Chapter 284 A friend comes from afar
Emperor Song Mo found Lü Desheng's request to relocate the prefectural government to Houcheng annoying. He suppressed it the first time. The second time, he was so angry he issued an imperial edict to reprimand him. But Lü Desheng, a shameless man, didn't understand rejection and repeatedly submitted petitions to Chang'an. All for one reason: relocation!
At this time, there was a flood in the south, and Song Mo was very annoyed.
Bad news was reported back to Chang'an every day.
The villages here were flooded.
The riverbank there was broken down.
The grain was either washed away or soaked by water and became moldy. The affected people were crying out for help from the court. Some of the affected people even rose up in rebellion and robbed the local county government.
All kinds of bad news came one after another. The court was also arguing over disaster relief.
On this day, he received another memorial from Lü Desheng requesting to move the palace. After reading the memorial, he stated categorically that if the emperor rejected his request again, he would really not move the palace, but he would also post a notice to explain the reason to the people.
Song Mo's face turned green at that time. This was the kind of thing this guy would do!
He gritted his teeth and waved his hand, approving the order.
At the same time, Song Mo took a hard note of him.
Song Mo certainly knew that what Lu Desheng said made sense, and he moved the county magistrate's office to Houcheng to ensure the safety of the people.
As the emperor, he could worry less.
However, relocating the prefecture was a hassle. If he agreed, given Lü Desheng's character, he would definitely ask the court for money to move the prefecture. The treasury was currently tight, so there was no money to spend. Therefore, he didn't want to bother with it. Most importantly, if the prefecture wasn't relocated, Liaodong County would be fine; the people would just have to live in fear for a while.
But the spies he arranged sent back a secret report that this guy had been executed first and then the government was moved.
He was not surprised at all, as Lu Desheng had always been bold and willful.
If it weren't for Lu Desheng's great contribution, he would have really wanted to kill him because he was worried that Liaodong would be in chaos if he was killed.
Liaoyang, Liaodong County
The steward took the booklet and called out the names:
"Chicken Village, you've completed a month of service and can leave this afternoon!"
"Qiaotou Village, we have completed one month of service and will leave in the afternoon!"
…
The villagers of the village that was named were both happy and reluctant to go home. They were happy to go home, but they also felt reluctant to leave when they thought that they would no longer be able to drink the delicious soups provided by the government.
In the afternoon, countless men carried their bags and walked home in groups of three or five with their fellow villagers, chatting and laughing.
They walked along the newly built official road, feeling very happy at the sight. They were proud that they had built such a wide road.
"This road construction is easier than last year's river construction."
"Of course we have it easy. The most tiring and difficult work has been done by the bandits again."
"Dad, are you still fat?"
"I shouldn't have gained weight, but I'm not like in previous years. After serving the corvée, I feel like I've been drained, tired and thin."
"Dad, go back and rest for two days, then I'll go to town to find a job." The speaker was a young man.
This time, a month's service meant a month. Unlike previous years, where labor service was extended even before completion, sometimes by a month or two. After completing his service, he needed a long period of rest to feel fully recovered. This time, he felt he only needed two days' rest to recover.
The old man also felt sorry for his son. "Don't worry about it. Your mother and second brother came to give us some dry food a few days ago. Didn't we tell you that? We bought our limited quota of affordable grain. There are dozens of kilograms of grain. Eat it sparingly, and add it to various vegetables and leaves. It will last us for a long time."
The young man nodded. "Okay. I hope the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce will still be selling affordable grain in a while."
When others heard this, they thought, who wouldn’t want that?
"Everyone cheer up, our lives will get better and better."
"Yes, now that the strongholds in our counties have been eliminated, we don't have to worry about being robbed or mugged on the road, and we can sleep more peacefully at night. The crops are growing well this year, and we just need to wait for the grain to mature."
"At least now I have hope, not as hopeless as before."
"Lord Lu is so kind! With his arrival, the Xianbei stopped moving south, and the bandits were captured."
"Not only that, the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce was also established because of his coming." They can buy grain at a fair price.
"It is said that the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce was established with the special approval of Lord Lu."
"I heard that this time, only Houcheng, Liaoyang, Wangping, Wuliu, and Gaoxian counties can buy the affordable grain. Other counties are not selling it."
"Therefore, we must actively respond to the government's call in the future." Anyway, as long as they are obedient, Lord Lu will not forget them.
Although these people were all serving in the army and building roads, their families would send them dry food and various news from time to time.
There were many people serving with them, so they really heard all kinds of news.
After Lu Desheng came to power, several things he did in the name of the government were closely related to people's livelihood, and the effects were immediate, and the people felt them most obviously.
The border between Liaodong County and Liaoxi County
Zhou Congguang said, "Master, the Liaodong County is ahead."
They are currently in Changli County. From Changli, they can go directly to Wuliu County in Liaodong County.
At this time, Mr. Zhan's group of four had become a group of six.
The two extra people were picked up by them in Youzhou and Youbeiping County respectively.
One of them was full of talent and was noticed by the chief clerk of Youzhou, who wanted to keep him as his clerk.
The other one had run out of money, but fortunately Youbeiping County was not far from Liaodong County, so he planned to walk there slowly.
After hearing about their experience, Master Zhan invited them to join him.
"We are finally arriving in Liaodong County!" Master Zhan sighed.
After going through so much hardship, he accepted the gift of money from his second sister with a clear conscience. You know, when they passed through Youzhou, they firmly refused the Youzhou chief's strong invitation for them to stay.
When they came out from the foot of Yandang Mountain, they saw a road that was twice as wide as the official road they were taking extending before them. On the side, there was a boundary marker with the words "Liaodong County" written on it.
There are two rows of houses on both sides of the official road. In front of the houses, there is a dam paved with large stones. Two large trees are deliberately left in the dam area without being cut down, and several bamboo and wooden chairs are placed under the trees.
A sign with the words "Liaodong Wuliu Tea Shop" fluttered in the wind.
Seeing Master Zhan and his group's carriage, Lu Wei came forward with a smile and said, "Dear guests, would you like to have a meal? We can provide tea, simple meals, and even help feed the horses..."
In the eyes of Master Zhan and others, although the man in front of them had a harmless face that made it difficult for people to be wary of him, he was too thoughtful and enthusiastic.
"Don't worry, everyone. Our tea shop is a government-authorized business, not a black-hearted shop." As he said that, Lu Wei took out a piece of paper and handed it to Zhan Ruoshui, who was in the lead.
Zhan Ruoshui carefully examined it and found that the document was indeed a government-operated franchise as he had said, and the seal of the Liaodong County Governor's Office was also stamped on the lower left corner.
While he was watching, Lu Wei added, "If you're still worried, there's a Liaodong County garrison less than a kilometer from here. If our shop were a black market, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble under their noses, right?"
This garrison was of course to guard against Liufu Village, which was just across the mountain.
Upon hearing what he said, Zhou Congguang and the others looked into the distance in the direction he pointed, and indeed they could see the shadowy figures of soldiers in the distance, as well as the shouts of generals training their soldiers.
They felt relieved.
Master Zhan handed the horses to Lu Wei's men to feed.
They took care of their three urgent needs here, washed up, had a simple meal, and rested for a while.
During this time, Lu Wei talked to them.
"Dear guests, are you planning to go to Houcheng?"
"How do you know?"
"We have had many visitors to Liaodong County recently, and you are not the first."
"Is the official road in Liaodong County newly built?"
"Yes, it was just repaired not long ago."
"Are all the official roads in Liaodong County this wide?"
"The government has this plan, but currently only this route connecting Wuliu County, Liaoyang, Wangping, and Houcheng has been built."
"Building it this wide must have taken a lot of manpower and resources, right?"
"Fortunately, I believe the superiors will make good arrangements. At least when this official road from Wuliu County to Houcheng was being built, the civilians who served had no complaints. If you don't believe me, you can take a closer look and ask more questions in the coming time."
Master Zhan and others nodded and decided to ask along the way.
When they left, the other party only took a small amount of money from them.
Lu Wei said, "Take care, my guests. I hope you have a happy and enjoyable trip in Liaodong County."
"Master, this Liaodong County is very different." As soon as we stepped into the territory of Liaodong County, the spacious official road alone was obviously different from other places.
They passed through many places on this trip, some with simple folk customs, and some with bad ones. As the saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people, and some people are really unreasonable.
They thought that Liaodong County was not much better, after all, it was too remote.
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