Chapter 454 The future is promising
Ganquan East Township, Baie Valley.

On the top floor of the Youth Building, the setting sun was blowing gently in the breeze on the side of the mountain. Black Bear was holding a glass of newly brewed sweet rice wine, leaning against the railing, and looking at the flock of geese going down the mountain in a group.

The geese were ferocious, and the grass in the valley was always only a shallow layer, far less lush and green than on the slopes.

In order to expand the foraging range of the geese, they had to set up sentries at a farther distance to guard the road and cut down unnecessary low shrubs and thorn bushes.

While drinking, Black Bear thought about what happened in Nanjun and couldn't help but sneer: "These scums don't know how to respect others, now they have to learn a lesson."

Behind the window, Zhen Mi was setting the table for dinner. After hearing this, she laughed and said, "Fu Xun was just careless for a moment. Why should you bother with such a person?"

"What I feel bad about is the prosperity of Xiangyang."

Black Bear turned around, and Lu Bu and Dian Wei, who were on duty on the left and right, pushed the sliding screen on the slide rails to seal the window.

As the weather starts to get warmer, it’s time to take insect preventive measures early.

We started washing duck eggs this year. Once the duck flock grows larger, it will be easier to remove insects.

After the window was closed, Lu Bu and Dian Wei left one after another and went to stand guard outside the door.

The female officials who served Zhen Mi on both sides also withdrew. Black Bear sat in the main seat, picked up the beef slices with chopsticks and dipped them in the ginger soup. When he saw the color change, he took it out, dipped it in sesame paste, and put it in his mouth to chew.

Then he gave Zhen Mi some shabu-shabu meat, the same thin slices of meat, which were cooked for half a breath longer.

When Black Bear gave it to Zhen Mi, he said, "When you and I passed through Xiangyang, we only bought a few things at the market on the pier. Xiangyang is such a big city, and you and I were unable to travel around it. If it was destroyed by the rebels, wouldn't it be a pity?"

Zhen Mi took the bowl to receive the meat slices and asked, "When can I visit Xiangyang again?"

"Three years at the earliest, five years at the latest."

Seeing that she didn't seem to believe him, Black Bear said, "One of us must stay in Ganquan. After I defeat and severely injure the Xianbei in Liaodong and force them to move west, I can leave for Xiangyang. After I have sorted out the defense of Jingzhou in Xiangyang, I can do other things."

Three years is enough for all places in Guanzhong to have savings for more than one year.

As for the Xianbei people, the mission assigned to them was to replace the Qiang people, drive the Qiang people, and create a disaster on a larger scale.

Only after he left Guanzhong and went to Xiangyang did Liu Bao and the current Southern Xiongnu dare to lead their troops to migrate westward.

The Western Regions are so vast, how could the Qiang and Xianbei peoples clean it up?
Without the intervention of the main force of the Huns, the history of the Western world would inevitably be incomplete.

Zhen Mi chewed slowly and asked cautiously, "What about Hebei?"

"Hebei, Yuan Shang is my good friend, how can I bear to attack him?"

Black Bear looked at her seriously: "The shogunate needs an enemy. Without an enemy, the shogunate's shape will be out of control. I want to keep Yuan Shang and use him to shape the shogunate. The war has reached the current level, and it will not matter if it continues for another ten years. You can rest assured that I will not take the initiative to invade or attack Hebei."

Zhen Mi nodded slowly, and then felt uncomfortable with the beef she had eaten. She twitched her mouth slightly and looked uncomfortable. She asked in a very low voice, "Can you plan to welcome back my relatives?"

Black Bear clearly saw that she was about to vomit, and his mood suddenly improved: "When the opportunity is right, I will send someone to guide you. It's rare to have peace in Youzhou now, and I don't want to fight anymore."

Zhen Mi nodded slightly at this. She also understood that if her identity was exposed, Yuan Xi would definitely become the biggest destabilizing factor.

Even Yuan Shang had to stand up and attack Guanzhong.

Although this little immorality is likely to become a topic of discussion among the people of Guanzhong, it is not very good for her future.

At this moment, she wanted to change her identity, so she whispered: "The Yuan family brought many wives and daughters of criminal officials as dowry, and most of their clans were exterminated by Yuan Shao and Yuan Shang. I may be able to find a suitable person among them and impersonate him."

"inappropriate."

Black Bear gave her some more meat and said seriously, "There is always a loophole. When all kinds of relatives and fellow villagers come to you, how can you hide it? Now that things have come to this, why should you be afraid of Yuan and Hebei? Impersonating someone else is not good for you or the child."

Seeing her chewing the meat slowly, Black Bear gave her some more meat and comforted her in detail, "Don't worry too much about your family and relatives. As long as I am powerful in Guanzhong, Yuan Shang will have a hard time hurting anyone in your family. When this matter was exposed, the people of Hebei were overjoyed to have survived the desperate situation. They were too busy protecting her, so how could they help Yuan Shi to harm her?"

While they were eating meat, Zhong Yao was eating hotpot with several wives and concubines.

He could not redeem the slaves directly, he bought them for a period of use, and they could only redeem their freedom after the five-year period. Adult men were engaged in heavy labor or dangerous work, and most of the slaves that Zhong Yao rented and bought were women, the elderly and the weak.

His official land amounted to 2,000 acres. After he had barely finished cultivating it, he could only eat wild vegetables with his entire family, including his wives, concubines, servants, and slaves.

His situation was not good now. Ever since their last meeting, the shogunate had purged more than twenty county officials from the Three Prefectures, and the authority and influence of the Sili Xiaowei's office had plummeted.

However, the Grand Marshal still maintained respect for the Sili Xiaowei Yamen. Not only did he not abolish it, he finally confirmed the official fields of officials at all levels in the Sili Xiaowei Yamen.

Originally, only Zhong Yao had official land, but this time the official land involved officials at all levels in the Sili Xiaowei Yamen... This meant that all officials had a stable income, and could also rent slaves according to their official ranks, or hire more workers.

The most important thing is that once the title and salary system is implemented, officials at all levels in the Sili Xiaowei's office will be able to reverse calculate their original titles based on their current official ranks. Even if they are reduced by one or two levels, it will be worth the hard work they have put in during this period.

Therefore, Zhong Yao has been in a good mood recently. As for the little influence he has over the counties below, just let it go.

Anyway, the shogunate had strict control, and these county magistrates did not dare to hide grain during the autumn and summer harvests.

They dared not keep it privately, nor did they dare to transport or replenish money and grain to the Sili Xiaowei's office.

There is no practical benefit in continuing to hold on to such counties, and they will only invite trouble. Abandoning them is equivalent to throwing away the source of risk.

Therefore, Zhong Yao did not feel distressed at all. He just wanted to maintain the framework of the Sili Xiaowei's office, and the officials in the office also maintained the same goal.

As long as we can maintain the framework of the government office and hold out until the law on titles and salaries is promulgated, we will be able to get ashore.

He jumped from this tattered and sinking ship to the prosperous road of the shogunate.

Not only did Zhong Yao give up his influence in the counties, but his team of officials also chose to give up that little bit of influence that was dispensable.

Under such circumstances, while the family was happily enjoying their hot pot, the gate servant came to report: "Mr. Wei wants to see you."

"Which Mr. Wei?"

"Uh... it's the Minister of Hedong Wei, Mr. Wei Boju Wei."

The servant hurriedly explained, lowered his head, and waited for his fate.

Zhong Yao put down his chopsticks, stood up and said to his wives and concubines, "You guys eat, I'm going to go see Bo Ju. It must be something important for him to visit so late at night."

Seeing the worried looks on the faces of the women, Zhong Yao just raised his hand and waved it to indicate that it was okay.

After wiping his lips and beard with a handkerchief, Zhong Yao stood up and passed by the servants, saying, "Next time he comes, just say he is the Minister of Hedong Guards, and don't say sir anymore."

"Yes, I understand."

The servant bowed deeply and followed Zhong Yao away quickly.

Zhong Yao walked along, feeling uneasy. He really couldn't understand why Wei Ji came to see him for no reason.

They soon arrived at the gate and saw Wei Ji holding a torch with an anxious look on his face. Zhong Yao's face became even uglier.

His good days were beckoning towards him. He really couldn't understand why Wei Ji would give up his good position as a Shangshu and come to him for something.

Seeing Zhong Yao's expression change, Wei Ji immediately called out in a low voice: "Lord Yuan Chang, there is an imperial edict, here is the imperial edict!"

Inexplicably, Zhong Yao let out a long sigh of relief, and after he calmed down from the shock, he immediately frowned: "Since it is an imperial edict, why didn't you tell me earlier? Besides, it is the envoy who is in charge of announcing the edict, why would I bother Bo Ju?"

"It's the Grand Marshal's order, ordering me to come and see Lord Yuan Chang."

Wei Ji explained, stepped over the threshold and went to see the servant guarding the door. Seeing that Zhong Yao had no objection, the servant closed the door and bolted it.

Zhong Yao took Wei Ji's arm and walked towards the stairs, then asked, "What exactly is it?"

"It's related to Hua Xin. The Grand Marshal saw that the Secretariat was weak and wanted to recruit Hua Xin as the Secretary."

(End of this chapter)