November.
White light frost formed on the bare tree trunks, and the dark branches couldn't help but tremble when the strong wind hit.
At the gate of Liyang County, hundreds of people gathered at this moment.
They all huddled up and shivered in the strong wind. Their faces were blown red by the strong wind, and they kept rubbing their hands, shivering all over.
The weather in Liyang changes at any time. Although it hasn't snowed heavily yet, the weather suddenly turned cold, which almost killed these dead people.
They were still wearing those tattered clothes, which couldn't stop the cold at all.
Daqi can control the number of refugees in various places every year, relying on this cold winter. A cruel and ruthless winter can kill 89% of the refugees in Daqi.
There is no way these criminals with no identity can survive the cold winter.
After the new emperor ascended the throne, he granted amnesty to the whole world, and many deceased people could return to the temple. This was a great good thing.
However, it is not that simple to return.
After the amnesty, the officials will squeeze out the deceased who came to surrender and squeeze out all their flesh and blood. If there is no benefit, they will not be recognized. The emperor's pardon is of no use. There is no benefit, so they will drag you through this.
Winter comes again
Therefore, those people who have children living abroad often have to go bankrupt and lose everything if they want to bring their relatives back.
Of course, officials will not be unkind and will eventually give you a way out, such as kindly asking a wealthy family to take you in as a tenant or servant.
But here in Liyang County, the situation is obviously different.
The deceased were gradually coming forward, and the officials were sitting at the gate of the city, checking the information with them one by one. Their attitude was not bad, and there was no extortion or extortion.
After confirmation, the relevant documents will be directly given to them to enter the city, which is extremely efficient.
While everyone was working, there was a sudden noise in the city, and a group of people were seen hurriedly leaving the city gate.
The deceased was frightened and hurriedly got out of the way.
Shi Yao rode a horse and said to the people around him: "Tell them to go to the south city gate to run errands! We are here to welcome noble people!"
The county officials hurriedly got up, called the dead people, and began to leave. Shi Yao also ordered everyone to open the city gate and ordered the county soldiers to stand guard all the way to the official road.
Several old men came out and stood at the gate of the city, preparing their words.
Shi Yao was busy, giving instructions everywhere.
Liu Taozi rode a blue lion and led the people around, wandering to the gate of the city.
Seeing Liu Taozi, Shi Yao was very anxious, "Why did Liu Gong come here?! The new prefect is coming. Don't offend him!"
Shi Yao has been on duty for a long time, and this is the first time he has encountered such a cooperative prefect. Yes, before this prefect arrived, he sent someone to inform him of the exact time of arrival. All actions were in compliance with etiquette!
Unlike the previous few Xianbei people, they rushed over on horseback with barbarians. Those who knew it said they were here to take office, while those who didn't know thought they came here to thresh grass and grain.
Shi Yao's heart was filled with anticipation. He stood excitedly on the roadside, muttering something unknown.
On the other hand, the people on Liu Taozi's side were very calm.
Dugujie stood beside Liu Taozi, looked at Shi Yao with disdain, and whispered: "Those who don't know should just think that his grandpa is here."
Several prominent people in the county were standing beside Liu Taozi at this moment.
Especially for the county soldiers, after Tian Zili's actions, everyone from top to bottom had some relationship with Liu Taozi.
Liu Taozi said nothing, and no one continued to complain.
After waiting like this for a while, I saw a servant coming on horseback, "The prefect is only three miles away from here! Get ready to welcome him!!"
After saying this, the man rode back.
Not long after he returned, another servant rode up and said, "The prefect is only two miles away from here! Get ready to welcome him!!"
The servants reported back and forth like this, and the momentum was not small.
And Shi Yao also took the trouble to shout out again and again.
Finally, a group of people appeared in the distance, followed by dozens of slaves. Six luxurious carriages drove neatly on the official road. Shi Yao hurriedly led everyone forward to pay homage.
The carriage stopped and a man got out of the carriage.
This man seemed to be in his forties, tall but quite thin. His beard was very long, almost reaching his chest. He looked even weirder than Kou Liu.
Judging from his appearance, he was a serious man. He stood there with one hand behind his back and said nothing.
Immediately, a servant stepped forward and raised the letter of appointment in his hand, "Your Majesty specially orders Hou Yuan Wenyao of Xiangcheng County to serve as the prefect of Liyang."
He read this book, a long section, and Shi Yao listened carefully.
After the man finished speaking, he hurried forward to pay homage and said, "Order of Liyang, I would like to ask Shi Yao, the Prime Minister of Liyang County, to pay homage to Duke Yuan!!"
Yuan Wenyao was stunned for a moment, looked at Shi Yao in front of him, and slowly walked forward, "Shi Jun, there is no need to be polite."
Shi Yao stood up, his eyes even more excited.
Yes, that’s it!
He hurriedly asked everyone to come to see him.
Yuan Wenyao accepted the courtesy from everyone and then stepped forward to greet the old men in the city.
"How expensive is my father-in-law this year?"
Watching Yuan Wenyao chatting with the old men, several officials were just waiting aside.
They talked for a long time, Yuan Wenyao took the gifts sent by others, then thanked the old men, got in the car, and walked towards the city.
Everyone returned to the county government office, while Taozi and others had to stay outside. After all, they were county officials. Unless they summoned all the county officials to come, they were not qualified to enter the county government office for a meeting.
Only Shi Yao and Dugujie, and the other county officials could enter.
Yuan Wenyao immediately summoned many officials in the county government and told them that they should take the people of the country as their foundation and govern with diligence.
Finally, after completing these trivial matters, Yuan Wenyao called Shi Yao and asked the others to leave.
The two of them came to the backyard together. Looking at the decorations on the left and right, Yuan Wenyao was stunned for a moment, "Why is this county government so luxurious?"
"This was all renovated by Lou Rui."
Hearing this sentence, Yuan Wenyao frowned, "These evil thieves are the most greedy and lawless."
Shi Yao took it seriously and kept nodding.
The two of them walked into the inner room, and Yuan Wenyao sat down, "I just came here and am not very familiar with the situation in the county. Please tell me about it, starting with the officials."
"The first is Dugujie. This person is from Xianbei and was born in the army. Although he is not good at political strategy, he knows a lot about training soldiers and fighting. He."
"Okay, what's there to say about the vulgar martial artist? Talk to someone else."
"That is me, Liu Taozi, the Prime Minister of Liyang County. This man is brave and courageous. It is all because of his contribution that we eliminated the thieves earlier. I will let him come in to pay homage to Duke Yuan later!"
"Oh, which family is he from?"
"He was born as a minor official and was promoted due to his meritorious service."
"Then let's see you later. Where is Magistrate Dunqiu?"
For some reason, Shi Yao suddenly realized something was wrong, but he still told the official's situation seriously.
"What else?"
"No more."
"How could it be gone? Are there no wise people in the local area? Are there no great people?"
Yuan Wenyao said seriously: "When I come here for the first time, I should visit the local sages and inquire about local affairs. Why don't you recommend these people?"
"Mr. Yuan, Li Yang has gone through several changes, I'm afraid there are no great sages."
"Okay, then prepare the frame. I'm going to the county school to have a look."
"only!!"
Yuan Wenyao's first stop was the county school, and Shi Yao understood that after all, education was the most important thing.
Liyang is a small county, and there is only a county school but no county school. When their group came to Liyang County to study, the lecturers here hurriedly came out to meet them.
Yuan Wenyao followed everyone to visit the county school. The more he looked, the more serious his face became.
He suddenly stopped and looked to his left and right, "Why are there people studying law in this school in Liyang County?! Where are the scholars? Where are the students?"
"Ignore the knowledge of the saints and raise some future subordinates? Is this how you abuse the food of the county government?!"
Shi Yao was immediately stunned. He hurriedly explained: "Mr. Yuan, that's not the case. It's just that we dismissed many minor officials and there was a shortage of official officials in various places in Liyang, so we recruited them."
"Don't say more!"
"go back!"
Yuan Wenyao got into the car angrily, but Shi Yao was a little confused.
After the carriage left, Shi Yao stared blankly at the departing carriage and didn't speak for a long time.
Liu Taozi and his people came back from outside the county. As soon as they arrived at the city gate, they saw several county officials whispering.
Seeing Liu Taozi, they hurriedly got up to pay their respects.
Liu Taozi nodded and was about to pass by, but a clerk hurriedly asked: "Mr. Liu, the county government said that they want to abolish cruel officials and promote good officials. Is this the same in our county government?"
"Don't worry about him."
Liu Taozi waved his hand and rode into the city. The county official breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly returned to his seat.
"See, I already told you, there's nothing to worry about!"
"After all, don't we need to do it? Besides, Liu Gong makes the decision for us, so it doesn't matter if he is the prefect!"
Liu Taozi rode on the road, and everyone he met bowed to him. Yao Xiong rode a little closer at this time, "Brother, this new governor doesn't seem to be a good person."
"He has been in Liyang for several days. He did not go to see the cultivated land, the poor or the weak, or the granaries. He spent the whole day visiting those wealthy and talented people and convening some virtuous elders. Dunquna
The people around here are having fun. Liyang is full of people coming from Dunqiu these days. I just arrested four or five of them, and they were shouting something like "Guests of the Prefect"
Liu Taozi said nothing. When they arrived at the county government office, several people turned their heads and looked in the direction of the county government office.
The place outside the county government office was really lively, with many luxurious carriages parked here. I saw a few fish that had slipped through the net that had not dared to show their faces before. Now they greeted each other with smiles and loud voices, as if they did not dare to speak after seeing Liu Taozi's arrival.
, turned around and ran into the yamen.
Liu Taozi led the rest of the people into the county government office. As soon as they arrived at their house, they saw Shi Yao standing at the door.
At this moment, Shi Yao still had the high-spirited and expectant look from before.
I saw him looking haggard and with messy hair, standing there motionless, like a corpse.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, he woke up suddenly and looked at Liu Taozi. At this moment, as if he had seen a savior, he walked up quickly and said, "Mr. Liu, something big has happened, something big has happened."
"He did not allow us to continue distributing farmland, and ordered the granary to be sealed. He said that the farmland was distributed privately, and the private distribution of grain was not in line with Daqi's etiquette system. He also said that the supplies we prepared for the winter must be verified in detail.
, cannot be distributed at will. He also said that we have taken in too many dead people, and except for the local dead people in Liyang, all other dead people should be expelled."
Shi Yao said one thing after another, his lips trembling slightly.
"Mr. Liu, what should I do?"
"I have no idea."
Liu Taozi replied and walked straight into the house, Shi Yao followed him in a daze.
Liu Taozi sat in the upper seat, Yao Xiong looked at Shi Yao unkindly, but Shi Yao's face was full of tangles at this moment.
"How could this happen? The Yuan clan is the maternal uncle of Prime Minister Yang. The family has a long history and has produced many talented people. Why doesn't Mr. Yuan know the sufferings of the people? What on earth does he want to do? What on earth is he doing?"
Shi Yao was greatly shocked at this moment.
He simply couldn't figure out Yuan Wenyao's purpose. He was not a greedy person, nor an incompetent person, nor a cruel person. He was completely different from a villain like Lou Rui.
But as soon as he came over, he completely disrupted many of Shi Yao's plans. Instead of being realized due to the arrival of the sage, Shi Yao's ideas were interrupted.
He repeatedly told Yuan Wenyao the truth about these things. The reason for distributing land was because the roster did not match the actual land grant. The reason for distributing food was because the people did not have food for the winter, let alone supplies for the winter. As for the people who had perished, His Majesty had already done it.
Under the amnesty of the world, if Li Yang has this ability, he will place more people there. What's wrong with that?
It is also said that the officials in the county are very cruel, but if they are not cruel, how can they suppress the guests in his house?
He repeatedly told these guests what they had done in the past, but Yuan Wenyao always gave him some unexpected answers.
How can a virtuous family be deceived by subordinates if they are moral?
If a really evil person came this time and started to collect bribes and kill people for fun, he might not be so desperate. Instead, a wise man came, a well-known wise man, but his thoughts and what he wanted to do were different from those of others.
Lou Rui is not far behind either.
However, he was not as direct as Lou Rui. Lou Rui asked them for money and then gave them shelter, while Yuan Wenyao asked them for something else, such as a quota of recommendations, exchanges of Confucian classics, and the relationship between a certain relative.
connections. Then, give them shelter.
Is this what I expected?!
In an instant, Shi Yao had a splitting headache and his entire body was as crazy as a maniac.
"Oh!!"
Liu Taozi scolded, and Shi Yao woke up immediately.
He raised his head and looked at Liu Taozi, only to see Liu Taozi's face full of anger. Shi Yao rarely saw Liu Taozi's angry expression. In the past, even when killing people, he always had a calm look on his face.
"Why, when Lou Rui did evil things in the past, you were so upright that you dared to write to Prime Minister Yang many times!"
"Chongguang Temple has done many evil things, how dare you lead the county officials to attack the temple!"
"Now that Yuan Wenyao is acting recklessly and many evil people have gathered in his house, you have become so timid, dare not speak, dare not speak out, and only obey!"
"Does your strength and integrity vary from person to person?!"
"You have read a lot of books. Did you learn how to work together to defeat those who are different? Did you learn how to favor one person over another?"
Liu Taozi's questions rang like thunder in Shi Yao's ears. He suddenly raised his head and drew out his sword.
"I'm going to admonish the prefect and eradicate the evil thieves!!"
"stop!"
Liu Taozi stopped him and said softly: "We are temple officials and we should act according to the laws of Daqi. How can we kill innocent people indiscriminately and treat human lives with indifference?"
He slowly took out some papers from the side and put them aside.
"These are all the evidence I found, the evidence of the guests in the prefect's house."
The backyard of the county government office.
Everyone was sitting in the house, with food piled in front of them, talking and laughing. This scene was exactly the same as in the past.
The difference is that Lou Rui above him is replaced by Yuan Wenyao, and the dancers and musicians around him are replaced by talents from all over the world.
But in essence, there seems to be no difference. Although these talented people do not know how to dance or play Hu music, they are also good at entertaining! Sitting here, one mouth is the source, one is the origin, one is the relative,
The scene was extremely lively, far more lively than when Lou Rui was there.
Speaking of this Lord Yuan, all the virtuous people could not help but admire him from the bottom of their hearts.
Finally, someone has come to understand.
Just as they were excitedly talking about classics and ancient saints, they suddenly heard a noise, and a group of county officials rushed in with swords in hand and shouting.
At this moment, the banquet came to an abrupt end.
The wise men who had just talked about morality were so frightened that their faces turned pale. Some cried loudly, some shouted for rebellion, some got under the case, some got up and ran away, and some knelt on the ground and raised their buttocks high.
Shi Yao led the people in and quickly subdued everyone. He looked around, but couldn't see the prefect.
He turned around a few times, opened the case, and lifted up Yuan Wenyao, who was shivering under the case.
"Prefect! I learned that you were besieged by traitors, and I came here to rescue you!"
Yuan Wenyao looked at him in shock, her lips trembling and unable to speak. Shi Yao looked at the rest of the people, "Do it!"
These cruel officials were merciless and slashed with their swords. The guests screamed and fled in all directions. In just a moment, there was only a pile of corpses left in the backyard.
Yuan Wenyao still didn't dare to speak and was trembling all over.
"Shi Gong. Just begging for a living."
"What are you talking about? Mr. Yuan, you see, these are all crimes. Each of these people in your house has committed serious crimes. Today they are gathered together to clearly harm you. Don't worry, these are all crimes.
I will send a letter to Prime Minister Yang!"
"Just rest in the house. If anything happens, you can call me!"
As Shi Yao spoke, he ordered the corpses to be dragged out.
After they left, Yuan Wenyao slumped down on the ground. He looked at the servant beside him and said, "You go now and find the county captain!"
The servant nodded, and as soon as he walked out of the door, he was stopped by several county officials.
"curfew."
"I'm going out on the order of the prefect! Get out of the way quickly!"
"curfew."
The servant pursed his lips and wanted to say something. When he saw the evil eyes of these evil officials, he swallowed and turned back to the house.
Not far away, Liu Taozi, Shi Yao, and Dugujie stood together. Seeing this scene, Shi Yao and Dugujie couldn't help but chuckle.
Shi Yao asked: "Mr. Liu, if he gives the order to attack us."
Dugujie interrupted him disdainfully, "How can we do it? Those slaves? Does he have the same knights as Governor Lou around him?"
"You Han officials always want to use the title of prime minister or prefect to suppress others, but we are different. We speak with swords."
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Chapter completed!