for him to walk the rest of the way."

The old servant said with some concern: "Since the young master was a child, Beidi County moved to Zuofengyi. Later, when Beidi County tried to move back, the young master was already outside with my husband. I don't know if he can adapt to the current Beidi County!"

After hearing this, Fu Xie felt a little worried - he hoped that Fu Gan would not miss him on the first night after leaving home!
But Fu Xie didn't have much time to spend on love affairs, and soon he told the old servant: "Go back!"

The emperor had instructed him to participate in the compilation of the "Book of Official Affairs", so he must not be careless.

But what Fu Xie didn't know was that Fu Gan was much happier than Fu Xie had expected.

He is twenty-four years old this year. Fu Gan has been with his father since Fu Xie became the prefect of Hanyang more than ten years ago. This has certainly strengthened the relationship between father and son, but it has also made Fu Gan instinctively envious of those who can break away from their parents and work hard on their own.

Now that he has returned to his hometown, although this opportunity was fought for him by his father, Fu Gan is still like a bird out of a cage, full of energy all the way.

When he arrived at Zuo Fengyi, where Beidi County was once deposited, Fu Gan's enthusiasm not only did not disappear, but became even more abundant.

After all, the Fu family is a big family in Beidi County. Fu Gan still knows something about the news of Beidi County, but he has never seen it with his own eyes.

"Is this Niyang County?" Fu Gan sighed as he looked at the not-so-tall city wall.

Several years ago, it was here that Cao Cao, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and other generals defeated the invading Xianbei people. The then chief of Niyang, Fu Xun, was from the same clan as him and were both descendants of Fu Jiezi.

Now, Fu Gan looked at the city wall, which had been renovated, and there was almost no sign of it being nearly conquered. The people lived and worked in peace and contentment, with a mixture of Han and Hu people, and the order was in good order. There was no sign of tension. However, judging from the stone tablet recording the battle erected in the south of the city, the battle had not been forgotten.

Fu Gan introduced to those who didn't know much about the Battle of Niyang: "At that time, Beidi County was not completely relocated to Zuofengyi, but places like Niyang County had already been a blend of Han and Hu people... At that time, more than half of the people who defended Niyang City were Hu people living in this area."

"I heard that before the Xianbei came, the Han and the Hu were at odds for various reasons, and even fought with each other, but after the Battle of Niyang, the two sides became as close as one family."

After hearing this, Zhang Ren thought of the Qiang people outside the Great Wall that Shu County was facing... In the past, when the Qiang people outside the Great Wall invaded, there were many Qiang people inside the Great Wall who joined the Han people in defending against the invaders. This was probably the case!

Afterwards, the group received a warm reception from the head of Ni Yang. At this time, the head of Ni Yang was naturally no longer a member of Fu Gan's clan. Through Ni Yang, Xu Shu also brought a group of officials carefully selected by him to understand the basic situation of Beidi County - there are many Hu people here, and the further north they go, the more Hu people there are, and the lower the proportion of Hu people who have been assimilated into the Han culture.

Immediately afterwards, they set off for their next stop - Geju County.

"Gongyi, you see, the location of Geju County is not very good. It is not on a major transportation route, and it lacks sufficient rivers to irrigate the land. As early as more than 50 years ago, Geju County was abandoned due to war... Gongyi, do you know why Geju County was restored today?" Fu Gan asked Zhang Ren enthusiastically.

Along the way, Fu Gan discovered that although Zhang Ren didn't talk much, he was very reliable. Before leaving, his father also told him that he could make friends with people like Zhang Ren. So, Fu Gan never stopped making his presence felt in front of Zhang Ren.

Hearing Fu Gan's question, Zhang Ren pursed his lips and finally said, "Before I set out to Beidi County, I had read all the records I could find about Beidi County... and if others had paid attention to what Xu Changshi said on the way here, they would have known that the iron mine in Geju provided a lot of money to Beidi County every year, and even the farm tools for digging ditches and fields mostly came from here."

Fu Gan felt a little embarrassed when he heard Zhang Ren's words.

He did boast that he knew Beidi County very well, and many times he did not pay much attention to Xu Shu's introduction of the situation in Beidi County to the officials.

However, he reacted quickly and immediately said to Zhang Ren with a smile: "I just want to see if Gongyi is listening carefully to what Xu Changshi said... It's just a joke, Gongyi, don't take it seriously."

Hearing this, Zhang Ren forced a smile on his face, as if he believed Fu Gan's words.

Seeing this, Fu Gan seemed to want to prove his words, and continued to say to Zhang Ren: "Actually, what I want to say is that there are still Xianbei people who were captured because of the defeat working in the Geju Iron Mine!"

"But at the beginning, the soldiers in charge of guarding the Xianbei people were angry about the Xianbei people's invasion, which resulted in the death of many Xianbei people who were working. Some Xianbei people gathered together and tried to escape... Later, I heard that someone came up with an idea to let the Xianbei people with good performance manage other Xianbei people, and at the same time gave the Xianbei people the opportunity to leave the iron mine. After that, the Xianbei people worked hard without complaint..."

After saying this, Fu Gan noticed that Zhang Ren's expression didn't change at all.

He pursed his lips and asked, "Did Xu Changshi also talk about this?"

Zhang Ren nodded.

At this point, even Fu Gan himself realized the problem. He asked Zhang Ren with expectation and trepidation: "Gongyi, please tell me the truth. I didn't pay attention to what Xu Changshi said before. Does Xu Changshi know?"

Zhang Ren did not answer directly after hearing this, but said, "Although Xu Changshi has only been in office for a year, he is a disciple of the two famous scholars Huang and Pang. I have heard that Lord Zhang of Beidi has always led troops and has no experience in governing counties. However, in the governance of Beidi County over the past year, the annual examinations have all been rated as excellent."

The implication is that Xu Shu is so powerful that the answer is already obvious.

"What should I do?" With Zhang Ren's reminder, Fu Gan realized that he seemed to be a little drifting in recent times.

Zhang Ren replied, "I think Xu Changshi is a chivalrous man. It is said that there is nothing better than being able to correct one's mistakes. Since Bie Cheng knows his mistakes, he only needs to correct them, and Xu Changshi will certainly take them into consideration."

Seeing this, Fu Gan grabbed Zhang Ren's hand and said, "If it weren't for Gongyi's reminder today, I would have made the same mistake again... I wish to be friends with you, and we will live together forever!"

Zhang Ren saw that Fu Gan was the son of a noble, but he did not put on any airs when facing him. Now that he said such words, it was impossible for him not to feel touched.

So he did not break free from Fu Gan's hand, and replied: "Even saints reflect on themselves three times a day. Now Bie Cheng only reflects on his past mistakes because of his own slip of the tongue. How can he not be considered a virtuous person?"

However, it is hard to tell what Zhang Ren would feel if he knew that Fu Gan's words of "loyalty and kindness" were not just directed at him alone.

If Niyang County and Geju County were not very hard to find because they were established by the Han Dynasty earlier, then when the group came to the hinterland of Beidi County, that is, the area beside the river, they could see everything clearly. A heavy snow covered the already dry and yellow grass, and even the surging river water from the sky could only surge under the ice.

If it weren't for the wisp of smoke rising up not far away, bringing with it the scent of the countryside, Fu Gan would have felt like he was in the wilderness.

In fact, where he was, could indeed be called a wilderness.

Everyone in the group got off their horses, some leading the horses, some leading the carriages... and moving forward with difficulty following the footprints left by their predecessors.

It was cold, too cold… Even though he wore clothes stuffed with white folds, the cold wind still penetrated Fu Xie’s body through the gaps in his clothes. Even the horse’s hooves and body were wrapped in special linen clothes… Actually, except for the time when Ji County in Hanyang County was about to be breached by the rebels, Fu Gan had never experienced such a difficult situation.

He exhaled white air and curiously asked Zhang Ren, who was walking in front of him, loudly: "Shu is in the south, and it is not as cold as the north. Have you ever seen snow in Shu before?"

"I see that justice is not afraid of cold even more than I am! I tell you, if you feel cold, just speak a few words loudly and you will feel warm."

"There is snow in Shu County... Over the years, the yin and yang between heaven and earth have been out of order. There has been hail in June, not to mention snow. It happens almost every year!" Zhang Ren shouted.

But having said that, the snow in Shu County is completely incomparable to the snow in Beidi, both in terms of the amount of snow and the temperature. Zhang Ren, who had been living in Shu County before entering Luoyang as a filial and honest official, suddenly came to Beidi County. How could he not feel cold? However, after following Fu Gan's advice and shouting out loud, Zhang Ren did feel better.

After a long time, they finally arrived at Xu Shu's house under his leadership and had their second hot meal of the day.

During this time, Fu Gan approached Zhang Ren again and asked, "Is Gongyi really not cold? My feet are frozen."

"My feet lost feeling when I was walking yesterday. I soaked them in hot water for a long time in the evening before they got better," Zhang Ren replied.

"Hmm?" Fu Gan looked at Zhang Ren who said this calmly, and was a little confused for a moment, "Since it's cold, even if you shout, no one will laugh at you? I saw you delivering hot water to others yesterday!"

Zhang Ren calmly shook his head and said, "It's nothing... When I was studying in my hometown, it wasn't as cold as in the north, but I didn't have such thick clothes and shoes... At that time, I had to walk more than ten miles every day to go to school. When it snowed, it was common for my feet to be frozen. I got used to it."

"It's okay, actually. What I'm most worried about is that my hands will be shaking from the cold, and I won't be able to copy the book properly..."

After hearing this, Fu Gan was very sure that Zhang Ren was telling the truth and he was indeed used to it.

"When the hot water is ready, just wait here and I'll bring you hot water for soaking your feet!" Fu Gan couldn't help feeling sentimental.

Before this, he had always heard his father say that it was difficult for children from poor families to study, but seeing is believing. After listening to Zhang Ren's calm narration today, he immediately felt the same way.

At this moment, the owner of the house that provided them with the house came respectfully to announce that the water had been boiled.

After hearing this, Fu Gan immediately stood up to get hot water for Zhang Ren. However, he found that Zhang Ren had followed him and said that he wanted to help his colleague who was suffering from the cold... and the servant who had followed Fu Gan all the way had already brought the hot water prepared for Fu Gan. Seeing this scene, Fu Gan was even more moved.

Soon, Zhang Ren and those who were in better condition helped provide hot water.

On the other side, Xu Shu, who had just finished talking to the owner, saw this scene and nodded with satisfaction.

This Zhang Ren was indeed the right choice.

Based on his understanding of Zhang Fei, when Zhang Fei meets someone like Zhang Ren, he will definitely make use of him and he will be no worse than Fu Gan, who comes from a good family.

Thinking of this, after everyone was settled, Xu Shu specifically called Zhang Ren and asked, "What do you think of the owner of this household? Is he a good man?"

After hearing this, Zhang Ren immediately thought that if the head of the household was just an ordinary citizen, Xu Shu would definitely not ask this question. However, he really could not tell the difference between the head of the household and ordinary people. In his opinion, the head of the household was no different from the Han people in Niyang County who had passed by before, and did not look like a Hun or a Xianbei.

Even being unusually respectful to Xu Shu was normal.

"I didn't notice anything unusual." Zhang Ren answered truthfully without making any assumptions.

"It's no wonder you can't tell. In fact, if I didn't know his background, I wouldn't have known that he was a county official and was only here because of corruption." Xu Shu said, "Do you think he is kind?"

Zhang Ren said, "Judging from his words and actions, he should have changed his ways, right?"

Xu Shu said: "Because many Xianbei people have surrendered, but there are not enough petty officials, so they are used to help handle documents, and their crimes are reduced for this merit..."

Zhang Ren was moved when he heard this.

"It seems that Gongyi has already thought of it. This person's old habits are hard to change... If we really care about his crimes, they are not that serious. But if we let him go, a thousand-mile dam can also be destroyed by an ant hole." Xu Shu continued, "I have already warned him. From now on, I will arrange for him to work under you. You must take good care of him. If he still refuses to change his old habits, even if Beidi County is short of people, he can no longer be kept."

"However, given his courage, as long as the superiors give him more admonitions, he should be able to stop it."

Along the way, Zhang Ren got to know Xu Shu's character and knew that Xu Shu was not a person who would bend the law for personal gain. Even when Xu Shu was facing a lack of available people, he could only use people with stains first... Zhang Ren immediately bowed and said, "I will definitely live up to the trust of the Chief Secretary!"

At this time, Xu Shu said, "Did you hear me? This is your last chance!"

Upon hearing this, the householder immediately came out from the darkness and thanked Xu Shu profusely.

Zhang Ren was not surprised by this, he just thought in his heart that there were more evil people in this frontier land than he had imagined!
If the Han people are like this, what about the Xianbei people?
(End of this chapter)