——The next day

"Xia Houjie, take my handwritten letter immediately and head to Quanzhou quickly, and let Camp Commander Huang lead the team!"

Ma Qiang finally chose Duan Ying's plan. Just like Duan Ying said, these obscene sacrifices must be stopped, but before a firm foothold is established, they must not take action immediately, otherwise they will not be able to kill these people and the people behind them in a short time.

If the protective umbrella is uprooted, it will be easily counterattacked.

Xia Houjie was younger than Zhao Yun. He took Ma Qiang's handwritten letter excitedly and solemnly, and then left.

Looking at Xia Houjie's back, Ma Qiang scratched his head. He had to find a way to repair the telegraph station quickly, otherwise it would be too troublesome to deliver the message.

"Zilong, go tell Captain Liu that I'm going to visit the military camp in the afternoon!"

"No!" Zhao Yun responded outside and then retreated.

Ma Qiang himself sat in his seat and began to read the county annals of Pingyuan.

If you want to manage a place well, you must first understand the history of the place, the mountains, rivers and culture of the place, and then adapt measures to local conditions.

Ma Qiang looked at it and discovered that the Red Eyebrow Army, which was as famous as the Green Forest Army in history, originated from Qingzhou. It seems that the problems in Qingzhou are indeed not a year or two, but accumulated over hundreds of years.

The only thing that pleased Ma Qiang was that there were no big gentry clans in the plains. The Gao family's scripture heirs were basically in Ban County, while the Hua clan had just emerged. It was not a century-old clan, but an emerging gentry clan that had come up step by step.

In the plain counties, although agriculture is prosperous, there are almost no iron mines because there are many plains and few mountains. However, there are coal mines in Gaotang County.

Moreover, there was actually a record in Pingyuan County's national annals that black oil came out of Gaotang County after the earthquake, which made Ma Qiang very interested.

If his guess is correct, this black oil is petroleum. Ma Qiang knows that the Shengli Oilfield is in Shandong, but does not know its specific location. Now it seems that Gaotang County may be one of the Shengli Oilfields in future generations.

Petroleum is a good thing. Not to mention making internal combustion engines, only with petroleum can it be possible to light up the chemical technology line.

However, the difficulty of the chemical technology line is too high. Ma Qiang never thought that he could light it up in a short time. But at least burning oil does not require any skill points. In the future, it can be used to make weapons or power stations.

Use oil.

After Ma Qiang wrote down this matter, he put it aside.

This matter is not urgent.

"The Prime Minister of the State, the Prime Minister of the State, Hou Ba, would like to see you!" Huang Xu came in to report.

"Oh, let him in."

After a while, Hou Ba took off his shoes outside the door and walked in. Ma Qiang waved him to sit down, and then asked, "Today is a holiday. What important business does Hou Guocheng have here?"

The Han Dynasty also had a vacation system. Since most officials in ancient times lived in government offices and could not go home, the "Han Code" stipulated: "Officials take a break every five days to bathe and return home to visit their relatives."

In addition to such a weekend-like system, the Han Dynasty also had a holiday and leave system. Leave was generally used by lower-level officials to go back to help when the crops were busy. There is a record in "Historical Records" where Liu Bang often returned to his hometown.

After Hou Ba saluted, he said, "Prime Minister, in a few days it will be February 12th, which is the time for worshiping the shrine. I wonder how the Prime Minister will arrange it?"

"Zuo Zhuan" says that the major affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs, which shows the status of sacrifice in the hearts of the ancients. Once sacrifice is neglected, the people will worry about natural and man-made disasters. Even if any natural disaster or man-made disaster occurs, it will be attributed to the court's failure to perform sacrifices properly.

Although Ma Qiang doesn't believe in this kind of sacrifice, he has no problem with following the local customs.

"How were the previous years?"

"The "King System" says: The emperor's crops are all too strong, and the princes' crops are too few. One sheep and one hog should be prepared for sacrifice."

Of course, this sacrificial standard does not refer to Ma Qiang, but to Pingyuan King Liu Shuo.

"Then continue with this standard, and the etiquette must not be messed up!" Ma Qiang also knew that ancient times were sensitive to this kind of sacrificial standard. Whether it is too much or too little, it is a big issue that can be addressed.

"No! In addition, people will perform their own sacrifices on that day. Can the curfew be lifted?"

Ma Qiang suddenly understood the real purpose of Hou Ba's visit. It turned out that he was here for those who wished to explore the path for witchcraft.

Well, you can't think so bad of others, just in case you want to test whether you are willing to rectify this unhealthy trend.

You test me, and I will test you too!

"Shouldn't sacrifices be performed during the day? It's not the Lantern Festival. I heard that Taishan thieves often come down the mountain to harass, so it's better to be careful! By the way, who usually organizes these folk sacrifices? Don't mess with the etiquette!"

Hou Ba immediately replied, "They are all organized by the wealthy families in various places. The local officials will cooperate with the supervision and there will be no disrespect!"

"Well, sacrifice requires sincerity. Now that the treasury is empty, we should not be extravagant, but be more frugal!"

"The Prime Minister is worried about the imperial court. He is truly a scholar of the country! The government will certainly not spend too much."

Ma Qiang frowned, these ancient foxes...

Ma Qiang and Hou Ba tested each other for a long time, but neither side could figure out the other's bottom line. Ma Qiang was too lazy to talk to him any more, and waved him off to make arrangements while he continued to study the county and country annals.

--Yellow River

On the Yellow River, a fleet was approaching the plain.

On the boat, a man in his thirties was reading a book.

"Mengde, Pingyuan Kingdom is coming soon. Let's dock here and go to Jinan!" Cao Hong walked into the cabin with a young man and said.

"Well, the Prime Minister of Pingyuan Kingdom is Ma Qiang now. Pingyuan Kingdom is adjacent to our Jinan Kingdom, so it would be nice to meet him." Cao Cao put the scroll away, then looked at the young man and smiled, "Ang'er, tell me.

Look, why do you want to see Prime Minister Ma as a father?"

Cao Ang was about ten years old at this time and was Cao Cao's only son. Cao Cao brought him to take office this time in the hope of training Cao Ang's abilities.

Cao Cao unknowingly reached the age of thirty. In the second century AD, thirty years old was already the second half of many people's lives. After all, the normal life span of ordinary people at this time was only about fifty years old.

Therefore, Cao Cao began to gradually curb the heroic spirit of his youth and began to deliberately cultivate his own offspring. Perhaps this is a sign of true maturity for every man.

Cao Ang thought for a moment, and then said, "Dad and Ma Guoxiang are both promoted by military merit, so they are naturally close. Moreover, the child also heard that this Ma Guoxiang is very young, and he will be courageous when he is young. Dad is also courageous. Dad and Ma Guoxiang are together."

We will definitely be able to come up with good national policies that will change both countries."

"Oh? What national policy?"

"My child doesn't know, but my child thinks that keeping the people well fed is a good national policy!"

Cao Cao stroked his beard, laughed and said, "Zilian, what do you think of my son?"

"You're better than me anyway!" Cao Hong smiled and touched Cao Ang's head and said, "I think our Cao family will have a third master in the future!"

Cao Ang lowered his head and smiled shyly. Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't be proud. See more and think more. Talk less and move less. Zi Lian, when you get to Pingyuan, you will dock, and then send someone to report to Ma Pingyuan. Don't lose it."

Etiquette."
Chapter completed!