Chapter 64: The Visitor from the Capital

  The horse enclosure was just behind the house, and to choose a horse didn't need to be led back and forth. Dian Wei himself ran into the enclosure to pick one out, he was very straightforward, at first glance he set his eyes on Huo Tan. When he turned around, he saw Liu Sheng's mouth open wide, while Li Qiong shook her head slightly towards him.

  Dian Wei hastily said: "This horse is really good, but it's not suitable for me, this is a mare!"

  He saw a powerful horse in the herd, which was slightly inferior if it were to be said that it ran fast, but if it were to be said that it carried heavy loads, it would be one of the best. It was a black-maned red horse, and he wanted this horse. This horse was also quite good, and it wouldn't make Liu Sheng vomit blood with heartache.

  Dian Wei asked: "This horse can certainly carry me, what's its name?"

  Liu Sheng snorted, not every horse needs a name, and it's not like Huo Tan Chi Tu is just any ordinary horse.

  Li QIN glanced at Liu Sheng, seeing that he didn't answer, and smiled: "A horse that can carry you running, can be called a divine horse, why not just call it Floating Cloud, it can fly in the sky!"

  Dian Wei nodded heavily and said: "Good name, let's call it Floating Cloud!"

  Liu Sheng, as the deputy fort master, was itching to get started and seemed eager to dive into large-scale production. He said: "Li Lang, even if we're idle, these days I've been idle for too long and have grown lazy. I need to get moving. Now I'll go take a look at Fu Jiao Fort and see what's lacking. We must think of a solution quickly, we can't delay, the longer we drag it out, the bigger the problem will become. I'm going to go take a look now."

  "Easy does it, your leg..."

  Liu Sheng didn't wait for him to finish speaking, and said: "It's okay, let them carry me there, I have plenty of men... Ah, we have plenty of men at Fu Jiao Fortress!" In a flurry, he summoned his men to carry the sedan chair, preparing to send him to Fu Jiao Fortress.

  Li QIN won't stop, can't dispel his positivity, he accompanies Liu Sheng to walk out together. Li QIN says: "Brother Liu, go to the castle first, I still need to go to the county government office, someone said that Tang County Magistrate went to welcome someone. But as he set off early, and I just returned yesterday, we should have met on the road, but didn't meet, it's really strange."

  Liu Shengdao said, "Officialdom is the most troublesome, especially that Tang Jie. On the surface, he's fine with everyone, but in reality, his belly is full of twists and turns, he's not a good person. Li Lang should be careful around him from now on!"

  Li QIN sighed and thought to himself, "Isn't that so? He had me build the Fu Jiao Fortress just to kick me out of the power center of Fuping County. But he didn't think that I would actually manage to build it up with my own efforts, and it's even developing in a good direction. I wonder what he'll think now, thinking that he himself picked up the stone and hit his own foot?"

  They left Liu's house together. Liu Sheng hurried to Fu Jiao Fortress, while Li Qin went to the county government office. Even if he couldn't see him, he had to wait for a while, showing his respect for the county magistrate.

  The road was not far, and after walking for a while, they arrived in front of the county government office. Tian Wei led his horse, Floating Cloud, and stroked it continuously, laughing: "In the past when I was at home, I often rode horses, but such a good horse I had never ridden before, is this a Dawan Liangju?"

  Li QIN turned his head and looked, shaking his head: "No, it should be said that it is the descendant of Dawan horse, but the bloodline is not pure. However, you don't have to regret it. The purpose of a horse is diverse. This one is specially for people with heavy bodies to ride, just like you. If it's a long journey, it will be stronger than my black horse."

  Nowadays, Dian Wei has no high requirements for his mount. As long as he has a good horse, he is satisfied. His requirements will increase with the improvement of his status and position in the future.

  Li Qindao said: "I was just thinking of one thing, I had a very heavy big knife, with over 100 catties, and I entrusted it to Liu brother. Tomorrow, I'll ask him to give the knife to you, let's see if you can use it."

  Dian Wei let out a loud cry and said: "A hundred or so catties of big knife, what kind of knife is that? Why do you want to forge it so heavy?"

  Li Qindao said, "But to show off the craftsmanship of the artisans, that sword is very impressive, it's possible that it was forged by the Dian people of the Bianbu workshop." He thought that if he could pull the Bianbu workshop into his own Fu Jiao Fortress, then in the future, the production of weapons would no longer be a problem, and the combat effectiveness of his army would be greatly enhanced.

  Bowing his head in thought, he suddenly saw a team of horses and carriages coming from the main road. The horse carriage at the front was very luxurious, and the attendants beside it were all wearing iron armor, with as many as fifty people!

  Li Qin raised his head and said, "Who are these people?"

  Dian Wei let out a laugh and said: "Iron Armor, you really have style!"

  In the luxurious carriage, Zhang Jiu lifted up the curtain and looked outside, thinking: "This place is really too poor, after traveling for a while, I haven't seen many ordinary people, entering the county town, not even seeing several tall mansions. Before arriving in Liangzhou, I didn't know what poverty was, before arriving in Fuping, I didn't know what extreme poverty was! Master sent me to Liangzhou to collect money, probably because he's worried that it won't be enough!"

  Zhangjiu is a native of Luoyang in the capital, and he is only thirty years old this year. In the capital, his identity is not prominent, but as soon as he goes out, he becomes majestic immediately. He is an eunuch who specializes in washing dishes for the emperor in the palace! Don't underestimate the eunuchs who wash dishes, being able to wash bowls for the emperor is a manifestation of trustworthiness itself.

  But Zhang Jue's other identity is even more astonishing, his adoptive father is one of the Ten Eunuchs, Zhang Rang! Eunuchs do not have sons, and can only adopt sons, letting them change their surname to inherit the family incense, for example Cao Cao, who was the grandson of the great eunuch Cao Teng. Although Cao Teng was a eunuch, he had the title of Marquis of Feiting.

  But Zhang Rang was even more powerful, he had great prestige in front of Emperor Ling, and Emperor Ling often said to people: "Zhang Changshi is my father!" Zhang Changshi was precisely Zhang Rang.

  Eunuchs are a special group, in an era where having no offspring is considered the greatest unfilial act, they have no descendants, and when old, they have no one to rely on, no one to support them in their old age. Therefore, they either adopt sons or attach great importance to money. The degree of attention eunuchs pay to money can be called obsessive, even crazy, in the eyes of ordinary people!

  In order to collect wealth, the Ten Eunuchs often dispatched their trusted followers in the name of the Emperor's inspection tour across the country. They went down to local areas to extort money from the people. Of course, Emperor Ling himself was also fond of money, possibly due to the influence of eunuchs around him! Emperor Ling loved wealth and could sell official positions and titles. However, for eunuchs to get rich, they had two ways: one was to act as matchmakers for those who wanted to buy official positions, collecting kickbacks in the process, which was risky and might be exposed by Emperor Ling; the other way was to find fault with local officials, so as to receive bribes and benefits.

  To get money, there are two important things. First, you must make people have something to ask for, wanting to be an official is having something to ask for. Second, you must make people have something to fear, fearing mistakes and not being able to stay in office for long, that's having something to fear. As long as you can achieve one of these two things, even a stone can be squeezed for oil.

  The ten eunuchs sent their trusted followers, each going to a different place, taking turns. Whoever's follower went to a rich land last year would have to go to a poor land this year. This year it was Zhang Rang's turn to send his followers to the poor land of Liangzhou.

  After Zhang Jue arrived in Liangzhou, apart from getting some benefits in Long County, he didn't get anything elsewhere. He went to many places but couldn't even collect enough taxes. He didn't want the five-copper coins, and prices inside the pass were skyrocketing, which was an omen of great chaos. The more chaotic it became, the faster prices rose, the poorer the people became, and the easier they would rebel. In such a situation, letting him take several carts of five-copper coins back would be unsafe, not to mention whether Zhang Let could look down on him or not. The Youlin Army looked intimidating, but they were all just show-offs, each one being a young master from a wealthy family, bullying the common people and relying on their numbers. If they encountered fierce bandits, they wouldn't even be able to withstand one, and for various reasons, they could only retreat and not counterattack.

  Zhang Jiufang let down the carriage curtain, sighed, and thought to himself: "If I don't get enough to show filial piety, how can I explain it to my adoptive father when I return? Next time there's some other errand, with so many adopted sons, he won't send me again. But where can I go to find treasure?" He closed his eyes in the carriage, thinking hard about whether he could intimidate County Magistrate Tang Jie of Fuping and how he could extort the treasure from him.

  He came to Fuping, deliberately took a detour, misled Tang Jie, and didn't let Tang Jie meet him, just to find fault. He was an envoy from the capital, and if Tang Jie "didn't come" to welcome him, it would mean "looking down on him", looking down on him meant looking down on Zhang Rang, looking down on Zhang Rang meant looking down on the Emperor, and looking down on the Emperor was a capital offense. If you want to avoid death, then bring out your treasures!

  Suddenly, the carriage jolted violently, and the old horse pulling it let out a loud whinny, raising its front hooves! Zhang Jiu inside was tossed about severely, his head hitting the carriage wall with a loud thud, almost knocking him unconscious!

  Zhang suddenly shouted, his voice shrill. "What's going on? Who startled the horse? Is there still a king's law? How can Tang Jie be an official and manage this place?" Great! Another crime was added to Tang Jie's record. Later, he pointed at the big package on his head, looking at Tang Jie to see if he would yield or not. He vowed not to give up until the Tang family's assets were drained dry!

  He made a loud noise inside, and the outside Yu Lin army immediately fell into chaos! The Yu Lin army was no longer as brave and powerful as it used to be. Now, seven out of ten soldiers were actually weaklings who relied on their mouths to get by.

  On the main road, a middle-aged woman tightly hugged a child, with a terrified look on her face. The little kid didn't understand what was happening and had just run into the middle of the road, startling a horse that had been standing still for a long time. The woman quickly hugged the child, fearing that he would be trampled!

  However, the Youlin Army men didn't bother with the mother and son at all, but instead rushed to the side of the carriage together, shouting: "Officer Zhang, are you alright? Let me take a look for you!"

  "Never mind our family, go and see who is rebelling!"

  The soldiers of the You Lin Army finished patting down their horses before going to see "who was rebelling". They saw a poor mother and son, who cried out: "There are assassins! Ah, there are two!"

  In the distance, Li Qin and Dian Wei saw it clearly. Li Qin said: "Fortunately, the child is not injured..." But suddenly heard those soldiers shouting like this, he was slightly stunned, how could they talk like that? Assassins?

  Another member of the Imperial Guard shouted: "Tang Jie has a heart full of treason, and he actually sent out an assassin. Fortunately, we were able to repel him. Brothers, quickly chase after the enemy and capture the assassin!"

  Dian Wei stared with his eyes wide open and said: "What the heck is this? It's all mixed up, what kind of thing is he yelling about?"

  Li Qin snorted and said: "What thing? Can't you see that he's in trouble, Tang Jie is in a predicament!"

  Just then, two Hu Lin soldiers rushed forward, one grabbing the woman and the other pulling up the child. The soldier who pulled up the child exerted himself to push the child to the ground, stepped on the child's arm with one foot, drew out a knife, and shouted: "Speak, who sent you here? Is it Tang Jie?" The child began to wail loudly.

  Li Qin was furious at the sight, what kind of people are these, how can they be so arrogant! He glared with his eyes, just about to speak, but heard Dian Wei say: "Ah, this kind of kick, it's easy to break your arm!"

  Li Qin turned his head and shouted: "What are you waiting for? Go save that mother and child!"

  Dian Wei shouted: "I've been waiting for Young Master's words!" He rushed forward in big strides, shouting: "Hey, little chicken, look over here!" Before the two Imperial Guards could figure out what was happening, he grabbed one with one hand and then slammed the heads of the two Imperial Guards together, saying: "Call your mother!"

  Two members of the Imperial Guard bumped heads and shouted out in unison: "Oh no!"

  Dian Wei laughed and said: "Really obedient!"

  ——

  New book is difficult, still looking forward to brothers and sisters to lend a helping hand, if can collect, give support, peace thank you endlessly, trouble everyone, thank you!