Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 69 Which is more beautiful?

Gao Changgong slowly put down the letter in his hand, and anger appeared on his handsome face for the first time.

"They acted so quickly!"

Lu Qubing sat next to him, but he was still a little confused.

"Mr. Gao, wasn't it you who recommended me?"

Gao Changgong put away his anger and looked at him.

"I have just assumed the office and have not had time to recommend anyone."

"He probably didn't lie to you. It was his family who recommended you."

Lu Qubing was even more confused and sat there in a daze.

"There aren't many people in the city who are well-versed in classics. You come from a prominent family, so your elders may have some history with them."

Gao Changgong said, and suddenly joked: "However, you, an official from a prominent family, failed to persuade me to implement benevolent policies. Instead, you helped me indulge cruel officials and compete with the people for profits. It seems that they are very disappointed in you."

Lu Qubing's expression became resolute at that moment.

"Liu Taozi did nothing wrong, and the county magistrate did nothing wrong either."

"Oh?"

"Half a year ago, I would have loudly rebuked a cruel official like Liu Taozi, risked my life to fight him, and even stopped the county magistrate from doing anything like pardoning the dead and returning the slaves to their farmland, because these were not in line with the legal system."

"But now, I feel that it is impossible to govern the world well just by abiding by laws and regulations."

"Taozi used cruel means, but since then, people like Lu Zhanshan no longer dare to bully the people easily. There are many more people on Cheng'an Street. They don't have to worry about being beheaded when they walk on the street."

"You tried to pardon the dead outside the city and the slaves in the city, and distribute the ownerless land to them. This is against the system, condoning those people to escape corvée and condoning those evil people who broke the law. However, I have seen the dead outside the city. They are like corpses, with nowhere to go, and even eat people."

"In recent years, corvée labor has become more frequent, and the people have been forced to become slaves. Their farmland and property have been occupied by others, and even they themselves have been occupied by others."

"So, I don't ask for respecting the wise and the virtuous, or benevolent governance, I just want the people of Cheng'an to live a better life, whether they are in the city or outside the city."

Gao Changgong looked at Lu Qubing with gentle and bright eyes.

"If all officials of Da Qi were like you."

Gao Changgong quickly stopped speaking and focused his attention on the letter in his hand again.

"The Murong family wants to drive me away. After I took office, Cheng'an not only did not calm down, but even bigger cases appeared. The reason is that I appointed cruel officials."

"Once this matter gets to the Shangshutai, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my position. They won't dare to demote me to a commoner, but they will probably let me be an official in another place."

Lu Qubing frowned, "Perhaps we can submit a petition to the Shangshutai to clarify the situation here?"

Gao Changgong couldn't help laughing.

"Rong Zu, why did the Shangshutai want me to leave after this incident?"

"Because something happened to Cheng An"

"No, it's because my idea is not good for them. Who do you think the officials in the Shangshutai are? Are they the dead wandering outside? Are they the common people who are at the mercy of others? Or are they people like the Murong family?"

Lu Qubing's face changed drastically. "Then find a way to solve it."

"Then how should we solve this problem? Kill Liu Taozi, then confess to the government and say that I shouldn't have used cruel officials, and I will correct my behavior in the future?"

Gao Changgong sneered and shook his head, "I can't do such a stupid thing, and I won't change it."

Lu Qubing added: "Not all the people in the government are treacherous, there are also virtuous people. You can write to them and let them come up with a solution."

"I think we can directly write to Mr. Yang and ask him to help."

Gao Changgong hesitated to speak.

"Mr. Lu, you've been tired these days, so you should go back and rest first."

"Anyway, things have come to this point. It won't be too late to discuss it tomorrow."

Lu Qubing staggered out of the house. It was already dark. Not a single star could be seen in the pitch-black night. The sky was not shiny, but rather, it seemed as if it was stained and a bit dirty.

Lu Qubing looked up at the sky. He had not closed his eyes since the incident.

At this moment, he felt deeply tired, his eyes were blurry, and he couldn't help closing his eyes, but then he forced himself to wake up again, and he couldn't rest!

He just broke into Youjiao Mansion like this.

Liu Taozi and his minions were sitting in the yard at this moment, seemingly discussing something. When they saw Lu Qubing coming, they stopped talking.

Lu Qubing sat down next to Liu Taozi with difficulty, but still couldn't help yawning.

"Taozi, the people from the Murong family are here to see the county lord."

He hurriedly informed everyone what had happened at the county magistrate's place.

After hearing this, Yao Xiong's face almost twisted.

"A slave commits a crime?"

"Isn't this just fooling the kids? Can the county magistrate believe him?"

Lu Qubing shook his head and said, "In short, don't spread these things for now."

"Brother Taozi, you should also be more careful. I think that Murong Zeng is really insidious. We must not let him have any evidence against us."

After Lu Qubing finished explaining all this, he left in a daze. The four of them sat in the courtyard in silence.

Kou Liu was the first to speak, "I thought the Murong family was a good family."

"Oh, he and you are both Xianbei, so he must be from a good family."

Tian Zili suddenly spoke up. This was the first time he mocked someone in person.

Kou Liu frowned, "That's right, the Xianbei are all evil people, Han people like Gao Xun, Cui Hao, Fei Zongxian, etc. are all great good people!"

Yao Xiong quickly spoke up, "We are all brothers, why say such things?"

Tian Zili shook his head. "This is the problem now. It cannot be avoided."

"Whether in the imperial court or in the local areas, it is a dispute between Han scholars and Xianbei nobles, and it is still the same now."

Yao Xiong was very puzzled, "So are the Murong family members nobles or scholars?"

"Of course it's the nobles!"

"Then the county lord belongs to the scholar-officials?"

"This is also a noble title."

"So can we find the scholars in the government to solve the problem of the Murong family?"

Yao Xiong asked again.

Tian Zili's face became worse, "No, they are in cahoots with each other."

Yao Xiong frowned, "That's not right. The Murong family studied Confucian classics. I heard that their son works in the palace because he is good at studying Confucian classics! Does this count as a noble title?"

He looked at Liu Taozi, "Brother Taozi, are the Murong family members nobles or scholars?"

"If being a nobleman is beneficial to them, then they are noblemen; if being a scholar is beneficial to them, then they are scholar-officials."

Yao Xiong just felt that it became more confusing.

Kou Liu was unwilling to argue, so he asked, "Brother, what should we do now?"

"Will the temple send someone to deal with us?"

Liu Taozi narrowed her eyes and said, "It's still unknown."

Yecheng.

There were some scattered lights in the dark mansion. Soldiers were patrolling in the yard with torches in their hands. In the darkness, the soldiers' figures could not be seen clearly. Only swaying balls of fire could be seen moving slowly.

The corridor was extremely long and without any lights, leading to the deepest part.

The miserable cry of the evil bird made people shudder.

The doors were all open, with no one guarding them, as if an evil spirit had opened its mouth and was waiting for its prey to walk in.

Following the doors one after another, I reached the deepest part. The houses were brightly lit. In the dark and silent courtyard, only this house had the brightest light.

The candlelight almost filled the entire room, emitting a dazzling light that even illuminated the darkness outside.

A big fat man with a burly figure was sitting alone in the house.

He was so big that when he sat down, his stomach felt uncomfortable and had several grooves on it.

All kinds of documents were piled up on his left and right, and he was busy reading and approving them at a very fast speed.

His forehead was covered with sweat and his clothes were almost sticking to his body.

Time passed quickly, and the sky outside gradually became whiter until it was bright.

This person is still working motionlessly.

Finally, he picked up the memorial, looked at the person who submitted it, and then began to read the contents.

Just seeing the words "cruel official" made him frown.

After reading it in detail, he put the letter aside and pondered.

In order to see results as soon as possible, do you start promoting cruel officials and using brutal tactics?
We finally got rid of Lu Fei, is there going to be another one?
However, Gao Changgong does have some skills, and is not one of those unlearned clan members.
He picked up the paper and wrote slowly:

"The Lord of Lecheng County, who indulged the cruel officials, ordered them to correct their behavior immediately and executed the cruel ones."

The fat man suddenly stopped writing, shook his head, and changed another piece of paper.

"There is a thief named Lu who takes advantage of the good people and harms the people, trying to murder them."

He wrote a few words, paused, shook his head again, and changed the paper.

"The Duke of Lecheng County has made great contributions to the governance of Cheng'an, and is specially transferred to Sizhou to manage the affairs of Sizhou."

"Recommended the military commander Lu Yao to be the magistrate of Cheng'an, executed cruel officials, many subordinate officials, and criticized officials at all levels who were unruly, promoted those who had made contributions, demoted those who were mediocre, and restored the government to a clean state."

Just as the man put away his pen, someone suddenly pushed open the door.

"Lord Yang, who is more beautiful, me or Concubine Xue from Gaotai?"

ps: In the tenth year, he was promoted to the rank of Yitong Sansi, and continued to be in charge of Sizhou affairs with his original position. ——"Monument to the Former Qi Emperor, the Grand Tutor and Grand Commandant, Lanling Zhongwu King"

The Duke was content and did not care about promotion or demotion, so he was transferred to Cheng'an. ——Inscription on the Stele of Lu Yao, the Governor of Qinzhou

(End of this chapter)