Zhao Kuo finally understood why most nobles were willing to protect their friends and relatives.

He looked at the frightened little official and finally remembered him. He once sat in Dong Chengzi's carriage, served as the right hand, and took the lead in charge. I still remember that when Dong Chengzi came to visit him, the little official also gave him a gift and followed Dong Chengzi to visit him. Zhao Kuo was stunned. He looked at the little official kneeling on the ground in a complicated manner, gritted his teeth and asked, "Why do you want to do this?"

"If I lack money, why don't I tell me? Would I be stingy in rewarding the soldiers who have made meritorious? Why did the warriors who protected the people of Boren become evil spirits who harmed the people?"

Rong slowly raised his head, looked at Zhao Kuo in front of him, and looked away as if he was electrocuted, pursing his lips, but he still couldn't speak.

"You committed a crime that can be killed. I did not kill you, not because you followed me to fight, nor because you were a guest of Dong Chengzi, but because you confessed your crime and did not resist stubbornly. I want to remove you from your post and send you to Handan, so that Dong Chengzi, who is in charge of the criminal law, will come to make a judgment on you." Zhao Kuo said, looking at one of his disciples and said, "Send him to Handan."

The guest stepped forward and helped Rong up. Rong just lowered his head and said nothing. Perhaps he had no face to face Zhao Kuo, and Rong was taken away like this. The people around him widened their eyes. Zhao Kuo said he wanted to make the decision for them. They thought that Ma Fujun wanted to reprimand these officials, but they did not expect that Ma Fujun directly dismissed him and even wanted to kill him! This is a strange thing that the people have never seen for many years.

When Zhao Kuo looked at these people again, a smile appeared on his face. He summoned the people to his side and then sat down. The guests hurriedly wanted to give him a seat, but Zhao Kuo did not accept it. He ignored the mud and sat directly beside the farmland and asked everyone to sit down. The guests sat down one after another. The people were trembling, but they did not dare to sit. Ma Fujun persuaded him a few more words, and they sat next to Zhao Kuo one by one.

"Please don't worry about the second and third sons. I know that many things have delayed the busy farming. I will advise Shangjun to reduce taxes in various places... I heard that people who are planting mulberry trees next to five acres of residential fields can wear silk. People who are fifty-year-olds can breed chickens, ducks, pigs and dogs, don't miss the season. People who are seventy-year-olds can often eat meat. They plant hundreds of acres of fields each family, so that they can be cultivated during the farming period, and family members will not cause famine."

"I will order that no one is allowed to delay the farming time. I will ask two or three sons to send a variety of mulberry trees. I will send poultry cubs. Please don't miss the season when you are in captivity. If you work hard, don't worry about the famine next year... If an official bullies the two sons and delays the farming time, please ask two or three sons to send someone to the horse service. I will come in person to help the two or three sons."

Standing not far away, Han Fei looked at Ma Fujun who was sitting among the people and gently reminded them. He felt a little moved in his heart and smiled on his face.

"May I ask the wise man here?"

Hearing Ma Fujun's questioning, the people communicated. After a while, they said: "There is a young man called Bu in the countryside. He is a wise man who is filial to his parents and caring for his neighbors. He once went out to study and knew the words." Zhao Kuo nodded and asked again: "Then where is he?" A shy young man stood up from a distance, probably because of the praise from the villagers, and paid homage to Ma Fujun.

Zhao Kuo nodded and said, "Before I returned to Handan, I would like to serve as the chief of the township, lead the people to farm, punish lazy people, reward the people who have made meritorious people, and the wealth accumulated by Rong belongs to the people. Please return the food, livestock, etc. in his courtyard to the people now. I will give all these things to you." Bu nodded seriously and bowed to Zhao Kuo again.

Then, Bu left, and Zhao Kuo sat here to continue talking to the people, asking about the difficulties they encountered and the problems of farming and sericulture. The elderly men stroked their beards and told Zhao Kuo tremblingly: "There are a lot of wasteland here, but there are not enough people to farm." The difficulties faced by the people today are different from the future. In the future, the people will not have land to cultivate, but now the people are unable to feed their families because of their underdeveloped farming technology.

Zhao Kuo suddenly remembered something, and he said, "I heard that people lost and livestock lost. After being left for a period of time, they can be used on the cultivated land to increase the harvest." Hearing Zhao Kuo's words, the people were very surprised and looked at each other. A few elderly people hurriedly said, "I have heard what Ma Fujun said. I heard that the Qin people used the loss to irrigate the cultivated land and the harvest would be very good."

"Then why don't you follow me?" Zhao Kuo was even more surprised. On the one hand, he was surprised and the appearance of primitive fertilizers, and on the other hand, he was surprised and these people knew why they didn't use it. The elderly shook their heads and said helplessly: "The person with a noble status said: The food grown in this way is dirty and unclean. Only the stenched barbarians in the west will eat such food. We are not allowed to follow me."

It turned out that the Zhao nobles began to pursue green and harmless food so early.

Zhao Kuo was silent for a moment, shook his head and said, "If you feel it is not clean, they can ignore these people."

Bu quickly counted Rong's property. Rong's money seemed to be used to make friends with the nobles. The livestock and food stored in the family were not much. When Bu was distributing, Zhao Kuo also watched from the side. He wanted to see if this young man had the ability to serve as a minor official. I have to say that this wise man recommended by local villagers is indeed good. He was fair and just when distributing.

Zhao Kuo nodded and said that he would come back after patrolling various places. He drove away. There were many places he wanted to go to and could not stay here.

The people stood on the side of the road, looked at the horse coupon's carriage away, and leaned over and bowed.

They did not get up until the carriage disappeared.

The county system of Zhao State has not been truly completed. It can be reflected not only in terms of titles, but also in local officials. There is almost no difference between county towns and towns. The only difference may be that the city walls of county towns are taller, while the city walls of towns are relatively short. It is really ridiculous to use city walls to divide county towns and towns. The distance between places is also very far away.

Perhaps Zhao Kuo was too intimidating. On the road from Handan to Wu'an, whenever Zhao Kuo arrived in a town, there were already minor officials who learned from Lian Po, naked and begged Zhao Kuo for forgiveness. Since Lian Po created this method of apologizing, this method has become a fashion and a style of apologizing in Zhao's country. However, looking at these minor officials who were kneeling on the ground but not much apologetic on their faces, Zhao Kuo only felt that their behavior was an insult to Lian Po.

Zhao Xu pointed to the people on the road and said, "They are all evil officials in Wu'an City. I have listed their crimes and will be handed over to you to watch later." Zhao Kuo nodded.

Zhao Xu wanted to enter the banquet for Zhao Kuo, but Zhao Kuo did not rush into his courtyard. Instead, he started chatting with the people in Wu'an City. Zhao Xu followed him in fear. Many of these people were the soldiers who followed Zhao Kuo to fight. At this moment, when he saw Ma Fujun, he was particularly excited. He knew everything and said everything he knew. Fortunately, the evil officials they hated the most were already kneeling on the side of the road.

No one accused the county magistrate, which made Zhao Xu feel relieved.

Finally, Zhao Kuo sat in the county magistrate's mansion. The county officials gathered around, and the guests stood behind them. Zhao Kuo looked at Zhao Xu and said kindly: "You are a good official and have not done anything that harms the people. You have also dealt with those evil officials. This is very correct..." Zhao Kuo looked at everyone and said: "What I want to say is the principle of governing the country."

"The strength of a country depends on how much grain it can produce in its farmland, how many soldiers it can summon, whether its people can farm hard and kill enemies bravely. The people are the foundation of the country. Rich people think that the people are despicable and bully at will. Without the people's farming, the rich will definitely be hungry. Without the people's service, no matter how rich people are, they will fall to the point of being killed by the enemy."

"So, protecting the people is not for benevolence, righteousness, but for one's own sake. Only when the people live a wealthy life can the country's household registration increase and the food will increase. Only when the people feel the kindness of the rich will they take up the spear to fight for the country, reduce local corvee, increase local household registration, urge the people to farm, and give them favors. This is the reason why the rich can maintain nobility."

"My father killed Pingyuanjun's disciples, Pingyuanjun wanted to deal with his crimes. He said: Zhao State was defeated because of these people. You are a royal family of Zhao State. If Zhao State is destroyed, can you continue to be rich and honor now? What I want to say is this thing, protecting officials who harm the people, or bullying the people themselves and delaying the farming season. This is what makes Zhao State go to an endangerment. If Zhao State is destroyed, will the officials of Zhao State become slaves to the enemy?"

"I heard that there is a bird called a poison. Drinking wine soaked with its feathers can kill people. But some people feel thirsty and drink such wine to kill themselves. I heard that there is a bird called a golden goose. It can give birth to a golden egg every day, but greedy people kill the golden goose to get the golden egg earlier and take away the eggs in their belly. Isn't this the same thing as what I said?"

"This is the principle of governing the country. If local officials can fulfill their duties and protect the people of Zhao, then Zhao will definitely become stronger. This is only good but not bad for the officials." Zhao Kuo said seriously, while Han Fei behind it was quickly recording his words and deeds. Han Fei has always liked to write some interesting stories from all over the world. This time, Zhao Kuo's words reminded him of two stories containing truths that he could record.

After Zhao Kuo said this, he suddenly took off the jade pendant on his waist and handed it to Zhao Xu. Zhao Kuo smiled and said, "This is a reward for me by the Lord, because I led the soldiers to repel the enemy. Now I want to reward you because I have only protected Wu'an City once, but you can protect it for longer." Zhao Xu took the jade pendant handed by Zhao Kuo with a trembling hand, and looked at Zhao Kuo's sunny smile blankly. Suddenly, Zhao Xu knelt on the ground.

"Ma Fujun... I am guilty... I am not able to perform my duties. In order to make friends with noble people, I indulge their disciples... I am not the gentleman you think. I arrested those evil officials because I was afraid of being punished by you. It is all my fault for not deserve your reward and praise..." Zhao Xu knelt in front of Zhao Kuo, and said whimperingly, tears kept falling on the ground. The officials stood up one after another and looked at the scene in surprise.
Chapter completed!