Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 396 South County
Bai Tu stayed in Xiangyang for nearly a month.
Not only did it pave the way for all those who needed it, but it also showed greater respect for people like Yi Ji who stayed at their posts.
Historically, people like Yi Ji and Huo Jun accompanied Liu Bei in leaving, and they were not in the same mind as the Nanjun gentry. After the Chu army entered the city, they would naturally not be passive and lazy, but would try their best to show their strength.
Bai Tu also directly appointed Yi Ji as the prefect of Nanjun. As for the original prefect Huang Chengyan... he was originally brought in temporarily to "maintain order". Now that he has entered the cabinet, he will not stay in Nanjun for long.
In short, we need some face. As long as you are not too unknown and no one has mentioned you to Bai Tu, Bai Tu will give you all the other ones.
Including the Kuai brothers, they did not stay in Xiangyang, but returned to their hometown in Zhonglu County. When Bai Tu passed by before, he also visited them in person. After a conversation with the source of the rainbow...
Even though the Kuai brothers still had some resentment towards Bai Tu, due to their optimism about the future of the State of Chu and their understanding of the current situation of the Kuai family, after the King of Chu came to visit them in person, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue finally returned to officialdom again.
After all, the fact that Zhonglu was previously granted to Madam Cai as a fiefdom had already shown Bai Tu's dissatisfaction with them.
Although the Kuai family also sent some young men to serve in the State of Chu to express their obedience, but... Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue originally did not want to come out again.
However, Bai Tu has come to invite them personally now, and the Kuai family is somewhat different from other Nanjun gentry. They were one of the main planners in supporting Liu Biao and conspiring to seize Jingzhou, so it is naturally more difficult for them to "go ashore".
Finally, the Kuai brothers decided to look for Meng Guoen...
The participation of the Kuai brothers in officialdom undoubtedly dissipated the gloom in the hearts of their old friends in Jingzhou, and they all accepted Bai Tu's call.
However, people like Yi Ji, who had never played any tricks from the very beginning, were undoubtedly more honored and favored, making many people regret having saved face before.
Especially the Cai family...
Obviously, everyone knows that Mrs. Cai's plan to cut off the source of the trouble was clearly planned together with her brother-in-law, and the Cai family was also taken advantage of.
However, after entering the State of Chu, Cai Mao was very shameless and acted like "the Cai family is well-informed about justice". Not only did he not temporarily withdraw from the world and save face like most of the other southern gentry, but he actively showed his...
Although the Cai family’s influence is certainly not as strong as before, considering the performance of Madam Cai and Cai Mao afterwards, the Cai family not only landed ahead of schedule, but also... compared to the Kuai family which was about to be reduced to its original form, it can be said that it is still as powerful as ever!
Of course, Bai Tu’s trip to Jingzhou was not just to “give out benefits”.
Some unreasonable or ignorant local forces were also liquidated, and... Jingzhou can raise any difficulties it has, but the tone of vertical management of the six departments will not change in Jingzhou, and it will be useless for anyone to intercede.
As for whether the Jingzhou gentry will band together again and create an instability factor and obstacle to development within the Chu state?
Bai Tu’s attitude towards this is that he has to be on guard, but... he doesn’t have to be too sensitive.
After all, the so-called Jingzhou gentry were not of one mind. The main group was composed of Nanjun gentry. The gentry in the four southern Jingzhou counties and Nanyang County had long disliked these people, but the Nanjun gentry had previously joined forces with Liu Biao to suppress other gentry in various places.
Now, these other aristocratic families, who were originally suppressed by the Nanjun aristocratic families, have begun to compete with them on the same starting line. Even...the Cai family, one of the two leading families of the Nanjun aristocratic families themselves, has shown signs of fully turning to the court. What kind of trouble can the Nanjun aristocratic families stir up?
As for the Jingzhou nobles, there is no basis for them to unite, unless Bai Tu really wants to make people angry and treat Jingzhou as a trophy or consumable of Yangzhou...
However, Bai Tu's western tour has given the Jingzhou gentry a sense of reassurance.
At the same time, all proposals for additional autonomy were rejected by Bai Tu. As the Jingzhou army was taken over and replaced in an orderly manner, no one continued to be stubborn.
It is said that it is very difficult to completely swallow up a force nowadays. It is not like the time when the world was in chaos, when it was possible to destroy a few counties and wipe out the princes - Cao Cao was almost killed by Lu Bu in that year!
Now the warlords on all sides have basically completed their transformation into warlords. Not only do they have large territories, but they have also completed the exchange of interests internally. It is not easy for anyone to swallow them.
Just like after Liu Bei entered Shu in history, even with a group of capable people in Shu Han, there was a long-term clear distinction between the old people in Jingzhou and the natives of Xichuan, and either the east wind prevailed over the west wind, or the west wind prevailed over the east wind.
Fortunately for Bai Tu, the vision of the Nanjun gentry was still a little narrow before. They only wanted to suppress the gentry in Nanyang and other counties in Southern Jingzhou to support themselves, which made the exchange of interests within Jingzhou very unbalanced.
Otherwise, if the entire Jingzhou becomes a community of interests, five years... may only be enough for Bai Tu to basically digest Jingzhou, and it will be difficult for him to do anything else.
Repairing the Han Weir? I'm afraid that as soon as the corvée is gathered, someone will call for it to be converted into military service to attack the King of Chu. That's not enough to make things worse...
However, Bai Tu does not need to worry too much for now, because soon the nobles in Yangzhou, especially Jiangdong, will "invade" Jingzhou on a large scale under the banner of "developing Jingzhou", and will rush to build workshops and occupy the market. By then, they will be busy enough.
Besides, the military exercises are about to begin, and there are several training grounds that can be set up in Jingzhou...
After Bai Tu finished his trip to Xiangyang, he headed north to Nanyang. Three months had passed since his departure.
"It's a lot slower than expected. The official road in Jingzhou is more dilapidated than expected. I hope it won't delay An Guo's affairs?" Bai Tu said to Cao Ang with some apology.
We agreed to send them to Wancheng in three months, but it only took three months to leave Xiangyang, and Wancheng... is still at the northernmost tip of Nanyang!
"It's okay. I don't have anything to do. I just hope I can go back this year." Cao Bang didn't care.
In fact, it would be nice to go out with Bai Tu. After all, if she returned to the north, she would not have the opportunity to "travel" around. The outside world is not as peaceful as the Chu State. Bah! The Chu State is the "outside world"! Xiahou Juan thought and corrected herself in her heart.
Bai Tu saw Zhang Chunhua coming over, so he turned around and asked, "What is the estimate given by the Ministry of Civil Affairs? This official road... is difficult even for us to walk on, how can it meet the transportation needs of large quantities of industrial products in the future?"
"Your Majesty, if all places have to repair their city walls in the future, the progress of road construction may be difficult to achieve the expected results." Zhang Chunhua reported the Ministry of Civil Affairs' estimated results to Bai Tu at this time.
After all, human resources are limited.
"The city wall... don't worry, if it doesn't work, don't repair it." Bai Tu said without any embarrassment.
"In future exercises, will we give up the city-breaking simulation?" Zhang Chunhua confirmed.
Originally, Bai Tu wanted to make use of these old rammed earth walls during the exercise, and then use cement and even steel bars to build stronger new walls.
However, after this trip, Bai Tu realized that road construction is more important for the circulation of industrial products!
"No, you're welcome if you need to demolish it, but... there's no need to build city walls in the future. The workshops outside Jinling stretch for more than ten miles, and the industrial zone is more than ten times larger than the urban area. I don't know what the use of the city walls is." Bai Tu said frankly.
Zhang Chunhua: ???
