The original capital of Liangzhou is in Hanyang County.

However, because the emperor felt that it was too far from the four Hexi counties, which was not conducive to the development of the four Hexi counties, he ordered the capital of Liangzhou to be moved to Guzang County, Wuwei County.

This will facilitate the Liangzhou Governor to supervise the construction of the four counties in Hexi nearby.

It just so happened that Zhuge Liang could run a shorter distance.

As the new capital, Guzang County was naturally supported by strong support. Therefore, when Zhuge Liang, who had been in a small place for a while, could not help but imagine when he could build Dunhuang County like Guzang County.

After all, it is a county capital, isn't it?

The place you must come to after entering Dunhuang County from Yumen Pass and Yang Pass is definitely Dunhuang County.

Businesses and travelers from all countries in the Western Regions had to pass through Dunhuang County, cross the four counties of Hexi before entering Guanzhong to do business. Dunhuang County was also the western gate of the Han Empire in a sense.

Zhuge Liang has only been in office for several months, but he has been silently thinking about how to build Dunhuang County into a moderately developed county town, so as to serve as the storefront of Dunhuang County.

After entering Guzang County, Zhuge Liang was soon arranged to enter the official post station in Guzang County and was entertained by delicious food and drinks. He said that Mao Jie was a little busy and would summon him soon.

Zhuge Liang waited for a day and a night, but before he could hear from Mao Jie, he was a little anxious. After repeated inquiries, a man who claimed to be a service official around Mao Jie came.

He said that Mao Jie was arranging a new batch of materials to let Zhuge Liang wait a little longer, and Mao Jie would soon take time to see him.

"I wonder, why did the Envoy Mao meet me? I am just a Dunhuang County Magistrate. Mao wants to summon me. Is there any special and important matter to explain?"

Zhuge Liang stopped the official and refused to let him go.

The official looked helpless.

"If you want to see you, it is not something that those of us around you can ask. You can wait and read books. The envoy Mao will summon you soon."

So Zhuge Liang could only continue to look through the pile of bamboo slips that were specially sent, which were part of "The Analects of Confucius", which was quite boring to Zhuge Liang's opinion.

He would rather read some works on agronomy, water conservancy and help him enrich his professional skills as an administrative official.

Or staying on the land and watching the farmers under their jurisdiction work hard to cultivate wasteland, it is better than watching "The Analects of Confucius" here.

There are no classics in his family, and they read any books. This is the case in Jingzhou, and even more so after joining the Guowei Group in Jizhou, reading a lot of books and embracing all rivers.

There is only one volume of "The Analects of Confucius", which is really boring.

But he really couldn't get out of it, so he really didn't know what to do.

Waiting so anxiously, waiting, and after waiting for another two days, I finally got Mao Jie's reception.

Zhuge Liang couldn't wait to go to the governor's mansion, but he sat in the reception room of the governor's mansion for the whole morning and was invited to have a free lunch. Zhuge Liang was very depressed.

In the afternoon, Zhuge Liang, who was about to collapse when drinking water, finally received a notice that Mao Jie was going to receive Zhuge Liang officially, so he brought Zhuge Liang like an amnesty to Mao Jie's location. Zhuge Liang finally met Mao Jie after more than ten days.

"The lower official Zhuge Liang, pay homage to the envoy Mao."

Zhuge Liang quickly stepped forward to salute, showing his respect for Shangguan.

When he saw Mao Jie, Zhuge Liang found that Mao Jie was lowering his head and writing quickly.

It seems to be really busy.

Seeing Zhuge Liang coming, Mao Jie put down his pen and raised his head, then smiled.

"Zhuge Kongming, hahaha, I'm so sorry. There are so many things I have to do, so I've delayed your time. I hope you don't blame me."

Mao Jie stood up and walked to Zhuge Liang, and helped Zhuge Liang up with his own hands.

"The officials dare not, the officials are just confused. The officials are just a mere county magistrate and have not done anything earth-shaking. How can I let the envoy Mao take the time to meet him in my busy schedule?"

Zhuge Liang straightened up and asked softly.

Mao Jie laughed and asked Zhuge Liang to sit down first, and then he also sat down.

"I have this habit. For some more important places, I don't ask the county magistrate, but only the county magistrate. I will summon some township leaders and village chiefs to ask about their responsibilities to determine whether they are competent and whether there are illegal things."

Mao Jie gave an explanation, and Zhuge Liang found this to be quite interesting.

"So, the envoy Mao summoned the officials to come, not for anything else, but for testing the officials to see if the officials are competent?"

"Yes, that's it."

Mao Jie nodded: "Before you, I have tested more than 100 local officials like this. I have asked you, from the head of a village to the head of a county. You are not an exception.

Some competent officials were recommended to be promoted by me, while some incompetent officials were recommended to be dismissed or even punished. This is a means of governing states and counties."

"So that's it. Is there anything that Mao envoy needs to test his subordinates? Although the subordinates have no talent, they claim to be dedicated to their duties."

Zhuge Liang had strong confidence in this and believed that he could definitely pass the test of Mao Jie.

Moreover, he didn't want to spend too much time here. Not only did he have normal government affairs to do, but he also had a lot of things to investigate. Zhuge Liang was really busy.

Mao Jie smiled and began to ask questions slowly.

For example, the number of household registrations in Dunhuang County, how many households, how many people, how many men, how many women, how many strong men, how many strong women, how much existing land, how much land is planned to be reclaimed, etc.

Zhuge Liang answered this question in a slight manner, without any awkwardness. It seemed that all the data was in his head, and now it was just retelling it, with no problem at all.

Mao Jie asked him again how he planned to manage Dunhuang County in the future and how to use his limited manpower, material resources and financial resources to develop the border area of ​​Dunhuang County. Zhuge Liang also had some solutions.

Instead of sticking to the traditional way of increasing population and reclaiming wasteland to increase productivity, he actively seeks various other ways in order to develop Dunhuang County better.

"Agriculture is the foundation of the country. To develop a land, agriculture must be the most important thing. It is inevitable to encourage farmers to cultivate farmland, build water conservancy projects, increase grain production, increase grain reserves, and at the same time increase population and reclaim more land.

But just developing agriculture is not enough. Dunhuang is located in the border area and the climate is bitter and cold. No matter how it develops agriculture, it will not exceed the fertile land of the Central Plains. If people want to make their lives better and relatively richer, they must take advantage of the special situation in Dunhuang County to develop it."

I felt that Zhuge Liang had a lot of ideas for governing the local area, and Mao Jie became interested, so he continued to ask.

"Tell me, what's the special situation?"

"It is Dunhuang County located in the border area, close to Yumen Pass and Yang Pass. It is a must-pass place for business travelers from various countries in the Western Regions and business travelers from Wei to the Western Regions. There are many people coming and going. If you can make full use of this, you can develop Dunhuang County."

“Continue.”

"Yes, Xiaguan's idea is to take advantage of the advantageous geographical location of Dunhuang County. During the process of building roads, as the road construction progresses, hotels and restaurants will be built in Dunhuang County to provide sufficient accommodation and dietary conditions for round-trip business travelers.

The Xiaguan heard that the Ministry of Finance had been ordered to provide a certain amount of interest-free or low-interest loans to the people who wanted to run business. Therefore, the Xiaguan wanted to apply to the Ministry of Finance to assist the people in the county to apply for these loans to build hotels and restaurants.

This allows them to temporarily rest and stay in Dunhuang County, and be willing to spend money in Dunhuang County. The more people come and stay, the more money they spend. In this way, Dunhuang County can get more taxes.

With this tax, Dunhuang County can continue to build counties and expand the county town to build a wider and taller one. If you can do this, more and more people are willing to come to Dunhuang County.

With more people, Dunhuang County will prosper, and its manpower, material resources and financial resources will increase greatly. It may even become a concentrated trading place for business travelers in the Western Regions and business travelers in the Wei Kingdom. In this way, Dunhuang County can be completely developed."
Chapter completed!