Han officials

Chapter 320 Acting for Heaven
Does Zhang Song want to stay in Ye City?
Of course he wanted to; Zhang Song couldn't wait to join Wei Gong's ranks and serve him.

However, Zhang Song knew even better that he could only play a greater role if he stayed in Yizhou.

This applies to both Duke Wei and himself.

For the sake of his career, Zhang Song readily accepted Wei Zhe's appointment on the spot.

After all, the chief editor of the Zhixing Dibao was quite good, which was enough to greatly increase his reputation in Yizhou.

If Wei Zhe had truly appointed him as the governor of Yizhou, Zhang Song might not have dared to accept the position.

However, on the other hand, Xun You's ability to produce the "Zhixing Dibao" was also due to good fortune.

It's important to understand that prior to this, neither paper production, cost, nor printing technology were mature.

For example, there were many book copyists in Luoyang back then, who toiled year-round among the documents.

After unifying the five commanderies of Liaodong, Wei Zhe wanted to improve papermaking techniques, and for this purpose, he specially sent someone to invite Zuo Bo.

In a way, Zuo Bo and Wei Zhe were practically from the same hometown... but this time they were true fellow townsmen.

Because Zuo Bo was from Yexian County in Donglai, and this was the ancestral home of Wei Zhe.

Later, when the late emperor enfeoffed Wei Zhe as the Marquis of Buye County, his fief was located in this county.

Therefore, when Zuo Bo received Wei Zhe's invitation to serve, he was overjoyed and moved his entire family to Liaodong without hesitation.

Even if Wei Zhe hadn't sent anyone to invite him, Zuo Bo was already preparing to take his family to Liaodong to avoid disaster.

However, after Zuo Bo arrived in Liaodong, Wei Zhe had a deep conversation with him and discovered that improving papermaking technology was not so simple.

In fact, Zuo Bo was also made using new techniques with raw materials such as tree bark, hemp fibers, scraps of cloth, and fishing nets.

Because "Zuo Bo paper" was bright and clean, it was more suitable for writing than "Cai Hou paper," and was therefore very popular among scholars at the time. For example, Cai Yong would not write anything other than Zuo Bo paper.

If the Eastern Han Dynasty had not fallen, Zuo Bo's papermaking technology, after being gradually improved, might have completely replaced bamboo slips.

But as I said before, this will take some time!

After all, Wei Zhe knew less about papermaking than Zuo Boduo, so he had to figure it out himself.

This research lasted for seven years, during which Zuo Bo tried every possible method to increase both yield and quality, but to no avail.

It wasn't until the year Wei Zhe captured Ye City that Zuo Boying finally achieved results, causing Wei's paper production to skyrocket.

As for movable type printing, Wei Zhe initially thought it was simple, but he got stuck on the ink.

It either smudges, fails to solidify, or the writing is unclear.

From ink paste to pine ink, the craftsmen of Liaodong tried countless formulas, but the results were still unsatisfactory.

If the ink problem wasn't solved, then movable type printing was out of the question.

Therefore, the Zhixing Dibao still uses woodblock printing.

Furthermore, due to the substandard ink, the paper had to be dried for a day after each printing before it could be stacked.

Even so, this effect delighted Xun You, which led to the creation of the "Zhixing Dibao" (a local gazetteer).

It's fine if it's slow. Anyway, news travels slowly now, so if it's too fast, Xun You won't be of any use.

Therefore, the fact that the Zhixing Dibao is published every three months is actually the result of a variety of factors.

Compared to the relatively small workload of the "Zhixing Dibao" (a type of official gazette), the "Zhixing Lu" (another type of official gazette) was actually the main focus of the Jiangzuoyuan (the writing institute).

Otherwise, where do you think the merchants of Wei got so many books? They all came from the Imperial Workshop!
For this reason, the Guan and Mi families were very envious of the workshop's technology, but they didn't dare to steal it.

Once peace is restored, it's only a matter of time before the papermaking and printing techniques are leaked.

……

Several days later, Zhang Song left Ye City satisfied.

Both professionally and personally, his career has been very successful. It's just that his arrival was a lively affair, but his departure was rather quiet.

Wang Can and Pang Tong had already been admitted to Zhixing Academy and formally became students under Wei Zhe.

As outstanding students like Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong graduated, newly enrolled students such as Wang Can and Pang Tong quickly became prominent figures at Zhixing Academy, and the proportion of Jingzhou scholars in Zhixing Academy began to quietly rise. But that's a story for another time.

In August, a large locust plague struck Guanzhong.

In September, the Han River overflowed, causing widespread flooding and ruin to thousands of homes.

That month, a great famine struck the Jianghuai region, and the common people resorted to cannibalism, while Yuan Shu's puppet regime stood by and watched!
In the Hall of State Affairs, after Wei Zhe saw this report, he couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Yuan Shu... truly deserves to die!"

Guo Yuan, Xi Zhicai, and the others were not surprised to hear this.

If they weren't afraid of delaying the farming season, they wouldn't have allowed Yuan Shu to live so freely until today.

Now that the land survey in Yan and Xu prefectures has been completed, the region is stable, and the people are living in peace, it is indeed time to take action.

However, after thinking about it, Guoyuan still suggested:

"It's harvest season in many places right now, why don't we wait a little longer?"

“Very well, then after the autumn harvest, the army will march south and wipe out these remnants of the people!” Wei Zhe, not wanting to act unilaterally, readily nodded and said, “Zini, the allocation of funds and provisions for this southern expedition is entrusted to you!”

At this point, Wei Zhe specifically emphasized:
"There is a great famine in the Jianghuai region. My southward journey is not only to destroy Yuan Shu, but also to provide relief to the people of Jianghuai. You are in charge of all the money, grain, and supplies. If anyone dares to embezzle, I grant you the right to execute them first and report later!"

After saying this, Wei Zhe took the sword from his waist and handed it to Guo Yuan, his voice filled with murderous intent:

"These mere rats deserve no punishment for killing; reporting them is meritorious!"

Seeing this, Guoyuan immediately and solemnly accepted the sword:

"Yes, Your Majesty! I obey!"

Was there corruption in the State of Wei? Of course there was!
Guo Yuan has already eliminated those who could be eliminated, it's just that a few individuals are not easy to deal with.

Now that he had Wei Zhe's sword, Guo Yuan felt he could finally give the house a good cleaning.

……

After Wei Zhe made his decision, the vast state of Wei began to function.

Grains harvested in autumn from various regions were loaded onto trucks and ships, flowing into the southern counties of Henan like rivers flowing into the sea.

Although Yuan Shu is now somewhat down on his luck, he is still one of the top warlords in Guandong.

Although he only has four commanderies left—Nanyang, Runan, Jiujiang, and Danyang—the combined territory of these four commanderies is no smaller than any of the provinces of Yu, Yan, and Xu.

On the surface, Yuan Shu's strength was even greater than Liu Biao's in Jingzhou.

However, Yuan Shu's territory looked rather strange, as it was crescent-shaped and almost entirely encompassed Lujiang County.

Otherwise, Yuan Shu would not have launched a massive campaign to attack Lujiang County after declaring himself emperor.

Unfortunately, Yuan Shu's attack only worsened his prestige as the emperor of the Zhong family. Not only did he fail to capture Lujiang Commandery, but he also nearly suffered a decapitation strike at the hands of Lu Kang's son, the governor of Lujiang.

As a result, after a massive six-month offensive, Yuan's army only occupied a few counties in Lujiang before ceasing their operations.

To some extent, the current famine in Huainan is also related to the Battle of Lujiang at the beginning of the year.

After all, Yuan Shu always treated the common people like dirt, and the lives of the people under his rule were never a concern for him. If someone like that could succeed, then it would truly be a case of God being blind!

Therefore, Wei Zhe's southern expedition against Yuan Shu was entirely conducted in a righteous and honorable manner.

Before the army even set out, Cai Yong's "Proclamation to Pacify the Rebels," written on behalf of Wei Zhe, had already spread throughout Jing and Yang provinces...

(End of this chapter)