Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"How about it? Master Taoist, do you want to stay?"

Sutuo's words interrupted Chongjing's thoughts. He looked at the young man in front of him again and asked, "I threw you hard just now. You don't hate me?"

"What's the point?" Sutuo said with a smile: "When I was learning skills from Master Jiaodui, how could I not fall one or two hundred times? If I didn't take a few more blows, how could I get the upper hand? Besides, I was the one who punched first just now. I hit you because you hit me. And with your ability, Taoist priest, you were already merciful. Otherwise, I would have lost my life. How could I have come to find you?"

Seeing Sutuo's answer so readily, Chongjing couldn't help but smile: "You want me to teach you my skills, yes! But I'll say something ugly up front. You are the son of General Wang, so naturally you can't become a monk. For Taoism. The most important skills in Taoism can only be passed on to monks, and you won’t be able to learn them. Don’t blame me then!”

"I know this!" Sutuo said with a smile; "Just now, General Cao said, Taoist priest, you have such great ability, but you only have one disciple by your side, and you have no reputation. Most of them are passed down from one generation to the next, and the bottom-level skills are only passed down to this person." It doesn’t matter, Taoist priest. If you are willing to teach me a little, I will learn a little more. Even if you don’t teach me the most important thing, it is better than not learning at all!”

"Young Master is so considerate!" Chongjing's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said with a smile: "Okay, since the Young Master is sincere, I will stay in the Young Master's house for a while. Please don't worry, Young Master, except for the one or two most important ones." In addition to that, Pindao will definitely teach with all his heart and will never hide his secrets!”

"Thank you, Taoist Master!" Sutuo was overjoyed. He knelt down and kowtowed three times before leading the two of them out of the shop. He asked Chongjing to get on his horse. He took the package from Pushan and put it on his shoulders. He led the two of them first. People go to their own homes and settle down, not to mention.

Sota's residence.

"Master, weren't you going to leave earlier? Why did you stay again!" After Sutuo left, Pushan asked cautiously.

"It's hard to let go of good talent and good quality!" Chongjing said with a smile.

"It's hard to give up good talent and good character?" Pu Shan asked in confusion: "Master, what do you mean by this?"

"Haha!" Chongjing said with a smile: "It means that Mr. Xutuo's qualifications are very outstanding and his desire to learn is very sincere. Master, I really can't refuse him!"

"Then Master, you won't preach the Dharma?"

"Pushan, didn't you hear what Mr. Sutuo just said? He has hundreds of miles of territory in Liaodong and a manor in Japan. If you want to spread the Dharma and spread the word, what better way to get twice the result with half the effort than to be his master? "

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Just as Taoist Chongjing was excited that the ideal of spreading Dharma and preaching, which he had worked hard for half his life without seeing any sign of it, was finally getting a glimmer of light, Fan Yang, and even the whole of Hebei, fell into a huge storm: many people from the Han Dynasty At that time, the aristocratic family that dominated the prefectures and counties of Hebei was involved in a shocking case - more than fifty nobles were accused of participating in the assassination of Liu Peiji, the Minister of Household Affairs, in Chang'an not long ago. According to insiders, Rumors circulated that the purpose of these nobles was not only to retaliate against Liu Peiji's previous obstruction of Wang Wenzuo's appointment of fifteen Hebei nobles as local governors, but also to damage the relationship between Wang Wenzuo and the court and try to provoke a new war. civil war. In order to achieve this, they even colluded with the Tianshi Daozhong people who launched a rebellion in Jiannan Dao not long ago and planned this assassination operation.

Compared with the shock and excitement of many outsiders, the feelings of Hebei high-ranking officials like Cui, Lu, Wang, and Li who were trapped in the situation were much more complicated. There were shocks and fears, but most of them were feeling overwhelmed. The anger of betrayal. In the eyes of most of them, whether any of them participated in the assassination and conspiracy was one thing, and the attitude of the general at this time was another matter; Wang Wenzuo quickly making all this public can only mean one thing - he will He would take this opportunity to massacre the Hebei nobles and betray these allies who had just helped him defeat the imperial court.

"That's too much! The general is obviously taking this opportunity to betray us meritorious people to the court. Otherwise, even if someone is involved in the assassination of Liu Peiji, they can just deal with it privately. Why make it public?"

"Yes! How did the court treat him? Everyone knows it. If we hadn't helped him in the first place, Pei Judao would have been able to support King Pei on the throne. Even if Wang Wenzuo had great abilities, he could only wait to be captured. It's good now. He used us to take over Hebei, and then sold us to the court. He is really a treacherous and repeating villain! "

"Now it seems that it was not that simple when Liu Peiji impeached him for submitting a letter to the court to nominate fifteen people as governor of the state. When he was in Chang'an, he actually had a pretty good relationship with Liu Peiji. Why didn't anyone else dare to do so at this juncture? He was obstructed, but Liu Peiji jumped out? He was not bothered by the impeachment, and seemed to let it go. After Liu Peiji was assassinated, his minion in Chang'an, Murong Mu, was the most active, and it was he who discovered the key clues. . After taking possession of Fan Changan and the list of the so-called Hebei nobles involved, don't you think it's strange to connect these things together? "

"That's right! When did that man become so easy to talk to? When the late emperor and Pei Judao had a slight conflict with him, he immediately mobilized his troops to attack and knocked him off his horse. Only Liu Peiji openly wrote a letter to slap him in the face, but he didn't do anything about it. Don't worry, just let it go and let Liu Peiji become famous. If someone assassinates Liu Peiji, he will send people to investigate and find the real culprit!"

"It's not necessarily a group, but this time he definitely wants to take advantage of Liu Peiji's assassination to attack us Hebei nobles! As for the list, no one knows whether it is true or false. In the end, it is the same from beginning to end. Murong Moo said, even if Fan Changan was really responsible for the assassination of Liu Peiji, did Wang Wenzuo have the final say as to whether the Hebei nobles were involved and how many people were involved? "

"Not bad!"

"That's right, this time we have to hug each other, we can't let him knead us, otherwise there will be no disaster!"

"That's right! If we take a step back this time, we will be in catastrophe in the future!"

Everyone in the hall was filled with righteous indignation and almost wanted to make an alliance with blood. But what is noteworthy is that Lu Renji, who is sitting at the top, and several Lu family children beside him have remained silent, which is in sharp contrast to the anger next to them.

Finally, someone couldn't help it and asked: "Mr. Renji, what do you mean, please say something!" "Yes! Mr. Lu, you must say something!"

"Yes, Fan Yang is the foundation of your Lu family after all, how can you just say nothing!"

Lu Renji was questioned by everyone, but he never said a word. Someone next to him became anxious and shouted: "Lu Renji, do you think you can be alone this way? Wang Wenzuo is a tiger and a wolf. Even if you have a nephew by his side, in the end he will be alone. Can I protect you?"

"Yes, everyone worked together to overthrow Wang Wenzuo. Isn't it best if we make the decision ourselves? Why bother letting others manipulate us?"

When everyone was talking proudly, they suddenly heard an angry shout: a thick man jumped forward, holding a short stick up to his eyebrows in his hand, but it was Lu Guangping. He blocked Lu Renji behind him and shouted with the stick. Said: "Get lost, these rats, get out of here!"

Everyone was startled by Lu Guangping's commotion and retreated one after another. But seeing that he did not chase him, they became more courageous. Someone shouted: "Lu Guangping, what are you doing? You drank too much and went crazy again." ?”

"Drink your mother!" Lu Guangping picked up the stick and pointed at the person who spoke: "You don't know how to live or die, and you dare to drag others into the water. Go home and prepare for the funeral!"

"Lu Twelve, what are you talking about?" The man said angrily: "You should have heard it just now. Wang Wenzuo acted rebelliously, acted recklessly, and everyone was outraged, but you stood by him. Don't forget, you are also from Hebei. !”

"Of course I'm from Hebei, you don't need to remind me!" Lu Guangping sneered: "I don't know if Wang Wenzuo has gone against the grain or acted recklessly, but I know that for bed bugs like you, Wang Wenzuo's farts will kill you. You don’t know how to live or die, and you want to drive someone away and become the governor, but you don’t know how much you are worth!”

The man who spoke was so scolded by Lu Guangping that he could not speak for a while. After a while, he sneered and said: "Yes, I can't fight Wang Wenzuo, but what if everyone gets together? This is not the past. Everyone has soldiers. Yes, if we can gather together, there are about 70,000 to 80,000 people, how can we not defeat Wang Wenzuo? "

"Even if there are tens of thousands of sheep, only tigers and wolves eat sheep, and no sheep eat tigers and wolves!" Lu Guangping sneered: "If I had followed Wang Wenzuo to Liaodong before, I might have believed what you said; but after going through these battles , I have understood it a long time ago. You guys are no match for Wang Wenzuo's tigers and wolves! No, don't talk about Wang Wenzuo, you couldn't pass Pei Xingjian's test! If you don't believe it, you can ask those in your family who participated in that battle. Who braved the rain of arrows and defeated Pei Xingjian's Longyou soldiers; who flanked the enemy's formation and cut the enemy into two sections, and who still endured hunger and pursued them fiercely after a hard fight? , wipe out all the enemy troops at once? It’s not the Hebei soldiers you expected!”

"Then let that guy control you? Do you think your Lu family can be alone? Don't forget, there are people named Lu on that list, and there are even more people related to your Lu family by marriage!"

"Then you don't need to worry about our Lu family!" Lu Guangping shouted: "Get out of here now, or I will let the dogs out!"

Faced with Lu Guangping's scolding, everyone in the hall stood up and walked away dejectedly. Lu Guangping picked up his short stick and followed closely until the last person walked out of the door. He shouted to the gatekeeper: "Keep the door tight for me. If these people come back, they will let the dogs out. No one is allowed in!"

"Twelve Masters! If you do this, the reputation our Fanyang Lu family has accumulated over the past hundreds of years will be gone!" Lu Renji's voice came from behind, and Lu Guangping turned around: "That's better than the whole family. It’s good to kill them. If you want to kill these people who don’t know what they can do, please die. Don’t drag us into trouble!”

"Hey!" Lu Renji sighed and shook his head: "Twelve Lang, I know you are right, but why do you need to make it so ugly?"

"Uncle, these guys are obviously trying to drag us down! If you give them face, they will stick to you!" Lu Guangping sneered: "If we didn't tie them all up with ropes and send them away, it would already be worth hundreds of dollars." We’ve been in love for the past few years, what else do you want?”

"Okay, okay!" Lu Renji waved his hand tiredly: "I am old and don't understand these things anymore. I will leave the Lu family's affairs to you and Shengzhi!"

"Uncle, please don't worry. As long as we don't mess around with these idiots, the general will not do anything to us. Even if we are punished, it will only be lifted up high and dropped gently." Lu Guangping whispered.

"I also know this truth, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon!" Lu Renji sighed: "I thought the general was a kind man at first, but now, I realize now that I am too old-sighted to recognize true heroes!"

Under the swift action of Yaqiandu under the command of Cao Wenzong, the sporadic resistance of the Hebei gentry was quickly suppressed. Wang Wenzuo did not go to jail as many people expected. Instead, a public special court was set up to begin examining those involved in the assassination of Liu Peiji. Wang Wenzuo even requested that oral confessions not be simply used as evidence for conviction, which greatly reduced the scope of the case.

According to original public speculation, this case would involve at least 30,000 to 40,000 people, and it would not be unusual to have as many as 100,000 or 200,000. However, nearly three months have passed since the spontaneous case. The total number of people implicated and imprisoned is only three to four thousand. Among them, more than a thousand people were considered innocent or had minor crimes and were released directly or only fined. Just wait for a light sentence and that will be all. This triggered a huge response throughout Hebei. After all, in cases involving rebellion, I only heard that more and more people were arrested, but I never heard that people could be released after being arrested.

However, while the punishment for the conspiracy to assassinate Liu Peiji was surprisingly light, Hebei people discovered that this public special court had extremely harsh punishments for other cases implicated in this case. According to the law at that time, "good and bad people had different laws" was recognized, that is, people were divided into two categories: good people and untouchables. In politics, economy, litigation, and social life, "good people and bad people had different laws", and their hierarchical statuses were different; In order to maintain caste privileges, a complete set of legal measures on "negotiation, petition, reduction, redemption, and official appointment" were formulated, so that bureaucrats and nobles would hardly be punished by law in real life; in terms of punishment, the good and the bad were punished differently for the same crime.

Take the crime of murder as an example: if a master murders a slave, he will be sentenced to up to one year in prison; if a slave murders his master, whether he is the first offender or an accessory, he will be punished by beheading. If the master kills his slave by mistake, he is not guilty; but if the slave kills his master by mistake, he will still be hanged. Commoners and Dalits are also not equal when it comes to litigation. Especially slaves and subordinates, they cannot report on their master, otherwise they will be hanged. (End of chapter)