Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 41 The Suffering of Common People
"He wrote this?"

"It should be. You can tell from the word."

The next morning, Liu Jilian personally brought the rules for governing Shandan to the government office, and had the soldiers hand them over to Zhang Huairong.

He titled this charter "Chapter on Governing Shandan", and Zhang Huairong, who obtained this article, also brought it to Zhang Yichao.

At this time, in the inner hall of the yamen, Zhang Yichao, dressed in casual clothes, sat in the main seat, and Zhang Huairong sat beside him.

Zhang Yichao looked at the "Zhi Shandan Chapter" in front of him. Although he was satisfied with its content, his brows were still slightly furrowed.

There is no other reason, it’s just because Liu Jilian’s handwriting is not very nice, even a little ugly.

From the perspective of ordinary people, it is enough as long as they can understand the words, but for officials, writing and articles still have some requirements.

The font sizes of the article written by Liu Jilong are different, which makes it look very difficult to read.

"The content is good, but his handwriting needs more practice. Give him two pieces of hemp paper from the treasury and let him practice his handwriting."

"If we wait for Zhangye to transfer people here, those officials will laugh at his handwriting for days."

Zhang Yichao said this with some disdain, and at the same time put down the "Zhi Shandan Chapter" in his hand.

"Huai Shen has found a good assistant for you. It is understandable that you let him serve as the chief clerk. With him around, I feel relieved."

Hearing this, Zhang Huairong also chuckled and said, "I hope Huai Shen won't fight with me after he knows this."

"Haha, he has a lot of people on his side. Although the tyrants in Zhangye City have been subdued by us, they also want to fight for their own interests."

Zhang Yichao explained: "In Shandan, we will arrange for some people to come and take up the post in a few days."

"After they come over, you have to maintain a balance between them and the people from Shazhou. You must not lose your composure."

"Uncle, don't worry!" Zhang Huairong nodded seriously. Seeing this, Zhang Yichao also turned his attention to the "Chapter on Treating Shandan", but this time he didn't say anything else.

Before the uncle and nephew could continue discussing other topics, a soldier walked out of the yard outside the inner hall.

"Sima, General Liu wants to withdraw his salary for the first half of this year. What do you think..."

The soldier bowed and spoke in front of the inner hall. Zhang Huairong frowned slightly when he heard it.

Although Shazhou boasted of the Tang Dynasty's official system everywhere, due to the shortage of materials, it implemented the annual salary system, that is, it was paid once a year.

Normally, except for the soldiers who died in battle, the rest will be distributed before winter.

Liu Jilong came to collect his salary now, and happened to meet Zhang Yichao when he was there, which made Zhang Huairong feel a little uncomfortable.

"Give it to him."

Before Zhang Huairong could say anything, Zhang Yichao took the initiative to speak and taught Zhang Huairong:

"You can't use yourself as a benchmark for others. I've looked into Liu Jilong's family situation. Although his ancestors fled to Guazhou with the army, there are only three branches left."

"Liu Jilong lost his father when he was young, and his mother before he joined the army. He was able to support himself by working as a herdsman, and his family was poor for many years."

"Although he received rewards many times, he was very generous and often used his own money to treat soldiers to food. It is estimated that the money and food had long been squandered by him."

"If he comes to collect money and food, just give it to him. It can also make him feel grateful to you. Why not do it?"

Zhang Yichao explained for Liu Jilong, but at the same time he couldn't help but shook his head at Zhang Huairong in his heart.

Zhang Huairong was good in everything except that he had some of the habits of the sons of powerful families. Although these sons of powerful families had also been in financial difficulties because their monthly allowances had been spent, they did not have to worry about basic necessities, so how could they understand the difficulties of the lower-class soldiers?

If I were not here today, even if this kid gave Liu Jilong a salary, there would probably be a rift between them, and I would have to guide him properly.

"My uncle taught me that I should have someone pay him money and food."

After Zhang Yichao's advice, Zhang Huairong also reacted and took the initiative to suggest:

"Now that Shandan has just been established, many soldiers are far away from home. Why not take this opportunity to pay all the salaries from October last year to June this year?"

"If the soldiers want to send money and food home, they can also be escorted back by the army to avoid being robbed by the barbarians."

Zhang Huairong was able to draw inferences from one example, which made Zhang Yichao feel a little relieved. He nodded and said, "That's the best, but we still need to make some improvements."

"Escorting money and grain will only increase expenses. Tell the soldiers in Shandan Zhechongfu to pay them nine months' salary in advance. If anyone wants to send money home, they should explain it clearly when they receive their military pay and the salary will be deducted accordingly."

"You ask the Zhibais to record the needs of these soldiers in a book, and I will return to Shazhou with the book and ask the government warehouses along the way to distribute money and food to their families, saving the trouble of escorting them."

"Yes!" Zhang Huairong quickly said yes, and then asked the soldiers to tell Liu Jilong to gather the soldiers who followed the army to the yamen to set up a case and assemble, and at the same time send the news of paying nine months' salary to the Shandan military camp.

Since Liu Jilian was waiting in the main hall, when the soldier who delivered the message came out, he subconsciously stood up from his chair and waited for the soldier to speak.

"General Liu, pass on the military order from Zhang Sima. Please gather the soldiers who have followed the army and gather them in front of the government office. Tell the five regiments of the Shandan Zhechongfu to come to the government office to collect their nine-month salary in advance."

"In addition, if any of the brothers want to send money back home, it will be deducted from this salary, and the governor will order the counties to distribute it."

The soldier bowed respectfully and handed over the fish token that Zhang Huairong had given him.

Liu Jilong took the fish talisman with both hands, examined it carefully, and then bowed and responded: "Liu Jilong obeys your command."

After saying that, he stood up, holding the fish token and looking at the two military officers who were working in the main hall.

"Call all the straightforward people who are with the army to come to the yamen to present their cases. At the same time, go to the military camp to mobilize the brigade commander Jiu Juyan's troops to come to the yamen to maintain order."

"When Jiujuyan arrives here, I will notify the brothers in the army to come and collect their pay."

Upon hearing this, the Zhibais stood up and bowed, and Liu Jilong also handed the fish token in his arms to one of them.

Soon, the two men bowed and left, and soon they called over thirty Zhibai.

Liu Jilong asked them to set up a table outside the yamen, and arranged them into teams with one person recording, one person distributing military pay, and one person calculating, and they all sat behind the table.

As the street in front of the yamen was arranged, the rustling sound of armor could be heard.

Jiu Juyan arrived with hundreds of armored brothers from the First Brigade of the Thirteenth Regiment, and Liu Jilian directed them to move money and grain from the government warehouse.

Although Tibet prohibited Han people from minting coins and even prohibited the use of new coins, Tibet was very dependent on the goods of the Tang Dynasty, so there were still enough copper coins in the treasury.

When everything was ready, Liu Jilong sent someone to the military camp to notify the soldiers of the Shandan Fifth Regiment to collect their salaries, while he picked up the documents and began to look through them carefully.

In just a quarter of an hour, a large group of soldiers with excited faces came to the end of the long street.

Liu Jilong also closed the document and looked at Jiu Juyan.

Jiu Juyan understood what he meant and immediately ordered people to maintain order, while Liu Jilong stood behind the Zhibais and watched them distribute the military pay.

(End of this chapter)