Chapter 580: Chapter 273: Establishing a County in Qianzhong

Just as the neighboring countries, especially Ning Country, were reacting to Zhou Qing’s promotion to Inborn, Lu Yuan was unaware of all this.

However, he had anticipated the response of various countries earlier and made arrangements within his own country.

In Xiangyang and Baling, both cities have forty thousand forbidden army soldiers stationed, and in addition to local prefecture and county soldiers as well as militia that can be mobilized, it can be ensured that if there is an invasion, more than one hundred thousand soldiers and horses can be quickly expanded to fight off the enemy.

Moreover, with an Inborn Grandmaster guarding, it is enough to cope with any sudden crisis.

Even if major countries such as Zhou, Liang, and Ning invade, relying on this strength, they are enough to hold on until Lu Yuan leads the army back and compete with these countries.

So for domestic affairs, he didn’t care too much after making arrangements before setting out for the expedition.

Since he had delegated authority to Zhou Qing and Lan Cai’er, with the attitude of trusting those he employs, Lu Yuan did not want to interfere.

Compared to domestic matters, more of his energy at this time was focused on the newly occupied southwestern Yi territory.

By the time it was the end of the year and the Spring Festival was about to come.

The front-line battle of Lu River had gradually turned into a stalemate as Da Changhe Country continued to build defense lines to further strengthen their local defenses.

The fighting gradually subsided, with few conflicts involving more than a hundred people.

Seeing that this area would not be able to fight for the time being, Lu Yuan temporarily put down his military affairs and took time off from the front line to visit the rear.

Xixie Mansion, Qingshui County.

When Lu Yuan arrived with a group of personal guards, the local county magistrate led all the officials in the city to greet him eagerly.

After briefly inquiring about the local government affairs, he didn’t say much and let the county magistrate lead him on a patrol of the county.

The small war-torn city had gradually recovered some vitality after two months of rectification.

Some shops on the street had reopened, with occasional pedestrians passing through. However, most of the people on the road were elderly, women, and children, and few young men were seen.

Out of the county town and onto the official road, there were many more adult men.

On the road outside the city, hundreds of civilian workers recruited by the government had started cleaning the road under the supervision of the local officials.

If one looks closely, it can be discovered that these civilian workers working here have a large number of differences in their accents and dress.

One group was disheveled, while another group had their hair tied up, with peculiar clothing in bright patterns and short sleeves and wide trousers. On the other side were long robes and long gowns, dressed like ordinary people from Dongyang.

Yes, the civilian workers here were Dongyang people and local Yi people.

Lu Yuan stared at these civilian workers for a while, and finally asked the county magistrate next to him: “How are the Yulin immigrants who have been relocated here adjusting to their new life? Are they escaping or unsatisfied? Are the local Yi people still obedient, and is there any uprising or rebellion?”

This Qingshui county magistrate was also a disciple of Lu Yuan.

His name was Zhao Xianzhi, and he participated in Lu Yuan’s last Enke examination in March of Front Yue Hongdao nine years ago. After becoming a juren and then passing the jinshi examination, he was finally assigned the rank of Eighth Rank and served as the Minister of Household Affairs.

After a year in office, he was promoted a rank and transferred to the local area to serve as the Chief clerk for two years. After his political achievements were assessed, he ranked among the best in the entire county and was promoted to the Seventh Rank Deputy county magistrate.

After serving as the county magistrate for more than half a year, he was finally transferred to the newly established Qingshui County as the County Magistrate.

Judging from Zhao Xianzhi’s resume, one could say that his official career was smooth. In just four short years, he had been promoted four ranks and become a high-ranking official in charge of a whole county.

Although there were many vacancies in the expanding Chu state’s administration, it was rare for someone to be promoted so quickly among his peers. This showed that Zhao Xianzhi was quite capable.

Upon hearing the inquiry from the king, Zhao Xianzhi, who had been attending him, smoothly replied without much thought: “Reporting to the king, this year Qingshui County was newly established, and the household department has relocated two hundred households of Yulin immigrants here, totaling 1,123 people. Now they have all been allocated houses and fields and settled in place.

However, most of these immigrants have just moved and do not have any surplus money, so their livelihood is quite difficult.

Though there is government relief, it is just enough to feed them and not starve.

Therefore, after I took office and became familiar with the details of the county, I began to clear the roads, build water channels, and recruit the strong among these immigrants to work in exchange for relief, letting them help with the work.

This way, not only can we have a large number of abundant laborers to help with local construction and recovery, but we can also solve the livelihoods of these immigrants.

In Qingshui County, the Yi people had already cultivated many fields, which are fertile land and can yield a lot of harvests with a little care.

In the past few years of war and chaos, many Yi people have died, leaving many fields empty. Taking only a small part of the fields captured by the king’s conquest, there are already enough for these two hundred immigrant families to have thirty acres of land each.

As long as they can get through this period of the New Year, they can start cultivating the land and planting rice in the coming spring and have a harvest by June.

With these expectations, many immigrants are afraid of living in a land of barbarians, but with the king’s army here, there is still some guarantee. Besides, with Yi people all around and many hidden dangers, it is even more dangerous to leave.

With all these concerns, there has been no escape.”