Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 554: Changing Customs and Overcoming Difficulties

Liu Huai originally wanted to reunite with Wei Sheng and others for a few days before conducting official business.

At least find a way to discuss the marriage. The war is over. If I don’t marry Wei Rujun, it would be really unreasonable.

By then, a rift would have arisen between the Jingnan Army and the Zhongyi Army, and it would have been too late to mend the situation.

However, on June 3, it suddenly started raining in various parts of eastern Shandong. The rain was so heavy that it seemed like a flood disaster was about to occur.

As the local leader, Liu Huai had to personally take his personal guards to visit and inspect the river embankments.

It rained heavily for three days. Liu Huaidu had already reached Yidu Prefecture. The sky suddenly cleared up and became blue in just half a day.

Only then did Liu Huai realize that this was most likely caused by a typhoon blowing to the southeast coast, causing rain and clouds. It was only a temporary storm and would pass away.

Although he was a little speechless, since he had already come out to do the work, how could he just go back? Liu Huai simply raised the flag and took dozens of personal guards to inspect the local administration and the upcoming autumn harvest.

As the saying goes, the most important thing is to be serious about everything. At the beginning, the people from all over the country were all friendly and there were upright officials everywhere. But after careful investigation, Liu Huai still found various problems.

Some things are systemic problems in the feudal era, such as petty officials deceiving their superiors and exploiting the people, nine out of ten loans being made among the borrowers, and officials' lazy governance. These are problems that are inevitable in any feudal era.

For such things, there was also a complete set of solution procedures in the feudal era. Those who should be arrested were arrested, those who should be beaten were beaten, and those who should be killed were killed.

However, some of them have no precedent and no law, and even the judge said they are very tricky.

"What did you say? A Loyal Army officer stole your wife? And it was done in a fair and honest way?"

In Gudi Town, on the upper reaches of the Bailang River in Weizhou, east of Yidu Prefecture, Liu Huai, holding a bowl of tea in his left hand and fanning himself with his right, was stunned when he heard the words of complaint from the person in front of him. He then looked at Wang Ju, the magistrate of Changyi County, and said, "Magistrate Wang, do you know anything about this?"

Wang Ju nodded: "Of course I know."

Liu Huai asked again: "Is there any solution?"

Wang Ju shook his head: "No."

Liu Huai kept talking: "Is anyone forcing you, or threatening you? You can tell me now."

Wang Ju sighed: "No."

Liu Huai thought for a moment, and his tone became a little serious: "In this case, you are derelict in your duty and should be punished."

The victim immediately spoke up, "General, this is not Magistrate Wang's fault. If Magistrate Wang hadn't brought me before you, how would I have known I could have argued like this? Magistrate Wang is the most upright official, and this cannot be considered dereliction of duty."

Liu Huai could only offer a few words of comfort to the victim, then turned to Wang Ju and said, "County Magistrate Wang, even if that general is a truly ruthless villain, if you actually write a document and report it to the higher authorities, wouldn't you be able to control him? Or has Weizhou Magistrate Zhao Xing already given up on the matter?"

Wang Ju sighed again and simply cupped his hands: "I am willing to accept the punishment."

Liang Su, who was sipping herbal tea beside him, felt a little helpless. "Wang Zhixian, if you have any grievances, please speak out right now, and the eldest son will be able to help you."

However, Wang Ju remained silent, only glancing secretly at the victim with a rather vicious look.

Liu Huai was helpless, but he knew in his heart that there must be something fishy going on. He could only flip through the documents while waiting for his personal soldiers to catch the "adulterer and adulteress".

This was not a difficult task, because stationed nearby were the rear troops of the Loyal Army, consisting of Zhang Qing and the remnants of the former Shandong righteous army.

After seeing Liu Huai's military order, Commander Li Ji did not dare to neglect it. He personally brought the captain and his newly-wed wife to Guti Town to pay a visit.

At this time, because Liu Huai was personally inspecting the area, many elderly people from the surrounding area had already arrived. Most of them just hesitated and watched the excitement, but there were still a few people who either cried out for injustice or complained about their grievances.

Most of these were trivial matters such as the Zhang and Li families' affairs, and only a few were major incidents such as the theft of oxen and the occupation of arable land.

Liu Huai did not show up either. He just sent his personal guards to investigate the specific situation, while assigning specific matters to local officials and watching them review them on the spot.

It should be said that after the Loyal Army pacified the eastern part of Shandong, all aspects were developing in a positive direction. Liu Huai stayed in the town for a long time and did not hear anyone shouting about the serious injustice of the murder case. It can be seen that these officials are still very attentive on weekdays.

When Li Ji arrived at Guti Town with his personal soldiers, what he saw was a scene full of vitality and flourishing of all things.

"General Li Ji pays his respects to the Commander-in-Chief!"

"Don't be so polite." Liu Huai waved his hand and said, then looked at the couple: "You are Mr. and Mrs. Yan Zhu."

Before the captain named Yan Zhu could say anything, the victim shouted, "It's this adulterous couple!"

Liu Huai waved his hand: "Yan Zhu, what do you want to say?" Yan Zhu just opened his mouth when his wife beside him interrupted: "My Lord, I am the wife that Azhu married in a formal ceremony. What do I have to do with him?"

"Shrew!" The victim's face also changed: "I have always felt that you are not a good match! You..."

Seeing that both sides were about to start cursing, Liu Huai lightly slapped the table, and the guards beside him slapped their scabbards together, making a neat scraping sound, and the scene suddenly became quiet.

"Talk one by one." Liu Huai pointed at the woman: "Start with you."

The woman nodded, not shy at all. "My Lord, my previous name was Wu Yan Xiaoyu. Of course, my Lord, my Lord, doesn't allow us to have the surname Hu anymore, so now I've changed it to Yan Xiaoyu."

This first sentence made Liu Huai a little surprised. After putting down the document in his hand, he looked up and down at the woman named Yan Xiaoyu several times.

By this time, the Jurchens had already begun the process of sinicization, and after Liu Huai issued the order, the process became unstoppable, so that Yan Xiaoyu's hairstyle and clothing were no different from those of ordinary Han women.

Yan Xiaoyu kept talking, her left hand on her waist and her right hand pointing at the victim, making a big teapot shape: "This guy was not called Tang Liu before, but Tang Kuoliu. We are both citizens of Bailangshui Qianhu."

Wow, these two people are both of Jurchen descent.

"Don't be afraid of being laughed at by the Commander-in-Chief. I was engaged to Tang Kuo Liu's brother, Tang Kuo Yang, when I was ten. But when I was ten, our tribe migrated south to Bailangshui. Tang Kuo Yang died on the way, so the engagement was broken off." Yan Xiaoyu continued to point at Tang Liu and curse, "I'm old now. A woman's prime is too good to waste, so I ended up marrying Brother Zhu."

At this point, even someone as shrewd as Yan Xiaoyu's face turned red again. "But who would have thought that this guy would actually dig up some old thing from some old man about the Jurchen customs, saying that there is a tradition of levirate marriage outside the Great Wall, and that the wife should also be inherited by the son after the father's death, and by the younger brother after the elder brother's death. According to this theory, I should marry him."

At this point, Yan Xiaoyu said seriously, "Lord Du Tong called my wife here just to make me marry Tang Liu again.

My husband and I are powerless and can only accept our fate.

But if you, Lord Commander-in-Chief, really want us to become Han Chinese, why do you only allow us to change our surnames and follow Han farming practices, while still insisting on practicing Jurchen customs? Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

In fact, when Liu Huai was halfway through listening, he suddenly realized the reason.

However, when Liu Huai heard Yan Xiaoyu's last question, he still looked a little embarrassed.

It's really too spicy.

However, Liu Huai also knew that the current situation was still relatively mild. By the time Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, the entire Han people in the north would have been influenced by the customs of the Hu people.

So much so that in his old age, Zhu Yuanzhang still lamented that he had spent his entire life but still failed to re-Sinicize the north.

In the end, it was Zhu Di and his son who completely reversed the situation by moving the capital.

"Tang Liu, is there anything wrong with what she said?" Liu Huai said to the victim sternly, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Tang Liu also made up his mind: "Lord General, this is our custom. We have been doing it this way for hundreds of years. I hope you will help me."

Liu Huai couldn't help but ask seriously, "If that's the case, your brother has been dead for so many years, why don't you propose marriage to Yan Xiaoyu's family?"

Tang Liu kept silent.

Although Liu Huai knew there must be something else going on, he didn't bother to care. He turned to look at County Magistrate Wang Ju and said, "This matter is so clear, simple and direct. Why doesn't County Magistrate Wang just impose the penalty?"

Liang Su, however, intervened to explain on Wang Ju's behalf: "Lord, this isn't because Magistrate Wang is incompetent, but rather because Lord Commander-in-Chief ordered that the Meng'an Mouke households be treated well, leaving them feeling helpless."

Liu Huai nodded. "While Mr. Liang's point makes sense, the county magistrate has a heavy responsibility, and changing customs is key. According to the Marshal's order, whether they are Jurchens or the descendants of the Xi and Khitans, they are all Han Chinese. How can Han Chinese have the custom of levirate marriage? Isn't that immoral?"

Faced with this scolding, Wang Ju did not show any shame or anger. Instead, he nodded repeatedly as if relieved of a heavy burden.

He came to join the Loyal and Righteous Army when it was expanding. He was born as an official in Juzhou. Although the Loyal and Righteous Army was in a stage with many places but few officials at that time, he became the chief official of a place within a few months and was considered a capable official.

Wang Ju was not afraid of doing things, but he was afraid that after working hard for a long time, he would go against the major policies. If something went wrong, wouldn't he have let down Wei Sheng's kindness?

Now that we know the bottom line, everything will be easy.

"Mr. Liang, please emphasize in the document that officials from all regions should take changing customs and habits as a task and include it in the official assessment." Liu Huai had just said a few words to Liang Su when he saw his personal guards driving their horses over.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief, Yelu Xingge requests an audience!"

Liu Huai was slightly surprised: "What is he doing here?"

(End of this chapter)