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Chapter 285
Among the prefects of Zhuojun.Li Chongjiu sat opposite Wei Zheng, with a pot of plum wine in the middle and a reed mat under him.Seeing each other again, in Li Chongjiu's eyes, Wei Zheng still gave him a kind of seriousness, seriousness, and a sense of calm and prestige.

Wei Zheng took the lead and said: "Duke Wei asked me to assist Li Shijun here. If there is anyone in Wei who is worthy of being sent by the envoy, please do not hesitate to order him."

Li Chongjiu smiled and said: "Alright, I have admired Brother Wei for a long time. In this case, I will boldly ask Brother Wei for advice. Although Youzhou is not a big place, it is also an important place for the court. Now King Xuba , Luo Yi, Gao Kaidao and other thieves are looting, and the people are impoverished, how should we govern?"

Wei Zheng pinched his beard and said: "Emissary, it is easy to rule a great chaos, just as easy to eat a hungry person. As long as Li Shijun has a heart of love for the people, let the local area cultivate and thrive, and don't fight, Youzhou will be restored to its old state within a few years. .”

After hearing this, Li Chongjiu smiled, and asked again: "The common people are easy to govern, but the rats are difficult to clear. The gentry in Zhuojun stole granaries and sold grain and rice for personal gain. They also built dams on the upper reaches of the river privately. Cutting off the river for one's own selfishness, causing the people on both sides of the bank to be unable to cultivate the fields, hiding the population, lowering the land tax, and causing my treasury to be empty, all of which are serious disadvantages."

Wei Zhengyan said: "Your Majesty, since the Han Dynasty, the gentry in Youzhou have existed for hundreds of years. They have already been deeply rooted in the local area. They are connected by flesh and blood in the texture. They cannot be dissected. Right now, Youzhou is full of wars and chaos. Serious illness, serious illness, it is not easy to give strong medicine, you need to slowly replenish it, and when you are in good health, I will make you seek after effects."

Li Chongjiu showed a look of deep agreement, but said: "Although that is the case, how can I bear it now?"

Wei Zheng cupped his hands and said: "A certain view of the ambition of the emperor is not that Youzhou has one city and one place. Now the gentry in Youzhou cannot be attached to it, but the power of the emperor, which is not enough to convince them. A certain suggestion can make the emperor spread widely." Gather food and grass, train elite soldiers, recruit leaders from poor families and merchants to be officials, encourage farming and war among the people, and never become king until there is no chance of victory."

"Afterwards, the land was expanded for four battles, the di barbarians were conquered, and military achievements were accumulated. Qin used to be a country of barbarians, but the sixth generation was able to conquer the world, so you must not act too hastily."

Li Chongjiu's eyes froze when he heard this, and he said with a smile: "Brother Wei, why do you say that I have the ambition to be king, and now I serve under the banner of Duke Wei. You are also a subject of Duke Wei."

Wei Zheng shook his head, and said: "In terms of taste, Duke Wei is a talent of the sky. In less than two years, he has grown from a poor land to today with an army of 50, one-third of the world. I Wei seldom convinced others in his life, but Wei Gong was the only one. Wei Gong is actually Cao Cao, a hero like Sun Zhongmou."

"But the more talented a person is, the more he is unwilling to accept advice. Wei Gong insists on his talent and refuses to listen to other people's opinions. When I was in Wei Gong's mansion, I once offered ten suggestions to Wei Gong, but they were all rejected. Wei Gong refuted it, so I understood that Wei Guogong's mansion was not the place where I, Wei Zhengyishi, was the director. To be honest, I came to Youzhou because I asked Wei Gong for orders. Because I think Li Shijun is not as good as Wei Gong, but He is a person who is willing to accept advice with an open mind, so Wei's talent can be displayed to the greatest extent in Youzhou."

I am not as good as Li Mi.Hearing these words, Li Chongjiu couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in his heart. No one said that in person, but after thinking about it, he felt relieved, seeing that Wei Zheng was really a straight-talking person.It seems that this famous official in history, although he changed his master five times, he also wanted to find a monarch who could display his ambitions in one go.

Li Chongjiu smiled, put aside the little grievance just now, and said: "I don't know if Brother Wei can be allowed to live in Youzhou. I don't know, but Brother Wei is definitely a person who can treat each other honestly. If so, I will entrust Zhuojun to Brother Wei."
Wei Zheng got up immediately when he heard the words, and bowed to Li Chongjiu with the courtesy of a scholar-bureaucrat.

Li Chongjiu sat on the chair and accepted it calmly, then got up and helped Wei Zheng up, and said: "Brother Wei and I are both from poor families. Back then you were a Taoist priest, and I also entered a Buddhist temple. Now we must work together."

"No." Wei Zheng finally revealed a strange expression on his staid face.

After the gentry of Zhuojun gave their sincerity to Li Mi, the current Zhuojun officials also began to return to the government office, and the county government was on duty, and Zhuojun returned to its old outlook.

Li Chongjiu immediately announced to everyone that Wei Zheng was the head of Zhuo County, and the previous county magistrate had been killed by Luo Yi.

The officials of the Youzhou gentry inquired about Wei Zheng's background one after another. Hearing that although Wei Zheng was born as a petty official, he had also been a Taoist priest before, and he was from a poor family in another county, so they couldn't help but slander him.But this time they did not vent their grievances on Li Chongjiu, because they all knew that Wei Zheng belonged to Li Mi, so how could Li Chongjiu not use it in order to save Li Mi's face.

Li Chongjiu pretended to be the governor of Youzhou, and basically ignored the affairs of Zhuojun, so Wei Zheng, as the highest civil official of Zhuojun, began to manage the affairs of the county.

The local officials were dissatisfied, and began to bully them. Although they thought that Wei Zheng had a good background, Li Mi was thousands of miles away, so he felt a little embarrassed, so he had to deal with Zhengyin officials. It is a set.

At present, in the county guard's mansion, the Six Cao Divisions have accumulated old records, hundreds of volumes of cases, piled up like a mountain, and put them in front of the case files for Wei Zheng to deal with. This is to see Wei Zheng's joke.As a result, Wei Zheng was about to read all the cases in one day and one night, and immediately called the officials of Liucao together, and dealt with them one by one.

All the officials in Zhuo County were shocked, and the name of Wei Zheng spread throughout the official circles of Zhuo County. Everyone knew that the superior officials were powerful, and Wei Zheng was an absolutely capable official.

In the county guard's mansion, Lu Chengqing, the county secretary, was sitting on the side. He was secretly surprised to see Wei Zheng's handling of documents so skillfully, as if he had practiced in the yamen for decades.

As the Sima of the county, Lu Chengqing was going to be Chang Shi's deputy, and he was also the second person among the civil officials in Zhuo County.When Li Chongjiu recruited him as an official, Lu Chengqing hesitated for a while, and then asked his uncle Lu Ziqian for instructions.

Lu Ziqian just said seven words to him lightly, "Since you come, you will be safe."

Lu Chengqing got his uncle's idea, so he went to the county guard's mansion to take up his post.For the gentry, the stage from being white to becoming an official is called Shi Brown.The descendants of the gentry are also divided into three, six, and nine grades. For example, Lu Chengqing, a gentry from the Lu family of Fan Yang, served as Sima of a county. For him, he was absolutely worthy of the identity of the Lu family.

What Lu Chengqing saw along the way, within the county guard's mansion, the officials of Zhuo County, big and small, walked like the wind, and they were in a hurry as if they had found a fire at home.

When several officials met, they asked, where did you put the dossier that Wei Changshi wanted?
If you can't find it, you will be fined.

It's okay to forget the fine, but I'm afraid of being blamed.

All the officials kept walking.

When Lu Chengqing saw him, he couldn't help feeling a little afraid of this colleague who would work with him in the future. When he went to the Chang Shi's room, he saw more than a dozen officials lined up in front of Wei Zheng's desk.

And Wei Zheng wrote at his desk. After reading an official document, he glanced at ten lines in a cursory glance, judged it, and then flipped it.

In a blink of an eye, more than a dozen officials in the world were sweating profusely and were beaten clean by Wei Zheng. Only then did Wei Zheng pick up his teacup and take a sip of tea.

Lu Chengqing coughed lightly, cupped his hands to Wei Zheng and said, "It's the county commander, Lu Chengqing, who met Wei Changshi."

Wei Zheng raised his head and glanced at Lu Chengqing. Lu Chengqing felt that Wei Zheng's eyes were like knives, as if they were scratching himself.

Wei Zheng immediately asked: "It's okay, the county government is busy, so it would be nice to have Lu Sima to take care of my worries, but I don't know what Lu Sima is good at? Criminal name? Taxation? Teaching order?"

Lu Chengqing was sweating profusely when he heard this. He has been busy studying in the mansion for the past few years, but although he is not completely ignorant of local governance, he is not proficient.

Seeing Lu Chengqing's embarrassment, Wei Zheng didn't reveal it. He pondered for a while and said, "This year's local township ritual drinking is coming soon. How about you come forward as the abbot of our Zhuojun County?"

Lu Chengqing was immediately overjoyed when he heard that the village rituals drink wine. This is a place where every year, the officials of the village recommend virtuous men to the imperial court, and have a drink with them in the village school, as a guest ceremony.

This is a banquet custom of the Han people that has been passed down from ancient times. During the banquet, those in their sixties sit and those in their fifties stand to serve in order to listen to government service.Confucius once said in the past, "I look at my hometown and know the changes of the king's way."It's the village ritual drinking.

Of course, the so-called village ritual drinking must be presided over by an official, usually the local Zhengyin official.And Lu Chengqing participates in this kind of banquet every year. During the banquet, the local celebrities will recommend the children of the gentry who have not yet become official to the local officials. Get ready.

Lu Chengqing promised immediately, saying: "I will definitely try my best."

Wei Zhengyan said: "A certain person has always been fair and impartial in handling affairs. Although you come from a famous family and come from a scholarly family, in my Wei Zheng's eyes, the nobles and the common people are not second-class. You have to do things with sincerity. If you do well, I will not praise you. , but if you don’t do well, I will reprimand you, if you are dissatisfied with me, you can speak up to me, or report to the envoy, I have no objection.”

Lu Chengqing's heart trembled when he heard this, although Wei Zheng's words were stern and selfless, but for him, he felt differently.In the past, others would only regard him as the young master of the Lu family and respect him very much, but now he is also an official of a county.

Hearing what Wei Zheng said, it made him feel like he was trying his best to do things. Now he is not the young master of the Lu family, but the county Sima of Zhuo County.At that moment, Lu Chengqing took the order and left.Seeing the windy footsteps of Lu Chengqing, Wei Zheng couldn't help but nodded secretly.

(End of this chapter)