Battle Royale of the Sinners

January 10th.

Heads of the dead officials were hung in front of the four main gates around the city. Description and details of their crimes were written on the public announcement boards.

The scholars and nobles who could read gathered in front of the boards. Some of them read it out loud for their friends, and some of them whispered and continued their gossip hobbies.

"Suit them right! Haha!"

"Lord Zhang Jiao sure is efficient!"

"Look! Isn't that old Jiang that killed your son!?"

"… Justice has been served! I'm going to join the army now! I'll pay back this gratitude with my life!"

"Aiya! This guy embezzled over 40,000 gold! I thought he was an honest scholar!"

"You can't judge people by their looks. See that good looking head? Isn't he the popular young master Mu?"

"That's right. There is more than meets the eye."

"47 … 48 … 49 … Heck, I lost count! How many people have they killed!?"

"I heard there were others at the other gates. Want to take a look?"

"Are you nuts? We have to walk all day to reach the other gate. Count me in!"

Uproars and rumors continued to spread while the spies of other lords were busy sending this news back home.

…

Government Main Hall.

Zhang Jiao and Tong had finished this morning assembly. Today, Zhang Jiao passed a bill that they would hold an auction of the seized treasures from the corrupted officials, so they could use the gold and coins for the future government funds.

The remaining honest officers accepted the tasks with enthusiasm as they were hoping to see the change and the improvement of the city.

However, they were short on hands, so the tasks might be slower than their standards. Tong and Zhang Jiao did not mind it. They allowed the officials to work at their paces because both of them had other works to complete in the meantime.

Because of the purge, many positions in the city government were vacant. However, Tong expressed that it should be left empty for now as he had to replace the old way of the Han government system with the better one.

Tong planned to turn these ancient ways of management into a government-corporate system with his father as the CEO and the officials as the company's workers. For governing one medium-sized city, the evil capitalism conglomerate system combined with the iron-fist monarchy laws could be temporary applied here for the short-term stable growth.

Once he expanded his territories, he would have to change the governing system once more. For now, he had no suitable officer who Tong could entrust with the important politic roles.

After the bills and all agendas were done in the meeting, Tong unloaded all gold in his inventory into the treasury vault, which shocked the officials.

Some of them had heard about the rumor about "The Immortal Zhang Tong" before. As a result, half of the officials decided to join the Immortal Yellow Turban Sect which had been secretly found recently by Zhang Jiao without Tong realizing it. The desire to rebel against the Han Court was still within his veins.

The officials dispersed and resumed their duties on their roles with joyous mood, but Zhang Jiao and Tong remained in the hall. They were waiting for someone.

Meanwhile, Hua Shi, who was baited by Tong into working as a city clerk and an accountant in exchange for 10 all-you-can-eat-dual-cultivation-night tickets as her monthly wage, had her head emitting smoke, and her soul almost slipped out from her mouth.

She had collapsed on her working table as she was overworked by the zealot father-and-son duo. Trying to be a good wife for the cunning workaholic family was not easy.

Then a messenger arrived.

"Reporting, Lord Lu Zhi has arrived and is waiting in front of the hall!"

"Invite him in."

"Yes, sir!"

The messenger rushed out. After a couple of minutes, a man in mid-40s with a tidied robe and kempt hair, which was tied up with small cloth wrapped up on it, walked into the hall. He did not dress as an official, but a simple robe of a scholar. Despite being in middle age, he had traces of white hair all over his head which indicated that he was a heavy thinker.

"Greetings, Lord Zhang. I am Lu Zhi, a humble imperial inspector and the Intendant Minister of Luo Yang. Please to make your acquaintance."

Zhang Jiao nodded and exchanged pleasantries with Lu Zhi. However, Tong kept his mouth shut and continued to observe the middle-aged man.

'Humble my foot! Intendant Minister is probably the same as Chief Minister or Senior Minister. In Luo Yang, he is probably second after He Jin!' Tong thought.

In the other world history, this person was a high ranking minister and the teacher of Liu Bei, Gongsun Zan and other officials. He would later lead the main Imperial Army and proved his prowess by crushing the forces of Zhang Jiao in the year 184. However, due to the corruption and schemes by the eunuch faction, he was removed from the command post in the middle of the campaign.

Later after the Yellow Turban was destroyed, he continued to serve the Han Dynasty as minister of letters. He was known to be well-versed in both politics and teaching.

Aside from this, there was no other record of his achievement in history. Some said that he retired peacefully. Some said he was killed during the time Dong Zhuo took over Luo Yang. Despite many rumors, no solid proof had been found yet.

Tong gazed at the scene in front of his with a complicated look on his face. It was ironic that the two who were enemies in history were having a pleasant conversation in this world.

"By the way, how do you plan to revitalize the city? I see that there are still many vacancies left after the purge. Would you like me to recommend you a few personals to fill in the position?"

Lu Zhi asked with good intention. He liked what Tong and Zhang Jiao did. The process of the executions of the crook officials, the evidence and proofs, and the announcement to the public were well-planned and well-done in the eyes of Lu Zhi.

Therefore, he wanted to give them a hand as capable officials were rare specimens. These types of honest people were worth nurturing.

However, Zhang Jiao hesitated and glanced at Tong by reflex. The body language of Zhang Jiao gave away the hint to Lu Zhi, so he turned his head to Tong and cupped his fist to him without caring about seniority.

"You must be the rumor 'Immortal Zhang Tong', am I right? Please to meet you." Lu Zhi greeted Tong with a smile.

Tong had goosebumps. He was still traumatized by the sharp eyes of Feng Ji. This Lu Zhi also had the same eyes as him! Furthermore, he seemed to be more experienced than the greedy crook as his eyes had more depth as if Tong was staring into the abyss.

'There was a saying if you gaze into the abyss …' Tong thought.

"The abyss will gaze back at you." Lu Zhi replied.

Tong shuddered in fear and his eyes were wide open. Lu Zhi could read his mind?

Meanwhile, Lu Zhi had a merry laugh. He teased Tong far enough. From his experiences, not many people dared to stare into his eyes because of his rank. But if they did, they were likely to have potentials to grow up into a great man in the future as they had enough self-confident. As long as someone had self-confident but not overconfident, they would fare well with any career.

"Please forgive me for my inconsideration. Your expression gave it away." Lu Zhi bowed once again.

Tong subconsciously touched his mouth. Then he realized that this was probably one of those face reading techniques, or he let out hints by his subtle movements. Tong sighed and bowed in return as he accepted his inferiority.

"Please don't lower yourself. It should be me that thank you for your teaching. Thank you for pointing out about my flaws."

Lu Zhi nodded. He liked Tong more and more because of his humble and his ability to accept his shortcoming. Lu Zhi confirmed that Tong could be taught.

"Although you are good in military and politics, in the terms of personality, wits, culture, and maybe general knowledge, you still fall short and vulnerable to be exploited by everyone in my peers. However, I can guide you on these subjects. How about it? Won't you become my disciple?"

Zhang Jiao who was observing them by the side was shocked. Hua Shi was stunned and swallowed her soul back. Tong's mouth became "O" as he did not believe what he had just heard.

Within five seconds, Tong came back to his sense. Although he had 21st-century knowledge and cheats, he should not be overconfident or too proud of himself. Having the personality and mindset of an empty glass in this situation was more beneficial than being the full-glass type.

Moreover, Lu Zhi held the prominent position in the Imperial Court at the moment. Having him as his master equaled having his entire family under his protection. Under him, even Yuan Shao himself had to think twice before crossing with Tong's family again.

Tong knelt in kowtow and cupped his fist to Lu Zhi.

"Zhang Tong greets master!"