Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 54 Step by Step

The three of them walked out of the yard. Listening to the laughter coming from the south yard, Yao Xiong couldn't help but look up.

He was no longer the dull and exhausted look he had before; the corners of his mouth were almost raised to his ears, and his eyes were full of joy.

"Brother, you've been promoted too quickly. You've been promoted from a reserve official to a casual official. Now you're just a vagrant."

"In a few days, you will be promoted to county magistrate, right?"

Taozi didn't answer, and Tian Ziri's eyes were full of anticipation.

Yao Xiong suddenly asked again: "Brother, what does this patrol do? I have never worked for him before."

Tian Zili replied: "Youjiao is responsible for a lot of things."

"Inspecting counties and towns, catching thieves, handling cases, transporting prisoners, protecting superiors, and if there is a war, you have to follow the county lieutenant to defend the city and go to war!"

Yao Xiong's eyes widened. "What a good job! What a great job!"

Liu Taozi brought them to a house, pushed open the door and walked in.

The courtyard was very clean, with all kinds of sundries placed on both sides, including various weapons and shackles, which were tools for catching and transporting thieves.

There was a wooden stake in the distance, with four old horses tied to them, which were now busy eating.

There are houses on three sides, with tall doors and wide windows. The room is bright and clear, and is many times better than the environment in the South Courtyard.

Tian Zili was fine, but Yao Xiong exclaimed repeatedly.

He almost jumped for joy.

"Brother Taozi will live here from now on?"

"It's not me, it's us."

Liu Taozi looked at them. "The previous patrol officer was suspected of treason, and all his subordinates were arrested."

The corners of Tian Zili's eyes twitched.

Liu Taozi continued, "They said I can recruit a thief catcher, a cavalry officer, and a law officer. You can all ride horses, right?"

Tian Zili was not too surprised, he just saluted Liu Taozi and said, "I can ride."

But Yao Xiong, at this moment, did not move at all, his whole body stiff.

Suddenly, he knelt down in front of Taozi, kowtowed, his voice trembling, "Brother! I will repay your kindness with my own death."

"Get up."

Taozi reached out and pulled him up.

"Do your job well. If you don't do it well, I will replace you."

"only!!"

Yao Xiong was wearing brand new clothes and standing in front of Tian Zili. He couldn't help but turn around a few times and fumbled with the belt. His clothes were more worn out than Liu Taozi's, but he liked them tighter.

"I haven't had new clothes for five or six years!"

Yao Xiong looked at Tian Zili excitedly and showed his clothes again, "How is it?"

The two men sat in the house, which had two separate rooms with comfortable beds and all kinds of toiletries, many of which Yao Xiong had never seen before.

Tian Zili looked at Yao Xiong with a smile and nodded, "Not bad, it looks good."

He also changed into the same clothes.

Only then did Yao Xiong sit down next to Tian Zili, very carefully, for fear of getting his clothes dirty.

"Brother Tian, ​​from now on we are colleagues, working together for Lord Liu!"

"I don't have any special skills. I just learned some archery skills when I was a herder when I was young. The rest of my skills are not worth mentioning. If there is something I don't understand, I will ask you. I hope you won't blame me."

"How could that be? We are all serving Lord Liu, so we must answer all questions."

Yao Xiong pursed his lips and suddenly asked, "Didn't Mr. Liu recruit three people? But there are only two of us, how come there is still a vacancy?"

Tian Zili smiled and said, "Mr. Liu may have his own plans."

Yao Xiong nodded.

Yao Xiong quickly returned to his room. He should sleep well tonight.

However, Tian Zilie did not fall asleep. When he heard Yao Xiong snoring, he got up and went to the middle room where Liu Taozi was.

Liu Taozi hadn't fallen asleep yet, so Tian Zili bowed to greet him and then sat down next to him.

"Mr. Liu."

Hearing this address, Liu Taozi's face looked a little unnatural, "Let's just use the old name."

"Brother."

Tian Zili changed his words, "Now is a good opportunity to start a rebellion!"

"You are now valued by Gao Su, and you can carry weapons and walk around the county government. There are nearly ten students from the Law School in the South Courtyard."

"There are six Han Chinese among these people. We can win their hearts. Yao Xiong cannot be used. He is a Qihu, not of our race, and is not worthy of being used!"

"We will lead the six men to tie up Gao Su, start an uprising in his name, and attack Yecheng."

Liu Taozi just looked at him calmly and waited until he finished speaking. "And then?"

"what?"

"Take down Yecheng, and continue."

"And then. And then it happened."

"What happened?"

"Revitalize our Han Dynasty. Then, my elder brother will be the emperor! The country will be called Han."

Liu Taozi spoke up, "Cheng'an has 500 soldiers, the county lord has 300 guards, 800 people, plus the conscripted civilians, a total of 3,000 to 4,000. We will use 3,000 to 4,000 people to attack Yecheng, which has tens of thousands of elite troops. After taking Yecheng, we will have to deal with the counterattack of Jinyang's real elite troops."

He looked at Tian Zili, "Is this what you mean?"

"Here."

"Why do you want to rebel?"

"Why do we want to rebel?? Big brother, in this world, with tyrants and evil ministers oppressing the people, making life miserable, and we are all treated like animals, shouldn't we rebel?"

"I don't think so. You want to start a rebellion just to do something big and become famous. It has nothing to do with the people."

Tian Zili stood up suddenly, his eyes red, "My whole family died at the hands of these beasts! From my 70-year-old grandfather to my 6-year-old sister, everyone in this world who cared about me is dead!"

"They set fire to my house, stole my property, and then said it was an accidental fire!!"

"I don't want to become famous, I want to kill all these beasts and save the people of the world!!"

“I’m going to kill these.”

Liu Taozi just watched him calmly as he vented his anger.

Tian Zili roared, tears continuously falling. In the end, he could no longer speak and burst into tears.

Liu Taozi spoke again.

"Good ambition."

"Someone once told me that if he became a priest, he would protect all the students in a county and allow them to complete their studies."

"If he can govern a county, he will protect the people of the county and ensure they live and work in peace and contentment."

"Anyone can say that they will save the world, but it is not so easy to do it."

"If you want to save the people of the world, why not try to save the people of Cheng'an first."

"Perhaps I can save a few children whose families are about to be broken up, and prevent them from suffering the same pain you have suffered."

Tian Zili raised his head and was about to speak.

"Boom."

Someone pushed the door open and saw Yao Xiong wearing new clothes, holding a knife, and looking nervous.

"Brother! What happened?! I heard a roar!"

The next day, Liu Taozi just walked out the door and saw someone standing at the door.

It was Lu Qubing. When he saw Taozi coming out, he waved.

"Let's go."

Taozi didn't ask any more questions and followed him directly.

"You prepared too much food for me. I can't finish it all by myself. Please eat some with me, and I will ask them to make less tomorrow."

Lu Qubing talked as they walked, and the two of them walked towards his residence.

"I was supposed to live in the backyard, but the county lord lived over there, so I lived in the north yard. We are actually very close."

"Yesterday, you really shouldn't have asked for an official position. If the county magistrate thought you were asking for a favor, wouldn't that be bad?"

The two men walked into Lu Qubing's house. It was indeed a huge house, more than three times bigger than the one Liu Taozi lived in. Several officials were standing at the door with their heads lowered and smiling faces.

When he saw the two people coming in, he started to prepare hurriedly. Even if he was not busy, he had to let Lu Qubing see that he was busy.

The two of them sat in the front yard, which was very spacious, with gravel roads, various trees planted around it, and flowers on both sides of the corridor.

"Yesterday, the county magistrate asked me about Cheng'an's situation in detail. He will not leave from now on and will manage Cheng'an well."

"Don't worry about the county school. I heard that a vacancy has been found for a good person."

Lu Qubing ate the hot soup and said seriously, "It is a blessing for everyone in Cheng'an to have someone like the county lord in charge of the county."

"I want to find a way to change the situation in the county, assist the county magistrate, and protect the people of the county."

"Brother Peach"

Lu Qubing lowered his voice, his eyes full of pleading.

"From now on, you will be a wanderer. If you encounter any problems, remember to resolve them according to the law."

"Please don't kill people again!!"

(End of this chapter)