Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 145: Disloyalty
State government.

At this moment, the government office was half-closed, and a county official was sitting at the door in a daze, with his head lowered and his face ashen.

Cui Jishu walked into the yamen with a crutch, but the man did not stand up and just sat there in a daze.

The entire government office was in dead silence.

The state has the largest number of officials, and there are more than thirty officials under the governor. In addition to many other officials, the state is usually bustling with people coming and going. It has never been so quiet.

Cui Jishu walked in the corridor and looked to the left and right.

There were officials sitting in the rooms on both sides, the doors of which were also ajar. They sat there motionless, just staring blankly ahead.

The entire provincial government office seemed to be under a spell, with everyone sitting in their seats in a daze, not moving an inch.

The atmosphere was very strange and depressing. The huge rockery in the inner courtyard was lifeless and seemed to be suppressing all the officials.

Cui Jishu couldn't help but slammed the ground with his cane, "Where's the person?! Where's the person?!"

Finally, an official slowly walked up to him and saluted.

"Greetings, Mr. Cui."

Hearing this weak voice, Cui Jishu was helpless, "General Hufen is coming back today, are you going to welcome him like this?"

"Quickly gather everyone and tell them not to do this."

"only."

The official simply replied and left. Soon, many officials began to gather here, preparing to go out to welcome General Hu Fen.

But for some reason, although they were standing there obediently and did not say a word, Cui Jishu felt a deep sense of death from them. Their eyes were empty, with no joy or sadness.

Cui Jishu subconsciously felt a little terrified.

The scholar-official forces headed by Yang Yin were exterminated, which had a huge impact on the world.

Yang Yin served as prime minister for many years. Although he did not do his best, he had been trying his best to maintain the stability of this crazy empire, allowing it to continue to function. At least on the surface, there was order. Even if he killed someone, he had to make up a reason, and before he robbed something, he had to raise a flag.

Yang Yin died.

The officials of Dingzhou Yamen were neither happy nor angry about his death.

They did not cry, nor did they resist.

Everything was the same as before, they were submissive and obedient.

However, they seemed to have no emotions to express, as if they had suddenly given up on the court, and as if they had suddenly lost all their fighting spirit.

At this moment, the people standing in front of Cui Jishu were not the local officials who governed an area, but just some dead walking corpses who had given up hope.

They don't care anymore.

The rescue operation launched from top to bottom, at least what the literati believed to be a rescue operation, was officially declared a failure with the death of Yang Yin. Since it was impossible to save the people, all that was left was real despair and indifference.

Cui Jishu frowned and led everyone out.

They began to prepare for the work outside Zhending County.

The officials were very busy, walking around and occasionally chatting, but they never talked about state affairs, the purpose of Liu Taozi's visit, or the matter of Yang Yin.

Cui Jishu was leaning on a cane, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.

The ground began to tremble slightly, and the officials hurried back to their respective positions, looking at the distance calmly.

The army arrived.

The Dingzhou soldiers had changed greatly, and were far different from their state when they left Zhending. They had almost completely changed their appearance, marching in formation, and not many of them fell behind.

Cui Jishu was secretly surprised when he saw it.

Liu Taozi rode his horse in front of the crowd, and Cui Jishu led the officials to pay their respects to him.

Liu Taozi asked Yao Xiong to lead the troops to the parade ground, while he took Tian Zilie and others to the provincial government.

Liu Taozi gave Cui Jishu a horse. Cui Jishu rode the horse and followed Liu Taozi with a faint smile on his face. "Mr. Liu, I have already taken care of the affairs in Boling. This time I am here to help you with the affairs in Dingzhou."

"Although Lord Liu has talented people under his command, he does not have anyone who can handle local government affairs."

"If Mr. Liu doesn't mind, I do have a son. His name is Cui Gang. Although he is stupid, he is honest and kind, without any bad habits. He has read many books and is quite knowledgeable, but he lacks the experience of doing practical things."

Liu Taozi said nothing and led everyone back to the yamen.

This time, Liu Taozi sat directly in the upper seat.

The rest of the officials sat on both sides.

Cui Jishu looked at Liu Taozi's expressionless face, then looked at the officials' expressionless faces, his face full of complexity.

Liu Taozi said, "Spring planting."

Then, he looked at Cui Jishu and said, "Mr. Cui will be in charge."

This mandrill, who led a large army and had a powerful backer who could decide the life and death of everyone in Dingzhou, did not go on a killing spree as everyone expected. He immediately dismissed the soldiers from other counties and asked them to return to their original places to reduce the expenditure of the state government.

Afterwards, he asked Cui Jishu to take charge of the spring planting, and then followed Cui Jishu, watching him handle many things.

Dingzhou is also the granary of Hebei Province. The five counties under its jurisdiction are all fertile lands. At present, the government of Dingzhou has recovered a large amount of official and public fields, and obtained a lot of agricultural tools and livestock.

Cui Jishu made a reasonable distribution of resources within the state. The temple had its own exclusive oxen, which were managed by the village officials and raised by special farmers. When farming, these petty officials could decide who would come first and who would come later and distribute the oxen uniformly.

Official fields and public fields in various parts of Dingzhou began to be redistributed. According to Qi law, males over the age of fifteen could be granted 40 acres of land, and females could be granted 20 acres. Slaves could also be granted land, but their granted land had to belong to their masters.

Dingzhou released a large number of tenants and slaves, and distributed farmland from various places to the public.

These things sound easy, but are actually quite difficult to do.

Especially when looking at the counties from the perspective of the state, there are five counties and more than ten counties. The situation in each county is different, and there are many issues that need to be mediated.

Both sides of the official road became green again. On the farmland not far away, stood an old farmer. His dark skin sparkled in the sun. He was dressed very simply, with bare legs, stepping on the mud. He pulled the ox hard. The ox lowered its head and moved forward slowly as the old farmer dragged it. Behind the ox was a plow. A young boy lowered his head and pushed the plow. The plow broke the soil, and weeds, stones and other debris fell to both sides.

Cui Jishu rode on a horse on the official road. He pointed at the old farmer working in the field in the distance and said, "We can't do everything according to the system."

"Earlier, Lord Liu questioned me about why the number of land granted did not match the number of people. This is the reason."

"A lot of the arable land distributed is wasteland. It would take two or three years to leave it fallow and rotate crops. Distributing 40 mu of arable land to the people, 30 mu of which are wasteland, and then collecting taxes on 40 mu, how is this different from the past?"

"So, when distributing land, you have to know whether the land is good or bad. If there is mostly wasteland, you have to compensate with some good land. This is a custom from the previous dynasty, and the people call it "doubling the land". Liu Gong, please remember that the system is static, but people are alive. You have to be skillful and flexible in doing things. Otherwise, no matter how good the system is, it will become a system that harms people."

Liu Taozi rode a green lion and followed beside him, and was several heads taller than him.

But at this moment, he listened very seriously and nodded frequently.

"Now, Mr. Liu still suspects that I have hidden the granted land?"

Liu Taozi shook her head calmly.

The local officials following behind the two men were silent at this moment, and some of them were quietly wiping their sweat. As expected of Mr. Cui, he was not polite at all when talking to the baboon.

Cui Jishu pointed to the canal in the distance and said, "This canal is also a big problem. If it is not distributed evenly, there will be fights and murders in the villages. But the conditions in different places are different, and the water use is also different. It is difficult to equalize it. Therefore, we have to send officials to guard the gates. We can't just give it to the people, we have to scare them. This is not to bully the people, this is to prevent local fights and water disputes!"

Cui Jishu kept talking and finally arrived at the gate of Xingtang County.

The county magistrate had already led everyone to stand at the door. The county magistrate had a chubby figure and his face was full of pride.

Seeing the crowd, he hurried over and bowed to greet them.

"Xing Tang ordered Lian Kui to pay a visit to Lord Cui!"

"Meet General Hufen!!"

Cui Jishu glanced at Liu Taozi, shook his head gently, and then walked down, stroking his beard, and helped him up with a chuckle, "Qilian Jun, please don't be so polite. General Hufen learned that you were the first to complete the land grant and made great contributions, so he came here specially to watch."

Qi Liankui's face was full of smiles. He waved his hand quickly, and the county magistrate came forward with a thick stack of documents.

"Please check! I have completed the land grant, strictly following the system. The number of granted land and the number of people who received the land match each other. You can send someone to check it now." After hearing this, Cui Jishu turned around and looked at Liu Taozi.

"General, do you understand now? Even if he is a foolish official, he randomly distributes land without considering the quality of the farmland, and then collects the tax. The harm he has caused will definitely not be less than before. And those who have not yet completed the collection and whose numbers do not match are not necessarily corrupt officials who embezzled farmland."

Qi Liankui's face changed drastically, and his eyes widened, "What does Mr. Cui mean?!"

Liu Taozi looked at his county magistrate, examined him for a few seconds, and then said, "Qilian Kui is not doing a good job. He should reflect on himself at home and wait for the imperial court to order punishment. The county magistrate will take over everything temporarily."

The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward to receive the order.

The two walked on the road again.

Cui Jishu stroked his beard and said helplessly: "Most of the officials in Dingzhou have lost their integrity."

"If the government doesn't find a way to deal with it, I'm afraid it will lose the support of the people from now on."

Jinyang Palace.

In the rough hall, soldiers stood in different places.

Gao Yan sat directly in the upper seat, and his many confidants and nobles sat on both sides.

Gao Yanzong was also among them. At the moment, he was whispering something to his brother Gao Changgong who was sitting next to him, and his expression was extremely excited.

"He just chopped it down, and the guy's head flew up. There was really no pause at all, you have no idea."

Gao Yanzong was speaking excitedly when Gao Yan suddenly cleared his throat.

Gao Yanzong quickly closed his mouth, looked straight ahead, and made a solemn expression.

Gao Yan glanced at the two brothers intentionally or unintentionally, then looked at Wang Xi who was sitting on the left. He asked, "Who do you think can take on the important task, Lord Wang?"

"Zhao Yanshen, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, can take over the affairs of Yang Yin."

When these words were spoken, many nobles were in an uproar.

Gao Zhan kept a straight face and said nothing, but Gao Guiyan couldn't help himself.

He opened his mouth and said coldly: "If I hadn't seen you speak, I would have thought it was Yang Yin who was making the report."

With his start, the nobles were no longer afraid. They said one after another, "Yes, that fellow is usually the closest to Yang Yin and never interacts with us. How could he come up with another Yang Yin?"

"That guy is from a prominent family and he is Chinese. He should have a Chinese prime minister!"

Everyone started discussing, and Gao Yanzong also spoke up, "As long as he is capable, it doesn't matter whether he is a Chinese or a Han Chinese."

But Gao Yanzong was too young and no one paid any attention to him.

Gao Yanzong sat there angrily.

Gao Yan looked at these nobles. His expression was already very serious. After looking at them like this, the people who were originally noisy gradually became silent.

Gao Yan nodded, "What you said makes sense. As for Yang Yin's matter, I will take over first, and we will decide on the candidate later."

Everyone walked out of the other halls, and the dignitaries gathered together, discussing something in low voices, most of them looking excited.

However, Wang Xi did not leave with them. He and Di Xian'an stayed where they were, waiting for everyone to leave. Then they caught up with Gao Yan, following him on the left and right.

Gao Yan suddenly asked, "Why do you recommend Zhao Yanshen?"

"Because this person is talented, humble, and of good character, my king, you have already destroyed Yang Yin, and now it is time for you to govern Da Qi."

Wang Xi smiled bitterly and said, "Nobles can keep the country safe, but they cannot govern it."

"Whether it is Shangshu or Zhongshu, the affairs are complicated and confidential, and it is definitely not something that ordinary nobles can take on. Otherwise..."

Wang Xi didn't say it explicitly, but Gao Yan already had a guess in his mind.

Gao Yan walked in the corridor, "Mr. Di, you have been to many places. Can you tell me what the situation is like there?"

Di Xian'an replied: "If I want to speak frankly, please forgive my crime first."

"Speak, and I will pardon you."

"Most of the scholars in the world have given up on the government and no longer take it as their responsibility to help the country. I'm afraid that the king has lost the support of the people."

Gao Yan suddenly stopped and slowly looked at Di Xian'an. Gao Yan's eyes were full of murderous intent, and that sharp murderous intent made Di Xian'an tremble.

"So what do you think we should do?"

Di Xian'an spoke again, "We have to win over these scholars again. In the past, Your Majesty was the leader of the nobles, and now Your Majesty is the master of the temple. Therefore, Your Majesty must put aside your prejudices. First of all, you must open up schools in various places, including the Imperial Academy, the National Academy, and the schools in the counties. You must order them to recruit students, lecture on classics, appoint officials, supervise classes, and improve their learning style. The most important thing is to let the people of the world know that Your Majesty is not a warrior, but a person who values ​​literature."

Wang Xi added: "The second is to restrain the nobles. Currently, the positions of the Supreme Court, the Imperial Censor, the Provincial Governor, etc. are almost all held by the nobles. These people are lawless, reckless, and ignore the law. They punish people privately. The king should order that law enforcers must sentence according to the law, and those who abuse their power for personal gain should be sentenced to death."

Di Xian'an nodded and said, "There is still the issue of money and grain to be resolved."

Wang Xi said: "We must send prestigious ministers to various places on your behalf to investigate the local conditions."

Gao Yan stood in front of them, listening to their continuous suggestions without any annoyance on his face. He listened very seriously, and only nodded after the two people finished speaking.

"What you said makes sense, but it cannot be implemented now."

Wang Xi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, what you said is that the current major event is only halfway done. If we rush to offend the nobles now, it will be disadvantageous for the next step."

Gao Yan frowned and pondered for a moment. He suddenly looked at the two counselors and said, "We need to speed up. I need to ascend the throne as soon as possible."

The two counselors also smiled bitterly at this moment. Wang Xi said, "Your Majesty, how can you be so blunt? Besides, this kind of thing cannot be rushed. Your Majesty must first secure your current position, and then go to war and make meritorious deeds. Then, even if the ministers persuade you to ascend the throne, your Majesty must refuse. This will take at least a year at the earliest."

Gao Yan shook his head and looked at the two of them coldly. "I am not eager to enjoy the pleasure of being an emperor, nor am I afraid of war. It's just that there are too many bad policies in the Great Qi at present. As a minister, I am still limited. I need to take the throne as soon as possible so that I can give full play to my abilities. I don't like to pretend. So don't wait for a year. Let's start now. Three months, is that enough?"

Wang Xi was completely stumped, "Your Majesty, this..."

"Four months?"

"My lord, within five months, it will be accomplished."

"Okay, that's five months."

Gao Yan walked forward again. As he walked on the road, he suddenly asked, "How is Liu Taozi from Dingzhou? How many people did he kill?"

Di Xian'an said, "I have never killed anyone."

"Oh??"

"He found Cui Jishu to help him with the spring planting, and he did an excellent job. Dingzhou will surely have a very high harvest this year."

"Oh, there is also Cui Jishu, we can call him back to the temple."

As Gao Yan spoke, a smile suddenly appeared on his solemn face.

"It turns out that this Liu Taozi is not only good at killing people, but also does a good job."

"Lord Wang, arrange for him to be stationed at the frontier, and let him cultivate the land there to defend against the enemy. This will help to solve the problem of money and food for the frontier, and also prepare for my future expeditions to fight against bandits. I still need military merits to win the obedience of others."

Wang Xi was stunned and thought for a moment, "Your Majesty, then let him go to Youzhou?"

Gao Yan glanced at him and asked, "Where are the most powerful people?"

Wang Xi suddenly realized, "I understand."

Gao Yan smiled and said, "I never thought that one day I would be like Yang Yin, thinking about how to take action against my own family. However, this peach is very useful. You must use it sparingly and don't spoil it!"

Di Xian'an suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report to you about Liu Taozi."

"You say it."

"He is the son of Liu Taozhi, the commander-in-chief of the warriors."

"I know."

"I see, I am the one who talks too much."

(End of this chapter)