Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 380 Talent and Morality

Pseudo-Qi, Hanoi.

The sun is shining brightly, baking the earth.

The farmer was barefoot, moving slowly on the street like a zombie. He could not lift one of his legs, so he could only drag it on the ground.

After walking a few laborious steps, the farmer finally stopped. He raised his head in despair and stared at the scorching sun in the sky.

"Snapped."

The farmer fell down and didn't move anymore.

On both sides of the road, at intervals, you can see a few people lying on the ground, men, women, young and old.

The streets were silent, and the doors of the houses on both sides were closed, making it seem like a ghost town.

At the end of the street, a restaurant sign was shaking gently.

I saw a bearded man squatting at the door, holding a small hammer and gently knocking on the new wooden door.

The new door was quite sturdy. The man hammered on it for a long time. Then he stood up, closed the door, and opened it again. After trying several times, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked inside with a smile.

"Shopkeeper!"

"I've already installed it!"

A wealthy man with a round belly came out, looked at his new door for a long time, and then nodded with satisfaction.

"Good, good, you are worthy of being Carpenter Liu, your craftsmanship is really amazing!"

"You've been busy for a long time. Eat something first. I'll have someone get you the money."

Carpenter Liu hurriedly shook his head, "I've eaten, I've eaten, I've eaten at home, no need to bother."

"No problem! I'll need you for many things in the future. I just moved here and I still need to buy a lot of furniture."

The shop owner was very welcoming. He pulled the carpenter to sit down and asked the servant to bring him some food.

It wasn’t something very rich, just a bowl of rice porridge.

The craftsman thanked him again and again, and then started eating with big mouthfuls.

The two of them sat near the gate, talking and laughing while eating, and looking at the scenery outside the gate.

Looking at the starving people everywhere on the streets, the craftsman's eyes were filled with pity.

"Autumn harvest, autumn harvest time, can still force people to this state"

"It has never been so excessive in the past. This year, more than 30 miscellaneous taxes have been added, and the land tax has increased three times. We can't survive. We can't survive."

Looking at the craftsman's sad face, the shopkeeper said helplessly: "There is no other way. There was a rebellion in Hebei. The government is anxious to quell the rebellion. The treasury does not have much money and grain. So we can only take from the people."

The craftsman said nothing, but just ate the porridge in front of him in big mouthfuls.

The servant quickly brought the wages and handed it to the craftsman. The carpenter squeezed the purse in his hand, feeling its weight, and couldn't help but look at the shopkeeper in front of him.

"Mr. Wang, you are a good person. Thank you very much."

"You helped me, I should thank you."

"No, these days, only good people can get paid. Many times, I work for nothing."

The carpenter said a few words, and his face suddenly became hesitant. He suddenly asked: "The Wang family is from the south, right?"

"Yes, my hometown was attacked by the Chen people, so I settled here."

The carpenter looked helpless. "Why don't you go a little further north? Why do you have to stop here?"

The shopkeeper was very surprised. "Further north, wouldn't that be the rebels' territory?"

"Rebels?"

The craftsman asked back, then looked around and whispered, "It's normal that the prince is in the south and doesn't know the situation here."

"After you moved in, you have always taken good care of us. You would help us with leftovers and let us do errands. I shouldn't have said these things, but if you continue to stay here, you will be in danger."

The carpenter said angrily: "They say the people in the north are traitors, and they say the people in the north eat people and children."

"If you ask me, when it comes to eating people, who can compare to this lonely big mouth?"

"In the past, he could still put on a little pretense and walk around so we could catch our breath. What about now?"

"In the past two years, he has been collecting taxes continuously. Many families have been forced to death. In addition to taxes, he also captured people to serve as soldiers, do corvée, dig ditches, and build cities. Even craftsmen were captured to make iron tools and weapons. No one could escape. People died one after another."

"They keep saying that they are fighting against the rebels. I don't know what's going on with the rebels, but here, the mansions of the officials are becoming more and more luxurious, and their cronies are becoming richer and richer. As for us."

The carpenter said seriously, "The officials here are all evil spirits. You are so generous that you will be harmed by them sooner or later. I have relatives who went to the north, and they all said that the situation there is different from what the master said. People like you who can read and write can be used there. People like us have no ability and cannot go there. You are different. You should not think about settling down here. Go to the north as soon as possible if you have a way."

Hearing the carpenter's words, the shopkeeper stroked his beard and said, "Come to think of it, I have good friends in the north. They said: People like us don't have much convenience there, but craftsmen like you live very well there."

"what?"

The craftsman was a little puzzled. “Do they also capture people to forge iron?”

"I heard that they are recruiting craftsmen over there. Craftsmen with special talents can enter the factory and receive official salaries, and work while eating the salaries!"

“Didn’t a lot of healers run away at the beginning?”

"These doctors go there just to get paid. They really have medical clinics and hospital for the sick. Doctors can go there and get paid to continue doing their jobs!"

The shopkeeper talked about many things with great interest.

For many things, the craftsmen heard about them for the first time.

He was stunned by what he heard. When the shopkeeper finished speaking, the craftsman looked stunned and asked, "You are so familiar with the situation over there, why don't you go there yourself?"

"Hey, you just said that I could run over there, but how could it be that easy? If you were someone like me, you could just make up your mind and take your family to the dense forest in the north. Once you get out, you will be in other people's territory and won't have to worry about food and drink."

"But what about me?"

"I have such a huge business, and it would take several trucks just to load all this stuff. How can I get there?"

"We have been targeted for a long time and can't get away."

The shopkeeper sighed, and the two chatted for a while before the craftsman took his leave.

The shop owner stood at the door and watched the carpenter disappear into the distance.

The servant next to him slowly stepped forward and cursed in a low voice: "Dugu Yongye is a bastard, he is simply crazy. This tax is even more exaggerated than that during the reign of Emperor Gao Wei. Is he willing to go to such lengths to oppose His Majesty?"

The shopkeeper stared at the street in front of him and said softly, "In fact, the people in the Heluo area are better off. After all, he believes that the people here are his own people. The rest of the newly acquired lands are the worst off. In order to raise military funds, he forced the wealthy land south of the river to suffer from a famine."

"He didn't care about those states and counties at all. He even sent troops to forcibly collect taxes and directly burned down villages that resisted, massacring villages and cities."

"I don't know if Duan Shao has some regrets in his heart."

Jinyong City, Shangshu Terrace.

Dugu Yongye and Duan Shao sat facing each other, with many officials sitting below them.

Duan Shao narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at Dugu Yongye in front of him.

Speaking of which, when they first arrived in Heluo, Duan Shao didn't take the guy in front of him seriously at all. Dugu Yongye's military talent was not bad, but in front of Duan Shao, he was just so-so and not first-rate.

As for strategy, Duan Shao looked down on him even more. He basically had no strategy and was still using the same tricks as the old Xianbei military leaders.

Therefore, Duan Shao did not take him seriously at all. After arriving in Jinyong City, he quickly divided his army, led the elite troops out to fight, and then alienated them.

At this point, everything was under Duan Shao's control. He felt that Dugu Yongye would certainly not be able to withstand such a threat and would be eager to attack him, and he had also prepared all the countermeasures.

But at this time, Dugu Yongye suddenly changed. He personally rushed to a place 30 miles away from the city to welcome Duan Shao and others, personally rewarded many soldiers, and then led everyone to Hanoi without stopping, and took everyone to check the battlefield where Liu Bang crossed the river to fight. There are still many elite Liu Bang soldiers guarding there.

He stated the reason for asking Duan Shao and others to return. He found that Liu Taozi's favorite general Yao Xiong was gathering troops, as if he was going to attack Hanoi, so he summoned everyone to come. Unexpectedly, Yao Xiong pretended to attack him, but suddenly crossed the river to attack the Pseudo Zhou.

He felt bad for interrupting the crusade and repeatedly vowed not to do so again.

Duan Shao's expectation of a desperate situation did not occur, nor did his hasty action.

He did not dismiss the generals who had followed Duan Shao into battle, but continued to use and promote them. He also did not put pressure on Duan Shao, but instead pushed the power of the court to Duan Shao and continued to make him the leader.

Just when Duan Shao was confused about the situation, Dugu Yongye played an even more crucial card.

Little Emperor Gao Yan.

Duan Shao brought the emperor here and left with his men. Dugu Yongye went to visit the emperor all day and all night, gave him gifts, arranged a teacher for him, found all kinds of classic playmates for him, and personally taught him swordsmanship, archery, etc.

The little emperor had never seen anything like this before.

When Duan Shao came back, the little emperor's position had changed greatly.

Duan Shao could do nothing about it.

And what happened next was the most vicious Dugu Yongye entrusted state affairs to Duan Shao, and then in the name of Duan Shao, he frantically plundered many states and counties outside Heluo, summoned troops, stockpiled food and grass, and built city defenses. Dugu Yongye's strength progressed rapidly, and Duan Shao quickly alienated from local officials and clans. Duan Shao could not refuse, because they really needed to accumulate strength as soon as possible. If Duan Shao refused and felt that these could not be done, then he would take the initiative to give up the government, and Dugu Yongye could take power directly.

Duan Shao felt tremendous pressure at this moment.

Dugu Yongye sat in front of Duan Shao with a smile on his face, but beneath that smile, there was unspeakable malice hidden.

Duan Shao subconsciously looked around, but there was no one around him who could give him advice.

He didn't understand what was going on with Dugu Yongye.

A violent warrior who quickly grew smarter in a few months and became so difficult to deal with.

Originally, when he ended the battle, he had an advantage of 70% to 80%, but after all this trouble, the advantage instantly fell into the hands of the opponent.

Duan Shao slowly looked at a young man sitting not far away.

The young man's name is Gao Su. It is said that he is Dugu Yongye's latest strategist, and he is from Hanoi. Dugu Yongye has been paying more and more attention to this young man recently. Duan Shao suspects that all this is related to this young man.

Dugu Yongye said: "Grand Sima, it is already autumn."

"During these days, there are a large number of rebels all over the country. They took their belongings and went to join the rebels. There was a rebellion in the ironworks in Hanoi. More than a thousand craftsmen fled. They killed the iron officials and even destroyed the blast furnaces."

"The situation in other places is also getting worse. They have been bewitched by the thieves."

Duan Shao interrupted him, "Liu Ze has been focusing on the iron factory these days. I heard that they severely cracked down on the officials of the iron factory before, and even the important officials in the court were dismissed and imprisoned because of the iron factory. After they eliminated the corrupt officials, they improved the treatment of the craftsmen in the factory and directly managed them by the court. I think these things are something we can emulate."

"We only have six ironworks at the moment, which is too small compared to the rebels. The Hanoi Ironworks has also suffered a great blow."

"The fundamental problem is not how to stop these craftsmen, nor how to arrest them. The key is whether we can also eliminate corruption and improve the treatment of craftsmen."

Dugu Yongye was very surprised. "Grand Marshal, these ironworks are all managed by our troops stationed in various places. What do you mean? Are you going to take the ironworks away from these generals? Are you accusing these generals of embezzling ironware and abusing craftsmen?"

The officials around suddenly became depressed.

Duan Shao clenched his fists.

Is there anything you still don’t understand?
When Duan Shao heard in Jinyong City that there was a big chaos on Liu Taozi's side and even Wei Shou was implicated, he was overjoyed and hurriedly sent people to investigate, wanting to make fun of Liu Taozi.

After checking, I found out that they were reorganizing the iron factory.

Hebei is rich in iron, but only generals know the conditions in these factories and mines. The corruption, laziness, and abuse involved are so serious that ordinary people cannot imagine.

The efficiency of the ironworks was reduced by at least 60% to 70% in the hands of these corrupt soldiers. They ignored management and only thought about making profits. They didn't care about the lives of the craftsmen, and some even sold the ironmaking tools to private factories. The situation was so bad.

Liu Taozi took direct action against Tie, took back the power of Tie from the army, and killed all the Tie officials and related officials inside and outside the government.

Heads rolling in.

Then new officials were sent to take over these matters, and a special supervisory agency was set up. Then, efficiency was increased, and all efforts were made to smelt and improve efficiency! !
Duan Shao became more and more jealous the more he looked at her, and he even found it difficult to sleep.

The foundation of national affairs lies in agriculture, and the means lies in iron.

Iron is the means of all policies. You need iron to farm, to fight wars, to kill people, and to make money.

Sure enough, before Duan Shao could recover, the enemy's new policy had already attracted great attention. The corvée craftsmen in Henan who were chained and forced to work began to find ways to escape to Hebei.

Duan Shao also wanted to do as Liu Taozi did and take action against these iron forces controlled by the army and take them back to the temple.

But looking at Dugu Yongye's astonished expression, Duan Shao knew that it was impossible.

If he pushed forward his policy forcefully, Dugu Yongye wouldn't even have to take action, as the angry army would come to kill him.

Prestige is prestige, and benefits are benefits.

Duan Shao no longer insisted and followed Dugu Yongye's request, issuing orders to arrest craftsmen and prevent domestic craftsmen from escaping in various places.

The discussion ended hastily, and Duan Shao left the place worriedly without looking back.

Dugu Yongye smiled and saw off the other officials. After everyone left, Yang Su, who used the alias "Gao Su", strode to Dugu Yongye's side.

"General"

"Hahaha~~"

Dugu Yongye smiled, took Yang Su's hand affectionately, and looked at Yang Su with sparkling eyes.

What a fucking talent!!
When the other party first came to the country as an envoy, Dugu Yongye looked down on him and thought he was too young.

But after agreeing to form an alliance with the Zhou people in secret and getting this man's help, Dugu Yongye felt very happy.

This guy is more comprehensive than Zu Ting!

Internal affairs, diplomacy, military affairs, economy, strategy, Dugu Yongye even suspected that this guy had been studying since he was in his mother's womb. He knew everything, and no matter what Dugu Yongye asked, he could give a perfect answer.

Dugu Yongye compared himself with Liu Taozi's Zu Ting in his mind, and then was surprised to find that Zu Ting was not as good as this young man!
Dugu Yongye is becoming more and more proud now, he even feels that he has a destiny.

How else can we explain that any random Zhou envoy could have such amazing talents?
I heard that wise rulers in ancient times were most likely to meet such virtuous ministers.

Yang Su's face was slightly gloomy. He sneered and said, "Now, Duan Shao can't sit still anymore. General, we don't need to be anxious. We should continue to wait and wait for Duan Shao to make the first move. We will fight him. Whoever can't hold back first will lose."

Dugu Yongye nodded hurriedly, "Okay."

"However, this craftsman's business..."

"This is easy to handle."

"The unruly people in the world are like this. Once you are lenient with them, they will despise the government and rebel. You can find a place in Jinyong City and then capture the families of the ironworkers and put them in the city. If anyone dares to run away or not work hard, you can give the heads of their families to the other party. In this way, you will not have to worry about them running away or not working hard."

Dugu Yongye clapped his hands.

"it is good!"

"Will Liu Taozi attack us in the autumn?"

Yang Su shook his head in disdain.

"General, don't worry. I know Liu Taozi's weaknesses best. He is just a name seeker and is not worth worrying about. Instead, it is Zu Ting who is beside him. He is a mean guy who will not be restrained by anything. He is our biggest enemy."

Dugu Yongye laughed out loud.

"In my opinion, your talent is ten times greater than Zu Ting's!!"

"I have Yang Jun to help me, why should I be afraid of Liu Taozi?!"

ps: I took a half-day break on New Year's Day, and my body has recovered. I will start to enter the burst mode tomorrow! ! Do you still remember the burst update period of the last book?
(End of this chapter)