At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

After praising his grandson, Guo Peng walked up to Jiang Wei's side and patted Jiang Wei's shoulder.

"Although you didn't win, you fought to the last breath. You are a man worthy of the admiration of your opponent, a good man."

Jiang Wei froze for a moment, his breathing became more rapid than before, and his face turned rosy.

"Besides, if you really want to talk about it, you just decided the winner, but you didn't decide whether to live or die. The last blow, Cheng Zhi, if it was a real life-and-death duel just now, you no longer have the strength to kill Jiang Wei. Dangerous, right?"

When Guo Peng said this, Guo Chengzhi couldn't refute it.

"Father said so."

"So, Cheng Zhi, you can defeat him, but you can't kill him. This is an incomplete victory, and you haven't won completely."

After speaking, Guo Peng looked at Jiang Wei again.

"Jiang Wei, it is true that you were not killed, but that doesn't mean you will be able to turn defeat into victory. On the battlefield, a cavalry fell from a horse, basically tantamount to death in battle. You don't understand this truth. Just now you fell from a horse, which is equivalent to death. Now, do you still think you are honored to be the number one in Longxi?"

Jiang Wei showed shame on his face.

“Students don’t think so anymore.”

"You are still young, you still have unlimited possibilities, don't limit your vision to one place, but go to a place that is more suitable for you, Jiang Wei, if you can, go to Luoyang, Luoyang Taixue has gathered the most talented people in the world A group of people, where you can be stronger than you are now."

Guo Peng finally patted Jiang Wei on the shoulder, and left the Longxi Army Horse Farm with Guo Chengzhi, who was exhausted, ending the short one-day inspection.

I know what I need to know, I know what I need to do, and there are unexpected gains.

"Father, that Jiang Wei..."

"Why, do you care about him?"

"Chengzhi hasn't completely defeated him yet."

Guo Chengzhi also had the same unwillingness on his face as Jiang Wei.

"He will go to Luoyang, and you will meet in Luoyang. Although it will be a few years later, you must also pay close attention to strengthening your body to make you stronger than you are now. We will go all the way, and you will change all the way. Strong, otherwise, you will be surpassed by him."

Guo Peng said so.

Guo Chengzhi's face tightened.

"Chengzhi knows."

It seems that the name Jiang Wei has been engraved in Guo Chengzhi's mind, and it may not be so easy to forget.

Afterwards, Guo Peng took Guo Chengzhi back to Hanyang County, gathered a large force, and continued westward, arriving at Guzang County, Wuwei County, the seat of Liangzhou's state government.

It is also the seat of Lu Qian, the current governor of Liangzhou.

Lu Qian is also an old man of the Guo Wei regime, and he was one of the group of people who took refuge in Guo Peng after Guo Peng occupied Yanzhou.

Over the years, he has been as diligent and conscientious as Mao Jie, wandering around the place, but has never been able to get the opportunity to enter the central government.

In fact, this is also Guo's technique of checks and balances. Too many Yanzhou people and Qingzhou people should not be allowed to enter the central government to lead the national policy. groups, and cannot specifically reject a group.

For example, the Eastern Han Dynasty government was dominated by the Kwantung Scholars Group, and they carried out policies that discriminated against Kansai, causing conflicts between Kansai and Kanto. imperial court.

After Mao Jie was transferred to be governor of Yongzhou, Guo Peng promoted Lu Qian to take over as governor of Liangzhou.

He sent scholars from Kanto to Kansai as officials because he wanted to bridge the gap between Kansai and Kanto.

Of course, there is also the idea of ​​cultivating his higher-level political capabilities.

In the position of state governor, you have to face the constraints and infringements of the central government at the top, and you have to face the opposition and disrespect of the chief executives of the counties and counties at the bottom. You have to dance purely with iron chains, and you have to dance wonderfully and gracefully. , it is very embarrassing.

But in other words, if he can get along well with the central government and the heads of counties and counties in this position, at least face-saving, and can do some things, then the political ability and emotional intelligence of the governor of this state are definitely first-class and excellent.

Therefore, rather than saying that this is Guo Peng's restriction and suppression, it is better to say that this is the last hurdle for the carp to leap over the dragon's gate. After passing this hurdle, the governor's political ability will be highly recognized, and the possibility of entering the central government Huge improvements.

And there are not many such people.

Mao Jie counted as half—he danced with iron chains and got things done, but he didn't get along well with his local colleagues, and he couldn't handle the relationship between colleagues well.

Even so, he is also a very good high-level political talent, and Guo Peng has already intentionally transferred him to the central government as the helm of the Ministry of Finance.

As long as he can properly deal with the coming economic depression, he can gain enough prestige.

The biggest advantage of Wang Can is that he is obedient and follows orders instead of proposing economic policies by himself.

When Guo Peng was there, Wang Can could cooperate well with Guo Peng in carrying out economic reforms. Guo Jin did not have the economic means of Guo Peng, and needed a relatively strong and experienced broker to be his money manager.

Compared with Mao Jie who is relatively strong and high-profile, Lu Qian is more low-key and not overbearing.

He served as Xiaogui Cao's follower in Liangzhou, and had no achievements of his own. He continued to implement Mao Jie's policy and did not restore the boundaries of Fangshi.

If there is any difference, it is probably that Lu Qian asked the county guards and county magistrates to cooperate with him to restrict the further emergence of more wine shops and hotels in the cities of all counties and counties in Liangzhou.

He asked the entire Liangzhou territory to start reducing the scale of business, and at the same time send more people to open up wasteland and reclamation, to curb commercial development to a certain extent, and encourage agricultural reclamation.

This behavior was not welcomed by the county and county leaders in Liangzhou, and its implementation was limited. Therefore, in the past few years, Lu Qian continued to inspect the counties and counties, asking the county and county leaders to do so.

He is not simple.

There are so many county guards in the world, the reason why Guo Peng chose him as the governor of Liangzhou when he was the county guard of Shangdang was that he gave Guo Peng a memorial at that stall.

In the memorial, Lu Qian put forward his own views on the Mao Jie incident that caused a lot of trouble at that time.

He said that it is possible for Liangzhou to develop business, but it is not without hidden dangers.

The hidden danger is that once the external environment changes, Liangzhou's business situation will also change. At that time, Liangzhou people may not be able to predict and make preparations in advance.

He said that the development of Liangzhou, and even the development of the Western Regions, depends on the peace and stability of the Guishuang Empire and the Anxi Empire.

Once this kind of peace and stability is affected, the situation in Liangzhou and the Western Regions will change, and His Majesty must observe it.

After reading this memorial, Guo Peng saw Lu Qian's broad vision, which was rarely possessed by officials of the Wei Empire at that time.

So he made up his mind to promote Lu Qian to Liangzhou governor and put Lu Qian in Liangzhou.

Now it seems that Lu Qian is indeed a far-sighted official who can see places that many people can't see, so when Guo Peng met Lu Qian and mentioned this matter, he kept praising him.

But Lu Qian did not accept it calmly.

There was shame on his face.

"The minister has failed the trust of the Supreme Emperor. In the past few years, Liangzhou governor has been in office, but he has not succeeded in curbing the increase of shops in Liangzhou. The number of restaurants and hotels is still increasing. The county guards and magistrates of various places do not take seriously the restrictive orders of the minister. , many."

Guo Peng felt a little guilty for a moment.

This is his fault, but he would rather bear it than smash it.

It is necessary for the governor of the state to exist, but he must also wear shackles.

"You have done a good job. You have restricted the appearance of some restaurants and hotels. If you continue to follow Mao Xiaoxian's method, there will only be more restaurants and hotels. The current problem is not your problem."

Whose problem is that?

Naturally, someone Guo.

It was Guo who did not give the state governor real authority, making it difficult for the state governor who wanted to do something.

Both he and Lu Qian knew it in their hearts, but neither would say it out loud, nor would he change it.

Therefore, Lu Qian, who is very politically wise, must take the initiative to take the blame to show political correctness.

"The minister is guilty."

He took the initiative to take the blame.

Guo Peng was very satisfied, so he smiled.

"You are not guilty. On the contrary, you have credit. You gave me the form to express your concern about the situation in Liangzhou. Now I can tell you that your concern has become a reality."

Lu Qian was taken aback.

"The Lomo Kingdom fought with the Anxi Kingdom, and the Anxi Kingdom lost a lot. The capital of the country was lost. The fate of the country was in danger. I don't know when it will recover. It won't be long before the Anxi Kingdom's caravans will not come so much. "

After Guo Peng finished speaking, Lu Qian turned pale with shock.

"Then... Isn't Liangzhou..."

"That's why I say you have merit. At least you have restricted them a little bit and didn't let them continue to set up shops without restrictions. As for other things, you can't solve them. This time I come, I also have the idea to solve the problem."

Guo Peng talked about his thoughts, and then told Lu Qian that the central government will issue an order soon to grant Lu Qian special powers.

Lu Qian can implement his own ideas throughout the state, forcibly close a number of shops, and can reject the applications of other shops. In this matter, all central agencies and local counties must abide by Lu Qian's orders, otherwise they will Punishment.

Lu Qian was very excited when he heard the words, and immediately saluted.

"I will never let down the trust of Your Majesty and the Supreme Emperor, and will do my best to deal with the crisis!"

"Okay, it's up to you."

Guo Peng patted Lu Qian on the shoulder.

Chapter 1526 One thousand four hundred and sixty six different Liangzhou

After talking with Lu Qian, Guo Peng left Wuwei County.

He crossed the Hexi Corridor to the westernmost part of Liangzhou, and then prepared to cross the Yumen Pass and enter the Western Regions.

A few years ago, under the leadership of Cao Ren, the Wei army left Yumen Pass, galloped across the Western Regions, wiped out all the countries in the Western Regions, occupied the land of the Western Regions, set up three Protectorates to directly rule the Western Regions, and reform the Western Regions, which is of great significance .

Before that, the transformation of the four counties in Hexi was of greater significance.

Without the transformation of the four counties in Hexi, there would be no logistics base for the Wei army to enter the Western Regions.

After these years of transformation, the four counties in the Hexi Corridor area have made great progress, and they are no longer the dilapidated scene after the ravages of war in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Guo Peng walked west along the Hexi Corridor and saw business travelers coming and going.

There will be a checkpoint every certain distance on the official road.

Armed police and tax collectors sent by the local government are stationed at the checkpoint, responsible for collecting tolls—this is the department that Guo Peng decided to strengthen.

Let these tax collectors be armed and become a powerful department of the country to collect taxes from all aspects.

These days, business travelers are the main travelers traveling on the official roads, and the common people are traveling between the two counties at most, and there will be no such long-distance travel from one area to another.

In the period of agricultural society, as the main labor force and production tools, they were still controlled on the land by the household registration system of the Wei Empire, and they basically could not circulate freely. Those who circulated were merchants, and the powerful forces behind them controlled the merchants.

Therefore, the purpose of setting road card fees is to target the richest people in the Wei Empire.

Collecting taxes in the upstream of commercial operations is tantamount to indirectly drawing a sum from the profits of commercial operations, mainly responsible for the maintenance of roads throughout the country.

As for the toll, it will naturally be passed on to the downstream of commercial operations, that is, the consumers.

However, these days, what merchants travel to sell is basically high-value luxury goods, and the consumption terminals are also local rich and powerful, and have nothing to do with ordinary people.

The necessities consumed by ordinary people, such as food, salt and iron, cloth, etc., do not need to be sold thousands of miles away, and can often be provided locally, and the price generally does not include tolls.

Even if there is, it is minimal, and basically does not harm the interests of the people at the bottom.

Doing so is actually tantamount to extending the imperial court's hand to these fat merchants and dignitaries, touching them, passing through their clothes, and rubbing oil on their fat pork belly, which will damage their interests.

Therefore, when this system was promoted, it was opposed by many local tycoons and some imperial officials who still existed at that time.

Of course, in the end it was forced to go on, and the people who stopped Guo Peng from promoting this policy were either dead or reformed.

As a result, the Taxation Department of the Ministry of Finance has also embarked on the path of a powerful department, but it has not yet mastered the armed forces and cannot be called a male position.

Once this department has mastered the armed forces, and the head is still the emperor's cronies, then this powerful department can logically become the meat-cutting knife in the hands of the emperor, cutting the flesh of the world's dignitaries.

The road control card is relatively calm and orderly, and everyone queues up quietly, neither fighting nor grabbing, neither pushing nor crowding -- mainly because there are armed people watching.

At that time, the country's finances were difficult, and Guo Peng had no extra budget to arm the tax department. He had to ask local armed forces to assist him, and there were several tax corruption incidents involving local armed forces.

Now that Guo Jin has money, he can push the local armed forces out of the tax system and build an armed force that belongs to the tax system alone.

Now it is still local armed forces assisting tax collectors to collect taxes. In the future, well-trained and powerful armed tax collectors will stay here, holding steel knives and crossbows and asking these merchants to collect tolls.

Every time you pass a certain distance, there will be a small checkpoint in front of you, and you will encounter one in about half a day, and the frequency is not bad.

The tax collectors I met were still conscientious, at least they were very proactive in collecting taxes, and their eyes were shining when they saw the passing merchants coming.

According to Guo Peng's understanding, the Taxation Department still has some welfare regulations on the income of tax collectors, such as calculating welfare based on head count.

Every time a group of tolls to and from merchants are charged, detailed records are made, and when the monthly settlement is made afterwards, the tax collectors can get a certain amount of income from it.

The more you collect, the more careful and active you are, the higher the tax collector's income will be.

In Guo Peng's view, this kind of incentive policy still has some positive significance, at least it can mobilize their enthusiasm.