Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 102 Special Dishes

Several clerks were busy at the city gate, which attracted many people to watch.

The clerk held on to the ladder tightly and struggled to hang the heads at the city gate. The bloody heads were hung up, gazing calmly at the people below, which was chilling.

Passersby from near and far couldn't help but stop to watch. Some of the braver ones even pointed at the hung head and commented on it.

"Everything has to be burned, otherwise it will stink."

Some are afraid, while others are excited.

A crowd soon gathered at the city gate, and some ran to inform their neighbors. In a place where there were almost no entertainment activities, any excitement could provide entertainment.

After the officials finished their work, they posted a notice on a wooden board nearby to inform everyone.

"These people are all former county officials!"

"They withheld the money and grain that was given to the officials and robbed the people. Thirty women were found in their houses, and twenty-three of them had been threatened by force."

"The county magistrate has executed them. From now on, if there are any officials who commit crimes inside or outside the city, force people to buy or sell things, rob women, or rob innocent people, they will all end up like this!!"

"If the people in the city encounter corrupt officials, you can go to the county government office to report at any time, and the county magistrate will make the decision for you!"

The people just looked at the scene curiously and continued to speak their own words.

These minor officials from Cheng'an looked at each other, left one person to guard the place, and the rest went to the county government office.

As they walked along the road, they chatted in low voices.

"This Liyang person is really different. He didn't run away when he saw us, but came up to watch."

As soon as the group returned to the county government office, they saw Yao Xiong standing anxiously at the gate of the county government office, looking around. When he saw them, Yao Xiong was overjoyed and waved his hand, "Come here, all of you!"

These people did not dare to refuse. The county was empty at the moment, with no one there except for those who had followed Taozi from Cheng'an. There were a lot of things to do, but very few people.

"Greetings, Lord Youjiao!"

Several people hurriedly saluted. When Yao Xiong heard the address, the corners of his mouth curled up. He forced himself to calm down, then he reached into his pocket, took out some money and distributed it to everyone.

A few people looked confused and said quickly: "We dare not accept the reward from Youjiao Gong."

"Who said it was a reward for you? I'm so poor that I can't even afford a hundred coins, how can I give you a reward?"

"This was given by Tian Zili. It's for office use!"

"Mr. Youjiao, what business do you want to handle?"

"You should separate now and go to the two markets and the shops in the county to buy things. You can buy anything, but you must pay enough money and tell them that the county magistrate has ordered that county officials are no longer allowed to do anything wrong in the future."

A few people looked at the money in their hands and seemed to understand something, "Wei!!"

"Okay, go ahead! Remember, this is to change the people's view of the county government. If anyone dares to embezzle the money and ruin my brother's reputation, I will cook him alive!"

Yao Xiong drove away a few people, then rode his horse and began to patrol the county town.

He finally put on the same patrol uniform that Liu Taozi wore back then, and rode his horse down the street. He raised his head high, looking around with sharp eyes, just like Taozi back then.

However, this patrol officer was so poor that he could not even find a single attendant with him and had to patrol alone.

He set a patrol route for himself, and Yao Xiong searched very seriously. He was eager to find one or two bad guys, and it would be best if he could emulate Brother Taozi and make a name for himself in this city.

But this place seems a little different from Cheng'an.

He wandered around the city for a long time, but didn't see anyone doing evil. Instead, the passers-by were extremely curious about him and pointed and talked about him, which made him feel quite uncomfortable.

On this day, Yao Xiong did not find the opportunity to realize his ambition and chop off a few heads, and returned empty-handed.

At night, Yao Xiong rode his horse towards the county government office. Passing by a restaurant, he saw that there were still a few people inside, so he jumped off his horse and walked towards the restaurant.

Seeing his attire, the servant's eyes were filled with helplessness, but he still ran out and took the horse for him with a smile.

"Sir, do you want to eat? Please come in! Please come in!"

Yao Xiong strode into the restaurant. The restaurant, which had been noisy before, suddenly became silent, and no one spoke anymore.

Yao Xiong found a place, sat down and ordered some food.

The servants were running around him, and the diners were fidgeting and silent. They quickly finished their meals, got up and left.

While everyone was still together, Yao Xiong cleared his throat and spoke, "I'm the new Cheng Liyang Ranger! My last name is Yao!"

"It turned out to be Yao Youjiao!!"

The shopkeeper came out at some point. He bowed his head and smiled, put a few packages aside, and said quickly: "I didn't know it was the patrol officers who came and broke the rules. I hope the patrol officers won't blame me. I will never do it again in the future."

Yao Xiong pushed the package in front of him away and said, "Do you think I'm here to ask for a bribe?!"

The shopkeeper was stunned, gritted his teeth, and waved his hand. The waiter brought a few more packages and said timidly: "This is all we have, all good meat."

Yao Xiong could not help it. He stood up, faced the crowd, and said loudly: "Those former officials have been executed by the new County Magistrate Liu because of their many evil deeds. Their heads are now hanging at the East City Gate!"

"Mr. Liu has issued an order that officials are not allowed to bully the people, let alone demand bribes!"

He took out some money from his pocket and threw it to the store owner, "This is the meal money! From now on, if anyone comes to your place and doesn't pay for the meal, or tries to blackmail you, you can come find me. I'll be patrolling here every day."

The shop owner stood there with his eyes wide open, speechless.

He has run a restaurant in Liyang for six years, and this is the first time he has received money from the officials.

The other diners were also stunned at this moment.

Yao Xiong sat down and was about to start eating when the shopkeeper shouted, "Wait! Wait!"

Yao Xiong raised his head, and the shopkeeper quickly looked at the servant, "Hurry up and take these back from Mr. Yao!"

This time it was Yao Xiong who was stunned. "What are you doing?"

The shopkeeper laughed awkwardly and touched his nose. "Your food is not fresh. I will change it for you. I will give you fresh food."

After a while, new food was brought up, but it looked no different. Yao Xiong was confused, but he started eating anyway.

After finishing his meal, he strode away and the owner walked him all the way to the door.

Only after the other party left did he excitedly turn around and raise the money in his hand like a winner, "What the hell, there are actually people who give money among these officials?!"

The guest spoke up, "Don't trust them so easily. Who knows, they might be up to something bad. Wasn't it the same thing when the previous county magistrate came? But what happened in the end? The officials became even more vicious."

"I think what this man said is true. There were really four human heads hanging on the city gate this morning. The news spread throughout the county. They were the heads of Li Laogou, Li Ergou, Wang Sangou, and Xu Sigou!"

"real??"

"It's true, I saw it with my own eyes, and it's still hanging now!"

"It's a good thing they died! These four dogs were bullies and tyrants, doing evil things. Normally, no one dared to mess with them. This is God's will!!"

"The county magistrate chopped off the four dogs as soon as he arrived. It was really a dog-eat-dog fight. It was quite venting!"

When Yao Xiong returned to the county government office and met Liu Taozi, Tian Zilie was reporting everything to him.

"These four thieves have a lot of wealth. I wonder how there is a shortage of food in a place like Liyang. The food found in their storehouses alone is enough to feed the county clerks for a year!"

Tian Zili was cursing.

When he had dinner and drinks with these four people that day, he got to know them to a certain extent. Unexpectedly, these people were even more hateful than he thought.

Over the years, the reputation of officials in Liyang has been ruined. Since they cannot afford salaries, officials can only work hard on their own to have enough food and clothing.

Then naturally they would take action against the lower-class people. As for those scattered officials, they were like slaves and did not even have the chance to take action.

The four people headed by Li Jun dominated the county government. The four of them took over the entire county government, and the rest of the people were their slaves.

"I posted a notice today and went to the county school. There is no law department in the county school here, and no one has volunteered to take the exam so far."

"I guess we'll have to wait a little longer."

Yao Xiong waited for Tian Zili to speak and never interrupted him. After the other party finished speaking, Yao Xiong began to talk about his inspection today.

He was quite disappointed that he didn't encounter any bad people along the way.

When he talked about what happened in the restaurant, Tian Zili couldn't help laughing.

"Fortunately you said it in time, otherwise, you would be eating people's spit!"

In the county magistrate’s mansion.

Zhao Kai held an arrow in his hand and stared at the "pitching pot" in the distance with great energy.

The touhu was tied up and even had its mouth gagged, so it could only keep squirming in fear, trying to escape. This made Zhao Kai even more excited. He threw an arrow suddenly, and the arrow drew an arc in the air and pierced the touhu's shoulder.

Zhao Kai was having fun when he heard hurried footsteps. He frowned immediately. He hated it most when others disturbed him while he was having fun.

A man pushed open the door, walked quickly to Zhao Kai and saluted him.

"Mr. County Magistrate! Something bad has happened!"

The man knelt before Zhao Kai in panic, raised his head, and said in fear: "Li Jun and the other four were executed by the county magistrate. Their heads were hung at the city gate, and their homes were raided. In addition, many scattered officials were dismissed. He also sent people to spread the word in the city that he would severely punish corrupt officials."

This man spoke very fast, his lips moving up and down, and his speech speed was astonishingly fast. He seemed to be frightened at this moment, and was still trembling while speaking.

There was no surprise or anger on Zhao Kai's face. He picked up the arrow and shot again at the tossing pot that was already moving far away.

"Just for such a small matter, you are here to ruin my fun?"

The man became even more frightened, and he hurriedly said, "Mr. County Magistrate, Li Jun and the others are all your men, so I came here to report."

"My people??"

Zhao Kai looked at him and shook his head, "No, they are from the county government, not mine."

"Once you are registered as an official, your life, death, wealth and status will all be in the hands of your superiors. You will be dealt with by your superiors. You have been an official in the county for so long, don't you know this principle?"

The man's face turned pale immediately.

Of course he knew this. If an official openly killed civilians, there might be some trouble. But if he openly killed an official, even the law could not punish him. After all, the official was paid by the official. The relationship between the official and the official was like that between the monarch and the minister. If the monarch wanted to kill the minister, did he need to look up the law?
He pursed his lips again and said, "Lord Zhao, I know I was wrong, but Li Jun was your confidant, and you let him be killed like this. Where is your dignity?"

Zhao Kai seemed to be thinking about something, and he motioned for the other party to come forward.

The man stood up and walked quickly to Zhao Kai's side. Zhao Kai put an arm around his shoulder and said, "Puff!"

The next moment, the arrow in Zhao Kai's right hand pierced directly into the opponent's heart.

The man trembled all over and looked at Zhao Kai in disbelief.

Zhao Kai stared into his eyes, "Don't you still understand? Your lives are worthless and have no dignity."

"If he wants to kill me, then he can. It doesn't matter if he kills me or I kill him. Do you understand now?"

"Zhao"

The man stared at Zhao Kai with his eyes wide open. As soon as he opened his mouth, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He could no longer speak and immediately collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.

Zhao Kai looked at the blood in his hand with disdain, "My hands are dirty again."

He clapped his hands, and immediately a servant came in, "Master."

"Go and invite Master Anzhi over to help with the salvation."

"only!"

The servant went out, and Zhao Kai continued to play, but this time, his expression did not look as happy as before.

After a long time, the pitching pot not far away was turned into a hornet's nest by Zhao Kai, and the servant also came here with his people.

This Master Anzhi did not look old, nor even kind, but rather fierce-looking, tall and burly, with a very menacing appearance.

"Amitabha."

The man saluted towards Zhao Kai, and then saw the body on the ground, "Isn't this Wang Jun? How come he is dead too?"

"He's speaking for his relative and trying to provoke me to take action. No problem, follow me."

Zhao Kai motioned the other party to follow him, and the two walked through corridors and finally entered a spacious house and sat facing each other.

"I've asked the governor, this guy is not easy to deal with, be careful recently and don't do anything violent."

"Oh? What's the origin?"

"Cheng'an Ling Lu Yao, Bu Liu Gu."

The big monk smiled disdainfully, "Their family has long lost power, the head of the family is dead, and only a few young ones are left. Will the governor still be afraid of them?"

Zhao Kai glared at him, "What do you know? Although Lu Ang is dead, his son is still alive. That boy's wife is the daughter of Changshan King Gao Yan. The relationship between Changshan King and the Lu family is very close. The governor said that Lu Yao valued this person very much and used a lot of power to forcibly change this year's official selection and forcibly add this person's name, thus offending several families."

"If something happens to him here and King Changshan blames him, should I let you die or let me die?"

The monk's face finally turned gloomy.

"The governor has his own ideas, but I don't think this man is honest. He just came to the county and killed someone. He also sent people to shout everywhere. I'm not afraid that he will kill people, but I'm afraid that this guy will ruin our big plan."

Zhao Kai grinned and shook his head, "It won't break."

"The county soldiers are in the hands of Dugu Junwei, and the government affairs are in my hands. The county government is just a hollow one. Even if he recruits officials, what can he do?"

"How rude was that stone donkey back then? He threw our gifts out of the government office, led people to attack the temple, broke into and killed people, and even wanted to go to Yecheng to file a complaint. But what about now? Isn't this donkey hiding in the stable and not daring to go out?"

"If he is obedient, we will give him a share. If he insists on making things difficult for us, this is Liyang County after all. There is a governor here. What is a county magistrate?"

"He has relatives. Does that mean the governor is all alone?"

The big monk laughed grimly, nodded, and said, "That's good, as long as it doesn't delay the grand Dharma Assembly at the end of the month. We have contacted Master An Daoyi to come and give a lecture."

Just as the two were talking about some private matters that could not be revealed, footsteps were heard outside the door again.

Zhao Kai's face looked quite ugly. He had been disturbed too many times today.

The servant rushed into the mansion in panic and knelt in front of Zhao Kai.

"Homeowner!"

The man's voice was trembling.

"What happened?"

"The emperor has passed away!"

"what?!"

Zhao Kai suddenly jumped up, and the big monk next to him was also stunned. The two looked at each other and then rushed out of the mansion.

The two men pushed open the door, ran all the way to the courtyard gate, got into the carriage, and disappeared on the road.

The servant locked the door and turned to go inside.

On the roof, Kou Liu's body was pressed against the tiles, and he was also stunned at this moment.

"What did you say?! Did you actually hear them say that?"

"Yes, it is true. The emperor has passed away."

Kou Liu sat in front of Liu Taozi and told him in detail everything he had heard today. The most shocking news was, of course, the death of the emperor.

Tian Zili could no longer sit still. He stood up several times and wanted to say something.

It was really a great opportunity. The emperor suddenly passed away in Jinyang. All the ministers had to go to Jinyang, and Yecheng was empty. For a moment, countless ideas appeared in his mind.

Just as Tian Zili was daydreaming, a minor official suddenly came in and reported: "My lord, a clerk came with his family and said he wanted to see you."

"Oh?"

Liu Taozi frowned and said, "Let him in."

Soon, several people walked in quickly. The leader was a clerk who had just left the county government office today. He was followed by two young men, each holding an altar in their arms.

The three men came in, bowed and met everyone.

The official maintained a posture of deep worship, "Because of Mr. Liu, I was able to return home and meet everyone in my family. I will never forget your kindness. I heard that you were going to recruit more officials, so I came back specially because I wanted to serve under you!"

Liu Taozi nodded, "What's your name?"

"Your subordinate is Wang Da."

Wang Da looked behind him and saw the two people coming forward with something. Wang Da said, "Mr. Liu, my family is good at brewing wine. This jar of wine is a treasured product that our family has kept for many years. I want to repay you, but I can't find anything else except this fine wine. I hope you won't refuse it!"

He kowtowed again, and the young man placed the wine in front of everyone.

Yao Xiong swallowed subconsciously.

Taozi nodded and said, "I'll go find Tian Lu Shishi later."

"only!!"

The men then left the place. Yao Xiong was overjoyed. He stepped forward and picked up the jar, "Hey, it's not light yet!"

"lay down!!"

(End of this chapter)