Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 290

Chapter 290 Weak-crowned Consul
At that time, the Prime Minister of the dynasty, and also the Chastity Minister Fang Xuanling, who was praised unanimously by the descendants, Li Shimin’s right arm and the number one think tank often had a sentence hanging on his lips: “The three armies did not move, grain first-fighting, fighting is all about money!”

Li Shimin said that he was the daughter-in-law of the Great Tang Dynasty. Apart from ridiculing him, he was also acknowledging and praising him.

Qin Mubai mostly read military manuals and learned the Dao of Martial Armor, but he also deeply agreed with Fang Xuanling’s wise and famous saying. Especially after marching to Lanzhou for half a month, he deeply felt that money was the first priority in the frontier fortress of Lanzhou.

He was also very clear that every word the Emperor had said to him in Duke Wei’s Mansion that day was not nonsense. The reason why he told Lanzhou’s complicated surrounding situation and future national plans to this young man who hadn’t even entered the battlefield was also because of his intentions.

Firstly, Qin Mubai’s identity was special. First of all, he was Qin Shubao’s son, and Qin Shubao had always valued his son more, so he would not object to his opinions too much. This caused Li Shimin’s worries-there were many capable officials in the court, many times more capable and skilled than Qin Mubai. However, if he sent these people to partner with Qin Shubao, with Qin Shubao’s aloof and arrogant personality, he might not take Qin Shubao seriously at all. Without the backing of his position as Governor, the people he sent would be bound to be restrained in every way. Secondly, Qin Mubai was engaged to Princess Gaoyang. He was considered a relative of the royal family, and behind him was the Emperor’s golden signboard and great backer. Even if he did not have the qualifications to convince the crowd, the local officials had to cooperate in the face of the emperor, which was very beneficial for him to come to the place to do things. Thirdly, Qin Mubai was young, aggressive, energetic, and dared to be new. This was also what Li Shimin valued the most.

It had been more than ten years since Li Shimin ascended the throne, and when he attacked Xue Ju in the west and took down Lan, he could go back a few more years. For so many years, Lanzhou did not say that it was weak, but it always looked the same. He had more than enough strength to defend, but not enough to exploit. In the final analysis, the lack of self-sufficiency in this place was entirely due to the supply from the rear. No matter how skilled a general was or how brave a soldier was, it would be difficult to accomplish without the support of the money. Therefore, if Li Shimin wanted to achieve his emperor domination, and if he wanted to use Lanzhou as a springboard for Xiong Ba He Long to manage the Western Regions in the future, he had to break this pattern.

At a time like this, Li Shimin was undoubtedly betting on a rookie who was inexperienced but dared to innovate.

This was a heroic gamble that placed the glory of the entire empire on a weak-crowned youth!

Perhaps only an ambitious emperor like Li Shimin dared to gamble.

However, the pressure was more on Qin Mubai’s shoulders.

After arriving in Lanzhou for half a month, he had been living through the doubts and speculations of many officials. He wasn’t in a hurry, nor was he in a hurry to show or prove anything. Every day, they trained in the morning, and in the afternoon, they were in charge of politics in the Governor’s Mansion.

If a large Lanzhou Governor-General’s Manor, under the rule of four states, thousands of miles in radius, under the rule of a total of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Naturally, there were many government affairs, and more than half of them were related to money and grain. In addition, the Land of Helong has always been a typical area where Han and Hu lived together, especially after the Great Tang pacified the Turks in the early years, many Turkic people moved to Helong Yi to live, either farming or herding, with a large population. There are many sensitive issues related to ethnic contradictions, which must be handled with extreme caution.

When the local officials of Lanzhou saw that Qin Mubai had been here for so long and hadn’t even let out a fart or two, they all sneered in their hearts, “Child, that’s all!” Looks like Lanzhou still depends on us, don’t count on him!

One had to know that this was Qin Mubai’s usual style of doing things. Every time he came to a new environment, he would concentrate on learning and adapting for a period of time in order to understand and familiarize himself with the surrounding environment and grasp the rules here. After making up his mind, he moved as calm as Mount Tai and as fast as the wind. Li Jing’s divine essence of the art of war was fused into his government affairs.

On this day, Qin Mubai suddenly gathered the officials from the Lanzhou Governor’s Mansion, including the governor, Sima, Changshi, Zhu Cao, county magistrates, and county magistrates to the Governor’s Mansion.

Secretary Xiao Liang and the others didn’t care about it and were still teasing and laughing, saying, “This new young general doesn’t have to drive, his greatest preference is to discuss politics.” It was nothing more than setting up two bowls of tea, chatting nonsense, eating dinner, and returning home to sleep. If they were to be in power like him, it would be too easy for them to be officials!

However, as soon as they entered the government hall today, Xiao Liang and the others were somewhat surprised.

Because in the hall, there were no tables or couches, no tea, melon, snacks, and so on. On the contrary, Qin Mubai was dressed in military uniform. Behind him were two generals from the Yi Manor, Yuwen Hongtai and Xue Rengui, followed by ten people from Baiji.

“Why are you setting up this formation? Could it be a Hongmen banquet?” Xiao Liang and the others were doubtful. When they entered the hall, their usually arrogant expressions were restrained by the murderous might of the soldiers.

“My fellow colleagues.” After everyone had arrived, Qin Mubai said loudly, “This official has been in office for more than half a month, but he has not executed a single policy or given an order. What do you think?”

Xiao Liang and the others were all elites of the bureaucracy. Although they were cursing, their mouths were beautiful. They all said that this was Qin Bie Jia’s accomplishment as a young man. He had his own strategy in his stomach and decided to move later, Yun Yun.

Qin Mubai smiled indifferently, “Yes, this official is indeed scheming. Without investigation, I have no right to say anything. I already have a general policy in my chest, but it is difficult to investigate on the spot. Therefore, I have specially invited all my colleagues to visit all the counties under the Lanzhou Governor-General’s Mansion today.”

“All prefectures and counties?” When everyone heard this, they couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

It was midwinter, and Lanzhou was already splashing water into ice sand. Wasn’t it asking for trouble to go out at this time to “investigate on the spot”? I have to travel through all the counties … That’s not a matter of ten and a half months, maybe three or two months.

“That’s right, all states and counties.” Qin Mubai said with certainty, “What, do you have misgivings?”

Xiao Liang hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, “Qin Bie Jia, please forgive me for saying so many words. I have been in Lanzhou for many years, and I know the local customs, hydrology, and the people’s livelihood like the palm of my hand. Don’t you want to know anything, just ask, there is no need for you to do this without any arrogance.”

“Wuwang move?” Qin Mubai chuckled and said, “Xiao Cishi, in terms of age, you are a senior. I shouldn’t have said such disrespectful words.” But since we are feudal officials, we have no choice but to talk business–do my colleagues have a better life in Lanzhou, I say, after many years of operation? Were they outstanding? Lanzhou is still the poor Lanzhou, less than ten thousand households, poor not self-sufficient. Food, clothing, people gnawing on horses, all by the rear transport. “If you don’t know how difficult the transportation is and how precious the grain is, you can try sending it back like this official.”

Xiao Liang’s expression changed. He was naturally very angry in his heart, but he didn’t dare to say anything against him. He could only swallow his anger.

“This official knows that you are not convinced. Where is Xue Zhonglang?” Qin Mubai said.

“The end will be here.” Xue Rengui stepped out and cupped his fists.

“Report this trip’s grain consumption to your colleagues.”

“Yes.” Xue Rengui spread out the list of folds that had been prepared long ago and said, “On this trip, General Qin led 10,000 soldiers to ride over 1,400 miles, escorting 100,000 stones of grain, and accompanying more than 10,000 porters and civilians.” There were more than twenty thousand war mules. When they arrived in Lanzhou, there were only fifty thousand stones left. The repatriated farmer gave more than twenty thousand stones of grain, but only twenty-four thousand six hundred and fifty-six stones remained in the warehouse. “Over!”

After Xue Rengui finished speaking, the scene was completely silent.

“Did you hear everything?” Qin Mubai said indifferently, “If anyone doubts the authenticity of these data, they can go through the accounts and open the warehouse to verify it. If someone covets a grain of grain, military orders, and execution orders!”

Xiao Liang managed to squeeze out a smile and said, “Qin Biejia, stop joking. Let’s get back to business. What exactly is going on when Qin Biejia wants to lead our subordinates to travel around the local counties and prefectures?”

“It’s not traveling, it’s visiting.” Qin Mubai smiled faintly and said, “All along, as Shangguan, most of the information we received came from subordinate officials. That was just hearsay.” Therefore, it is very necessary for us to condescend to visit and investigate the situation of the people. Secondly, under the rule of the Governor-General’s Manor of Lanzhou, it was a vast land with a large territory and a sparse population. It had more Gobi and less Qingtian, more wind and dust and less farming. The canal water was not good for Qing He, so it was a notoriously poor and poor land. However, all of this could be changed. Planting trees to defend against sandstorms, reclaiming land and wasteland for self-sufficiency, raising livestock and enriching the people to support the army, opening up Kaifu to attract merchants to cut costs, and advising farmers and mulberries to attract people to expand their population are all good strategies. What do you think? ”

When the officials heard this, they all laughed.

The smile was very obvious and contemptuous.

One of the two Vajra standing behind Qin Mubai, the furious Yuwen Hongtai, was annoyed. “What are you laughing at? My General Qin is right. Why didn’t you listen? Why are you laughing instead? You’re really mad at me!”

His shouts were as loud as thunder, causing a group of scholars and officials to shiver in fear, and their laughter to stop.

“Hong Tai, don’t be rude! This is the Council Hall, not the barracks. Be gentle.” Qin Mubai said.

“Oh, then I’ll be gentle.” Yuwen Hongtai cursed, “I won’t curse anymore. Anyone else who dares to laugh at you disrespectfully, just take them out and hit the board!”

Xiao Liang and the others all felt contempt in their hearts, but they only dared to smile bitterly. When a scholar encountered a soldier, there was no reason to explain. It was only this kind of situation. Not only was Qin Mubai not an adjutant officer, he was also a general leading troops … There was nothing he could do with him!

“Everyone, General Yuwen is a rough guy. Don’t worry, let’s continue our discussion.” Qin Mubai said, “Xiao Cishi, do you think this official has just said these strategies?”

Xiao Liang smiled bitterly and said, “Don’t drive Qin. If this lowly position tells the truth, will General Yuwen bring him out to beat the board?”

“Of course not.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Speak when you have something to say.”

“Then this lowly position will be said.” Xiao Liang said, “These strategies of General Qin are feasible in any prefecture or county. However, in Lanzhou, they are not feasible at all.”

“Why?” Qin Mubai asked patiently.

“The reason is very simple.” Xiao Liang said, “Lanzhou, since the founding of the Great Tang Empire, is a military town, soldiers will fight for the throat of the land, frequent battles still strong folk customs, and quite a number of Hu people live together.” If you want to persuade Nongsang, you can first let the Hu people know what Nongsang is; To build water conservancy, also can, that must be recruited to corvee; If you want to attract merchants and the people, you can also do so–if the merchants and the people are willing to come, can’t you send someone to catch them? For decades, Lanzhou was a pure military town. It didn’t produce grain, wasn’t self-sufficient, had less than ten thousand households, and the people didn’t cultivate. It had always been like this. Hence, when we heard Qin Biejia’s general policy, we couldn’t help but laugh out loud, causing General Yuwen to be furious. “Actually, we don’t have any ill intentions. We just feel … absurd!”

“Absurd?” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “I don’t deny what you said, but there are some things in this world that need to be changed.” People accustomed to the old ways always harbor the idea that nothing is a great merit. How could it be that they were thinking about the long-term plans of the Great Tang when one day and one bell clashed? Secretary Xiao, since this official has come under the orders of the Saint, I am not here to bring you to eat this bowl of leisure food. Everything that we have just said must be done. Whether I succeed or fail, I don’t know either. I, someone from the Qin Dynasty, am young and junior, and I have to rely on Xiao Cishi and his colleagues to support me everywhere. However, if someone is unwilling to go along with me, I will not force him to do so. Since the meeting, His Majesty would not make things difficult for the commissioner. “This is an oath!”

When everyone heard this, their hearts beat drums-this was truly a Hongmen banquet! This brat’s wrist was ruthless! The current situation was: either follow him or scram! Choice one or two, the middle faction and the double-dealer are absolutely not allowed!

“After I finish speaking, everyone, please express your stance!” Qin Mubai sat down in the armyman’s chair and quietly looked at Xiao Liang and the others.

Xiao Liang and the others looked at each other and hesitated.

“There’s no hurry. You guys can discuss it.” Qin Mubai crossed his hands on his stomach and said with a smile, “Everyone, please do as you please! An hour later, this official is still here waiting for you!”

Xiao Liang and the others couldn’t wait any longer, they all agreed to come to the other hall and began to discuss anxiously and nervously.

There were only Qin Mubai and the others left in the hall. Xue Rengui said, “General Qin, I think Xiao Liang and the others are not convinced for a moment. They are accustomed to the old administrative strategy. Once this new strategy is released, they will not be able to adapt to it. Furthermore, General Qin’s strategy is contrary to Lanzhou’s normal state. They will definitely doubt it.”

“Naturally.” Qin Mubai smiled and nodded, “So I gave them a chance to choose. Either follow me, someone from Qin, and drastically transform Lanzhou, or don’t get mixed up in this puddle of water and transfer to another prefecture or county, and still be their idle official.”

Xue Rengui frowned, “What if Xiao Liang and the others join forces to show their resistance? What if all of them submit their resignations?”

“Then replace them all!” Qin Mubai said resolutely, “Lanzhou would rather have me alone than a mediocre official or a secular official!”

“General Qin, I beg your pardon.” Xue Rengui said, “In the past, the general was not like this in Xiangzhou. At that time, you were just adapting to the environment of Xiangzhou and comforting and encouraging the local officials. Why did you come to Lanzhou?”

Qin Mubai smiled and said, “That’s because Xiangzhou doesn’t need much change. Furthermore, I was only a commandant leading the troops at that time, so I didn’t have much to do with governing the officials and the people. Lanzhou, on the other hand, must change its appearance! Since I’m here, I’m not afraid of offending anyone, nor am I afraid that they will throw my impeachment on His Majesty’s desk like snow!”

“What courage!” Xue Rengui couldn’t help but praise, “Regardless of whether the matter is successful or not, anyone who succeeds in a major event must have the courage of General Qin in the beginning!”

“Haha! … Stop talking, they’re back.”

Xiao Liang and the rest returned to the government hall.

Qin Mubai walked up to them with her hands cut off from her back and smiled, “How’s it going, Xiao Cishi? How’s the discussion going?”

Xiao Liang cupped his hands and replied, “Qin Bie Jia, we have discussed it many times. We all agree that Qin Bie Jia’s foresight and courage are commendable. Lanzhou needs Qin Bie Jia, a capable and wise official who dares to take the lead, to lead us to re-establish this important place by the river. We have agreed that all of us are willing to follow Qin Bie Jia and implement the New Deal!”

“Alright!” Qin Mubai laughed out loud and didn’t say anything else. “Then, all of you, please go back and prepare!”–Hand over the administrative affairs to the deputy assistant officer, pack your own mules and horses, and follow this officer to visit all the counties in Lanzhou first! At this time tomorrow, this officer will be waiting for you all! ”

“Yes … humble class, please leave!”

Xiao Liang and the others retreated one after another. Not long after they left the hall, Yuwen Hongtai burst out laughing loudly, “General Qin, why did these birdmen suddenly become obedient again? Aren’t they still laughing at you?”

“I’m still laughing at you. I’m just stuffed in my heart.” Qin Mubai smiled nonchalantly and said, “They’ve been officials for quite a few years, and their best skills are to watch the wind and take the helm. The current situation is, either follow me or scram. Even fools know how to choose.”

“Uh … then even a fool is inferior?” Yuwen Hongtai shouted dejectedly, “Since the truth is already like this, why do you need to do this? Isn’t it superfluous? Just give the order!”

“Of course not. General Qin’s move is of great significance.” Xue Rengui smiled and said, “This is called openness and openness. After today, no matter what these officials thought, they had to be honest and diligent before they could implement the New Deal in the future. Otherwise, it would be contrary to the preface to overturn his position. At that time, General Qin would be able to deal with them righteously. If they didn’t do this today, they could have resisted the ostentation and contradicted the New Deal on the basis of the old rules. Actually, this was the same as running the army. There were strict military orders in the army, and the terms of the regulations were laid out there. Whoever commits an offence shall be punished according to the law. “Without these military orders, there would be no way to start a military order.”

“Yes, Rengui is very knowledgeable!” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “Hong Tai, you old coarse fellow, learn more.”

“I won’t learn!” Yuwen Hongtai’s tiger eyes widened, “I’m dizzy from hearing this. Learn from a bird! I just need to know how to cut people!”

“Haha!” The hall burst into laughter.

The next day, Xiao Liang and the others returned. They each brought their own carriages and horses to follow Qin Mubai on a “River Dragon Day Tour”.

Qin Mubai left behind Yuwen Hongtai to lead the army to train his troops, and together with Xue Rengui, he brought a brigade of Yue cavalry and set off with these officials.

The group of more than three hundred people left Lanzhou City and headed straight for the wilderness to the east. They brought along a number of guides and local magistrates, marking each location on the map. Where to open up wilderness, where to divert water from canals, where to plant grass for grazing, where to open mines for smelting, where to build towns, set up villages, allow people to live, or open cardinals for business, all of these were marked with important marks.

Incidentally, whenever they meet scattered herdsmen or farmers, they will visit and ask. Ask them about the local customs and know what they need most and what they want to do most.

For more than two months, Qin Mubai and the others did not return to Zhou City. They even spent the New Year outside with the herdsmen.

In the blink of an eye, it was spring.

It was time for Qin Mubai’s new policy to be implemented. The group finally returned to Lanzhou City after traveling over a thousand miles.

Those officials had followed Qin Mubai wandering outside for so long, so it was not necessary to say that they had suffered all the hardships, but they all felt a lot of approval for him. After all, there weren’t many nobles as pragmatic and hardworking as Qin Mubai. Moreover, many of his opinions and ideas were indeed quite original. Although young experience is shallow, but fortunately modest diligent.

After two to three months of ascetic practice and field investigation, Qin Mubai had gained the deepest and most intuitive understanding of the vast territory of Lanzhou. Some of the administrative strategies that he had come up with in the past had also been revised to suit local conditions on a large scale.

After returning to the city, Qin Mubai immediately gathered all the officials at or above the county magistrate level under the Lanzhou Governor’s Mansion to discuss politics. After discussing all the details of the New Deal for seven consecutive days, he spread out these decrees to all the states and counties. From today onwards, it will be implemented.

Lanzhou River Dragon, this ancient and ancient region, because of the arrival of Qin Mubai, this weak-crowned official, there was an unprecedented whirlwind of new policies.

According to the central idea of the New Deal, all the people under Lanzhou’s rule, including the soldiers of the army, must participate in farming and mulberry farming. This matter was not new, and many frontier fortresses had done it before. However, Lanzhou had always been a battlefield, and all the soldiers were ambitious and eager to fight. They had temporarily put down their sabers and spears, picked up their hoes and sickles, and planted mulberries, but there were many people who felt aggrieved in their hearts!

Less than three days after the New Deal was promulgated, Qin Mubai encountered the first big problem.

General Xue Wanjun of the Shan City frontline, General Zuo Wei Wei, General Xue Wanche of the Liangzhou Governor-General Zuo Wei Wei, and the two brothers ran to Lanzhou together. They were filled with rage and indignation.