Qin Official

Jimo was a land of barbarians in ancient times. After being conquered by Qi State, people gradually assimilated and immigrated and built city walls.

During the Tian Qi period, Jimo was very prosperous and stood tall in the east of Qi. Jimo's doctor Tian Zhongshou made it rich. Tian Dan used this isolated city to fight against the powerful Yan for several years, and finally defeated the Yan army with a skillful fire ox formation. , the restoration of Qi State gave Jimo people a little more backbone and pride.

Nowadays, Qin officials and Qin soldiers have moved into Jimo. They occupy the former residence of the Jimo doctor and use it as an office space. The city wall was also built three years ago, turning the entire Guansi area into a city within the city of Jimo, which Jimo people call "Qin City".

On the second day of the first lunar month, Heifu, the newly arrived county guard, stood on the two-foot-high wall of Qincheng. He patted the rammed earth wall and looked at the crowds outside and the soldiers at the inner city gate as if they were facing a formidable enemy. , looked at Jun Cheng aside:

"Whose idea was it to build the official temple into a fortress, build a city wall outside, and make the county soldiers guard the area as if they were facing a powerful enemy?"

The Prime Minister of Jiaodong County had a name that even the black man did not recognize, his name was Sima Gu (xiàn). It was said that he was a descendant of Sima Cuo, a famous minister of the Qin State. He said:

"The city wall was built by the commander-in-chief. The Jimo people were not kind to Qin. The commander-in-chief was afraid that if something happened, they would besiege the official temple, so he ordered people to build an inner city so that the county could hold on until the commander-in-chief came to help..."

In the Qin Dynasty, the locations of county guards and county lieutenants did not necessarily overlap. Heifu was stationed in Jimo, and the county lieutenants were in Huang County, where bandits and light knights frequently appeared. Huang County is in the northeastern part of Jiaodong, close to the sea, and separated from the south by hills and mountains, so you have to go around a long way to get there.

"As for having the soldiers guard the inside and outside with their armor, it was Bing Cao's idea. When the county guard first arrived in Jiaodong, he encountered thugs and disturbed him, so he stepped up his guard."

Heifu nodded, noncommittal, but said in his heart:

"The total number of Qin officials and county soldiers in the inner city is only a few hundred. If Jimo really has trouble and is besieged by tens of thousands of people, no matter how high the city is built, what's the use?"

The reason why Heifu visited the inner city today was because after arriving in Jimo, Chen Ping presented Heifu with six steps to govern the county.

"First, establish authority."

Establishing authority through power, controlling ministers through skill, and controlling the people through law are the three methods that a superior must practice. Heifu was lucky. He was assassinated as soon as he entered Jiaodong. He dismissed Chunyu County Magistrate and Lieutenant in one fell swoop, and hunted for assassins and gang members in Chunyu County. This incident was a warning to both the officials and the people: this new county magistrate ,not to be trifled!

"Second, establish a cause!"

Sooner or later, the power of the governor will dissipate. Since Heifu has no ambitions for Moroda, he must clarify the governance program early and let everyone understand what the county governor is going to do. The new official has three things to do when he takes office, so Heifu throws himself out. Principles of governance: "Support the old clans, establish laws and religions, and save punishment."

Don’t the people of Jiaodong think that Qin’s laws are too strict? Hei Fu also opened the skylight and said clearly, as long as you don’t break the law and break the law, I will not kill indiscriminately. Moreover, the government welcomes everyone who is willing to cooperate!

Heifu also knows that the biggest problem in governing Jimo currently is that the government has no agents of its own, and it is difficult for laws to be issued out of the city, so it can only rely on the powerful and nobles of the past.

The past five years have been wasted in this tacit understanding of muddling along, so as soon as Hei Fu got out of the car, he announced the establishment of a school and threw all the more than ten young people he brought from Gaomi into the classroom and asked the county officials to teach them The language and laws of Qin. I only hope that after half a year, we will get the first batch of young cadres tied to the government, and rely on these people to push effective rule outside the city and to the vast countryside.

As for the "elementary school", it first forces the millionaires from various families to give away hostages. At the same time, it also teaches unified concepts from children...

In this way, minor nobles and unsuccessful Confucian scholars were drawn into the camp.

Next is what Heifu is doing: "Military power!"

Under the guidance of Sima Juncheng, after inspecting the inner city, Heifu returned to the official temple and asked Chen Ping, the chief minister, to immediately send a message to summon all the Cao officials currently on duty in the county government!

The drums were beating loudly, it was time to hold a general meeting, and the leaders of various departments quickly dropped what they were doing and gathered in the main hall! All of them, wearing black clothes and official hats, filed into the house to pay homage to Hei Husband.

I saw the black man wearing a high crown, black clothes, all seals and ribbons, wearing a long sword on his waist, sitting high on the main throne, followed by the chief minister Chen Ping and Sima Juncheng, followed by several people wearing armor and holding swords, standing at the door. ,

Since Heifu took office, this was the first time he summoned the county officials to the court. The county officials who came did not know what he wanted to do, and they secretly speculated. Unfortunately, the county governor's face was dark and his emotions could not be seen. After everyone paid their respects, they all stood up neatly, bent down and lowered their hands, and lined up in several rows to stand in the hall.

"There are a lot of people."

Heifu glanced at everyone. Although it was the first time to hold a meeting, he had already met his subordinates individually and remembered their names and positions. These people were: Hucao, the person in charge of household registration and place of origin; Cangcao, the person in charge of taxation. , Accumulating millet; Li Cao, in charge of promotion of officials, also called Gong Cao; Sikong Cao, in charge of prisoners, subordinates and concubines; Jinbu Cao, in charge of mountain and sea specialties, city taxation and trade.

In addition, there are also field, livestock, labor and other officials, all of whom are at the disposal of the county governor.

In addition, there are thieves and soldiers who are theoretically subordinate to the county captain. Because the county captain is stationed in Huang County, they usually obey Heifu's instructions, which invisibly increases his power.

In addition to the prison officers and court officers under the jurisdiction of the county magistrate, nearly twenty people were present at the meeting.

Heifu had asked Chief Shi Chen Ping to investigate in advance. Among the twenty people, almost all were foreign Qin officials, occupying important positions, while locals were in charge of insignificant departments, or assisted as minor officials.

Since they are all from Qin, it will be easy to handle. Heifu cleared his throat first and talked about the importance that the central government led by the First Emperor attached to the situation in Jiaodong. He also talked about Jiaodong County’s role in the first five-year plan. Immediately after the results were achieved, everyone began to speak freely and talk about the shortcomings of their work...

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The governor's way of holding meetings was quite novel. He tried to make up for the "shortcomings" by trying to push him away.

Since they were dishonest, Heifu named them himself. Bingcaopu was unlucky. He was the first one to be called. Heifu asked him with a smile:

"The inner city and streets are full of soldiers patrolling. It's like you are facing a powerful enemy. Is this your order?"

Bing Cao agreed to the promise, and he did so with the intention of currying favor, but was criticized by Hei Fu:

"You asked the soldiers to set up antlers outside and guard them with crossbows. You didn't know it, but you thought that you were an enemy country outside the inner city! Just a few thieves acted like this, wouldn't they let the Jimo people take it lightly? Immediately send out the sentry soldiers Pull it back, loosen it on the outside and tighten it on the inside!"

After some beatings, Heifu made some minor personnel adjustments to the soldiers, and placed some of the noble knights and servants he brought from the North and South counties into the county soldiers as military officials.

This was after more than a month, Gong Ao finished Chunyu's mission, came to the county and handed over the military power to him to make preparations. Although the Qin soldiers were few, only a few hundred, they had one more sword. Hei Fu could not sleep at night Can feel more at ease.

As for the other Cao Cao, Heifu has left them alone for the time being. They have just arrived and there are not enough people under his command to replace them, so it is not appropriate to make too many personnel changes.

After letting all the officials go, Heifu left only Chen Ping and asked him: "Now that the authority has been established, the matter has been made clear, and the military power has begun to be controlled, what are your next three strategies?"

…

Chen Ping had previously given up on the first three, but now he said: "The fourth is to establish trust. At that time, Zigong asked Confucius, how should the country be governed? Confucius said, enough food and enough soldiers, the people will trust it."

"Zigong asked again, what if we have to eliminate two items and keep only one?"

"Confucius replied, go away the troops and go out to eat, because if the people do not trust their officials and monarchs, the country will not survive! Therefore, if the people do not trust, they will not stand!"

Confucius's original words were like this, but in Chen Ping's view, it is useless to talk and establish trust without mastering military power.

Hei Fu nodded: "When Lord Shang carried out his reform, he also moved to Mu to establish trust first. But the Jimo people resented the Qin officials. How should I establish trust?"

“Maybe we can start from the newly opened classrooms.”

Chen Ping gave Heifu an idea: "Let the officials study for a month and then take the exam. Those from Jiaodong who can speak the best Qin dialect, the most proficient in writing Qin seals, and the ones who can recite the most laws and regulations will all be rewarded with fifty gold coins. By including him in the official register, he can learn the law and receive a salary at the same time!"

Of course, fifty gold is not some kind of brass, which is a lie, but serious gold. It adds up to nearly three thousand gold, which is equivalent to one year's salary of Chief Liu Ting of Pei County, which is not a small amount. The sons of rich people may not care, but the children of small landowners who are able to attend school for free will definitely be moved.

"In this way, not only can the Jiaodong students in the school compete to learn Qin Yan and Qin characters, but they can also use their words to tell all Jiaodong people that the government is true to its word."

Heifu suddenly became excited: "You don't have to do it just once, you can make it into a system. One month is the monthly exam, half a year is the mid-term exam, and one year is the final exam. From elementary school to official school, it is the high school entrance examination, and from official school to assistant official, For the college entrance examination! The money given to those who excel in the exam is called scholarships!"

Chen Ping didn't expect that Heifu would come up with so many tricks. He was stunned and handed over his hands: "Everything is as the county governor said."

Great test method! Hei Fu nodded: "This policy is very good. As long as those who excel in the exam get money, they will publicize the government's trustworthiness, and the Jiaodong people will rush to make their children learn Qin Yan and Qin Seal. What about the fifth policy?"

Chen Ping said: "Now that the trust is established, we will naturally have enough food. Spring plowing is around the corner. The county governor should appoint good officials, follow the example of Nanjun and Neishi, build public toilets in Jimo, and promote the technique of compost retting."

Even with the support of the government, the spread of science and technology is still very slow. Jiaodong is too far away from the Qin Dynasty. The public toilets that Heifu glimpsed in Peixian County do not yet exist here, let alone the technology of composting and retting. Although Heifu could not change the court's tax rate, if he could increase production and make the cake bigger, perhaps the farmers' resentment against heavy taxes would not be so great.

Heifu pondered: "What is the sixth strategy?"

Chen Ping said: "The government of a king should not rush thieves. Now there are many thieves in Jiaodong, and they have become so arrogant as to assassinate the county guard. When the spring plowing is over and the government is free, we must follow the clues found in Chunyu County to eliminate the thieves in the county." Shock Xiaoxiao!"

Seeing Mr. Hei frowning, Chen Ping added: "For the above matters, the county guard does not have to do everything personally. Instead, he should make the chicken watch the night, make the raccoon catch the rat, and use his abilities. There is nothing to do. Select the good ones from among the officials. Of."

Heifu nodded. The county magistrate was different from the county lieutenant. They had to take care of everything. As the chief historian, although Chen Ping could share the burden for him, he was unable to handle the complicated work.

Therefore, he must decentralize power.

But what Heifu lacks most now is talents who can handle various tasks and take charge of their own affairs. He is not familiar with the temperament and talents of the county officials and cannot trust them. The children of various clans in the school still have a year and a half to complete their studies, but they are of no use...

At this moment, a retainer and a minor official came to report that there was someone at the inner gate of Jimo who claimed to be a guest of the county governor and asked for an audience...

"There are several people in the group. This is the letter they asked the subordinates to deliver."

Heifu took it and took a look, and immediately laughed out loud: "I was really dozing off when I met the pillow. The chicken in the night and the raccoon holding the rat that I was short of are here!"

Chen Ping had already guessed who it was: "Could it be Cao Shen from Peixian County?"

"Cao Shen is not the only one coming."

Hei Fu stood up and said with a smile: "These are the 'Three Heroes of Peixian County'!"