The emperor remembered the benefits of Xia Zhu when he was in charge of the northwest, and changed it to the envoy of the southern court of Xuanhui, the envoy of the three cities of Heyang, and the envoy of the Hedong Road. After the edict was issued, Xia Zhu Pidu Zhongxiao signed the judgment for the annexation of the state, and recommended Su Song, the governor of Harajuku Prefecture, as the magistrate of Yongcheng. At this time, Xia Zhu was in full swing, and the DPRK and China agreed.

In March, under the repeated urging of Du Zhongxiao, Su Song hurriedly handed over the affairs of Suzhou and came to Yongcheng to take over the county.

welcomed Su Song into the back office, sat down the guests, and Du Zhongxiao said: "Brother Su is here, I have been anxious for the past few days." It's also strange to say that before the edict was issued, I was not in a hurry to transfer away, and after the edict, I couldn't stay for a day. ”

Su Song said: "This is human nature. After Xiao has been in Yongcheng for nearly three years, he should be bored. There are still a few months left before you go to work and go to the state, and you are just going home for a few days to comfort your homesickness. ”

The two gossiped and talked about the government affairs of Yongcheng.

Du Zhongxiao said: "This place in Yongcheng is located on the bank of the Bianhe River, located on the main road, and the business is extremely prosperous. I have been in charge of the county for two years, not to mention the rest, there is a wide range of money and grain, and the payment of taxes has always been the first among the counties in this state. On this, Zirong doesn't have to worry. The only thing that is difficult to do is that there are many industries that make money in the county, not only the powerful people, but also the dignitaries in the road and even the court have purchased industries in the county. Most of these people are still able to do business well, but it is not uncommon for them to rely on power and oppress the people. Zirong took over the county, and he should pay special attention to these people. ”

Su Song said: "This is inevitable, the place is prosperous, and they all want to make some money." Fortunately, everything is the law for you, and I will follow the rules. I've spent a lot of effort here, and I'm not disappointed. ”

Du Zhongxiao introduced the industry of Yongcheng County to Su Song and said to him: "In other places, the county relies on liquor taxes to collect money, but here in Yongcheng it is different. The Yamen controlled, and the most extensive money was the Yongcheng Commune. Although the commune was not owned by the government and was jointly run by local officials, the yamen was in charge of the revenue and expenditure of money and grain. This is not found in other counties in the world, the income in the past two years is not expensive, Huainan Road and Bozhou have been arguing, and there have always been manpower owners to collect all the state. Zirong, you must not be soft-hearted for a while and let the state take this property away. Otherwise, if the county's financial resources are cut off, they can only return to the old way and raise money from the people for the yamen. As soon as this road is opened, Yongcheng will be lost to everyone. ”

Su Song smiled and nodded: "I have been in Suzhou for more than two years, how can I not know that money and food are the foundation of the place?" If the yamen has money in his hands, all government affairs are easy to say, and he doesn't need to look at the face of the state, he doesn't have to give it to the people, and he can make any political achievements. You may not know that after the news came out that you were leaving Yongcheng, the sons and daughters of the powerful people in the DPRK sought to take office here. You served as the magistrate of Yongcheng County, ranking first in the world in performance for two consecutive years, creating a county full of flowers. When I took office here, I didn't worry about my political achievements. If it weren't for you, Xianggong Xia, to recommend to the court, it wouldn't be my turn. ”

Du Zhongxiao also smiled. He is a fan of the authorities, and he doesn't know what outsiders think of Yongcheng County. In fact, Yongcheng's finance reports to the three divisions every year, and there are many powerful industries in the city, how can everyone not see the benefits of Yongcheng here. Not to mention the ministers of the DPRK and China, even the emperor knows that there is a magistrate in Yongcheng, Du Zhongxiao, and it only takes two years to make a county financially rich. This time, Du Zhongxiao went to Bingzhou to take office, although he did not have to keep the vacancy, he was still required to enter Beijing to face the saint before taking office, and only took office after His Majesty's resignation. As soon as the news of Du Zhongxiao's promotion to Dali and the signing of the state judgment came out, the sons of powerful people sought the position of magistrate of Yongcheng. Some want to come here to brush up their qualifications, and some want to come to get a handful, but the court just gave Xia Zhu face.

After chatting about business and seeing that it was not early, Du Zhongxiao said: "Let's go, today the county elders will hold a banquet in a restaurant outside the city, one is to pick me up for you, and the other is to see me off." You go and meet them, and you can do things later. ”

The two of them went out of the county office, and Du Zhongxiao saw that the streets in the city were full of people, and they were very lively, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. When I came here, Yongcheng was just an ordinary large county in the Central Plains, with a small population and a prosperous county. After two years of governance, not counting the farm work, the number of households in the county has increased by nearly 1,000. Not only that, a large amount of wasteland near the county seat has been opened, and a large number of people have concentrated around the county, and business has flourished.

Economic development and population concentration in cities are the general trend. Of course, in this era, most of the people around the city were still engaged in agriculture. Compared with other places, the urban area is intensively cultivated, the proportion of cash crops is larger, and commerce is more prosperous. As long as this trend begins and continues, quantitative changes will inevitably bring about qualitative changes, and the entire social economy will eventually undergo earth-shaking changes.

Looking at Du Zhongxiao's face, Su Song said: "The prosperity of Yongcheng is especially better than that of Haozhou City now. After waiting here for two years, he has really done practical things, not only for the benefit of the court, but also for the place to be happy. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled, did not speak, and the two went out of the city gate together.

When he arrived at Wangjiang Tower, Dong Zhushu had already brought the county's fathers and elders to greet him at the door, and surrounded Du Zhongxiao and Su Song into the restaurant.

When they arrived at the pavilion on the second floor, everyone sat down. Master Dong introduced Su Song to everyone and introduced the people present.

Today, except for a few big families in the nearby countryside, they are all big merchants in various industries in the city. These people are the ones who have benefited the most since Du Zhongxiao was appointed to the county, and they are also the ones who need to be taken care of by Xinzhi County the most, and they are the most active in this kind of thing.

When the wine and food came up, everyone toasted Du Zhongxiao and Su Song and said some compliments. After a few rounds of drinking, Du Zhongxiao felt a little bored. He could hear the hypocrisy in the words of the people. Except for a few general praises to himself, everyone is close to Su Songtao. Du Zhongxiao is about to leave office, no matter what happened before, it will not affect the future of Yongcheng, and it has little to do with these people. Su Song is the most important, his every move affects the business of these people, and it is the most realistic to have a good relationship with him.

Looking out through the window, the big willow trees by the Bianhe River are verdant, and a few peach blossoms are sandwiched between them from time to time, and the falling flowers are colorful. This is the best season of the year, and Du Zhongxiao's thoughts have returned to his hometown, imagining the scenery of the small village in his hometown.

Looking at everyone's flattering faces towards Su Song, Du Zhongxiao suddenly wanted to laugh. Yongcheng has done a lot of things in the past two years, and it seems that he has missed something.

After a few glasses of wine, He Yuanwai was a little drunk, and raised his glass to Su Song and said: "Zhixian, the small one is the head of the county's quality warehouse." If the official has any commands, even if he commands, whether it is money or goods, he will do his best! ”

Su Song raised his glass and drank it all, looked at He Yuanwai, and did not speak. From what you just said, of course he knows what it means. Yongcheng has commune support expenses, and there is no need to allocate money to these merchants, and everyone can say such good things.

Seeing that He Yuanwai staggered and sat down, and the rest of the staff members toasted Su Song one after another, Du Zhongxiao secretly shook his head. When I was in charge of the county, I rarely interacted with these people, and I really didn't see them on this side.

Turning his head to look out the window, the dock was full of boats, and countless manpower unloaded from the ships like moving ants. There are also a lot of people in this area, bustling, and more prosperous than in the county. The people here, however, don't have the laid-back look of the city dwellers, either anxious businessmen or toiling manpower. I suddenly had a realization in my heart that I had been in Yongcheng for more than two years, and I thought that I had done a lot of things and brought many benefits to the place. Actually? There are indeed benefits, but most of them are shared by the people at this banquet, and the people at the bottom may not get much benefit. They are still working hard, they still have no food, and they still have no money to spare. This is different from the camp field, the people who run the field have really changed from a poor person who has nothing to a well-off family, how many people are like this outside the camp field?