Always nest on the temple, how do you know the real folk? As an official, if you don't even have the idea of going to the countryside to observe with your own eyes, all policies are just made by patting your head. Well, it's pure luck to get the right, but the probability of getting the right is always infinitely small, so you always come up with some policies that the officials think are very good, but the people deeply hate.
Of course, Xie AI will not travel alone. There will be escorts and local officials accompanying him. Pomp is indispensable.
Yumen county is not a big county. The registered population of the county is 3607, and the age group is also clearly recorded. How much land is owned under the name of who, how big and standard the house is, how many relatives are there, and how they look at the same time, will basically be clearly recorded in the official booklet.
It is not unusual that the frontier is sparsely populated. The population of many counties simply cannot reach the foundation that a county should have. No matter where the border of a country is, the number of similar counties is really small.
The land of Northwest China belongs to the frontier in all dynasties in the Central Plains. Its side is relatively special. Unlike the Central Plains, there are green mountains and green waters. All places have their own terrain. Most of them are either grassland or Gobi, and only a small amount of land is provided for farming.
In fact, the northwest was robbed by the Han people from the Hu people. It turned out to be the Hu people's pasture. Due to the geographical terrain and climate, there are many times when the water and grass are abundant in this area, which is extremely suitable for pasture. It is because of the soil quality. For example, the soil layer is not dug deep and is full of sand, so the land is really not suitable for farming.
Since the northwest fell into the hands of the Han family, in fact, most areas are either vacant or used as pastures, which makes the northwest maintain considerable grazing habits and become one of the breeding places for horses in the Central Plains Dynasty. In times of war, the northwest never lacks war horses. In addition, the northwest people basically know how to ride. The northwest cavalry has become the trump card in the hands of separatist forces. On several occasions, they can always control the central government in a corner and suppress local people.
Since there are not enough agricultural areas in other places, the Northwest has been in a state of food shortage since ancient times. In addition, it has the habit of keeping grazing, and its folk customs are much stronger than those in other areas. In a long history, the Northwest has always been able to provide high-quality cavalry for the central government. Even famous generals have emerged again and again, which leads to the saying "generals from the West and ministers from the East".
During the drought Festival, the Gobi in the northwest is more serious than in previous years. Xie AI doesn't have to go too far out of the county. At a glance, there is yellow sand everywhere. At this time in previous years, there would not be such a scene. It should be to see a piece of green grassland. However, this year, due to the lack of water, even the grass can't stand it.
"Yumen has less than 3000 mu of agricultural land, and most people make a living by grazing."
Zhao Fang is the head of Yumen county. Naturally, he wants to accompany Xie AI to the countryside. He has served as the head of Yumen County for two years. He spent a year visiting all parts of the country. When he wanted to make policy according to the investigation, there was a drought.
Xie AI himself is a northwest person. He is no stranger to what the northwest is like. He knows and understands what kind of environment the northwest people grow in, and what the northwest looks like.
Generally speaking, the northwest is very large. There are endless grasslands, mountains and green Gobi.
There are two places in a large range of mountainous areas, one is Qilian Mountain, and the other refers to the later loess high slope area.
But now it's not like the high loess slope of later generations. In fact, the situation there is still good, with its own grass vegetation and dense forests. The reason why later generations will become bare loess hillsides is that trees are cut down too seriously, resulting in soil erosion. Once the water cannot be retained and the underground river is dry, will the surface not even live a grass?
The Gobi in the northwest is mainly concentrated in the northwest near the western regions. Badain Jaran Desert and Tengger Desert in later generations are still grassland, especially because juyanze still exists. Badain Jaran Desert in later generations is actually a place with abundant water and grass.
In fact, the reason why there will be such a large area of desert in the later generations of Northwest China is not very complex. The geological features that are not suitable for farming are heavily farmed, and there are endless felling of trees, which artificially changes the natural environment, but it does not make the geological features desertification.
Xie Ai saw a piece of loess. If the rainy season recovers, it will soon be blue again. That is a phenomenon that the geological water storage system has not been completely damaged, but that the surface is too dry.
"Grazing people have been migrating to the southeast, not only Yumen County, but also other counties." Zhao Fang said that the people included many people who were born in Yumen county. They were very tangled in their hearts: "the people want to live, and it's hard to stop them."
When it comes to assessing a county's political achievements, the first thing to look at is how the county's population is. Maintaining the original number can only be said to be qualified. If the population growth is more, even if it is bad in other aspects, it will get a "good" evaluation.
For those local officials in Northwest and Northern Xinjiang, the situation they face is much more complicated than that in the mainland. It's only because a considerable number of people in Northwest and Northern Xinjiang chase grassland grazing and have difficult control. It's not surprising that they can't be found one day. They can only use all kinds of means, at least let the herdsmen be present when they should report to the county, and all kinds of transactions are also linked to the name of the county.
Due to the need to maintain the population in the county, the work of border local officials is not easy to do. They often need to walk to various pastures to interact with the people. If the people have difficulties, they should solve them as soon as possible and win the hearts of the people. Even if the people want to sell livestock, they should also help. Otherwise, they really can't make those people who can run as people in the county.
It's hard to say how Zhao Fang was before he became a local official in the northwest. Xie Ai saw that if Zhao Fang took off his official robe, he really couldn't see the elegance that a scholar should have. If Zhao Fang took off his official robe and squatted on the roadside, he would be a full farmer.
The southeast of Yumen county is the Qilian Mountains, across which is a basin, and then to the southwest is the plateau.
The grazing group in the northwest went southeast after crossing the Qilian Mountain, There is a very large lake (Yemo) in the basin below the plateau. It is a resting place in Hexi corridor. There are not only large lakes but also sections with vertical and horizontal water systems. Just because the environment is too good, the situation is very complicated. Northwest people will rob pastures, grazing tribes on Gaoyuan and some Hu people in the basin (of Tuyuhun) will come too. Every year, he will bleed heavily because of the competition for pasture.
Han couldn't help but move people. In some ways, it can also be called encouraging densely populated areas to dredge people, that is, densely populated areas are becoming more and more dense, and few people are still willing to take the initiative to migrate in sparsely populated areas.
The non prohibition of population mobility is actually a headache for local governments. Places that do not want population loss should try their best to retain the people, and places that want to attract people to migrate will ask for favorable policies from the center. It can be said that they have different means and powers.
"How many percent of the local people have gone?"
"This... Should be about 30 percent."
Xie AI couldn't help looking at Zhao Fang sympathetically. The drought and population loss made Zhao Fang uncomfortable during the assessment.
In the Han Dynasty, the population is roughly re surveyed every year and strictly once every three years, which is not an easy task for any local government.
If you do that, naturally, the center needs to monitor the local population, and then get the feedback data to tilt the policy to some regions. For example, where you need to attract people to migrate, you should tilt the good policy to the past. Many densely populated areas do things that increase the burden of the people within the scope allowed by the law, such as increasing taxes. When it comes to the national level, there is no simple good or bad, or out of practical needs.
"Is there enough grass-roots in the county?"
"Enough."
The Han state has a policy of arranging retired military officers and soldiers to serve as local officials. Even in remote places, people will be assigned to the grass-roots level as the state's control over local areas. The fact that the state can consult the population every year and conduct a census every three years is to rely on the control power to send it to the grass-roots level, that is, to make the official establishment of the Han state much more than that of any previous dynasty.
The number of grass-roots units in a place is directly linked to the lack of effective control over the place, that is, raising hundreds of people with the same rice. Not all official staffing personnel can do good and good things, and there will be no fewer bad things in the hands of staffing personnel.
It has been nine years since the founding of the state of Han. There are a lot of retired military personnel who have become local staff. In the past nine years, they have changed one crop after another. These grass-roots personnel who have served in the military have all had collective careers and have been shrouded in military law for a long time. Naturally, they are much more disciplined than ordinary people. Although it is said that there are black sheep among the retired military personnel, it is always said that the benefits to the country outweigh the disadvantages.
Xie AI walked and saw that he was gradually far away from the county. When he was about to reach his destination, the attack and killing did not appear.
Zhao Fang always felt something was wrong when he followed Xie AI out of the county. It was not until yuan Kuai appeared that he understood what had happened from a few words.
"So they gave up?"
"Lord, the villain's son is in their hands. Please help me!"
Xie AI called his bodyguard and whispered a few words.
The bodyguard didn't know what order he got. After saluting, he left quickly.
"Official..." Zhao Fang was both afraid and happy. He didn't dare to express his dissatisfaction and asked, "what is this?"
Local officials in the Han Dynasty had only civil affairs power. Anyway, they could not manage violent institutions. There were criminals hidden in the land, and the blame could not be attributed to the county magistrate. Only then could Zhao Fang know the situation and be so calm.
The county captain of Yumen county was not present. That's what Zhao Fang thought was wrong. In fact, the county guards in the Han Dynasty had great power, and the work of monitoring the local areas was done by the county guards. Therefore, the violent institutions in the county were in the hands of the county guards. The county magistrate is directly subordinate to the county magistrate. He has a good relationship and does not involve confidentiality. It is obvious that the county magistrate of Yumen county did not inform Zhao Fang of today's incident.
Zhang Dan's group was very cautious. They found that they should not give up action without dragging mud and water. He and Pei Heng met again and separated again in less than an hour. They only transferred with their iron confidants without notifying the others at all.
Soon, Xie AI got news feedback that the attack did not happen. After Zhang Dan and Peiheng disappeared, those people were suspicious... It was true that some people had ghosts in their hearts. After a quarrel, the people with ghosts in their hearts showed their feet, and the infighting broke out without accident. As a result, all those who secretly took refuge in the government were destroyed. The chaotic party that won the infighting could not find Zhang Dan and Pei Heng, so they gave up attacking and killing and fled. Li Kuangzheng personally commanded the pursuit.
"Continue the journey."
"This... Nuo."
Xie AI had no superfluous idea that the attack and killing did not happen. He was not surprised that Zhang Dan and Peiheng were so vigilant. He would be surprised if he could set up a bureau to arrest or destroy them casually.
The confrontation between the government and the chaotic party has always been years and years. In particular, it is not so easy to eliminate the structured chaotic party. On the contrary, it is not too difficult for some groups who raise flags to occupy the mountain.
"Wuthering mountain forest may exist, but taking the mountain as the king is not." When Zhao Fang was asked about relevant questions, although it was not within his scope of responsibility, he did not embarrass the county Lieutenant: "it's just... If the situation continues to deteriorate and there is no good plan... The officer thought it might happen?"
Which dynasty is not a fugitive? That's something that can't be avoided. However, if the mountain is occupied as the king, the official control over the place will fall to the dangerous warning line, which also indicates that the court is not so popular in general.
Obviously, the northwest people do not have a strong sense of belonging to the Han country, and there is a drought. If they really want to make them unable to live, it is that the Han army is powerful again, and those who should gather will still gather, so they have to fight for a way to live.
"What is a good policy?"
"Allocate grain, or distribute it to the people free of charge, or sell it to the people at a low price."
Xie AI asked one more question. When he learned that Zhao Fang was a Confucian scholar studying the Analects of Confucius, he immediately showed a sudden expression.
There are many Confucian classics, each of which has its own core values and divides itself into factions. Any faction can have its own ideas.
If Xie AI hadn't seen Zhao Fang as a practical person, unlike the other Confucian scholars who studied the Analects of Confucius, they would only talk and have no desire to continue to communicate.
In fact, those who study the Analects of Confucius can only talk, which is really not a slander. Later, there will be the speech of "half of the Analects governing the world". However, in addition to idealists and those who only speak self-restraint and return to propriety, this school can be regarded as one of the worst practical abilities of all Confucian schools.