Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 138: Confucianism
Boling County, Raoyang County.

The official road had fallen into disrepair for many years and was rugged and uneven. There were even a lot of stones piled on the road, making it difficult for vehicles to pass. Even Gao Yanzong's eyes widened. How could Dingzhou have such a dilapidated road?

Liu Taozi and Gao Yanzong led more than ten light cavalry and continued to advance towards Raoyang County.

At daybreak, wild dogs looking for food could be seen on both sides of the road, with water dripping from the corners of their mouths, staring fiercely at the passing knights. These wild dogs gathered into a group, and did not even try to avoid the light cavalry when they saw them.

Yao Xiong drew his bow first and shot one of them dead with one arrow.

The rest of the people shot arrows, and the wild dogs howled and fled in all directions.

Liu Taozi didn't even need to give any instructions, Yao Xiong took his men to chase after him.

Gao Yanzong was full of disappointment. "Is this the man-eating beast?"

Liu Taozi said, "If there are only one or two, it's easy to deal with. But if there are more than ten or twenty of them gathered together, they will eat people. If we see them, we have to shoot them."

Gao Yanzong did not speak. He looked around and asked, "Where is that man-eating beast?"

Liu Taozi raised her head and looked towards the county town in the distance.

Gao Yanzong followed his gaze and looked towards the county town, becoming even more suspicious. Could it be that there was some big beast in this county town? ?

The group slowly arrived at the gate of the county town.

There were two county officials sitting there. When they saw the group of cavalrymen coming, they quickly put away their arrogance, stood up, smiled widely, and opened the door to let them pass without even checking.

Gao Yanzong's brows twitched again.

Raoyang County is also a little shabby, both the roads and the buildings.

At the intersection of the road, you can see several old people curled up, covered with tattered clothes, lying at the intersection. When they see the passing cavalry, they quickly crawl over and struggle to get up, "My dear! My dear! Please be kind and give us some food. Please give us some food. May the Buddha bless the good people."

Gao Yanzong was not polite either. He took out a handful of money from his pocket and threw it to the beggar in front of him.

The beggar's face was filled with shock. He kowtowed frantically towards Gao Yanzong, then rushed forward to take the money.

This seemed to ignite something, and the next moment, a large group of people rushed out from all directions.

Some of these people are old, some are disabled. In short, they are neither young and strong nor healthy. Most of them have lost their ability to work and are worthless.

They surrounded the group of people, making so much noise that the horses under their crotches sensed the threat and raised their heads, rubbing their hooves in warning.

Many knights were also frightened and touched the swords at their waists.

Gao Yanzong looked at the increasing number of people gathering together with a look of surprise.

He took out a handful of money from his pocket again and scattered it in front of him. Everyone immediately started to fight for it. Someone got angry and pushed the person next to him hard. Suddenly, a fight broke out and there was chaos all around.

"stop!!!"

Liu Taozi roared angrily, and Gao Yanzong trembled with fear, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

The knights drew their swords one after another, and the people who had been looting just now were frightened and fled in all directions when they saw the murderous knights.

Gao Yanzong looked at this scene, his face livid, "Lowly people really don't deserve pity!!"

Liu Taozi didn't say anything. He jumped off his horse, grabbed the old man who had received alms first, took his hand, and came to Gao Yanzong.

Liu Taozi asked: "Why are you begging here? Where is your home?!"

The old man said timidly: "I have no home. I can't pay the tribute, and my property has been taken away."

Liu Taozi snorted coldly and said, "It must be because you don't work hard enough in the fields, otherwise how could you not even be able to pay the tribute?"

"My dear, until now, I have 60 mu of land and 40 mu of mulberry fields under my name. They said that I have to pay grain tax for 100 mu of land, but I have never seen these fields before. There is no arable land. Even if I want to work hard, how can I succeed? What's more, I am already 50 years old this year, and my hands and feet are weak. My children have all died."

The old man didn't cry. On the contrary, he always had a flattering smile on his face, but his eyes were a little red and his voice was a little trembling.

Gao Yanzong felt something was wrong. He never liked to pay attention to these things, but he still felt that something seemed to be wrong.

Liu Taozi let go of his hand, mounted the horse again, and looked at Gao Yanzong beside him.

"Let's go."

Gao Yanzong lowered his head and walked behind Liu Taozi. He suddenly asked, "Could the man-eating beast you mentioned be a bad official?"

Liu Taozi did not answer him, but just walked along, passing through roads and houses. Pedestrians lowered their heads and walked hurriedly. Their eyes were dull and their faces were expressionless. Even if they encountered light cavalry, they were not afraid, but just kept moving forward, as if nothing could stop them.

We arrived at the northernmost part of the county, and a huge complex of buildings came into view.

Gao Yanzong raised his head and looked at the luxurious courtyard wall in front of him. He couldn't help but look at Liu Taozi beside him, "Brother, whose house is this?"

"The lair of the great man-eating beast."

They quickened their pace slightly and arrived at the gate of the house, where they saw two people pacing back and forth. When the two men saw Liu Taozi, they excitedly ran over and bowed to greet her.

"County Lieutenant!!"

These were two county officials. When they saw Liu Taozi, they were relieved. "Thank goodness you've got these people here. It's really..."

They obviously did not know the governor. At this moment, Gao Yanzong was wearing ordinary hunting clothes, not much different from Yao Xiong and others, so he just reported the situation to Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi didn't let them finish, "I know what happened, take us there."

The two county officials were overjoyed. They walked in front and led everyone towards the luxurious mansion.

Walked all the way to the gate.

There were stone tablets on both sides of the gate, on which were carved many scriptures. The fonts were extremely exquisite, and there were a large number of words carved on both sides.

Above the gate, there are several plaques with words on them, which look golden.

Gao Yanzong scratched his head. He had never been interested in local government affairs, so he had no idea whose family this was.

The county official hurried forward and knocked on the door.

Soon, a man in a decent manner opened the door. Seeing the county official outside, he sneered, "Again? Oh, don't waste your time. How can we, a family of honest people, listen to the cruel officials? Go back now!"

The man was about to close the door, and Liu Taozi rode out on his horse, lowered his head, and stared at the servant in the distance.

This guy was not afraid at all when he saw Liu Taozi. He looked her up and down and said, "Could it be the county lieutenant? Please allow me to go and report to him."

He left the place quickly, and Yao Xiong was so angry that he laughed.

"Brother, stop talking, just go in and kill them."

Gao Yanzong was confused. "Who on earth are these people? How can they be more arrogant than me?!"

Liu Taozi just looked ahead calmly without saying a word.

Soon, a white-haired old man was seen walking over, with servants behind him carrying two large plaques, and behind them was a huge team.

These were all scholars, young, handsome, with stern faces, quite extraordinary.

More and more of these people gathered, gradually occupying the entire front yard. Looking from the door, everywhere you could see were these people, probably hundreds of them.

When the old man came here, he did not greet Liu Taozi, but signaled to the two servants, who immediately stepped forward and placed the two plaques at the door.

Gao Yanzong stuck his head out to look.

On the first plaque, it is clearly written "The Confucian Master of the World".

The second plaque reads "Teacher of the Five Classics".

The old man then raised his head and looked at the people in front of him. "My family has been studying for generations, based on the principles of Confucian classics. All the Five Classics scholars in the world come from my family! This first piece was given by the previous emperor Xiaowen, and this second piece was given by the current emperor Wenxiang!!"

"As the Confucian leader of the world, we must never give in to the powerful and wealthy!!"

"As a county lieutenant, you enforce cruel laws and persecute loyal people. You are now even more intent on robbing and robbing, committing crimes. Other families may be afraid of you, but I am the only one who is not afraid. You can kill if you want, but if you want to enter my house and kill people, you must first ride your horse over these two plaques!!!"

The old man was furious and started to curse Liu Taozi.

He stood in front of the two plaques with his hands on his waist. Liu Taozi looked at Gao Yanzong on the side, "The Liu family of Raoyang is the descendant of Liu Xian, who promoted the Five Classics. They passed down the classics and made people eat with etiquette. Half of the arable land in Raoyang is under their name. Cheng Zhe came to Raoyang to investigate the real land. He was blocked by these people and didn't even want to meet him."

"Let the king know that this is a man-eating beast."

Gao Yanzong's mind was now focused on the second plaque, and he was staring at it intently.

When the old man heard Liu Taozi's words, he was furious at first, but after hearing the last part, he hurriedly looked at Gao Yanzong and bowed to him, "I, the humble servant, greet the king!"

He said excitedly: "Your Majesty, this second plaque was given to you by your father, Emperor Wenxiang!"

"Emperor Wenxiang valued talents and emphasized education, making him a wise ruler who has never been seen before."

Gao Yanzong was a little dazed at the moment, his chubby face full of confusion.

The corner of Liu Taozi's left eye twitched, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes.

A moment later, some people came running towards this place in quick steps. There were dozens of them. The leader rushed to the front of the crowd, then jumped off his horse, looked at the two plaques placed on the ground, and hurriedly bowed to Liu Taozi.

This man was not too old, but he was unusually thin and haggard.

"Yang Fuzhi, the magistrate of Raoyang, pays his respects to the commander of Liu County!"

This person's rank is certainly higher than Liu Taozi's, but Liu Taozi's reputation is too great, and what he did was too cruel, so this person was terrified.

The old man said, "Mr. Yang, don't bow to that cruel official! As a scholar, how can you be so immoral?! King Ande is beside you, why don't you go to see him and bow to the cruel official instead!"

Yang Fuzhi became even more frightened, and hurriedly paid his respects to King Ande who was standing beside him, his expression becoming even more terrified.

Liu Taozi asked, "An old man without any official title can curse at you. Are you considered a county magistrate?"

Yang Fuzhi raised his head, looking confused, and said hesitantly: "Mr. Liu is the descendant of a great sage."

Looking at Liu Taozi's cold eyes, Yang Fuzhi said, "When the Five Classics were lost, it was Liu Ruzong who compiled and wrote them down and spread them throughout the world. He had thousands of disciples. At present, the Five Classics are either Liu or Zhang. Officials all over the world are trained in the Five Classics. I am no exception."

Although Yang Fuzhi did not say it explicitly, his meaning was very clear. As a scholar who studied the Five Classics, he was also the other party's disciple. How could he dare to offend him?
Moreover, there are tens of thousands of people like him in the world. If you offend this family, there will be countless attacks. This is why Cheng Zhe does not dare to resort to force, as he might have to fight against Confucian scholars all over the world.

The old man was still arrogant. He pointed at Liu Taozi and said, "All those who study the Five Classics in the world are from my family."

Liu Taozi ignored him and looked at Gao Yanzong standing beside him. "My lord, how about it? Can we hunt it?"

Gao Yanzong paused, looked at Liu Taozi in surprise, and then looked at the two plaques, "If my father admires this family, maybe they really have something extraordinary. I... This..."

"Whoosh~~"

"Pfft!"

Liu Taozi drew his bow and shot.

The old man was pointing at Liu Taozi and talking at this moment, when an arrow flew and hit him directly in the neck. The arrow did not stop and flew out directly, leaving a large piece of flesh missing from half of the old man's neck. He tilted his head and fell to the ground.

The people in front and behind were all horrified at this moment, and the people behind the old man also started screaming.

Liu Taozi had a ferocious look on his face and he looked at Gao Yanzong standing beside him.

Gao Yanzong was stunned and looked at Liu Taozi.

"Your Majesty, you dare to humiliate your servants like that on ordinary days, and you think you are brave, but now you meet someone who is just pretending to be a tiger, and you are so scared that you become like this!!"

"Did Emperor Wenxiang give him the plaque so that he could use it to bully the people?! Did he use it to intimidate officials and royal family members?!"

"This is destroying the reputation of Emperor Wenxiang!! As his son, Your Majesty does not want to clear the name of Emperor Wenxiang, but is still timid. With such a mentality, can it be considered brave?!"

"What are you waiting for, my king?!"

Hearing the question, Gao Yanzong's face turned red. He roared and rushed out on his horse. His warhorse raised its big hoof and stomped on the plaque that read "The Master of Confucianism in the World". The plaque shattered immediately, but Gao Yanzong did not stop. He continued to ride his horse. The warhorse raised its front hoof high and stomped down hard, and the plaque that read "Five Classics Master" shattered immediately.

At this moment, the Confucian scholars in the front yard were furious.

Gao Yanzong shouted loudly: "My father gave you the plaque to praise your past achievements. Today, he used my father's gift to do something illegal. If I don't get rid of him, how can I be a son? Kill him!!!"

Liu Taozi drew out the Hua Ting sword. The blue lion felt the passion of its master and flew out, over the gate, stepped on the plaque, then jumped high and fell straight into the crowd. Liu Taozi waved the sword in his hand, slashing left and right, and the two men fell down immediately.

At this moment, these Confucian scholars who were full of righteousness, who had studied the Five Classics and who had never been afraid of cruel officials, screamed like women.

Several people fainted from fright, and the rest ran around in panic.

King Ande rushed forward, holding a long knife, and began to chop like Liu Taozi.

The knights rushed in and a melee broke out between the two sides. The soldiers howled and ran around. Some knelt on the ground, kowtowed and begged for their lives. Some climbed onto the roof with great effort, trying to escape the pursuit. Some pushed down their classmates and sped up their escape to the backyard.

Blood spurted and flesh flew everywhere.

Yang Fuzhi staggered and collapsed to the ground. Looking at the scene in front of him, he felt weak all over and was unable to speak.

After an unknown amount of time, two war horses took the lead and slowly walked out of the courtyard gate.

The warhorse was covered in blood, and its hooves left blood marks on the ground. Gao Yanzong walked out with Liu Taozi, smiling, his eyes full of ferocity.

"He is indeed a villain!"

"What's the use of Confucian classics to manage a family? Damn, not to mention that they have a bunch of powerful crossbows hidden in their home, the grain piled up alone is more than the state granary. How much arable land do they have?"

As Gao Yanzong spoke, he suddenly looked at Yang Fuzhi, who was kneeling beside him with a pale face. He raised his whip and cursed, "The local government is so bad, but you turn a blind eye to it. Come, arrest him! Hand him over to the court for punishment!!"

A knight came forward and grabbed him, but Yang Fuzhi didn't even have the strength to beg for mercy.

Liu Taozi and Gao Yanzong continued walking on the road. They looked really scary. No one dared to approach them along the way.

Liu Taozi said, "Your Majesty, you humiliated your own servants and guards in that palace. What kind of thing is this? It's nothing but bullying the weak. It's a cowardly act."

"If the king wants to have fun, he should go to the mansion of a big beastman like this."

"If you can bully these strong men, you are a warrior. Besides, don't you think it's more interesting to bully the rich than to bully slaves?"

Gao Yanzong nodded hurriedly, "That's true, that's what I wanted to say just now!! Those who can resist are much more interesting than those who can't resist!"

"Well, if I'm not around anymore and Your Majesty suddenly wants to have some fun, you can go investigate in person and find the families of these great beastmen and nobles, and humiliate them as you wish. Killing these people will benefit the people and Your Majesty. If Your Majesty governs the place well, the other kings in the temple will pay more attention to Your Majesty. This is the right way."

Gao Yanzong looked at Liu Taozi excitedly and nodded heavily.

"Got it. From now on, if I need to get money, I'll look for a wealthy family!"

The corners of Yao Xiong's mouth twitched. He wiped the blood off his face, but thought secretly in his heart: Back in Liyang, my brother taught Lou Rui how to levy heavy taxes and levies. Now that we are in Boling, he has started to teach this stupid king how to bully the people and has not taught him anything good.

The two county officials were trembling at this moment, following behind Liu Taozi and others. Liu Taozi waved his hand and called the man over.

"Go and tell Cheng Zhe that the trouble here has been resolved, and ask him to investigate the land grant as soon as possible."

"only!!"

After sending the county official away, Liu Taozi looked at Gao Yanzong again, "There is another important matter at the moment."

"Brother, please speak."

"We attacked and killed the Cui family, why didn't the government punish us?"

"Because they are treasonous and collaborating with the enemy!"

"No, if the government believes that they are treasonous and collaborating with the enemy, then they should issue an imperial decree to execute the entire Cui family."

"That is."

"Because we have recovered a lot of the granted land and solved the problem of money and grain for the government."

"I see!"

"This is the tacit approval of the court, and it is a hint to the king to completely solve the financial and grain issues in Dingzhou."

"That makes sense!!"

(End of this chapter)