At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Cao Chongzhi began to think about his retreat.

And Guo Peng and Guo Chengzhi are still walking westward, all the way westward, crossing the Hexi Corridor, passing through the Yumen Pass, and heading towards the vast land of the Western Regions.

The Great Chi Road in the Western Regions has been planned and laid since Yande returned to the Western Regions in four years, and it took ten years to finally build it successfully.

Starting from the west of Yumen Pass, it leads straight to the Zhenxi Dufu Mansion in the west of the empire, spanning thousands of miles, connecting the two ends of the empire together.

Walking on this big road, you have already entered the jurisdiction of Beiting Duhufu.

A large number of caravans can still be seen going back and forth here, and all signs show the prosperous commercial and trade exchanges in this area.

Chapter 1532 One thousand four hundred and fifty two official services provided by Zhuge Liang

Unlike inland caravans, most caravans in the Western Regions use camels as their main means of transportation.

The reason is that there are many sandstorms and few oasis water sources in the Western Regions, and horses are not as resistant to wind, sand and drought as camels, and cannot last as long as camels, and are not economical and durable enough.

Therefore, people chose camels as the main means of transportation in the desert in the long-term natural selection.

In addition to supporting the operation of the main body of the empire with the four major army horse farms, the Wei Empire also raised camels on a large scale in the Western Regions as the main force of transportation. The guardians of the three prefectures of the Western Regions all have an important mission, that is, to raise enough camels for urgent needs for.

There are obviously no shortage of camels in Guishuang, Anxi and other countries. From west to east, and from east to west, the long caravan of camels stretches endlessly.

Some large caravans had as many camels and vehicles as could be seen at a glance, and it seemed that the entire queue was even longer than Guo Peng's accompanying guards.

The camels strolled leisurely, advancing slowly at a leisurely pace, their mouths were constantly chewing, and their eyes protected by thick eyelashes blinked and blinked. It seemed that nothing could embarrass them or make them lose This calmness now.

"A lot of camels."

Guo Chengzhi and Guo Peng rode side by side on horseback, looking at a caravan of camels approaching with curiosity in their eyes.

"Camels are more suitable for business in the Western Regions. The Western Regions lack oases and water sources. Horses are not as durable as camels, and they can't move at high speed like the army, and they can't get a lot of supplies like us. Therefore, it is more economical and durable to choose camels."

Guo Peng smiled: "This is also the so-called adapting measures to local conditions, using different methods to deal with different changes in the right place, this is the way of doing things, Cheng Zhi, this is also the reason why Dafu took you out for a walk, you Remember all this."

"Yes, Chengzhi remembered."

Guo Chengzhi nodded slowly, looking at all this curiously.

"Back then, the Western Regions were not what they are now. Back then, the Western Regions were full of turmoil and endless battles. The former Han, the Xiongnu, and other countries in the Western Regions, countless heroes fought in this land. Time has passed and circumstances have changed. It is only now that there is such a prosperous scene."

Guo Peng sighed and exclaimed: "It is not easy to regain peace."

"Father said so."

Guo Chengzhi looked at the leading camel in the caravan, but he didn't know what he was thinking.

After the establishment of Beiting Duhufu, Tagancheng, the original capital of the Western Regions Duhufu, was used as the capital of Beiting Duhufu.

What is different from the past is that after Zhuge Liang took office as the Protector of Beiting Protectorate, he followed the Shanbei Dachi Road in the Western Regions, built new cities along the Shanbei Dachi Road, or used the old cities in the past, and transformed eight cities along the route. , set up eight counties to divide the jurisdiction of Beiting Duhufu.

The level of the Duhufu is the level of two thousand stones. Like a county, Zhuge Liang's official rank is the level of the county guard, and the eight cities under its jurisdiction are naturally the county seats of eight counties.

The county towns of the eight counties are distributed along the Dachi Road and the oasis, respectively guarding the various traffic hubs of the Dachi Road, lying on the traffic route, and becoming a natural resting place and pause point for businessmen.

Relying on the docking, rest and consumption of merchants, these eight counties have developed slowly, and they all have a decent shape. The agriculture in the surrounding oases is also developing, which is good anyway.

Zhuge Liang has made great contributions to the development of Beiting Duhu Mansion, which has a relatively inhospitable climate, to its current state.

Due to the small population, the combined population of the entire Beiting Duhufu is not as large as that of a large county in the Central Plains, so it can barely reach the level of self-sufficiency, and it is no longer necessary for the four Hexi counties to send food here to help them survive. It's a crisis.

From this point of view, the ability of the Northern Court to protect Zhuge Liang is beyond doubt.

Because the distance between the cities is relatively long, Guo Peng went to see every city along the way.

The city here is equivalent to a weakened version of Liangzhou city. From the very beginning, the layout did not deliberately plan a strict boundary between the living area and the commercial area, but broke this boundary and included the living area and the commercial area together.

The commercial area is arranged along the periphery of the living area, as if the closer the commercial area is to the living area, the better.

Many people simply open the front door to do business and leave the backyard for their own living, or build a two-story building, the first floor is used for business, and the second floor is their home, so small shops such as restaurants and restaurants are set up.

A family is not just doing business or simply farming, but half of the family is farming, farming the allocated land, and half of the family is doing business and running, earning some extra money, without delay, and living a decent life.

There are not many official facilities in the city, and it can even be said that there are relatively few. Apart from the county government, many officials are even stationed around the commercial area. If there is anything to do, the processing efficiency is very high and the speed is very fast.

In contrast, the rules of commercial trade and the laws and regulations that cannot be violated are written on paper and posted in the streets and alleys of the city.

As Guo Peng and the others walked, they could see a sign standing in front of them, with a piece of paper pasted on it, which read [Any dispute over a catty can be weighed on a fair scale to determine the result. The offender shall be imprisoned for five days and fined five hundred dollars].

There are many such wooden signs and legal notices throughout the city. The content of the posted notices is often different, but they are all related to the specific transaction process.

The whole city has a very strong commercial atmosphere, which makes people feel that it is a purely commercial city, and even the officials are concerned about dealing with commercial crimes, not other issues.

It seems that the whole of this city is business and trade, and there is nothing else.

All you can see in the streets and alleys are small merchants hawking along the street, as well as people carrying light boxes or pushing carts while walking and hawking.

In addition to these small local merchants, there are also many foreign merchants.

Foreign merchants often bring a large amount of bulk goods here to rest, rest, eat, visit the city of Wei State, and a few merchants choose to trade here.

Guo Peng asked the accompanying interpreter to go up and talk to them, and asked them if they could safely trade in these cities, and they got an affirmative answer.

"They said that the eight cities of Beiting Duhu Mansion have exactly the same laws and regulations and fair scales, and there are many relevant officials in each city to strictly supervise the process of commercial trade. Once a dispute arises, it can be argued and resolved on the spot.

The prestige of these officials is often very high in the local market, and they are trusted by the locals and businessmen, so in any of the eight cities, as long as it is suitable, they can trade and pay taxes on the spot, which is very safe and fast. Soon, don't worry about being cheated or robbed. "

Guo Peng nodded slowly.

Of the three prefectures in the Western Regions in recent years, the one receiving the most support from the imperial court is the Zhenxi Protectorate's Mansion with the heaviest military mission, but the one that pays the most taxes to the imperial court is the Beiting Protectorate's Mansion.

These taxes are mainly commercial taxes.

So much commercial taxation obviously cannot be obtained by Beiting Protectorate's Mansion doing nothing, but Zhuge Liang's actions make all of this seem very reasonable.

Zhuge Liang did not make any changes to the system and policies, he just provided an official service on top of this - a perfect trading environment.

The government and the market are infinitely close, the government is in the market, any disputes are resolved on the spot, any conflicts are resolved on the spot, and the credibility of the government is relied on to provide convenience for buyers and sellers.

Due to the meticulous regulations and strict enforcement, the market in Beiting Protectorate Mansion is regarded as a first-class good market in the eyes of merchants, which can safeguard their interests, and they are very willing to trade in such a market.

This is actually a very smart move.

Guo Peng walked all the way, kept inquiring about the people's situation, but also heard some bad things.

Not as good as the market-related officials in some areas are very irresponsible. Some businessmen have suffered heavy losses due to the fraudulent tactics of their trading partners. When they turn to market officials for help, they turn a blind eye to it, don’t care at all, and don’t help them. Sit back and watch their losses.

Trading in the market in these areas is very risky and very chaotic.

Although it is not enough to kill people and steal goods, it is not uncommon to be cheated and cheated, and businessmen often suffer losses.

When I was born in an unfamiliar place, I was deceived by the local people, and I was blackmailed by some local people for eating, drinking and living.

At the beginning, not many people did this, but everyone found that they could make a lot of money, so they followed suit, and those who did business honestly were squeezed out and could not survive, a typical example of bad money driving out good money.

The government turned a blind eye to such a situation. On the surface, it encouraged commercial development, but in fact it didn't care at all. It just wanted to lie down and collect money, as long as the commercial tax was high enough, the rest was not important.

In this kind of thing, only one person may be deceived at the beginning, and then more and more people will be deceived and cannot get help. They will tell their resentment to their companions, and spread it to ten, ten, and hundreds of people in this city. reputation is tainted.

Over time, the merchants knew that transactions in this city could not be protected, and food and lodging were easy to be blackmailed. They could eat food at sky-high prices and stay in hotels at sky-high prices.

Being deceived once, merchants would rather sleep in the wilderness than come to this city to rest and trade. When they saw this city, they would take a detour and would not come in at all.

Then the city withered, and the profiteers in the city went bankrupt and closed down. The whole city became lifeless because of the loss of commercial vitality, and the government could no longer collect commercial taxes.

Among the two states of Yongliang and Liangzhou, Guo Peng has seen more than one city like this, and he deeply understands that the harm caused by this kind of laziness is no less than corruption.

Some officials seem to feel that nothing else matters as long as there is no corruption.

This strange idea annoyed Guo Peng very much.

But Beiting Dufu Mansion is not like this.

Chapter 1533 Reunion after 450 thirty years

Under Zhuge Liang's rule, the city of Beiting Duhu Mansion clarified many transaction details.

These rules are posted in any corner of the entire city, and anyone who can read and write can watch and understand the government's decrees.

The market in the city and the officials who manage the market are very serious and responsible, and they deal with problems very efficiently.

After further understanding, Guo Peng learned that Zhuge Liang had implemented a very clear accountability system.

Once there is a problem in a certain market, the mayor is directly held accountable, and the mayor is required to take full responsibility, and then the responsibilities of the people below are investigated in detail.

After investigating layer by layer, the mayors who managed the market were all shrewd and capable, with sharp eyesight.

In order to ensure that there are no problems, the mayor patrols and visits the market all day long, for fear that any problems in the market will cause him to be punished.

Punishment alone is not enough, there must be rewards.

The best bazaar will be selected once a month, and all officials who are selected as the best bazaar will receive a bonus and a priority promotion opportunity.

On the contrary, if the market is considered to be the worst, all officials will be collectively held accountable, and the situation from top to bottom is worrisome.

Zhuge Liang also publicly declared that he usually sends people in plain clothes to visit every market in the eight cities, and asks them to report to him what they saw with their own eyes, so it is not easy to use one-sided words on his side.

Under such control, the markets in the eight cities of the Beiting Protectorate's Mansion were lively and bustling. From the opening of the market at sunrise to the closing of the market at sunset, there was always a din of people.

The city is not big, but there are many business travelers. When there are more business travelers, there will be more transactions. If there are more transactions, business taxes will naturally increase.

More than that.

Along the way, Guo Peng found that in some counties and counties in the west of Liangzhou, the infrastructure of many counties was relatively poor and backward.

Due to the large number of business travelers traveling to and from these cities, there are also a large number of camels, horses and other livestock, which are easy to excrete on the street, and the number is huge. In the past, such things were considered commonplace, but now such things are unacceptable.

It stinks and is too dirty.

Some cities will have special personnel to deal with it, turning waste into treasure.

Some cities don't know whether it's the lack of money or the inaction of the officials. They don't care much, so that the streets and alleys smell bad, which makes Guo, who is used to smelling fresh air, very unhappy.

For this matter along the way, Guo Peng has successively dismissed three county magistrates and a vote of county officials and officials, and ordered the local government to make rectification within a time limit.

This is not the case in the Beiting Dufu Mansion. The city is very clean and tidy, and there are main roads paved with stone slabs. There are public toilets in the city, which are very hygienic and there is no unpleasant smell.

The infrastructure construction has kept up, and more caravans will be willing to come here. People always like clean and hate dirty.

Zhuge Liang has made remarkable achievements in government, gained benefits, and also gained a good reputation, and his reputation in Beiting Dufu Mansion is very good.

And those merchants traveling north and south will also bring Zhuge Liang's reputation to their destinations and hometowns, making Zhuge Liang's reputation even louder.

Today, among the two prefectures of Yongliang and the three prefectures of the Western Regions, the most well-known official is Zhuge Liang.

"Which official is the most competent, which official is the best at doing things, you don't listen to the officials, you have to listen to the common people, they are the people who feel this most directly, there is a saying in the officialdom, that officials and officials protect each other, and officials praise each other , that is a very common thing..."

Guo Peng took Guo Chengzhi by his side and constantly taught him life experience.

For 40-year-old Guo Chengzhi, the various life experiences summed up by someone Guo in 15 years of intrigue are no different from the Sunflower Book.

To expect him to be able to grasp these right now is purely a dream, even if he takes the initiative to come from the palace, he can't do it.

Guo Peng doesn't count on this, but Guo Peng hopes that he can remember that this 40-year experience will come in handy when he needs it.

After walking all the way and watching the scenery of the Western Regions of the Empire, the group finally arrived at Tagan City, the capital of Beiting Protectorate.

Guo Peng finally saw Zhuge Liang again, whom he hadn't seen in ten years.

In the year when Guo Peng established the Duke of Wei, Zhuge Liang came to join him.

After the establishment of the Wei Empire, in the fourth year of Yande, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to ask Ying to leave Luoyang, and until now, in the first year of Xingyuan.

Zhuge Liang has been a central official by his side for seven years, and has been in charge of local government for another ten years. He is no longer a young bird, but a goshawk who has been struggling in the officialdom for 17 years.

When he left the Central Committee, Zhuge Liang was 25 years old, full of vigor, and it was the best time of his life.

Now, he is 35 years old, already a mature middle-aged man.

It can be said that he devoted the most precious ten years of his life to the Guo Wei Empire's western development strategy.

Therefore, when Guo Peng saw Zhuge Liang again, he was a little sad to find that his skin had become rough.

When he left Luoyang, what a handsome and spirited young man he was.

Now he looks like a middle-aged social animal with the son of a primary school student in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, who has been severely beaten by the society, has a car loan and a house loan, and has two interest classes and two study classes at home on a weekend.