Just after noon the next day, there was a sea of people surrounding the largest charity warehouse in Ji County, Zhuo County. In the early morning, the people in the city received the news spread by county officials and government officials. The news was that the county magistrate Gao Lie, together with the steward of the warehouse, had embezzled the grain of the warehouse. After receiving the report, King Wei decided to open the warehouse to check in public; if there was indeed any In this case, Gao Lie and the steward of the Yicang were shown their heads to the public, their family property was confiscated, and then the government purchased the missing grain at market prices. The money received was divided equally according to the number of buckets of grain donated by each household.
The people regarded Yicang as a spiritual pillar and a source of security. When they heard the news, there was an uproar and everyone rushed over.
Naturally, the local people were the main body, and many business travelers from other places also came after hearing the news. In addition to watching the excitement, the latter also wanted to see Yang Ji, the king of Wei who had great military exploits and half-destroyed reputation.
It had only been two hours since the news came out, but already nearly tens of thousands of people had gathered around it, and people were coming one after another after hearing the news.
Yang Ji hadn't arrived yet, but there were already more than 3,000 soldiers and government officials around the righteous warehouse. They stood in a circle and cleared a large open space in front of the righteous warehouse. The people stood outside the circle and whispered to each other.
The people of Youzhou are sincerely grateful, supportive and loving to Yang Ji. In fact, this feeling has little to do with Yang Ji's identity. The main reason is that in the previous hundreds of years of chaos, every household in Youzhou had ancestors and relatives who died under the butcher's knife of foreigners. They had a sworn relationship with the foreigners. Hatred, almost everyone hates the foreign races in the north and northeast.
Not long ago, the Khitan boldly invaded Liucheng County and bloodbathed countless towns in Liucheng County. This move made the people of Youzhou feel new and old grudges. Then, just when everyone was angry and worried, the Khitan cavalry entered Zhuojun. However, Yang Ji, who was ordered to do something in danger, bloodbathed the entire Khitan and killed all the Khitan dog thieves. When the news came, everyone in Youzhou, including Zhuojun, rejoiced and expressed gratitude. After that, Yang Ji easily integrated the Sumo Mohe, forced the Xi tribe to surrender, and recaptured the northern part of the Liaodong Plain from Goguryeo.
This series of victories made Yang Ji the patron saint, military god and war god in the hearts of the people of Youzhou.
In addition, there is another reason, that is, the starting point and place of fame of the founding king of Wei Zhao, Yang Shuang, happened to be in Youzhou; Yang Shuang came to Youzhou as a general on the order of Yang Jian, and followed Yin Shou, the general manager of Youzhou, to resist Gao Baoning and the Turks, Yang Jian originally only asked him to study with the Khitan, Xi tribe, and Mohe coalition forces, but who would have thought that he was a naturally handsome man? After some casual training, he exerted his power as if with divine help. He led a partial army to the Northern Expedition many times, and returned with great victory every time.
It is precisely because of this fierce man who is particularly capable of fighting that Yin Shou changed his defensive tactics to active offense based on Yang Shuang's characteristics, and then conspired and plotted to kill the men headed by Gao Baoning. The coalition forces were killed. After this battle, Yang Shuang became famous all over the world and officially entered the ranks of famous generals.
In Youzhou's critical moments at the beginning of the founding of the Emperor, Yang Shuang played a decisive role; in Youzhou's critical moments at the beginning of the Great Cause, his son Yang Ji played a decisive role, and the results achieved by King Xiaowei were even more impressive. Yu Lan Qing Yu Lan. Compared with Yin Shou and Li Chong who died in the battle alone, "I am a hero and my son is a good man" King Wei is undoubtedly more worthy of talking about, more worthy of people's talk and love.
It is precisely because of the above that the people of Youzhou support, love and respect Yang Ji as much as the people of Liangzhou.
The people of Youzhou have the same blind trust in the resounding gold-lettered signboard "King Wei" as the people of Liangzhou. Now the situation in Liaodong is serious, and war clouds have enveloped the entire Youzhou. King Wei has come in time again, and the people's hearts are agitated. The son is decided. They have blind trust and admiration for heroes, and instinctively feel that as long as "King Wei" is there, even if the food in the charity warehouse is really lost, King Wei can help them recover it. Based on this complex, although there were many people around Yicang, their emotions were very stable, and they followed the will of the soldiers and government officials and stood outside the prescribed lines in an orderly manner.
This scene also made Pei Ju, the head of the Lu family, Lu Chisong, and the elder of the Lu family, Lu Changxie, who were among the crowd, secretly surprised.
Yesterday morning, after Yang Ji and Pei Ju led the team to leave, the Lu family's uncle and nephew thought that whether the Yuan family could be eliminated was closely related to the interests of their Lu family. After discussing it, they also set off to Ji County, Zhuo County, and contacted them this morning. Arrived at Pei Ju.
Lu Changxie was from Youzhou, and he understood the people's "King Wei Complex" better than Pei Ju, but he never imagined that the people would behave in such a bad way because of their "King Wei Complex" when their own interests might be damaged. So calm and stable. He glanced at Pei Ju and said casually: "Shiju, Dabao's second daughter Lu Yao has met Shuying more than ten times. Yaoer refuses to accept anyone, but she admires Shuying very much. She often sighs that if she can be with Shuying, If we get along day and night, we will have no regrets in this life."
Pei Ju was silent when he heard this. Lu Dabao spent more time in the capital than in Qiu County. Although his daughter Lu Yao had a good relationship with her, it was far from what Lu Changxie said. The reason why he said this was nothing more than a pretext. , the real intention was that after communicating with Yang Ji, he was no longer wary of Yang Ji's "World-Destroying Poison Dagger", so he planned to marry Yang Ji so that the Lu family could climb up to the popular Yang Ji and the royal family. . The so-called "admiration for Shuying" naturally means that after entering the Yang family, everything will be followed by Pei Shuying.
But how could he interfere with this?
"Shi Ju understands what Uncle Shi means." Pei Ju pondered for a moment and said, "But Uncle Shi doesn't know something. Prime Minister Gao Jiong made a lot of preparations to marry his daughter, but in the end he didn't succeed. He has not given up yet and is still preparing. Marry your daughter into the palace as a concubine; and Prime Minister Li Ziquan also plans to marry the legitimate daughter of the Li family of Zhao County into the palace as a concubine, but King Wei still refuses."
Lu Changxie asked curiously: "But why?"
Lu Chisong also couldn't understand. It would be a great deal for the civil and military officials to marry the concubines of the Gao and Li families as their first wives. Now the Gao and Li families actually wanted to give their concubines to Yang Ji as their concubines. This couple What an honor for Yang Ji? How proud?
But Yang Ji didn't want it?
"According to my daughter, King Wei's thinking is different from other people's. He doesn't care about the woman's family background, and he doesn't want the palace to be full of factions, so even if he takes concubines, he only takes concubines who are simple and knowledgeable." Pei Ju looked at Lu Chang He glanced at Xie and then said: "I think this is secondary. The important thing is that King Wei was at his peak when he was born. Now, he is in control of the power and has no way to advance. If he marries with other aristocratic families, it will be too much and not enough."
Lu Changxi was an experienced man. Hearing this, his eyes narrowed and he immediately thought of the problem.
Pei Ju's implication is that no matter what aspect Yang Ji considers, it is impossible for Yang Ji to take a woman from a big family as a concubine. You, the Lu family, should give up! Otherwise, you will only be asking for trouble and humiliation.
"The king is here!"
"The God of War is here!"
"King Xiao Wei is here!"
"..."
At this moment, shouts like a mountain roar and a tsunami suddenly broke out from the crowd, and the cheers were deafening.
Under the red banner of "King of Wei Yang", Yang Ji, escorted by a group of Xuanjia personal guards, rode a tall open carriage slowly towards Yicang.
Pei Ju looked at Yang Ji who was showing off, and felt a little sour in his heart; but more importantly, he felt regret.
Yang Ji invited him to appear early this morning to judge a group of corrupt officials in public. However, he knew that the people valued the charity warehouse and knew that the charity warehouse in Ji County was empty, so he was afraid of being beaten and did not dare to show up openly. In addition, he Some of them didn't want to overly stimulate the Yuan family and the Yuan faction, so they declined Yang Ji's invitation. Then he and Lu's uncle and nephew got into a tall carriage and occupied a favorable position under the protection of the servants and guards. But the orderly scene in front of him and the scene of people happily discussing Yang Ji made him envious and envious.
If he had known that the people of Zhuo County were so civilized and polite, so "irrespective of whether the meaning of the warehouse is empty or not", and so trusting of "King Wei", then he would have dressed up in costumes to show the existence of Prime Minister Pei's country, and at the same time let the people feel Prime Minister Pei is a close friend of the country.
But now, it's too late to say anything!
Yang Ji was not wearing armor or regular clothes today. Instead, he was wearing a purple gold crown, a black prince's robe, and a jade belt around his waist. He was obviously handsome, elegant, and noble.
The sword on his waist is the Seven-Star Longyuan Sword given by the late emperor; when the sword arrived in the Daye Dynasty, Emperor Yang Guang not only did not take it back, but instead named it the Emperor's Sword, granting its owner the power to kill first and then report. Under normal circumstances, Yang Ji prefers to use the Qilin Sword, which combines the functions of a knife, a sword, a spear, and a spear, instead of the Seven-Star Longyuan Sword. Once he wears this sword, it means that he wants to kill people--kill the great Sui officials. .
Today's attire has a strong meaning of instructions and hints. It shows that Yang Ji is prepared to use his royal status to kill corrupt officials in the Sui Dynasty, so that the people can feel the determination of the emperor and the royal family to fight against corruption and safeguard the interests of the people.
When the people around him saw Yang Ji like this, and the many guards were even more majestic and murderous, they suddenly felt like they had a lump in their throats and couldn't shout, and the scene gradually became silent.
The carriage drove to the front of Yicang Square and turned around to face the many people. The guard instantly split into two and lined up behind the carriage. Yang Ji stood up and said to the people: "Yicang is the people's own food reserve. All food is People's grain is generally stored in them as part of the autumn harvest, and will be used for disaster relief in times of famine. The existence of charity warehouses also allows people in various places to have food to eat during times of disaster, so as not to starve to death. Because people from all over the country have enjoyed the benefits of charity warehouses and know that food from charity warehouses can save lives, they donate food according to regulations after the autumn harvest every year without any prompting."
"The free warehouses were initially managed by Mr. Su who was recommended by the people. However, in many places, the free warehouse managers supervised theft and emptied the free warehouses. After emptying the warehouses, they burned the empty warehouses in a fire and then told the people that the fire broke out unintentionally, causing heavy losses to the people. . In order to prevent such an incident from happening again, the imperial court stepped in and built a charity warehouse that could prevent fire and moisture. At the same time, local officials were asked to supervise it so that the managers of the charity warehouse would not dare to embezzle the people's food. "
"This is also the original intention of the imperial court to let the government supervise the charity warehouse. The only purpose of the imperial court is to prevent your food from being stolen by lawless people. It is not to take away the food that belongs to you. I believe everyone can understand this!"
Yang Ji's voice was not loud and could not be heard by everyone, but every time he said something, the guards would repeat it loudly, so the clear and loud words were directly sent to the ears of everyone present, nearly 100,000 people. Everyone listened attentively, and no one made any loud noises. The huge venue was silent, and the occasional sound of wind blowing leaves could be clearly heard.
When the last words reached the ears of the people, many people nodded silently, while some people who thought that the government was supervising and wanted to steal the food from the charity warehouse had a look of surprise.
Pei Ju secretly exclaimed, "Brilliant, clever."
The common people have limited knowledge and lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Most people believe that officials are equal to the government, and officials are equal to the court. The actions of officials are the actions of the court, and the corruption of officials is the corruption of the court.
But then again, all the laws and systems of the imperial court are actually good, and they are all for the stability of the world and for the sake of the people. However, when they go down to local governments at all levels, they completely change.
Now, after Yang Ji said this, the imperial court and local government were distinguished from corrupt officials, and the people also knew that the corrupt behavior of officials was a violation of the law by themselves and had nothing to do with the imperial court or local government.
After that, kill him again.
Not only has the image of the court and the government been preserved, but it also reflects the determination of the court and the government to fight against corruption, making the people aware of the court's firm attitude towards corrupt officials. In the end, the people must support the court that is "incompatible with crime" more than before.
This method is exactly the same as the one used by Cao Cao to kill the grain official Wang He in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"; the difference is that corrupt officials really deserve to die.
"However, there are bad people in the official army! The purpose of some people's becoming officials is not to be good officials at all, nor to worry about the people's difficulties. What is their purpose? They are to stand on the heads of the people and dominate them, to take advantage of them. The power granted by the imperial court deceives the superiors and exploits the people." Yang Ji continued: "Corrupt officials have become local emperors in their localities; their methods of making money are endless and difficult to guard against. Take Yicang as an example, they use coercion and inducement to In this way, I bribed the steward of the charity warehouse, and then took out the grain in the charity warehouse and sold it."
"As far as I know, this problem generally exists in all counties in Youzhou. In order to give everyone an explanation and at the same time verify whether the local officials are honest, we decided to open the charity warehouse in public. If the grain in the warehouse is stolen, it will not matter. Easy to say, kill!"
At this point, Yang Ji said loudly: "After the killing, we will ransack the house, use the illegal wealth to make up for the lack of food, and then distribute it to everyone. Can everyone agree?"
"Okay!" As the guards spread the message, people began to get excited, and bursts of cheers broke out from the crowd.
There is money to be divided, and it is really fun to watch King Wei kill people.
"Bring me up!"
