Chinese dining table

Chapter 1216: Breaking through illusion and returning to reality
Yun Chu was also smiling, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Because he was not the one who recruited Zhou Xing.

Now, he was very sure that Zhou Xing should have been brought in by the Wu brothers through the relationship with the queen, and that the emperor and the crown prince should also have had their intentions behind this.

Just as Wu Chengsi said, Luoyang had been cleansed, how could Chang'an stay out of it?

Since the moment the Tang Dynasty was founded, the national policy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches has never changed.

In the past, Chang'an was the trunk, and now, Luoyang is the trunk.

Even if Li Zhi was going to adopt the dual-trunk national policy, he would never allow Chang'an to surpass Luoyang.

Of course, this strength refers to politics, not economy.

When an emperor is young, he is often full of ambition and dares to do anything. But when he gets old, he becomes cowardly and no longer looks like a wise emperor. He also becomes suspicious and bloodthirsty.

The Wu brothers thought that they had played their tricks very smartly this time. In the past, when the queen was the only one behind them, Yun Chu beat them and they had no way to sue. But now, the emperor, the queen, and the prince are behind them, and they felt that since they had schemed against Yun Chu this time, Yun Chu would have to swallow his blood.

So, when Wu Chengsi screamed and flew out of the Yunchu official residence through the window, the officials who had been working with the windows open closed the windows of their official residences one after another, hiding behind the windows, whispering to each other about how the Wu brothers had angered the county lord again, and throwing money into a basket to bet on how long the county lord would beat the Wu brothers.

As Wu Sansi was finally kicked in the right direction by Yun Chu and flew out of the broken window, the furious county magistrate also jumped out of the window, grabbed the Wu brothers' ankles and dragged them back to the official residence.

After the door was closed, the dull sound of fists hitting flesh and the weak cries for help of the Wu brothers could be heard again in the government office.

At this moment, the only one who dared to stand in the yard was the chief clerk Lu Xiu.

His face was livid, not because of fear, but because of anger.

A marquis of the Tang Dynasty beat two other marquises in the office like beating dogs. Lu Xiu, as an official appointed by the imperial court, would never tolerate such brutal behavior that disregarded the rules.

The officials of Wannian County watched Lu Xiu walk towards the county magistrate's residence, apparently intending to stop the county magistrate from beating the Wu brothers.

Lu Zhaolin withdrew his eyes from the crack of the window and said to the official in the room: "I bet the county magistrate will beat up the chief clerk in a rage."

After he finished speaking, he threw a jade pendant into the basket and continued, "I'm the banker, who's the player?"

Yang Jiong, the head of the Ministry of Works, said, "Considering your Excellency's deeds of beating up the officials in Luoyang, the chief clerk will certainly be beaten up, and I will not follow suit."

Hou Ting, the chief criminal officer, shook his head and said, "That's not how it works. If Lu Xiu gets beaten, it means he can survive. If he comes out unscathed, he's dead.

Judging from the county lord's usual style of doing things, the fact that the chief clerk openly contradicted the county lord in the lobby, and the fact that he laid off half of his old brothers as soon as he arrived in Wannian County, shows that the county lord had murderous intentions.

Therefore, I bet ten strings of cash that the county magistrate will not beat him, but will let him out unharmed, and then find an opportunity to kill the chief clerk. "

The other officials in the government office immediately started talking about it, because what Yang Jiong and Hou Ting said made a lot of sense, and for a while, many people bought some time to spare.

Until Lu Xiu screamed and flew out of the window, and then crawled into the official residence to continue to persuade them to stop fighting, the criminal justice official Hou Ting sighed and said, "Lu Zhubu's position is now secure."

Lu Zhaolin won the money, but sighed and said, "There is no hope of promotion..."

The beating in the official residence lasted for a full stick of incense before it gradually subsided. Then the county magistrate was heard shouting in the official residence: "Send tea over. Are all the people dead?"

The servants who had prepared tea long ago ran into the official residence quickly. At the same time, the servants who were responsible for repairing the doors and windows, as well as the furnishings of the official residence also swarmed into the official residence.

There was only one intact chair left in the entire official residence, and the county lord was sitting on it. The servant hurriedly put the warm teapot in the county lord's hand and ignored the three people who were lying on the ground and groaning faintly.

Lu Xiu raised her body with great effort, but before she could say anything, she spat out a mouthful of blood, and then her arm, which she had just raised with great effort, fell down again.

Yun Chu drank a full pot of tea, then squatted beside the Wu brothers and whispered, "It's only been a short time since you were beaten, and you think you can be compared with a certain family?

Is it because you think someone has been very polite to you recently that you think they are scared?"

Wu Chengsi's eyes were full of fear and he shook his head repeatedly.

Yun Chu added, "Allowing you brothers to come to Chang'an to serve as the chief officials of Chang'an County is the greatest concession made by our family. Why are you bringing the officialdom's habit of taking advantage of your illness to kill you to Chang'an?"

Wu Sansi opened his mouth, revealing his bloodstained teeth, and said with difficulty: "Zhou Xing came to Chang'an because of the wishes of your majesty, the queen, and the prince, not because of our brothers' idea."

Yun Chu nodded and said, "I understand. You brothers are the punching bags given to a certain family by His Majesty, the Queen, and the Crown Prince."

Wu Chengsi grumbled a few times and said with difficulty: "My Lord, please send our brother to the Imperial Hospital. His bones are broken."

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "It's not broken, it's just that some of your internal organs are displaced. Ask the acupuncturist from the Imperial Hospital to help. You will be back to normal in half a month, and your life will not be in danger.

It is said that you brothers took advantage of this beating, otherwise, when Zhou Xing came to Chang'an, he would have been the first to investigate you brothers. "

A stream of blood flowed from the corner of Wu Chengsi's mouth. He said to Yun Chu helplessly, "Don't lie to me."

Yun Chu added: "Letting you brothers leave Luoyang is considered as saving your lives. Zhang Jianzhi originally wanted to kill you brothers in one fell swoop during the bloody night in Luoyang.

I saved you out of kindness, but you bit me hard in Chang'an. If I don't beat you up, I'll be letting down my good intentions."

Wu Chengsi shook his head and said, "I want to go to the Imperial Hospital."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "Just write a memorial to inform His Majesty, the Queen and the Crown Prince. After seeing their attitudes, you will understand everything."

Wu Sansi shook his head and said, "I don't believe it."

Yun Chu said calmly: "Let's give it a try. Come on, send them to the Imperial Hospital and ask the divine acupuncture doctor Wei to regulate their internal organs."

The servants who were repairing the doors and windows immediately brought two stretchers, skillfully lifted the Wu brothers onto them, and quickly ran straight to the Imperial Hospital, which was nearby, not far away.

Yun Chu came to the top of Lu Xiu's head again, looked down at him and said: "Don't bring your tricks from Hebei to Chang'an. You can't even govern Yi County in Hebei with your tricks, and you still expect to govern Wannian County?
His Majesty chose you because you are loyal, not because of your ability to govern. In fact, in the counties and prefectures of the Tang Dynasty, officials who can truly govern the local areas and make the people prosperous are basically those who have served in Chang'an. "

Lu Xiu swallowed a mouthful of blood and said angrily: "Someone has the right to report secretly."

Yun Chu sniffed and said, "The two people who were carried out just now could have bypassed the Secretariat and directly put the memorial before His Majesty. Does it mean they are powerful just because they have the power to make secret memorials?
I tell you, there are at least twenty people in Wannian County who have the power to make secret reports, and there are at least three spies in the position of commander of the Hundred Cavalry Division, and they are all serving as minor officials in Wannian County, right? "

Yun Chu ignored Lu Xiu's surprised look and continued, "I guess, before you came to Chang'an to take up your post, the three provinces and six ministries, as well as the chiefs of the Hundred Cavalry Division must have talked to you, and even His Majesty had many words of encouragement for you, right?
You should still be a spy of the Hundred Cavalry Division and a censor of the Left and Right Censors' Office, right?"

Lu Xiu was surprised and asked, "How did you know?"

Yun Chu sighed and said, "Every chief clerk has this character. What's so strange about that? Since everyone is worried about Chang'an, you should monitor me carefully to see if I have any intention of rebellion. This is your duty in Wannian County.

I don't know if you have offended someone. When you were sent here, they didn't even tell you the focus of the work, and yet you came to Wannian County to take up the post in such a hurry.

As for the rest, to be honest, it has nothing to do with you.

When it comes to the ability to regulate the economy and govern the local area, you are not even as good as a senior mayor of Wannian County.

I had no intention of giving you a chance to live, but I didn't expect you to be so courageous that you would rush in to save people when I was furious. From this point of view, His Majesty did not trust you wrongly.

In the future, do your job well and be responsible for reporting to His Majesty all my actions in Chang'an. Don't add any extra fuel or exaggeration, and don't add your own ignorant judgments. Just tell the story in a straightforward manner.

In this way, you can do a good job as the chief clerk in Wannian County, and after a few years, you can understand the management system of Chang'an and then be promoted to another prefecture to serve as a deputy governor. This way, your trip to Chang'an will not be in vain.

Now, get out and do your job. Send all the people you promoted to the dungeon and wait for Zhou Xing to interrogate them one by one."

Yun Chu's words exploded in Lu Xiu's ears like thunder.

Just as Yun Chu said, before he came to Wannian County to take up his post, the heads of the three provinces and six ministries, as well as the eastern and western offices, did have high hopes for him, and even His Majesty spoke kindly to him.

Not only was he given a full range of powers, many of which exceeded the limits of a sixth-rank official, which could be considered a super-rank promotion.

Now, after listening to Yun Chu's words, he realized that the high position and power he thought was just the standard configuration of the chief clerk of Wannian County.

"I will submit a report!" Lu Xiu said unwillingly.

Yun Chu looked at him with disgust and said, "Then get out of my office first, and come back to work after Zhou Xing's judgment."

"Zhou Xing?"

"Yes, the evil spirits invited by the Wu brothers, in order to show the uprightness of Wannian County, we will start with the identification of newcomers like you. It will not be too late to take up the post after you pass the identification."

"Zhou Xing is here already?"

"I have been here for four days. I have been living in the dungeon of Wannian County, waiting for me to officially take office and start working."

If we were to ask who among the Tang Dynasty officials could intimidate all other officials, Zhou Xing would undoubtedly be the first one.

For six years, the official position of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the Tang Dynasty remained neither promoted nor demoted. It is said that Zhou Xing himself did not want to be promoted. He liked to stay in the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, responsible for supervising all officials.

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice rarely attended court on weekdays. He spent much more time in Zhaoyu Prison than in the official residence.

Not only that, he also creatively invented many torture instruments that made it impossible for prisoners to live or die. The most famous one was to put the prisoner in a large jar and roast him under fire. It was said that as long as this torture instrument was used, the prisoner would confess.

Even though she was beaten to the point of bone-destroying pain by Yun Chu, when Lu Xiu heard that she had to undergo Zhou Xing's identification, a chill ran up from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

(End of this chapter)