Situ Liang continued: "Not only that, but we must also increase the supervision of the big clans in various places, as well as those powerful families who have lost their interests, these people, many people are dissatisfied with my Zhao Jun. But if you find something, punish it severely immediately, and let those who have not yet acted know that those who are against my Da Zhao will not end well. ”

Wei Zilin said in a deep voice: "However, this must have accurate evidence. Our actions in the southern countries have caused more than seventy percent of the powerful to cease to exist. It would be very bad for us to think that we were going to attack them in the name of this horse thief. ”

Zhao Xun said coldly: "No matter what, this horse thief in Xizhou must be solved in the shortest possible time." Let Xu Ye and Nangong Hao take action to clean up the king. Now, it is also time to let the people of this Xizhou know that this land of Xizhou is under the rule of our Great Zhao. Those who follow it prosper and those who rebel perish, these people from the Western Regions, if they don't pay, then let them die. ”

The Zhao army in the land of Xizhou immediately took action and once again launched operations in various places. At the same time, local governments also began to cooperate and launched public opinion propaganda.

These horse thieves did have some well-intentioned people who were dissatisfied with Zhao Jun, and deliberately attacked Zhao Jun, and even some ambitious people wanted to restore the country. However, they also did not want to revert to the old system, so that those who had been converted from slaves to civilians in the city were slaves again. After all, they are not stupid, and if they do, they are afraid that they will not be able to do it.

However, they can't compete with the propaganda of the government. What is the government means that it can openly propagate its own slogans and carry out any untrue public opinion conclusions and attacks on those hostile forces. That is, to carry out slander.

Whether it is a horse thief or a person with a heart, although they know that this is not the case, they can't defend it. Soon, Zhao Jun won the support of the people everywhere, and criticized the horse thieves, making these horse thieves become rats on the street and everyone shouted and beaten. In this way, some people who are in contact with horse thieves have learned what to do.

There are even many people who still report some information related to horse thieves to Zhao Jun. For this reason, no less than 30 families have been planted in the hands of these ordinary people. Many people are still planted in the hands of their own family's subordinates.

The actions of Zhao's army were even more rapid, sweeping all over the place. Especially with the construction of new cities, people from all over the country began to gather in the residential areas designated by the government, so that these horse thieves had to move around in order to survive, but they were quickly swept away by the cavalry of the Zhao army one by one.

The Zhao army swept all the way out, and at the same time, the local government offices in various places also immediately took action, and set up the local government officials and county soldiers one by one, and set up the Great Zhao Law to implement the new policy rule in various places.

In a month, more than 10,000 cavalry of the Zhao army cooperated with the local government to go out in all directions and completely sweep the southern land. In total, more than 30,000 horse thieves were killed and more than 50,000 were captured. Among them, a small part of them was due to the war, which expanded the ranks of horse thieves. Most of them were composed of soldiers from all over the world, and under the leadership of some officers who were unwilling to be prisoners, they began to become horse thieves.

But in any case, these people will become the labor force for the construction of new cities, water conservancy projects, and road projects. And the government's blaming them for all kinds of crimes has also made the people everywhere completely spurn them and have no sympathy. In addition, Zhao Jun also placed the charges of the powerful clans who were secretly killed by Zhao Jun in some places on these horse thieves, so as to alleviate the fear of the remaining small local clans and merchants against Zhao Jun.

The entire land of the two states in the Western Regions has entered a period of large-scale construction when spring arrives. Cities, galloping roads, water conservancy projects, farmland reclamation and other restoration and development sieges have all been carried out in an all-round way. In addition, in the two states, a new household registration system was also implemented, the population was counted, the number of residents was counted, and a large number of people began to be gathered by Zhao Jun in various new cities, and they were settled and managed in a unified manner.

In the land of Liangzhou, a large number of Han people are still coming to the west. They are all immigrants who have moved to increase the proportion of Han Chinese. After a great war, the inhabitants of the entire Western Regions were reduced by about 20% of the population as a whole. As a result, the population of the two states in the Western Regions, which were originally vast and sparsely populated, was even less. Now the migration of the population is just right, and there will be no contradictions with the local residents.

These migrated Han Chinese led the local residents in various places to start cultivating farmland and learning agricultural affairs. Of course, the nomadic life in the two states of the Western Regions will not be completely abandoned by Zhao Jun. Grazing means that the livestock and war horses are all needed by Zhao Jun. Those residents who are accustomed to grazing and grazing are under the unified jurisdiction of the government, and after arranging management personnel, they carry out orderly grazing. The government will also offer a reasonable price to purchase the livestock, war horses, and the fur of the livestock, so as to ensure their income.

Compared with before, in the two states of the Western Regions, the burden on the people is many times lower. Not to mention those slaves who were exempted from slave status, that is, the exemption of land taxes for three years, the reduction and exemption of all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the reduction and unification of trade taxes, the construction of gallop roads, and other policies and actions, have made the residents of various places realize that although they have changed kings above them, their lives are now many times better than they did at the beginning.

For the magnates, they are reluctant to give up their power, and they are naturally dissatisfied with the change of country and king. However, for the ordinary people below, as long as their lives are good, what difference does it make who is in charge now? Perhaps many of the remaining magnates and clans are dissatisfied with Zhao Jun's rule here, but as long as the people below are satisfied, what is the use of these remaining magnates and clans?

This is also the reason why Zhao Xun wants to attack the magnates of various countries, these so-called magnates and local tycoons are the vested interests of the previous dynasty, and now the Zhao army wants to unify the land of the Western Regions, and the interests and power in the hands of these people will naturally become history. Although Zhao Jun is not afraid, if he can clean it up, there is no need to leave hidden dangers. In other words, even if this place is pushed to reconstruction, it must be completely owned by the Zhao State, rather than simply defeating them.

This land in the Western Regions is not the Central Plains, the inhabitants here are not Han people, and the masters of the country are not the powerful and powerful people of the Han people. Therefore, Zhao Xuncai carried out a major clean-up here, even if the original order collapsed, it was necessary to completely establish the Zhao State system. Judging from the current situation, Zhao Jun's series of actions here have been relatively perfect.

At the beginning of April, Zhao Xun left Wei Zilin to coordinate the affairs of the two states in the Western Regions and led the army back to the Central Plains.

The return of Zhao Xun and the army of Zhao Jun shook the people and princes of the Central Plains. For the people, Zhao Xun's return also means that the land of the Western Regions has been pacified by the Great Zhao army. For them, the strength of Zhao Jun is naturally what they want to see.

Even the people under the rule of the southern princes also hoped that the Great Zhao army would go south one day earlier, command the world, implement a new policy in the south, and rescue them from fire and water. I have to say that the princes are fighting, and it is the ordinary people who suffer in the end. Especially after the recent successive victories of the Zhao army in the Western Regions, these princes also began to be impatient, wanting to further expand their strength before the Zhao army returned. As a result, the fighting became more frequent, and the lives of the people became more difficult.

Of course, this is not to say that the southern princes disregard the people's livelihood. Some of the new policies of Zhao were also studied and implemented by the southern princes, but they were not as simple as those of the northern Zhao State. Speaking of which, the implementation of these new policies in the southern princely territories has also improved the lives of the people in the southern princely territories.

However, the premise of the improvement is that the war in the south subsides, and the people can resume production well. It's a pity that the land in the south is far less peaceful and peaceful than under the rule of Zhao in the north. At the earliest, the southern princes fought against the Qi army, and the army of King Situ Lei marched south. Then, the Zhao army stood in the north, and the southern princes were fighting endlessly.

As a result, the burden on the people has not been reduced, but has increased a lot. This is not only because of the needs of the princes' armies, but also because of the increase in taxes. What's more, the princes' armies have been fighting for years and years, and they need a lot of soldiers. So, where did these soldiers come from? Not all of them are young and strong under the princes.

Since then, the number of young and strong people in various places has decreased, and the labor force in the people's homes has been insufficient. The lack of labor made it impossible to carry out the farming work, and the heavy taxes held them in a rope that prevented them from extricating. Therefore, many people under the southern princes became exiles, fled in all directions, and were received by the Zhao army from various places, which is also the main reason why the people under the rule of the southern princes gradually became dissatisfied with the southern princes.

For ordinary people, as long as it does not endanger their survival, these people will generally not leave their hometowns and will not easily oppose the government and the court. However, if even survival becomes a problem for them, then these people will naturally abandon the government and the princes.

The reason why Zhao Xun did not immediately go south after merging the Yanzhou army was also because the southern princes were following the new policy of Zhao Jun, so that the southern land also began to recover. In addition, at the beginning, the southern princes were still relatively strong, and they were not fully opposed to each other. Once the Zhao army goes south, the southern princes will inevitably join forces to fight.

Zhao Xun was also worried that once he went south and entered the melee stage with the princes, the losses of both sides would be not small, and in the end, foreign enemies would be cheapened. Therefore, Zhao Xun first external and then internal. Of course, the premise is that the southern princes are fighting on their own and will not easily go north. As a result, Zhao Xun's plan succeeded. The foreign enemy in the north has suffered heavy losses, although I dare not say that the Turks have completely surrendered, but if they want to go south to take advantage of the fire, it is impossible. In the border land, hundreds of thousands of town troops and local garrisons were nailed to the border line, while the internal stability, a large number of grain and grass materials were reserved, and the treasury was full, and the Zhao State was not afraid of the Turks going south. Of course, at this moment, the two major groups of the Turkic people are still under the guidance of Zhao Guo and are still in the inner realm. Therefore, the foreign enemy in the north can be regarded as eliminated.

As for the west, all the countries of the Western Regions were wiped out and became the land of Zhao and Xinna. Compared with the north, the foreign enemy in the west can be regarded as completely eradicated. And now, the princes of the south are also fighting to the death, and they are already full of hatred for each other. In addition, some princes were also weakened to the lowest level in the successive battles, which also made it easier for the Zhao army to turn around and clean up the mess.

Zhao Xun returned to Youzhou City, and was greeted by important civil and military ministers, and there was naturally no need to talk about the grand occasion. The current Youzhou City can be said to be one of the most prosperous cities in the world. If you count the people's livelihood, Youzhou City definitely ranks first among the most prosperous cities in the world.

Because of the growing strength of Great Zhao, he destroyed the countries of the Western Regions in succession, making Youzhou City a new center of the world. More and more people are coming to Youzhou City, needless to say, more and more businessmen. In addition, there are many scholars, and they have also begun to gather in Wang Youzhou City. After all, the general trend of the world has gradually become clear, and Da Zhao is going to sit on the world. If they don't come out to find a position, they will have a rare opportunity to work in the new dynasty in the future. Of course, it is not that Zhao Guo does not need talents after the new dynasty. It is a country of a new country, even if it is the imperial examination, there needs to be a vacancy in the upper position. In addition, the imperial examination is not so easy to get on the list.

And now the power of the Zhao army is gradually expanding, and officials are needed in many places. Especially after Zhao Guo integrated officials and officials, he began to recruit scholars and train corresponding officials as local low-level officials. And now being a clerk is not a position that is looked down upon. On the contrary, if there are vacancies in official positions in the future, these officials are the primary targets. Therefore, the scholars I met more and more began to converge on the Zhao Jun Power Center.

In addition to these scholars, the most are businessmen. Youzhou city north to Liaozhou, Dingzhou, south to Jizhou, Qingzhou, or the current capital of Zhao State, commerce is prosperous, merchants pass here, it is also a common thing. In Youzhou City, you can also see merchants from the Western Regions who are very different from the Han people and merchants from Persia and other places who travel by sea.

At first, many people were amazed to see such a strange businessman who was very different from the Han people. However, now that the people of Youzhou City are used to it, they won't be too surprised. After learning that these outsiders with very different faces were all people who came to do business, the people of Youzhou City had become accustomed to it.

Looking at the situation in Youzhou City, Zhao Xun was also very happy. In the past few years, Youzhou City has changed from a border city that was always worried about foreign invasion to a prosperous place with prosperous commerce and a prosperous literary style, and Zhao Xun couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his heart.

However, Zhao Xun looked at the current prosperous place, and secretly considered the possibility of this place as the national capital. For the current Zhao State, Youzhou City is still very good as a power center. However, facing the whole country, it is not quite suitable here. Although the road is well built, it is too far from the west and south, and it will sink into a heavy food problem in the future.

Of course, this is also what Zhao Xun thinks temporarily, and for the future, this is still far away. At present, the two capitals of Dayan have not yet been controlled by the Zhao State. In the future, we will decide where the capital is, and we will talk about it when we unify the whole country. Zhao Xun is now thinking about these, and it is not without purpose, many people have begun to suggest recovering Luoyang and Chang'an, recovering the old capital, and setting the capital of Great Zhao.

The palace of King Zhao in Youzhou City is also equivalent to the imperial palace. The civil and military ministers of Zhao Guo all congratulated Zhao Xun on the victory.

Pei Yi laughed and stroked his beard, and said, "The king's exploits in the Western Regions are unparalleled, and he has expanded his territory for the benefit of all the people in the world." Compared to the king, the southern princes are not worth mentioning arrows. ”

"Yes, otherwise it wouldn't have caused the scholars from the south to go north and come to my Dazhao territory. This is not only because my Great Zhao is strong, but also has a lot to do with the fact that the Great King is in the land of the Western Regions and is powerful in the world. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Scholars in the south? Fortunately, nowadays, we need more and more readers to serve us. The land of the Western Regions has recently been divided into more than 20 prefectures and more than 100 counties in two states, and these regions are in urgent need of officials. ”

Pei Yi said: "Not only that, but we also have to cultivate as many reserve talents as possible, and in the future, we will unify the south, which requires a large number of officials who are familiar with my Da Zhao Xinzheng to govern the locality." By the way, the land of Taiwan also needs a lot of officials. However, the ministers have already selected officials from all over the country to serve as officials at all levels of the Tang Palace. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said: "Now that Shangzhou and Xizhou continue to be low-level officials, now, among the officials in various places, let's conduct an assessment." After the king integrated the officials and officials, the low-level officials at all levels were selected from among the officials, so let's start with this. Now that the policy has been set, it should be implemented. ”

"In the land of the two states of the Western Regions, what is needed are practical officials, not literati who do learning. The rulers of these places, in the eyes of this king, are much more capable than those who only know how to read. ”

"By the way, these scholars who come here are all recruited to the Royal Academy, and let them learn the true skills. You can't learn real talent just by reading. In addition, some guys with honest ability will be placed in various government offices to be officials. ”

Pei Yi was slightly stunned, and said with a wry smile: "King, let these scholars be the commanders, I'm afraid they won't want to." ”

Zhao Xun sneered: "Unwilling? Why, under the rule of my Great Zhao State, the officials are equivalent to officials, but the grade is lower. In addition, even those who have been selected for scientific examinations should also participate in the assistance work in local governments and yamen at all levels. Without experience in governance, how can this king rest assured that they will be the parents of the same place? ”

"If you don't want to, don't pay attention to them, in the land of the Western Regions, this king needs to handle a large number of academies, and the elders of these academies are also high-ranking officials. Since they don't want to go to the local area to be a small official and accumulate experience in governance, then let them go to various academies to teach students. Under the rule of my Da Zhao, we must follow the rules of my Da Zhao. Of course, if you are really talented, those who have passed the assessment will be a different matter. ”

For these readers, Zhao Xun has no good face. It's not that these scholars are useless, the country wants to govern, and these scholars are impossible to lack. However, these scholars despise those who are engaged in other professions, and have no talent or experience in managing the local area.