Chapter 326 The Purpose of Discipline (XII)
In April of the third year of Qianlong's reign, Huo Chong arrived in Xuzhou. He first met the civil and military officials of Jiangsu as a whole, and then met them one by one.
The first person he saw was a military officer. From the intelligence gathered from all sides, the Qing Dynasty Xi'an court was likely to launch an attack against Jiangning and Henan.
Jiangning is one of the most important cities on the Yangtze River, guarding the western gateway of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Henan is the center of the world, a place of four wars. No matter which side it is, it will trigger a fierce battle.
In order to cope with the next battle, the Chinese army must expand in size to 100,000 and strengthen its command capabilities.
The army was of course full of fighting spirit, but they only asked Huo Chong to send back the backbones who were transferred to the military academy as soon as possible to lead the troops. At the same time, they asked Huo Chong not to draw more capable personnel from the army.
After the discussion, they talked about Jiangsu government affairs. The army said unhappily that since Gao Pang and Kong Bugeng met in Xuzhou, they made a decision to let the salt merchants run livestock farms.
"Where did you see it?" Huo Chong asked.
The troops were very surprised, "Doesn't the commander know? They have all written it down in the official documents!"
"Then what is the issue that you are most dissatisfied with?" Huo Chong continued to ask.
The troops scratched their heads, but in the end they could not find any statement that could immediately and thoroughly negate such a policy. In the end they could only mutter: "Governor, if we do this, won't the salt merchants make all the money? Shouldn't you say something to them?"
Huo Chong did not answer, but asked: "What are you dissatisfied with?"
The troops immediately said, "Commander-in-chief, we are worried if we use those people's mules and horses."
"I know. Is there anything else you're worried about?"
The people in the army didn't say anything special in the end. The reason for their opposition was that they were worried and felt that Kong Dianba was biased.
After talking with the troops, he talked with the civil affairs department. Half of the land in Jiangsu Province north of the Yangtze River has been nationalized. The Chinese court did not rent the land, but signed a new land deed in the form of land use rights. There was no abandonment of land in the whole of Jiangsu. Although Kong Dianba did not speak, he also watched the cadres of the Ministry of Revenue and Agriculture bragging. He looked quite complacent.
When Huo Chong asked Jiangsu to provide wartime food, the officials of the Agriculture Department lined up to say that there was no problem.
Huo Chong immediately took out the discipline manual and said with a smile: "Comrades, let's read it together."
When everyone heard this, they felt that something was not right, but they could only quickly take out the cadre discipline manual.
The manual is very new and is not exclusive to civilians. Each branch of the military has its own manual. The Army has the Army Drill Manual, and the Navy has the Navy Drill Manual. It contains various disciplines to be followed and the response modes for basic situations.
The civil servants here took out the manual. Huo Chong asked everyone to turn to the fourth page and read with everyone: "When you hear a question from your superior, don't immediately agree to it. Instead, ask for specifics."
After reading it, Huo Chong looked at the officials of the Agriculture Department and saw that their faces were already red. There was shame and some dissatisfaction in their expressions.
"Please don't think that we are making things difficult for everyone by writing this manual. Discipline is by no means meant to make things difficult for everyone, but to protect everyone. Do you think I really care about you?"
After Huo Chong asked, everyone nodded readily.
Huo Chong then continued , "Your feelings are correct, so I won't push you to death just because of what you said in front of me. But, something will definitely happen to other people, and then you will know how easy it is to push someone to death. Why do we need to build discipline? It's just one rule: no one can push others to death."
At this point, Huo Chong saw that many people did not understand, so he quickly added, "You can't use your own death to force others."
Huo Chong didn't want to give a lecture at first, but he had to give one in the end. The officials looked excited, uneasy, and some of them clearly knew they were wrong.
Huo Chong did not point it out. Huo Chong was already very surprised at what the Huaxia Dynasty could achieve. Huo Chong had always thought that people from the grassroots were confused, but he did not expect that there were indeed confused people. But the proportion was far less than imagined.
At least among those who were promoted to the level where they could see Huo Chong, there were indeed some who were not smart enough, but there were no fools. What these people lacked was not intelligence or understanding, but education.
It was already late, so the officials had dinner with Huo Chong. The rules for dinner were clearly written in the discipline manual, and although the food was of the standard that an official canteen should have, there was no large banquet.
After dinner, Huo Chong drank tea and chatted with Kong Bugeng. Kong Bugeng sighed, "My lord's kindness is beyond my reach."
Huo Chong was a little surprised to see Kong Bugeng trying to flatter him. "Old Kong, discipline is to try to get everyone to move forward together. If you are partial, it's better not to have discipline. According to the storyteller, there are seventeen laws and fifty-four executions. But why do you look so discouraged, a guy who claims to be a talent like you? It shouldn't be like this."
Kong Bugeng's expression should be that he wanted to express himself as much as possible in a relationship that was in line with the relationship between the monarch and his subjects. Even though he was obedient, he also hoped that Huo Chong would trust him.
However, after several unsuccessful attempts, Kong Bugeng finally said with a depressed look on his face: "My lord, I really don't have any mercy. It's probably because I'm not talented enough and my virtue is shallow, so everyone doesn't really take me seriously. I envy you for being so responsive to my lord's calls."
"Old Kong, you see how honest they are now, but that's because you haven't seen what they were like in the beginning. I'm not just starting to teach them to read and read the rules now. I've been teaching these people for more than ten years, and I've been teaching them this way for more than ten years. If you think they're irritating, that's because you haven't seen what they were like in the beginning. I'm against corporal punishment, so fighting in the army is absolutely not allowed. Especially for superiors beating their subordinates, that's even more unacceptable. Making things difficult is inevitable, after all, many people have that kind of temper. But once it gets out, it's not okay. But at that time, I really wanted to beat these guys up..."
Huo Chong gave a brief account, and then told Kong Bugeng about the bad things that had happened to him. Kong Bugeng looked very upset at first, but after listening to a few stories, he was amused and started to smile bitterly.
Seeing Kong Bugeng's mood improve, Huo Chong advised: "Old Kong, what everyone needs is learning. You are in this position, and we don't ask you to be able to do everything. Because there is no such person who can do everything. Your intelligence can be used to lead everyone to constantly try to complete the work under discipline, and to be able to effectively apply discipline, and to improve the provisions and specific implementation of discipline. You are a great merit. With your intelligence, you can do it ."
Kong Bugeng felt touched, but he did not lower his guard. "But..., my lord, you are so kind that not everyone can be. Just like when I recently gathered those salt merchants who had lost their livelihoods and talked about improving the power of livestock, many people had different opinions. If I follow what they said, I should have killed them."
Huo Chong heard Kong Bugeng's careful words and laughed, "Haha, someone has said that. How do you think I will answer?"
Kong Bugeng quickly and carefully replied: "I don't know how the lord will answer."
"I haven't said anything until now. Since you asked, I will tell you. I will tell those people that if you, Kong, only allow salt merchants to engage in animal husbandry, then you, Kong, only care about the rich. Or if you, Kong, only help salt merchants, and take care of other salt merchants who want to engage in animal husbandry in the new agricultural model, and organize them to learn so that they can do it. But you don't care about other people and don't help them at all. That means you, Kong, are trying to benefit the salt merchants. Or if you, Kong, only do specific things, and don't propose a set of operational methods for the animal husbandry itself, and don't promote the development of the animal husbandry industry by establishing an agricultural college major, then you, Kong, have made mistakes in your work. If you have none of these, and only you, Kong, recommend a way out for the salt merchants, then you are the only one who is wrong."
Kong Bugeng was so surprised that he was speechless for a moment. What Huo Chong said was completely beyond Kong Bugeng's imagination. It did not involve any good or evil or interests. After thinking about it carefully, Kong Bugeng suddenly realized and asked hurriedly: "Is the Lord seeking to develop productivity?"
Huo Chong nodded, but did not mention the matter itself. "Old Kong, you have read so many books. If you can do this, do you think you are a famous official?"
Kong Bugeng thought for a moment and then sighed, "Even if he is not a famous official, he is at least a capable official."
"Don't underestimate yourself. A capable official is a famous official, but the official's position cannot be promoted, and in the end, his efforts are taken away by the people above him. The so-called famous official takes away his reputation and credit. This is the kind of shit I hate the most. If everyone's hard work does not get the due reward and recognition, who would be willing to work hard! The concept of our Huaxia Dynasty is liberation. We want to build a court that does not bully others. We can't let our own people bully our own people first."
Kong Bugeng wanted to praise Huo Chong, but since he was involved in the matter, Kong Bugeng felt awkward and asked, "My lord, can you really build such a world?"
"Old Kong, after learning and practicing, can't you become a famous official? I think you can become a famous official. The world is so big, and our Chinese population is so large. As long as we give them education, can there be a lack of famous officials in the court? I have great confidence in our China. There will definitely be famous officials. If the discipline is there, everyone can also benefit from the discipline. Why is it impossible to build a world where no one is bullied? Of course, such a world cannot be achieved overnight, but I will do my best to promote it while I am alive, and the successors I select can also inherit our ideals. Such a world will definitely be realized with the development of productivity."
Kong Bugeng looked at Huo Chong, not understanding whether Huo Chong was a great liar or a great saint. Why did something that sounded so grand and had only been talked about for thousands of years now seem to have the possibility of being realized?
After thinking about it, Kong Bugeng felt that he couldn't be as excited as the young people. He had suffered losses when he was young and almost lost his life. Although he jumped off the boat in anger, he suddenly got an opportunity. If he was as frivolous as before, I'm afraid his end would be even worse.
But having said that, it was imperative that he not give Huo Chong an explanation. Kong Bugeng made up his mind and asked about the specific implementation standards of the famous officials mentioned by Huo Chong.
Of course, this standard cannot be written in the manual, so Huo Chong chatted with Kong Bugeng. Although there are many scientific research and summary models promoted in agricultural reform, there are not many that can be written down.
After Kong Bugeng finished writing, Huo Chong reminded him, "This is by no means something that can , and it may not be effective in three to five years. Old Kong, I don't know much about animal husbandry, so I suggest you go to a place where this is done and ask the old masters for advice. They understand this, and as long as we sincerely ask for some basic knowledge, they will definitely tell us."
Kong Bugeng quickly asked: "For example, what do you want to ask?"
"For example, how often does a donkey give birth, and how long does it take for the donkey to grow up to the stage where it can give birth to the next generation. In addition to donkeys, the livestock we raise are cattle and horses. Mules are a cross between horses and donkeys, and they are another very small part of our business."
"I will follow the orders of my lord." Kong Bugeng felt relieved. If Huo Chong only asked for this much, Kong Bugeng was very confident in himself.
And there is no need to consult the old masters of raising livestock, as the Chinese court alone provides a lot of knowledge and documents.
When Kong Bugeng read the information before, he didn't think he could do anything, and he just casually read the content related to various responsibilities. Now he read the information from the beginning, and when he saw the reproductive cycle of large animals, he immediately felt it.
It turns out that the pregnancy period of horses is about 11 months, and it is best for mares to start giving birth after they are four years old. This means that it takes five years for horses to give birth to the next round.
Putting down the documents, Kong Bugeng thought for a moment and suddenly laughed out loud. The secretary looked at Kong Bugeng in confusion, but Kong Bugeng did not explain and just kept laughing. Because this was too funny.
The normal term of office for an official is about three years, and they are rarely re-elected. In other words, it is theoretically unrealistic for an official to handle the horse farm issue within one term.
No wonder Ma Zheng was so difficult to deal with, it turned out to be a true case of the death of the leader and the end of the government. Kong Bugeng wanted to understand this and laughed even harder.
