I have lived forever since the end of Qin Dynasty

Chapter 372 Anyone who insults Boyu will die! 【Happy 2024! 】

The words are divided into two parts.

While Chen Luo was busy, another team from Chang'an arrived in Lujiang County.

In front of the bluestone city wall, Wei Qing raised his head slightly, and water droplets streaked across his cheeks and rolled to the ground. He didn't know if they were rain or sweat.

With a long sigh of relief, white steam came out of his mouth and quickly disappeared into the air.

Lujiang Shucheng has finally arrived.

"Hey, Marquis Pingyang, you are here. I have to wait so hard. I have already held a banquet in the city and am waiting for your arrival." Under the city gate, the prefect greeted him with a smile on his face.

If a prince wants to become an official, as long as his ability is not particularly impressive, he has a very good chance of climbing to the position of winning two thousand dan. Even because of the unspoken rule that "no prince can become a prime minister", they hope that one person is less than ten thousand people. s position.

It is difficult for a county governor to obtain a title.

Among the thirty or forty counties in the Han Dynasty, only a few people had the title of marquis, and there were no top marquises.

However, because Cao Shou was not able to hold an important position in Chang'an, the Pingyang Hou family had been away from the political center for some years, and their status and reputation were no longer what they were before.

Overall, the status of the two is equally matched.

Of course, the governor's willingness to lower his stature is purely a personal choice.

"You are willing to give Cao this face, how dare I not go?" Cao Shou responded with a laugh.

Seeing this, Wei Qing, who was about to say something, silently shut up.

Because Chen Luo was optimistic about him, Cao Shou chose to sell his face, terminate his slavery in advance, and return him to his freedom.

In addition, Chen Luo was willing to support him, so Wei Qing was able to follow the team this time and participated in the whole process of transporting food, which made very obvious progress.

But from a psychological point of view, Wei Qing would be half-pressed all the time.

Cao Shou was once his master, this is an indelible background.

So Wei Qing chose to remain silent and not criticize Cao Shou's decision.

He pursed his lips, a worried look appearing between his eyebrows.

Duke Cao would not ignore the disaster relief, right?

Everyone walked into the city through the drizzle.

Just by turning his head slightly, Wei Qing could see the thatch that had been washed to the ground by the rain, the houses with holes in them and the soaked pedestrians walking in the rain.

Such days are very difficult.

He clenched his fists, feeling cold on his fingertips.

Before I was fifteen years old, I made a living by herding, and the environment I lived in was not even as good as these dilapidated thatched houses. Sometimes when I was shivering from the cold on winter nights, my father would always bring a lamb and stuff it into his arms, and he would spend half the time there. Within an hour, the trembling body gradually gained warmth.

But these people seemed to have no lambs to hug.

"Come and have some wine to warm your stomach." The eunuch not far away waved.

They have arrived at the banquet place.

The presentation during the banquet was quite luxurious. The white, tender and fragrant whole chicken was mixed with ingredients such as dried dates, longan, and wolfberry. The steamed meat was smooth and shiny, with a light layer of spicy seasonings spread on top. There were also countless game meats, just like that. Even Wei Qing, who had been grazing for a long time, could not fully recognize it.

If he could have such a delicious meal in the past, Wei Qing would be extremely happy.

But now he felt that he had no appetite.

The waiter poured hot wine from the flask and it was scalding hot, but Wei Qing felt chilled in his heart when he saw everyone in the room changing glasses.

As a knight slave, I now decisively assess the situation, stand respectfully behind my master, and watch all this happen with cold eyes.

But when that gentle and gentle young man chose me, he definitely didn’t want me to do nothing, right?

Wei Qing felt that his temples were slightly swollen as he kept struggling in his heart.

at the same time.

The eunuch at the top smiled and raised his wine glass: "Pingyang Marquis, don't worry, I have arranged for the captain to monitor the situation in the suburbs to ensure that no riots will occur, so that you can leave a perfect impression on your majesty safely. "

He is a veteran in officialdom and understands the inner desires of officials sent to local areas for disaster relief.

Do they really care about the life and death of the people?

No.

They were afraid that the people affected by the disaster would gather in crowds and cause trouble, which would affect their status in the emperor's heart and lead to damage to their future.

Cao Shou was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "This is a good thing. I will leave it to you to provide relief to the people."

He was born clothed in brocade, and in the Marquis Mansion, he only had clothes to stretch out his hands and food to open his mouth. He was used to living a relaxed life, and he never worried about anything at all.

This time he received a disaster relief mission and had a bumpy journey to Luoyang. The energy consumed along the way made him miserable.

When it came time to make specific arrangements for grain transportation, it was basically left to Wei Qing to take charge, while he happily acted as the hands-off shopkeeper.

Now that I have arrived in Lujiang County, according to the prefect's wishes, I can complete the task without any effort, which is really great.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the prefect smiled and raised his glass: "In that case, I propose to drink this glass of wine in order for us to reach a consensus."

"Okay, okay, let's raise a glass to celebrate." Cao Shou responded cheerfully.

The two drank several glasses of wine happily.

The prefect asked casually: "Marquis Pingyang, you have brought a lot of food this time."

"Of course, the grain in the Luoyang warehouse was piled higher than the mountains. To transport it out, three funnels were worn out, dozens of steel scales were crushed, and it took more than two hundred carriages to transport them. I got these 1,200 shi of food." Cao Shou was full of pride.

Although he did not participate in the preliminary work, he went through the final inspection twice and there were no errors.

Hearing this, the prefect was secretly surprised.

I thought there would be a lot of food shipped, but I didn't expect it to be so much.

There was a trace of greed in his eyes and he said: "Marquis Pingyang, we will handle this batch of grain, so your hands will not be dirty. As for the final harvest... How about we divide it into five to five, no, four to six?"

Such a huge amount of grain was transported from Luoyang. As long as some of it was intercepted, he could eat it to a mouth full of oil.

It is not easy for him to do anything with the collected grains on weekdays, not to mention that the current tax of 15% for a big man has invisibly reduced his income to an extremely low level.

Now a huge amount of food suddenly appeared, making him extremely greedy.

As for whether it is distributed to the victims, it is not up to him and Cao Shou's documents.

It's impossible for His Majesty to come to Lujiang to investigate in person, right?

With such a good opportunity in front of him, he couldn't think of any reason why he could miss it.

"What, what do you mean?" Cao Shou was a little stunned and didn't react.

Hearing this, the prefect frowned slightly.

Could this Pingyang Hou be a master at pretending to be stupid?

"Thirty-seven points, we can't get any lower. Marquis Pingyang, we have already made a big concession." The prefect gritted his teeth.

If the share continues to decrease, the risks and returns will be completely disproportionate. If it were anyone else, he would never negotiate such terms with the other party. That is to say, Cao Shou's status is quite special and he is willing to make some concessions.

At this time, Cao Shou finally understood what the other party meant.

To be honest, he holds a leisurely position in Chang'an and basically does not fight for it, so no one offends him.

Therefore, when Cao Shou heard certain hints, his reaction would often be half a beat slower.

Facing the Lujiang Prefect's proposal, it would be like lying to himself to say that he was not moved at all.

The 1,200 shi of food for disaster relief was stolen, and I took another 70% of it...

Converted into copper coins, even if food prices are not expensive now, you can buy one stone for three to five hundred yuan, which is still a few hundred thousand yuan.

Thinking of this string of numbers, Cao Shou couldn't help but tremble in his heart.

Even though Pingyang Hou's family is quite wealthy, it is already worth two or three years of taxes in the Hou's country.

With just a slight nod of his own, he could pocket this windfall, leaving all the trouble and risks to the Lujiang prefect.

"This...let me think about it." The reason why Cao Shou was hesitant now was entirely because of Chen Luo's presence.

Because of the other party's request, he transported grain from the granary in Luoyang to Lujiang.

Coupled with the friendship of drinking and talking, he could not choose to break the contract without any suspense and pressure.

The prefect of Lujiang narrowed his eyes, "Marquis Pingyang hesitated, is he worried about something?"

"Exactly." Cao Shou sighed, "I followed Chen Boyu's request and transported grain from Guanzhong to come to relieve the disaster. I shouldn't trample on my promise."

The prefect of Lujiang immediately laughed and said: "I thought you were worried about what? If you are worried about leaking information to His Majesty, there is nothing wrong with it.

But Chen Boyu is just a side branch of the Yangxia Chen family. Compared with the main line, it is just a scrap of raw jade. Is it worthy of the care of a true noble like you?

Please forget your illusory promise to him as soon as possible.

With benefits that are as tangible as ten thousand baht in gold, it should be your choice. "

He had noticed that Cao Shou was hesitating, so he thought of a strong plan to make the other party make a choice in favor of his side.

As the Lujiang Prefect finished speaking, many people at the table agreed.

"That is, why should you give up the money you can get for those unsubstantiated words? This is not a choice that a wise person should make."

"Compared with your identity, the other party's identity is nothing more than the difference between an orchid and an orchid. No one would choose to blame an orchid for taking away nutrients from weeds."

"That is, he is just a branch of the Chen family in Yangxia. He has obtained the title of Marquis from two thousand households, but in fact he does not even have a formal title. How can he be compared to you, the Marquis of Pingyang?"

The words of the Lujiang Prefect were quite inflammatory in themselves, and the people at the table echoed them in unison, which only strengthened the momentum.

When encountering this kind of situation, those who are not determined in their inner will will develop a "herd mentality" and do things according to most people's ideas. They feel that they are the ones who asked me to do it. Even if I make a mistake in the end, I can still blame it. I never thought that these people who made suggestions would not necessarily bear the consequences together.

Cao Shou's heart has been shaken, the hesitation on his face is even worse, and there is some movement in his eyes.

Before he spoke, Wei Qing stood up abruptly.

He glared at the two people who shouted the loudest at the table and cursed sternly: "You despise Mr. Chen? Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror? What kind of family do you have?"

The children of the Chen family in Yangxia are all noble and upright, how can you despise them?

I have heard the saying that gentlemen are different from others, and today I fully understand its meaning.

Mr. Cao and Mr. Chen are noble people, and I don't want to argue with you. But I, Wei Qing, was just a humble riding slave before. I received the favor of Mr. Chen, and I am able to sit here today.

I understand the principle of repaying a favor, so if I hear you say words like those just now, don't blame me for drawing my sword and fighting with my life. "

The sudden attack disrupted those people's efforts to induce Cao Shou.

According to their original plan, they wanted Cao Shou to ignore all the consequences and external pressure, choose to join them, and keep this disaster relief material.

You must know that the banquet was basically full of their people. Wei Qing, as an unofficial follower, could only attend this banquet solely because of his relationship with Cao Shou, so his presence was completely ignored.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly stood up and attacked, becoming a variable.

There was silence for a while. Even though Wei Qing's palms were slightly sweaty, he still held his head high and showed a fierce gaze.

Even if you are bluffing, you must survive until the end.

He is not an extrovert, and he has long developed the ability to observe people's emotions. The reason why he stood up and spoke out was because he couldn't bear the behavior of the Lujiang prefect who wanted to covet these disaster relief grains.

The people who were affected by the disaster were soaked in the rain and suffered, not to mention you, the dignitaries and dignitaries, were enjoying the good life here.

Are you still trying to take away their last life-saving straw?

Wei Qing, who had 100% empathy with the victims, could not bear such behavior at all.

But he was dealing with various officials in Luoyang a few days ago, and he knew that if he stood up to speak for the victims, the insects at the table would only laugh.

In their eyes, people's lives are as important as feathers, and gold, silver, money and food are as important as Mount Tai.

As for discouraging Cao Shou from accepting these people's requests.

This idea came to Wei Qing for a moment, and he chose to reject it. Using his own identity to persuade Cao Shou in public would obviously make it difficult for him to step down, but it would be counterproductive and lead to the situation developing in a bad direction.

Unexpectedly, these people were impetuous, and their words were quite disrespectful to Chen Luo.

This gave Wei Qing a good entry point.

Even though Chen Boyu is only a side branch of the Yangxia Chen family, he belongs to the Yangxia Chen family after all, and his identity is completely different from that of ordinary people.

You don't treat ordinary disaster victims as human beings, and Cao Shou doesn't feel anything about it, but you are disrespectful to Chen Boyu with your words. If you remind yourself, Cao Shou will be sensitive to this and resist you.

After all, Cao Shou had no contact with ordinary victims, but he and Chen Luo drank and talked happily in Chang'an.

He is the opposite of Wei Qing as someone who can be empathized with.

Of course, Wei Qing's goal has now been achieved.

That is to let Cao Shou start to reflect on the inducement behavior of these people and think about the pros and cons of the suggestions they put forward.

After leaving the public place, I could persuade Cao Shou in private so that I would not refute his face.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Qing stood proudly.

----

Pingyanghou sent grain to Lujiang River, and the prefect held a banquet, during which he talked lightly about Chen Xun.

Qing angrily said: "I have inherited Bo Yu's kindness, and if you humiliate him for no reason, I will draw your sword and attack him."

All the guests at the banquet were silent, fearful of his righteousness.

Marquis Pingyang was also silent. ——"Historical Records·Changping Hou Family"

　Happy New Year, please vote for me

　　

　

(End of this chapter)