The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 223 Hidden dangers
According to Miwei's idea.

The most suitable position for Deng Ai was Military Advisor under the Governor.

After all, according to later generations, this position was equivalent to a logistics staff officer plus a training staff officer.

Deng Ai happened to possess both military talent and experience in managing civilian settlements.

However, Deng Ai had been in office for less than a month.

Suddenly, the heads of various military settlements submitted a memorial accusing Deng Ai of abusing his power for personal gain, demanding that Mi Wei investigate the matter thoroughly to uphold military law.

This news spread like wildfire, quickly reaching every corner of Jingzhou.

Even Guan Yu was alarmed and came to inquire about the matter.

Miwei simply summoned all relevant parties together to discuss the matter.

To his surprise, the chief officers of each military garrison actually found Yang Yi, Guan Yu's chief clerk, to be their leader.

Although Mi Wei was not afraid of Yang Yi, he knew that this matter was not as simple as it seemed on the surface, and his expression became solemn.

Yang Yi still respected Mi Wei and did not directly question him.

Instead, it was a senior military officer who spoke on their behalf:

"So that the magistrate may know that we have been ordered to set up military settlements around Xiangfan, and are responsible for supplying the army's needs."

“In the past, Fancheng in northern Mian faced the Wei army directly, and much of the farmland was unusable, which was to be expected.”

"Now that the Wei army has been defeated, the fertile fields north of the Mian River must all be cultivated, right?"

"Rural reclamation definitely requires recruiting tenant soldiers, right?"

"Our recruitment of refugees is in accordance with precedents set in the past few years, which is perfectly reasonable. Why is this Sergeant Deng obstructing us?"

"Could it be that he thinks the military settlements are not under his jurisdiction, while the newly established civilian settlements in Nanyang are under his control, and therefore he is favoring one over the other?"

It turns out they were trying to kidnap someone.

Mi Wei understood immediately and glanced at the silent Yang Yi.

The latter shook his head secretly, then suddenly realized something.

They remained silent for the time being, waiting for Deng Ai to defend himself.

Deng Ai was prepared and had a eloquent scribe speak up for him.

The gist is two points.

First, he did not directly interfere with the recruitment of soldiers in the Xiangfan military settlement. It was only because the newly established Nanyang civilian settlement had more fertile land that the displaced people were more willing to stay in the north.

After all, the more you gain, the more you can share in the profits.

The quality of the land is sometimes more appealing than the proportion of land divided.

Secondly, the military settlements in the south had a relatively chaotic system, with some fields having higher rents and others lower ones.

Even those lower-ranking ones had various additional levies on silk and corvée labor.

All of these factors led to displaced people preferring to stay in the north.

Deng Ai didn't need to deliberately snatch people away.

If we must talk about robbery, it was only by stopping the military settlements from heading north to rob people on several occasions.

In short, the southern military settlements themselves were corrupt, so no one else is to blame.

In response, the garrison officials of Xiangfan naturally cited precedents and old practices to refute this.

Moreover, there are explicit explanations for the so-called accusations of being unclean.

For example, the extra silk levied was to meet the daily clothing needs of the soldiers.

Not to mention corvée labor.

Guan Yu's army had been on a northern expedition for more than half a year. Who transported the grain, fodder, and weapons to the north?
Who built the camp?

Moreover, the tenant soldiers in the military settlements were essentially half farmers and half soldiers.

They were conscripted anyway during wartime!

Let alone military settlements and tenant farmers, even if you, Deng Ai, were originally in Cao Wei, were the civilian settlements that were supposedly exempted from corvée labor really all exempted?
You, Deng Ai, don't you know how you were captured by Jiang Wei?

Deng Ai, of course, had no way to refute this.

However, they provided an extremely detailed "testimony".

It points out how the military officers of each garrison, under the guise of the Northern Expedition, used the opportunity to have tenant soldiers help them build residences and seek personal gain throughout the previous year.

These residences mostly belonged to local gentry families in Nanjun and Xiangyang.

Miwei examined it carefully; most of the testimony came from tenant soldiers who had fled from military settlements to civilian settlements.

A small portion came from outspoken and honest military officers.

Of course, it's also possible that someone saw Miwei's innovative tendencies and deliberately tried to profit from them.

However, as a newly surrendered Han official, Deng Ai dared to defy public opinion and publicly reveal the evidence of his crimes, so it is highly likely that it is true.

Miwei was not surprised at all by this.

They were even secretly relieved that Guan Yu's prestige was still intact, as these people at least did not dare to embezzle military rations or seize land.

That would be a really serious problem. And it was a pleasant surprise that even such a "minor problem" was rare in Jiangxia County under Deng Zhi's rule; it was truly remarkable.

No wonder Liu Bei regarded him as a troubleshooter and recently transferred him to Xiangfan.

However, the immediate problem still needs to be addressed.

This matter concerns the grand plan of "Two Fields" and also involves the local gentry of Jingzhou.

One wrong move and the foundation will be shaken.

After thinking for a moment, Mi Wei decided to go to the back room for a separate meeting.

Only a few trusted confidants, such as Yang Yi and Deng Ai, were allowed to accompany him.

Yang Yi then spoke:

"Since ancient times, how the emperor, feudal lords, scholars, and common people share the benefits has been the fundamental issue of the state."

"That's why Mencius said, 'One who wins the support of the common people becomes the Son of Heaven; one who wins the support of the Son of Heaven becomes a feudal lord; and one who wins the support of a feudal lord becomes a high official.'"

“The common people are the people. The common people include the gentry and the common folk.”

“The current court bestows great favors upon the common people, but shows little favor to the scholars; this is a problem.”

"When the Grand General first launched his northern expedition against Wan, the common people in the countryside all surrendered at the mere sight of him. Only the powerful families in the city stood with the Wei general to defend it. This is the origin of the story."

"If Your Excellency wishes to achieve great order in the prefectures and counties, you must not continue to favor one over the other."

After speaking, Yang Yi bowed and withdrew.

Clearly, they didn't want to offend Miwei over this.

Mi Wei would naturally not blame Yang Yi for this.

He simply confirmed his previous suspicions based on the other party's remarks.

When Deng Ai saw him frowning, she realized she had caused him trouble and apologized with a look of shame.

Mi Wei waved his hand and said:

"Through this incident, I have come to know Shi Zai's abilities."

"A mere sergeant is indeed not suitable for you."

Upon hearing this, Deng Ai assumed that Mi Wei, under pressure, had no choice but to dismiss him from his post.

Although I can understand, I can't help but feel disappointed.

But the next moment, Mi Wei's tone changed:
"I am currently lacking a clerk or assistant clerk. I wonder if Shi Zai would be willing to take the position?"

Deng Ai was taken aback when he heard this.

Then he paused, stunned.

Then he paused, stunned.

After a moment of stunned silence, she exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"

Mi Wei smiled and repeated, "I wish to appoint you as my chief clerk. Would you be willing?"

Deng Ai then realized that Mi Wei was not joking, and his face immediately lit up with joy.

That's a "Clerk of Merit"!
According to the system of the Han Dynasty, the assistants under the governors and inspectors were the most prestigious among the provincial governors and provincial officials.

Both were also known as officials in charge of discipline and administration.

They often appointed prominent figures from the state to gain local support.

Below these two, the positions of the Prefectural Chief Clerk and the Clerk of Merit and Clerk hold the most power.

The chief clerk directly serves the governor or prefect, and this position is currently held concurrently by Zhuge Qiao.

The Gongcao Shuzuo were the main assistant officials in the state government.

The reason it has such a strange name is...

This is because in Sili, the official title corresponding to the governor or prefect of a prefecture is called Sili Xiaowei.

The official position corresponding to the position of Zhizhong Congshi was called Gongcao Congshi.

The title "Shuzuo" naturally needs to be prefixed with "Gongcao".

These positions of officials in the outer prefectures were originally set up with reference to the Sili (司隶) of the central government.

Therefore, the chief assistant in charge of administration in outlying prefectures was still called Gongcao Shuzuo.

Currently, since Mi Wei does not actually occupy Yuzhou, the two positions of disciplinary officials are vacant as suitable candidates cannot be found.

Therefore, among the officials under his jurisdiction, the chief clerk of the prefecture and the chief clerk were actually the most important.

The latter, to some extent, became a subordinate substitute for the authority of the state governor.

How could Deng Ai not be overjoyed to rise from an unknown Wei surrenderer to one of the top powerful officials in the prefecture?
But he's almost thirty, so he shouldn't be so complacent.

After expressing his gratitude, he did not forget his duty and asked Miwei how he planned to deal with the current problem.

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(End of this chapter)