Chapter 371: Consulting Gu Yong
Jia Kui also wrote some suggestions in the letter, including a plan to secretly spread Wu Fan's words.
Jia Kui strongly recommended this as a good plan. First of all, the local gentry and powerful people in Kuaiji have been dealt with in every possible way. The ones who can stay are basically those who are pro-court, pro-Liu Feng, or timid, as well as rational and calm. of.
At this time, there was news that Liu Feng was blessed by purple energy. For these people, it is likely that a large number of people would choose to believe it. As long as they have three or four points of intention, Liu Feng's subsequent governance in Kuaiji will have the effect of getting twice the result with half the effort.
At the same time, because the powerful local nobles in Kuaiji had just violently resisted Liu Feng, even if the court reacted to this, they would still wonder whether the rebel nobles in Kuaiji were deliberately spreading rumors about Liu Feng.
Knowing that the rebellion could not defeat Liu Feng, they spread rumors to smear him and alienate him from the court.
In short, in Jia Kui's view, secretly promoting the fact that Liu Feng was blessed by Zi Qi can be said to have more advantages than disadvantages, and it is far greater than that. There are almost no advantages and no disadvantages.
After reading Jia Kui's analysis, Liu Feng was very moved.
It's a pity that there are few people around. He originally wanted to take Wu Hou to Jiangdong with him, but something unexpected happened and he stayed in Xuzhou.
At this time, there was no one around to discuss it.
Liu Feng's right index finger tapped the table regularly, and the faces of Lu Xun, Gu Yong, Zhou Yu and others appeared in his mind, but then he still shook his head.
Lu Xun's political ability is not easy to judge. On the bright side, he was played like a dog by the emperor in the later period, and he died in the emperor's design in the end.
However, considering Lu Xun's foolish loyalty to the emperor and some opinions he put forward on the governance of Soochow, he was considered to be quite competent. It can only be said that when he meets the great emperor, his IQ will automatically decrease.
Zhou Yu is a suitable candidate. He has good political ability and a view of the overall situation, but he is too far away and it is not convenient to communicate through letters.
On the contrary, it was Gu Yong. Although Liu Feng didn't trust him very much, he could control him.
After thinking about it for a while, Liu Feng made up his mind and immediately sent someone to ask Gu Yong to come and see him.
At this time, Gu Yong was appointed as the magistrate of Shanyin County, which was the easiest among the counties.
At this time, there were not many people left in Shanyin City, and the food reserves in Shanyin City were huge, so it was very easy to pacify the people in the city.
Therefore, Gu Yong only needs to adjust the grain, appease the local farmers outside the city, and organize them to carry out summer harvest.
After experiencing these waves of attacks, the powerful nobles in Shanyin City were almost wiped out, and there were not many powerful nobles left outside the city.
Including all the land originally occupied by the Sun family and allocated to the government of General Zhengnan. One of Gu Yong's most important tasks now is to supplement the insufficient labor allocation for these lands and ensure the summer harvest of these lands.
Therefore, Gu Yong spends most of his time outside the city these days, not inside the city.
After receiving Liu Feng's summons, Gu Yong immediately returned to Shanyin City and asked to see Liu Feng.
"Yuan Tan, this matter is quite difficult and very confidential."
Liu Feng pointed to the document on the desk and said: "I have thought about it, and only Yuan Tan can take care of my worries. Please read this memorial first."
After listening to Liu Feng's words, Gu Yong's heart sank.
It would be really troublesome to get Liu Feng to tell something difficult and confidential.
It may not only be troublesome, but also dangerous.
But the current situation was pressing, and Gu Yong could not refuse, so he could only calmly go forward to get the document, open it and read it carefully.
When he saw Wu Fan's name, his brows jumped slightly.
Wu Fan's reputation is mainly concentrated in Kuaiji, but Wu Hui is one. The scholars and people of the two counties are very closely connected, and the things Wu Fan predicted are so important. As a famous scholar in Wu County, it is impossible for Gu Yong not to have heard of him. Wu Fan’s deeds.
Sure enough, when Wu Fan predicted that the purple energy was coming from the east, Gu Yong almost failed to hold the silk in his hand.
"This..."
Gu Yong couldn't hold back for a moment and looked up at Liu Feng.
Liu Feng waved his hand: "Yuan Tan, don't be anxious, let's read it first and then discuss it."
Gu Yong quietly exhaled a breath and looked down again.
Sure enough, there was Zi Qi coming from the east to protect Liu Feng, as well as Jia Kui's suggestions and many other things.
Gu Yong's heart had already exploded. He first doubted whether what Wu Fan said was true or false.
If it was true, Gu Yong's heart tightened.
Liu Feng is a member of the clan.
Gu Yong, who knew this clearly, couldn't help but think of Emperor Guangwu.
Could it be that a big man can still make three things? ?
The Jiangdong scholars' feelings towards the Han Dynasty were quite complex.
After all, when Chu and Han were fighting for hegemony, Xiang Yu's base was the Jiangdong elders, and his eight thousand disciples were the backbone of officers and non-commissioned officers.
Although Xiang Yu's territory was mainly Xuzhou and Yuzhou, it was essentially the first time that the South actually competed with Guanzhong for the world.
Chu State cannot be counted, because Chu State essentially only strives for hegemony and has no intention of competing for the world.
Therefore, the powerful Jiangdong nobles have always been quite low-ranking in the Han Dynasty, and their ranking was far below the people of Hebei.
The powerful gentry in Jiangdong do not want to change this situation, but the powerful gentry in Wu County have a good economy, fertile land, and large population, so they want to improve the status of the entire Wu County gentry through official promotion.
Gu Yong was deeply moved by Wu Fan's skill in following the dragon in the document, and he could no longer control his trembling hands.
After taking a deep breath, Gu Yong made a decision in his heart.
"General, Yong thinks General Jia's plan is feasible!"
Gu Yong returned the document to the case with both hands, took two steps back, cupped his hands and said: "Yong thinks it can be spread not only in Kuaiji, but also in Wujun and Danyang."
"The name of Wu Fan has long been rumored in Jiangdong, and all scholars know his abilities."
Gu Yong raised his head and met Liu Feng's eyes: "Although Yong doesn't know him, he has heard of his name for a long time. Wu Fan must have real talent and learning."
The corners of Liu Feng's mouth curled up, Gu Yong was showing his loyalty to him.
Wu Fan said that he was blessed by purple energy, and Gu Yong said that Wu Fan had real talents and learning. Doesn't this mean that Gu Yong thought that Wu Fan's words were correct?
Liu Feng nodded slowly under Gu Yong's nervous gaze.
However, Liu Feng did not adopt Gu Yong's suggestion, but said conservatively: "Since Yuan Tan also thinks that this proposal is feasible, let's try it out in Kuaiji first. As for Wudi and Danyang... let's slow down for now." Gu Yong There was something strange in his heart. He really wanted to surrender to Liu Feng, so spreading the news in Wudi and Danyang was also considered by Gu Yong as a sign of surrender.
He originally thought that Liu Feng would happily comply, but he didn't expect that the other party would actually refuse.
Liu Feng glanced at Gu Yong, but did not answer the other person's doubts. Instead, he asked with a smile: "Yuantan, do you think I have purple energy?"
Gu Yong's heart tightened, and he quickly lowered his head and bowed: "Wu Wenze is a famous Qi watcher from Jiangdong, and his ability is far better than mine. But from Yong's point of view, the general has won many battles since he crossed the river, and the bandits tried their best. , and cannot stop the general's progress. Yong Ye was puzzled before, but now there is no article to explain it. "
Liu Feng burst out laughing and stayed with Gu Yong for a banquet at the governor's house that night.
********
A rumor spread quietly in Kuaiji. The content was shocking but also somewhat convincing.
Along with this, the remaining powerful nobles in Kuaiji became more submissive. Although there were still small-scale rebellions in various places, more powerful nobles would rather donate their grain reserves and even their fields than participate in violence. Resist.
Liu Feng counted the battle reports from various counties in Kuaiji and found that most of the rebellions were organized by powerful leaders of local gentry and turned to the type organized by Shanyue leaders colluding with locals.
This is undoubtedly a good signal. It almost clearly shows that the local gentry in Kuaiji have begun to surrender and no longer actively resist Liu Feng.
In this regard, Liu Feng also offered some benefits and bait, and began to attract the earliest and most obedient group of local nobles into the official ranks.
Because the nobles disappeared in large numbers, the remaining powerful people also got a lot of fat.
Generally speaking, for powerful men with no background in the central court, no matter how strong they are, the ceiling for promotion in the local counties is generally the rank of county magistrate of 600 shi, and most of the time this is not achieved.
It is almost impossible to break through this ceiling, because the key tool for breakthrough - raising Xiaolian is always in the hands of scholars.
There is not enough money among the scholars, and there is no way there will be any leftover to distribute to the powerful.
But things are different now. News quietly leaked out from General Zhengnan's mansion that due to the decrease in the number of scholars, Liu Feng intended to allocate a quota of filial piety and integrity to capable men among the powerful.
This suddenly caused a lot of turmoil in Kuaiji.
According to the system of the Han Dynasty, Liu Feng's decision was completely unproblematic.
Because there has never been a clear document that stipulates that those who promote filial piety and integrity must be from a noble family.
All along, this was only actually controlled by the nobles, but not legally controlled.
From a legal point of view, even farmers are eligible to be promoted as filial and honest. In fact, throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is not uncommon for farmers and businessmen to be promoted as filial and honest.
Therefore, Liu Feng's decision cannot be said to be very unconventional.
But for the local scholars in Kuaiji, it was really hard to accept.
However, the strength of the local gentry was greatly affected, and they lost their elected leader. Even Yu Fan, He Qi and others no longer met in Beihui at this time. Although the gentry still had considerable strength, they could not unite. It will not affect Liu Feng.
At this time, the Kuaiji scholars were really afraid. They found that not only did they have no reliable manpower around Liu Feng, but they also had no influence on Liu Feng at all, while Liu Feng held the leadership of Kuaiji at this time.
As a result, the Kuaiji scholars were horrified to find that they were losing control of Kuaiji.
Liu Feng in Shanyin City was also quite nervous at this time, paying close attention to the developments in Kuaiji County.
Because this move was a test thrown by Liu Feng, even the official position he had released before was to cooperate with this test, just in case the situation got out of control.
The purpose of Liu Feng's move was to force the Kuaiji nobles to take the initiative to unite with him, rather than letting himself unite them.
Now is the time when the local gentry in Kuaiji are at their weakest, most dispersed, and most powerless. Kuaiji has a vast territory and rich resources, and there are large stretches of coastline.
Liu Feng knew very well how huge a population this land would carry in the future.
A hundred years later, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were about 15 million people here. This kind of size was completely unmatched by the 8 million Guanzhong. Not to mention that the further you go, the more terrifying the population of Jiangdong will become, and the gap between Jiangdong and Guanzhong will only become wider and wider. In the end, Guanzhong will be unable to catch up.
Especially the agricultural killer weapon Liu Feng has brought out now will almost have the greatest effect in Jiangdong.
The best area for planting Champa rice is Jiangdong, and the large plains and numerous rivers and lakes in Jiangdong undoubtedly provide the best foundation for the construction of water conservancy.
Liu Feng's expectations for the entire Jiangdong are quite high, and it is precisely for this reason that he wants to completely break the backbone of the powerful nobles in Jiangdong and let them be used by him honestly.
After these news came out, there was a lot of excitement among the powerful local nobles in Kuaiji.
Although the scholars were mourning, the powerful men were celebrating.
As a result, there were some faint cracks between the powerful nobles.
At this time, Liu Feng suddenly announced in a high profile that he would start traveling to the county and inspect various places in Beikuaiji.
Suddenly, all the locals in Kuaiji focused their attention on Shanyin. Soon, news came out that the first stop of Liu Feng's inspection was Shangyu County.
Liu Feng had tried his best to drive as lightly as possible, but his team still numbered a thousand people.
If it weren't for Liu Feng's strict order not to go out five miles from the city to greet Liu Feng, Jia Kui, Wu Fan, Wei Teng and others from Shangyu would all have wished to go directly outside Shanyin City to greet Liu Feng.
Liu Feng took the land route and took three days to reach Shangyu.
On the way, he also visited many villages. It has to be said that the situation in the south is indeed much better than that in the north.
The situation here is more stable, public security is better, there are fewer wars, and there are more grain reserves.
Although they are still being exploited by corrupt officials and powerful nobles, they can at least survive.
It’s no wonder that when Cao Cao, who later unified the north and gathered 100,000 troops from Yuan Shao who surrendered without a fight, and another 100,000 troops from Jingzhou who surrendered without a fight, Cao Cao went south to Jiangdong, he only gathered a total of more than 200,000 troops, and only two-thirds of Sun Quan’s troops from Yangzhou. But there were 60,000 troops, which was almost a quarter of Cao Cao's strength.
If Jingzhou directly allied with Sun Quan, the combined forces of both sides would be at least 150,000, enough to be evenly matched with Cao Cao.
This is also the fundamental reason why after Cao Cao's defeat in Chibi, he could no longer form an absolute advantage over the south. At the same time, this is also why after the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei's advantage over Ji Han and Soochow became greater and greater as time went by.
In the final analysis, too many people died in the Central Plains.
Soon, Liu Feng arrived at Shangyu, and Jia Kui led his officers and local nobles such as Wu Fan and Wei Teng to go five miles out of the city to greet him.
Shangyu is almost the most stable and peaceful county in the entire Beihui except for Shanyin.
Especially considering that Shangyu is quite large and ranks among the top five in the entire Kuaiji. It is also the water and land transportation hub of Beihui.
If Shangyu is stable, the east and west parts of Beihui can be stably communicated.
(End of chapter)