Chapter 206: Red-ink Review System
In Huayin city, the original governor's mansion was replaced with a plaque of the Western Expedition Commander's Mansion. Princess Nanyang got off the carriage with the help of her maid with great anticipation, but she did not see her husband waiting for her. A trace of loneliness flashed in Princess Nanyang's eyes.
At this time, another maid came to report that Feng Shu and his wife came to say goodbye to her.
Last month, Feng Shu asked for his resignation from King Qinghe. King Qinghe tried to "retain" him twice, and said with great "regret" that everyone has their own aspirations and that he had lost a talent like Feng Shu.
The King of Qinghe personally presented Feng Shu with a bamboo slip of the Qin Law, and only then did he allow Feng Shu to resign.
The reputation of Prince Qinghe for "loving talents" once again spread among the scholars in Luoyang.
Young scholars submitted their own written articles to the Qinghe Palace, hoping to become its retainers, so the price of paper in Luoyang became much higher.
There were also many people in Luoyang who said behind Feng Shu's back that he was ungrateful and a traitor, and that he did not live up to the love that King Qinghe had for his talent.
However, Feng Shu didn't care. With the help of his wife, he got the help of Princess Chenliu, who introduced Feng Shu to follow Princess Nanyang's caravan into Guanzhong, and then find a way to go to Hezhou.
So Feng Shu and his wife set off with Princess Nanyang's caravan. The princess' caravan naturally received the best protection and arrived in Huazhou safely.
During the trip, Princess Nanyang often gathered female relatives to chat. She had a very good impression of Feng Shu's wife, and also learned about her husband's talents through her.
When the couple came to say goodbye, Princess Nanyang tried to persuade them to stay, saying:
"With your talent, why do you want to go to Hezhou? I recommend you to my husband. Wouldn't it be better for you to serve under the Western Expeditionary Force?"
Feng Shu crossed his hands and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. My brother has been appointed as a doctor in the imperial court under the command of Duke Danyang. I still want to go to Hezhou to take a look."
Princess Nanyang understood that a man like Feng Shu could not be persuaded with just a few words, and that for a child of aristocratic family like him, his family would have arrangements for him to serve in the government.
Princess Nanyang had no choice but to say:
"The road to Hezhou is not easy to travel. I will let my personal guards escort you there."
Feng Shu wanted to refuse, but his wife stepped forward and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Feng Shu thought about it. He originally wanted to hire someone to protect the caravan going to Hezhou, but the road was indeed unsafe, so he crossed his hands and expressed his gratitude to Princess Nanyang.
Princess Nanyang called a confidant and said:
"After you go to Hezhou, ask more about General Su."
The confidant did not ask any more questions, but took the order and left.
Feng Shu was afraid that his brother would persuade him to stay and serve under the Duke of Danyang, so he simply did not even pay a visit to his brother, but continued to head west to Hezhou.
Princess Nanyang bid farewell to Feng Shu and his wife, and happily tidied her bedroom, looking forward to reuniting with her husband.
However, Xiao Baoyin did not return home until Princess Nanyang sent her trusted maid to inquire about him, only to find out that Xiao Baoyin had gone to a banquet today.
Princess Nanyang waited until late at night and finally saw her husband after a long separation.
"Husband!"
Princess Nanyang helped Xiao Baoyin back to the bedroom. After finally settling him down, Xiao Baoyin suddenly sat up.
Xiao Baoyin was half drunk and half awake. He pointed at Princess Nanyang and asked, "Why are you here?!"
Princess Nanyang said, "My dear husband, didn't I write to you and tell you that the Queen Mother has allowed me to come to Guanzhong to visit you?"
Xiao Baoyin angrily said: "You ignorant woman! If you come to Guanzhong, won't the court doubt my loyalty?"
Princess Nanyang was completely stunned. Xiao Baoyin continued angrily, "If you really care about my Xiao family, then return to Luoyang as soon as possible!"
"You Yuan clan girls are all the same, you act recklessly, arrogant and frivolous!"
After saying this, Xiao Baoyin walked out of the bedroom and slammed the door shut.
Princess Nanyang leaned on the table, covering her face and crying until her wide sleeves were soaked with tears. No tears could come out of her eyes, and she fell asleep.
By the morning, her eyes were as swollen as fish bubbles. Only then did her personal maid dare to knock on the door and help Princess Nanyang to wash and dress.
The maid timidly asked, "Your Highness, why don't we return to Luoyang?"
Princess Nanyang clenched her fists and said, "No, I won't leave!"
Princess Nanyang said to the maid, "Take my invitation. Tomorrow I will host a banquet for the ladies of Huazhou and other noble families in my mansion. As long as I am the head lady of the Danyang mansion, I will not leave."
Seeing that the princess had made up her mind, the personal maid also realized that her master was a gentle person with a strong heart, so she had no choice but to continue tidying up the backyard.
Princess Nanyang thought about how she and her husband had relied on Su Liang to mediate conflicts in the past. She said, "Send someone to invite Doctor Su Liang."
A maid said, "Your Highness, Doctor Su has been sent by the Duke to Hezhou to deliver a message."
"Hezhou, why is it Hezhou again? Is it the Buddha urging me?"
Princess Nanyang murmured to herself. She felt heartbroken when she thought of her husband's ruthlessness.
She held her chest and said, "Set up the Buddhist hall and offer the Buddha statues we brought from the capital. Today I will worship Buddha and pray for blessings."
"As ordered."
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golden city.
After Li Shizhe took office in Hezhou, he originally wanted to make a difference, but reality gave him a heavy blow.
The whole Hezhou area was like an iron barrel, and there was no chance for him to intervene.
Gao Ren, the deputy governor of Hezhou, was born in Hezhou. The Gao family had been operating in Hezhou for three generations. The people in the Hezhou governor's office were basically all his family's former officials, and Li Shizhe could not order them around at all.
Li Shizhe forcibly arranged the people he brought with him to the Hezhou Governor's Mansion, but he did not have enough talents under his command. He could only rely on Su Suan, whom he obtained from Su Ze, to barely control part of the financial power of the Governor's Mansion.
After much trouble, Li Shizhe found that he still had to rely on the old officials in the governor's office and was unable to eliminate the influence of the Gao family.
Li Shizhe had originally hoped that Su Ze would have a conflict with the Gao family, and then he could win over Su Ze to deal with the Gao family together.
Unexpectedly, after Su Ze quickly controlled Baohan, he quickly formed an alliance with the Gao family. Now Li Shizhe had no chance at all.
However, the only good thing is that Su Ze still respects Li Shizhe and still asks Li Shizhe for instructions when encountering problems. However, the seal of the Governor's Office is now in Liu Bozhi's hands, so asking Li Shizhe for instructions is just a formality.
Fortunately, there is Su Suan, a caring person.
At least Su Suan could still get him some money from the provincial treasury, and he gathered a group of cronies, allowing Li Shizhe to enjoy himself in the governor's mansion.
After experiencing the "grand ambitions" when he first took office, being tortured by his subordinates while in office, and finally giving up, Li Shizhe completed his spiritual transformation in Hezhou, and he finally recognized his own abilities.
After Su Cho was arranged to stay in Jincheng, Li Shizhe's government affairs in the governor's mansion suddenly increased dramatically. Li Shizhe simply let go of everything and even gave the governor's mansion seal to Su Cho, so that he wouldn't have to ask him to stamp it every day. In order to facilitate Su Cho's meetings, Li Shizhe even gave Su Cho the Mingtang of the governor's mansion and gave him a position as a Dianshi who was in charge of the governor's mansion affairs, so that he could work in the governor's mansion legitimately.
At the beginning, Su Cho was still cautious. He did not fight for the control of the various departments of the Governor's Office, but started slowly from the accounts and familiarized himself with the operation of these departments.
Su Cho began to reform the accounting of the Inspectorate's Office, requiring each department to record expenditures with a red pen and income with a black pen, and requiring all departments to report to the Household Department to account for income and expenditure, and gradually gained a grasp of the financial situation of each department of the Inspectorate's Office.
Su Cho not only controlled the Hezhou Provincial Governor's Office, he also required local counties to submit written reports to the Governor's Office in black ink. Any large expenditures had to be reported in writing and approved by the Governor's Office before they could be carried out.
When the various departments of the Inspectorate received the documents sent by the local authorities, they had to write their comments and the amount of funding calculated in red ink, and then give them to Su Chao for his review and seal before they could be implemented.
These two measures quickly allowed Su Chao to effectively control all major expenditure items in Hezhou and control the entire bureaucratic system of Hezhou from the purse line.
Everyone in Hezhou went from looking down on Su Cho, the young chief clerk of the general's office, to respect him. Even now, the clerks who delivered documents to Su Cho dared not even breathe a word. Su Cho's prestige in the governor's office surpassed that of Hezhou's deputy governor Gao Ren, and was far higher than that of Li Shizhe, the governor who stamped the documents.
When Su Liang brought Xiao Baoyin's official document, Su Ze was officially appointed as the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of He and Liang states, Su Chao became even more confident.
Su Chao immediately punished several corrupt officials in the provincial governorates and local counties under the order of General Su Ze, eliminated a group of officials who were just sitting there doing nothing, and replaced them with a group of capable young people.
What Li Shizhe dreamed of doing was easily accomplished by Su Chao.
Su Chao also employed local children. There was no other way back then. Ordinary people were only semi-literate, and those who could handle government affairs had to be children from poor families at the very least.
Su Cho simply replaced the incompetent young men in these families with the promising ones, and did not infringe on the collective interests of the Hezhou nobles.
Even if there were one or two families with bad practices, their children were all killed by Su Chao, but their places were filled by other families.
Su Chao announced the specific corruption situations of the officials appointed and dismissed by him. These families had no choice but to blame themselves for their bad family traditions and their children's incompetence.
After taking control of Hezhou, Su Chao summoned Su Ze's subordinates who had remained in Hezhou and began to discuss another important matter.
Su Chao handed Su Ze's letter to everyone and said:
"The general has sent a letter requesting that three thousand war horses be sent to Longxi County."
Everyone understood what Su Cho meant. They were going to discuss horse politics.
Before Su Ze left Liangzhou, he had begun to covet Hexi Horse Farm, the largest horse farm in the country.
However, Hexi Horse Farm is a royal horse farm, so Su Ze has always been very cautious. After all, the supervisor of Hexi Horse Farm is someone who can report to the emperor. If he accidentally causes a backlash, it may even affect the current situation.
Therefore, Su Ze set the tone and adopted the method of "nibbling" towards the Hexi Horse Farm.
Last year, which was the end of the second year of the Shengui period.
Su Suan stepped forward and, relying on his [Corruption] suffix, quickly established a relationship with Liu Chong, the animal husbandry supervisor of the Hexi Horse Farm. Su Ze's military office then "rented" a large piece of horse farm land from Liu Chong in the name of Madam An.
In theory, the land of Hexi Horse Farm belongs to the royal family and is not allowed to be rented or resold.
However, this has become the unspoken rule of all successive supervisors of the Hexi Horse Farm. The court only requires them to pay tribute to horses every year and does not care about the situation of the Hexi Horse Farm at all.
Therefore, over the years, much of the land near Hexi Horse Farm has been occupied.
This is what the wealthy families in Liangzhou have always been doing, and Su Ze’s requirements are even lower.
The powerful people in Hexi wanted to turn the horse farm into farmland, but Su Ze only "rented" the horse farm and did not change its purpose.
Liu Chong immediately "rented" out a large piece of land in Hexi Horse Farm.
"Renting" is of course better than selling. The rented land can be taken back at the end of the term. As long as Su Ze does not change the purpose of the horse farm, even if the court sends people to check, they will not find any problems.
The two sides can be said to have a tacit understanding of cooperation. Liu Chong, the pastoral supervisor, is also greedy for money. As for the horse farm that was "rented out", he turns a blind eye to it and focuses on respecting the contract.
Such a friendly and cooperative attitude made Su Ze overjoyed, and he proposed to buy horses from Hexi Horse Farm.
In response to this request, Liu Mujian waved his hand and directly asked Su Ze to send someone to select, and the price was negotiable!
Because the horse management at Hexi Horse Farm was lax, few horses there met the tribute horse standards, and there were not even many qualified military horses.
Every time Liu Chong presented BMWs to the royal family as tribute, he would pay money to buy them from merchants in the Western Regions.
This is also the reason why he made money so crazily while in office. Selling land would certainly overdraw the future of Hexi Horse Farm, but if he could not get the good horses needed by the court, his future would end there.
Liu Chong had finally managed to get a big buyer like Su Ze to come to his doorstep, so naturally he had to provide the best service.
[The supervisor who was good at breeding] carefully selected horses at the Hexi Horse Farm and finally picked out four thousand horses.
Later, Su Ze went to war and handed over the management of the horse farm to Su Chao.
After taking over, the problem facing Su Cho was that the military government had no money.
Since Su Ze took office as General Hu Qiang, it can be said that he has been fighting all the time.
Fortunately, there were spoils of war in several battles against the Tuyuhun and Gaoche people, and after Su Chao's management, there was a slight surplus.
But by the time Su Ze led his troops to Longxi, this war would become a pure loss-making business.
Moreover, Su Ze has a large fixed expense every month. Even a financial genius like Su Chao can only make ends meet by begging everywhere.
These four thousand horses are absolutely unaffordable.
But the stable had been rented and the stable had been built, and Su Cho was reluctant to abandon all these horses all at once.
As a last resort, Su Chao could only send a fast horse to ask Su Ze, who was still fighting in Longxi at the time, for help and ask him to find a solution.
Su Ze quickly sent someone a reply to Su Cho, and his idea was to "rent" the horse as well.
Su Ze's solution was to "rent" his own 4,000 horses from the Hexi Horse Farm. While paying the rent, "Annie An's Horse Farm" would be responsible for the daily expenses of raising the horses. If any horses died or were disabled, they would be "compensated and bought out" at the originally agreed price to make up for the shortfall.
Liu Chong was reluctant at first, but after Su Suan's "ideological work", he decided to have someone help him raise horses, which would reduce the expenses of the Hexi Horse Farm and he didn't seem to suffer any loss.
Under Su Suan's bribe, Liu Chong also agreed to the deal.
After a winter of careful care, these horses have reached the standards of war horses.
Su Chao took out a red pen, wrote his opinion on the paper, and said with a smile:
"Let's 'borrow' three thousand horses from Hexi and send them to Longxi County first."
(End of this chapter)