"You, you, you two, come with me."
A casual official looked around the crowd and picked out Liu Taozi and Yao Xiong.
The candidates all lowered their heads, their eyes full of uneasiness, and they looked like prostitutes who were forced to sell themselves, letting others choose.
The casual officials selected one or two satisfied people from among them and took them away.
The rebel surnamed Tian was standing next to Nurxia with his head bowed and his face full of flattery, making Nurxia laugh.
The official asked Taozi to wait at the door with Yao Xiong, and then walked into the other courtyard.
When he came back, he was leading a donkey and holding two knives in his arms.
He asked the two of them to each get a handful.
This casual official is older, his face is full of wrinkles, he is dark and short, he has a short beard, and he looks quite vicissitudes of life.
He looked at the two of them again, and his tone was not that bad.
"My surname is Zhang."
"You will go out with me today to the countryside. You may not be able to come back until very late."
"Originally I wanted to borrow three donkeys, but they didn't allow it. They only gave me one. Don't blame me."
"I don't need to say much about the situation outside the city. In short, you need to be more careful."
He said a few words, then mounted the donkey, with Tao Zi and Yao Xiong following behind him, and set off towards the city gate in a leisurely manner.
The old official always lowered his head, his eyes were dull, and he said nothing.
Liu Taozi spoke at this moment.
He asked in a low voice: "Who is that person named Tian in the mansion?"
Yao Xiong was stunned for a moment and then replied: "That guy's name is Tian Zili. He is not a good person. He comes from a wealthy family and his family has a lot of money."
"After this guy came to the county government, he paid bribes and flattery everywhere, and he no longer suffered any bullying."
"He doesn't interact with us either. He only cares about pleasing...those people."
The old official was riding a donkey and seemed not to hear their conversation at all, but just kept moving forward.
Yao Xiong then talked about the situation of the other people.
Yao Xiong has long lost the aura he had before. Even when he spoke, his voice did not fluctuate.
The entire city was still shrouded in a light mist at this moment, and there was no one on the road leading to the city gate.
Even though I saw someone vaguely, when I got closer, the person was gone.
Cheng'an in the fog looks more like a ghost town.
Arriving at the gate of the city, several ghost-like knights emerged from the fog.
The old official showed them the official card.
After registration, they can be released.
The moment he walked out of the city gate, the stiff and slow old official suddenly woke up.
His eyes dilated, and he began to be uneasy and alert, looking around.
The fog dissipated and the distance became clearly visible.
Yao Xiong also became nervous.
The three of them walked slowly on the road.
The old officials are quite experienced. Sometimes they take the official road, sometimes they take the small road. Some roads are unknown to Taozi.
After walking like this for a long time, a village appeared in the distance.
This village is much larger than Zhang Village. Standing in the distance, you can see the smoke from cooking.
At the entrance of the village, there were two children collecting firewood. Suddenly, they looked up and saw the three people approaching. They dropped the firewood in their hands, turned around and ran away.
The old official still looked wary.
They just walked into the village, and the doors of every house were closed.
The old official did not go any further and stayed here.
Soon, several people came running over with smiles.
The leader of the group, with a round figure, was very similar to Zhang Cheng. When he saw the old official, he was very enthusiastic.
"Jun Zhang!!"
The old official got off his donkey and exchanged a few pleasantries with the man.
"I came here this time to read out a very important order."
"Your Majesty has an order: Anyone in the world who pretends to be named Yuan, or changes his surname to Yuan for bad purposes, must change his surname back to his original name, no matter how many generations ago he changed it."
The old official took out the paper from his pocket and read the contents loudly.
The officials there listened respectfully.
After the old official finished speaking, he asked: "It seems that there are five Yuan surnames in your village?"
The Li Li was silent for a moment, "I, my three sons, and one grandson."
"Then let these five people change their surnames immediately. If they don't comply, they will be beheaded immediately."
The official panicked and said quickly: "Change it immediately, change it, change it..."
He hurriedly invited a few people into the house, but the old official was unmoved. He just took out the paper and asked the local official to register.
The clerk's hand holding the pen was trembling. He asked the servant to lie down on the ground, put a board on the servant's back, and then put the paper on the board. This was a very skillful move.
He took a pen and started writing on the paper, and then asked his son to be called.
Tao Zi and Yao Xiong were sitting not far away, drinking water and eating cakes.
"Brother Taozi, let's run."
Yao Xiong took a gulp of water, and there were some fluctuations in his eyes that he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Everyone in my family is dead, so there is nothing to be afraid of. It is rare to leave the city, and he is such an old official."
"There is only one dead end in the county government. The cattle and horses even have time to rest, but we don't. We work day and night without rest, and we will die sooner or later."
"I've only heard that corvee labor can kill people, but I didn't expect that being an official can also...Brother Taozi, do you want to go?"
Yao Xiong looked straight at Tao Zi, his eyes full of expectation.
This opportunity to go out is really rare for him, not to mention that he has Brother Taozi with him. After running out, even if he becomes a bandit, he will not starve to death.
Liu Taozi finished drinking the water and took a few mouthfuls of the cake.
"Why does everyone want to run away when there is a problem?"
"Where can I run? Where can I find peace?"
Yao Xiong trembled all over, "Brother, if you don't run away, do you want to stay and wait to die?"
Tao Zi glanced at him, "If someone wants to kill you, is there no other way but to run and wait to die?"
Yao Xiong frowned, and a hint of killing intent slowly appeared in his eyes.
He stared at the old official in the distance and whispered: "Kill him."
"What did you do to kill him? Did he want to kill you?"
Yao Xiong gritted his teeth again, "He Xingseng, I'm going to kill him."
Liu Taozi ate her biscuit again, "Then you're probably too late."
"I have to kill...huh??"
Yao Xiong looked at Liu Taozi on the side, his eyes widened, "Did Brother Taozi give him away... How is this possible? You just asked about his address last night..."
Yao Xiong's voice became smaller and smaller, as if he had realized something.
"No wonder it was Nursha who came out today to tell..."
He turned to look at Taozi again.
Tao Zi had already eaten and drank enough. He stood up and moved his body.
"Get up, it's time to go to the next village."
The Sanli finished his work here, got on his donkey again, and led the two of them on the road.
"Oh, this is what the officials should do, but the officials in the yamen haven't filled it yet, and the officials are very busy."
The old official suddenly opened his mouth and muttered to himself.
"When the official staff is complete, we won't be as tired as we are now. Of course, you will also have the opportunity to replace the casual staff."
Taozi was the first to interrupt him, "You don't have to say anything, we won't run away."
The old official showed a very unnatural smile. He seemed to have forgotten how to smile.
"That's good, that's good, especially you two, you are tall and strong, you will be valued by the superiors, and you will soar into the sky. In the past, there was a saying that it was difficult to beg for a building, that's how it is..."
"Actually, you have food and drink, which is pretty good."
"I think……"
The old official was about to say something, then stopped.
At the intersection in the distance, a man appeared, wearing a rag, skinny as a stick, staggering forward.
After him, several more people appeared with the same appearance.
They looked at the three of them blankly, and people kept appearing behind them.
That's a lot of dead people.
The old official saw that they were holding sticks and some were holding stones.
The two sides looked at each other, motionless.
The old official whispered: "Don't do it lightly..."
"ah!!!!"
Yao Xiong let out an angry roar. He pulled out his saber, his eyes were red, and he rushed towards those people.
"Kill!! Kill you!!"
His face was ferocious, and he was almost crazy.
At this moment, the dead people on the opposite side panicked, their eyes also showed fluctuations, and they turned around and ran away.
Yao Xiong yelled and chased after him.
Tao Zi hugged him from behind at some point. Yao Xiong looked at the dead people who ran away, still slashing the knife in his hand.
"Kill!! Kill!!"
Yao Xiong roared, with a cry in his voice.
…………..
The three of them continued walking on the road. Yao Xiong was very calm, as if nothing had happened.
Taozi walked at the end, holding two knives. The old man didn't speak anymore, but just lowered his head.
They came to a brand new village, once again causing everyone to flee and the children to cry.
The local officials called the villagers out to greet them.
The skinny old man and the child stood there blankly, trembling while listening to Zhang Jun's words that they couldn't understand.
Taozi slowly closed her eyes.
ps: In August, all soldiers and civilians were ordered to change their surnames to the Yuan family name, or those whose fathers and ancestors changed their surnames and assumed the Yuan family name under false pretenses, or who forgot to take the surname Yuan, regardless of how far they were born, all were asked to change their surnames to their original surnames. - "Book of the Northern Qi Dynasty: Wenxuan Benji"
Chapter completed!