Nu Yalang of Tang Dynasty

For the reason of making tea, Zhou Jun finally let Lu Yu stay.

Since Lu Yu has not left, Li Jilan and Nie Xuanluan, who are both friends, naturally do not intend to return to Jiangnan.

Zhou Jun found a nunnery in the city and settled the two girls. He also chose a house next to the official residence and let Lu Yu live in it.

After arranging the tea sage, Zhou Jun called Kong You and Guo Ziyi and began to discuss the next policy and strategy.

At that time, Tian Chengsi, the general of the Yan army, occupied Tongguan, blocking the Tang army's access to Luoyang.

Guo Ziyi intended to let the Tang army rest for a period of time, then make another effort to attack Tongguan and completely resolve the difficulties in Chang'an.

However, Tongguan is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the war is prolonged, the Yan army in Huaiyang in the south will take advantage of the opportunity and attack Chang'an directly.

If that happens, the Tang army will be attacked from both sides.

Therefore, Guo Ziyi's suggestion was to wait for the rear baggage team to bring in more heavy artillery and gunpowder, and use the superior firepower to break through Tongguan's city defense as soon as possible and turn the battle situation into a proactive one.

Speaking of the battle situation, Zhou Jun thought of one person and asked: "Where is the Yan Army general An Shouzhong?"

Kong You: "His internal organs were injured in the explosion. Now he is recuperating in prison. He does not eat or drink every day. He said that he must be loyal to the puppet Emperor Yan."

Zhou Jun: "Be loyal to the fake Emperor Yan? I'm afraid An Qingxu won't be able to wait... Just let him be."

Hearing Zhou Jun's words, Guo Ziyi and Kong You were stunned.

Zhou Jun said it unintentionally, but both Guo Ziyi and Kong You took these words to heart.

After making military arrangements, Zhou Jun began to discuss people's livelihood and government affairs.

Zhou Jun first asked: "After arresting those criminals who were linked to the puppet government, what is happening in Chang'an City now?"

Kong You: "After the prisoners were arrested, the city issued an order to calm the people down, and it is now settled. But the war in Chang'an has just calmed down, and the city is devastated. The number of hudingkou has dropped to about 100,000, and refugees have gathered in the city, especially in the south city.

, lack of food and clothing, and there is a hidden danger of riots."

"Not only that, the affairs of the government are heavy. Nowadays, the errands of the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five prisons are all done by military officials. After all, the manpower is still insufficient, and there are shortages everywhere."

Zhou Jun: "I have sent a document to Liangcheng, asking Gao Shi to receive civil servants and officials and rush to Chang'an to take charge of all the affairs of the court."

Having said this, Zhou Jun felt happy in his heart.

Fortunately, the Anxi Protectorate's Mansion did quite a good job in retaining talents.

On the one hand, Feng Changqing classified the people who immigrated from the Central Plains according to occupation and resume, and then selected some people with innocent family backgrounds and education to work in government affairs positions in the immigration areas; on the other hand, Yanqi and other places established

There was a large-scale closed town market, which required every official slave and maidservant who entered the town to read, write, and learn skills. It also made many contributions to Anxi's talent pool.

It was precisely because of the abundant talents in Anxi that after the military turmoil in Liangcheng and the civil servants of the DPRK took up their posts, Zhou Jun was able to order a large number of officials from Anxi to move to Liangcheng to fill the vacancies.

In the same way, after Chang'an was pacified, Zhou Jun rejected the allegiance of the clan and nobles. The newly promoted officials in Anxi and Liangcheng were also his greatest confidence in managing Chang'an.

After talking about the arrangements for official posts, Zhou Jun planned to talk to Guo Ziyi and Kong You about the people's livelihood in the city.

Zhou Jun: "How many refugees are there in the city? Can the people still have food and clothing?"

Kong You: "There are very few refugees in the north city of Chang'an, but those people who settled in the north city are all in poverty. This morning, patrols came to report that some people even starved to death at the street entrance. As for the south city, the situation is even more serious.

"Although there are no specific statistics on the refugees there, according to the investigation by the officials sent there, the refugees have built tents to cover the sky and the sun, the market is crowded with people, the number is probably over 10,000, and every household has almost no food."

Zhou Jun: "How could this happen? How did these people survive in the past?"

Kong You: "Before the Yan army was defeated, the people of Chang'an were in panic, the trade routes were almost interrupted, the market had been without merchants for a long time, and the people of Chang'an lacked livelihood, so they could only rely on the puppet court officials, noble families, generals and soldiers to work for them.

Get a job."

Zhou Jun: "Now that the Yan army has been defeated and the clan has been destroyed, they have no source of living supplies?"

Kong You nodded and said: "When the Yan army left, they not only plundered a large amount of money and food from the people, but also burned the granaries. The people in Chang'an now have no food to eat. Although the Tang army set up relief, they also hired many people."

The people of Chang'an did chores for them, but after all, it was a drop in the bucket."

Zhou Jun nodded and fell into deep thought.

Guo Ziyi said: "The prime minister has previously collected the property of the clan and nobles. He can use part of it to give to the people. As long as it can last until the grain team from Liangcheng arrives in Chang'an, the situation will improve."

Kong You: "The money and food that the clan and nobles have in Chang'an City have now been sorted out. If the Prime Minister agrees to provide relief..."

Zhou Jun said: "One hundred thousand people are starving, so money and food must be given away; but even if they are given relief, a regulation must be made."

Kong You knew that Zhou Jun had something important to say, so he found some paper and pen and spread them on the desk.

Zhou Jun: "In order to prevent the people from going hungry and to have something to do, the best way is to provide relief through work."

Guo Ziyi cupped her hands and said, "What the Prime Minister said was work relief?"

Zhou Jun: "Yes, the city was damaged during the war and needs to be repaired urgently; the official roads have not been maintained for a long time and most of them are interrupted; the buildings in the city have collapsed and need to be rebuilt; the rivers are seriously silted and should be dredged; the green plants and weeds are overgrown, and they need to be pulled out and replanted.

, these are all relief projects.”

Kong You wrote this down one by one.

Zhou Jun added: "Work-for-relief is the first step, and the second step is to work-for-training."

It was the first time for both Guo Ziyi and Kong You to hear the term "work instead of training".

Zhou Jun explained: "Work-for-relief work mostly involves manual labor, and the target group of people engaged in these jobs are generally young and strong men and women. This approach has several disadvantages."

"First, only the young and the strong can receive compensation from work relief. The old, weak, sick and disabled often cannot receive help."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Second, the work relief projects are limited after all. When there is no need for work relief in Chang'an City, these people will lose their source of food rations."

"Third, by simply asking the people to do physical labor, their personal skills have not improved, and they cannot help the government to obtain higher-level craftsmen and handymen to help Chang'an complete its future development plan."

Seeing that Guo Ziyi and Kong You still didn't understand, Zhou Jun continued to explain: "For example, Chang'an needs to rebuild a horse farm in Fufeng for the use of the Tang army. Then the planting of forage and the care of horses require professional personnel. In the early years,

, the personnel responsible for these tasks either died in the war or fled to the south."

"Today, the government must select experienced or talented people from among the people, sign employment contracts with them, open schools, and train them for future use."

"To sum up, work-for-training means that the government plans in advance the type and scale of employment, opens schools, hires teachers, signs contracts with employees in advance, and conducts unified training and instruction based on the future development needs of the city. It has reached

Every career must have a purpose."

When Guo Ziyi heard this, he was amazed and said that the prime minister had foresight.

Kong You asked: "Prime Minister, in your opinion, how should Chang'an develop in the future, and what kind of people do we need?"

Zhou Jun: "Chang'an is in ruins and waiting to be revitalized, but the trade routes are interrupted, the population is declining, and the imperial court cannot be rebuilt for the time being. When it comes to developing industries and gathering popularity as soon as possible, other methods will not work in the short term. There is only one thing, and perhaps we can start preparing in advance.

"

Kong You: "The Prime Minister is referring to...?"

Zhou Jun: "Teahouse."

Kong You and Guo Ziyi looked at each other, and the latter asked: "The prime minister is referring to fried tea?"

Zhou Jun nodded and said: "A tea master happened to come to Chang'an City. It may not take long for Bachuan Tea House to reopen."