Upon hearing the two words "Prince," the eyes of all the young people in the room who had accompanied Yu Tonghe to be scolded burned with reverence. They immediately wanted to kneel. Hsu Fengnian waved his hand and said, "Forget it, forget it. All of you sit down and continue to deal with government affairs. Liuzhou has three towns and eight counties. There are many things waiting to be done. Everything is difficult at the beginning. Once you get through this wave, practice makes perfect. In the future, it will be much easier. When the time comes, even if the Provincial Governor wants to scold you, he won't be able to find an excuse. During this period of time, it has indeed been hard on all of you. In a moment, This King will send a few jars of wine to all the yamen. En, the ceremonial hall will send more. According to the Provincial Governor's words, by the latrines, the smell of wine has to be suppressed by the smell of urine. "
The atmosphere in the room immediately became much more relaxed. Smiles appeared on the faces of the young officials.
Yu Tonghe couldn't help but swallow his saliva. He was standing alone in front of the Prince of Northern Liang. It would be fine if he didn't know Xu Fengnian's identity. However, after the Provincial Governor revealed Xu Fengnian's secret, he immediately felt an invisible majestic aura. This wasn't to say that Xu Fengnian's aura was overbearing, but Yu Tonghe, the weak scholar, was just scaring himself. Hsu Fengnian's reign as Beiliang's Prince of His Royal Highness had been filled with twists and turns. First, he was cursed countless times. Later, he turned the world upside down. Even the Great General of Huaihua, Zhong Hongwu, was easily suppressed. After inheriting the title of Prince of Beiliang, he performed one magnificent feat after another. He refused an imperial edict, vigorously reorganized the Beiliang army, killed Wang Xianzhi, patrolled the border, and established Liuzhou. How could Yu Tonghe not tremble in fear? In fact, ordinary officials would be treading on thin ice when facing a vassal king, no matter how notorious his reputation was. However, the deeds of the King of Beiliang, for Wei Tonghe, who had spent most of his time studying behind closed windows, did not have a deep understanding. What truly made him feel admiration for Hsu Fengnian was a 'small matter' that concerned himself. When Liuzhou was established, Li Yang seemed to be somewhat hesitant about what to do about this rebellious act that had not been reviewed by the central court. They were not sure whether or not they should issue an edict to reprimand Liuzhou. The developments that followed made the people of Beiliang laugh out loud. For example, the salary of Liuzhou's provincial governor, Yang Guangdou, was actually only a bit lower than that of the Grand Secretary. Every month, he received 300 strings of coins. As for Wei Tonghe, who was just a minor official in Liuzhou, he received 15 strings of coins and 50 bundles of firewood. He even received five bolts of spring silk and winter silk that only high-ranking officials in Li Yang were given. The court's' generous' treatment of Liuzhou's officials was simply to the point of no return. Yu Tonghe did not think that if it were any other vassal king, they would be able to make the Liyang imperial court obediently bleed so much. Even the King of Yan Chi and the King of Guangling could not do it!
Hsu Fengnian did not stay for long. He walked out of the room with Yang Guangdou. As a high ranking official in the border region, this old man was clearly in an extremely good mood. He laughed softly and said, "Governor Chen's plan is flawless. I have underestimated him in the past. It is a waste of his talent to only be the governor of Qingcang City. As the provincial governor, it is only right for me to give up my position. There are less than two hundred thousand refugees, and the number of people who took the initiative to join the army in You and Liang Provinces is still less than ten thousand. In the beginning, I was helpless against this. I could not let the Long Xiang Army put a knife to the refugees' necks and force them to go to the border. However, Chen Xiliang used a plan that had immediate results. For every refugee family, as long as one person joined the army, they would be able to obtain farmland in Lingzhou and become a citizen of Beiliang. This was in accordance with Xu Beizhi's plan in Lingzhou. Those rich gentry who were afraid of death all sold their ancestral land. Now, there was a lot of empty land in Lingzhou. With this, Liuzhou could send at least forty thousand soldiers to the Beiliang border! A total of forty thousand soldiers who were willing to fight to the death for their wives, children, and brothers behind them! Your Highness, don't you think that Chen Xiliang being a Martial Grade City Magistrate is not worthy of his contributions?! "
Hsu Fengnian only knew that the number of people joining the army in Liuzhou would increase, but he did not receive any detailed intelligence reports. When he heard the large number of forty thousand, he was also quite shocked. It had to be known that the battle in Guangling Road seemed to be turning the sky and earth upside down. Everyone in the world stretched their necks to watch, and everyone in the court was talking about this matter. However, the number of people that actually entered the battlefield was only around a hundred thousand. However, Chen Xiliang alone quietly brought forty thousand soldiers to Beiliang who could mount a horse and fight. Also, don't forget, how could the forty thousand soldiers of the Beiliang army be compared to the forty thousand soldiers of Yang Shenxing's army? Once, there was a busybody who commented on the combative strength of the armies in various places in Li Yang, and the result was widely spread. Perhaps that person was purposely roasting the army of Beiliang on the fire, as he said that one of Beiliang's cavalry could match two of Li Yang's goblin cavalry, and one of Beiliang's infantry could match three of Li Yang's elite infantry. However, Yan Wenluan, who never boasted, did say in private that after West Chu's kingdom was restored, if Yang Shenxing's forty thousand soldiers of Southern Ji were exchanged with his twenty thousand infantry, they would be able to take over the Bi Ao military town in one fell swoop. Naturally, they would not suffer a great defeat after that.
Hsu Fengnian said helplessly, "Refugees who move to Ling Province can obtain a household registration. Chen Xiliang did not inform Mount Qing Liang beforehand."
Hsu Fengnian smiled and said, "Provincial Governor, are you covering for Chen Xiliang? Are you afraid that I'll punish him for both crimes? "
Yang Guangdou burst out into laughter and did not try to hide his thoughts. He said bluntly, "That's right. Chen Xiliang came from a humble background, but he truly cares about the people. This is something that even a simple and honest descendant of a noble family like Wei Tonghe could never achieve. Your Highness, you can't let such a good seedling die prematurely. To be frank, if you really want to use Chen Xiliang to establish your authority in Liu Province, I won't be able to stop you. But after that, I'll definitely bring him into the Provincial Governor's Mansion and treat him like a precious treasure. "
Hsu Fengnian said frankly, "At the beginning, I was planning to give Chen Xiliang fair rewards and punishments, but on the way to Qingcang City, I met a descendant of the Deer Song clan. Just like you, he has a very high evaluation of Chen Xiliang, so I gave up on that idea. Moreover, I've discovered one point. In Wutongin, my second sister is leading the charge, and with the help of the old group of strategists and advisors, it's already very difficult for them to deal with ordinary government affairs in Beiliang. If a war really does break out, I reckon that even if I sit behind my desk twenty-four hours a day, I still won't be able to deal with it. Right now, Mount Qing Liang is only dealing with some of the old habits of Beiliang's underworld. They can still proceed step by step according to the rules. Once this war breaks out, I'll definitely have to go to the border. When the time comes, I'll have a headache. "
Yang Guangdou said in a low voice, "Your Highness, are you saying that Mount Qing Liang lacks a Li Yishan who has the vision and strategy to control the overall situation?"
Hsu Fengnian nodded.
Yang Guangdou sighed ruefully, "This kind of person can be said to only appear once in a hundred years, or even once in a few decades. Even if there is one, it would be in the Great Peace City's Zhao clan. How could it be our Beiliang's turn? Just like the hundred or so scholars rushing to Liu Zhou and the local gentry descendants of Beiliang, there are more than two hundred of them. But in my opinion, the best material, that is, someone with Wei Tonghe's level of temperament and talent, needs to be polished. Without a dozen years of work, how could he be able to take charge of an area? Being an official is the easiest thing in the world. But to put it bluntly, even being a corrupt official requires talent, much less a capable official who can safely rule over an area. Now, I hope that a few of those scholars from outside the country can quickly emerge. They can't be simple pieces of unpolished jade, but beautiful jade that can be used immediately. Chen Xiliang and Xu Beizhi are of course very good, but they are still too young. Li Yishan and Nalan Youci, who is of the same rank as him, are also gradually influenced by the smoke of war. Furthermore, no matter if it is Chen Xiliang or Xu Beizhi, they all have a fatal flaw that their own abilities cannot change. "
Hsu Fengnian said softly, "A reputation that is publicly acknowledged by the people of the world."
Yang Guangdou's face was weary as he said, "The way of the world is so cold and fickle. The dogs of the rich and powerful surpass the eminent scholars of the poor, especially before the Spring and Autumn Period. No matter how ambitious and ruthless you are, as long as you don't have a family background, it is as difficult as ascending to the heavens to accomplish anything. Right now, it is only slightly better. Perhaps it will gradually improve in the future, but our Beiliang cannot wait."
Hsu Fengnian muttered to himself, "Looks like we have to hurry."
Yang Guangdou was very experienced. He lowered his voice and asked with a face full of surprise, "Do you have someone to choose?"
Hsu Fengnian smiled bitterly and said, "For this kind of matter, it is not useless even if both sides are in love. Nothing has been set in stone yet. It will depend on my luck."
Yang Guangdou touched on a sore spot and said with a playful smile, "There are rumors that Lu Xu of Xiangfan City was once ignored by the King?"
Hsu Fengnian did not deny it and said self-mockingly, "I don't know who is the blind one."
Yang Guangdou dismissed it with a smile and suddenly asked, "I heard that the guy from Shangyin Academy has come out of seclusion and has gone to Great Peace City?"
Hsu Fengnian's face was slightly gloomy. He nodded and said, "They have started to slay the dragon."
Yang Guangdou smiled coldly and said, "The hound is cooked after the rabbit is killed. It is better to kill the deer!"
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