Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 48 Invincible
"Humph, hum."

The pig with its hooves tied struggled hard, its tiny eyes filled with fear.

It groaned and tried hard to break free.

Taozi half-knelt beside it and waved the long knife in his hand. Immediately, he stabbed the long knife at the pig in front of him. The long knife pierced the heart. The pig screamed and blood spurted out.

Taozi calmly used a wooden basin to collect the blood.

From beginning to end, his expression was extremely calm and he didn't even blink.

Even the waiter who was cooking couldn't help but take a second look at him.

Was this guy a butcher before he became an official?

How come you are so skilled?

Liu Taozi prepared to soak in water and shave again.

Today, Liu Taozi was assigned to work as a food official.

In Cheng'an County, there are eighty-eight clerks, including those who cook. They are also clerks, meaning they have their own jobs and do not need any assistants.

Sometimes, the canteen was too busy and the clerks were needed to help.

Liu Taozi did not chat with these people. After completing his task, he followed the other officials and left.

The food official stopped them and, smiling, handed them a finger-sized piece of fat as a thank you.

Everyone walked towards the Sanliyuan.

Liu Taozi has already established his position among the scattered officials.

There are more and more students from the Law School among the scattered officials, and almost all of them are centered around Taozi.

Zhang Li was extremely polite to Taozi, and given Taozi's own impressive deterrent power, no one dared to look down on them anymore.

Several officials followed Taozi in silence.

But when they arrived at the South Courtyard, they saw a group of people gathered together and the scene was somewhat chaotic.

Taozi came here, pushed aside the people in front of her, and walked to the front.

A man was lying on the ground, his whole body was stained red, his clothes were tattered, and his flesh was covered in blood. It was impossible to recognize his appearance.

Blood was still oozing out of his mouth and his whole body was shaking.

Tian Zili looked at Liu Taozi who had just returned.

"Brother Taozi has just been sent back."

Everyone stood beside that person, their eyes filled with sadness.

Zhang Li also frowned and said nothing.

When the man stopped moving, Zhang Li sighed and said, "Send him back to his home..."

He searched his body for a long time and found some money. "Give it to his family. I won't go."

The man's body soon disappeared, but the bloodstains on the ground remained.

The petty officials soon forgot about the incident and continued talking and laughing.

Death has become commonplace in recent years.

Liu Taozi sat next to Zhang Li at some point, as if she wanted to listen to his explanation.

"I don't know what happened. They asked me to send someone who can endure hardships to patrol the border, so I sent him. This is what happened when he was sent back just now."

"It was brought by the cavalry officers under the command of the patrol officers, and they refused to say more."

"Oh, this is fate."

Zhang Li shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Eat something and go to rest."

“Live one day at a time.”

The next day, Zhang Li still knelt in front of Cao Boju, with his head down, listening to him assign tasks.

"Send another hardworking official to the border patrol area."

Zhang Li suddenly raised his head and said, "Lord Cao, the man I sent to guard the patrol yesterday is dead. He was beaten to death."

Cao Boju looked at him in astonishment, "So?"

"what happened?"

“I just want to know why.”

"Is this something you should be involved in?!"

Cao Boju's expression immediately changed. "Who do you think you are? An official in the Li Cao department?!"

"My subordinates dare not."

"Then stop talking nonsense and send it when you are asked to."

"only"

When Zhang Li returned to the inner courtyard, everyone was already waiting for him, looking at him eagerly, waiting for his orders.

Zhang Li looked at the people in front of him and finally spoke.

"The county government wants to hold a banquet, but the food clerks are short of staff."

"You guys, go to the prison clerk and do the errands. We need to escort a few people."

His eyes looked at Liu Taozi, then skipped over him and looked at the person behind him.

"You go over there."

"Brother Liu, Mr. Tian, ​​follow me to the armory." Zhang Li made the arrangements, and everyone called for substitutes from all places and left in a hurry.

Walking on the road, Zhang Li was worried, but couldn't help comforting himself. It was just an accidental incident. Could people die every day?
It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.

Liu Taozi and Tian Zilie strode behind Zhang Li.

The two are now roommates, and Tian Zili is still trying to instill the idea of ​​rebellion in Taozi.

Tian Zili missed the former Central Plains and his homeland very much, such as the powerful Jin Dynasty in his mind that could force the Xianbei people into slavery.

But in front of outsiders, he hardly reveals such a nature. He is polite to everyone and gets along very well with everyone.

As they walked along the road, Zhang Li began to explain, "If it involves something like the armory, don't ask too many questions. Just do what you are told to do. It's best not to even say a word."

It is hard to imagine how much this old official has learned in order to survive over the years.

He didn't look like a very smart man, but he remembered all the rules inside and outside the city.

The armory was not far from the county government office. It was a separate large mansion surrounded by simple watchtowers, with barricades set up outside the courtyard wall and armored soldiers patrolling back and forth.

When they walked in, the armory clerk was shouting something, and when he saw them, he waved to them.

"You're here! The weapons in the arsenal don't match the ones on the list. We need to compare them again. Divide the work among yourselves and start the inventory."

"Want to count the weapons? Okay."

Zhang Li nodded and ordered two of his men to help.

All the clerks in the armory seemed very busy. They all kept their heads down and went into each room, counting items one by one. Their hands holding the pens were shaking.

Tian Zili looked at the room full of powerful crossbows, his eyes almost bursting with fire.

The fully armed soldiers patrolling around calmed him down.

He and Taozi walked into the house and began to count the weapons.

The two worked for a long time. "These officials usually sell military equipment. Now they need to use it, but they find that the number does not match."

Tian Zili said in a low voice.

Liu Taozi glanced at him and asked, "How do you know?"

“I bought it.”

Liu Taozi paused and looked at Tian Zili again.

"Brother Taozi, don't worry. This kind of business is never done in person. He doesn't know who I am, and I don't know who he is."

There were more than ten people in total. They spent a whole day in the armory to conduct the reckoning and several comparisons. In between, they only ate some bread and drank some water.

By the evening, the results of several checks had come out, and the armory clerk's forehead was covered with sweat.

He looked at the liquidation results in his hand, his face turned pale and his lips trembled.

"I"

Before he could finish his words, his mouth twisted and he fell to the ground with his head tilted back.

This immediately caused a commotion. Zhang Li took advantage of the chaos, found the right time, submitted the comparison results, and quickly left with Taozi.

As they walked along the road, Zhang Li continued to give them instructions.

"Today, just pretend you heard nothing and saw nothing."

"The imperial decree should have come down. There will definitely be more troubles when the new official arrives."

"These few days, if you can find something to do outside, don't stay in the county government office."

"The county magistrate and the county lieutenant are almost always going to quarrel. Once they start quarreling, we will be the ones who suffer."

"The county lieutenant is usually the son of a military officer, while the county magistrate is usually someone who has applied to study Confucian classics. After they arrive, they will each promote their trusted aides to important positions."

"We must not get involved. The appointment of officials does not require the government. They can decide for themselves. Don't think about soaring to the top. If you are valued by one person, you will be suppressed by another."

"It's best to stay away from them, don't get involved in these things, do things slowly, and don't be too diligent."

Zhang Li tried very hard to impart his survival experience to the two people behind him.

It’s a pity that the two people behind him didn’t care so much about these extremely valuable experiences.

They walked all the way to the county government office. As soon as they reached the door, they saw two people standing outside, wandering back and forth.

When Zhang Li saw this person, he was shocked and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

"Lu Gong."

The man's eyes quickly locked onto Taozi, and he walked up quickly and grabbed his hand.

"Brother Taozi!"

"Why didn't you come to the county school to inform me when you took office?"

"I've been waiting for you for many days, but you never came. You left the package with me, but you didn't come to pick it up."

He spoke very quickly. He was able to talk to Taozi while returning the gift to Zhang Li at the same time.

Zhang Li looked at them in amazement, "So Mr. Liu is a good friend of Mr. Lu. No wonder he is so outstanding."

Lu Qubing smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries, "Taozi, I have something very important to tell you!!"

At this moment, a cry of surprise suddenly came from inside the door.

A noisy sound was heard, and several people looked in the direction of Sanliyuan at the same time.

"I have something else to do here. Please go back to the county school first. I will come to see you another day."

(End of this chapter)