Finally, Duan Ling went up the mountain to soak in the hot springs, and then came back for dinner. The cooking was replaced by Wu Du, but he couldn't eat Zheng Yan's delicious food, but he felt a sense of homely warmth. Duan Ling felt comfortable in Hebei. This may be his last leisure time. As soon as the spring of the next year comes, things will come one after another, and it's not that simple.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and some people who had left the Central Plains have returned one after another. Duan Ling issued a resettlement order, allowing all households to settle in the new city.

Many large households wanted to get back the land, but Duan Ling changed the land order and assigned some new land outside the city to them, and paid some compensation accordingly.

The next day, Fei Hongde sent people back to Yecheng to report. Hejian was in good condition, but there were fewer people. It must be the informal army brought by Qin Long before. As for how Mu Kuangda joined Qin Long, after Jiangzhou asked clearly, most of the reports would come back.

Duan Ling thought about it and always felt that what Li Yanqiu wanted to do was probably to catch Cai Yan and Mu Kuangda in one go.

He and Wu Du have been involved in detail for a long time, and Wu Du finally said: "If we set up a plan to unite the prince and Mu, and let them step into the trap, it is possible."

"How to punish the crime in the end?" Duan Ling said, "Let Lang Junxia do perjury? Is it Mu Kuangda's arrangement?"

Wu sat alone in the main seat, while Duan Ling was thinking.

Wu Du finally said: "No matter what, let them prepare. Put the blame on Mu Kuangda, and the court will be more acceptable. That night, His Majesty said something, telling me not to worry about you anymore."

Although this matter is closely related to Duan Ling, after recognizing Li Yanqiu, it naturally became the biggest problem that Li Yanqiu had to solve. Li Yanqiu and his father have the same stubbornness, and both of them have a sense of responsibility that they should take responsibility.

After all, Duan Ling is not the turn of the emperor to take care of the fake prince and Mu Kuangda.

"Look at the letter," Wu Du said, "I found it in your dowry."

Duan Ling: "..."

Duan Ling looked down at the letter, and it was written by Li Xiao and the princess's imperial seal. It turned out that the gifts sent from Huaiyin included two boxes of books, astronomy, numerology, and farming poetry. Li Xiao's handwriting was exactly the same as Li Jianhong's handwriting. Duan Ling remembered that his father also said that his fifth aunt had learned a lot, and maybe she wrote it as taught by Li Jianhong.

When he was in Huaiyin, Li Xiao had no time to have a long talk with Duan Ling. After a few days, he was busy leaving and could only speak in letters. First, it was the gold bars in the box. After the battle at Tongguan that year, Li Yanqiu learned the news and sent someone to take out the treasures in the cave.

But Li Yanqiu did not want to subscribe the money into the treasury, otherwise it would be difficult to raise money from the local gentry in Jiangzhou to save money. Only a few people know the existence of treasures. Li Yanqiu's statement to Mu Kuangda was temporarily kept in the cave.

In order to temporarily avoid Mu Kuangda and the cabinet in the court, Li Yanqiu asked Yao Fu to notify the people of Xiliang to secretly send it to Huaiyin and store it in Yao Fu's official treasury in case of emergency.

Now Duan Ling needs money in Hebei. Li Xiao’s original words are to give you some money first. The rest of the time, my fifth aunt will keep it for you. If you want it at any time, you can write a note to pay. The word used is also "the thing returns to the original owner", but it is intriguing to return to the original owner, which means "whoever finds it will belong to whoever belongs."

Li Xiao wrote a few more pages of paper, talking about the governance of Hebei, mostly about water conservancy and farmland, forest construction and fortifications. Duan Ling couldn't help but be amazed after reading it, and he was preparing to adjust the direction accordingly after the beginning of spring.

During the period when we left, Hebei and Shandong have temporarily established trade routes. Although the weather is cold and the road is difficult to walk, as long as the ice turns into ice after spring, trade can be opened.

Duan Ling planned to exchange all the 10,000 taels of gold into silver by official loans, and then slowly release it and put it into the hands of the people so that they can live their lives and pay it back after the autumn harvest.

Then he called Shu Luduan again. Shu Luduan had been in command for more than two months and had always been loyal and talked very little. He usually ate, lived in the same place with his soldiers, and was unmarried, so he never told the public if he had anything to do.

Duan Ling first wrote a letter asking him to go to Liao Kingdom, bring him to Yelu Zongzhen, and then send him some New Year gifts to see the situation in Liao. The letter asked if Yelu Zongzhen needed anything to help, and discussed the matter of Shulu Duan.

If he returns to the court smoothly in the future, he still has to tell Shu Luduan about a marriage and try to let him return to Liao Kingdom as the Crown Commissioner.

Shuluduan received the letter and set off to return to Zhongjing.

Duan Ling finished the matter and was relaxed, so he wanted to go out for inspection with Wu Du.

"Oh, I have money in my pocket, and my waist is hard." Wu Du said.

Duan Ling laughed and was about to go and spend some money. Wu Du said again: "I originally wanted to buy some New Year's goods and prepare for the New Year."

Before I knew it, the year was approaching, everything was done, and I finally had some rest. I didn’t know how it was doing in Jiangzhou. Li Yanqiu was just having the New Year alone in the palace, which was very boring.

Duan Ling inspected the old city where the refugees lived. The old city of Yecheng was originally built to the north, next to the Xunshui River. Then the Liao Kingdom invaded, and local talents continued to move south and built the city wall to the north.

Most of the northern city areas are abandoned houses. After some refugees heading south, Duan Ling planned the old city into an urban area. Originally, only 25,000 people were occupied, but now that there are 40,000 people, it naturally seems a bit crowded.

Among the people who went south, the elderly, weak, women and children were given priority. Many of them had yellow faces and thin skin, waiting to give porridge. When Duan Ling returned, he asked someone to send the rice and flour from the official warehouse to distribute it to the refugees. Wu Du paid out of his own pocket and bought four live pigs and two sheep, various sugars, white flour and japonica rice, and prepared to be eaten by the people in the palace during the New Year.

As soon as the New Year's Day arrived, villages under several counties in Hebei recommended gentry to pay New Year's greetings to Duan Ling and Wu Du. Most of them were white-bearded old men, lined up in a row and kowtowed to their parents. Duan Ling hurriedly helped them up one by one and said, "It would be fine to collect some meanings for the New Year's Day gifts and tributes. It's not easy for everyone this year, and most of them took them back."

Wu Du also asked someone to withdraw money from the government and distribute it to the gentry. Throughout the year, everyone's words were all praises, and Duan Ling could not tell whether they were sincere. Everyone came to pick Duan Ling's political achievements, and he couldn't help but feel a little fluttering when he heard it.

As the sky gradually darkened, Wu Du left the visitor to the prefect's mansion to host a banquet. Duan Ling also ordered Lin Yunqi and Wang Jin to ask each of them, what should the prefect need to solve?

In previous years, when the gentry came to Yecheng, they could not enter the prefect's mansion. After sending things and making diligent statements, they went back to their own. This time, when they came to Duanling, they kept people and gave them rewards, so the gentry naturally was happy.

After finally finishing the task, Duanling had to set up a house banquet the next day, and civil servants and generals sat together to comfort their subordinates. This time, he was much more casual. Fei Hongde and Sun Ting were still in Hejian, and there were not many situations for the time being.

Duan Ling's voice was hoarse when he spoke yesterday. He said at the banquet: "Everyone has worked hard. This year, whether I came with my official from Jiangzhou or were originally in Yecheng, if you were not for you, I, the prefect, would not be so good."

Everyone was busy and humble, saying that there was no matter where they were, and it was the hardest for the lieutenant to work hard.

Wu Du thought that this was human words, so Duan Ling laughed and raised his glass first. Everyone observed his expression and flattered Wu Du desperately. Wu Du drank a few more cups and had a happy banquet.

Duan Ling also said: "After the spring of Yecheng next year, it will be the year with the greatest changes. You will need to cooperate with me at that time."

Wang Jin replied: "That's natural. With the prefect here, there will be no mistakes. Everyone just listens to your order and do their best."

Duan Ling was a little melancholy and smiled and said, "If I don't stay in Yecheng one day, I will be relieved."

Everyone heard some hints, but Duan Ling often went out before. He was the prefect for half a year, and he was not in the city for at least three months. With Fei Hongde in the city, everyone got used to it.

But then, it is very likely that Duan Ling will not be in the city next year. Yan Di naturally understood his intention and said: "Everyone should do his duties and do his duty. We should not be too troubled by the adults. Everything is organized and we will be familiar with it after taking office. A city should be like a waterwheel, and no one can push it, so we should move forward."

Duan Ling nodded and smiled, "This is true. Come on, I'll give you a cup."

Duan Ling and Wu Du met with a glass, and after a round, everyone drank it. Although it was the official banquet of the New Year, most of the talks were political affairs. When the banquet was over, Wu Du drank nearly a pound of wine, so he closed his eyes and listened to them.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, Duan Ling doesn't keep them many times. After eating, they are sent away. Even the personal soldiers in the mansion are all sent home for the New Year. The huge prefect's mansion is empty, and only three soldiers who are still unmarried and whose parents are deceased. On New Year's Eve, they go up the mountain to sweep their graves and reunite with Duan Lingwu.

"It's the New Year," Duan Ling said.

"Yeah." Wu Du, drunken, covered his forehead with one hand, separated his thumb and index finger, rubbed his temples, and said, "I was just urging you to study last year, and I can finally have a good New Year this year."

It's another year, and I don't know what Ba is doing. The Yuan people were just the New Year's Eve of the Han people. Even the Liao Kingdom came to the south and became a Han festival.

When I was in Beijing, from the 28th to the 20th century, the Han people lived the most diligently. The Badu family was always deserted and had no festive atmosphere. Lang Junxia would buy some firecrackers and take Duan Ling to the outside of the city to set off.

"You haven't bought me firecrackers yet," Duan Ling said to Wu Du.

Wu Du took a quick photo of Duan Ling, but didn't open his eyes and said, "I've bought it long ago. I'll put it in the warehouse and take you there on the first day of the New Year. I've also bought the snacks for guests on the New Year's Day. I'll post Spring Festival couplets tomorrow. Don't move around, be careful of falling."

Duan Ling laughed and lay in Wu Du's arms. Wu Du was so drunk that he snuggled up to each other, not talking.

"The fragrance is ready," Wu Du said, "Tomorrow you will sacrifice to your father, and I will sacrifice to your master's wife and senior sister."

"Okay." Duan Ling replied in a daze.

Late at night, Duan Ling was about to go to bed and called someone to come in tomorrow to clean up, but he heard another sound outside and knocked on the door.

"Sir," said the guard, "Shuluduan is back."
Chapter completed!