The prince is more stable

Chapter 496 Someone comes to Beijing
Li Qingchen was an able official.

This is Zhao Xiaoqian's evaluation of him.

"Capable official" means that he can get things done, and he can do the tasks assigned by his leader very well, without any compromise. Perhaps he can occasionally draw inferences from one example and make things done even more perfectly.

But Li Qingchen's shortcomings are also obvious, that is, lack of subjective initiative and lack of foresight.

After the Zhending Prefecture's bureaucracy was purged, Li Qingchen took on the heavy responsibility of governance, but everything he did was carried out by him after being ordered by Zhao Xiaoqian.

For example, policies such as attracting investment in the city, establishing markets, providing business subsidies to merchants from other places, requisitioning farmers from the nine counties under its jurisdiction to work in the city during the slack season, and requiring lower-level government offices to compensate for grain with corvée, etc.

They were all proposed by Zhao Xiaoqian and implemented by Li Qingchen.

Every time Zhao Xiaoqian mentioned a policy to subsidize merchants and farmers, Li Qingchen's eyes lit up and he cheered loudly, but when asked what his opinion was before Zhao Xiaoqian spoke, Li Qingchen could not say anything and hesitated to respond.

After a long time, Zhao Xiaoqian probably understood the strengths and weaknesses of Li Qingchen.

Not only Li Qingchen, but most of the lower-level officials in Zhending Prefecture, including Zhao Xiaoqian, knew about it.

It doesn't take much effort to understand the strengths and weaknesses of an official. Just ask him to sit for a while, chat with him, and ask him about his ideas on governing cities and villages. After a conversation, Zhao Xiaoqian will have a general idea of ​​what kind of person this official is.

Therefore, after purging the bureaucracy in Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Xiaoqian still made some adjustments to the officials under his jurisdiction.

Some officials are typical nerds. They keep talking about "Confucius said" and "Book of Songs" all the time. They use the scriptures of sages to prove that they are right in everything. Such people are definitely not capable of governing the people, but they can be transferred to the Ministry of Education to be responsible for local education.

Some officials are lazy in their duties and pursue moderation. They believe in "no mistakes means merit" in their conduct and as officials. They are clueless about the data within their authority and often delay doing things for a long time. They only nod in agreement and then turn a blind eye and ignore the matter.

Such people can only be dismissed from office, or stripped of their real power and transferred to a salaried official position, where they can receive a monthly salary from the court and live a life of idleness and wait for death. This can be considered as asking for kindness.

Some officials are very eloquent and boastful, but their words are empty and contain many falsehoods. Such people... can only be arrested as scammers in northern Myanmar?

Zhao Xiaoqian's style of doing things is very pragmatic. His principle towards lower-level officials is that whoever is capable will be promoted, and whoever is not should get out. Don't just occupy the position and delay my work.

Zhao Xiaoqian had a clear idea about the governance of the nine counties under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture.

If he and Li Qingchen were in office, Zhao Xiaoqian would be responsible for providing constructive suggestions and Li Qingchen would be responsible for implementation. The two would be a perfect match.

Once he or Li Qingchen was transferred, the future of Zhending Prefecture would be hard to say.

This is probably what the ancients meant by "When a leader dies, his government ceases."

Taking advantage of the fact that these are the golden three years for the development of Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Xiaoqian will not be polite to Li Qingchen. Such a perfect and caring ox and horse must be used to death. Never be kind to him because of personal feelings. That would be irresponsible to the people of Zhending Prefecture.

Of course, Niuma had some minor flaws, such as being a little greedy and often coming to the house to eat, but Zhao Xiaoqian could tolerate it no matter how much he disliked it.

The donkey pulling the mill has to eat a handful of grass before it will turn around. Li Qingchen is much more valuable than the donkey, so it is acceptable for him to be a little greedy.

Li Qingchen came again today. As soon as he entered the door, he bowed politely and then stood on tiptoe to look towards the main hall.

Zhao Xiaoqian sat under the shade of a tree in the yard, looking at him with disdain.

He knew that Li Qingchen was observing whether dinner was ready at the Prince's Mansion. After all, he happened to arrive at dinner time. Isn't that a coincidence?
"Don't look, my family has already had dinner." Zhao Xiaoqian said lazily.

Li Qingchen was shocked: "Ah? Why didn't you call me?"

Zhao Xiaoqian stretched out his hand towards him and looked at him silently.

"What do you mean, Your Highness?"

"It means, do you have any money on you?"

Li Qingchen subconsciously reached into his pocket, took out a worn purse, and poured it onto the table. A dozen coins popped out with a jingle, and surprisingly, there was also a small silver coin, about two taels.

Zhao Xiaoqian's robe sleeves brushed across the table, and the copper coins and silver nuggets on the table disappeared in an instant, which was magical.

Li Qingchen couldn't believe it and hurriedly bent down to look for the money on the ground, but couldn't find it.

"Your Highness is so amazing! How did you do it?" Li Qingchen's eyes were full of admiration and...pain.

"Take out a few more silver ingots and I'll demonstrate it to you again." Zhao Xiaoqian's eyes were full of encouragement.

Li Qingchen's face turned grim: "Next time, next time..."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed. He was now certain that Li Qingchen was not a corrupt official. After all, he had never seen such a poor corrupt official. The chefs in the Prince's Mansion were richer than him. After all, the chefs could still save a few cents when purchasing ingredients every day.

You can't be too sympathetic to the poor. If they can't make money, no matter how much sympathy you give them, they are still poor.

"The money just now will be used as your food expenses." Zhao Xiaoqian turned around and called the servants, "Bring up the food that Judge Li left. It's cool in the courtyard, so you can eat here."

Li Qingchen's face changed, and at this time he finally realized that he seemed to have been cheated.

But the money had already gone into someone else's pocket, and as a man of culture, he was too embarrassed to ask for it back, so he said, "Your Highness, please prepare dinner tonight. I will definitely come to bother you."

After saying that, he lowered his head and started eating.

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed: "Are you planning to blackmail me? How many meals can you have at my house with that little money?"

"I don't care. All my savings have been taken by Your Highness. If your family doesn't provide me with food, I will starve to death." Tsk! The face of a cultured person...

"Oh, there's one more thing. Han Wei's group of officials have left the north of the city today. Dozens of officials are working separately. One group went north to measure the land and establish a new county seat, while another group settled in the villages of the nine counties under its jurisdiction and selected farmers to move north..."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded. He had been paying attention to the movements of Han Wei and others, and he had secretly ordered the Imperial City Division to pay attention. Zhao Xin was temporarily transferred back to Zhending City just to handle this matter.

The newly occupied territories required the relocation of 300,000 farmers, so at least tens of thousands of people had to be relocated from the nine counties under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture. The rest were mostly refugees sent from various places, as well as farmers from the cities in the east and west of Hebei.

"Old Li, just keep an eye on them. If you find any illegal behavior by them, tell me directly and I will deal with them." Zhao Xiaoqian said.

Li Qingchen bit down a piece of chicken thigh fiercely, his lips glistening with oil as he said, "Your Highness should be more gentle and avoid a falling out. Otherwise, Your Highness may not be able to withstand the pressure from the court in Bianjing."

Zhao Xiaoqian rolled his eyes at him. "Do I need your advice? As long as it doesn't cross my bottom line, I'll pretend I didn't see it. A little greed, a little deduction, even taking a few thousand or tens of thousands of acres, I won't say a word. Isn't it good for us to establish a good relationship? Do you think I like doing things that offend people?"

Li Qingchen smiled and sighed, "When I chat with Your Highness, I sometimes forget your age. I've seen many officials who are well-versed in the ways of the world over the years, but Your Highness is the only one I've met who is so well-versed in the ways of the world in his twenties."

Zhao Xiaoqian smacked his lips and frowned, "I suspect you're scolding me, but I have no evidence..."

Li Qingchen laughed heartily. "Your Highness has misunderstood. This humble official is praising you from the bottom of his heart. It is truly a blessing for this humble official to be able to work with Your Highness."

As they were chatting, Chen Shou came hurriedly.

"Sir, Zhen Qing from the Imperial City Department wants to see you. He's at the back door of the palace and has quietly entered."

Zhao Xiaoqian was stunned and nodded.

Li Qingchen saw the two whispering to each other in a mysterious manner and asked curiously, "Is there anything wrong, Your Highness?"

"Something happened."

"What's the matter?"

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled mysteriously and whispered in his ear, "This is a top-secret matter. Anyone who knows about it is at risk of being silenced. Judge Li, come closer and whisper to me..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Qingchen was so frightened that he threw down his chopsticks and ran out without finishing his meal.

"...Farewell!"

…………

The back door of the Prince's Mansion is where the kitchen and firewood room are located. The back door is usually used for the servants of the Prince's Mansion to enter and exit.

Zhao Xiaoqian met Zhen Qing in the woodshed.

He sighed whenever they met: "Every time I see you, I feel like I'm the villain, the dog doing something shameful, and you're just cannon fodder that the villain uses to kill you..."

Zhen Qing smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, this is what we do at the Imperial City Bureau. It's really shameful, but there's nothing I can do about it."

The woodshed was a bit simple, so Chen Shou moved two stools over and then stood outside the door on guard, not allowing anyone to approach.

"Are you coming from Shangjing? Is there something important?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked.

Zhen Qing nodded, then his face lit up with joy: "Your Highness, there is progress."

"What's the progress?"

"I have already made contact with Xiao Fengxian, a relative of the Liao Dynasty, last month. Your Highness is right. Xiao Fengxian values ​​profit over sentiment and can be used by the Song Dynasty."

Zhao Xiaoqian immediately became interested: "Tell me more about it."

"Xiao Fengxian was a relative of the Liao Dynasty. His sister, Xiao Guige, was the first wife of the Crown Prince, Yelü Yanxi. She had already given birth to a son for Yelü Yanxi and was said to be quite favored by him."

"My younger sister had a son and was made a concubine. As her elder brother, Xiao Fengxian's status also rose rapidly. He was very powerful in Shangjing. Relying on Yelu Yanxi's love for her, even the Yelu royal family was said to give Xiao Fengxian some respect..."

"However, Xiao Fengxian himself values ​​wealth and is a dandy young man who has no education and no skills. He indulges in sensual pleasures and knows no bounds. He is particularly addicted to gambling and has lost a lot of his family fortune over the years, so he has never been well off."

"I disguised myself as a businessman and deliberately approached Xiao Fengxian at a gambling house in Shangjing. When he gambled, I placed bets with him, and we shared the same gains and losses..."

Zhao Xiaoqian was stunned. "Wait a minute, you bet with him. Aren't you treating him like a guiding light? He didn't blow your head off, but you two are considered friends?"

Zhen Qing was also stunned: "What is a bright lamp?"

"For example, if you praise your wife in front of your friends and she says she's awesome, and your friends say they think so too...that's about it."

Zhen Qing's old face turned green, and his expression suddenly became as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

Then Zhen Qing suddenly realized, "Hey? Where did I get a wife? I don't have a wife! I only use other people's wives! Why should I be sad?"

Zhao Xiaoqian: "...You continue."

"In short, my actions in the gambling house with Xiao Fengxian have won his favor and we have become friends. This month, I have been hanging out with Xiao Fengxian at brothels and gambling houses, and I usually pay the bills. Xiao Fengxian has become more and more fond of me, and now we are like brothers."

(End of this chapter)