Watching one or two hundred horses along the southbound avenue, coming head-on, slowly moving forward, Du Zhongxiao hurriedly led people to avoid the side of the road.

It wasn't until the horses passed that he said: "I used to hear that Hedong Road produced good horses, but when I saw it today, I realized that it was not a lie." Where have you seen such a herd of horses in the Central Plains? These two hundred, the combat horses are all in the middle of the grid, how can they be compared with the horses in the mainland! ”

Tao Seventeen shrunk his neck and said: "This is the extreme north, the weather is cold, the horses like to be cold, and naturally good horses are produced." ”

Du Zhongxiao laughed when he heard this: "Where is this far north, go north along here, I don't know how many thousands of miles there are!" Hudi stretches thousands of miles, and Bingzhou is still hundreds of miles away from the border, and dare to say the extreme north! ”

After speaking, looking up to the north, I saw a majestic city standing there between the valleys and the Fen River, which was extremely spectacular. During the Taiping Rejuvenation period, the Northern Han Dynasty was pacified, the ancient city of Taiyuan was destroyed, and it was moved here. I have long heard that the new city is far from being compared with the old city, and the new city is already like this, what should the old city be? I sighed in my heart, Taizong is still a small family, since it has been unified, why destroy the old city with a history of thousands of years.

Urging the horse forward, it didn't take long to arrive outside the city of Bingzhou. The sergeant guarding the gate checked the documents and saw that it was Benzhou who signed the judgment, and a small officer hurriedly ran forward and back, and personally took Du Zhongxiao and his party to the post house to settle down.

After packing up everything in the post house, Du Zhongxiao said: "It's not early, it's too late to visit the state officials today." Seventeen, you follow me to Zicheng, hand me a name sticker, and tell him that I have arrived. ”

Tao Seventeen responded, and followed Du Zhongxiao out of the post house and went all the way to Zicheng.

Looking at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, the outfit is a little different from that of the Central Plains, wearing more Fan Yang hats, tight-fitting clothes, and some Hu Feng. Tao Qiqi felt strange and kept watching. This is the north-south traffic artery, near the dividing line between agriculture and animal husbandry, and there are many customers selling sheep and horses.

The sub-city is the inner city of the state, and most of the official offices are here. Du Zhongxiao asked people, and went straight to the north gate of Zicheng, and walked not far to the back door of the state office. There are few pedestrians here, only soldiers patrolling in twos and threes.

stepped forward and handed the name card to the soldier guarding the door, Du Zhongxiao said: "I am the new judge of this state, and I just arrived today." You go in and say hello to the governor of the state to see what you have to say. ”

The soldier looked at the name carefully, did not dare to ask any more questions, and went in.

Looking at the full moon rising in the sky, feeling the autumn wind rising, Tao Qiqi tightened his collar and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Hudi is cold early, this is just August, and it is already freezing at night." Officials, you have to add clothes tomorrow. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Where can this be regarded as Hudi, in ancient times, this was the hinterland of the Han people. Seventeen, don't talk this kind of nonsense in the future. ”

Tao Seventeen was unconvinced: "This is close to the border, and it is so cold, I only heard that the Hu people live in this kind of place." If we Han people lived in this kind of place in ancient times, how many clothes would we wear? ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head, and he didn't bother to pay attention to Tao Seventeen. The knowledge he learned in his previous life is one of the birthplaces of Han civilization, if this place is considered Hudi, then what is left in the Central Plains. However, now that the Khitan and the party are on both sides of Hedong Road, it is not wrong that this is already a border land.

After a short time, he saw the soldier who was guarding the gate come out, followed by a servant.

The official went out and saw Du Zhongxiao's eyes light up, and hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "The little Zhu San Province is the state government and the department, and he is on an errand in the official hall." The minister rested in the back office, and signed the judgment to go with me to meet him. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and asked Zhu Sanxing to lead the way.

The officials of the prefecture were under the jurisdiction of the embassy, and they were the immediate superiors of these people, who were responsible for their missions, rewards and punishments, and the duties of the Ming Dynasty. As soon as Du Zhongxiao came to merge the state, he was bumped into by the three provinces of Zhu, and he was extremely attentive.

After entering the state office, bypassing the Tianwang Hall, and arriving at Xia Zhu's residence, Zhu Sansheng led Du Zhongxiao into the flower hall.

Xia Zhu sat in the flower hall, put a charcoal stove at his feet, burned red, and waited there. Du Zhongxiao stepped forward, and after seeing the ceremony, Xia Zhu ordered to sit down.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao's dusty appearance, Xia Zhu said: "It's hard to sign the judgment. ”

Du Zhongxiao didn't dare to say anything, and arched his hand: "I only arrived in the state city this afternoon, and as soon as I settled in the post house, I came to see the minister." ”

Xia Zhu nodded, and said: "These days are the state exams, and everything is busy, so you can rest in the post house for two days." When everything is taken care of in the state test, I will set up a feast for you and wash the dust. ”

As soon as Xia Zhu said, Du Zhongxiao remembered that next year will be the year of Dabi, and now is the time for the state test. For the locality, the state test is a big event, and a lot of preparation needs to be done. To receive yourself at this time, you must choose a good time to ensure that all officials are present. The signing judge is one of the most core officials in the state, but it is not comparable to the junior magistrate when he was just a junior high school, and it stands to reason that all officials should be there.

After asking about the situation on Du Zhongxiao Road, Xia Zhu said: "Bingzhou is a big state, the first of Hedong Road, and it is not comparable to other places. Take advantage of the fact that there is nothing to do in the past few days, you can take a look at the state city and know how to do things in the future. When I take up my post, my plan here, what you are in charge of, is the state border security army and township soldiers, the second is the construction of the camp, and the third is the two prisons in the territory. Wynn supervises the production of salt in the south of the state, and collects a lot of money every year, which should not be underestimated. It's just that since the strike with the party, most of the green salt from there has been brought into the country with outlaws, so that the salt in Wynn Prison cannot be sold. There is a huge backlog of salt in the salt works, and the state can't collect the money, so there is always a way. Chase supervises the production of iron, and has charcoal, and there are many iron classes. However, in recent years, the iron there has not been sold, and there are lawbreakers who have privately cast iron money, and there are many chaos. If these two supervisions are smooth, things in the state will be easy to do. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes. Hedong Road is an area where iron coins and copper coins are parallel, but iron is produced here, and it can't be managed by stealing and casting without permission. The money law has changed again and again, and the chaos is abnormal. There are even Khitan who secretly cast iron money in the north and exchanged it for copper money in the Great Song Dynasty. As a result, Bingzhou sits on the largest iron-smelting land on Hedong Road, and it does not get benefits, but there are a lot of chaos.

After talking about the general situation of the state, Xia Zhu said: "The state is not as good as the Central Plains, it is close to Hudi, there are many garrisons, and the first priority is to raise troops." There is the Fen River flowing through the state, the land is fertile, and there is a lot of open land, if the measures are effective, the camp is very profitable. When you were in Bozhou, you were very successful in lifting the camp and field, and if you could do a few things in the state, it would be a great achievement. There are battalions and fields to support the soldiers, and the government affairs of the state are less than half. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Obey the orders of the prime minister." When I came to the lowly position, I saw all the way that there were a lot of idle fields on both sides of the Fen River, and there was water to irrigate, which was indeed a good place to camp the fields. It's just that Hedong is not as good as the Central Plains, and the population is sparse, so I am only worried that it will be difficult to recruit manpower. ”

Xia Zhu smiled: "The signing judgment is wrong, it is easiest to recruit manpower in this area." Since the late Tang Dynasty, Hedong Road has been mostly destroyed by war, and the people have taken refuge in the mountains. Although it has been decades since the Northern Han Dynasty was wiped out, there are still many people in the mountains. As long as you have the right measures, you can recruit people from the mountains, so why is it difficult? Just remember, you are not allowed to recruit Hu people. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes. In this era, population was the most important resource, whether it was with the Khitan or the party, the Song Dynasty had a contract with them and did not take in the other party's people. Now that the war has just been completely settled, there is no room for sloppiness in this kind of thing.