It makes no sense to arrange Lin Shucheng to be in charge of the people's livelihood and government affairs in Xiyongzhou, Situ Liang, Yang Wangqing, Liu Wenqi and others, although Lin Shucheng is a new surrender, but none of them objected.

In addition to Lin Shucheng's talent, it is naturally beneficial to Zhao Jun to be able to use it for himself, there is another reason. After the destruction of Chang'an City, Zhao Xun once arranged for Yang Wangqing and Liu Wenqi, who were privy deputy envoys, to be in charge of the affairs of Xiyong Prefecture, in order to implement the new policies of Zhao in Xiyong Prefecture as soon as possible.

However, after the appointment was issued, the officials who succeeded the prefectures and counties and some inspectors all advised Zhao Xun that the privy deputy envoy was an official in charge of the war of Zhao's army and could not serve as a local government official, which was contrary to the system of separation of various departments originally set by Zhao Xun. Therefore, it was not appropriate for them to serve as administrative officials of Siyong, and of course, it was a different matter for the two of them to give up their positions in the Privy Council.

However, the official position of the Privy Council is several ranks higher than that of a political officer, such as a local governor. Unless he was demoted for a mistake, how could a Privy Counsellor be made to relinquish his post and become a magistrate? In order to avoid suspicion, Yang Wangqing and Liu Wenqi also resigned from Zhao Xun.

Zhao Xun was originally going to let the Youzhou officials rearrange it, but now that Lin Shucheng has appeared, he has solved this problem just right. Of course, since then, Lin Shucheng has not been able to become an official of the Privy Council and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Of course, in addition to this internal reason of Zhao Jun, there is also a potential reason, that is, to deal with the government affairs of Xiyongzhou, it is necessary to take action against the local clans in Xiyongzhou. And letting Lin Shucheng serve at this time is naturally a test for him. Lin Shucheng himself knew very well that when Zhao Jun proposed four choices, he understood what he should choose.

After the war, people's livelihoods withered. However, with the efforts of the local government and the implementation of Zhao's new system and policies, the people of Xiyongzhou gradually began to give up their hostility to Zhao's army. Especially after Zhao Jun took over the various places, the first thing the new officials did was to post notices to show that after Zhao Jun took over the place, the new tax system.

Secondly, with the dispatch of Zhao Jun to various places, cooperate with the local government to investigate the local Haoqiang, confiscate the illegal fields of Haoqiang, purchase the surplus land of Haoqiang, and distribute it to the landless people, so that more people in Xiyongzhou can support and support Zhao Jun.

Now the officials of the Zhao State have implemented the new system in various places, and they have not forcibly confiscated and purchased the fields of the local big clans as before. The system of the Zhao government is to levy additional taxes on those excess fields, and the more taxes there are, the higher the taxes. When the people have their own fields, these large landowners who own a lot of land will find that their fields not only do not bring them a better harvest, but leave their fields unrented.

The second is that the government restricts the private sale of land and restricts the rent that should be paid for renting land. Coupled with the large number of manpower required for business, some people turned to work instead of farming. Shops, workshops, and all kinds of trade absorbed a large number of people, and the limited wages began to make it possible for these people to live without having to rely on farming.

The third is to reclaim the land in the Western Regions, the north, especially the northeast, and encourage the people to move to the Western Regions and the north, which will not only allow the Zhao State to stabilize its borders, but also allow the land in these regions to be used properly. In the near future, the land of the south, and perhaps the islands of the farther sea, will be the land of expansion of the kingdom of Zhao.

Finally, the government also used some government-specific business and trade matters, and the location of shops in various cities, in exchange for the fields of these powerful clans. These powerful clans all know that in Zhao State, commerce and trade are things that make money very quickly at first sight. If these big families want to get greater benefits from it, or better profits, they have to take out their own fields.

Zhao Xun did not go east to Luoyang, but continued to stay in Chang'an. The reason for staying, first, is that Xiyongzhou is newly entered, and there are many local diehards, and with Zhao Xun personally in charge, many things have been done by the local government, and they have made a lot of decisions. Of course, with King Zhao personally in charge, they did things a lot faster.

Second, Zhao Xun hoped that the southern princes would not continue to focus on themselves, but hoped that the Shu army and the Han army in the land of Hanzhong would be in contention. The south of Xiyongzhou is Hanzhong, there are things in Han, and the land of Xiyongzhou is the most convenient.

Sitting in Xiyongzhou, while paying attention to the situation in the south, he discussed the affairs of Xiyongzhou with Lin Shucheng, Situ Liang and others. I have to say that Lin Shucheng started from assisting Situ Lei, King Yong, and for so many years, he has a hand in local people's livelihood and government affairs. Under the leadership of Lin Shucheng and the institutional policies of Zhao State, Xiyongzhou gradually began to recover. At the very least, the people in all the prefectures and counties who were scattered because of the war are now gradually settling down.

In just a few days, Lin Shucheng gave a general idea of the situation in the land of Xiyongzhou, and even Zhao Xun was surprised. After all, in some localities, the military management still cooperates with the original officials to jointly handle local affairs, and many local officials sent by Zhao Guoxin have not yet arrived.

"The king forgot that the minister was left behind in Chang'an in the past, and he was in charge of the military and political affairs of Xiyongzhou. In particular, Chang'an is still the core of Xiyongzhou, and here, in the archives of the government treasury, there are records of the situation in various places. From the records in the archives and the general statistics of local officials and military officers, the minister has the general data. Of course, although it cannot be said that it is very prepared, it is not much different. Lin Shucheng looked at King Zhao and everyone in surprise, and explained with a smile.

Zhao Xun couldn't help but admire: "It seems that it is only appropriate for this king to let you deal with the government affairs of the people's livelihood in Xiyongzhou." Now that the data is available, the rest of the arrangements are much easier. You can arrange engineering actions such as building roads, water conservancy projects, and checkpoint cities. Make arrangements, no need to be impatient, proceed slowly, and if there is any problem, directly let the yamen cooperate. The officials of the Ministry of Works have arranged for a group of corresponding craftsmen to rush to this place, presumably, it will take a long time for the reserve team to come here. ”

Lin Shucheng said in a deep voice: "The king has arranged it like this, and everything will definitely go well." Recently, however, the local yamen, especially those in the major cities, have been begging the government to ask the king to pardon their business taxes. ”

After Xiyong Prefecture was taken, the land tax was first exempted for one year, and some other harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes were directly abolished. However, commercial tax is not included in this category. However, for businessmen with household registration in Xiyongzhou, they have a preferential treatment, which is to get priority to get various procurement orders from the government.

Hearing what Lin Shucheng said, Zhao Xun said coldly: "It seems that these big clans are still not greedy enough!" Business Tax? Most of the people who are engaged in business are those who have surplus wealth. They are not ordinary people, they cannot live without land. If you don't pay taxes, you won't be able to build a gallop road without paying taxes, and you won't be able to support the needs of the Xiyong Prefecture government and army. Without galloping roads and water conservancy projects, they can do better business, goods can circulate better, and the people have money to buy their goods? ”

"Ignore them, if you dare to continue to think nonsense and co-opt businessmen to mess around in the local area, they will be disqualified from doing business." Zhao Xun knew that these businessmen clamoring for tax exemption were definitely not those small merchants, but big businessmen and large chambers of commerce. For these people, Zhao Xun will not give them a good look.

Zhao Xun used to give merchants a very high status, but with the rise of Zhao business, Zhao Xun also found that merchants had an adverse impact on the country. Therefore, you can give them status when dealing with businessmen, but you will never let them climb too high. Even the chambers of commerce in various places are mostly under the jurisdiction of the merchants under the name of the royal palace.

Regarding King Zhao's reply, Lin Shucheng had already expected it. The exemption from exorbitant taxes and one-year land taxes is beneficial to the people, especially those of the lower classes. As for the commercial tax, it will naturally not be easily exempted, with the compatibility of Xiyong Prefecture and Zhao State, the business here will soon flourish, and the commercial tax will be a large part of the local fiscal revenue, how can Zhao Xun let him lose it in vain? Don't say that it is King Zhao, it is Lin Shucheng himself, and he will not exempt them.

…………

When Zhao Xun was guarding Xiyongzhou and discussing the political affairs of Xiyongzhou with Lin Shucheng and others, the king of Luoyang in Xiangyang was also discussing the request sent by the king of Hanzhong with his subordinates.

After the king of Hanzhong learned that his division was attacked and the whole army was exhausted, he immediately withdrew his army, and did not dare to continue to stay in Henan Mansion, for fear that he would be trapped in it and unable to get out. At the same time, the king of Hanzhong, who had learned from the pain, re-understood the situation he was in, re-saw his own shortcomings, and re-mustered up his fighting spirit. Of course, the most important thing is that he decided not to expend his power on the Zhao army in the north, but to regain his roots, Hanzhong.

Although he no longer continues to attack the Zhao army, he is now more concerned about Hanzhong, but the king of Hanzhong cannot affect the judgment of the Zhao army in the north. After all, it's not like attacking others if you want to, and stopping if you don't. Your Han army is willing to stop, but there is no guarantee that Zhao Jun will also stop.

In order to prevent Jingzhou from being occupied by the Zhao army when he fought for the land of Hanzhong with the Shu army, the king of Hanzhong decided to ask the king of Luoyang for help, hoping that the king of Luoyang would increase the defense of Jingzhou. Therefore, the king of Hanzhong sent Wang Hewen to Xiangyang in person to tell the king of Luoyang his requests and conditions.

Naturally, the king of Luoyang did not immediately reply to Wang Hewen, but after inquiring about the Han army's war in Dongyongzhou, he temporarily delayed it on the grounds that he needed to discuss before he could give an answer.

"I didn't want to fight, after this king lost Dongyongzhou, you also lost Xiyongzhou! In the past, when you took away the interests of my Luo army from me, you should have thought that without my Dongyongzhou as the eastern defense line, how long can you hold out if you are attacked on three sides in Xiyongzhou? ”

"What's even more stupid is that the army is constantly marching towards East Yongzhou, wanting to attack East Yongzhou to force the Zhao army of West Yongzhou to withdraw? Encircling Wei to save Zhao is not like this, the Zhao army has a large army in Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Bingzhou around Dongyongzhou, do you think you can take Dongyongzhou alone, plus 20,000 coalition troops who are still unwilling to cooperate? ”

"How? Xiyongzhou is gone, and the land of Hanzhong is also in danger! Now, finally see where you got wrong? This king said in the past that you will not escape the hands of Zhao Jun sooner or later. After letting Wang Hewen, the envoy of the king of Hanzhong, retreat, the king of Luoyang talked to himself and said with a sneer.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency and Your Generals have arrived!" The voice of the guard outside the door interrupted the voice of the king of Luoyang muttering to himself.

With the instructions of the king of Luoyang, all the ministers in the Luo army gathered together. The king of Luoyang did not delay, and directly told the current situation of the Han army and the king of Hanzhong asking for help from him, and asked everyone to give their opinions.

The first person to speak was not Luo Jun Zuo Cheng Wang Dao, but Lin Zixun, who was born as a military general: "King, the minister thinks that we can't accept the request of the King of Hanzhong!" No, it should be a request. Why did the king of Hanzhong give up part of Jingzhou's interests? It's nothing more than because he wants to compete with the Shu army for his old nest Hanzhong. But the battle for the land of Hanzhong has little to do with the garrison of Jingzhou. Come to think of it, even King Qi will not provoke us Jingzhou at this moment. ”

Therefore, what the king of Hanzhong was really worried about was not the Jingnan issue, nor the Qi army that he had already provoked, but the Zhao army in the north. The Zhao army occupied Xiyongzhou, but the Han army also stormed Dongyongzhou for nearly two months. Zhao Jun was already eyeing Jingzhou, and now that they have such a good excuse, how can they not move? ”

"If we take over the defense of Jingzhou, then we will be responsible for defending against the Zhao army. In the Battle of Dongyongzhou, we all know the great losses of the Han army. To put it mildly, our Luo Jun is really not Zhao Jun's opponent. The king, the last general thinks that there is no need for us to use our men and horses as the vanguard to intercept the Zhao army for some interests. ”

"In the past, we were stationed in Nanyang Mansion with the Han army, and since the loss of Dongyongzhou, the Han army has always despised us, that is, the king, and has been despised by the Han army commander many times, how can we stop the Zhao army for the Han army this time?"

The face of the king of Luoyang remained unchanged, and his face was flat. However, it can be seen from his slightly tightened right hand that the king of Luoyang did not care about the Han army's contempt for Luo Jun and him in the past.

Lin Zixun's words also represent the meaning of many generals in the army, and they all have a deep understanding of the situation when they were stationed in Nanyang Mansion with the Han army. Moreover, in order not to cause accidents, the king of Luoyang even ordered that the officers and men in the army should not easily provoke the Han army to avoid conflicts. In fact, how could the Luo army, whose strength had been greatly reduced, provoke the Han army, it was always the Han army that took the initiative to provoke them. Because of the explanation of the king of Luoyang, the generals of the Luo army did not dare to refute easily, but they were ridiculed by the Han army many times, and the generals of the Han army were Qin Jiang, the main general of the Han army, who had already surrendered to Zhao.

Jun Sima Fangzhan said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that we should accept the request of the Han army. It's not just a matter of interests, it's also a matter of our survival. ”

"The land of Jingzhou belongs to the Han army, and it is also ours. As General Lin said, because we lost Dongyongzhou at the beginning, which greatly reduced our strength, not only did the Han army despise us, but we also ceded part of the financial and tax rights that originally belonged to us, and gave the leading power of Jingzhou to the Han army. Therefore, like the Han army, we are all victims of the family business taken away by the Zhao army. If the Zhao army wants to attack Jingzhou, will it be because it is the Han army or the Luo army stationed in Jingzhou? ”

Lin Zixun frowned and said, "Is it because of this that we need to bear the defense line of the two places for the Han army?" Wouldn't it be better for us to bury our heads in development like this? There is no need to worry about foreign enemies, you just need to strengthen your own strength and financial resources. ”

Fang Zhan said in a deep voice: "Then what? What about development? Has it been in the shadow of the Han army? What does it mean to dominate the power of Jingzhou, General Lin should be very clear that the Han army's northern expedition this time, the young and strong people and money and grain forcibly requisitioned from Jingzhou explain the problem. What if these youths and money are for us? Will we be stronger? ”

"Because we lost part of the fiscal and tax power at the beginning, and lost the right to dominate Jingzhou, our development has been restricted, soldiers, money and food, and local influence, these are all what we need, and they are also the key factors affecting and restricting our development."

"General Lin is worried that we will become the vanguard of the Han army against the Zhao army, but, could it be that we will benefit if Jingzhou is occupied by the Zhao army? The Han army can't resist the Zhao army, so should we let Jingzhou fall? The Han army still has a place in Hanzhong to settle in, so what about us? ”

"Therefore, we need the dominance of Jingzhou, the financial and tax rights ceded by the Han army, the need to develop ourselves, and the need to unite the Han army to resist the Zhao army and Jingbei."

"In addition, even if the Han army continues to garrison Jingbei and unites the Qi army to resist the Zhao army, we continue to bury our heads in development, but now we have no potential to continue to grow. Money and people have been used to the extreme, and we need more power and more potential. Therefore, accepting the conditions of the king of Hanzhong and undertaking the defense of Jingbei is not only an obligation that we must do, but also an opportunity for us to develop and grow. ”

The words of the military Sima Fangzhan made Lin Zixun and other generals who refused fall silent for a while, and they no longer continued to speak, but waited for the reply of the king of Luoyang.

Situ Hao, the king of Luoyang, was silent for a long time, and then turned to Zuo Cheng and said, "Zuo Cheng, what is your opinion?" Are we going to answer or not to answer? ”

Zuo Cheng said in a deep voice: "Pick up!" The minister thought that what Fang Sima said earlier was very reasonable, and that we must accept such a request from the Han army, unless we want Jingzhou to be lost. At the same time, accepting Jingzhou's defense, getting more financial rights, and getting the leading power of Jingzhou is also an opportunity for us to develop and grow. ”

"The reason why the minister accepted the conditions of the king of Hanzhong was because the minister thought that the Zhao army would not continue to attack Jingzhou now, and according to the actions of the Zhao army, they should now wait for the dispute between the Han army and the Shu army in Hanzhong, rather than immediately go south to Jingzhou. It is simpler to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight than to go south directly, causing everyone to work together to fight back, and Zhao Jun will not know how to choose. Therefore, we will take over the important task of the Han army in charge of the defense of Jingbei, and in the short term, there will be no unfavorable situation. ”