The happier Zhang Chenghan was, the sadder the prefect of Zhangye County was.
In the past, the two counties were equally unlucky. Although our side was a little worse off, at least there was still someone to accompany us.
And now... he is on the verge of becoming very successful. By then, he will have Dunhuang County on his left and Wuwei County on his right. Both counties will become richer and richer, with Zhangye County in the middle, feeling weak, pitiful and helpless. Oh, no, there is actually a Jiuquan County between him and Dunhuang. However, Jiuquan County is also slightly stronger than him, because the relationship between the Jiuquan County Magistrate and the Dunhuang County Magistrate Kou Zhengda has been pretty good from the beginning.
So during this period of time, Jiuquan County often organized people to go to Dunhuang County to help. The county magistrate of Dunhuang County was also short of people, so he directly accepted these people and gave them work, but did not let them settle down. In other words, even if these people made money, they still had to pay taxes in Jiuquan County. As a result, Jiuquan County was much better off than Wuwei County and Zhangye County.
Moreover, if people there live better, then the people here will run there.
What use is a household registration here? The household registration system in the counties of the Northern Territory is not that strict. As long as you follow certain procedures, you can directly register as a resident.
Back then, many people from Dunhuang County came running to him, and he happily accepted them all.
As a result, since the opening of Guan City, the population here has been decreasing little by little, and everyone has gone to Dunhuang County.
It’s not that he hasn’t protested before, but when Dunhuang County Magistrate Kou Zhengda protested to him, what did he say to him?
Oh, the people have their own legs, so why should he care where they go?
Now people threw this sentence back to him exactly as it was, and the prefect of Zhangye County was speechless.
Now Wuwei County is about to rise. No, he has to save himself. If he doesn't save himself, he will die. You should know that when he came to submit the summary this time, he was scolded by the prime minister. The reason was that the population in other places was basically on the rise, but when it came to him, it turned into a decline, which was very unsociable.
The prefect of Zhangye County thought about it over and over again but couldn't figure out how to save himself. If he had that ability, would he have wasted twenty years in Zhangye?
So in the end he simply ran to Prime Minister Huo Guang to throw a tantrum, or rather, to express his grievances.
He was crying so hard when he complained that anyone who heard or saw him would cry. However, Huo Guang clenched his fists tightly and just wanted to beat him up.
The prefect of Zhangye County could certainly see that Huo Guang's patience was running out, but he did not stop.
He is now determined to take risks and would rather be beaten by the prime minister than not get his way.
But he only dared to do so in front of Huo Guang. The prime minister was a gentle gentleman. Although he was serious and strict in his actions on weekdays, he was reasonable.
If it were His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory, the prefect of Zhangye County probably wouldn't dare to say a word, for fear that His Royal Highness would get angry and kill him with a sword. Where would he go to seek justice then?
Huo Guang took a deep breath and said, "I know about what happened in Zhangye. I will report it to His Highness. The specific course of action will depend on His Highness's wishes. You... you better wipe your face right now. It's unbecoming of an official appointed by the imperial court to act like a shrew!"
Although the prefect of Zhangye County did not get the idea, he felt relieved after receiving Huo Guang's promise.
Since the Prime Minister said that he would report to His Highness, he will definitely do so. It must be said that the biggest characteristic of the Northern Border Kingdom from top to bottom is that they will not do things perfunctorily.
This is probably a characteristic of the court during its rising and pioneering period. Of course, it may also be related to the fact that the top leaders are all young people.
The younger you are, the more serious you are and the more you believe that what you say is what you promise.
The prefect of Zhangye County wiped his tears and left. Huo Guang sighed deeply. In fact, he had thought about this problem a long time ago. As some regions had additional income, the development of these counties in the Northern Border Kingdom would gradually be divided into different levels.
However, when he first arrived in the Northern Border Kingdom, Huo Guang thought that the counties closest to the Central Plains would develop first. Unexpectedly, after all the development, it was the areas bordering the Western Regions and the Xiongnu that developed the fastest.
I always feel that there is a feeling that the accident is not too unexpected.
Huo Guang carefully sorted out the general situation of all the counties and went directly to the palace with his things.
When he arrived at the palace, Liu Tan and Gongshu Can were destroying their lawn together.
Gongshu Can made a model, but this time the model was not particularly small, because if something like agricultural tools was too small, many problems would not be shown, and it would be too late to discover them when the actual work started.
So Gongshu Can made a medium-sized model, which was just right for using grass for experiments. Of course, the grass could not be too tall or too thick, and it would be best if it was below the knee.
When Liu Tan heard that Gongshu Can had made something, he was so excited that he was too lazy to look for another place, so he simply experimented in his own harem. Although the place was well taken care of on weekdays, Liu Tan rarely set foot here, and the Northern King's harem was equivalent to nothing, and there was no one else to appreciate it. Even if there was a bald spot on the lawn, it didn't matter, because the grass would turn yellow after a while anyway.
When Huo Guang arrived, Liu Tan was discussing with Gongshu Can what areas needed improvement.
When he heard that Huo Guang was coming, he simply had someone take Huo Guang to the back.
If it was in the Weiyang Palace, even if the emperor asked Huo Guang to go to the harem to see him, Huo Guang would refuse, but in the palace of the King of the Northern Territory... Huo Guang had no pressure to enter.
As soon as he entered, he saw Liu Tan waving at him and saying, "Prime Minister, come quickly and take a look at this harvester."
Huo Guang walked over quickly and saw a miniature version of the harvester as soon as he got there. However, he now understood the method that Gongshujia, or rather the method that Liu Tan taught Gongshujia - if you want to make something new, don't rush to make a finished product, try making a model first.
Huo Guang bent down and took a closer look at the harvester. The first thing he saw was the curved hook on the outside. He couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"
Liu Tan said, "This, I call it a reed puller. It guides the crops toward the cutting wheel and straightens the fallen crops so that the cutter can cut them quickly."
Inside the tiller is a disc-shaped cutting knife, which is in the shape of a sharp gear.
Originally, Gongshu Can wanted to make the cutting knife like an ordinary sickle, using the sharp blade to cut, but after trying it out, he felt that the effect was not particularly good, so he changed it to this gear shape.
Huo Guang reached out and pushed the handrail to test it, and found that the cutting was indeed very fast, but there was also a problem. That is, no matter how sharp the disc cutter was, some crops would inevitably slip through the net during the cutting process, because some crops would be brought out by the disc gear, resulting in these crops not being cut directly.
If Huo Guang could find the problem, Liu Tan and Gongshu Can could naturally find it as well, so what they were discussing now was how to improve the cutter.
Liu Tan walked around the harvester and said, "If that doesn't work, we can make it into multiple small circular blades. That way, even if some fish slip through the net, they will cut each other."
Gongshu Can thought about it for a moment, nodded seriously, and said, "That's feasible. If we place the disc blades at different heights, this will basically avoid this situation. I will go back and modify it!"
Gongshu Can was about to leave when Huo Guang stopped him and asked, "Once this is modified, can it be put into use directly?"
Gongshu Can hesitated for a moment and said, "It should be fine, but we haven't made a real cutting machine yet, so it's just theoretical."
Huo Guang asked, "How long will it take to actually put it into use?"
Gongshu Can said uncertainly, "It will probably take about ten days at most." After saying this, he said with great certainty, "Don't worry, Prime Minister, I will definitely finish it within ten days!"
Huo Guang nodded seriously and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work, Gongshu Qiuguan."
Gongshu Can waved his hands repeatedly: "This is within the responsibility of this humble official."
After saying this, Gongshu Can hurriedly took his leave. Ten days was a bit tight, but not impossible.
After Gongshu Can left, Liu Tan looked at Huo Guang and asked, "Why did you come here so suddenly?"
Huo Guang shook the document in his hand and said, "The situation of the sixteen counties in the Northern Border Kingdom in the first half of the year has been sorted out, and it is waiting for Your Highness to review it."
Liu Tan clapped his hands and said, "Let's go back to the study and talk."
After returning to the study, Liu Tan first took a quick look at the overall data. His expression was rather dull, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
He had anticipated the situation in Dunhuang County, but he did not expect it to develop so quickly.
He looked up at Huo Guang and asked, "Does the governor of Dunhuang County want to rebuild the county town?"
Huo Guang nodded and said, "That's right."
Liu Tan nodded: "This is acceptable. The county seat of Dunhuang County is really too dilapidated."
Huo Guang said, "I think so too, but the question now is whether to choose a new site for the county town or to rebuild it on the original basis."
Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "From the perspective of saving money, it would definitely be more appropriate to choose a new location. However, if we choose a new location, it would basically be equivalent to relocating the county seat, which would definitely be difficult for the people to adapt to. We should try to rebuild it on the original county seat."
Huo Guang asked, "Should the county city be built in the same way as the royal capital, or should they be allowed to build it independently?"
Liu Tan said, "Let the Dunhuang County Magistrate choose for himself. There will be no coercion."
Shuofang City was built like this for its unique features and security. As a royal capital, it must be neat and tidy to look imposing. However, for other cities, Liu Tan felt that it would be better to retain the local characteristics. If tourism could be developed in the future, it would also be a cultural landscape.
If they are all similar to Shuofang City, the only difference is the size of the city, then who would like to go to these cities?
Therefore, Liu Tan had no intention of forcing other cities in the northern border to follow the example of Shuofang City. As long as the planning was done well, they could do whatever they wanted.
Huo Guang wrote it down and added, "The prefect of Wuwei County has already selected a site. Initially, a total of seven workshops will be built, three of which will belong to Your Highness."
Liu Tan nodded and said, "Okay, let's get them to work as quickly as possible. One group will start weaving fine wool, and the rest will start weaving low-grade wool first."
This was Liu Tan's plan, and Huo Guang naturally didn't care. So he asked, "Today, the prefect of Zhangye County came to me and said... he wanted to find a way out, otherwise he might be divided between Wuwei and Dunhuang counties in the future."
Liu Tan scoffed, "Nonsense! There's Jiuquan to the west. How can Dunhuang carve up Wuwei? Besides, he's too dull to be a county governor."
Huo Guang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He suddenly understood why these people didn't dare to easily go to the King of the Northern Territory to complain. He quickly said, "Your Highness, Your Highness! Now is the time to recruit new talents. The prefect of Wuwei County may not be good at expanding the country, but he is still good at maintaining the country. Even if Your Highness wants to replace him, you have to wait until more talents are available."
Liu Tan smacked his lips in dissatisfaction and said, "Forget it. In that case, I'll just give him a clear way out."
Huo Guang looked at Liu Tan with some curiosity. He also wanted to know what direction Liu Tan wanted to set for Wuwei County.
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