Chapter 38 Anti-edict county magistrate

In August of the sixth year of Xiping (AD 177), the Han Dynasty launched a war against Xianbei.This battle used 60,000 Han troops, divided into three groups.General Zang Min of the Xiongnu Zhonglang, Xia Yu of Huwuwan Xiaowei, and Tian Yan of the Poqiang Zhonglang were the commanders; Tu Teruo, the Southern Huns, was also specially invited to recruit the Xiongnu tribes in the eight counties of Bingzhou to cooperate with the Han army action. Although it was a massive war, what is unexpected is that the cause of the war was triggered by a scandal.Tian Yan was convicted by Zhonglang, and in order to get out of prison, he bribed Zhongchang servant Wang Fu with a lot of money.Wang Fu saw that Qian's eyes were open, but he was powerless to save him. After searching for several days, he came up with the absurd idea of ​​inciting war against Xianbei and taking the opportunity to recommend Tian Yan to atone for his crimes.

Although Xianbei had minor conflicts with the Han court, its leader, Tan Shihuai, relied on force to temporarily unify the tribe. There were many internal conflicts, and basically there was no major threat to the Han Dynasty.Wang Fu encouraged Liu Hong with the old stories of enforcing wolves to live in Xu and swallowing stones, which aroused court discussion.The veteran ministers headed by Cai Yong wrote letters to express their opposition, but the eunuchs and the middle and lower generals who were determined to climb up sang praises.In the end, the dizzy Liu Hong still made a wrong decision and declared war on Xianbei.

As soon as the emperor's upper lip touched his lower lip, the world would be boiled.Because the enemy targeted by the Han has been the Qiang people for several years, how to stop the stalemate in the northwest battlefield and move to the northeast has become a difficult problem.Suffering from a serious shortage of troops, Liu Hong ordered to recruit troops from the states of Heshuo.With the order of the government, the four prefectures of Ji, Qing, You, and Bing began to forcibly recruit men into the army. When the imperial decree came down to Dunqiu County, Cao Cao immediately asked Xu Tuo to discuss countermeasures.

"Currently, the imperial court wants to conscript soldiers, but there are very few people in Dunqiu County. Although several powerful households have been rectified, the famine in the past few years has not recovered, and winter is coming again. Han Feizi said, "So the winter plowing Jia, Houji can’t be envious of you’, it would be terrible if it was delayed. After a battle, it won’t be slowed down for a few years.” Cao Cao was quite worried, “You have more seniority than me, and you worked in the county. The age is also older than me. When encountering such a thing, how should I play it?"

Xu Tuo chuckled: "My lord, you think too much. Since the imperial court has decreed to come here, just follow the rules." Cao Cao frowned: "That said, it's just a pain for the people of Dunqiu." "The country has an order, how can it not be followed? Even if the people suffer, it is their duty." "What should not be?" Cao Cao glanced at him. "In my opinion, this battle should not be fought! The Xianbei of Tanshihuai was killed only by killing people, and the tribe itself dissatisfied with him. And he is also very old, and he will grow old or die in the future , the Xianbei group of dragons without a leader will soon be in civil strife. At that time, there is no need to fight. He canonized several leaders and incited their civil strife. It will not take a few years for Xianbei to disintegrate. Now they go out to fight them. They are at odds with each other, but because of foreign enemies And unite. Furthermore, our Han army is not suitable for fighting on the grasslands. Not to mention the waste of people and money, the movement is too big. I am afraid that the news will reach Tan Shihuai before the troops are dispatched. They are ready to fight with us. How to fight? If one battle is lost, soldiers, food, and wealth will be injured, and it will be difficult to even lose hands against the Qiang people."

Xu Tuo quickly explained: "Although that is the case, but..." Cao Cao didn't listen to him at all, and explained his own opinion: "It is the best policy to stick to the border defense and wait for the civil strife! If the city wall should be built, the border county can organize militia to patrol and protect the people and fertile land. It will not cost much money. , as long as the emperor puts aside a little money for repairing the garden, everything will be there..." Xu Tuo has been used to being reprimanded by him for more than half a year. He knew his temperament long ago, and he didn't dare to interrupt him. He simply gave him an ear and listened to him.He waited until he had nothing to say before interjecting: "Your Excellency is right, but the Holy Majesty won't listen to it! Now that the decree has come down, even if you don't like it, what can you do?"

"I'll go to Shuyan to see if I can save the Sacred Heart!" Cao Cao snorted angrily. "My lord, how can there be no loyal and honest people in the court? Then Yang Gong, Qiao Gong, Ma Gong, Cai, who is not a pillar who cares about the country and the people? I'm sorry, they can't restore the Sacred Heart, you A mere county magistrate, not to mention whether he can persuade the emperor, even if the watch can be handed to him, it is hard to say." This is the truth. Wasn't his badge seized by Cao Jie halfway?Cao Cao sighed: "Even so... How can I handle such an errand?"

"My lord, how many counties are Ji, Qing, and You? They are all recruiting soldiers, and we should follow the order. We can't make mistakes in this matter. This is a major matter for the future. If you act against the imperial edict, the king will be ruthless." what!" Cao Cao spread his hands: "The big deal is that I won't be an official anymore." Xu Tuo knew that Cao Mengde's stubbornness was on the rise again today. If he persisted, he would give himself a slap in the face, turned his eyes, and said along with him: "Your subordinates know that you love the people like a son, and you have acted since you took office. There are a lot of good governance. But if you don't become the county magistrate, who else can the people of Dunqiu rely on? Don't think about yourself, you have to think about the future of the people. When it’s time to conscript or to conscript, one person is indispensable.”

These two words hit Cao Cao's heart, he bowed his head and remained silent.Xu Tuo hurriedly struck while the iron was hot: "My lord, as the saying goes, long-term pain is worse than short-term pain. The longer this matter drags on, the more the court will urge the investigation. At that time, the officers and soldiers will arrest, whip, and pull with ropes, and the people will suffer even more. The future is also delayed, and the good governance done in the past will be wasted." "Who can do anything if it's going to rain? If you want a horse to run fast, you must first feed it with good fodder. If you don't give the fodder a hard whip, it will run away sooner or later...Stop talking, go and tell Lou Yi, Let them do it in Yilu." Cao Cao reluctantly agreed, "However, follow the rules and don't harass the people."

From the next day, from the Dunqiu county government, the imperial court's literature list was posted all over the place, and the poor men from all townships were recruited. They were selected according to the number of ranks, and Xu Tuo led Lou Yi and Qin Yilu to supervise it.Cao Cao couldn't bear to do such errands in person, and waited for the words of the people in the yamen. Unexpectedly, the government decree was suspended for three days, and there was no lawsuit, but a large number of people came to the Yamen to petition, demanding that their relatives be pardoned and not go to the battlefield.At the beginning, Cao Cao bit the bullet to enlighten them, saying that the government's decree cannot be defied.Later, the people gathered more and more, so Cao Cao had no choice but to close the door and endure it.More than half a year of good governance was ruined by an imperial edict, and he felt that he was really ashamed to meet his fellow villagers again.Suddenly Lou Yi came running in a panic and said, "My lord, I have seen people from Taipingdao."

"Oh?" "Today, Yilu and I led people to recruit people in Nanxiang, and we happened to meet a group of people from Taiping Dao who were preaching. I have already inquired. Those people are only active in the places where soldiers are recruited, encouraging those who do not want to join the army to leave their hometown with them. Cultivate the Tao." "It's not bad! I think this Taipingdao has ulterior motives." "I think so too." Lou Yi took out a few silk books and yellow papers from his pocket and handed them to him, "The little one is illiterate, take a look, these are spells cast by the people of Taipingdao." Cao Cao took it over and looked at it carefully. The writing on the yellow paper was all spell words.The strange thing is that these characters are not understandable by ordinary people. They are all combinations of heaven, earth, man, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.Looking at the silk script again, they are all written sentences, preaching the way of Huang Taiyi in China.He played with it for a while, and then chanted: "Zhonghuang Taiyi... Zhonghuang Taiyi..." "Does your lord know what this is?" "I heard my father talk about it. When the first emperor used eunuchs and five lords, a plain man named Xiang Kai once ran to the palace to give advice in commoner clothes. Although he was a commoner, he was majestic and fearless. The treacherous ministers and eunuchs of the court scolded him all over the place, demanding that the emperor work hard to govern himself. At that time, he also brought a book, which was euphemistically called "Taiping Qingling Book" given by the alchemist Yu Ji in Yangquan from an immortal." Ba Cao Cao pointed to the two silk scripts, "I'm still young and haven't seen them, but the "Taiping Qing Lingshu" is about Huang Taiyi's story. These silk scripts must have been copied from that book... ...If this is the case, these are all evil books that were strictly confiscated by the imperial court." "Evil book?" Lou Yi was taken aback. "Back then, Xiangkai came to remonstrate, but the first emperor refused. A year later, he went to the court again. This time, his words were extremely bold, and he even scolded the emperor directly. The first emperor was furious and threw him into the prison. Later, thanks to Chen Fan Only by trying our best to save them can we avoid death. However, "Taiping Qinglingshu" was designated as a banned book because it involved the five elements alchemy, and was strictly ordered to be confiscated and burned. Some of them are still handed down among the people, and they are all incomplete." "Oh, so that's the case. No wonder Zhang Jiao's faction is called Taipingdao!" "Hmph! I think that Xiangkai is a generation of unyielding celebrities, how could he bewitch people with evil ways?" Cao Cao held up the apricot-yellow charm, "There is nothing magical about "Taiping Qinglingshu", but these are far-fetched The curses of man are the ones that should be forbidden." Lou Yi took it over, and looked at each other carefully for a while: "Those people spread it so miraculously that it can cure diseases, exorcise evil spirits, and pray for blessings. I think it's just a nonsense. Damn stuff! Don't look at my old man who is illiterate, I can draw a few pictures with my eyes closed! This kind of inferior trick is almost like fooling a child." "You think it's really simple!" Cao Cao sneered, "Back then, Wang Mang was interested in map prophecy. At the beginning, the world thought it was a sorcery. What happened later? He usurped my great Han country. Isn't it also the inspiration of map prophecy that Guangwu revived the Han Dynasty? ? The evil book itself is not terrible, but it can be attached to the right way. Throughout the ages, the magic attached to the right way is the most capable of moving people's minds." Lou Yi blinked, he couldn't understand these esoteric topics, but he quickly reminded: "My lord, what should we do now?" "Go and arrest the preachers, and punish them with the crime of demagoguery. All the seized evil books will be burned!" After finishing speaking, Cao Cao looked at the silk books again, "Have you noticed the texture of these silk books? This is by no means Coarse cloth woven by ordinary families. Think about it, a piece of missionary silk book is so particular, how can it be full of poor people in his Taiping Dao? There must be people with far-reaching plans in it, and the wolf's ambition is obvious!" "This subordinate will take people to Nanxiang to arrest them." Lou Yi asked for instructions. "Wait!" Cao Cao sneered, "I'll just change my clothes and take the people there myself. I want to see how capable they are." Cao Cao changed the Wubian in the back hall, carried the Qingzhi sword, and picked ten more capable government soldiers.But as soon as the door was opened, it was surrounded by petitioning common people.Apart from old men, these people are also old women. They are so young that it is inconvenient for soldiers to push and push.Several miserly men and village chiefs also came, urging the old people in their own village to go back quickly. When everyone saw the magistrate came out, they all knelt down and begged to keep their children and grandchildren.These country old people really have a way, don't pull or pull, just kneel tightly, just don't ask the county magistrate to go out.Cao Cao led all the soldiers to help one kneel down the other, and helped the one on this side kneel down again. He said comfortingly that he still couldn't get out after half a car.In the end, Lou Yi became anxious: "Everyone in the village, Your Excellency has an important case to deal with now! Everyone get out of the way quickly, and talk to everyone after the Lord takes the criminal. If you don't get out of the way, you will be sent to jail if you miss the official business!" The old people Only then did he get out of the way, but he still sat at the gate of the yamen and refused to leave. Cao Cao didn't care about them now, and rushed to Nanxiang with all the Yamen servants eagerly. After leaving the south gate of Dunqiu, before reaching Nanxiang, I saw a group of people coming here.There are soldiers in the yamen, and there are common people. The adults cry and make trouble with their children, and the quarrel is so loud that the sky is full of quarrels. Xu Tuo and Qin Yilu are among them.Seeing Qin Yilu waving his whip to drive away the people, he cursed to himself: "This is the law of the country, don't you all lose your heads? Get rid of the local leopards!" Seeing this, Cao Cao was furious. He grabbed Qin Yilu by the neck and slapped Qin Yilu with his hands: "What a bastard! Do you want to be a tyrant here? Are you speaking human words?" Qin Yilu was slapped all over his face. Since he followed Cao Cao, he has never been attacked by him because of his good mouth.I was really anxious to see him today, so I quickly knelt down on the ground: "Master, the younger one is wrong... the younger one is wrong." When the people saw the caller coming, they all crawled around Cao Cao's knees, and their mouths went out. Crying out loud: "My brother was wronged, he is not yet of age." "My two sons have been arrested by them, I beg my grandfather to make the decision!" "Daddy is too old to go to the battlefield." "You have already taken one of my sons away, and you can't take the second one." Cao Cao became angrier as he listened. He pulled a little boy from the soldiers, pointed at Qin Yilu's nose and growled, "Are you fucking blind or dark-hearted? Can such a small child go to the battlefield! You just have the heart to cry He sent to die?" Qin Yilu was so frightened that his head was stuck in his crotch. "You fucking talk!" Cao Cao kicked him to the ground. Qin Yilu clutched his painful shoulder, trembling and fumbling: "It's all, it's...Xu Gongcao's orders." After Cao Cao heard this, he glanced at Xu Tuo with knife-like eyes. Xu Tuo was so frightened that he shuddered, and argued: "The men of these families have all escaped, and the subordinates have no choice but to..." "Fart! Can your underage children go to the battlefield?" Xu Tuo is also full of complaints. Since he was working in the Yamen, he has also worked with several county magistrates.Although there were two who cared about the reputation of upright officials, they were all wet after the rain, and none of them were nailed and riveted like Cao Cao.Conscription is the same in counties and counties all over the world, why is it so difficult in his hands? "Your Excellency, please calm down... This has always been the case for such errands." "I can't do this when I'm here!" Cao Cao shouted hoarse. Xu Tuo listened to his words coming out horizontally, so he didn't dare to say anything more, so he just lowered his head and waited for his order. Cao Cao looked around at the common people: "I, Cao, did something wrong and employed someone improperly. I will apologize to everyone. But the males of each family should not go out to hide anymore. In our Dunqiu County, we can discuss anything. But when I ran out and was arrested by other counties, I was helpless. Also, whose family ran away with the Taipingdao people? Find them all for me. Those Taipingdao people are not allowed to contact, sooner or later To provoke right and wrong." A woman with a big belly came over and hugged the child, crying and saying, "My lord, we don't want to fight. My family's fields are all directed at my man, who is the brother of this child. If he leaves, the parents-in-law, mother-in-law, The child in my womb, and this immature little uncle, we all have to suffer!" "Yes, yes..." All the people began to discuss again. Cao Cao sighed: "Don't talk anymore, everyone. All the soldiers conscripted in the past two days and the young men who were captured will be released home!" He glanced back at Xu Tuo again, "We have to discuss this matter again, and we will see if it can be resolved." It cannot be voluntary." Strive for voluntary?Then not a single soldier can be recruited.Xu Tuo's words came to his lips, but he didn't dare to say them, and swallowed them back. "Let's all go back to the mansion!" Cao Cao dispersed the crowd, and then he remembered the purpose of coming out today, and hurriedly led his people to Nanxiang again.After shouting and making noises on the way for a long time, those Taipingdao people got the news, and there was no one left.Cao Cao asked the people, but no one knew where they came from, but four or five deserters ran away with them.He had no choice but to visit each house to explain the situation, hoping that each family could find the person who had escaped, and then he called the miser to explain the situation carefully. Coming in high spirits but returning in disappointment, Cao Cao and his party walked back with their heads drooping.He was planning how to ban Taiping Road in Dunqiu County. These people were all wandering around and could not be found.Suddenly remembering that there were a large group of old people sitting outside the county government office, Cao Cao's head was so painful that it was about to explode. After finally returning to the county seat with a disheartened face, the gate of the county government office was wide open! There were several old men sitting side by side on the threshold, and the one next to him nodded and bowed as if he was talking nicely to the old man. Looking closely, it was Bian Bing: "Masters, you old men, go back quickly! You can explain everything to me clearly. Now, when our lord comes back, I must tell you that it’s okay... You, don’t just take a nap here! Ouch, you are my dear uncle! Are you my dear grandfather? Why don’t you go quickly? ,grandfather!" "Hey! What kind of relatives are you blindly identifying here?" Cao Cao annoyed him. "Brother-in-law, you are back. I want to come and see you. When the yamen servants opened the door, all the men and women poured in. The yamen is in chaos!" Cao Cao looked at the old men sitting on the threshold and said, "Old men, you all go home. I have already ordered that all the men recruited in the past two days be released." Several old people looked at each other in blank dismay, and asked again: "Is your lord telling the truth?" "How can I lie to you all? Go home and reunite with your children and grandchildren." "This soldier is not recruited?" How to deal with this sentence?Cao Cao thought for a while and said, "I won't levy today, let us discuss it, and I will give you an explanation tomorrow!" "Okay! We believe everything you say, and we'll wait for your good news tomorrow." Several old men got up and let the door open. But it is even more lively when you enter the door. Up to the lobby and down to the courtyard, old men and women are all seated.Cao Cao repeated what he said just now. These elderly people were severely deaf, Xu Tuo, Lou Yi, Qin Yilu, Bian Bing led all the government servants and shouted into their ears one by one, and it took a long time to persuade everyone to leave.Cao Cao was worried, and asked all the government servants to help each other, and sent the old people home safely. Bian Bing finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Brother-in-law, you are so kind. You treat them too well on weekdays, so they dare to barge into the yamen." "Forget it, a group of old people, what do you care about?" "It's not the same reason," Xu Tuo also interjected, "The people in the county government are allowed to break into it casually, and the official's face will be lost." Cao Cao rolled his eyes at him and said, "The common people will not live in peace, and the officials are shameless! The common people cry, and the officials are so rich that they are tyrannical. That is not an official, it is a beast!" "From ancient times to the present, there have been many beasts in the world!" Qin Yilu quickly teased. "Stop talking to me!" Cao Cao glared at him fiercely, and said angrily, "Look at you as a slave!" "Am I not your slave?" Cao Cao looked at his playful face, but there was nothing he could do about it, and said, "Clean up the hall quickly, it's a mess!" "Master, there seemed to be some old women who ran to the back hall just now." "Ah?" Everyone couldn't go to the back hall, so Cao Cao only took Bian Bing to the back yard.Turning around the back hall, as soon as he arrived in the yard, he saw several old women sitting cross-legged on the ground, Mrs. Bian talked with them with a kind face, and the maids brought bundles of silk brocades and distributed them to them one by one. Bian Bing grinned when he saw it: "Sister, although you are kind and generous, you must have the heart to live! These are all good materials specially obtained from Luoyang, and they are reserved for you to cut clothes. Divided? You two are really a match made in heaven. " "Don't ask for it." Mrs. Bian frowned, "Our parents left early, and we haven't had a chance to be filial! These old ladies are all kind-hearted, a few pieces of satin are nothing, even if I have done my filial piety." The three of them talked good things for a few cars, coaxed, persuaded, and gave away things, and finally invited the last few old women left.Cao Cao felt that he had done everything with his saliva: "This county magistrate is really difficult to do." "Brother-in-law, what Old Xu just said is right. If everyone acts like you, no one in the world would want to be an official. You are the son of a public official. You have seen that you don't care about money, but who would be like you without foundation? So To be an official is to exhaust people to death! People are good at being bullied, and Ma Shan is being ridden by others. You have no majesty to provoke them to behave like this. Which county magistrate in the world is not a gavel, and his mouth is so bad Like a persimmon?" Bian Bing said while making gestures. "A Bing! You forgot Ben!" Mrs. Bian sighed, "You go to the front first, I have something to say to your brother-in-law." After Bian Bing left, Bian finally said slowly, "Husband, do you know the background of our siblings?" "Didn't you tell me?" Cao Cao didn't like her to say this the most, and she would cry every time she mentioned it. "Husband, at the beginning the imperial court ordered the conscription to fight the Qiang people. My parents watched my brother being taken away and said that he would come back after the war. But they never came back after going there. It has been fourteen years and they still don't know Where is it buried?" Mrs. Bian was about to cry again as she spoke. "Don't cry, don't cry, I hate you the most." "Those aunts were tearful when they mentioned their son just now, can we stop fighting this battle?" "How can the important affairs of the court be changed from day to day?" "Then...then we don't want to recruit soldiers from our county. We don't take care of the affairs of the world, but we still need to try to have peace of mind. A conscription order has made the whole town restless. How can we feel sorry for it?" must go?" "You are talking about women." "Women's talk?" Mrs. Bian wiped away tears, "So what if you act against the edict? Do you have to act against your will to be an official? At worst, we will not be an official. I will accompany you. Let's go back to our hometown and live an ordinary life." .If the court wants to investigate, we will confess any crimes. If you die, I will be your widow!" These few words of hers touched Cao Cao too much. Is Bian's spirit such an ordinary woman's way?Looking at the resolute expression of his beloved woman, he seemed to have returned to the night when he killed the housekeeper of Huanfu.It was the same woman, with the same teary eyes, and the same impassioned words... Cao Cao was convinced again. He didn't say anything, turned around and ran to the front hall, and said loudly to the people who were still packing up: "I've decided! Dunqiu County will not participate in this conscription." "What?" Xu Tuo doubted his ears, is Cao Mengde crazy? "Don't worry, the crime of resisting the edict will be borne by me, Cao!" After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and went back to the back house... But fate is good or bad for Cao Cao.The crime of resisting the imperial edict escaped because of the cover-up of brothers Cao Song and Cao Chi. Two months later, the Han army went out to fight and was defeated by the Xianbei.Seven or eight of the soldiers and horses he brought were damaged, and even Shan Yu, the Southern Huns, was seriously injured and died.Regardless of victory or defeat, soldiers no longer need to be recruited. Cao Cao finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he was worried about the rampant Taipingdao again.But in the Luoyang capital, the Cao Song brothers were worried about the unstable status of the Song family, while the emperor Liu Hong was worried about the huge West Garden project that would not be completed for a long time. Officials worry about their own affairs, but the common people are in dire straits.The imperial court was violent, officials were rampant, wars were disturbed, land was annexed, and more scattered wounded soldiers and refugees flowed into the Central Plains. The Han Dynasty has completely declined since this campaign...