The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 704 Good news!
Gu Ji sat in the cabin, disheveled and dirty, no longer having the demeanor of a celebrity as before.

There are seven or eight people sitting in the small cabin at this moment.

These are all talented and wise people from the past of the Gu family.

Their mental states all seemed extremely bad.

They had been away from Jiangdong for a long time.

They didn't know where they were.

Every day is spent in fear. I heard that some people have committed suicide because they could not bear this kind of oppression.

But they could not hear much. At first, the soldiers who escorted them allowed them to go out from time to time to chat with others, until later, someone conspired to seize the ship.

After the incident was exposed, the treatment of everyone on their ship dropped several levels.

At first they thought those people were warriors and admired them very much, but now they just want to curse them.

If it weren't for you, would we be living such a miserable life?
You were all cowards and got on the boat at the beginning, so why are you asking for trouble now and bringing trouble to everyone on the boat?
Gu Ji remained silent, staring blankly ahead.

"Father Zhong."

Suddenly someone spoke.

Gu Ji looked over and saw that the person who spoke was his adopted son Gu Rong.

Gu Rong stared at him, his expression extremely haggard, "Shouldn't I have participated in that imperial examination in the first place?"

The Wei Dynasty also held an imperial examination in Wu. There was no restriction on identity and anyone could participate in the examination.

This actually gives each big family an opportunity. After all, if they can pass the assessment and officially become officials of the Wei Dynasty, they definitely do not need to migrate with their family.

However, the noble families in Wu did not appreciate it.

In the past, the noble families of the Wu State were promoted to officials by famous ministers and recruited by the emperor. They rarely even used the Five Classics examinations, let alone similar assessments.

They were wary of these new things and felt that the Wei people might have ulterior motives.

On the other hand, the State of Wei allowed people of commoner origin to participate in the assessment. In the eyes of the big families, it was too shameful to participate in the assessment with those peasants.

In the end, the imperial examination results in Wu were quite dismal, completely different from those in Shu.

Only some people from relatively low-class backgrounds passed the assessment and became local officials.

Gu Rong had wanted to participate at first, but was stopped by his uncle.

Gu Ji ignored him and just closed his eyes.

At the appointed time, the soldiers opened the door and brought in their meals.

These wealthy families were now wolfing down their food, and all their celebrity demeanor was thrown to the fish.

As the soldier collected the dishes and chopsticks, he announced, "We're almost there."

"It's time to get ready."

At this time, everyone in the cabin came back to life.

Gu Ji cleared his throat and said, "After arriving in the Northern Kingdom this time, we must obey the orders of the local officials. We have no one to rely on here, so we must not act like we did before. We must be careful in everything we do."

That night, the ship slowed down and seemed to be about to dock.

Several people in the cabin quickly raised their heads, but it was pitch black inside and no one could see each other.

The boat finally stopped moving.

But no one came to tell them yet, so no one could sleep and they tossed and turned.

The next day, at dawn, the soldiers roughly opened the cabin door. Gu Ji and others had made preparations early. Under Gu Ji's leadership, everyone walked out of the cabin.

They were urged by the soldiers to get off the boat just like before. When they got off the boat, several people immediately felt the biting cold.

Gu Ji's whole body began to tremble, and he looked around.

All he could see in the distance was the freezing cold weather and the white snow. The snow was so dazzling that he could hardly open his eyes.

There were a few officials not far away, registering everyone one by one, and at the same time someone was distributing winter clothes.

Where is this place?
When it was Gu Ji's turn, he quickly asked, "Excuse me, sir, where is this place?"

The official looked up and said, "Lelang County."

"what?!"

Gu Ji was stunned.

Is this what is called going north?
Lelang County, was it really sent to the northernmost part?
The man directly asked Gu Ji's name, and after comparing them, he let him continue to move forward. After receiving winter clothes, he followed his tribesmen into a broken car.

Then it disappeared into the distance.

The captain in charge of transporting them was smiling and standing next to an official with his head lowered.

"Sir, I have delivered these people safely."

The prefect of Lelang County was named Guo Chang.

He looks tall, has a nice beard and a dignified appearance.

"In the past, Governor Hu always benefited. This time, I can also keep some people here. Not bad, not bad."

He smiled and was very welcoming to these people.

The population of Lelang County has exploded in recent days.

First, a large number of Xianbei people poured in, and now a large number of Jiangdong people have come. If we can make good use of this opportunity, perhaps we can make further progress.

The captain was also polite to this man. Guo Chang's family had an heir to the title, although the title was inherited by his elder brother.

Well, Guo Chang’s great-grandfather was called Guo Jia.

Guo Chang previously served as a palace attendant in the imperial court, but was later demoted by Cao Mao to serve as a prefect.

Being assigned to be the prefect here, if it were normal times, he would come here to suffer, but now, he is here to gain credit!
There are quite a lot of opportunities here now. As long as you can make some political achievements, you may be able to enter the third channel in the future.

Those who came from Jiangdong were arranged in different counties.

This group of people will be assigned to Lelang County.

When Gu Ji and others arrived in the county, their family was not forcibly separated, but their expressions changed after they arrived at their temporary residence.

Is this also where people live?
This house doesn't even have a courtyard wall, the whole place looks like a ruin. In the past, their doghouse was better than this!

Gu Ji sighed.

The accompanying clerk smiled and said, "It's good to have a place to stay. Don't complain, everyone. I have good news!"

Gu Ji looked at the minor village official. In the past, his servants would have beaten such a person to death in the street.

But it doesn't work now.

He put aside his pride and asked with a smile, "I wonder if there's any good news?"

The clerk said seriously, "My emperor is kind and does not want to see the people under his rule suffer. Therefore, I have issued an order to all regions. From now on, you can follow me to various places and participate in construction and reclamation. As long as you participate, everyone will receive food and will not starve to death."

"This is the good governance and benevolent rule of our Great Wei!!"

"What?! We still have to do corvée labor?!"

Several people from the Gu family asked in horror.

They all looked at Gu Ji, hoping that Gu Ji could solve the problem.

They can't do any corvée labor. They are all from wealthy families, how can they do such a thing?
Gu Ji frowned and asked, "Jun, you know, we are old and I am afraid we are too weak to work. Is there any other way? We have brought some property with us."

"Oh, if you don't want to participate, then don't participate. This isn't corvee labor. My Majesty has always been light on corvee labor. These people will receive food for their work. If they don't have a place to live, the county government will provide temporary housing. If you don't want to, then go buy a mansion and some farmland. However, farmland is hard to come by here."

As the clerk spoke, his eyes were filled with malice as he looked at them.

Gu Ji and others knew this kind of look.

In the past, they used the same look when they looked at servants who asked them for help.

Disdainful and malicious.

The man turned and left.

Gu Ji looked at the people behind him and remained silent for a long time.

"Fortunately, we brought some money with us, so we can settle down in the city and then look at the farmland."

"Mr. Zhong, I'm going to take the exam."

Gu Rong suddenly interrupted Gu Ji.

Gu Ji frowned and looked at him.

Gu Rong said, "If I can become an official, I can get farmland. The Great Wei has a land reward order, and there are also salaries, which are enough for us to take root here."

"Besides, this is a frontier fortress, so there should be a shortage of officials. Even if I'm just a county official, I can make a living. I really don't want to be reduced to serving in labor service. Besides, how can the property we brought with us be enough to support so many people?"

Hearing Gu Rong's words, Gu Ji couldn't help but scold: "I'm still talking, how can you speak?"

"Besides, you can't get an official position just because you want to. Have you forgotten the principles of filial piety since leaving Jiangdong?"

Gu Rong took a deep breath and bowed to Gu Ji.

"Uncle Zhong, things have come to this point, and we can no longer resolve them the way we did in the past. I'm not being unfilial, but I'm doing this for the sake of our clan. Please forgive me for leaving!"

He saluted, then turned around and caught up with the clerk in the distance.

Gu Ji's face flushed red, and he looked at the others.

At this moment, the young men had different expressions.

When Gu Rong caught up with the clerk and asked him whether there was an imperial examination in the area, the clerk's expression finally eased a lot.

There is no imperial examination here. A place must get approval from the government to hold an imperial examination, but there are local assessments here.

Only county and township officials can be tested.

Because of the rapid population expansion, Youzhou was short of officials, so this policy was implemented.

Even if these children of wealthy families are incompetent, they still have an advantage over ordinary people. After all, they have so many resources accumulated. It may not be easy for them to pass the examination to become a county official, but it is not difficult to become a county official or a township official.

Therefore, the clerk did not dare to be too rude. What if this guy really passed the exam and became his immediate superior one day? What would he do then?

After receiving a positive answer, Gu Rong immediately decided to participate in the local assessment.

Among the many migrating tribes, he was not the only one who had similar ideas.

This is what is called using large clans to develop the frontier.

These children of prominent families can hold official positions and take care of their own clans. They then begin to reclaim farmland, recruit tenants, and grow stronger in the local area. This process is actually beneficial to the border.

(End of this chapter)