Han officials

Chapter 58 Li Daitao is stiff
After Wang Duan left the prefectural government, the powerful people in Lelang soon learned of Wei Zhe's request.

No matter what they thought, many people breathed a sigh of relief when Wei Zhe finally named a price.

They were not afraid of Wei Zhe's offer, but they were afraid that he was a young man who was unwilling to even negotiate.

If they really encounter such a situation, they will be so sad that they will not even cry.

Of course, it is inevitable to feel heartache.

After all, Wei Zhe's strike caused serious injuries to many local tyrants.

But when they thought of those unlucky guys who lost their heads, they felt much better.

……

Not to mention how many powerful people in Lelang County were tamed by Wei Zhe in the extreme tug of war.

After Wang Duan left, Wei Zhe quickly sent people to Daifang.

The next day, we went to Daifang County Temple.

"What? My Lord, you want to relocate the military settlement?"

Looking at the scorched mountain in front of him, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but look surprised.

However, Jiao Shan didn't care what he thought and simply nodded and said, "My lord said that based on last year's harvest, the top sixteen military settlements will be relocated to various counties, with two camps in each county."

At this point he hastened to add: "There is no need to reclaim wasteland, as fertile fields have already been prepared in all the counties."

As soon as these words were spoken, Xi Zhicai immediately became thoughtful.

According to the rules previously formulated by Wei Zhe, each military camp has a thousand people, and each civilian town has five hundred people. Now, there are actually more refugees in Daifang County than local people.

Originally, Daifang had fifteen military camps and forty civilian camps, but after the battle with the Xianbei, the soldiers who participated in the battle received a lot of rewards. Almost everyone brought back several cattle and sheep, and there was also a lot of cloth and food.

For this reason, some time ago, the civilian settlements of ten towns were converted into military settlements.
Therefore, at present, Daifang County actually has 20 military camps and 30 civilian settlements.

But Wei Zhe waved his hand and wanted to relocate the sixteenth military camp, so there would be only a few camps left.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhicai immediately asked, "Does Mingshou have any other instructions?"

"The Lord has ordered that the garrisons of the Daifang army must not be abandoned, but refugees can be recruited to continue farming."

After hearing Jiao Shan say this, Xi Zhicai immediately understood what Wei Zhe meant.

Obviously, Wei Zhe had no intention of letting the new refugees catch up.

When he became the prefect, his old buddies in the military settlement could also benefit from it, which shows that he was a man of great loyalty and righteousness.

So after Jiao Shan left, Xi Zhicai immediately took charge of the matter himself without saying a word.

After all, after this group of military settlers moved inland, he would have to recruit at least another 1.6 refugees this year.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhicai, who had been extremely bored before, suddenly dared not slack off anymore.

However, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Xi Zhicai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

He always felt that Wei Zhe's reform of the military farming system had some deeper meaning.

With the refugees coming in and out of Daifang County, nothing seemed to have changed, but Xi Zhicai always felt something was wrong.

Wei Zhe wouldn't just move the troops inland because he values friendship and loyalty. There must be other motives behind this!

……

At the same time, Wei Zhe was also very busy.

Inside the prefect's mansion, one could see many county officials coming in and out, all of them busy.

"Before spring plowing, military settlements in each county must be properly settled."

Yuan Jun looked troubled upon hearing this and said, "It's already winter, it's not easy to build a house."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe laughed.

"Don't worry, I've made preparations. The strongholds of the powerful people in various counties that were previously confiscated are for them."

To some extent, Wei Zhe was taking from the people and giving back to the people. Using the wealth of powerful families as the starting capital for military farming in various counties was killing two birds with one stone.

You have to know that he didn't summon the 16th Battalion of Fang's troops to garrison here to suffer.

Compared with the county soldiers, this group of people is actually the one Wei Zhe trusts the most and is also his foundation.

Wang Duan thought Wei Zhe was still using the old tricks of recruiting refugees and reclaiming wasteland for farming, but he didn't know he had other plans.

As long as the two camps of military settlements in each county can take root, it will be like having a rope around the necks of the powerful.

Two thousand garrison soldiers who plow the fields during the busy farming season and train in their spare time are enough to subdue any powerful family in the county.

By then, even if they wanted to explode, it would be too late.

With this in mind, Wei Zhe immediately gave another order: "The craftsmen donated by the powerful people in each county should also be placed in the military settlement forts. In their spare time, they will forge armor and weapons, and in their busy time, they will repair farm tools to supply the military settlements for their own use."

In this way, the lives of these relocated military settlements will probably be much better in the future.

After hearing what Wei Zhe said, Yuan Jun understood how much importance his lord attached to the military settlement, and he immediately took the order and left.

He was worried about others, so Yuan Jun planned to go there himself to implement the issue of military resettlement sites.

……

……

Time flies by in the busyness.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Zhe welcomed the New Year.

Looking back at the second year of Zhongping, Wei Zhe felt a lot of emotion for a moment.

As for looking ahead to the next three years of Zhongping, he was even more filled with emotion.

Alas~ This damn world is really not a place for human beings to live in!

However, the others were not as sentimental as him. Led by Yuan Jun, many county officials came to the prefect's mansion to congratulate him early in the morning.

In the hall of the prefectural government, Wei Zhe was seen sitting high up, and everyone was standing in an orderly line, just like a court meeting.

The congratulations from the crowd were no longer as casual as they had been in private before, and their actions were all polite.

Yuan Jun, the county chief, stepped forward first, offering congratulations on behalf of the crowd: "Lelang has long been in chaos, plagued by bandits and barbarians, with no sound of roosters crowing or dogs barking. However, your Excellency has been in office for several months now, and the land has been reclaimed, the bandits have been eradicated, the crops are plentiful, and families have enough to eat. Today is the beginning of the new year, and I wish you a happy birthday!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the officials beside him bowed their heads and shouted "Long live the emperor".

Wei Zhe was no longer the young man who had just arrived in this world. He knew that this was just a normal etiquette of congratulations and that Yuan Jun was not crazy and led many county officials to persuade him to ascend the throne. Therefore, he accepted the gift calmly with a solemn expression.

After everyone stood up, he said seriously:

"Thank you for your hard work, I will give you a piece of silk cloth."

Only after such back and forth exchanges were the New Year's greetings and congratulations completed.

In fact, this is also the reason why people call the prefect the county lord.

Because the prefects of the Han Dynasty could command the army on horseback and govern the people on foot, their power was indeed comparable to that of the princes in ancient times.

Moreover, the rank of the prefect was two thousand stones, and in terms of salary level alone, there was no essential difference between him and the nine ministers.

During the Western Han Dynasty, prefects were often summoned by the emperor to serve as prime ministers because of their outstanding political achievements.

The same is true in this dynasty, and it is not uncommon for prefects to serve as nine ministers in the court.

Of course, the most important thing is that the prefect can also appoint his own officials, which is equivalent to having the power to form his own ruling team.

At a time when the practice of having disciples and former officials was prevalent, once the county officials were recruited by the prefect, the status between them was actually no different from that of the monarch and his subjects. Many county officials were even accustomed to calling their own county government "this dynasty", almost equating the county with a country.

This was also the political basis for the rise of many heroes in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In fact, many of the princes at that time were prefects of a certain region.

The emperor is too far away, and the governor is too close. So it goes without saying who to be loyal to...

(End of this chapter)