Han officials

Chapter 150 The General’s Kindness [1/2]

Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan did not take this debate seriously.

Even though Zheng Xuan was at a disadvantage, he did not hold a grudge and just laughed it off.

After all, at their age it is difficult to be persuaded with words.

When Zheng Xuan was refuted by Lu Zhi this time, he would only think that it was because he had not studied the classics deeply enough, rather than really changing his mind and believing in Lu Zhi's ideas just because he lost a debate.

The same was true for Lu Zhi. He even left Xiangping City directly after the debate.

Because he received news from Liaoshan City that the Fuyu tribe was moving eastward and trying to encroach on the territory of the Twelve States of Andong, Lu Zhi suddenly lost the desire to reminisce about the past.

You should know that he had just received a visit from the Twelve Kingdoms of Andong at the Andong Protectorate in Liaoshan City.

If the Fuyu Kingdom slaps it in the face in a blink of an eye, where will the Andong Protectorate's face be?

The Andong Protectorate was newly established. If its prestige is not established, it will not be able to control the other countries in Andong in the future!

Compared with Lu Zhi who was busy with political affairs, Zheng Xuan's life was much more boring.

What happened in Beihai Kingdom in the past is what is happening in Liaodong County now.

Every day he is either annotating classics and studying the meaning of scriptures, or giving lectures.

When Zheng Xuan saw that the people of Liaodong lived in peace and contentment and had a strong academic atmosphere, he felt that this was a land of peace and prosperity.

He didn't expect that while Qingzhou was in constant war and people were displaced, Liaodong was enjoying a peaceful life.

Such a sharp contrast made Zheng Xuan sigh in his letters to his old friend.

As a result, Wei Zhe's reputation among the scholars in Kanto improved a lot.

However, although these two people did not care, the "Zheng Lu Debate" became a major event in Liaodong.

No, to be precise, it is a cultural event for the entire Youzhou.

After this incident, scholars from all over Youzhou, from the gentry to the common people, began to go to Liaodong to study.

This greatly alleviated Wei Zhe's staff shortage.

You should know that immigration from Qingzhou was not a one-time thing, but came in waves.

Especially after Liu Hong's death, the situation in Qingzhou became increasingly worse.

In the past, Wei Zhe had to take the initiative to go to Qingzhou to receive refugees, but now he only needs to receive them in Liaodong.

There was no way around it. Wei Zhe's reputation accumulated over the years in Qingzhou had made Liaodong well-known to the refugees long ago.

So when they really couldn't survive, they came here on their own initiative without the need for Liaodong to guide them.

After all, it is extremely convenient for people from Qingzhou to travel to Liaodong. This habit has existed since the three ancient dynasties.

You can just make a raft out of bamboo or wood and paddle it along the strait to a series of small islands.

If you really don't want to live, you can just swim over holding onto a piece of wood.

As a result, the influx of immigrants to Qingzhou naturally increased greatly, putting Wei Zhe under great pressure.

Since Wei Zhe established large-scale military farms in the four counties of Liaodong, food and fodder were not a problem.

The main reason was that there was a huge gap in the number of grassroots officials, which forced Wei Zhe to expand the scale of the civilian settlements.

But now, the wave of overseas students from Youzhou has solved his urgent problem.

In this regard, the scholars of the Han Dynasty were much better than those of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Unless they came from a prominent family, Han scholars would never feel ashamed to serve as a minor official.

You should know that Zheng Xuan, Chen Shi and others started as minor officials when they were young, and then achieved success in the future.

Therefore, for those students from poor families, being a minor official is a good start.

After all, if it were in their village, it would not be easy to be a small official in the county.

It is precisely because of their existence that the resettlement of refugees in Qingzhou has never gone wrong.

Under Guo Yuan's overall arrangement, countless Qingzhou immigrants were spread out in an orderly manner in the four counties of Liaodong.

Although it was a bit difficult to cultivate wasteland in Liaodong, it was still enough to make ends meet.

At least compared to their displacement in Qingzhou, they are already very satisfied with their current situation.

However, what you fear will come true. Wei Zhe had just solved the problem of shortage of manpower when the people of Liaodong faced severe challenges in terms of food and clothing!

……

On the Jiaxu day of August, outside Xiangping City.

On this day, Wei Zhe was planning to take his wife out for an outing in the city, but when they arrived at the Daliangshui River, they found something wrong.

"Boyuan, I remember there was a forest on that hilltop. Why is it bald now?"

Zhong Hu looked up and immediately replied, "It must have been cut down by refugees."

Without waiting for Wei Zhe to question him, he explained, "The refugees from Qingzhou all know that the winter in Liaodong is bitterly cold, so most of them collect firewood after farming to prepare for the winter."

Not to mention, their actions have caused firewood prices to rise across Liaodong. Kangs are useful, but they use up a lot of firewood, and winter can be tough without a proper supply.

However, the woodcutters from all over Liaodong were quite happy and made a lot of money during this peak season.

However, Wei Zhe frowned immediately after hearing this.

Food and clothing are important. If you lack one of them, it is easy to die.

Especially in the working world, a sudden increase in the cost of living could easily freeze someone to death.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhe no longer cared about his outing and immediately turned around and headed towards the craftsman camp on the bank of Daliang River.

Speaking of which, the craftsman camp outside Xiangping City is probably the only one of its kind in the entire Youzhou.

Since Wei Zhe took office as the governor of Liaodong, a large amount of coal and iron ore has gathered here along the Daliang River and Xiaoliao River, and then turned into large iron plows and left.

If judged from the perspective of future generations, it can be considered a primitive industrial base.

Therefore, as soon as Wei Zhe approached the craftsmen's camp, a familiar yet unfamiliar smell hit him in the face.

Such a pungent smell immediately made Guan Yan, who was accompanying her, frown slightly.

Wei Zhe suddenly realized what was going on and quickly ordered someone to send the two back.

Ban Sheng, the iron official in charge of the Marquis's Mansion, hurried over upon hearing the noise. Even though he was sweating profusely, he didn't dare to wipe it off. He thought that something had gone wrong with his work, which was why the Marquis was brought here.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zhe said nothing when he saw him, but only asked Ban Sheng to call the best carpenter here.

Then he ordered his personal soldiers to bring a pile of coal powder and mix it with loess, while he watched from the side with a frown on his face.

After the personal guards made nine different proportions of coal mud according to Wei Zhe's instructions, the carpenter also made a rather strange tool according to Wei Zhe's drilling requirements.

So when Guo Yuan received the news and rushed here, he saw such a strange scene.

I saw Wei Zhe enthusiastically playing with mud with a strange tool. Well, black mud is still mud!

Seeing this, Guo Yuan was a little amused and said, "My Lord, this is..."

"Zini, you are here too?" Wei Zhe didn't care at all.

After satisfying his desire for a while, he handed the tools to the personal soldiers beside him and started working.

Seeing that the number was almost there, Wei Zhe wiped his hands and instructed Ban Sheng, "Sort these coal briquettes and light them on fire. Keep a close eye on them and note which one burns the most vigorously, then report back to me."

Upon hearing this, Ban Sheng naturally turned around and left in a hurry.

Guo Yuan was suddenly thoughtful when he heard this.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe said straight to the point: "What do you think about using this to replace firewood for heating the people?"

Seeing that Wei Zhe really thought so, Guo Yuan frowned slightly and then nodded.

"Your Excellency, this method is truly brilliant and will certainly benefit the people of Liaodong. However... I wonder what the price will be?"

"Not much, just one-third of the firewood price will do." Wei Zhe said without hesitation.

Upon hearing him say this, Guo Yuan immediately bowed to Wei Zhe and said solemnly, "On behalf of the people of Liaodong, I thank you for your grace!"

Guo Yuan knew better than anyone how much the people of Liaodong spent on heating every year.

If Wei Zhe's method is implemented, I wonder how many people in Liaodong will benefit from it.

However, Guo Yuan soon thought of another disadvantage, that is, the woodcutters in Liaodong might become unemployed.

"That's easy. We can just hand over the distribution of these coal briquettes to these woodcutters. They happen to be familiar with the route."

Wei Zhe thought about it and thought that some people might want to save even this little bit of money, so he simply said, "Pass the order down. All coal mines in Liaodong are not allowed to prohibit the surrounding villagers from mining coal for their own use."

Although Wei Zhe can't do much, it's good if he can benefit the people a little bit.

At least compared to the vast majority of officials, he is truly solving the problem of food and clothing for the people.

Guo Yuan could naturally see the trick here, and immediately couldn't help but sigh: "Your Excellency truly loves the people like your own children!"

……

Let’s not talk about how Guo Yuan felt.

With the emergence of coal balls, they were quickly accepted by the people of Liaodong.

I have to thank Wei Zhe for the good reputation he has accumulated over the years.

When they heard that this coal briquettes were created by Wei Zhe for use by the people of Liaodong, many villagers switched to coal briquettes without even thinking about it and called them "General Coal".

Of course, after using it, they felt it was even more fragrant. This thing is simply too good to use.

With the same weight, a pound of coal briquettes is much more durable than firewood.

Even though it is not yet time to use kangs in Liaodong, a large number of people have already started to store coal briquettes.

While even the best policies couldn't benefit everyone, this wave of benevolent policies did win over many people. The warmth of "Jiangjun Coal" touched countless Liaodong residents, who lamented that the general's kindness was so profound that even risking their lives for it would be worth it.

However, while Liaodong was enjoying peace and tranquility, the capital Luoyang was struggling...

(End of this chapter)