"I hope to hear it carefully!" Zhang Xuan said with a smile.

Du Ruhui looked at a group of prisoners of war walking not far away, and lowered his voice to Zhang Xuan and said, "Your Highness can buy some people among prisoners of war miners. Once someone tries to incite the miners to cause trouble, we can learn it immediately and then suppress the leader without mercy."

Zhang Xuan nodded. This method is good. If Du Fuwei escapes, there is a high possibility that he will come back and continue to rebel. It is indeed a good way to prevent it by inserting eyes and ears among the miners.

"You just said there are two strategies, what is the other one?"

"There is another strategy to let the aristocratic families monitor. Du Fuwei may be popular among the lower class people, but not necessarily popular among the aristocratic families. Weichen believes that the aristocratic families know everything. In the past, it was just because Du Fuwei had strong military strength, and the aristocratic families had to endure humiliation and remain silent. But now it is different. If Du Fuwei makes a comeback, it will inevitably seriously infringe on the interests of the aristocratic families. Weichen believes that the aristocratic families in various parts of the Jianghuai River are more willing to kill Du Fuwei in the bud. The court governs counties and gentry manages the countryside. This has been the case for thousands of years. Weichen urges His Highness to remember this."

Zhang Xuan did not speak, and he did not agree with the saying that gentry was in charge of the countryside. The consequence of this was that small families controlled the countryside and large families controlled the county. This was also one of the root causes of the demise of the Sui Dynasty. To break this situation, the court must firmly control the county. However, Zhang Xuan did not think of any good plans at present.

Seeing that Zhang Xuan was silent, Du Fuwei immediately added: "At least in troubled times, Your Highness should rely on the family of the most important families."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and said, "You may make some sense, let me think about it again!"

At this time, a general urged his horse to come and whispered to Zhang Xuan. Zhang Xuan laughed and said to Du Ruhui: "Speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here, the head of the Huang family is here, let's go and meet!"

In the Sui army camp outside the city, Huang You, the head of the Huang family, was waiting for Zhang Xuan's reception in the guest account accompanied by his grandson Zhao Wenzhu. Lu Wenzhu was appointed as the county magistrate of Hefei and was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Daye. He was about 30 years old this year. His father was Lu Di, the former prefect of Huainan, and was also a famous family in the Jianghuai area. Their ancestor was Lu Ji from the Three Kingdoms era. Their house moved from Wu County to Lujiang County more than 200 years ago, and then he took root here.

Although Lu Wenzhu accompanied his grandfather, he was actually very nervous. After all, after Du Fuwei occupied Hefei City, their government also served as a service for Du Fuwei, organizing civilians and repairing the city. Now that Du Fuwei is defeated and fled, will the Sui army settle the score in the autumn?

Huang You felt that his grandson was a little restless, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry! King Qi is a wise man. You are doing things for Du Fuwei to protect the people. He will not care about you. Besides, now is the time to use people, and there will be no changes in the entire Jianghuai officialdom."

Lu Wenzhu's grandfather's words made Lu Wenzhu feel a little calmer. At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps outside, and a guard shouted loudly: "The commander is here!"

Lu Wenzhu hurriedly supported his grandfather and stood up. At this time, the curtain of the tent was lifted, and Zhang Xuan and Du Ruhui quickly walked into the tent. Zhang Xuan smiled and said, "Why did the old master come from Liyang County?"

"Ah! I feel ashamed, I'm here to apologize to Your Highness!"

Huang You was about to kneel down tremblingly, and Zhang Xuan hurriedly supported him, "No need! No need! The master of the hometown asked to sit down."

Zhang Xuan asked Huang You to sit down. At this time, Du Ruhui introduced to Zhang Xuan: "This is the county magistrate of Hefei and the grandson of the head of Huang's hometown."

Lu Wenzhu hurriedly bowed and said, "I am going to see His Highness, King Qi!"

Zhang Xuan nodded. He had also heard that Lu Wenzhu was the second son of the Lu family in Lujiang. In order to fight against the Jiangnan gentry, the Jianghuai gentry hoped that the families of the counties were very united and married for generations. They prospered and all lost. It was normal for the Lu family's son to marry the daughter of the Huang family.

"Mr. Lu is exempted from the gift, let's sit down together!"

Zhang Xuan was quite polite and asked Lu Wenzhu to sit down. He and Du Ruhui sat opposite each other and smiled and said, "How did the Lord Huang come here?"

"Report to your Highness, I came here by boat. I could go directly to Chaohu Lake by taking Baiyushui, and then enter Feishui to Hefei."

"Is there any river in Liyang County that runs through Chaohu?"

"Of course! There are many small rivers flowing into Chaohu Lake, but there is more than a big river in Zhashui. Baiyushui cannot be found on the map. It is a very small river, but it is really not known that the cargo ships that can run 300 stones are not known if they are not locals."

Zhang Xuan changed his mind. Du Fuwei had been in the Jianghuai for many years and must have known these rivers of all sizes. Did he hide his ships in dispersed and wanted to use these rivers to sneak attack the navy camp?

Huang You sighed, "About the Huang family warehouse, we actually know that the warehouse was occupied by Du Fuwei. Frankly speaking, I dare not tell Your Highness directly, because I am afraid that Du Fuwei will retaliate, but I do want to find an opportunity to hint Your Highness. Unexpectedly, the Sui army took the lead and took the warehouse off, causing us to lose the opportunity to confess, so I will apologize to Your Highness!"

"There is no need to apologize. No one will think that the Huang family has put their future on Du Fuwei. I said many years ago that the bandits are rampant. In order to protect themselves or the people, many aristocratic families or government officials have to cooperate with the bandits. I will not pursue this situation. In fact, this situation is very common in Hebei. Almost every aristocratic family cannot escape, and no government can escape it, but I have never pursued anyone."

Huang You said gratefully: "Thank you for your understanding. The Huang family will not have a future and will not put their future and destiny on Du Fuwei."

Lu Wenzhu next to him also breathed a sigh of relief. What did His Highness King Qi say to him?

Zhang Xuan also said: "Since Du Fuwei's army has been wiped out, the iron ore mining in Liyang County should continue, including the government mines and the mines of aristocratic families in various places, let's resume mining! This is the most urgent matter."

Huang You looked embarrassed and said for a while: "In the past two years, due to Du Fuwei's forced recruitment, the mines have basically stopped production. All pig iron inventory has been stolen by him. I'm afraid it won't be restored so quickly. Can Your Highness give us a month?"

"What is the current situation of the mine in the government?" Zhang Xuan asked with concern.

This is also something Zhang Xuan is very concerned about. Taking over JAC will not only expand the food source, but more importantly, they will receive a continuous supply of pig iron, which can maintain the consumption of 300,000 troops. This is an extremely important strategic resource.

Zhang Xuan had previously considered mining in Liaodong, but it would take at least three years from the completion of the mine to the incoming production to the final production of pig iron. If you want to get a supply of more than one million kilograms of pig iron every year, it would take eight to ten years to accumulate slowly. Zhang Xuan could not wait for such a long time, and there was also a large number of immigration, which was too high, so Zhang Xuan and his important officials finally decided to make full use of the existing production capacity of JAC to mine on a large scale and smelter pig iron.

At this time, Zhang Xuan suddenly became a little worried. If Du Fuwei completely destroyed the mine, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Huang You felt Zhang Xuan’s concern and smiled and said, “Your Highness, don’t worry, the government’s mines are just like our mines. They are just stopped production and are not destroyed. As long as the labor force is sufficient, mining and smelting can be resumed immediately.”

Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Du Ruhui. Du Ruhui understood and smiled and said, "As for the labor force, please rest assured. This time, we have 80,000 prisoners of war in our hands and are ready to invest all of them in the mines, of course, including the Huang family's mines. Officials will contact the Huang family for specific matters."

Huang You was overjoyed. The main income of the Huang family relies on mining. If there is sufficient labor, mining will be worry-free. He quickly expressed his opinion: "Thank you for your care. We will do our best to resume mining as soon as possible."

Zhang Xuan pondered for a while and said, "I just received the news from the cavalry. Although we annihilated most of Du Fuwei's remaining soldiers, Du Fuwei still escaped. I was a little worried that Du Fuwei would make a comeback."

Huang You also showed a look of worry in his eyes, "Aren't Your Highness going to station troops in Jianghuai?"

"Of course, we will station troops. If Du Fuwei led his army to come, we will annihilate him without hesitation. What's terrible is that Du Fuwei sneaked into the Jianghuai River and secretly recruited soldiers from the farmers. I'm afraid my army will not know."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuan looked at Huang You meaningfully. Huang You immediately understood what Zhang Xuan meant. He said without hesitation: "Maintaining peace and stability in the Jianghuai River is not only a matter of the army, but also the responsibility of all the various families in Jianghuai River. When I go back, I will discuss with the families. We must resolutely prevent Du Fuwei from acting at the bottom. I believe that as long as Du Fuwei appears, we will know immediately, and the Sui army will also know immediately."
Chapter completed!