Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 98: County Magistrate Liu

Yao Xiong was stunned.

"Brother, are you an official now?"

Taozi put away the documents and said, "Don't tell anyone yet. Just keep guarding."

Yao Xiong nodded, but his face was extremely excited, with an inexplicable light flashing in his eyes. Standing at the door, he actually started to smile foolishly.

After smiling foolishly for a while, he felt that this look was inappropriate and quickly put on a solemn expression.

Liu Taozi returned to the courtyard and handed the document to Liu Zhangshi.

"How is this possible?!"

Liu Zhang was very surprised at this moment. She looked at the document in her hand again and again, "Why are you suddenly promoted to an official?"

"Did he do it?"

"It's impossible that your grandfather won't care about anything about you. He, his situation is somewhat special. Whether he sends people to help you, secretly promotes you, or maliciously suppresses you, it will only harm you. Only if he treats you as if you don't exist, ignores you, and pretends that this person doesn't exist, will the two of you be safe."

Taozi continued: "He has always been like this."

Liu Zhang smiled bitterly and shook her head, "Your grandfather doesn't hate you. He has his own difficulties. Forget it, let's not talk about your grandfather for now."

She looked at the letter in her hand again. "The county magistrate has no foundation in the court. He can help you get promoted, but he can't help you get promoted from a clerk to an official. These two are completely different things."

"Although there have been many things happening in the government and the opposition recently, those bigwigs won't care about a small guerrilla like you."

"And you don't have any support in the court."

"You have offended many people, but most of them do not have the ability to interfere with the promotion of officials. The forces that can influence the promotion are the ones involved in the Black Dragon case who want to deal with Gao County Lord, the one from the He family who wants to deal with Lu Yao, the target of the Knight case is Gao Yang Wang, the Gao Xun case is also Gao County Lord, and the target of the case instigated by Gao Yang Wang is Lu Yao."

Listening to her mother talking word by word about these secrets that many people in the county government didn't know, Liu Taozi finally showed some surprise in her eyes.

Liu Zhang analyzed them one by one, and suddenly asked, "Taozi, does the current County Magistrate Lu often bully you?"

"There was some discord before, but it disappeared in the past few days."

"That's him. He wants to control the county, but he can't do anything to you. Since he can't remove you, expel you, or hurt you, he can only send you away."

"Lu Yao's original surname was Bu Liugu. His family was extremely powerful. His eldest brother, Lu Ang, was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel during his lifetime. He had a wide network of contacts in the Ministry of Personnel. He was able to promote officials to official positions."

Liu Taozi nodded, "I see."

Liu Zhang hesitated for a moment, "This is not a bad thing for you. Lu Yao will definitely not be able to escape from the upcoming chaos. Cheng'an is too close to Yecheng. Liyang is not bad. It is very peaceful."

A servant not far away suddenly came over, looked at the sky, realized something, and quickly stood up.

"Peach. I have to go."

She held Taozi's hand again, "Don't be impatient. Killing can stop evil, but it can't cure the root. Don't worry about me. I have to go on a long journey this time, and I wanted to take you with me."

"Oh, forget it. My son has grown up and has his own ambitions. As a mother, how can I stop him?"

"Taozi, you have to be more careful and make sure to eat on time. The weather is getting cold, so wear more clothes."

She looked at the carriage, and Xiao Wu and the servants hurriedly took down many packages from the carriage.

"I made you some clothes and shoes."

Liu Zhang spoke very quickly. She said a lot. After putting the things down, she was reluctant to hug Taozi again. She turned her head away unnaturally so that Taozi would not see the tears in her eyes. "Then I will leave."

She walked into the carriage again, and Xiao Wu saluted Taozi again:
"Brother, don't worry about mother. I will take good care of her!"

The servant drove the carriage and staggered out of the courtyard again. Yao Xiong watched the carriage go away in astonishment. When he turned around, he saw Taozi standing in front of him. Yao Xiong was also shocked.

"Brother Taozi, why are you walking without making any sound?"

"Let's go to the county government office."

Two old mulberry trees stand side by side in the courtyard of the county government office. Their trunks are thick and strong, like watchmen of vicissitudes of life. Over the years, people have come and gone, and the years have carved many wrinkles on their skin. They have always stood here, witnessing countless declines and rises.

Under their gaze, the clerks were busy at work and people were coming in and out of the door.

Two clerks were holding large shears and were chatting and laughing as they were helping the old tree to prune away the branches. The wind blew, and the mulberry trees made a rustling sound, and the surroundings became more peaceful with the sound.

The two men on two horses quickly rushed to the county government office, jumped off their horses, and broke the previous tranquility.

"Liu Youjiao!!"

Everyone saluted.

Liu Taozi asked Yao Xiong to lead the two horses back to Youjiao Mansion, while he hurried towards the residence of the county magistrate in Beiyuan.

At this moment, Lu Qubing was arguing with Qian Zhubu.

At this moment, Chief Secretary Qian still had a cloth tied on his head. His injuries were still quite serious, but he had no time to recover. After all, he was the only one under the county magistrate who could do anything.

"You can give us 10% of the food. It's not that I don't care about the situation in different places, but I have to think more about the local situation."

"The current harvest is not much, and the price of grain has reached an unprecedented level. The whole of Hebei is short of food, not just these few neighboring counties."

Lu Qubing said seriously.

Qian Zhubu shook his head. "Don't think I don't know that there are not many dead left at the city gate. The number of people accepted by the county has already exceeded 5,000, right? I just don't want to say more. This time, the neighboring county borrowed grain, which is actually a means to deal with the refugees. With grain in various places, the refugees can be settled, and the pressure here will be reduced."

"I am not stingy, nor am I willing to lend grain to neighboring counties. However, how much of this lent grain can be put into the hands of disaster victims, and how much can be used to resettle the refugees?"

"I'm afraid it's used to make up for the tribute? To protect their official positions, if there's any left, I don't know whose granary it went into."

Qian Zhubu smiled bitterly, "We can't ask the neighboring county to explain the purpose to us, right? Can we send people to keep an eye on them?"

The two were struggling when Liu Taozi walked in quickly.

Seeing Taozi, Lu Qubing was overjoyed. He immediately raised his head, and even his momentum became stronger. "Brother Taozi, you came at the right time. Come, sit down!"

Qian Zhubu quickly stood up and bowed slightly to Liu Taozi, "Thank you, You Jiao. The doctor Chu you sent is really amazing. I am much better now."

Liu Taozi nodded and sat aside.

Lu Qubing hurriedly explained to him, "Linzhang, Wu'an, and Linshui counties are borrowing grain from us. This year, the harvests in various places are very poor. They can't even pay the tribute, and the county officials can't get their salaries. The famine is very serious."

"The county magistrate wants to lend 30% of the grain to the three counties, but I think that this grain will not be used properly after it is lent out."

Qian Zhubu was helpless, "Mr. Lu, if the Qingdu Yin hadn't given the order, how could they dare to come and borrow money? The county magistrate wants to pretend to be a good person? He had no choice but to do this, why don't you understand?"

Lu Qubing was very firm, "Then let the Qingdu Yin order to collect Cheng'an's grain to supply the counties!"

Qian Zhubu wanted to say something harsh, but looking at Liu Taozi standing beside him, he closed his mouth helplessly.

Seeing that Qian Zhubu was no longer arguing with him, Lu Qubing looked at Taozi and said, "Brother Taozi, you came here in such a hurry. Did something happen?"

Liu Taozi took out the book of enthronement from her arms and handed it to Lu Qubing.

Seeing the familiar document, Lu Qubing took it blankly, looked at it for a few seconds, and then was overjoyed, "Great! Could this be the work of the county magistrate?!"

He quickly looked at Qian Zhubu standing beside him, "Haha, from now on, Taozi is no longer a clerk, but an official! You can never dismiss her again!!"

Qian Zhubu was a little embarrassed, but there was no surprise in his eyes and he smiled calmly.

Liu Taozi looked at him and asked, "Is this the county magistrate's credit?"

Qian Zhubu was stunned, and then a look of surprise flashed in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, and then laughed awkwardly, "At the beginning, I wanted to dismiss You Jiao, but it made everyone angry. Lord Lu's orders could not be issued, so I thought of a way to send You Jiao to another place."

"I didn't expect it to be so fast."

"It seems that Mr. Lu has contributed a lot."

Qian Zhubu smiled and said nothing, but he thought to himself: Who says it's not true? In order to get rid of you, the plague god, the county magistrate spent a lot of money, even finding the colleagues and friends of his deceased brother, begging him, and caring about you more than his own children.
But it's finally over.

Taozi was from Cheng'an and could not be an official in Cheng'an. If he became an official, he would have to leave his hometown and go somewhere else. This was an edict from the imperial court and he could not refuse.

There were too many people running away from their posts at that time, so the emperor placed a big stick in each county government. If an official wanted to run away or refused to be appointed, he would be beaten to death.

"Congratulations to County Magistrate Liu!"

When Qian Zhubu left, he still bowed and congratulated with a smile.

Lu Qubing looked at Qian Zhubu who was leaving, and suddenly he was not as happy as before. He looked at the document in his hand again.

"So it was to drive you away."

"It's really hard for them to come up with such an idea."

Liu Taozi didn't say anything, and the two of them sat like that for a long time.

"Rong Zu, after I leave, Cheng An's affairs will be handed over to you."

Lu Qubing's expression immediately became solemn. "Don't worry! Once you leave, the traitors in this city will probably show up one after another. I will personally chop off their heads and hang them on the city gate!"

Liu Taozi was stunned and slowly looked at him, and Lu Qubing also looked at him.

"It's rare for Cheng'an to have the current atmosphere. I will never let anyone ruin the peace." Lu Qubing's eyes were extremely determined, and even revealed murderous intent.

This is indeed a rare thing. Liu Taozi's mouth corners slightly raised, "Okay."

Just a moment later, the news of Liu Taozi's promotion spread throughout the county government.

Everyone was talking about it, and the county government office was very lively.

In the Youjiao Mansion, many of Liu Taozi's minions gathered together to discuss this matter.

Yao Xiong was extremely happy at this moment. His mouth almost never closed and he kept making strange laughter.

Kou Liu lowered his head, looking a little sad.

Tian Zili stroked his short beard and analyzed the current situation.

"Of course that's a good thing."

"From being a patrol officer to being a county magistrate, it's only one step, but this step is the most difficult. If you want to be an official, you only need the county magistrate to nod his head, but if you want to be an official, it is extremely difficult."

"First, you must be selected by the Zhongzheng. If you are not from a high-ranking family and do not have an official father or grandfather, then it is useless. Even if you are promoted by the Zhongzheng, you still have to take the exam. There are four levels: upper, upper middle, middle, and lower. Only those above the upper middle can become officials."

"Even if you want to enter the Imperial College, you must have a distinguished family background, otherwise you cannot be admitted."

"My brother has been directly appointed by the imperial court. This is a great thing. From now on, my brother will be listed in the imperial register, own official land, and receive the emperor's salary. This is a crime. Unless Your Majesty orders, no one dares to deal with him privately."

"However, Cheng'an is my brother's hometown. When I go out to take up this post, I have to pay attention to Cheng'an's affairs."

Tian Zili looked at Liu Taozi and said, "Brother, we need to leave some people in Cheng'an to keep an eye on the situation here for you."

"The court has given me five days to take up my post. Please go and prepare first."

Liu Taozi stood up, and everyone quickly stood up and said yes.

Kou Liu was wearing an official uniform and walking quickly on the road. When he arrived at his own alley, he warmly came forward to greet the few people he met.

Not long ago, these people looked at Kou Liu with great vigilance, thinking that he was a thief and were unwilling to get close to him.

At this moment, his reputation among his neighbors was completely different.

He smiled and nodded to a few neighbors, then opened the door and walked into his own yard. At this moment, there was not much joy on his face.

The courtyard was still shabby, and the old woman was carefully hanging up the washed clothes. The old woman couldn't see, but her hearing was excellent. When she heard the noise, she said, "A Liu, is that you?"

"mom."

Kou Liu walked quickly to his mother's side and helped her hang up her clothes. "Didn't I tell you? Just wait until I come back to do these things. What if it falls?"

"It's okay. Even though I can't see, I can still do these things."

After they hung up their clothes, their old mother took out the food, and they sat in the front yard to eat in silence.

The old woman frowned and asked, "A Liu, is there something wrong in the county government office?"

"Oh, no."

"Before you came home, you always praised your tour to me, and praised it highly. Why didn't you mention it today?"

"I"

Kou Liu lowered his head, glanced at his mother again, and said with a smile: "It's okay. It's just that our patrol will be transferred away."

"Oh? Transferred?"

"Yes, I'm going to Liyang to be an official!"

The old woman laughed, "This is really great news. I thought this government was unjust, but it seems that there are good people out there. They even know how to promote good people!"

The bandits remained silent.

"Then why are you not happy at all?"

"Ah, I am leaving. I am so reluctant to let you go."

"Can't bear to leave? If the patrol officer becomes an official, he can take his relatives with him to take up the post. He can decide who will be the official. Would he abandon you and leave alone?"

"He's going to take the rest of the group with him, so he might leave me behind."

"You lied to me again!!"

The old woman slammed the bowl in her hand onto the table. She said angrily, "You bastard, are you afraid that an old woman like me will die here, so you don't dare to leave with the patrol? You are using this lie to deceive me?!"

“My mother, this is not.”

"What's not?"

"You were a thief in the past, and I cried every day, feeling sorry for your grandfather. Now, you have finally walked on the right path, following Liu Youjiao, and have done a lot of things."

"When I go out occasionally, I hear people praising you, saying that you have returned from prodigal son. I feel so relieved in my heart!"

"If you can no longer follow the patrol because of me, I'd rather die here than be a burden to you."

Hearing his mother's words, Kou Liu couldn't hold back any longer. He cried helplessly, "Mother, how can I leave you behind?"

The old woman reached out her hand and touched her son's face. "This is not abandoning me. My son is going to do good things and great things. Even if I die now, I can rest in peace. What's more, I will suffer the pain of separation."

"Don't worry about me. I have my neighbors to take care of it. I was fine when you were away from home for several months. Just do your job well and follow Mr. Liu to do great things! Do more good deeds! Accumulate virtue for me!"

"only!!"

When Kou Liu left home and returned to the county government office again, Liu Taozi was not there.

He was in Changsun Jiaye's room at the moment, and Changsun Jiaye was quite reluctant and regretful about Liu Taozi.

"What a pity! You shouldn't be a county magistrate. You should go to Jinyang and be a general. That's also the ninth rank. A Guanjinwei would be fine too."

"I am a Han Chinese, I am afraid I can't go."

Changsun laughed loudly. He motioned Taozi to come closer to him, and then whispered, "The military households over there are not all Xianbei. There are Han people, Xiongnu people, and various Qihu people whose names cannot be described. Anyway, there are all kinds of people. They just give themselves a Xianbei name and suddenly become Xianbei soldiers."

"They gathered together and cursed the ministers in the temple all day long, saying that they were cowardly Han officials. But when they checked their ancestors, they found that the ancestors of these military leaders were not Xianbei. Instead, those officials were Xianbei who changed their surnames."

"I'll tell you something in secret. My ancestor's original surname was Gongsun, and he was born in a great family in western Liaoning. Later, he followed Emperor Zhaocheng of Wei and made great contributions. He was given the surname Tuoba, and then changed to Yuan. Now it has been changed to the eldest grandson. It's that Lu Yao. His ancestor was a real Xianbei, named Bu Liugugan, and he was the leader of the tribe!"

As Changsun Jiaye said this, he couldn't help but laugh out loud at his own words.

He saw that Liu Taozi didn't laugh with him, so he stopped laughing after a while and said seriously: "But I still want to congratulate you. From now on, we will be colleagues. Anyway, this is your home, and you will come back often. When you come back, don't forget to come and see me."

"If there is anything, you can also send someone to inform us."

"Thank you, County Lieutenant Changsun."

The crowd gathered at the gate of the county government office, and the officials stood beside them reluctantly. Except for the county magistrate, almost everyone was there.

Liu Taozi held the blue lion and looked at them calmly, while Tian Zili said goodbye to them one by one.

Lu Qubing sighed, walked out again, and looked around, "Everyone, please go back. There are still many things to do in the county government. It's not like County Magistrate Liu won't come again in the future. I'll just send him off."

No one dared to refute. The recorder bowed deeply to Liu Taozi and said, "Farewell, Mr. Liu!"

The rest of the people bowed and said, "Farewell, Lord Liu!"

Liu Taozi was not in a hurry to get on the horse. He just led the horse and walked towards the city gate, with Lu Qubing following beside him.

Tian Zili, Kou Liu, Yao Xiong, Chu Jiande and four others followed behind him.

"Liu, go pick up your mother first."

Liu Taozi suddenly spoke.

Kou Liu was shocked, "Brother, Liyang is far away"

"I'm not asking you to take her to Liyang, but to Zhangcun. There, someone will take care of her, and it's much safer than in the city. Zili has already prepared a house for you in Zhangcun."

Kou Liu looked at Tian Zili who was standing aside and bowed quickly to express his gratitude.

Tian Zili's expression was a little unnatural. "We Han people value filial piety. This is just because of filial piety."

Lu Qubing sent them to the city gate. Liu Taozi had just mounted his horse when he saw a group of people walking towards him. The clerks at the city gate were all frightened.

The leader was Wang Heipi, and there were many people standing around him, including carpenters, farmers, and merchants.
They hurriedly bowed to Liu Taozi.

"I will never forget Mr. Liu's kindness. I just hope Mr. Liu will have a safe journey and be blessed by God."

Liu Taozi raised the whip high.

"Set off!!!"

(End of this chapter)