Han officials

Chapter 70 Joys and sorrows
"Oh, that's too much! Yang Ziping's eating habits are too ugly this time!"

Li’s manor in the western suburbs of Xiangping.

A middle-aged scholar wearing a plain silk robe, a Jinxian crown on his head, and a graceful figure let out a soft sigh.

This person is Li Min, the head of the Xiangping Li family and the former governor of Henei.

However, he was dismissed from his post due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, so he simply returned to Liaodong to educate his younger generations.

Although the ancestors of the Xiangping Li family were not as prominent as the Yuyang Yang family, they were also two thousand stone officials.

Even though Li Min has resigned from his post, the Xiangping Li family has intermarried with the Xing family of Zhu County in Hejian and the Sima family of Henei.

As long as he can be patient, he may be able to make a comeback in seven or eight years with the help of these in-laws.

So as a fellow aristocrat, Li Min really didn't take Liaodong Governor Yang Zhong seriously.

When he heard this, Li Xin, a young man who was listening to his father's lecture, suddenly asked curiously:

"Wouldn't this action of the prefect be a violation of the rules?"

"Rules?" Li Min couldn't help laughing when she heard that. Then, with a complicated look in her eyes, she sighed softly, "They are the rules!"

However, when it came to this, Li Min shook her head helplessly and stopped talking about this topic.

"Send a gift to the Wei family in Houcheng so that we can have more exchanges in the future!"

Even though the Houcheng Wei family is not considered a noble family now, Li Min feels that with Wei Zhe around, the Houcheng Wei family will sooner or later become a famous family in Liaodong.

Hearing his father say this, Li Xin, who has always been filial, immediately took his words to heart.

And when they saw that the Xiangping Li family, who were the prominent families in Liaodong, took the initiative to make friends with the Houcheng Wei family, the importance of the Wei family in the counties and prefectures of Liaodong suddenly increased, and for a time they also took the initiative to interact with the Wei family.

After all, few people help others in times of need, so it is human nature to add icing on the cake.

For a time, whether in high-level circles or among the common people, the Wei family of Houcheng had become a powerful family in Liaodong.

Now, in addition to the salted fish industry with small profits but quick turnover, the Wei family of Houcheng is finally qualified to get involved in other industries.

For example, in Liaodong's most profitable horse trade, the Wei family now finally has the qualifications to be the banker.

……

Compared with the ups and downs in Liaodong, Luoyang is much calmer.

The next day, Shangshu Taichung.

Only the Grand Marshal Cui Lie, the Minister of the Interior Xu Xiang, and the Minister of Works Ding Gong were sitting alone on one side.

The three people had different expressions when they heard the reports sent in successively from Lelang County and Liaodong County.

But one thing is certain, that is, the three of them couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, the war in Liangzhou is still at a stalemate. If another war breaks out in Liaodong, the court will be in a difficult situation.

In fact, after receiving the military report from the frontier, the Secretariat had been discussing how to deal with the Liaodong rebellion.

Faced with the 20,000-strong Goguryeo army, no one expected Wei Zhe to be able to hold on.

However, Liaodong is so far away that even if Luoyang sends reinforcements immediately, it will be impossible to catch up.

Therefore, the focus of the three officials' discussions these days is actually how to deal with the aftermath.

But no one in the Shangshutai had expected that they would actually receive good news.

"I never thought there would be such a talented person in Liaodong!"

It was seen that the Grand Commandant Cui Lie praised Wei Zhe without reservation.

After all, Wei Zhe helped Cui Lie solve a big problem this time. You know, he is the Grand Marshal.

However, Sikong Dingkong suddenly said upon hearing this: "The people of Goguryeo admire the virtue of the Liaodong governor and beg to be annexed by Liaodong. This is also a good thing!"

Although he said this without any context, the two people opposite him understood what he meant.

Obviously, Ding Kong was planning to do Yang a favor.

Although they didn't know what the relationship between Ding Kong and the Yang family was, neither of them had any intention of objecting.

Being helpful to others means being helpful to yourself. Cui Lie and Xu Xiang are well versed in the art of being an official.

"In that case, this year's Yangzhong assessment will be the best!"

Cui Lie spoke slowly, and Ding Kong nodded slightly upon hearing his words, indicating that they had reached a consensus.

However, just as the three were about to continue talking, Xu Xiang's follower suddenly came in and handed him a note.

When the other two saw this, they immediately realized that someone else had interfered in the matter.

As expected, Xu Xiang, who was originally planning to just perfunctorily deal with it, suddenly became alert.

"Lelang Governor Wei Gongwei is proficient in military tactics and has made numerous military achievements. He deserves to be made a marquis!"

Grand Marshal Cui Lie and Minister of Works Ding Gong were not surprised at all when they heard this. This was what was to be expected.

The two were curious about what Xu Xiang meant.

Prime Minister Xu did not keep the secret and said directly: "Such a great achievement deserves a generous reward. I think he can be made a marquis of the county."

After these words were spoken, Cui Lie and Ding Gong couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Isn't this... a bit too much?" It's not that the two of them have any objections to Wei Zhe, but it's against the rules.

Because according to the custom of the country, even the titles should be conferred in the order of Tinghou, Xianghou, and Xianhou.

There are also some rules for bestowing titles, and the recipient's hometown is usually deliberately omitted.

For example, Zhu Jun was clearly from Shangyu County, but he was granted the title of Marquis of Qiantang County last time.

If he continued to make meritorious contributions, the number of households in his fief would continue to increase, until he became a marquis with ten thousand households.

Unless Zhu Jun made great contributions in the future, the court would change his title and use his hometown as the title.

The reason for so many details is to allow the court more room to prevent the situation where it is difficult to reward people for their achievements or there are no more titles to be given.

However, since Prime Minister Xu dared to make an exception, he must have his reasons.

He took a sip of the honey water slowly and said calmly, "This is God's will!"

After hearing this, Cui Lie and Ding Kong immediately understood everything.

Although Xu Xiang was born into the Xu family of Runan, his grandfather Xu Jing and father Xu Xun both served as three highest officials.

However, Xu Xiang had a very bad reputation in the court and even among the people, because he flattered the eunuchs all the way to the position of Nine Ministers and even the Three Dukes, and was therefore granted the title of Marquis.

Therefore, even though both had three generations of three dukes, the Xu family of Runan was far less prestigious than the Yang family of Hongnong.

Even because Xu Xiang flattered the eunuchs, the brothers Xu Shao and Xu Jing, who were responsible for the "Yuedanping", disdained to associate with this cousin and repeatedly rejected his invitations.

Of course, Cui Lie was not much better, after all, he bought his position as one of the Three Dukes.

As for Sikong Dinggong, he has never had a real name.

It can be said that during the three-kilometer period of the Shangshutai, no one dared to go against the emperor.

In fact, this was also what Emperor Liu Hong intended.

For example, at this moment, he didn't even need to issue an explicit decree, just a hint to the Secretariat and the matter was done.

……

Wei Zhe had no idea that there were so many twists and turns in the Shangshutai.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Wei Zhe did not completely relax his vigilance.

It was not until he received the news that Goguryeo had submitted a letter of surrender to Liaodong County that he began to resume production.

As for Taishi Ci and Wei Zhe, who were harassing Goguryeo from the rear, they were also called back.

He wanted to stop while he was ahead. He didn't want these vassal cavalrymen to be defeated in Goguryeo territory.

As for the 5,000 Goguryeo captives, Wei Zhe gave them directly to Wang Jun after careful consideration.

After all, Lelang County has three major rivers: Lieshui, Peishui and Daishui. It would be a shame not to make good use of them.

You should know that in addition to soil, adequate irrigation is also an important factor in farming.

So throughout March, Wei Zhe spent almost all his time on water conservancy projects.

Wang Jun, who comes from a family with a profound academic background, is worthy of being the descendant of Wang Jing. He is indeed quite professional in the field of water conservancy.

Although Wang Jun gave up the idea of digging an artificial canal to connect Lieshui, Peishui and Daishui due to limited manpower and material resources, he designed a water conservancy network to the greatest extent possible.

Due to the characteristics of natural rivers, canals and ponds, the irrigated area of farmland in Lelang County has increased significantly.

Of course, due to the tight time schedule and heavy workload, most of the 5,000 prisoners eventually died of exhaustion.

But Wei Zhe didn't care at all. Who asked them to come to Lelang to do evil? Just consider it as atonement!

In the third year of Zhongping, in the fourth month of summer, on the day of Ji Mao.

When the first phase of the Lelang Water Conservancy Project was about to come to an end, the angel from Luoyang finally arrived.

"...Sage, you revived the Han Dynasty, enlightening all creation, like a pearl in a jade, like a jade necklace. Since I ascended the throne, I have been diligent in my work, contemplating the principles of order and discipline, achieving remarkable feats throughout the land, bringing benevolence to all nations... Wei Zhe, the governor of Lelang, is deeply versed in the art of war, dedicated to his duties, and his illustrious contributions are all before our eyes..."

In the hall of the prefectural government, the eunuch read out in a loud voice:

"He was granted the title of Marquis of Xiping Township, with a salary of 800 households, to honor his loyalty. How admirable!"

Xiping Township is a township under Goguryeo County, Xuanshou County.

Wei Zhe was a little surprised after hearing this. He thought that at most he would be a marquis of Ting.

But then he didn't care about these details and his face was full of smiles.

Who has written history in the past ten thousand years?

I want to be granted a title three thousand miles away.

After many life-and-death experiences, he finally got the honor of being a marquis and a general today.

Wei Zhe was so happy that he naturally celebrated with the people, and everyone in the prefectural government received rewards.

Of course, the eunuch who announced the decree would not be left behind.

After the eunuch brought a box of heavy gifts of thanks, Wei Zhe finally knew the inside story that his family skipped the title of Tinghou and was directly granted the title of Xianghou. Naturally, he could not help but express his gratitude and loyalty to the emperor in front of the eunuch.

For a moment, both the host and the guests were in high spirits, except for the Goguryeo people who were still digging the ditch...
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Sorry, it took me some time to look up the information. I will try to be faster next time!

(End of this chapter)