Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Seeing the Magistrate of Qiantang County shout as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw, Gu Yong opened his mouth to remind him, appearing like an honest man.

“Before the lord went to Xu Province, he had already handed over the seal of the Grand Administrator to Li Juncheng. Not to mention stamping a warrant, even stamping it on my face would be no problem.”

Immediately, the Magistrate of Qiantang County paused, muttering in disbelief.

“How… how is that possible? That is the seal of office! Why would Lord Prefect hand over the seal to Li Ji? Isn't Lord Prefect afraid of being sidelined by Li Ji?”

You should know that in an era when news was not easily transmitted, the seal was the most important symbol of identity, and it was also the most important symbol for exercising power.

With the Grand Administrator's seal in hand, Li Ji could even completely replace all the officials in Wu County with his own people when Liu Bei left, thereby completely sidelining Liu Bei.

“Thank you for the reminder, I almost forgot.”

Gu Yong, as if suddenly remembering something, walked up to the Magistrate of Qiantang County and then reached out to untie the seal that was tied around the Magistrate's waist.

Seeing this, the Magistrate of Qiantang County struggled frantically.

“Give it back… give it back to me…”

“On what basis? Even if Li Ji has the seal of Lord Prefect, on what basis can he take away my position for no reason and punish me?”

Gu Yong repeated Li Ji's reasoning, saying, “In a year of great disaster, you were ordered to be on standby in the city, yet you dared to get drunk and neglect your duties. This is enough.”

At this moment, the Magistrate of Qiantang County no longer had any stubbornness, only begging for mercy and explaining himself.

“The crime doesn't warrant death, the crime doesn't warrant death! This official is now sober and can immediately go to the government office to listen to orders and will never neglect my duties.”

“What you said is also true. With you looking so neat and tidy, even if I dragged you outside the posthouse to be beheaded, I'm afraid it would cause a lot of discussion among the people, and Juncheng might even blame me afterward.”

Gu Yong muttered, causing a glimmer of hope to reappear in the eyes of the Magistrate of Qiantang County.

However, before the Magistrate of Qiantang County could say anything more.

Gu Yong's nose twitched slightly, as if he smelled the lingering scent of alcohol in the room.

Then, Gu Yong followed the scent of alcohol to the couch in the room, opened it and took a look. Inside was half a pot of wine that had not yet been finished.

Immediately afterward, Gu Yong carried the half pot of wine to the Magistrate of Qiantang County.

Gu Yong still had that honest and slow-witted look on his face, but the pot of wine in his hand was slowly poured over the Magistrate of Qiantang County in front of everyone.

Instantly, half of the Magistrate of Qiantang County's body was soaked with fine wine, and he began to exude a strong aroma of alcohol.

As the wine pot emptied, Gu Yong's voice rang out, saying.

“In this way, it will be enough to easily convince the public.”

“Want to condemn me, this official…”

However, with a wave of Gu Yong's hand, the two soldiers controlling the Magistrate of Qiantang County directly blocked his mouth and then dragged the Magistrate of Qiantang County out.

The next moment, a scream came from outside, and then there was no more movement.

This was when Xu Wen, who had been stunned to the side, suddenly reacted, with a look of horror on his face.

“What, how am I going to be dealt with?”

Xu Wen asked Gu Yong, trying to sound confident.

Gu Yong had a bit more of a smile on his face, and after stuffing the seal of the Magistrate of Qiantang County into Xu Wen's hand, he said.

“Congratulations, Lord Xu. According to Juncheng's intention, Lord Xu will temporarily serve as the acting Magistrate of Qiantang County. Once the government office reports this appointment to the imperial court, and the imperial court officially issues the appointment, Lord Xu will be the parent official of Qiantang County from now on.”

“Ah? ? ! !”

The surprise came a little too quickly, so much so that Xu Wen couldn't quite understand it for a moment.

Last night, he was dragged by his superior to a banquet to drink wine, forced to perform talents to add to the fun, and this morning he struggled to climb out of a drunken state to wake up his superior to attend the meeting.

Then, before the late superior could leave, the superior was beheaded, and I myself was promoted?

“Cough cough…”

Gu Yong coughed lightly to remind Xu Wen, and then said, “Juncheng is waiting for you in the government office to attend the meeting, you should set off quickly.”

“Yes!”

Awakening from his dream, Xu Wen didn't have time to slowly experience the complexity in his heart. While clutching the seal in his hand, he almost ran towards the government office from the posthouse.

The corpse of the former magistrate was still lying outside the posthouse, not yet cold!

And Xu Wen deliberately controlled himself not to look at the corpse of the former magistrate, but when he passed by, he really smelled a burst of wine, and after walking a little further, he vaguely heard Gu Yong publicly announcing the crimes of the former magistrate.

And when Xu Wen quickly arrived at the government office, and was led by a clerk into the room where the meeting was being held.

Xu Wen's appearance almost attracted the attention of all the magistrates who were reading bamboo slips.

A series of gazes were cast towards Xu Wen…

However, when the magistrates saw the seal hanging on Xu Wen's waist, their hearts, which were already half cold, almost turned completely cold.

That Li Zikun was indeed not just talking, simply bluffing people.

The Magistrate of Qiantang County was probably already in a different place by now!

Suddenly, Xu Wen, who had just entered the room, seemed to hear many swallowing sounds, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to become much more tense all of a sudden.

However, Xu Wen didn't have time to observe more, and was led to his seat by a clerk.

Immediately, Xu Wen had just opened a roll of bamboo slips, and before he had time to look closely at the contents, Li Ji also entered the room again.

Instantly, the magistrates present, with their different thoughts and anxieties, all straightened their expressions and mustered all their spirits.

And Li Ji felt the different reactions of the magistrates entering the room twice, and couldn't help but secretly laugh in his heart.

Killing the chicken to warn the monkey…

Will always be the quickest way to establish authority.

Among them, Li Ji's gaze lingered on Xu Wen for a moment, causing the tension to visibly appear on Xu Wen's face.

However, Li Ji didn't have any special expression towards Xu Wen, and his gaze skipped over in the next moment.

For Li Ji, Xu Wen was relatively special, but still quite ordinary.

What was ordinary was that Xu Wen's ability didn't have anything too outstanding at the moment, what was special was that Xu Wen's background wasn't even considered a poor scholar, even a servant, and Xu Wen's temperament and moral character were still good.

If Xu Wen was a promising talent, Li Ji would give Xu Wen considerable support, in order to send some signals to many scholars of humble backgrounds.

More importantly, Li Ji wanted to create a benchmark for the poor people through Xu Wen, so that the poor people would support their children to study as much as possible.

In this era where there were no imperial examinations or schools, the literacy rate was frighteningly low!

Writing and knowledge were almost completely in the hands of powerful families, and the common people at the bottom were both illiterate and had no way to become literate.

Therefore, it was not that many emperors of the Han Dynasty wanted to rely on powerful families to maintain their rule, but had to do so.

After all, if a person doesn't even know how to read, how can he govern one side?

If you are illiterate, it is even impossible to become a minor official.

The rule of "Ren De Academy" not asking about background, on the surface seems to be beneficial to poor scholars, and is sought after and praised by countless poor scholars, but in fact it is also an opportunity that Li Ji secretly gives to the people.

It's just that no scholar has noticed it yet.

Because whether in the eyes of powerful families or scholars, they are not on the same track as ordinary people.

Therefore, Xu Wen can already be regarded as a rare exception in this era.

Born as a book boy, he gradually showed his ability, and then was supported by the former Magistrate of Qiantang County as a family minister to the position of County Magistrate.

This can also be regarded as the only administrative achievement of the former Magistrate of Qiantang County. Knowing that his ability was not good, he let Xu Wen be the County Magistrate.

Of course, Li Ji was more inclined to believe that the former Magistrate of Qiantang County only wanted to take more time to enjoy himself.

These thoughts flashed through Li Ji's mind in an instant, and on the surface, Li Ji's expression did not change at all as he sat on the main seat.

“Thank you all for accepting the invitation to come here, Ji is very grateful.”

Immediately, the magistrates below humbly expressed “You're too kind”.

“The bamboo slips that were distributed to you just now, I believe you have already read a part of them, that is the water network plan that you colleagues need to re-dredge, excavate, or fill in your respective areas next.”

Although many magistrates who had read part of the content had expected it, they were still greatly shocked when they actually heard this, and some magistrates clearly showed a bitter expression on their faces.

“Absolutely not!”

Lou County Magistrate, who had a very upright personality, couldn't help but stand up and say.

“Please think twice, Lord Juncheng! In my opinion, this water network plan is indeed a great benefit for all generations!”

“However, if each county independently conscripts laborers, not to mention the consumption of money and food, I am afraid that it will arouse the resentment of the people, and it is not impossible for them to flee their homes.”

“Does Lord Juncheng want the people of Wu County to become refugees from the north?”

In a word!

That is a sin in this generation, but a merit for thousands of years!

And the counties do not have the ability to implement such a huge plan, and the county government's money and food are limited.

If the magistrate is a little more honest and upright, the county's money and food will be a little tight to maintain the operation and expenses of the county government. The most surplus money in a year is to recruit three to five hundred laborers to repair the city walls and clean up the river channels, which can be regarded as diligent administration and peace for the people.

If you want to carry out major actions such as repairing roads, in the past, the magistrate would need to request donations from the local powerful families and get the support of the local powerful families.

One word—poor, bitter!

Therefore, after Lou County Magistrate saw the water network planning plan issued by Li Ji, his heart was filled with worry.

He was afraid that Li Ji would forcibly conscript laborers to carry out the water network plan, which would be tyrannical!

The lives of the common people were already quite difficult. Each household often had only one or two laborers. Once they were forced to dredge river channels, even required to bring their own rations, how were the remaining elderly, weak, women, and children to survive?

And could those laborers even survive the heavy labor?

I'm afraid that before long, even if the river channels were repaired, the local area would be desolate.

Li Ji looked at the magistrate of Lou County, who had his neck stuck out, appearing as if he wasn't afraid of being killed, and couldn't help but praise him.

"In my Wu Commandery, there is a virtuous official who cares about the people, excellent!" (End of Chapter)