Chapter 1119: He Xi County
One thing His Majesty had to do every day now was read the war reports.
There weren’t reports every single day; if there was nothing new, His Majesty would reread the old ones, then pull Jiang Youzhi over to study the map with him.
His Majesty was very self-aware; he knew that having only read a few books on military tactics, he absolutely couldn’t compare to the Duke, who had long been battle-hardened.
So he didn’t issue blind commands; he merely enjoyed analyzing with Jiang Youzhi the Duke’s intentions in deploying his troops this way.
Not long after the capture of Ruzhou, the Hexi Corridor, which Lin Shuo had long since secretly taken under control, was also fully secured.
After consulting with Jiang Youzhi, His Majesty decided to establish He Xi County, and settled on Gu Chuan as the candidate for Prefectural Governor.
Gu Chuan had already been in the Southern Border for eight or nine years; from County Magistrate to Prefectural Administrator, he had now been promoted to Magistrate.
Wherever he went, he vigorously developed agriculture, improved the people’s livelihood, and worked hard to mediate ethnic conflicts.
Now the total taxes of the Southern Border were nearly double what they had been eight or nine years ago, which showed Gu Chuan’s governing ability.
Over in the Hexi Corridor, there were many merchants from the Western Regions, from all sorts of countries and ethnicities, speaking different languages and having different customs; the place was lively, yes, but truly chaotic as well.
Next, His Majesty and Jiang Youzhi planned to greatly promote trade with the various states of the Western Regions; He Xi County could be said to be extremely important, and they had to assign a Prefectural Governor who could really get things done.
The Southern Border was already a region where many ethnic groups lived together; Gu Chuan had governing experience, and he was still young and full of drive. To open up a new situation over at the Hexi Corridor, they needed exactly such an energetic young man.
As for the Southern Border, they only needed to send an official to hold the city and continue the various methods and policies Gu Chuan had used to govern the locality.
Once the decision was made, His Majesty patted Jiang Youzhi on the shoulder. "It’s not that I insist on sending your young brother-in-law to such a harsh place."
"By rights, when he returns to the capital next year to report on his duties, he should be transferred to a prosperous region or given a post in the capital. But I’m at my wits’ end as well; I don’t have many men who are both usable and truly capable in my hands, so I can only wrong him by making him toil a few more years in He Xi County."
Jiang Youzhi cupped his hands in salute. "Gu Chuan is a subject of Great Chu; naturally, wherever he is needed, that is where he will go."
His Majesty chuckled. "Aren’t I just worried that when you get home, you’ll have no way to explain it to the Duchess of Qin?"
"If the Duchess of Qin is unhappy, let her come and scold me."
When Jiang Youzhi got home, he told Yun Jiao word for word what he and His Majesty had said.
Yun Jiao was naturally displeased at this moment. She had originally thought that next year Gu Chuan could become an official in the capital, and then the whole family could be reunited. She hadn’t expected that they would send him off to He Xi County again.
Once he went, it would be impossible for him to come back in less than five or six years.
Yun Jiao felt like cursing.
But she couldn’t really curse His Majesty, so she pounded Jiang Youzhi a few times, and could only curse Gu Chuan in her heart: Serves you right, who told you to insist on going to the Southern Border back then.
Who told you to work so hard and be so capable once you got to the Southern Border.
Sometimes being too capable isn’t a good thing either; the more capable you are, the more your superiors squeeze every last drop out of you.
He Xi County urgently needed a Magistrate to take office, while the newly appointed Magistrate for the Southern Border had not yet arrived, and there was no time to do a handover. Gu Chuan simply set off for He Xi County.
Gu Yuheng and Aunt Hua, Wu Fang, and the others didn’t even have time to pack; they could only let Gu Chuan go on ahead.
Another ten days or so passed before the whole family finished handling their affairs in the Southern Border and set out for Xiang City.
Gu Yuheng missed his daughter terribly; this time, he was determined to detour to Xiang City no matter what to see his girl first.
Aunt Hua also hadn’t gone back to her maiden home for several years. The two of them decided to stay in Xiang City for a while before setting off for He Xi County.