usatvline Chapter 91 Response
Chapter 91 Response
The four leading figures were Shan Jing, Wang Lie, Xu Rong, and Tian Yu.
When the four men saw Liu Bei's group arrive, they all stepped forward and bowed.
"My lord!"
Wang Lie was the first to cup his hands in greeting: "You must have had a long journey."
Liu Bei dismounted and returned the greeting. He glanced at the four men and noticed that none of them looked well.
Liu Bei had a good idea of what was going on; Xu You's letter had probably already reached Liaoxi.
"Let's go back to the Commandant's Office first!" Liu Bei said.
The Commandant's Office is located north of Yangle City and consists of a two-courtyard building.
After Liu Bei took office, he hardly added anything; there was only an old locust tree and a few shrubs in the courtyard.
As the autumn wind blew, the locust leaves fell to the ground in a flurry.
In the council chamber, everyone took their seats.
Liu Bei sat in the main seat, with Jian Yong, Cheng Yu, and Liu Deran on his left, and Wang Lie, Tian Yu, Shan Jing, and Xu Rong on his right.
Han Dang and Hou Cheng then went to settle the troops.
Liu Bei first introduced them to each other, and everyone greeted one another.
It was then announced that Ren Jianyong and Cheng Yu would serve as officers in the Commandant's Office, advising on military affairs!
Liu Deran was appointed as the granary official, in charge of grain storage.
Ren Hou became the Marquis of the Imperial Guard, responsible for protecting Liu Bei.
After some arrangements, the group officially joined Liu Bei's ranks.
Then, Liu Bei didn't beat around the bush. He placed Xu You's letter on the table and read out its contents.
The hall fell silent.
Wang Lie's face was grave. He was a victim of the Party Prohibitions and knew it very well!
The amiable smile on Shan Jing's face vanished.
He sat there, his hands on his knees, his knuckles slightly white. Hou Chong was his superior, but also his benefactor.
Fortunately, Xu Ziyuan intervened in time, and since the Prefect was far away in Shanggu, he was not harassed.
Liu Bei's voice was not loud, but steady: "With Cheng Pu by your side, and Zou Dan having just been promoted to Commandant of Shanggu Commandery, the Prefect's safety is assured!"
Dan Jing's lips moved slightly, but in the end he simply nodded.
He didn't say anything about being grateful or expressing any loyalty.
In that instant, there was something unspoken in his eyes as he looked at Liu Bei.
Tian Yu lowered his eyes and gently tapped his knee with his fingers.
"Party purges, party purges, what else can those people in the court do besides persecute their own people?"
No one responded, and Tian Yu didn't care. He stared at the locust tree outside the door, his face gloomy.
He was young and had not experienced much of the darkness in the court, yet he gained Liu Bei's appreciation.
After a moment of silence, Wang Lie raised his head and looked at Liu Bei.
"My lord, the autumn harvest is just around the corner!"
Liu Bei looked at him, and Wang Lie didn't say anything more, but Liu Bei understood.
With the autumn harvest approaching, no matter what happens in the imperial court or how much the factional strife in Luoyang goes on, life in Liaoxi must go on.
The millet in the fields won't wait for anyone; thousands of mouths in the prefecture need to be fed, and two hundred thousand people need to survive.
Cheng Yu and Jian Yong exchanged a glance, and couldn't help but think more highly of Wang Lie. They were newcomers and didn't want to say too much, but they didn't expect that there was such a clear-headed and calm person under their lord's command.
Liu Bei remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Yanfang is right. The most important thing right now is the autumn harvest."
He stood up and walked to the side of the desk, where a map of Liaoxi Prefecture was hanging.
How much rain has there been this year?
Wang Lie got up and walked to the map, recounting its contents with great familiarity: "Spring is rather dry, but summer has adequate rainfall."
"Yang Le and Fei Ru counties had the best harvests, followed by Lin Yu and Hai Yang."
"The Lingzhi area was hit by a hailstorm after autumn, which damaged some crops, but the affected area was not large."
He paused, a hint of anticipation creeping into his voice.
"My lord, what is the population increase this year?"
"Initially there were 200,000, but in the past six months, more migrants have been arriving, bringing the total to nearly 220,000."
"We achieved self-sufficiency last year, and with the increase in new fields this year, plus the favorable weather, the harvest will definitely be better than last year."
"The exact amount of surplus will only be known after the autumn harvest, but there will definitely be some."
Liu Bei nodded, his gaze falling on the two areas of land reclamation on the map.
"Guorang, the collection standards for Yangle this year will still follow last year's regulations, and no additional collection will be levied on the border forts."
"The people have just survived a major epidemic and haven't recovered yet. If we can help them keep as much food as possible, then we should."
Tian Yu raised his head, glanced at Liu Bei, then lowered his head and replied, "Yes."
Liu Bei sat down behind his desk again and began assigning tasks related to the autumn harvest.
Wang Lie oversaw the autumn harvest across the entire prefecture, compiling daily progress reports from each county.
Tian Yu was in charge of tax collection in Yangle County and also supervised the four counties of Linyu, Haiyang, Lingzhi, and Feiru.
He contacted the local powerful families in various counties and had them pay taxes according to the previous regulations of the prefecture.
After assigning the tasks, Wang Lie hesitated for a moment before asking, "My lord, what about the new prefect...?"
The expressions of the people in the hall all darkened.
With a population of 220,000 and 4,200 cavalry, they achieved self-sufficiency through two years of land reclamation.
These figures are fundamental in western Liaoning, but in the eyes of some people in Luoyang, they are something to be wary of.
A commandery commander with nearly five thousand cavalry under his command, whose population and food supplies are increasing daily, will inevitably attract the attention of some in the imperial court.
Dan Jing raised his head and looked at Liu Bei.
His face no longer held its usual amiable smile; instead, his expression was unusually solemn.
"My lord, I have been in Liaoxi for so many years, and I know the details of every county and every family."
"The new governor has arrived. No matter what connections he has, let him be the governor. I only acknowledge you, my lord."
"The powerful and wealthy families in each county only recognize their lord."
This is a very direct, even somewhat blunt, statement.
But no one in the hall felt anything was wrong.
Wang Lie nodded slightly, and Tian Yu's gaze also fell on Liu Bei, waiting for him to speak.
Liu Bei paused for a moment, then spoke.
"I understand what Prefect Shan means."
His voice was soft, and his speech was slow: "But, there's no need for that!"
"The discord between the garrison commander and the commandant is not a good thing for Liaoxi!"
"After the new governor takes office, all the proper etiquette must be observed."
"Answer his questions truthfully!"
"The troops, farmland, and population of western Liaoning are all things that are out in the open; they cannot be hidden, nor is there any need to hide them."
"Besides, we don't even know the nature of the person who's coming, so we don't need to be so on high alert!"
"What if the new governor and we get along?"
Although Liu Bei was also worried about this, he was not too flustered because he had nearly 5,000 troops under his command.
Unless the person who came was extremely foolish, they probably wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for him!
"Let him do his thing, we'll do ours."
Liu Bei's voice was steady and clear: "Let the people recuperate and develop agricultural settlements to enrich the people and strengthen the army."
"These twelve words will remain unchanged no matter who becomes the governor."
Seeing that Liu Bei remained calm, the crowd gradually relaxed. With a clear direction, they had something to do.
Liu Bei then instructed Tian Yu to take Jian Yong, Cheng Yu, and Liu Deran to familiarize themselves with the environment of Yangle and the affairs of Liaoxi.
Everyone rose and took their leave.
In the courtyard, the autumn wind began to rise, and the leaves of the old locust tree fell rustling down, carpeting the ground in gold.