Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 394 Water Conservancy Personnel Selection
Bai Tu traveled all the way from Jiangxia to Nanjun. After staying in Jiangling for a few days, he arrived in Zigui County.
The government affairs of Zigui County, especially the water conservancy construction, really made the officials of the six ministries and Bai Tu's eyes light up - it was almost catching up with the average level of Yangzhou during the General's Mansion period!
Zigui County is located on the side of the Yangtze River and has a rich water system. To the west is Wushan Mountain, and part of the remnant of Wushan Mountain is within the county. It is separated from the mountains and rivers of Ba County by the river. It is indeed a good place to develop water conservancy projects because it is located where the river flows out of Wushan Mountain.
However... you have to know that during the Liu Biao period, the Jingzhou government did not attach much importance to the people's livelihood water conservancy projects in the counties, and there were no sharp tools such as cement.
Under such circumstances, the fact that Zigui has reached the average level of Yangzhou is sufficient to show the ability of its county magistrate...
Although the officials from the six ministries were amazed by this, Bai Tu had expected it. After all, the county magistrate of Zigui was the famous Li Yan - well, not really that famous.
As an internal affairs civil servant, Li Yan obviously had great shortcomings in state affairs, and could be considered Zhuge Liang's... half-political enemy?
The Battle of Yiling in history, or the war with Eastern Wu, can be said to be the biggest mistake in Liu Bei's life, but it was a mistake he had to make.
After his defeat at Baidi, Liu Bei had no chance to undo his mistake and could only make final arrangements for his funeral. "Entrusting the orphan to Zhuge Liang at Baidi" can be said to be Liu Bei's final success. Zhuge Liang did not let Liu Bei down, and even if the Northern Expedition was ultimately unsuccessful, it was not Liu Bei's fault.
But in fact, when Liu Bei entrusted his son to others at Baidi, he entrusted them to two people, and the other one was Li Yan!
If Fa Zheng was still around, there might be better options, but there are no ifs...
Historically, Li Yan first served in Jingzhou as the magistrate of Zigui County. Later, when Cao Cao took control of Jingzhou, he fled to Xichuan and became the magistrate of Chengdu County. When Liu Bei and Liu Zhang fell out and the two armies confronted each other in Mianzhu, he surrendered to Liu Bei.
Therefore, Li Yan, like Fei Yi and Dong Yun, was a native of Jingzhou with a Xichuan background. During Liu Bei's lifetime, he was basically always among the top 5 in Xichuan. Especially after Fa Zheng and Liu Ba died one after another, Li Yan was ranked second only to Zhuge Liang.
However, after being entrusted with the care of the orphan, Li Yan not only often disagreed with Zhuge Liang, but also... had a bad relationship with others and a bad temper, so much so that things like "Fei Guan and Li Yan had a good relationship" were actually specifically written into history books.
Moreover, Liu Chan became closer to Zhuge Liang and soon alienated Li Yan, so Li Yan immediately changed his tactics and was very respectful to Zhuge Liang on the surface, and even persuaded Zhuge Liang to grant him the Nine Gifts...
Later, when Zhuge Liang went out to Qishan for the fourth time, Li Yan's supervision of food and grass was not good, forcing Zhuge Liang to withdraw his troops. Afterwards, he turned around and accused Zhuge Liang of dirty deeds in front of Liu Chan. As a result, Zhuge Liang, like the protagonist, directly took out the letter from Li Yan to him, exposing his lies and slapping him in the face. From then on... Li Yan was dismissed from office and never used again.
The reason why he is "half political enemy" is that Li Yan does not even appear in Zhuge Liang's list of opponents.
Although Li Yan was not employed again after being dismissed from office, Zhuge Liang promoted his son Li Feng to be the Chief Clerk of the Prime Minister's Office, which was his deputy, and he was still responsible for supervising food and fodder.
Perhaps Zhuge Liang did not regard him as an opponent, it was just wishful thinking on his part...
"Your humble servant Li Yan, I am here to pay my respects to the King of Chu and to all the gentlemen." Li Yan was still a little excited when he was summoned by Bai Tu.
After all, he knew that his political achievements in Zigui were very good!
Although Jingzhou Prefecture did not care about these things during Liu Biao's period, but... judging from the current situation, the State of Chu should value his achievements.
Li Yan was in his early thirties at this time, with an average appearance. Although his temperament was not greasy, he had a somewhat unpleasant "arrogance" - the kind of person who felt that his talent was not appreciated and had a high opinion of himself.
For example, as soon as Li Yan came in, he stared at the white map.
Bai Tu doesn't care about not letting his subordinates look at him, otherwise there will be no eye contact and the effect of the Source of Rainbow will not be good!
only……
It seemed that there was no one else in Li Yan's eyes except Bai Tu, and he didn't even glance at him when he mentioned "your Excellencies".
Perhaps in Li Yan's mind, these tools can praise him now, and then watch him become a minister in three years, enter the cabinet in five years, and reach the pinnacle of life...
"Fang Zheng is from Nanyang, right? Yes, I have read your resume. You have made quite a few achievements during your tenure as the magistrate of Zigui... Well, in terms of water conservancy and people's livelihood construction, you were as good as most of the county magistrates under my rule when Liu Biao was still in power." Bai Tu said in a tone of praise, but... he did not praise him too much.
Li Yan's personality is similar to Wei Yan's. Chen Shou, who compiled the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", was from Shu and had a clearer understanding of Shu officials. He commented on Wei Yan as "arrogant by nature" and Li Yan as "arrogant by nature"...
However, before the "also" of Wei Yan, at least there is "good at taking care of soldiers", which means that when he leads the troops, his subordinates are all convinced by him, and... Wei Yan is less than 20 years old now and is still very malleable.
In contrast, Bai Tu wanted to use Li Yan, but was concerned about its "characteristics" and was not sure how to use it, so he didn't even dare to use the Source of the Rainbow to its full potential.
"Your Majesty's wise strategies will last for thousands of years, which is naturally not comparable to Liu Jingzhou." Li Yan seemed to understand something and flattered Bai Tu in time, but unfortunately... he did not know the source of the rainbow.
Bai Tu didn't want to hear this...
"No, it's not just my credit, it's the result of the joint efforts of the six ministries and one court. The credit for the previous county or prefecture in Yangzhou was not my credit, nor that of a governor or county magistrate...
Fang Zheng was able to develop water conservancy in Zigui County in the past few years, which is a real contribution. If you can adapt to the new system of Chu, I am looking forward to seeing you." Bai Tu affirmed Li Yan's contribution while actively guiding him, and he was also worried about it.
It is true that Li Yan was very capable in local governance, especially in water conservancy. In the early days when Liu Bei pacified Xichuan, Li Yan repaired the water conservancy and enjoyed a high reputation among the people.
Even in the Song Dynasty, some water conservancy projects that were not built by Li Yan were mistakenly believed to be built by him, which shows the impression he had in the eyes of the common people.
Therefore, Bai Tu did not want to give up on Li Yan just because he was one of the "Six Pitfalls of Shu Han" personally selected by Chen Shou...
"Your Majesty, thank you for your praise, but...when it comes to water conservancy, I also have confidence in myself!" Li Yan emphasized.
Without Bai Tu asking, Li Yan said himself : "Although I am from Nanyang, my ancestor is Li Luhai, the prefect of Qin Shu County in the pre-Qin period. Moreover, I started learning literature at the age of seven and have been very interested in this family tradition." The pride in his tone remained.
When they heard the name "Li Luhai", Bai Tu and officials from the other six ministries were surprised, but they did not think that his pride at that time was excessive.
Lu Hai is a respectful title, referring to Li Bing who built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System!
Li Bing and his son, who laid the foundation for Shu to be known as the "Land of Abundance", have been highly respected by all dynasties, both government officials and the public, for more than two thousand years.
It is a pity that due to the simplicity of Qin's history and its subsequent loss, not only is Li Bing's origin unknown , but even the name of the "Zi" in Li Bing's father and son was not recorded.
Bai Tu also didn't expect that Li Yan had such a family background?
As a result, Bai Tu became more interested in Li Yan. Bai Tu also had quite a few example drawings and structural drawings of water conservancy projects, but... an excellent engineer cannot be mass-produced just by having drawings. Of course, he still needs talent and foundation in this area to further improve!
"In that case... Li Yan, I have an important task to entrust to you. Can you do it?"
Bai Tu thought about it, and told Li Yan about the water conservancy project planned by Wugong County...
