People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 166: Things Done Too Roughly

"Master, I have never dared to relax in the defense of Zhuo County. The reinforcement and repair of the city walls of several local counties have been almost completed. Large stones, bricks and soil have been placed at the city gates, and they can be blocked at any time. As for various city defense materials, I have also used the laborers to speed up the preparation. I will definitely not miss any important event."

Hearing Li Zheng's words, Qi Zhou nodded with satisfaction. This subordinate always did things cleanly and efficiently, so he didn't have to worry about anything.

As a governor, I have to work for the governor, but I also have to have my own subordinates. Otherwise, don't I have to do the specific matters myself?
Li Zheng was an excellent talent that he had found by chance and now he was working as a clerk under him.

His subordinates worked efficiently, which saved Qi Zhou a lot of energy and, more importantly, earned him a lot of face.

Although he was defeated in the previous battle with the Yellow Turbans, everyone saw that he had done an excellent job in city defense. Even the governor Liu Yu praised him a lot and gradually paid more attention to him. This was the benefit that Li Zheng brought to him.

"Very good, very good. Do your best in the next step. Your Li family was harmed by the Yellow Turbans. In the future, you should work hard to help Liuzhou Mu destroy the Yellow Turbans. I will also be able to commend you. You will have the opportunity to start anew in the future."

Qi Zhou made a promise to Li Zheng casually, but it was not an empty promise. As long as he became rich following Liu Yu in the future, he would not mind giving Li Zheng some advice.

Li Zheng became more spirited upon hearing these words, and then he began to grit his teeth.

"Don't worry, the Yellow Turbans slaughtered our entire Li family. This feud is irreconcilable. As long as it can help to defeat the bandits, I will do it ten times as hard. I only hope that the governor can kill that bald Xu as soon as possible to avenge us victims!"

"That day will come. The Yellow Turbans owe too much blood debt and will have to pay it back sooner or later."

Qi Zhou shook his head and said something comforting with deep sympathy.

He has seen this kind of scene many times.

The Yellow Turbans invaded Youzhou and massacred countless powerful families. I don't know how many people hated Xu Chen to the core.

From the court's Shangshu Lu Zhi to the general powerful survivors, most of them wanted to get rid of the Yellow Turbans as soon as possible.

After explaining everything, Qi Zhou left with his hands behind his back, shaking his head and sighing.

Li Zheng then stood up straight, glanced at Qi Zhou, then took out a Confucian classic and started reading it as he walked.

Li Zheng found it very difficult to learn these things, as they were incompatible with his current way of thinking, and many of the old ideas were even more difficult for him to accept. However, in order to better stay here, he had to bite the bullet and learn.

He remembered clearly that he came from a powerful family named Li in Yuyang.

Although the local tyrants are not presentable enough, they still need to understand the basic knowledge of Confucianism. Now they have to make up for this shortcoming so as not to let others see that something is wrong.

As he walked and looked around, he soon arrived at a construction site.

There is a forest here, and many laborers are working hard to cut down trees. These trees are either used as rolling logs for city defense or to build various equipment. To strengthen the defense of Zhuo County, the demand for trees is extremely huge.

When he walked over, the clerks in charge of the laborers saw Li Zheng and greeted him with a smile.

In the governor's office, Li Zheng didn't even have the qualifications to stand in front of Liu Yu, but he was a person who needed to be served well by the minor officials below. Now that the defense of Zhuo County was mostly under the control of Li Zheng, he could make life difficult for the minor officials below with just a word.

After walking around for a while, Li Zheng saw that everything was normal, so he didn't think much about it and prepared to find a quiet place to continue reading his book.

But before he had taken a few steps, he saw a minor official coming over. He saluted carefully to Li Zheng and then said something: "Li Bu Cao, there have been some messy rumors among the common people recently. It seems that something is not right."

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng said, "How about the rumors? Tell me about them."

The clerk said quickly, "It seems that there are rumors about the Yellow Turbans, most of which are words praising the Yellow Turbans. Now when the people have free time, they often gather together to discuss. I think someone must be deliberately spreading this to confuse the people, but I don't know the specific source. Do you think you should investigate it?"

"Is there such a thing?" Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, then he looked at the busy laborers after a moment's hesitation. After a slight flash of his eyes, he said to the clerk, "I know about this matter. The city defense affairs are tense right now. Investigating the spies in a big way will only delay the progress of the construction. I can investigate it myself."

The clerk laughed when he heard this: "Li Bu Cao will investigate personally, I think he will be able to find the spy soon."

Li Zheng nodded calmly, then looked at the clerk and said, "You are a smart person. It's a waste of time to look after the people here. How about I transfer you to the county to look after the government treasury?"

The clerk was overjoyed when he heard this. Guarding the treasury was a lucrative position, with little work and high pay, and it was easy to make money. "Thank you for your advice, Accountant. I am very grateful!"

Li Zheng said: "Pack up and go to the treasury to take charge today. Just do your job well in the future. As for the things here, you don't have to worry about it anymore. I will keep an eye on it myself."

The clerk thanked Li Zheng profusely and wished he could kneel down in front of him immediately.

But just as he was about to leave happily, Li Zheng grabbed him again, then came over and spoke in a low voice, his expression was also very serious, "I want to secretly investigate the spy, there may be a series of connections behind this, this matter cannot be alerted, you must keep your mouth shut about the relevant situation, and don't tell anyone, understand?"

"I understand, I understand. Don't worry, Li Bucao, I will never say anything nonsense."

The clerk was shocked to see Li Zheng so serious and quickly agreed.

There is nothing wrong with following other people's requests after receiving benefits from them. Besides, a small official like me really cannot afford to offend them. If I ruin their good deeds, I will be in big trouble.

The clerk was given clear instructions and soon left with satisfaction.

Li Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the working laborers thoughtfully. Although he didn't know who was working behind the scenes, this approach was a bit too rough.

How can you publicize it so blatantly? It would be courting death to do so in the enemy camp.

If I were in charge, I would definitely observe the people around me, select the right ones, slowly influence them, and start developing secretly in the form of an underground organization.

Moreover, when disseminating information to the public outside the organization, the Yellow Turbans' stance would never be made clear. Instead, the organization would simply stir up existing conflicts between the common people and the government, and lead the common people to cause trouble when the time was right.

Li Zheng, a professional in this field, knew as soon as he saw the current situation that the person who did this must be an unscrupulous person. Fortunately, he received the news first, otherwise this guy would be in trouble.

Now that I know it, I must take care of the other person.

After the clerk was transferred and given a warning, the matter was dropped.

Even if someone else finds something wrong later, the first person to come to find him will definitely be me, who is in charge of the fortifications of all sizes in Zhuo County, and once the news reaches me, there will be basically no further developments.

As long as you want, there are a hundred ways to cover this up.

Of course, what he told the clerk about investigating the spy was true. In the following days, he spent a lot of energy to build relationships with the people below and to get their words out of them. He didn't even need to ask directly, but hid the key indirect inquiries in a lot of conversations, making people unknowingly tell him a lot of the information he wanted to know.

Li Zheng was quite capable. He didn't spend too much time. He just talked to three or four people separately and traced the source.

The person who did this was a Yellow Turban captive. This time, Zhuo County was constructing a large-scale defense project and sentenced this captive to hard labor, which gave him many opportunities to come into contact with the civilians, which led to this incident.

After finding out who this person was, Li Zheng did not disturb him. He just memorized his appearance from a distance and continued to do his own thing as if nothing had happened.

The prisoner, unaware of the situation, continued to instigate the civilians.

"For us Yellow Turbans, distributing land is just the most basic thing. Do you know where the Yellow Turbans really treat the common people as human beings?"

In the woods, when a group of laborers were free, a strong man sat on a tree stump and began to talk incessantly, while the laborers around him gathered around curiously and listened with great interest.

For some reason, the government's construction deadline suddenly became less tight in recent days, which created more opportunities for Zhang An.

"Under the rule of the Yellow Turbans, there is no such thing as corvée labor, unless each village builds its own canals. That is the village's own business and there is nothing to say about it. But as long as the Yellow Turbans need to use the people's labor, then the Yellow Turbans will pay wages to all the laborers. We get paid for the work we do, and the daily wages are clearly stipulated, not a penny less!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the laborers who were doing voluntary labor exclaimed in surprise.

The contrast is really too stark. One gives money and the other doesn't. Although it is just a simple difference, this difference is bigger than the sky for these parties!
"Even for a military household like me, if we don't fight on weekdays, we can pay 10% less tax than others. If we fight, we still have to pay for it every day. Even if we die or are disabled, we will receive a pension. In the future, we will reduce taxes every year as usual. Can you, who serve as soldiers for the officers and soldiers, get this treatment?"

When Zhang An spoke again, everyone's eyes widened. If Zhang An was not indeed a Yellow Turban prisoner, they really would not dare to believe such a thing.

But this is Zhuo County after all, the first stop of the Yellow Turbans when they came to Youzhou, and there are many people who know the Yellow Turbans' style.

"I believe that when the Yellow Turbans came, they immediately distributed land and money to us. It's a pity that the dog officials took it back in the blink of an eye. Although I don't know the treatment that Brother Zhang mentioned, I believe that the Yellow Turbans must treat the people as human beings!"

"I believe it, too. I was like that at the beginning. The Han government is all bullshit. When have they ever treated us as human beings? I'm not afraid of death. When the Yellow Turbans really come to attack us, who will I help?"

Soon, everyone started talking one after another, and they looked like they really wanted to rise up in rebellion immediately.

Zhang An smiled with satisfaction as he watched the scene. Considering that the governor had spared his life, Zhang An decided to wait until the critical moment and give the other party a surprise.

(End of this chapter)