Luo Zhaoyun sent someone to set up another general's office in Jixian County as a temporary office for the recruitment of the army. He then ordered the county magistrates of Yan County, Beiping County, Yuyang County, the military generals of the Liaodong garrison to come and participate in the parliament.

Now he holds the imperial edict, which is equivalent to an imperial envoy, and is in charge of the civil affairs and military power of the four counties.

From now on, this will be his place to raise an army and his base. Therefore, Luo Zhaoyun planned to take this opportunity to rectify and eliminate some of the diehards, royalists, and those who did not obey him, and change them to trust their subordinates.

A few days later, the county magistrates of the four counties arrived, namely Yu Zhongqian, Pan Li, Shao Changhan, and Zu Yi, the general of the Zhuo County Government, Luo Yi, the general of the Yingcha Lang, the general of the Yuyang County Government, Jin Wenyan, the general of the Yingcha Lang, the general of the Beiping County Government, and Song Xiang, the general of the Yan County Government, and Xue Shixiong, the general of the Zhenguan border who had retreated from Liaodong, and Mai Tiebang, also arrived.

It can be said that civil officials and military generals gathered, and they are all the main officials in the border areas of Youzhou.

Although Luo Yi is still a military general in the palace, his title is higher than everyone else and he is also named Marquis, so he sits at the forefront of civil and military officials.

The rest were civil officials and military generals, each sitting on Hu chairs.

Luo Zhaoyun was in the main position, holding an imperial edict in his hand, and saw that everyone was here, so he read it out, and these civil servants and generals stood up and bowed and obeyed the orders.

The content of the imperial edict is very simple. Luo Zhaoyun was promoted to the chief executive of the four counties, to control military and political affairs, to guard the border peace, suppress local rebels, and at the same time expand the army and horses to eliminate Dou Jiande's power.

"Luo, thanks to His Majesty's trust, entrusted important tasks, and has the power to live and kill here. He can be executed first and then report, and all powers are followed, whether it is civil affairs or military establishment, everything is waiting for the general's order. Do you have any objections?"

Xue Shixiong, Mai Tiezhang and others were naturally happy and loudly supported him. The four civil officials had no military power. In this chaotic era, they had long seen Luo Zhaoyun's bravery and heard of his deeds, so they were happy to protect the umbrella. After all, as a Duke, he was also the son-in-law of the current dynasty, and he was the first-rank official. He stood in the same faction with him and would definitely have a prosperous official career in the Sui Dynasty.

Only Jin Wenyan and Helanyi, the two Hu generals, looked at each other with a little unwilling to accept that they had military power in their respective counties before, but they were very determined to be controlled by others at this time, so they were naturally reluctant.

"Due to the turbulent situation and rebels are everywhere, this general decided to integrate the military power of the dead land. The government soldiers in each county will only leave 10,000 people to deal with the local bandits' rebellion. The rest of the people will be drawn out and gathered outside Jicheng, the barracks at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, General Xue and General Mai, you two can leave your deputy and 20,000 troops to guard the Liaodong border, and the rest of the people will be withdrawn, organized together, and train together."

"The last general will receive the order!" Although Xue Shixiong and Mai Tiebang are famous, they still respect the young marshal very much and happily accept the order.

Seeing that the two generals agreed so happily, the other generals did not dare to say much and agreed.

Luo Yi must have been on his son's side and supported him strongly, so he had no complaints. He thought that after the army was reorganized, he would definitely have a place for him.

"Okay, generals, time is tight. Please go back and draw troops quickly. We will strive to complete the military reorganization before the twelfth month. Because in the spring of the next year, Dou Jiande will lead a large army to attack Zhuo County, prepare early, but train early, so that the general will not fight a battle without confidence."

Xue Shixiong and others stood up and bowed, then left the temporary general's yamen.

Luo Zhaoyun next discussed civil affairs with several civil officials and asked about the household registration of the four counties, farming area, and refugee situation.

Yu Zhongqian said: "Dissatisfied with the Duke of the State and the three expeditions of Goguryeo have caused great suffering to the people of the four counties. They recruited labor, transported various weapons, food, etc. to the front line, and then transported the wounded on the front line back. Many strong men hid in the mountains of Yanshan Mountain to escape for labor. Some people became bandits, or fled outside the pass, went to the Khitan, Mart, Shi, Xi and other tribes to escape, and the population of Zhuo County was reduced by one third."

Zu Ying sighed: "Our Yan County is the most serious, with a sharp drop of half. It is a border area with a sparse population, and now it is even smaller, less than 50,000 people."

Luo Zhaoyun asked carefully: "Can you explain to me the current national population and the total population of the four northern counties, so I can have a general understanding."

Shao Changhan bowed and explained: "In the fifth year of Daye, after the search for the Dawei, the total population of the country was more than 47 million. Among them, there were many slaves without household registration. The servants did not count. There were 190 counties in the Sui Dynasty. On average, each county was about 250,000. However, in fact, the population of the two capitals, Qilu, Hebei and other central plains was densely populated and sparsely bordered. In the eighth year of Daye, Zhuo County had a total population of 200,000, Yuyang County, 170,000, Beiping County, and only more than 100,000 people in Yan County. After the construction of the canal and the Great Wall, they fought against Goguryeo three times. The people of the four counties fled, died of labor and died of battles, and the total number of people was more than 200,000."

Luo Zhaoyun frowned. If the four northern counties were used as bases, how could they do it without the people? How could they rise? When fighting, without the people as the foundation, conscription, labor, taxes, etc. could not compare to the Central Plains. This is a shortcoming.

"Winter is coming soon, how is the refugees in the four counties?"

Shao Changhan replied: "In the three or four years of war, the land was deserted and labor shortage. Some strong men were not only recruited and joined the army, but also became bandits. Even if they plowed in the spring next year, there would be no more labor. The whole village was filled with old, weak, women and children, and the situation was not optimistic."

Zu Feng replied: "There is a shortage of grain in Yan County and Beiping County. Some large gentry households stockpiled grain at high prices, which made the grain here nearly five times higher than that in the Central Plains. People have used up all their grains in stock. In winter, they may have to chew tree bark and cook vegetables and porridge to live."

"Do you know what the rice price is now in various places?"

"I don't know in the distance, but Hebei and Youzhou are all hard-hit areas, and the rice price must be expensive. In the seventh year of Daye, the rice price in Luoyang was two cents per catty. Now there are chaos everywhere, and major officials and businessmen are hoarding grain, and the fields are deserted. Luoyang is close to several major granaries, so there is no need to worry about rice eating, but the rice price has also risen to five cents. The rice price in Yanjun has almost reached twenty cents, and the people have no money to buy it."

"Twenty cents per kilogram of rice!" Luo Zhaoyun was surprised. Ten years ago, he had gone to sell rice with a convoy in the northwest villa of Zhuojun. At that time, the world was stable, and the five-zhu coins were strong, and the price of a kilogram of rice was more than two cents. More than ten years have passed, and it has increased tenfold, making it difficult for the people in the border garrison to continue.

Five-zhu coins are 100 yuan, and in the 18th year of Kaihuang, seven-dollar coins were enough for a family of three to spend a month's food expenses. They had meat and vegetables, and lived a wealthy life.
Chapter completed!