Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 261 Small Temple!!

"It's not yet time."

"Pingcheng is too far away from the Zhou people."

Hearing Liu Taozi's words, Zu Ting was a little amused.

Otherwise? The capital city should be some distance away from the front line. Wuchuan is right under the eyes of the Zhou people. Once the war starts, the enemy doesn't have to think too much, just surround Wuchuan and attack fiercely.

He persuaded again: "My lord, the capital should be a little farther away from the battlefield. This way it is safe. Even if we are defeated a few times, we can still sit firmly in the rear and continue to fight. Otherwise, if the capital is captured in one battle, we will have no strength to fight again."

Liu Taozi's face was very calm.

"Only when I am at the front can soldiers from all over the country fight to the death."

"We'll talk about the change of the treatment center later."

Liu Taozi spoke very firmly. Zu Ting sighed and stopped trying to persuade her.

The banquet was still very lively, but the divisions between the groups were so obvious. Different people gathered in different places. They were completely different in appearance, words, deeds and temperament.

Most of Cheng'an's elders were unruly, arrogant, and talked loudly, while the new followers seemed more restrained, elegant, and easy-going.

A cold wind blew and the sky began to gradually turn dark.

Liu Taozi sat in the upper seat and looked up at the sky.

Heavy snow is coming.

The wind and snow mixed together, whistling past.

The snow in Wuchuan was very heavy. Flakes of snow fell down and covered the entire city. You couldn't see your hand in front of you. It was like a snowy hell.

The wind was blowing violently, constantly hitting the doors and windows of the government office.

Mushan and Muchuang were screaming constantly.

The stove in the house was burning, and the dazzling red light illuminated the whole house.

Zu Ting, Lu Qubing, Tian Zili, Cui Gang, Chu Jiande, and the newly arrived old men from Yecheng, who were Liu Taozi's current "dominant officials", gathered together.

Everyone was wearing thick clothes.

Lu Qubing shivered and wrapped his clothes tightly again. He looked not in good spirits, his eyes were blurry and he had no energy.

Wei Shou and others in the distance looked even uglier at this moment and huddled together.

They knew that the environment and climate at the border were harsh.

But many of them had never imagined that it would be so bad, especially these people who were used to a rich and comfortable life in Yecheng. People like Wei Shou who had suffered in his early years, had traveled a lot, and were almost dragged to participate in a diving competition, could still withstand it to some extent. However, those celebrities who came from Henan were just regretting it at this moment.

The hundred years before and after this also happened to be the time when the climate was most abnormal. Several areas on the border experienced heavy snow year after year. The snow was so severe that many counties established on the border in the early Jin Dynasty became deserted cities, and even the garrisons could not be used. These areas were destroyed by the harsh climate. Even the Hu people outside the Great Wall could not survive there, and a large number of gaps appeared on the border.

Liu Taozi looked at Gao Jie who was standing aside.

Gao Jie walked out immediately, and soon he came back with a group of clerks and brought out hot tea for everyone present.

Everyone hurriedly took it.

Liu Taozi said slowly: "This is the favorite of Huaishuo people. It is called hot tea. It contains many medicinal herbs that are not available anywhere else. Eating it can resist some diseases and warm the body."

Looking at the somewhat restrained crowd, Liu Taozi said again: "Eat, there is no need to speak here."

Lu Qubing smiled and took the lead in eating. The tea was thick, like soup, with a lot of things added to it, but it still tasted sweet.

“That’s how it is in this fortress.”

"In winter and spring, there are strong winds and heavy snow. In summer, it is extremely hot, with no place to escape the heat. In autumn, the sky is covered with yellow sand again."

"This is the coldest place in the world."

Liu Taozi said softly, and then looked at Wei Shou and the others, "If you feel scared, it's not too late to resign and leave now."

"After this meeting, we have to start working. If we talk about resigning when we are working, I'm afraid it won't work."

Hearing Liu Taozi's words, Wei Shou immediately laughed, "We are humiliated ministers, guilty bodies, and we are already honored by the lord. Keeping us by his side and entrusting us with important tasks is a great favor. What does the wind and snow mean to us?"

Several people had unhappy expressions. Lu Sidao looked at Wei Shou, then at Liu Taozi, his eyes full of worry.

Many of the ministers who followed Liu Taozi were dismissed for committing crimes. They could not make it in Yecheng and wanted to follow Liu Taozi.

Lu Sidao's articles and imperial edicts were very good, but unlike literary masters with outstanding writing skills like Wei Shou, his writing style was simpler and more capable. In other words, he was better at writing court documents.

He was previously dismissed for leaking secrets, and was discovered by Gao Rui for bribing He Shikai. He couldn't make it in Yecheng anymore, so he came to hang out with Liu Taozi.

But he really didn't expect the environment here to be so bad.

He felt like he was going to die here.
Just as he was about to speak, Wei Shou suddenly nudged him with his elbow, and Lu Sidao forced himself not to speak.

Liu Taozi waited quietly for a moment, no one spoke.

Only then did he look at the doors and windows that were constantly banging.

"The border is harsh all year round. There are not many people, the farmland is barren, and there are enemies on three sides. There is nothing fun and nothing to enjoy."

Cold air continued to come in from everywhere and went straight into everyone's arms.

Liu Taozi added: "If you want to enjoy yourself, this is really not a good place to go."

"But if you still have a little ambition in your heart and want to accomplish great things, this is the place to go."

“There is a lot to be done here, and a lot of work needs to be done.”

The fire brought with it scorching heat, blocking out the cold air outside.

Liu Taozi looked at Zu Ting and signaled him that he could give orders.

Zu Ting stood up and looked at the people around him. He raised his head with an extraordinary aura and spoke slowly.

"Everyone, from this month to March next year, we only have one thing to do."

Everyone looked at him.

Reclamation? Warming up? Recruiting soldiers?
Different people have different guesses.

Zu Ting said slowly:

"Fill in the clerks."

Everyone was shocked for a moment. Wei Shou and others clapped their hands. Wei Shou nodded, his face flushed. "Grandfather is right. Everything depends on human effort. Aren't these officials the ones who are doing the work? If we don't fill their shoes, how can we achieve anything great?"

Lu Sidao followed closely behind, citing classics and began to actively support Zu Ting.

Tian Zili, Lu Qubing and Cui Gang did not rush to speak. They just looked at each other.

At this moment, an old man with a short beard stood up. The old man had a big frame and a stubborn look between his eyebrows. "Ancestor, the most important thing right now is to keep warm."

"Nothing is more important than protecting the people. Wuchuan has been hit by heavy snow this time, and the situation in other places is not optimistic. Now the most important thing for the General Temple's Mansion is to keep out the cold in time. Instruct all places to prepare for disaster relief, start dispatching supplies, and stockpile winter supplies in advance to avoid damage to the roads and being too late."

The old man is called Yuan Xiu Bo.

That’s right, a genuine descendant of Tuoba.

However, he was a distant relative of the royal family of the previous dynasty, and he had no chance to feed the royal family to the fish even if Gao Yang pulled them to feed the fish.

The old man became a Shangshu Lang when he was young. He held many official positions and was sent to local areas to serve as a prefect and a governor. He made great achievements in different positions. Later, he served as the Shangshu of Duzhi (Minister of the Ministry of Revenue) in the court.

He was a rare court official who cared deeply about the situation of the common people. During his tenure as Minister of Finance, he worked day and night, trying his best to reduce the burden on the people. He was a very good person.

The only stain is that he has a good relationship with Zu Ting.

As soon as Yuan Xiubo finished speaking, his close friend Tang Yong stood up to agree with him. Tang Yong was actually much younger than Yuan Xiubo. Although he was young, he had a lot of experience. He had worked with Gao Huan and Gao Cheng to formulate policies, fought with Gao Yang, and dealt with the big families with Gao Yan.
This man was a man of integrity and righteousness, and also had some "people-friendly tendencies". When he was an official in the past, he always struck hard at the aristocratic families, without mercy. Every time he handled a case, he would kill the entire family of the aristocratic family and not let anyone go.
Everyone looked at them secretly.

This is also true for Lu Qubing. These two have been Lu Qubing's idols for a long time. He can understand why Wei Shou and Lu Sidao came with Zu Ting to seek wealth and fame.

But he had no idea why these two people would come to the border with him.

Facing the two people who stood up, Zu Ting was not angry. He stroked his beard and nodded. "Mr. Yuan's thinking is correct, but he made a small mistake."

"This is not the imperial palace, but the General Wei's residence. Officials from all over the country are not the local officials you have come into contact with before."

Zu Ting said seriously: "In the past, disaster relief was always not resolved. There are three reasons for this. The first is that local officials are bad. They are afraid of delaying their future, so they are slow to do things and like to conceal things when they encounter problems."

"The second is that the officials in the temple are corrupt and use the excuse of dispatching troops and providing disaster relief to enrich themselves."

"The third reason is that the imperial palace is too far away from the local areas. It takes time to travel back and forth, especially in winter. Local areas often wait for the imperial palace's order before providing disaster relief, but it is often too late."

Yuan Xiu Bo was stunned and did not refute.

Tang Yong agreed with this. He nodded and said, "There are indeed too many traitors."

Zu Ting put on a rare serious face and continued, "But the situation in the General Wei's Mansion is different now. The governors who are sent to various places, let alone their talents, at least their character is not to be worried about. They will do their best to provide disaster relief, there is no doubt about that. The court has set up counties indiscriminately. Now that we have reduced the number of counties, the governors we have appointed are also some talents who can be used. Many of the county magistrates in various places were born as minor officials, and they have made many contributions, proving their talents and character."

"So I am very confident about the local situation. I will not tell them what to do or how to deal with the snowstorm."

"What we need to do now is to increase their strength and play a good role in logistics so that they can go all out."

"Therefore, I say the first thing to do is to fill the gaps in the ranks."

"Does Yuan Gong still feel that it is inappropriate?"

Zu Ting asked again.

Yuan Xiubo sat down slowly and said, "You are right, but the transportation of materials still needs to be done by the Temple General's Mansion, right?"

"Hahaha, Lord Yuan has never been to the border, so he doesn't know the situation here. The snow disaster at the border is not just this year, it happens every year, so the food and supplies are stored separately. If there is a situation, all places can provide relief at any time, and the local officials also have enough experience."

After listening to Zu Ting's explanation, Yuan Xiu Bo finally stopped talking.

Zu Ting looked around again, making sure no one objected, and then said, "The current official system is quite good, there is no need to change it!"

"The only thing I want to modify is the issue of the promotion of local officials. The achievements and promotions of local officials should also be taken seriously by officials and should be considered part of the local achievements!"

"The other thing is the law room. I think the law room needs to be expanded and formalized."

"In the past, we were very impatient and needed people to run around as soon as possible. The school can participate in the assessment within 30 days, and the rest must be learned and mastered after taking office."

"The number of officials we have trained in the past thirty days is still not enough!"

Tian Zili frowned, but still didn't interrupt. Zu Ting continued, "The current situation is no longer so urgent. I think the teaching of the Law School will take at least six months!"

Lu Qubing finally spoke at this moment, "Zu Changshi's idea is very good."

"However, most of the clerks are from the lower classes, and they often have to support their families. It is unrealistic to ask them to take six months off to study."

"The school can provide them with food and drink, but what about their families?"

"They become officials so they can support their families faster."

Zu Ting said "oh" and hurriedly sat down. He picked up the document beside him and started to look through it. Lu Qubing thought he was going to refute him, but unexpectedly, Zu Ting put away the document and nodded, "What you said makes sense. I thought too simply before. So how do you think we can improve the ability of scattered officials?"

As the official who dealt with the most scattered officials, Lu Qubing pondered for a long time at this moment, "Regularize the assessment of scattered officials, and set up different assessments for scattered officials at different levels such as states, counties, and townships. If we want to unify the assessment, I am afraid it is not realistic. However, we must urge the local governments to attach importance to the assessment and not be perfunctory. The difficulty must be reasonable."

Zu Ting stroked his beard gently, "That's a solution."

Gao Jie sat aside, carefully recording their conversation.

This was the first meeting of the General's Mansion, and there was only one core person, the official.

Everyone discussed and formulated the contents regarding the training, assessment, promotion, disposal, and supervision of officials.

Liu Taozi remained silent from beginning to end and just listened to the story.

It can only be said that everyone was somewhat restrained at the beginning, but with Lu Qubing's successful initial rebuttal, the situation was opened up, and the subsequent court meetings became lively.

Everyone became more and more excited as they talked. The red light of the fire shone on everyone, and the room was steaming hot. Even Wei Shou took off his coat, stood beside Zu Ting, and scolded him.

Yuan Xiu Bo was the most active. He actually had a good personal relationship with Zu Ting, but in the meeting, he would refute, criticize and question every word of Zu Ting.

"You make it sound so simple! If local officials can no longer dispose of their scattered officials at will, then when the officials gather together, the officials' orders will become a blank sheet of paper!"

"Officials cannot hold office in their own families, but don't forget that it is possible for local officials to work together. If local officials join forces, wouldn't they be strong and powerful?!"

Yuan Xiu Bo pointed at Zu Ting's nose, and his hand almost touched the tip of Zu Ting's nose several times.

Zu Ting still maintained his own point of view, "In short, it is inappropriate to allow officials to privately decide on the promotion and disposal of clerks. Clerks can be county clerks, but they cannot be slaves of county officials. If they want to be disposed of or dismissed, they must first report to the imperial court!"

"Nonsense! If you do this, your memorial won't even make it to the imperial court!"

Cui Gang said, "I can probably figure out what Lord Yuan is worried about, so we can think of ways to solve it. For example, those high-ranking officials should follow the example of officials and not be allowed to hold such positions in their own families."

Yuan Xiubo glared at Cui Gang and said, "The reason why the officials are able to do their jobs is because they are familiar with the local area. If they are transferred, just imagine how many documents the court will have to deal with every day! How can that be tolerated?"

"Then the township will be returned to the county, and the county to the prefecture, and let the higher authorities handle it."

"Then we are back to the same old problem. Can the local authorities handle it?"

Zu Ting's eyes widened in anger.

"You old bastard, are you looking for trouble?"

The meeting lasted for more than two hours. Everyone was exhausted. Gao Jie's hands were almost broken. Zu Ting had no choice but to suggest continuing the meeting tomorrow.

The officials bowed one by one, said goodbye and left.

Zu Ting walked out the door holding a thick stack of documents.

A strong wind blew and snow flew all over the sky.

Just as Zu Ting was about to walk out of the office, he saw a figure blocking the door.

Zu Ting was stunned. He looked carefully and saw that the person blocking the door was Yuan Xiu Bo. He had his back to Zu Ting and was blocking the door.

Zu Ting smiled, looking slightly embarrassed, "Mr. Yuan, the dispute just now was all about government affairs."

Yuan Xiu Bo slowly turned around, and Zu Ting saw two tear marks on this guy's face, which were still flowing. He couldn't stop crying at all.

Didn’t this make the old man cry?
Zu Ting cleared his throat and was about to comfort him when Yuan Xiubo suddenly said, "It has been a long time since Emperor Wenxiang discussed important matters like this."

"There is no scramble for power, no abuse of power for personal gain, no faction-building, everyone wants to get things done, even Wei Shou is like this."

"Zu Ting is really nice."

As he spoke, he cried even harder. Although he didn't sob or cry out loud, his tears couldn't stop flowing, almost soaking his entire collar.

Zu Ting smiled lightly, "Mr. Yuan must have suffered a lot of injustice over the years."

He held the other person's hand and said slowly: "It's okay."

"It's over, it's over."

This posture didn't seem like comforting an old friend, but more like coaxing a child. Yuan Xiu Bo took a deep breath and looked at Zu Ting.

"However, Xiao Zheng, I still think that your idea that officials cannot deal with their subordinates privately is wrong."

"Hahaha~~~"

Zu Ting laughed loudly. Yuan Xiubo glanced at him, and then he also laughed out loud.

Inside the house, Lu Qubing was still feeling a little dizzy. The weather had suddenly turned cold, and relying on his youth, he still wore thin clothes when traveling. Who would have thought that he would become so sick after just going out once.

He sat next to Liu Taozi, and even though he was sick, he did not stop talking.

"Taozi, your government meeting is more reliable than the imperial meeting. I have participated in the imperial meeting in the past, even when Emperor Xiao Zhao was in power. Even if there was a wise ruler, the imperial meeting was always full of chaos and demons. I couldn't stand it at all."

"I always feel that in this most remote and barren place, we, who are not tolerated by the government, will do something great."

"Ah sneeze!!"

ps: It is very effective. After I went home, my coughing has decreased and my throat is not so painful anymore. But I am still in a daze. I spent a whole day writing this chapter. Alas, I still say that you should wear more clothes when you go out, or you will be struck by lightning if you pretend to be cool.
(End of this chapter)