Leaving Yecheng, Yuan Chang and Dian Wei spent two days returning to Dongping County. Now Yuan Shao is promoted to Yuan Chang as the Taishou of Bohai, and the county order of Dongping County also allows Yuan Chang to appoint himself. Therefore, before leaving Dongping County, there are some things that Yuan Chang still has to solve first.

In the county hall of the county government, Yuan Chang, Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei and Han Sui gathered here. Zhao Yun returned to his hometown to visit his brother, and recruited a thousand young men, who had returned to Dongping County a few days ago.

"Congratulations to the lord on his promotion to the position of Bohai Taishou, it is really gratifying. ”

"Hehe, the lord has been promoted, do you want to celebrate. ”

The news that Yuan Chang was promoted to the Bohai Taishou was already known to several people. Therefore, taking advantage of this great opportunity, everyone naturally wants to blackmail.

It's a pity that they still underestimated Yuan Chang's shamelessness.

"Celebration is definitely wanted!"

Yuan Chang nodded in agreement, then squinted his eyes at the four of them, and said with a sneer: "This son has been promoted to the position of Bohai Taishou, how can you not show a little? I think so, each of you will contribute two hundred and fifty yuan to make up the same, and go to Yuelai Restaurant tonight to celebrate." ”

Yuan Chang looked at the four of them and said secretly in his heart, wanting to blackmail his son, but there was no door. If you want to make your son bleed, you must have the consciousness of being bloodletting, how can you not put some blood from them!

"Lord, then forget it, I think it's the most troublesome to celebrate something!"

Dian Wei looked aggrieved, the four of them had already discussed it secretly before, and took advantage of Yuan Chang's ascension to peel off a layer of skin from him. As a result, Yuan Chang's shamelessness exceeded their imagination, and he wanted to skin them instead. Therefore, Guo Jia, Zhao Yun and Han Sui motioned to Dian Wei with their eyes very unrighteously, and quickly revoked their previous mention.

"Hong Fei, how can you say that, I have been promoted to Bohai Taishou, and you feel troublesome about the celebration, which makes me very unhappy. Needless to say, the matter was decided. ”

Yuan Chang ignored the bitter gourd faces of the four people, and if he wanted to exploit himself, he had to have this kind of awareness.

At that moment, Yuan Chang's face was straight, and he didn't give the four of them a chance to speak, and asked in a deep voice: "I am about to be promoted to Bohai Taishou, Yuan Shao asked me to find a county commander to take office, who is suitable for Feng Xiao?"

Seeing that they were talking about business, the faces of the four of them were also stern.

Guo Jia thought for a while and said with a smile: "There is a candidate in Jia's heart, who used to be a county official, and he is a native of Dongping County, so he is very suitable. ”

Hearing Guo Jia say this, Yuan Chang frowned slightly, and then unfolded, and seemed to think of the candidate Guo Jia said.

Yuan Chang nodded and agreed: "What Feng Xiao said is Sang Qiu? His ability is still good, when we liquidated the officials, he did not panic, but was able to deal with it calmly. And in the end, he can confess his crimes in time, and his character is not too bad, as long as he beats it, it is not much of a problem to take over Dongping County. Juzi, you go to Sang Qiu's house and invite Sang Qiu to the county office. ”

"Yes, my lord!"

Not long after, Han Sui took Sang Qiu to Yuan Chang.

"The adults summoned the little people to come, I don't know what is going on?"

Sang Qiu respectfully saluted Yuan Chang, and there was still a trace of uneasiness in his heart. Recently, Sang Qiu has been very responsible and has not committed anything, so it stands to reason that Yuan Chang will not look for him. Unless Yuan Chang wants to settle the previous matter, the two basically have no intersection.

"Huh!"

Yuan Chang smiled softly, with a gentle expression on his face, and said gently: "Sang Qiu, you don't need to be nervous, I just came to you today to talk to you, I have already said that I will not pursue the past again, so naturally I will not turn it out." Sang Qiu, I heard that your neighbors said that you stay at home all day, so I'm afraid it's not good for your health, so try to go out and walk as much as possible. ”

Sang Qiu was a little stunned, and faintly felt that today's Yuan Chang was a little different from the past, but he couldn't say it for a while. After being stunned for a moment, he remembered that he hadn't answered Yuan Chang's words, so he bowed and said humbly: "Thank you for your care, Xiaomin knows that he has made mistakes, so he studied the sages at home and meditated on his own mistakes." ”

"Sang Qiu, sit down and don't stand, today you and I are chatting normally, and there is no need to be so polite. ”

Hearing Yuan Chang's words, Sang Qiu carefully sat opposite Yuan Chang, holding his breath and concentrating, he didn't dare to take a breath, and his body was also sitting straight, lest Yuan Chang feel that he was not respectful enough to him.

Yuan Chang smiled and asked, "Sang Qiu, since you are reading the book of sages at home, then I will test you." ”

Sang Qiu was stunned again, looking at Yuan Chang's expression, he finally understood why he felt that Yuan Chang was different from before. Yuan Chang, who I saw today, showed great wisdom in every word and deed, which made him feel unattainable. Sang Qiu immediately understood that when he, He Yao, and Luo Yuan were taken down by Yuan Chang, it was not Guo Jia who gave advice, but Yuan Chang also contributed. Yuan Chang has always been pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger before, and thinking of this, Sang Qiu is even more cautious.

"If the adults know the questions of the adults, they should answer them. ”

Yuan Chang stared at Sang Qiu and asked, "Sang Qiu, do you know what an 'official' is?"

Sang Qiu felt that he was stunned more times today than the number of times he was born to the present, what is an "official"? "Guan" is a place that can make people's status rise, and civilians can only look up to it. This is not just Sang Qiu's personal idea, but most people who want to be officials think like this.

However, facing Yuan Chang at this moment, Sang Qiu thought about it and said cautiously: "The so-called 'official' is a clean government that loves the people and benefits the people, so that it can be called an official." ”

"That's a good answer!"

Yuan Chang replied noncommittally, and the expression on his face couldn't tell whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied. Then he asked: "In this case, how to be honest and love the people, how to benefit the people, you used to be the head of Dongping County, do you think you have done it?"

"Xiaomin is ashamed and has failed the high hopes of the imperial court!"

Sang Qiu's face was slightly red, and he lowered his head in shame.

Yuan Chang disagreed, and then said: "Before everyone became an official, they may have thought that after becoming an official, they should be honest and love the people and benefit the people. However, when they became officials, they changed their original intentions because of money, women, or power, or for many reasons. In the end, maybe they are still an official, but in the hearts of the people, they are no longer officials, but a man-eating tiger. ”

"Some people are indeed very honest and honest when they are officials, and they do not take a penny from the people. However, he could not let the people under his rule live a good life, and perhaps the people would think that he was an honest official, but he was definitely not a good official; some people would be corrupt and accept bribes when they became officials, but he could make the people under his rule live a prosperous life, and in the eyes of the court or others, he was a corrupt official. However, the people under his rule will definitely think that he is a good official, because everyone's life has changed for the better. Therefore, it is actually difficult to define whether an official is good or bad. ”

Sang Qiu nodded thoughtfully, and Guo Jia on the side also very much agreed with Yuan Chang's words.

Just as Guo Jia's previous idea was to find the master of the Ming Dynasty and open up a new dynasty. In the eyes of many people, Guo Jia was disloyal to the imperial court, but opening up a new dynasty, ending the turmoil, and the people were able to settle down, in the eyes of later generations, Guo Jia was a man of great talent. On the other hand, Xun Yu, he has always been loyal to the Han family, if he continues to maintain such a court, the life of the people will not change, but will only become more and more difficult. Then, people today may praise him as a man of loyalty, while future generations will say that he is a pedantic and inflexible man. Therefore, sometimes it is difficult to evaluate whether a person is good or bad.

"There is nothing wrong with what you said earlier about being honest and loving the people and benefiting the people, but this is the intention of the officials. In my opinion, as long as you stick to this original intention, and then when you act, you can be flexible, then you will be a real good official. I won't say much about the rest, and finally I will send you a sentence of 'the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world'. As long as you can do that, you will be a role model for officials. ”

Sang Qiu's body shook, and a lightning bolt flashed through his brain, and he felt that the sage book he was reciting was comprehended at this moment because of Yuan Chang's words, and his spirit was sublimated.

Sang Qiu got up, bowed, and said sincerely: "Thank you for your teachings, Xiaomin will never forget what Lord Jì said." ”

"Hmm!"

Yuan Chang could see that Sang Qiu really understood, not perfunctory. I believe that as long as a person with lofty ideals listens to Fan Zhongyan's words, he will have some understanding.

"Sang Qiu, I am about to be promoted to Bohai Taishou, and this Dongping County will be taken over by you, I believe you will not let me down!"

Sang Qiu was stunned again, he finally understood why Yuan Chang would tell him such a reason, it turned out that he planned to let him serve as the county magistrate of Dongping County. Sang Qiu knew that he had a criminal record, but Yuan Chang didn't care, but spared no effort to teach him, and handed over Dongping County to him, and a strong feeling of emotion flashed in his heart.

"The little people will never live up to the high expectations of adults!"

Sang Qiu's eyes were firm and said to Yuan Chang, and Sang Qiu didn't say much other superfluous words, he would use practical actions to prove to Yuan Chang that Yuan Chang was not wrong about him.

After that, Sang Qiu specially asked someone to write down "the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world", framed and hung in the house, and looked at it many times a day, and he did it all the time. Later, Sang Qiu was promoted and left Dongping County, and the people built an ancestral hall for him to commemorate him.

And Sang Qiu has always regarded this sentence as a family motto to teach his descendants, and most of his descendants in later generations are important ministers of the court, and even to the third duke.