Chapter 69: Inspecting the Fiefdom

That night, Du He sent a map of Jingci City, and after the four of them looked at the map, they also fell into contemplation, there are eight layers of hills in the jurisdiction of Jingci City, and the city is generally on the hills.

Early the next morning, Jingci's team plus Du He's dozen or so people, marched eastward, and it was estimated that they could reach Jingci City in five days, and if they were fast horses to deliver the message, they could reach Jingci City in two days.

The group walked for four days and saw a boundary monument on the side of the road, with the words "Jingci City" written on it.

Jingci ordered to rest, got out of the carriage, stood next to the boundary monument, held the boundary monument with his hand, stroked it gently, looked at the uninhabited land in front of him, and sighed in his heart.

Du He came over and said, "Teacher, let's walk 50 miles further along the main road to the city." It may not be too late today, so we will leave early tomorrow morning and arrive before noon. ”

"That's it, I'll spend the night at the border of the fiefdom too. Jing Ci said to the three of them.

After the meal, the four of them stood on a high slope and looked around, there was no fire at all in the east, and some sporadic lights could be seen in the jurisdiction of Shanning City in the west.

"Teacher, if necessary, the disciple is willing to go to Jingci City to be the head of the City Lord's Mansion, and try to see if he can manage it well. Du He looked at it for a while, thought for a while, and said this. If he goes to Jingci City, it is equivalent to needing to give up the high position of the prefect, and his future career will be unpredictable, and his career may be gone.

When Jing Ci heard Du He say this, he also looked at him deeply, nodded, and said: "Thank you for having this heart, no matter what, I will not let you go to Jing Ci City, this is just my personal thing, and I will return to Dazhiguo in the future, so I will only give it to those who are willing to go here to practice." ”

Jingci looked at Yang Miao and said, "Xiao Miao, what do you think?"

Yang Miao looked into the distance, "If the teacher believes it, Yang Miao wants to give it a try very much, although I won't be in the city all the time, and I may even follow the teacher to study, but I will use the right talents to manage the fief well." ”

"A city is like a country, Shangziche has worked hard all these years, let me take him back to Wangcheng, he is more suitable to take the road of a scholar. Jing Ci said.

"This is the best of both worlds, and Senior Brother Yang and Senior Brother Shang have got what they wanted. Shan Zhengmin said with a smile.

Du He quietly looked at Jingci and Yang Miao, he saw that Jingci was deliberately cultivating Yang Miao's ability to govern the country, he and Yang Miao both wanted to know if they could govern a city, and if a city could not be governed, how to govern a country in the future.

Shangziche received a letter from Shan Zhengmin the day before yesterday, saying that Mr. Jingci would arrive here today, and yesterday he ordered the whole process to be cleaned, and arranged for the officials and the people to wait at the city gate early in the morning.

After nine o'clock, there were black spots on the road, and Naoko Station saw it on the castle tower, and according to this itinerary, it would be an hour to the city gate.

Naoko got out of the castle tower, came to the gate of the city, stood on a high place, pointed to the other end of the road, and shouted to the officials and people: "You see, my teacher, that is, the lord of the city, Mr. Jingci, is about to arrive here, please prepare everyone to welcome." ”

Shan Zhengmin rode a horse and walked on the side of the carriage, "Teacher, Senior Brother Shang has already waited at the door with the people." ”

Jing Ci did not answer, but after a while said, "When you are about to get to the city gate, call me." ”

"Yes, teacher. Shan Zhengmin replied.

After more than half an hour, the group arrived at the city gate, and Jingci's carriage stopped at the gate, and when he saw that the officials and the people were kneeling, he got out of the carriage, helped up the Shangzi carriage, and said, "Get up." ”

Said softly to Shang Ziche, "Ziche has worked hard, let's go to the city first." ”

"Yes, teacher. Shang Ziche was very moved, to be able to get the teacher's understanding, the hard work was worth it, although over the years, the fief has become more and more difficult under his governance, but he did his best.

Jingci sat on the right seat of the City Lord's Mansion, Shan Zhengmin and Yang Miao stood on the right side, and Shang Ziche and Du He stood on the left side.

Jingci said to Shang Ziche, "Ziche, you have worked hard all these years, let's go back to the city with the teacher after a while, I will think that the lord of the country will recommend you to enter the Ministry of Rites to become a scholar." ”

When Shang Ziche heard this, he was very happy, and after waiting for so many years, he finally waited for the teacher to pick him up and go to the capital, and sat directly in the seat of the scholar. But when I thought about it, if the teacher knew that he had achieved nothing in the fiefdom for so many years, he would still not do it.

Shang Ziche thought for a moment and replied: "Teacher, I am not very satisfied with the management of the fief, I want to leave after the fief is governed, otherwise I will be ashamed of the expectations of the teacher." ”

Jingci looked at Shangziche, thought for a while, and said: "In this way, then tomorrow you take the teacher around, be a guide for the teacher, and introduce the teacher, the teacher wants to go through every inch of the fiefdom." ”

"Teacher, although the fiefdom is not large, if you go all over, it is estimated that it will take at least a month, I will take the teacher around the city tomorrow. Shang Ziche was a little nervous, afraid that Jingci would see that the fiefdom was all wasteland and there were few people, so he didn't know how to answer when he asked.

Jingci originally wanted to turn around casually, but he was a person with a strong sense of vanity if he didn't want to take this Shangzi car, and he was a little angry in his heart, and said, "Let's go out of the city directly tomorrow, and we'll see it last in the city." Looking at Shang Ziche and wanting to speak, "You don't have to say it anymore, the teacher has made up his mind, so it's decided." ”

"Yes, teacher. Shang Ziche replied a little overwhelmed.

Jingci looked at Shangziche and wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, so he asked everyone to go back and rest first, and then go out of the city to inspect the territory together tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Jingci went out of the east city gate, a group of more than 20 people, heading towards the east, the road on the east side is not easy to walk, the road is very poor.

After walking for a morning, I didn't see a single person, but I saw a few abandoned houses, which were about to collapse, and it should have been several years.

If you don't go far, there is no road. Along the way, Naoko didn't talk much.

Jingci saw that there was no road in front of him, so he asked Shangziche, "Ziche, why is there no road here, I remember that we are about one hundred and fifty miles to the east, right?"

Shang Ziche didn't know how to answer, whether he should answer that he had such a territory, or why there was no road, he was stunned for a moment, his lips trembled, and he didn't make a sound.

"Teacher, there are more than 100 miles of mountainous land here that is the teacher's fiefdom, but now the tie man is not moving, and it has not been developed much, so there is no road. Du He explained.

"Is that so, Ziche?" Jingci asked Shang Ziche.

"Yes, teacher, Senior Brother Du is right. Naoko replied.

"So where do I go now?" Jingci asked everyone.

Everyone looked at each other, no one answered for a while, and in the end, Du He said: "Teacher, we want to go south, the north is also connected to the Taimu Mountains, which is similar to the east, and there will be no road." ”

"Okay, let's go south, I haven't met anyone along the way, there should be some people on the south side. Jing Ci said to himself, and the business was deliberately enlarged.

"There are people in the south, and there are people in the south. Shang Ziche said.

The group walked south, and sure enough, they saw several people, all farming.

Jingci got out of the carriage, walked over, and asked the old man, "Brother, is this year's harvest good?"

The old man looked at so many people, was a little scared for a while, didn't answer, and took a step back.

Shan Zhengmin stepped forward and explained softly to the old man, and the old man knelt down, "The grass people meet the city lord." ”

"Get up," Jingci said with a smile, "are you doing well?"

"Mr. City Lord, we are not having a good time, there are too many bandits, the people in our village are dying, they can walk, there are few people left, we have collected the grain and are ready to leave, otherwise, the bandits will come to rob again." The old man knelt and said.

"Is it so serious?" Jing Ci asked again.

"It used to be all fields, but after no one planted them, now that the grass is so high, the fields are deserted. The old man smiled bitterly and said, "We have no choice." ”

Jing Ci ordered the old man to give him some silver, and ordered him to continue south.

The situation encountered is similar to what the old man said, there are still some people outside the city, but there are not many anymore.