After reading Wang Qi's measurement of height, checking his body and limbs, lifting stone locks, and carrying a sack containing a stone of sand and soil for 200 steps in the process of selecting soldiers, Liu Cun knew that this was the common method of selecting soldiers in the Han Dynasty.

Because Wang Qi rushed in front of Meng Huan and other civil officials, and assigned his disciples to ring the gong and announce everywhere, there were a lot of people who came to apply, and an hour later, tens of thousands of young and strong homeless people gathered on the wide mud ground of the North School Field, and Wang Qi had to transfer all the jailers who had nothing to do to help, and it was not over until the afternoon.

The 2,000 young men who were selected were ragged and barefoot, but they all smiled and rejoiced, and looked at the more than 5,000 unsuccessful candidates in the outer circle who were also ragged and unwilling to leave for a long time.

Seeing that the more than 5,000 unsuccessful candidates who looked depressed but were still unwilling to give up were unwilling to leave the barracks, Liu Cun sighed and whispered a few words in Wang Qi's ear.

Wang Qi's eyes widened after hearing this, and when he saw Liu Cun nodding slightly, he strode up to the three thousand defeated young men without saying a word, and opened his voice and roared loudly:

"If someone thinks that they are no worse than the selected ones in the field, the official will give you a chance, who has the courage and is qualified to eat dry meals every day and get hundreds of dollars in military salaries every month, just follow the rules of the official, listen well: every time a hundred people come out, each person can challenge any of the selected people from the field, as long as you defeat the opponent, the official will accept you, and the official can send your parents, children, brothers and sisters to the Liu family Zhuangzi in the north of the city to farm, no longer have to eat and sleep in the open and starve, the official does what he says, and he will cash it out immediately after the competition!"

With a "hum" sound, the whole school field was boiling, and the more than 5,000 unsuccessful candidates were like drowning people who saw the driftwood floating in them, and they were so excited that they shouted and shouted, they had already reached the edge of starvation, if it weren't for the government and several major families taking turns to give porridge every day, I am afraid that they would have already become lonely ghosts buried in the mass graves in the west of the city.

Now they are desperate to get another chance, just like the endless dark night suddenly saw a little looming light ahead, they want to desperately grasp it, even if the character is cowardly, at this moment, for the sake of their families and children in order to live, there is absolutely no lack of courage to fight, and many people are even the best prepared to die.

As a result, the process of the unsuccessful candidates challenging the selected candidates was extremely hot, and the school field roared incessantly and screamed again and again, only after two groups of 400 people fought, there were as many as 50 people who fell to the ground and fainted or broke their hands and feet, and most of the victors were covered with scars and bleeding, many of them could not help but look up to the sky and roar after winning, some knelt on the ground and prayed, and some collapsed to the ground and burst into tears.

Only Wang Qi and Liu Cun, who were standing on the high platform, had their faces as usual, and the six apprentices who were instructed by Liu Cun strode out, gathering all the fierce guys who were so excited that they screamed and scolded their mothers after winning the battle, and asked them if they had any family members and friends who needed to be taken care of? The questionees were overjoyed one by one, turned to the high platform, and bowed deeply to Wang Qi and Liu Cun.

The sun slowly shifted to the west, the north wind became more chilling, and the clouds of dust and smoke over the school field were quickly blown away.

After all the struggles were over, Wang Qi looked at the more than 200 corpses on the edge of the school field with expressionless eyes, ordered the sweaty jailers to transport them away and bury them as soon as possible, and then ordered the 2,700 young men who were finally victorious and lying on the ground to stand up.

More than a dozen of Wang Qi's personal guards immediately ran up, waved their scabbards and beat them for a while, and soon divided into teams of 100 people.

Liu Cun sighed quietly, pointed to the eighty-five sturdy young men who were still standing tall in the audience, and whispered to Wang Qi: "These people only need to be disciplined well, supplemented and recuperated in their diet, and instilled in the ancient precepts and morality of loyalty and righteousness every day, and after half a year, they will be able to become the best officers at all levels under the command of the eldest brother, as well as the eight-foot-tall man at the head of the row on the left, and the well-proportioned and calm guy behind him, the foundation is very solid. It is estimated that the two of them will be extraordinary after recuperation, and the eldest brother may wish to teach these two more words, and maybe they can become the eldest brother's right-hand man. ”

Wang Qi nodded frequently, looked at the more than eighty people below and grinned: "Don't hide it from the virtuous brother, except for those two guys, the rest of the eighty-five people are not bad, no worse than those officers when I was guarding Yanmen, they have rich experience in fighting, many people have seen blood as soldiers at a glance, and they know etiquette, I am very satisfied." ”

Liu Cun patted Wang Qi's back and said goodbye and left, and instructed the two apprentices to go and tell all the losers that if they were willing to become the servants of the county magistrate, they would take their families and friends to Liujia Zhuangzi in the north of the city early tomorrow morning.

Like the cheers of the rest of his life after the catastrophe, Liu Cun sighed sadly, rode to the manor alone, and had a meal with the pottery craftsmen brought by his son Liu Zhen, asking about everyone's current situation and problems, and keeping everyone's suggestions in mind.

In the next two months, Wang Qi soaked in the school field every day to practice, Liu Cun led the apprentices to practice boxing every morning, and sat in the county office office for an hour in the afternoon, and gave ideas to transfer money and grain for the county Cheng Meng Huan, the chief bookkeeper Guo Tang, Gong Cao Chen Fan, and others who presided over many affairs, and did not care about specific things, and then returned to Zhuangzi, the north of the city, which has more than 6,000 acres of fields and forests, and listened to the reports of Lu Ping, the general manager of the newly established "Zhushan Trading Company", Cai You, the general manager of the iron workshop, and Li Huang, the general manager of the ceramic workshop. Together, we will solve the problems that arise in the management and technology.

After dinner, Liu Cun went on to give a lesson to his disciples on arithmetic and geometry, reciting his "invented" abacus addition and subtraction formula, and performing simple calculations.

As a county magistrate, it should be said that Liu Cun is very incompetent, in the two months since he took office, he has never convened a gathering of local rich gentry and virtuous people, nor has he broken out of prison to ask questions and patrol around, let alone participate in any traditional sacrificial and prayer ceremonies, he threw everything to his subordinate officials, and he only acted as a coordinator and a supplier of money and food, and only looked at the result of everything, not about the process, which made the officials complain and rejoice, and the vast majority of the people in the county only saw the officials, and did not see the county magistrate who was young and promising in their minds.

It is precisely because of this that officials such as Meng Huan and Guo Tang have the opportunity to display their talents, have the power to make decisions on their own, and also have the summarization of experience and many insights on governance, and then radiate strong enthusiasm and potential.

They also often complain about the heavy work and fatigue, and complain that Liu Cun is the shopkeeper, but everyone is willing to be happy in their hearts, and they have more and more respect for the arrogant Liu Cun, and their relationship with each other is getting closer and closer.

It can be said that the Langya County Ya under Liu Cun is the most unruly county government in the entire Han Dynasty, most of the time the county government is empty, and the county Cheng Meng Huan runs back and forth between the four important construction sites such as Langya Ancient Port and Langya Academy every day; Guo Tang, the chief bookkeeper, counted and allocated grain materials in and out of the newly built grain depot near the harbor outside the south gate every day; Gong Cao Chen Fan led the prison and the newly formed team of officials to patrol around, holding the right to punish on the spot granted by Liu Cun, the county magistrate, and doing his best to maintain order in the county.

Only Shi Zhouchong led the six main officials to sit in the county government, and most of the people who hurriedly entered and exited the county government every day were the officials who were uploaded and distributed to the specific affairs, as well as the township leaders, pavilion chiefs and others, and the clerks of each ministry were extremely busy in the past two months, counting the county's household registration every day, verifying the county's acres and contracts, supervising the local officials' governance of the people, solving the contradictions between the water sources and land boundaries of the villages, and urging the promotion of improved varieties of agricultural reclamation.

The county officials unknowingly, the formation of a coordinated administrative operation mechanism, and this mechanism is becoming more and more efficient, the officials are very tired, but the heart is very full, no one dares to slack off, because the county officials in the county magistrate under the attention and care, can be paid three times more than the average level of the Han Dynasty on a monthly basis, and the county magistrate is very good to speak, no frame and no temper, treat people frankly, sincere attitude, any official put forward a reasonable governance plan and rectification suggestions, as long as the county magistrate presided over the special meeting to be adopted, Immediately ask for power to power, ask for money to give money, and remember the credit of the proposer clearly afterwards.

In the past two months, seven officials who have been corrupted and bullied have been punished by him, two of them were killed with a cane in court, and the remaining five were dismissed from their posts, and the crimes were announced by the county magistrates, and the offenders were discredited, their futures were cut off, and they were scolded by the people, and the whole family would be disgraced.

In the busy and vibrant warm spring, the whole Xiahe City ushered in a distinguished guest, Mr. Mi Zhu, the head of the Mi family.

One hundred and fifty carriages of various types, accompanied by three hundred horse guards, arrived at the newly completed Wuli Pavilion in the east of Xiahe City, and a loud shout sounded, and the convoy slowly stopped.

In the luxurious carriage in the middle of the convoy, two richly dressed and extraordinarily well-dressed literati walked out, and a group of attendants on the side saw the master's gaze and immediately ran to the pavilion beside the wide avenue to drive out the group of peasants who were resting inside, but they were immediately stopped by a low reprimand.

Mi Zhu, who looked easy-going with a high crown brocade, smiled slightly, apologized to the young scribes around him, and then walked into the pavilion together to apologize to a group of peasants who had already stood up and bent down to give a salute.

The young scribe, who was slightly thin and fair-skinned and elegant, quickly lowered his head, carefully looked at the stone seats connected by the lower part of the column of the hexagonal pavilion five feet high, and then looked up at the structure on the top, which was not exquisite in workmanship but was very strong and ingenious, and couldn't help but sigh:

"I have never seen such a simple and practical pavilion, it seems ordinary, but everywhere reveals the delicate delicacy of the conceiver, this circle is like a stone bench connected to the Hu chair, which is convenient for travelers to sit and rest at the same time, and plays a role in fixing the pillars and beams to strengthen the overall center of gravity, which is very ingenious."

Mi Zhu looked at it carefully for a while: "When the foolish brother left Xiahe a few months ago, he didn't see this pavilion, judging from the new and old workmanship, it was obviously not long completed. ”

The young scribe nodded, thought for a moment and walked up to the old peasant who had already stepped out of the pavilion, and asked humbly: "There is Lao Lao, the students have something to ask for, which skilled craftsman is supervising the construction of this pavilion?" ”

The old farmer hurriedly replied: "The pavilion was built by the craftsmen of the Qingyan people led by Lord Meng of this county, and there is one next to the official road five miles from the southeast and northwest of the county, and there is a deep well on the side of the pavilion, please look at the roller over there...... The mouth of the well is made of stone strips, which is convenient for passers-by to get water to quench their thirst. ”

Mi Zhu was greatly surprised, he knew that the county Cheng Meng Huan was an upright old bureaucrat full of splendid money, and if he wanted to say poetry, books, laws or governance ability, he was definitely a leader in a hundred miles, but when it came to building and operating farmland and water conservancy, he absolutely disdained it, so Mi Zhu judged that this pavilion was not designed by Meng Huan, so he specially asked the old farmer: "May I ask my husband, how is the official reputation of Lord Liu, the new parent official of your county?" ”

The surrounding farmers all looked at the old farmer, the old farmer retreated slightly, and looked at Mi Zhu vigilantly: "No matter what the identity of the nobleman is, the old man tells the truth, Lord Liu is the only good official that the old man has seen in his life, if the noble man does not believe it, he can go out and ask, and look with his own eyes, I'm sorry, there is a lot of farm work at home, and the old man is gone!" ”

Looking at the group of farmers who left in a hurry, Mi Zhu and the young scribe were very surprised, not knowing what they had said wrong, causing the group of farmers to turn around and leave.

Mi Zhu thought for a while and said with a smile: "Ziyang, Xiahe City is already in sight, maybe tonight we can meet Liu Zijian, who is famous and a genius bestowed by heaven, and ask him then." ”

The young scribe still felt sorry, and he looked at the flat road in front of him, which was four feet wide and lined with stone ditches, and expressed his doubts:

"During my stay in Kaiyang Wangcheng, I heard from time to time about Liu Zijian, the order of Langya County, and the reputation was mixed, and the younger brother was very curious about this, a broken and poor disciple who was known to the world for his superb pottery-making skills, and only more than two months after he became the county order, he attracted so much discussion, didn't Brother Zizhong think it was strange?"

Mi Zhu nodded slightly: "Ziyang may not know that after Liu Zijian took office, in order to settle the displaced people who gathered in Xiahe as many as 30,000, he sacrificed the means of cash-for-work, and unceremoniously collected the taxes owed by the major families in the county for years to make up for the expenses of cash-for-work, thus offending most of the wealthy gentry families in the county, so many criticisms and slanders spread so quickly. ”

Said Mi Zhu shook his head: "Before, the three major families of Langya County went to Kaiyang City to complain to the monarch about Liu Zijian's many crimes, but the monarch was as wise as a torch and magnanimous, and he said to the full house of civil and military and the complainant: If anyone here can transport 100,000 catties of sea salt as white as snow to the Wangcheng treasury every month, if anyone can properly resettle more than 20,000 homeless people within one month of taking office, and not let a child starve to death, if anyone can repair the Sili city wall and reclaim 50,000 acres of wasteland within two months, this king will personally drive to the door and ask him to serve as my Langya State Minister, Govern a million people! Since then, no one dares to sue Liu Zijian in front of the monarch. ”

The young scribe's eyes were blazing after being stunned, and he took Mi Zhu's hand and strode towards the carriage, causing Mi Zhu to laugh.

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ps: Thank you for the tips from new and old friends, thank you for your collection and recommendation! New Year's Day is coming, and Juhuo is here to wish everyone a happy New Year and all the best!