Wu Junyong and Li Qi arrived at the post house, asked the soldiers to go and report, and stood respectfully in place and waited. After a short time, the soldier came out, led the two inside, and waited in the living room. Du Zhongxiao arrived in the living room, and the two stepped forward to salute and sat down as guests.

After using the tea, Li Qi said: "Zhongcheng, I have been investigating carefully in the past few days, and it turns out that there are so many backlogs in Ye County. In just over a year, there have been seven lawsuits, which is really a lot. If it is strictly investigated, almost all the public officials in this county are involved in the case, and there are many heroes outside. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Yexian County leads to Liangjing in the north and Jiangling in the south, which is the main road where the north and south meet. Under the rule of tens of thousands of households, is there a lot of seven homicides a year? What is so strange about those powerful people who control places in order to make money, and they inevitably fight and kill? ”

Li Qi was a little embarrassed: "After handling the case that was investigated, there will be no one in the Yexian County Office." Although the officials are allowed to apply for the examination, they always want to be from their hometowns, but it is not easy. The case cannot be left unhandled, and there cannot be no one in the county office, and the commission is in a dilemma. ”

Du Zhongxiao took a sip of tea and said, "Zhixian, these things, you must always figure out the governance." Everyone says that there are tens of thousands of households under the rule of Ye County, but how many are there? What kind of industry to do? How many people have moved here, and how many people have come here temporarily? It is not difficult to figure out the situation under the rule. There are only a few people in Yexian County now, and it is not easy to recruit some officials. ”

Li Qi said: "In this place of Ye County, there are many people and various industries. If you recruit officials, it will still be the same as before, and there will still be chaos? When Xia Guan thought of this, he was embarrassed and didn't know where to start. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Li Qi and knew that he was in trouble, so he came to ask himself today. After being silent for a while, Du Zhongxiao said: "Knowing the county, governing the locality, in the final analysis, it depends on the local people." First sort out the situation under the rule, and know the details, and many things will be solved naturally. ”

Wu Junyong said: "Zhongcheng, the iron prison, including Ye County, has increased by tens of thousands of households in a few years, so it is not easy to find out." The difficulty now is that the case is sorted out, the officials are put in prison, and suddenly there is no one in the county to do anything. Such a big county, if you don't do anything, then it's okay? ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and shook his head: "Governor, county, I said it clearly, first find out how to rule yourself." Listen to the meaning of your words, that is, I want to call a new group of officials, and they will remain as before. Those years have passed, and now things are not going to be repeated? This time the strict investigation of the case in Ye County is to clear up the chaos of the previous years and return a peaceful world here! Instead of just investigating a few cases, everything is the same as before. After the officials were taken into custody, there was no one in the county, so they could be transferred from the iron prison and from the neighboring prefectures and counties. These people are here to do things on an ad hoc basis, and there is nothing. The most important thing is to take advantage of this investigation to find out the situation under his rule. ”

Li Qi and Wu Junyong glanced at each other, shook their heads slightly, and did not speak.

Du Zhongxiao said simply, how to find out the situation under his rule? The editions of the Iron Prison are now in shambles, and except for the former natives and the people of the camp field, the information of the others is very confusing. This is tens of thousands of households, want to find out, how much time, how manpower?

Looking at the two, Du Zhongxiao was a little disappointed. As for how to stand up after the big break in Ye County, Du Zhongxiao has his own ideas. But first of all, officials must have the courage to take responsibility, and they must have the thinking and ability to do things. Like Wu Junyong and Li Qi, it is difficult to even find out the rule, and there is no way to talk about follow-up reforms. Tiejian and Yexian are linked together, which can be said to be the largest industrial cluster in the world at this time, and it is also the largest urban agglomeration, how can such a place be easy to govern? It takes a lot of determination and a lot of effort to heal.

After listening to the two of them complaining for a while, Du Zhongxiao dealt with a few words and sent them out. It's just a repeated warning that human life is at stake, and anyone who has a lawsuit must be investigated.

Seeing off the two, Du Zhongxiao sat in the living room and lost his mind for a while. Suddenly, I felt that I had been an official for more than ten years, and I had failed too much. has been an official for so many years and has made countless contributions, but there are no like-minded people. From Jingxi Road to Hequ, in a few years, he became an important minister of the imperial court, and he was caught off guard. The seeds that were planted before have begun to blossom and bear fruit, but there are no people who have weeded and watered them.

There is no need for Ye County to stay any longer, the most important thing is that the governor and the county will be replaced, and the entire political structure will also have to be greatly changed. According to the visits around these days, if the governance is effective, the money and grain collected by Ye County will at least double, or even more. With so much money, why worry about not being able to cure the place. As long as the measures are effective and the government affairs are attentive, what is the difficulty in governance?

The political structure of the Song Dynasty, with the exception of a few important regions, was based on the principle of financial self-care. In poor areas, there are more counties under the jurisdiction of the state, and in rich areas, there are fewer counties. The main purpose of many counties is to be based on the principle of financial self-sufficiency. After the development of industry, such a principle was somewhat anachronistic. Just like the iron prison here, there are actually only two counties, but the money and grain collected are rare in the world. The new situation will inevitably require a new political structure, and this is not at all something that local officials can do.

Standing up, Du Zhongxiao took a few steps back and forth, thinking about the situation Ye County was facing. I originally thought that Wu Junyong and Li Qi would lift the lid on Ye County, find out the local situation by the way, and carry out a thorough reform here after the imperial court was played. But I didn't expect that these two people were not even willing to find out the place, and there was no way to talk about reform. But now the plan is to replace someone.

After thinking about it, there was no need for Ye County to stay. Seeing that it was almost evening, Du Zhongxiao called Tao Seventeen to go out together and drink a glass of wine. The two have been masters and servants for many years, and they are like family members, and it is not easy to stay together these days.

Out of the post house, looking at the bustling streets, Du Zhongxiao said: "From the construction of the iron prison in the west, in just a few years, this place has developed into such a prosperous town. If someone had told me that, they wouldn't have believed him. The things of the world are truly wonderful. ”

Tao Seventeen said: "Yes, at that time, with the establishment of the iron prison by the officials, I was asked to work in the iron prison, and I thought it was a short time to do some small things. Where would you have thought that this would take seven or eight years. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded, looking at the surrounding crowd, with infinite emotion in his heart. Because the local Haoqiang here has been arrested for some days, there has been a struggle for power, and the place is a little uneasy. A large number of sergeants were transferred from Baiting to patrol day and night, and the law and order was quite stable.

When he arrived at a wine shop, Du Zhongxiao said: "Somehow, after returning to the Central Plains from Hequ Road, I don't like to go to the restaurant unless I talk about things." Seeing that the business of this liquor store is not bad, I think it tastes good, so we can barely drink two glasses of wine and gossip about it. ”

Tao Seventeen had no objection and entered the wine shop with Du Zhongxiao. The entourage was arranged to sit at the table next to it, and the two of them occupied a side table.

After a while, the wine and food came up, and the little maid poured the wine, and left to take care of others.

After drinking a glass of wine, Du Zhongxiao looked around and said, "This is life, and this is the fireworks and dust." After a busy day, I found such a small wine shop, drank two glasses, and enjoyed myself. What is Ye County? There are countless factories here, how many businesses, as long as people are in good health, it is easy to find something to do and live without worrying about life. But there are so many people who want to get something for nothing, and make the place smoky. ”

Tao Seventeen said: "Officials, in fact, it's not all like this. Like many markets around, there must be someone to maintain order, otherwise business will not be able to be done. When the officials were on Jingxi Road, the guild was abolished, and the market was unmanaged, so some people took advantage of this loophole. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "How can there be no one to manage?" When I built a fur market in Bingzhou, I sent officials to manage the market, and the government did some business, and everything was fine. It's just that some officials dislike spending too much energy like this, so they just abolish it. In one state and one county, how many things are actually there? As long as the officials are attentive, it is not difficult to manage. ”

Tao Qiqi said with a smile: "What the official said is simple, but it is not easy. First, the governor of the state and the county may not understand this, it is difficult to select the right person, and it is difficult to manage it well. Again, there are large sums of money coming and going in these markets every day, and naturally there are people who covet them. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the final analysis, it is nothing more than the incomplete system of the court and the lack of ability of officials that so many things have happened." Seventeen, in the future, more and more factories will be opened, which is very different from before. You were the first to work in the factory, and now you live a happy life. In the future, there will be more and more people like you, who will no longer farm the land, but work in the factory. Governing the world, of course, is not the same as before. ”

Tao Seventeen said: "The official said so, think about it. The iron prison has a time limit for going to and from work every day, and the management is strict, which is even more than in the barracks. Those of us who are used to this day after day are very different from before. ”

"Yes, the work in the factory is different from before, and the management is of course different. When the railway supervisor was first established, many officials entered from the camp and the army, and they were actually very uncomfortable. Over the years, most of them have been replaced, and they are completely different from before. Because they are in charge every day, the people in the iron prison are extremely obedient, and they are much easier to manage in their daily lives, unlike people who work in other places. ”

Listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, Tao Seventeen nodded. Most of the people who are working in the iron prison now, except for the battalion and field troops who were transferred at that time, are from various schools, and they all have family businesses around. They are accustomed to the life of the iron prison, and they are not used to being at home.

It was a process of transition from an agrarian society to an industrial society, where the agricultural population moved into industry, slowly changing society and the country. The influence of the railway supervisor is Jingxi Road, and many powerful families in the surrounding states will let their children apply for the examination at the school of the iron supervisor, and then enter the railway supervisor to do things. Today's workers live a much better life than peasants. In the words of later generations, it is the middle class, and a stable life is a good way out.

In this era, industry was just emerging, the Central Plains had a vast market, and the profits of industry were very lucrative. The iron prison itself is a large industry, and there is no competition outside, which can give the workers a better life.

The beginning of industry, the market is good, and the society is stable, which should be the gilded age. The people live happily and the country is prosperous and strong, which should be the best era. The industrialization of the great powers is different from that of Europe in history, there are raw materials, there are markets, there are manpower, and it should not be an era of bloodshed. But because of poor governance, social forces have been allowed to take advantage of loopholes, and that's different.