Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 44 History
Xiao Wu was trembling with fear while holding a sharp blade.

"Sun Hu" sat aside and kept scolding.

"What are you afraid of?! You don't even have the guts to bleed a dead thing?!"

"Bleed me and then peel off its skin! Otherwise, I will bleed you!!"

"Sun Zhang" brought out a bowl from the inner room. Sun Hu picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

He looked at Sun Zhang and said unhappily, "This guy is even more incompetent than Mr. Liu!"

Sun Zhang sighed, "Xiao Wu is still young, forget it."

"What the hell?! We have to do it!!"

Sun Hu looked at Xiao Wu angrily, "Do it now!!!"

Sun Zhang lowered her head and did not persuade her any further.

Sun Hu stared at Xiao Wu, drank another bowl of water, and asked, "Qing, is it safe for us to live here?"

Sun Zhang raised her head and said, "Wei Xiaokuan would never have thought that we would still dare to stay in Cheng'an. At present, there are the fewest Zhou people in Cheng'an. It is safer to stay here."

"What about Taozi? The Zhou people will definitely continue to attack him!"

"With Taozi's personality, he is destined to not be able to hide in the mountains and forests to live a secluded life. Forcing him to stay here will be bad."

"Originally, we were in the light and the enemy was in the dark."

"At this moment, Taozi has been pushed to a brighter place. My husband only needs to wait, waiting for those moths in the dark to fly into the fire."

Sun Hu was still a little irritable, "If I had known earlier, I would have let him join the Warriors Camp instead of being a casual official in the county. He has completely embarrassed me."

"My husband has offended too many people and is in an extremely dangerous situation. If he follows my husband, it may not be appropriate."

Sun Hu didn't say anything else, and they both fell silent.

Xiao Wu knelt beside the musk deer, crying as he cut the prey's throat. Blood spurted out, almost dyeing Xiao Wu red.

Xiao Wu cried even harder.

County government office, south courtyard.

After everyone returned to the county government office, they were almost exhausted and sat down to rest.

The county government provided two meals, and the food was even worse than that in the law school. The wheat cakes were very hard and had been stored for who knows how many days. Occasionally there was some millet, but it also gave off a bad smell.

There is no difference in the food eaten by the casual clerks and the substitute clerks.

A few scattered officials returned here, looked at each other for a few seconds, and then left quietly.

They walked along the road leading to the central courtyard and were stopped by soldiers several times along the way. Fortunately, they were able to prove their identities and continue to move forward.

They walked all the way to a separate house, looked at each other, made up their minds, and walked in.

This courtyard belongs to Cao Gong, who is currently in his study, concentrating on writing something.

When these four people appeared in front of him, Cao Gong raised his head and laughed.

"Okay, okay, this clerk knows how to do things, come over here!"

Before the four of them could even open their mouths, they were conscripted by Cao Gong. Cao Gong assigned them tasks, and they did their work seriously without complaining.

Cao Gong rarely took a break from his work, took a sip of hot tea, rubbed his eyes, and closed his eyes to rest.

The four men worked until very late, and when they finished their work, they submitted it to Cao Gong one by one.

Cao Gong looked at these and a kind smile appeared on his face.

"Very good, very good, a good official."

The leader mustered up his courage and said, "Lord Cao! We are here to file a complaint!"

At this moment, the smile on Cao Gong's face suddenly froze.

"What are you suing for?"

"The new chief official is tyrannical and instructs the reserve officials to beat up the scattered officials and commit crimes. He also arbitrarily promotes reserve officials and his cronies. His cronies can rest in the courtyard, while those of us who are unwilling to obey are sent out to do work."

"We suspect that he also sent people to murder the first two officials."

"That man was strong. He just arrived and he lost two people. How could it be such a coincidence?"

The others nodded and began to talk about their doubts and anxieties.

Cao Gong narrowed his eyes. "You mean that the Sanliyuan is not well governed and there are many chaos?"

The leader panicked and said, "Lord Cao, it's not that you are not good at governing, it's the fault of the head of the clerks."

"Okay, I understand. I'll send someone to take care of it."

Several people hurriedly stood up, bowed and thanked Cao Gong again, and burst into tears of gratitude.

"Thank you, Lord Cao! Thank you, Lord Cao!"

They walked on the road with happy faces.

"This bastard, he got the chance to be the leader, but he treats us like this. We must teach him a lesson this time!"

"Oh, there's still the substitute. I'll make sure Cao Gong breaks his legs!" They returned to the yard triumphantly, whispered a few words, and went back to their rooms.

At this moment, Tian Zilie was standing at the door, watching those people's actions. He sneered and returned to Liu Taozi.

The two people are in the same room.

"Brother Taozi, these people must have gone to Lord Cao to report the head of the clerks."

Tian Zili's face was full of disdain, "These people are courting their own death."

Liu Taozi looked at him. "The two clerks disappeared. Wouldn't he send someone to investigate?"

Tian Zili grinned and said, "Brother Taozi, you don't know this. There are many vacancies in the county now, and if you want to be promoted, it depends on your political achievements."

"Cao Gong is in charge of the officials. If nothing happens, that is his achievement. Besides, we officials are nothing but slaves in the eyes of the superiors. If we die, we can just recruit another batch."

"He will never make this public unless his enemies want to harm him. Otherwise, it will be lost."

Tian Zili cleared his throat and said, "Besides, few people dare to investigate the case right now."

"Brother Taozi may not know that in the past there was a Xiongnu man named Qilou Nan. He was smart and good at investigating cases. At that time, he was in charge of investigating a major case in which three minor officials disappeared outside the city."

"He almost found himself dead in his investigation. The county magistrate hung him up and beat him severely for two days and two nights. Only when the nobleman calmed down did he let him go. None of the other officials who followed him survived."

"Since then, no one dared to investigate the case, fearing that they would not be able to find the murderer, and also fearing that they would find the murderer."

"So if someone reports it to the authorities, they kill that person, and everything will be fine. Occasionally, they kill a few good people to pretend to be bandits, and use it as their own political achievements."

Tian Zili spoke very calmly.

"This world is full of thieves."

A trace of sadness flashed in his eyes, and he fell silent.

Maybe he remembered something.

Liu Taozi spoke again, "You usually spend too much money, don't show off your wealth, don't do this again, it will bring you trouble."

Tian Zili looked at him suddenly, "Brother Taozi, I'm not afraid!"

"I must get promoted so that I can get in touch with that noble man. I want to do big things!!"

Liu Taozi immediately shook her head, "Don't say these things to me."

Tian Zili was silent for a moment, then he raised his head again, "Brother Taozi, I have something I want to show you."

"Ok?"

Tian Zili put his hand into his arms, his voice trembling.

"This thing is fatal, but it is also my most precious thing. Brother Taozi has seen it and knows what I am thinking."

He slowly took out a book from his arms.

This book has no cover, is dirty and torn, and has many stains.

Tian Zili gently stroked the book, and then carefully handed the book to Taozi's hands.

Taozi lowered her head and looked at the book in her hand.

"what is this?"

"history."

Tian Zili's face flushed, and he said excitedly: "In the fifth year of Taiyan in the previous dynasty, Emperor Taiwu ordered Cui Hao to participate in the compilation of the national history. Cui Hao compiled all the stories of the Xianbei people in detail!!"

"Because of this book, Cui Hao had his five clans exterminated. Almost all of his relatives and in-laws were exterminated."

"Brother, you will know if you read this book!"

"The Xianbei are actually Hu people!! They are no different from Qiehu!! Before them, we were the masters of the Central Plains! They were just like Rouran, but they were the Rouran who succeeded in taking over. Before they invaded, we still had Jin, Wei, and Han."

"Those were Han dynasties, they were moral, the emperors would not kill people indiscriminately, the officials were disciplined, and the people were moral. The Xianbei people at that time even had to pay tribute to us!"

"When I first learned about it, I swore in my heart that I would drive these barbarians out and bring peace to the world!"

"These barbarians don't allow us to read the classics because they are afraid that we will know the truth! They are afraid that we will drive them out!"

“And people like Lu Qubing who can read the classics are all Xianbei people’s dogs!!”

"They only think about themselves, don't care about the world, and are not willing to tell the truth to others!!"

"Brother!! Take a look!!"

"What I said is real!!!"

Tian Zili's eyes were red and his whole body was shaking with excitement.

Liu Taozi was silent for a long time, and he looked at the book in his hand again.

"history."

ps: In March of the third year of Heqing, a group of bandits including Tian Zili and dozens of others planned to rob Yan. They pretended to be envoys and went straight to Yan's house. When they reached the inner room, they claimed to be ordered to lead Yan onto a horse and pointed a knife at him, wanting to lead him to the South Palace. Yan shouted loudly and refused to obey, so he was killed. He was 32 years old at the time. The court and the public were saddened. ———"Book of Northern Qi·Biography of Emperor Gaozu's Eleven Princes"

(End of this chapter)