After Shang Cheng finished speaking, there was a brief silence in the conference hall. Several officials in charge of the yamen lowered their foreheads and frowned in thought. Xingshui and road construction and peace banditry, no matter which one is worthy of the four words of Yanshan's "top priority", and it is precisely because the three are closely related to the people's livelihood that everyone feels more and more that it is difficult for them to open their mouths one by one, but if they want to do things well, it is difficult; If you only do one of them at a time, everyone is still a little sure, but if the three go hand in hand, then no one has a bottom in their hearts.

Two and a half of the three things were local government affairs, so the officials were muttering and preparing the draft, and at the same time, they all aimed their eyes at Wei Mu Lu Ji.

Lu Ji's eyebrows crumbled tightly into a Sichuan character, as if he was about to wring out his brain, and pondered for a long time before he said slowly: "I have been thinking about the proposal of the commander for the past few days. I have been in Yanshan for two years, and I have a general understanding of the situation in Yanshan, judging from the files left by the previous Wei Mu, since the sixth year of Xianzong Xiande, the drought in several counties in Yanbei has hardly been interrupted, either the wells here have dried up or the river water has been cut off, and even the grain has failed every year. In the first year of the Eastern Yuan Dynasty, Yingxian, Pingcheng and Beizheng even died of thirst. Fortunately, the population in those places was not very large, and the imperial court had been exempting money and grain from the border areas for many years, and the Health Department had some more aid, although the situation was difficult, it could barely support it. However, since the 10th year of the Eastern Common Era, the situation has changed again, first, more and more counties have been affected by the disaster, and second, the drought has become more and more severe. The severe drought in the spring and summer of Yiwu covered the entire Yanbei, 17 counties were affected, three counties had no harvest, and more than half of the grain harvest in the prefectures and counties was less than 50% of that in ordinary years......" He paused, swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and sighed in a long sigh of relief, and then continued, "Since the beginning of spring this year, there has not been a single rain in the two counties of Pingcheng and Yanbian, and the two counties have already submitted a petition, requesting that the two warehouses be closed with sufficient grain......

"You can promise them." Shang Cheng said calmly, "But allocating food can only save a while, but you can't manage it for a lifetime." If you want to really solve the problem, you have to think of something else. ”

That's what Lu Ji wants to say. He immediately replied, "That's what I replied to them." However, I think that the official can issue a notice and let the villagers work for relief, which can not only reduce the pressure on the government, but also raise water conservancy, killing two birds with one stone......

Shang Cheng immediately asked, "What about repairing the road?" Don't do it? ”

"There are priorities ......"

Shang Cheng stared at Lu Ji with a sneering look on his face, and asked with a sneer: "Transporting ten catties of grain from Yanzhou to Pingcheng will cost six catties on the way, is this light or slow?" From Yanzhou to Yanbian is to transport ten and seven, how to calculate this account? And who should bear the money for the foot power of pack horses? ”

This series of questions made Lu Ji stammer, and he didn't know how to answer, so he could only laugh dryly and pick up the teacup with an embarrassed expression. Several civil servants who had just wanted to agree with him also quietly looked away.

Shang Cheng also realized that he had spoken a little heavily, so he slowed down and said, "Lu Mu, your method of cash-for-work is very good, I think it can be implemented not only in Pingcheng and Yanbian, but also in other places." In this way, you can go back and find someone to carefully refer to it, draw up a detailed rule, and the Admiralty will issue it and the states and counties will follow it. But the road cannot be left unattended. ”

Shang Cheng's voice was not loud, but his tone was unquestionably resolute, although the civil and military officials who already knew his temperament very well did not approve of this in their hearts, but they could not help but have their own considerations, the civil officials were afraid of being swept away by this reckless commander, and the generals were because they could not interfere in local government affairs, so they all sat on their knees and did not speak, expressing their attitudes in silence. Refutation.

Shang Cheng glanced around with cold eyes, raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why don't you speak?" ”

In the silence, Di Xu said in a sharp voice: "I think the commander may have misunderstood Lu Mu's meaning......

Immediately, all eyes turned to the patrol's thin face with bulging cheekbones. Hah! Di Xu would actually help Lu Ji? This is really surprising! Shang Cheng's face couldn't hide his surprise, and he asked in surprise: "What does Master Di mean, I misunderstood Lu Mu?" ”

Di Xu sat in the chair and arched his hand towards Shang Cheng, looked up at him, and said, "Probably the commander is wrong." Lu Mu didn't mean that he didn't want to repair the road, but that he really couldn't repair it...... The original intention of the commander was not bad, the Wei government could ask for money and food from the military department under the pretext of suppressing bandits or other excuses, and after rectifying the road, it could not only connect the internal and external traffic of Yanshan, but also facilitate the mobilization of the guards, which was indeed a good measure for both the military and the people. But has the governor thought about it, where should the manpower for road construction come from? The aftermath of Yanbei has just ended, and many things have not really been resolved, and the rubble and ruins and fields are barren, how can it be possible to recruit the people? Even if you are lucky enough to cobble together some people, should you build water conservancy or roads first? There is also the Wei Fu's plan to suppress bandits, and the guards are mobilized one by one, so don't you need the people for food, grass, salary, ordnance, and baggage? ”

As he spoke, more than a dozen officials nodded frequently. Shang Cheng also listened to the gods, his hands held each other's eyes closed, his faint and deep gaze was hidden behind his eyelids, and he stared at the blue bricks arranged vertically and horizontally like slanted feathers on the ground without blinking, and he was speechless for a long time.

"Commander," Wen Yan, who was at the end of the seat, stood up and bowed his hands, "what the inspector said is very true. Now Yanbei is full of devastation, and the most important thing at the moment is to recuperate with the people, and it is really not appropriate to build fortifications in vain at this time. Otherwise, the people will not be hurt at all, and the harm will be endless. The origin of the bandits in Yanshan, the persecution of the government is too much, and I hope the governor will investigate it carefully. ”

Shang Cheng already understood that he was thinking about things to the left. He asked Wen Lun to sit down, groaned and sorted out his thoughts, and then said: "Lu Mu, Inspector Di, and Sect Wen, you are right, one is that I am too anxious, I want to eat a fat man in one bite, and as a result, I forgot the truth of 'if you want to hurry, you can't reach it'." The analogy of his image made the civil officials look at each other, and several generals glanced at Zhang Shao, the head official of the Weifu and the cavalry general who was the thickest in the room, and they all laughed. Lu Ji leaned down slightly in the chair and said with a smile, "It's also my fault, I can't speak clearly." I don't mean not to repair roads, let alone not to build water conservancy, but to divide these two things into several steps. First of all, eradicating the bandits in Yanshan is the real top priority. It is necessary to order all states and counties, whoever neglects military affairs, for whatever reason, will be severely punished......"

Shang Cheng and Zhang Shao quietly exchanged glances and nodded together. They had already received an urgent order from the Ministry of War and the three upper provinces yesterday evening, and Shang Cheng's plan to suppress bandits and the subsequent package of plans had been approved by the imperial court. It is only that this plan is very important, and there are many secrets involved, so this decree was not presented at today's meeting. Perhaps the details of the plan will not be made public for a long time to come.

“…… The second step is to first build water conservancy in Pingcheng and Yanbian, which are counties where the drought is severe, and at the same time strive to repair the road from Pingcheng to Yanzhou and then to Yuzhou in the south as soon as possible. The nearest road from Yanshan to Shangjing is this official road, although the roads and bridges are often damaged, but there are several densely populated counties along the way, both human and financial resources, enough to cope with this errand.

"Third, after the completion of water conservancy in Pingcheng and other places, we will continue to implement it in other places as appropriate." He thought about it for a while, and added, "After the situation in Yanshan is stabilized, a large number of people can be requisitioned and ......."

Other civil servants also began to participate in the discussions. They soon found omissions and omissions in the Lu Ji plan, and there were arguments and quarrels over how to deal with something or some kind of emergency. Di Xu returned to his proper performance, and continued to argue with Lu Ji on some inconsequential matters. In the chaotic atmosphere, all the details of the plan are constantly being improved. However, the plan still did not enjoy the consent of the overwhelming majority of the population......

The meeting lasted from midnight to midday. After a hastily unpalatable lunch at the Admiral's Palace, the people immediately returned to the council chamber and resumed the morning meeting. Once again, the officials burst out with a strong will, almost picking at Lu Ji's plan to the fullest, and only then did they reach a preliminary consensus in the midst of a quarrel: water conservancy should be built, roads should be built, and bandits must be suppressed......

Shang Cheng walked out of the meeting hall after the meeting, and it was almost time.

Shi Shi, who had been guarding the door, saw him come out and immediately came over to tell him that Sun Zhongshan and Qian Laosan had arrived.

"Huh?" Shang Cheng asked absentmindedly.

His mind was still stuck on the part of the content that had been cut off by the civilian officials.