Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 46: Serving the King
"Hehe, these scattered officials came quite early, not bad, not bad."

One of them stroked his beard and glanced at Zhang Li and others, his eyes full of mockery.

Cao Gong stood opposite this person and said calmly: "The scattered officials have many things to do, unlike Mr. He who has no time to spare, so naturally they cannot come in time."

The man stopped talking.

Cao Gong called Zhang Li to his side and said, "Clean the roads here and prepare the best feed."

It is true that some officials are coming.

But the scattered officials did not come here to pay homage to the new officials, they came here to do miscellaneous chores.

Cleaning the roads, driving away idlers, arranging old men, carrying things, preparing feed for the nobles' horses. In short, they just follow orders and run errands, doing whatever is required, just like slaves.

Everyone became busy. Zhang Li brought a Hu bed, and several clerks sat on the bed. There was still some time before the officials arrived.

Tian Zili rode his horse back and forth to report the officials' specific arrival time.

Taozi is responsible for carrying heavy objects.

Everyone is busy.

A few white-haired old men were standing not far away, leaning on crutches, and the officials were teaching them how to shout and how to greet people in the future.

The old men trembled, looked at the scattered officials with a little fear, nodded obediently, and recited what they were going to say when welcoming them.

The scorching sun rose up little by little, and the dazzling light enveloped the city gate.

Several clerks felt dry mouth and drank water several times in a row.

After more than an hour, Tian Zilie came riding his horse again.

"Here we are, here we are, the distinguished guest will be here soon!"

The officials hurriedly stood up, had their beds removed, squatted down by the city wall, took care of their personal problems, then rinsed their mouths with clean water and patted their bodies with scented powder.

After waiting for a while, a carriage appeared in the distance, with four strong servants following the carriage on foot.

There were also two warriors riding on fine horses, guarding the carriage on both sides.

The clerks hurriedly lowered their heads, but the non-clerks were not allowed to get close and stood further away.

The carriage stopped and a young man got out.

As soon as he appeared, everyone's eyes lit up.

This young man looks clean and neatly dressed, and can be said to be handsome.

His eyes passed the several clerks in front of him and looked at the city behind them.

There was a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

"Not as good as Yecheng."

Several officials pretended not to hear and hurried forward, "Greetings to Officer Cheng'an!"

The young man then glanced at the clerks in front of him. Without answering, he turned around and got into the carriage.

The servant drove the car again, and several officials felt a little embarrassed.

The carriage passed by them and the officials hurriedly caught up with it. Cao Gong wiped the sweat from his forehead and called Zhang Li.

"Let those old men go back and remove all their things."

"Go back and send people to clean up the county government office. Even the toilets must be cleaned up to make them shiny. There must not be any smell at all."

Before Zhang Li could speak, Cao Gong ran towards the carriage.

Zhang Li and others stood in the distance, watching the officials following the carriage like dogs, and disappearing without a trace in the distance.

Tian Zili looked at him teasingly. He shook his head and said nothing.

Zhang Li left a few clerks to take charge of the affairs here, and he took the rest to the county government office.

"This lieutenant seems to be of high rank."

Tian Zili spoke up.

Zhang Li said, "There are only seven places in Qingdu that have Wei. Those who can be Wei here must have a high family background."

"What rank is he?"

"Ninth rank."

“So low??”

"It's not low. Ordinary county chiefs are only of the eighth rank, county magistrates are of the seventh rank, and senior county magistrates are of the sixth rank. Only the county magistrates of Ye, Linzhang, and our Cheng'an are of the fifth rank."

Zhang Li is indeed an old veteran and is particularly clear about these things, while Tian Zili is hearing about these things for the first time.

In the county government office, the new county lieutenant was looking around, with a group of clerks following behind him, and Cao Gong was enthusiastically explaining the surroundings to him.

He looked around, found a clean step in the yard, and sat down.

Several people hurriedly stood in front of him.

"My last name is Gao."

The county lieutenant spoke.

At this moment, several clerks turned pale and buried their heads even deeper.

"My name is Gao Xun, from Bohai Gao family, and I'm the nephew of Duke Zhongwu!!" Upon hearing this, several officials actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao Gong's eyes flickered, and he actually looked at the other person straight, a little out of control.

Gao Xun frowned immediately, "What are you doing?!"

Cao Gong quickly bowed and said, "I hope that County Magistrate Gao will not blame me. I have always admired Lord Zhongwu the most. When I learned that he was a descendant of the Zhongwu family, I was shocked."

Gao Xun's expression immediately became much better. It was obvious that he benefited greatly from these words.

"I forgive your sins. What is your name? What is your position?"

"My surname is Cao, my humble name is Tianda, my courtesy name is Boju, and I am the official in charge of the clerkship, assisting in the affairs of the clerks."

"I am always delighted because my surname is similar to the name of Duke Zhongwu."

"Cao Boju, you are a good person."

Gao Xun nodded with some approval in his eyes, while the other officials seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"Cao Boju stays, and the rest go back."

He spoke, and the others did not dare to object. They saluted again, glanced at Cao Gong viciously, turned around and left.

Cao Boju stood beside Gao Xun with a smile on his face and bent over.

Gao Xun lowered his voice and asked, "Mr. Cao, let me ask you, where does County Magistrate Gao live on weekdays?"

Cao Boju was stunned. "We won't know about this. County Lord Gao is very busy. I'm afraid he is traveling back and forth between Ye and Cheng'an, so we won't be able to see him."

Gao Xun nodded. Not to mention these petty officials, even his own status was far different from Gao Changgong's. He couldn't see him just because he wanted to.

However, there will be a chance sooner or later.

Gao Xun looked up and said, "I heard that the security here is bad and there are many bandits. Since I have been ordered to come here, I must thoroughly investigate the banditry and let all the bandits inside and outside know that Gao Zhongwu's nephew has arrived here!!"

"Let me ask you, how many soldiers are there in the city?"

Cao Boju replied: "The Han army has one battalion, and the Xianbei army has one battalion."

"Then let me ask you, how many people are there in this building?"

Cao Boju's eyes flashed with confusion, but he still answered honestly: "Five hundred people, one team is a hundred-man team."

"Oh, six hundred people, why is it so few?"

"Mr. Gao, this is already a lot."

"Then let these six hundred men get ready and follow me out of the city to fight the bandits!"

Gao Xun stood up and stretched his body.

Cao Boju stood up quickly and said, "Mr. Gao, to fight against the bandits, we must first search everywhere and know their location and movements. Besides, if you fight against them right after you arrive, I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous to you."

"What do you mean?!"

"Don't be angry, Lord Gao. I am telling you the truth because I admire you. You are an official, not a general. A general needs heads to be promoted, but an official does not."

"The achievements of an official are based on keeping things safe. If you are in charge of public security and there are no bandits in or outside the city, that is your achievement."

Gao Xun was furious, "I thought you were a good official, but I never thought you were such a wicked person!"

"The government appointed me as a county lieutenant, asking me to kill the bandits and restore order here. How can I neglect state affairs for my own personal gain?"

"Get out of here!!"

Cao Boju quickly apologized, "Lord Gao, please don't be angry. I will never do that again. Besides, even if you want to leave the city, you can't take 600 people with you."

"Cheng'an has eight city gates, all of which need soldiers to guard them. In addition to the city gates, there are also the county government, the armory, the granary, and the stables. Soldiers are needed in many places. How can we take them all away?"

Gao Xun's anger subsided, "Then I'll bring 500 people?"

"It will take at least two hundred men just to guard the city gate."

"Then take three hundred men with you! Don't say anything more, just get ready for my expedition!"

Cao Boju's lips trembled a few times.

"only."

The county government office suddenly became chaotic, with both official and unofficial clerks running around.

Some went to the granary, some went to the stables, and some went to the armory. Officials could be seen riding their horses and galloping everywhere in the city.

The people hid in their houses and locked the doors.

The already deserted city became even more silent.

Gao Xun, wearing armor, rode a tall warhorse in front of the county government gate, and Cao Bogu held the horse for him.

He snatched the reins away and looked at Cao Boju with disdain.

"I don't need you to lead the horse. You have no country in your heart, and you don't know the principle of loyalty to the emperor. You should change your surname!"

He then looked into the distance with a solemn expression, "I have been waiting for the opportunity to serve the king, and today is the day!"

"Set off!!!"

(End of this chapter)