Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 205: Strange Talk
Beishuozhou, Pingze Town.

A donkey cart stopped at the entrance of the town.

The old slave driving the car quickly jumped off and tied the reins to a dead tree nearby.

The man's face was dark and covered with wrinkles, layer upon layer. He quickly saluted the people in the cart and said, "Sir, the road ahead is not easy for the donkey cart to go."

The man sitting in the car was broad-shouldered and fat, and also had wrinkles on his face, but his wrinkles were at his neck, one circle after another. He sat in the car like a small mountain.

He opened his eyes slightly and glanced at the small village in front of him.

He shook his head slightly and then got out of the car.

When he got off, everyone in the donkey cart breathed a sigh of relief.

The old slave looked into the distance and asked, "Do you need to wait for your disciples?"

The fat man shook his head, looked up, and motioned for the old slave to lead the way.

The old slave led the fat man into the village. He walked in front, but had to face the fat man directly and did not dare to turn his back to him. His walking posture was quite strange.

"In the past, we were considered a big town. King Gao was stationed here. At that time, our town had more than a thousand households."

“Look at those places, they are all old towns in the past.”

The old slave pointed to the distance, which was outside the town. There were many remains of buildings that had been burned black. It could be seen that there might be a wall, a few houses, and some living people there.

The fat man hummed, but it was unclear whether he heard it or not.

The villages and towns were deserted.

The road is uneven and full of potholes. I am not lying. If you drive a donkey cart through here, you will probably get your intestines shaken out.

These houses all have a distinct military style, with huge gates and double doors that can accommodate cars.

Walking along the road, the village was empty and extremely quiet.

"Gah!!"

Suddenly a crow cried loudly. The old slave was startled and trembled all over. He dared not speak anymore.

They walked forward for a long time and finally arrived at a luxurious courtyard.

The walls of the courtyard are very high. Although dilapidated, they cannot conceal its former glory. Seeing this courtyard, the fat man's face finally looked much better.

The servant walked forward and knocked gently on the door.

"who???"

Suddenly, a frightened question came from inside the door.

The voice is also trembling.

The old slave hurriedly said, "It's me, I brought the person back!"

"Is that you?"

"How do you prove that?"

Another voice came from the door. The old slave widened his eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "I have followed the master for more than twenty years."

The door slowly opened.

There were two young men, holding sticks, looking at the old slave vigilantly, then glanced at the fat man behind him, finally breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly let them in, and then closed the door.

When I walked into the yard, I saw a lot of people gathered there, both young and old. They looked panicked at the moment, going in and out, moving things.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was frighteningly cold.

When they walked into the inner courtyard, they finally saw the owner of the courtyard.

The man was also big and strong, sitting in a high seat. Many women gathered around him. These women were all crying and saying something at the moment, but the man stood still.

The fat man saluted him gently.

The servant said, "Master, this is the great wizard Xu Gong whom I invited from Shuo City. He has great abilities."

The head of the family stood up, bowed to the other party, and invited him to sit down next to him.

After the other party took his seat, the head of the family's expression was still very grim.

"Do you know the purpose of your visit?"

"know."

The head of the family sighed, "What a disaster has befallen us. I never thought of it. Master Xu, you must help us!"

"As long as you can avoid this disaster, I will give you whatever you want. My family has owned property for generations. Even if you want ten carts of wheat, I will give it to you!!"

Mr. Xu shook his head calmly, "I didn't come here for money."

"Evil spirits are causing trouble right now. It's not just you. People from all over the country are inviting us to perform rituals to drive them away."

"I am a straight man. If I cannot successfully exorcise the ghost, I will not take a penny. If I can, I will not ask for much. I will only take what I deserve."

The patriarch nodded quickly, "Okay, okay, you are really an expert!"

Hearing this, the woman beside him couldn't help but shout, "My dear! Don't be stubborn anymore, leave quickly!"

"Yang Shanzhi from Yangcun has been gone for several days, and we haven't heard of anyone staying in Yuanyang, so why should we go? We still have time to go to Zhaoyuan now."

"Shut up!!"

The head of the family was furious. He raised his head with a ferocious expression, "I won't leave! I am different from them. I didn't gain power overnight. I am the family business of several generations. My family has been here since before King Gao was born. Don't say anything more!"

He pulled the wizard aside and said, "Cast the spell now!"

"No matter how much you want, I'll give it to you!!"

Wizard Xu nodded and began to take out his magic tools.

His magic weapon was very simple, just a bone with a hole in it and some unknown bits and pieces tied to it. He also brought some powder, which he applied on his face, and his whole temperament changed.

"Do you have a black dog here?"

"some."

"Are there any peach trees?"

"some."

"Prepare something for me"

The wizard began to give orders. For some reason, after this person arrived, the panic in the courtyard calmed down a lot. Everyone dropped what they were doing and started to prepare for him.

Someone brought a big black dog, and the wizard had its teeth knocked out and let everyone take one.

Someone cut down a peach tree, and he made a wooden stick with it. He had people wait for his orders and hit the ground with the stick.

Then, he began his performance.

He sang very hard.

This song does not belong to the Xianbei, the Han, or the Gaoche. Probably no one can understand what he is singing.

He danced and sang, and ordered the men to hit the ground with sticks and roar loudly.

The spellcasting continued, and the master of the house calmed down by now.

The wizard worked very hard, and given his size, he was sweating profusely in a short while, but he did not stop.

Fortunately, his disciples caught up with him, and the fat man let them take his place.

I performed the spell diligently for three days.

The wizards finally stopped.

The head of the family held his hand and cried.

"If it weren't for Mr. Xu, the foundation of these generations would have been destroyed in my hands!"

The fat man was panting, looking extremely tired, but he was not in a hurry to ask for money. He ordered: "After I leave, bury the teeth under the stone in front of the village. Send someone to check every day. If the position of the stone changes, send someone to find me again."

The head of the family was stunned and nodded repeatedly.

Just when he was preparing to hold a banquet to entertain the wizard, someone suddenly ran in. After running in, he fell headfirst in front of the head of the house.

"Master! Someone is knocking on the door! Someone is knocking on the door!"

Everyone was suddenly terrified and started shouting. The head of the family was so scared that his face turned pale. The wizard took a deep breath.

“Do not be afraid.”

"I'm going to go out. You guys stay in the yard and don't move around."

The wizard strode towards the door.

The head of the family naturally didn't dare to say anything, and asked everyone to pick up sticks and be prepared.

The wizard led his disciples and walked quickly to the gate, where rhythmic knocks were still coming from.

The wizard took a deep breath and flung the door open.

There were several people standing outside the door.

A man stood in the middle, wearing an official robe and smiling, and beside him stood several armored soldiers, leading horses.

The wizard quickly forced a smile and bowed to them, "Greetings, superiors. I am here to perform a ritual at a good family's home. They are inside."

The wizard and his disciples hurriedly made way for them.

The official was somewhat stunned and looked at him. "Are you performing a ritual? Whose token do you hold? From Zhaoxuan Temple? Or the Grand Master of the Imperial Sacrificial Ceremony?"

The wizard quickly searched through his body, "These are the cards dealt by Taizhu. Here, here."

He handed over the token respectfully, looked at the official in front of him with a kind face, and obeyed absolutely.

"Passing by."

"Here, here, we are from Shuozhou, not Beishuo."

"I saw it. It's useless even if you are from Yecheng. This place is under the jurisdiction of Beishuo."

"Yes, that is."

The official checked for a long time and found no problems, so he returned the token to him.

"If you want to come here to cast a spell in the future, remember to submit your permit to the official first. Beishuo and Shuo are now two different places, and you cannot travel between them at will."

"I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Senior Officer." They nodded. The wizard breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave.

The old slave suddenly poked his head out from the backyard and asked loudly.

"Xu Gong!!"

"The ghost messenger was driven away?"

The smile on Wizard Xu's face froze immediately.

He slowly looked at the old slave in the distance, his lips moved, and he said something unknown.

He looked at the official in front of him again.

The official stared at him with a stern face.

"Are you here to cast a spell to drive away the ghost messenger?"

In the inner courtyard, the servants stood on both sides, their faces horrified and sobbing softly.

The patriarch, Wizard Xu, several of his disciples, and a few young men were all squatting on the ground, not daring to speak.

The knight pushed the door open from outside and returned to the young official's side again.

"Mr. Sun, you really are casting a spell to curse us."

Sun Li looked at the people in front of him and was silent for a long time.

"How did we become ghost messengers?"

"Cheng'an Ghost Messenger?"

Wizard Xu raised his head in a hurry, "The superiors have misunderstood! I am here to pray for blessings, it is a normal ritual!!"

"If this is a formal ritual, why would I keep you here?"

Sun Li frowned. While the two next door were worried about internal Buddhist and Taoist issues, Da Qi had already completed the institutionalization and included it in the law. Even the wizards' spells and divinations were divided into legal and illegal.

These wizards cannot call themselves wizards just by putting on something. They need to be certified by Zhaoxuan Temple and other departments before they have the right to cast spells. At the same time, they cannot cast curses or oppose temple rituals. Well, there are also requirements for divination. They are not allowed to divine major events in the world and nature. They are only allowed to divine within their own scope.

But it’s still the same problem, no one follows it.

The military system of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the legal system of the Northern Qi Dynasty became the forerunner foundation of an extremely powerful empire later on.

Hearing the wizard's explanation, the owner looked at him in astonishment, and the wizard quickly blinked at him.

The head of the family had no choice but to lower his head.

"That's right, I'm just praying."

Sun Li shook his head. "According to the law, if you try to use witchcraft to oppose the government, I should kill your clan."

"However, the scale of the sacrifice is too small, so they should still be able to survive. Take these people away and send them to the county town."

The knights stepped forward, grabbed the wizards and family heads who were illegally casting spells, and walked out. The rest of the people just cried and dared not speak.

After these people were taken away, Sun Li looked at everyone.

He took out the order from his bosom.

"I am following the order of General Anxi and will be stationed in the town as a village official. My surname is Sun."

"The general has ordered that the two states implement the equal-field system, and all cultivated land will be returned to the imperial court. It will be redistributed according to the decree issued in the second year of the Tenpo era."

"The specific decree is as follows: All registered citizens under the rule of Da Qi, regardless of gender, will receive land from the age of 18. The land granted to men is 80 mu, and that to women is 40 mu. The land granted to adult cattle is 60 mu, and each household is limited to 4 cattle!"

"Another 20 mu of mulberry or hemp fields will be granted."

"Officials and military households are required to retain farmland according to their ranks and must not exceed the limit!"

"Any family that is granted land and sends male members to serve in the military will be registered as a military household and the land will be increased according to the rank of the military household."

Sun Li read the imperial edict loudly.

But the people standing in front of him were just crying at this moment. Even the servants looked like they had lost their parents. They didn't understand what was going on.

All they knew was that the ghost had come rushing in.

I heard that wherever the ghost messenger went, there were rivers of blood and mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Sun Li was not angry and began to investigate the family's land deeds and slave registration.

In this village, most of the arable land is in the hands of this family. Of course, the villagers are also in their hands, and have been farming for them for generations.

The woman was well-educated and she understood what Sun Li said.

At this moment, she cried and retorted: "My family has never been involved in theft or robbery. We have worked hard for several generations to have the wealth we have today. Why does the general bully us, a small family, and rob us of our houses and land?"

Sun Li ignored her and just waved his hand, "What are you talking about with us ghost messengers?"

Nominally there are only a hundred households in the village, but if we include the Tibetans who have no place of origin, there are about three hundred households.

This is a considerable number, especially in frontier areas, it is particularly valuable.

In the following days, Sun Li went from house to house. He selected two literate people from the people and asked them to work with him. They first registered the farmland inside and outside the village.

There is not much arable land in the border areas due to climate, wars, and many other reasons.

But it has not reached the point where people would starve to death. There is not much arable land here, but the population is not large either. The main reason for starvation is that there are too few ghost messengers.

The former old slave now led Sun Li around everywhere.

"Look, those are all the owner's. This place was originally assigned to six of us to farm, but one of us injured his leg last month and died."

Sun Li nodded and began to write.

The old servant was a little afraid of Sun Li at first, but he found that this ghost messenger who was rumored to have committed murders had a very good attitude towards servants. He was not as cruel as his own master, and he did not hit anyone.

After two days of getting along, the old slave was not so afraid anymore.

He looked at Sun Li writing with envy, his eyes full of light.

Sun Li glanced at him and laughed, "Can you read?"

"I don't recognize you, I don't recognize you. Those who can write are not ordinary people. You will definitely be extraordinary in the future!"

"Hahaha, that's nothing. The county has opened a school that only charges 40 coins to learn how to write. You can send your son to learn. Once he learns how to read, he can go to the law school and become a clerk after he graduates!"

The old slave shook his head, "I dare not, I dare not, he can't read."

Sun Li did not say much, registered the place, and walked back. The old slave hesitated for a moment, and said in a tangled way: "Shang Li, if you want this piece of land, can you still use me?"

“My home is close to here.”

"I don't use it, I give it to you. I see you are not young anymore. The equal distribution of land has been in place since the previous dynasty and has been implemented for so long. Don't you know about it?"

The old slave was a little surprised, "I've never heard of it."

Sun Li pursed his lips and touched his chin. "These farmlands are to be granted to you. You will understand later."

The old slave was still somewhat bewildered.

Sun Li sent people to gather the villagers.

There were too many people, and there was no room for everyone in either the government office or the master's house.

Sun Li had no choice but to find a high ground outside the village and gather everyone there. Most of the people were terrified because every time they were gathered here in the past, they were captured and forced to serve.

Sun Li no longer read the imperial edict, but used the simplest words to inform everyone of the situation.

After he explained it over and over again, the old slave suddenly understood!

This means you will become a tenant for the government!

That's a good thing, though.

In the past, tenants working for a master would leave enough food to survive, and the rest would be given to the owner of the land.

Now, they only need to pay enough land tax, and the rest can be kept. It is said that one in fifteen can be exchanged for cloth, silk, armor and shield. If this can be realized, it would be really good! At least a few children will die next year!

Everyone was quite excited after hearing what Sun Li said, but they didn't believe it completely. After all, he was a ghost messenger.

Sun Li came in person to register the people present and prepare to re-issue them.

After such a busy day, by the evening, Sun Li was so sore that he couldn't even lift his hands.

The old servant was busy running around and followed him towards home.

"Sir, they all said that they couldn't understand what the ghost officials said, but how come I can understand what you say?"

"Many people are from Cheng'an and their speech is hard to understand. I am a local. I used to be a laborer in Wuchuan."

"Ah? Wuchuan! Oh my! I know it very well. I have two relatives who went there."

Sun Li looked at him with a smile and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll leave the farmland over there to you. Go home early."

The old slave's thoughts were exposed, and his face immediately turned red and he stammered.

Just as Sun Li was about to leave, the old slave suddenly asked, "Go, Li."

"You mentioned before, the school in the county town, can I really go there?"

"sure."

"real??"

"Well, I didn't know how to read before, and I also learned it in the school in Wuchuan. Look, you are not an official now? Why, you want to go too?"

"My little son has been smart since he was young"

"Forty cents, food and lodging are provided there. If you want him to go, I can send him there."

"I don't understand. Why would the general do this?"

"doing what?"

"They gave us land and told us we could go to school. Many people said the general was a mandrill in disguise, with a green face and fangs, and was a cannibal."

Sun Li pondered for a moment.

"I have never seen the general, so I don't know if he has a green face and fangs. But I heard that mandrills don't like to eat people."

"Good food ghost."

(End of this chapter)