Big Song Xiaohou Ye

Chapter 54
The main duty of the county lieutenant is to arrest thieves and maintain local law and order, which is somewhat similar to the police chief of later generations.This week, De'an has an upright personality and has always been at odds with Zhang Chucai, so he has been oppressed by Zhang Chucai. Dashui in Yizhou saw that Zhang Chucai was still addicted to drinking and sex, and he didn't talk to him, so he led his men to fight the disaster. Today he came Seeing such momentum, he thought that Chen Yaozuo was here to catch the scapegoat.

Some people went to inspect the embankment, and finally there was a decent one, and Chen Yaozuo's face softened a little.

"Then tell me about the river disaster." Chen Yaozuo said.

"My lord, the river disaster this time was mainly caused by the breach of the Yellow River in the west of Yizhou. It was also the place where the disaster was the worst. Large areas of fields were flooded and villages were covered. We are already rushing to repair it, but...the manpower is really limited, so The process has been delayed a bit..." Zhou De'an was no longer as nervous as before, he replied cautiously, and carefully peeked at Chen Yaozuo's reaction after speaking.

Chen Yaozuo was a little displeased and said, "That's all? How is the river embankment repaired?"

Zhou De'an hurriedly said: "The flood is too great, and some people have nowhere to start. They can only fill it up a little bit. Some river embankments have just been repaired, and then they are washed away by the flood. Repeatedly, the process is delayed. The lower officials are ignorant, there is really no good way, after two days of reckless work, the embankment has only been repaired for more than one mile..." Zhou De'an had no choice but to bite the bullet and gritted his teeth. After speaking, he bowed his head to receive Chen Yaozuo's scolding.

Sure enough, Chen Yaozuo frowned after hearing this, and he looked at Zhou De'an for a while and said, "Well, good, you have done a good job, now you will temporarily take over the post of magistrate of Yizhou, don't kneel down, get up."

ah?Promoted me to be a county magistrate?Zhou De'an was a little dazed at this time, not only was he not dismissed from office for questioning, he was also promoted to a county magistrate, which was really unexpected.

"You guys, don't think that I don't know what you have done these days. I will give you another chance to make up for your mistakes. If you don't do well again, hum! The two of them will end!" Chen Yaozuo turned his face and shouted coldly.

Chen Yaozuo is worthy of being a veteran in the officialdom. He dealt with the county magistrate and the county magistrate because they were the biggest officials in the area but they did not act. They must be severely punished.Although other people did not do well, but the situation in Yizhou is a mess now. It is not suitable to do large-scale cleaning at the time of employing people. Although these old officials in the officialdom are hateful, they are familiar with the situation in Yizhou after all. The river trouble still requires their efforts, and he understands the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish.Besides, after today's killing of chickens and monkeys, all the officials have also learned a lot, and they will definitely not dare to neglect their duties when they go back.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief as if they had received an amnesty, and said in a hurry that they would do their best, spare no effort, and go all out.

"My lord, the flood in Yizhou is imminent. If you delay for a moment, you will have more casualties. As the saying goes, more people are more powerful. Although you have transferred the imperial army from Zhending Mansion, according to my personal practice in the past few days, even if In addition to Yizhou's Xiang army, there is still a shortage of manpower." Zhou De'an is an honest man, and he feels that since Chen Yaozuo has been promoted to his official position, he should perform his duties conscientiously.

"You can recruit civilian husbands. There are many young and strong people in Yizhou." A small official quickly took the opportunity to express, seeing that Zhou De'an was actually promoted, his brain began to come alive.

"Yes, but who is willing to go? It's a thankless thing, and if you don't do it, your life will be in danger. Besides, the food supply is not enough, and the peasants can't eat enough. Who has the energy to work." Zhou De'an had a bitter face. .

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to go? If you can't do it, you can forcibly recruit them and let the soldiers catch them. This is a matter for the whole city of Yizhou." The petty official made another move.

Try to come up with some bad ideas, and such ideas as catching strong men are also ideas?He could think of it with his toes, Li Ce cursed secretly, he saw that several other people felt the same way, as if they agreed with the bad idea of ​​this little official, so he had to stop it quickly and said: "I was afraid that after the catastrophe, the people's desperation would arouse Civil uprising, if you come up with such a bad idea again, won’t you force them to go to Liangshan? Wouldn’t it be even more chaotic by then?”

"Forced to the top?" someone asked.

Oh, forgot, this is not yet the age of Liangshan heroes.

"This... is what it means to force the people to rebel." Li Ce scratched his head and said.

The little official blushed with embarrassment at what Li Ce said. He saw that Li Ce was not like an official but he followed Chen Yaozuo, and he seemed to have a close relationship, so he didn't dare to offend him, so he bowed his head and retreated.

"The army is short of manpower, and civilian husbands can't be recruited, so what do you say?" Another official said. He felt that Li Ce was a brat who would only make random comments and play tricks. material.

"Who said civilian husbands can't be used anymore? Is it necessary to recruit? We need to mobilize their enthusiasm and let them work voluntarily, so that it will be efficient." Li Ce smiled slightly, and he saw how many people He was angry with himself, but Chen Yaozuo didn't dare to show it here.

"Unless you pay them wages, only fools would take the initiative to go." The official sneered.

"Hey, you're right, I just want to pay them!" Li Ce smiled brilliantly.

"Yizhou's poverty is jingling. Now that there is a flood, this year's tax revenue can't be collected. How can I have spare money to pay wages." Another official complained.

Chen Yaozuo waved his hand to stop the crowd from continuing to besiege Li Ce, and said, "You mean to attract the people by reducing or exempting taxes, corvee and other means? This is also a way, and it is not without precedent before."

"Your Excellency is wise." Li Ce smiled and presented a high hat, and deliberately glanced at the others with contempt.

In the later generations, it was very common to be paid for work, but it was different in this feudal era. These officials naturally believed that it was only natural to order the people to do things, and there was no need to discuss it, let alone pay wages.

"My lord doesn't know. We also know about these methods. It's just that...the people in Yizhou are tough and the people are extremely tricky. If you just give them such a promise, the people may not be willing to buy it." The previous officials were bitter. Added with a straight face.

"Hmph, haven't the common people refused to trust the government because you have repeatedly deceived them?" Zhou De'an snorted coldly.

"Hey, Zhou De'an, what are you talking about? What does it mean to be deceived by us? How did we deceive the people?" Naturally, everyone refused to admit it honestly.

"Hmph, I'm ashamed to say that the year before last the conscripts dug ditches and promised to reduce the rent, and last year the drought borrowed the people's food and promised to double the repayment. Which one did you do?" Zhou De'an angrily pointed out sharply, mercilessly.

"The common people should have served corvee." Several people were still defending.

"Is there such a frequent corvée? Several times a year?"

The two sides couldn't stop arguing, and the lobby was as noisy as a market.

"Okay, stop arguing! The flood is imminent, and human life is beyond the sky. It doesn't matter how much money is spent. You guys hurry up and arrange corvee work. All Yizhou's annual tax withholdings will be taken out as wages for conscripting husbands." Chen Yaozuo said, what time is it, and they are still arguing over a little money!

(End of this chapter)