There is a reason why Gongsun Xun always felt restless after arriving in Handan, the capital of Zhao.

First of all, whether it is based on some strange arguments learned from Aunt Gongsun, or what Gongsun Xun saw with his own eyes, or feedback from Wang Xiu, there is a big problem in the Zhao State or Handan in front of him... In the end

It is inevitable to have at least one prominent class conflict, let alone a prime minister who has been in office for nearly two years but has done nothing.

In this case, the power of King Zhao and King Zhao Fu was weakened, and there was also the strange existence of Xiang Xu. Even Zhao Ping, who had Zhao Zhong as his backing, took the initiative to shrink his head, which directly caused Gongsun Xun to be helpless.

Use a simple and effective method to quickly seize the core power of Zhao State!

That's right, it's just that there are no simple and effective methods. It's not that there are no methods... In fact, Gongsun Xun can do as Wang Xiu suggested, starting from the responsibilities of the Handan Order, adhering to the law and morality, and severely cracking down on those who stand in the way and obstacles.

Those who want to find out those who steal power;

Of course, he could also calm down, go to the countryside, go to the alleys, and thoroughly sort out the context inside and outside Handan City from bottom to top. In this way, it would naturally be impossible for anything to continue to be concealed;

It's not even that there are no other means. County officials, noble families, powerful people...if the power is not in the hands of King Zhao, Fu, Prime Minister, and eunuchs, it is impossible to escape from the hands of these people, right? So there is no need for anything else.

, just call everyone over at a banquet, and then close the door, a new Amway large iron pot is placed in the middle, and anyone who talks nonsense will be thrown out. Even if they don’t use a cauldron, I don’t believe that this group of people dare to do anything!

All kinds of methods, royal and domineering, are all available.

To put it bluntly, the reason why Gongsun Xun finds it difficult to accept is not that the situation is so difficult, but that he easily destroyed Goguryeo. After the so-called destruction of the country, the fall of the city and the enfeoffment of the princes, he was inevitably a little arrogant and complacent, and also had a little more inertia...

...I feel that everyone should respect him and everything should be done with ease.

But having said that, after so many years, thanks to Aunt Gongsun’s dedicated education, plus there are always some good teachers and friendly subordinates around him, Gongsun Xun has gradually grown from a frivolous border boy to a

The current status of the Purple Ribbon Golden Seal, at least at critical moments, has never been compromised. Whether it is adhering to the correct position or fighting to the death, it is still convincing.

Therefore, with Wang Xiu's advice, Gongsun Xun finally calmed down and prepared to take a multi-pronged approach to clean up Handan.

Early the next morning, the newly appointed Lord of Handan County summoned the county officials of the entire Handan County. First, he used his seal in public to give the official document of "Exclusive County Affairs" to Wang Xiu, giving him full authority to receive and inspect all the officials in the county.

Official business. Then, the county prince kept saying that he was going to patrol the county. He also asked the two Handan county lieutenants who were in charge of the county soldiers to prepare chariots and horses for the honor guard, and then he would leave the city directly.

You must know that this county prince is a rare Tinghou, and he certainly cannot be purchased according to his status as the mere county magistrate of Qianshi. Therefore, the county soldiers and buses are almost in full force, and they even borrowed many county magistrates from the county.

Soldiers, chariots and horses, they managed to gather enough manpower and honor guards according to the ritual...and then left the city directly!

Gongsun Xun did this, of course, with the intention of diverting the tiger away from the mountain. If the county soldiers and county lieutenants were brought out, then Wang Xiu would be able to reduce considerable resistance and avoid unnecessary bloodshed when Wang Xiu made big moves in the city.

Moreover, there is actually a feeling of treating the other person with his own way... Doesn't it mean that Xiang Xu was lying on the bed so that Gongsun Xun couldn't find a person to take charge? Well, wait and see

For two days, when a group of children from border counties carrying knives and riding white horses conducted a large-scale inspection of the county government, some people were afraid that they could not find a place to reason.

In addition, Gongsun Xun had a vague feeling of leaving it to Wang Xiu to test... He wanted to see how good this person who was undoubtedly ranked last among his literati was!

Of course, going back to the essence of the matter, no matter what, when a local official is new to a place, it is natural for him to visit his own territory... It is inevitable!

Cars were racing, horses were rustling, and Gongsun Xun's first stop after leaving the city was the lush land south of Handan City.

As mentioned before, Handan City and Yecheng, dozens of miles away to the south, together form the core urban area of ​​Hebei. In this place with a radius of hundreds of miles, in addition to the two major cities, there are also Liangqi, Quliang, and Yiyang.

, Guangping, Wu'an and other large counties, if you include small cities such as Pingyang City, Zhongcheng and other cities, it will be even more prosperous... It is really the essence of the entire Hebei region in this era.

And probably because of this, although Gongsun Xun's ceremony was grand, the farmers weeding in the fields, the girls picking mulberry, and even the merchants and pedestrians on the road were all just curious, not frightened.

Gongsun Xun was also extremely satisfied with this. No one would dislike a place with vitality, not to mention that as a long-term official, seeing the prosperity under his rule, he would naturally approve of it.

After inspecting a pavilion on Nanmen Avenue and saying goodbye to the director of the pavilion, Gongsun Xun suddenly remembered what happened yesterday and asked casually: "Yesterday, Zhao Ping had a trouble with the daughter of the Qin family.

Is the place where I was hit by my subordinate Yi near you?"

"Report to the County Lord." The pavilion chief who sent him out was naturally aware of this matter. "It is on the rural road to the east, next to the mulberry forest."

Gongsun Xun immediately nodded: "So, the Qin family where Qin's daughter lives also lives nearby?"

"Reporting to the Lord of the County, the Qin family lives in Fubeili under the rule of this pavilion. This place was named after the Fuyang River changed its course in the past. It was located southeast of Handan City for a hundred years, and the Qin family also established its foothold in the southeast of Handan City.

It's been more than a hundred years." The pavilion chief knew the Qin family's situation very well.

"In that case, since we are going to visit the countryside anyway, we might as well go to Fubei Village to have a look." Gongsun Xun got on the car directly and decided on his next destination quite casually.

Naturally, everyone had nothing to say. The chief of the pavilion even led a horse out and personally led the way for the county prince who had frightened Lang Zhongling as soon as he took office. He also made some additional introductions in accordance with his duties.

It turns out that the Qin family, the daughter of the Qin family, can barely be considered a 'big family' in Handan itself. At least half of the Fubei village in the southeast of Handan is occupied by the Qin family, and most of the fields near the southeast of the city are from this Qin family.

family's property.

Moreover, some in his family have served as county officials, some have served as county officials, some of the young children have some reputation as knights, and some are well versed in poetry and calligraphy. There are also two workshops in the family, one in Quliang County, Wei County to the east.

A branch... In this way, it is naturally one of the largest families in this pavilion.

Of course, this big family was only local. If he did not serve as a court official or official, he would be considered third-rate at best in Handan City.

When the carriage arrived at Fubeili, the Qin clan members who received the news quickly came out to greet them.

What's interesting is that probably because of yesterday's incident, the Qin clan felt that the newly appointed 'Junhou County Magistrate' was a person who spoke the law. Therefore, even many people with the surname Qin had

He had served as an official of rank, but the only people he stood in front of the inner gate with a broom in his arms were the chief and the gate of the prison in Fubei Lizhong... However, the chief's surname was still Qin.

Even after everyone had finished the ceremony in front of the inner gate, Xiang Youzhi (the chief of a prosperous township, Shifu is the chief of a smaller township, just like the county magistrate and the county magistrate) who rushed over in a hurry, actually had his own surname of Qin.

"Since all the township officials are named Qin, why isn't the pavilion chief named Qin?" Gongsun Xun also found it interesting. "I remember just now that the pavilion chief said his surname was Wang?"

"Reporting to the county prince," the local Pavilion Chief Wang certainly understood what the young county prince meant, but he did not dare to hide it. "The official's wife's surname is Qin."

"That's fine!"

Gongsun Xun raised his head and laughed, then walked directly into the room with his head held high and his hands behind his back.

Sure enough, after walking in from the south-facing inner door, the left hand side is full of low mud houses, and occasionally you can see a few families with neat courtyards; as for the right hand side, which has excellent light and sunshine, there are all serious houses with brick and wood structures.

Not only are the buildings well-proportioned, there are even multi-story buildings in the middle portals that cover a large area.

The sun rises in the east and shines on my Qin Family Building... In addition, I can clearly see the left and right of Lu.

It was mid-morning, and unlike the houses on the right where people were busy, the houses on the left were completely silent... Considering the season, it seemed as if the men were weeding in the fields and the women were picking mulberry leaves.

From the two county captains to the local wealthy Qin family, no one knew what the temper of this young nobleman was. But what they saw yesterday was a glimpse of Gongsun Xun’s background and resume. These people had no choice but to kill him decisively.

, Ku Lieba went up to think about it... At this time, seeing that the county magistrate did not follow the rules and just stood there and looked around, he felt uneasy.

"County Lord," an older Qin clan member who had also served as a county official was recommended and could only say hello. "County Lord has a hard time patrolling, so why don't you come and sit in my Qin family's room, we

Although the home does not have a wide door or a high lintel, it is still clean. There are three virtuous elders and a well-educated young man who will be here soon."

"No need."

As Gongsun Xun spoke, he took a few steps forward, then opened the door of a low earthen house on the left and walked forward... Maybe it was because there was an inner door to cover the outside these days, or maybe there was nothing valuable in the house.

, it's more likely that you can't afford a lock at all, so there's usually no obstruction in the house on the left.

Everyone in the back looked at each other, and even the two county captains who followed were very nervous. However, the gatekeeper's room in this poor man's house was small, and a subordinate of the county king followed him in. It was difficult for the others to surround him.

.

"The family is surrounded by walls and can only survive." After a while, Gongsun Xun came out with a dirty clay pot in his arms. He glanced at the sunshine in the courtyard and felt helpless, but then he gave the pot to his attendant.

."Put some money in to show your intrusion."

It was a clay pot hidden deepest under the bed board in the room, and it was also covered with a piece of adobe, but it turned out that there were just a few handfuls of old corn inside.

Inside the inner gate and outside the earthen house, from the county captain down to the Qin clan members, this group of people had never seen this posture before. Seeing such a situation, they only became more and more frightened.

"The County Lord is concerned about people's livelihood, and I think he has some teachings. We are willing to listen attentively." There was no choice but to talk to the Qin clan elder again.

"Where is the teaching?" Gongsun Xun immediately shook his head. "However, you all happen to be surnamed Qin, and you can't help but feel emotional when you see the difference between the left, the right, and the right... You tell me, why did Qin take power that day?

, the nobles of the six kingdoms of Shandong were repeatedly unable to rebel, but in the end it was Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and a group of Lu Zuocao Mang who raised their arms and destroyed the Qin family? However, now that this dynasty has come to this day, why does it rely on Hao You to support the countryside? Lu Zuohao

Right, which one is the pillar of the world?"

Everyone behind him looked at each other in shock.

It’s not that these prominent figures in the Qin family couldn’t understand this. After all, many of them had studied and worked as county officials. It was that they couldn’t figure out the thoughts of the county prince. In addition, this question was obviously

He pointed at his Qin family and felt something, so he didn't dare to answer easily...for fear that if he did not do something right, he would cause trouble.

However, since Shangguan asked, how could he escape? Even though others could escape, the leading Qin clan member could not.

As a result, the elder of the Qin clan, who had been a county official and knew the pros and cons, could only kneel down to apologize: "Reporting to the county king, although our Qin clan has a noble surname in the area, we have never done anything to harm the people in the village.

We have been getting along with each other for hundreds of years, and we have always dealt with each other in a moral and peaceful manner, and we will never do anything to devour the countryside."

"Assume that you are a virtuous and distinguished family," Gongsun Xun stood in the open space in front of the earthen house and said disapprovingly. "But if the evils have been accumulating for a long time, how can morality control some things? This village has order, and every pavilion is long.

, every mile is made up of members of your clan. If nothing else, including taxes, corvees, lawsuits, and monopoly sales, wouldn’t it mean that all the benefits belong to your Qin family, and all the disadvantages belong to other households? Over time, it will

You, the Qin family, have no intention of harming the people, but the people around you will become increasingly difficult because of you... On that day, Cai Yong and Cai Bozhao wrote to the emperor, saying that there were many vacancies in Youzhou and Hebei. This is the scholar's opinion.

Yes, there are some positions that we would rather lack than give away at will; there are some laws that we must stick to even if the country is running out of money."

"What the county prince means...is that we, the Qin clan, should resign from our position as the local township pavilion?" The elder of the Qin clan could only respond in this way. "It's just a fight for a lowly position. We are willing to obey."

"Forget it." Gongsun Xun clasped his hands and sighed, looking bored. "In the current situation, if you, the Qin family, don't serve as the chief of the township pavilion, who can? Let people like Lu Zuo do it.

They are afraid that they are illiterate and cannot understand the laws. Moreover, the more proletarian they are, the more cunning and uncertain they are. Maybe they will become more aggressive in oppressing the people. And if other wealthy families are allowed to do it, how can they do it?

How can it be compared to your century-old clan, who knows how to be cautious and leave room for leeway?"

The people of the Qin clan breathed a sigh of relief... In fact, how could they be willing to hand over these so-called low-level jobs? After all, as the county prince said, these low-level officials control the tax calculation, labor, and litigation in the countryside.

Disputes, questioning the power of monopoly, this is what a family needs to grow and thrive, and it is also what they need to maintain the situation.
To be continued...