Chapter 37 37. Lead the snake out of the hole

In the evening three days later, the county magistrates of Jinan Kingdom arrived as scheduled, bringing presents and cash.County magistrate Zhao seemed to be the leader of the crowd, not only copied the gift list with his own hands, but also specially wrote a copy of everyone's resume and handed it to Cao Cao. Cao Mengde prepared a banquet to entertain everyone, but found that only nine of the ten county magistrates under Jinan had arrived, so he pretended to be displeased and said, "Who didn't come? Why don't you give me face!" A chubby county magistrate rushed to talk: "Liu Yan, magistrate of Zouping County, did not come. This person is proud of his surname and talent, and never takes us seriously!"

"That's right, Liu Yan is too outrageous." Everyone agreed. Cao Cao looked at the chubby county magistrate, and couldn't help laughing, "My man, which county's magistrate are you from?" The man said with a silly smile, "I'm the county magistrate of Licheng." "Licheng is a good place. It is the place with the densest iron mines in the country. Do you know the way of iron?" Cao Cao asked. "Know a thing or two." The fat man stroked his beard, "It is to smelt iron, save it when it is cheap, and sell it to the powerful and wealthy nearby."

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and said with a sneer, "You are not working for the imperial court, but doing business with iron ore." "The lower official was originally a smuggler of iron." "Salt and iron are the exclusive property of the imperial court. Don't you know that doing this business violates the king's law?" The fat man said with a smile: "Your Excellency, I'm afraid you don't know that the emperor used too much iron to build the garden, even the iron that was smelted privately. The lower officials provided a lot of good iron for the court, and later Gou Dun ordered Song Dian to recommend it. , to be the county magistrate of Licheng."

"It turns out that he was recommended by the ten permanent servants. No wonder it is so. I don't think the resume may be accurate. There are no outsiders here. The several adults are all officials with a shortcut. You might as well talk about it and listen to it. Cao can take care of him in the future." ” Everyone reported their family backgrounds, some were recommended by eunuchs, some came from Hongdu scholars, some were dependent on the Empress Dowager Dong’s family, and some obtained officials by currying favor with the emperor’s wet nurse. Only the county magistrate of Jian County was born in Xiaolian.Cao Cao looked carefully at the list of gifts, and said to the magistrate of Jian County: "You have spent a lot of money...Since you are born in Xiaolian, why do you have to do this?"

The county magistrate of Jian County blushed and said, "Do as the Romans do when you enter the country, and do as the Romans do when you enter the country. I can't break the rules." "Hahaha...you can be like the light." Cao Cao laughed and looked at the gift list again, "No, there are nine of you, why are there only seven people on this gift list?" County magistrate Zhao's face turned pale: "The next official has already..." "I know about you, who else has never given a gift?" Seeing the last one, the person behind the case stood up: "The lower officials have never honored your lord."

Cao Cao glanced at him, and saw that this man was not tall and ordinary-looking, in his early twenties, and asked, "Are you Zhang Jing, the county magistrate of Tai County?" "promise." "Why didn't you prepare a gift for your country?" "The lower officials have already prepared the presents, and when they see the gifts from your lords, they don't dare to offer them any more." "What gift did you give me?" Zhang Jing hesitated for a while, then took out his own gift slip from his sleeve and handed it over.Cao Cao took it and took a look-ten bamboo slips.

Cao Cao sneered for a while: "You just send ten bamboo slips to your country's minister?" Zhang Jing swallowed his saliva, and prevaricated: "This is something that the government should use in writing, and it is very appropriate to give it to the boss." "Hmph! They give gold, silver, and brocade, but you only have bamboo slips as gifts. You must have underestimated someone Cao." "Forgive me for speaking boldly," Zhang Jing raised his head abruptly, "My lord is a son of the Hou family, and he is also a hero of the court's fight against chaos. It is not appropriate to tarnish your reputation with wealth!"

"Oh?" Cao Cao's eyes lit up, "You are so loud, you have taught me a lesson. Don't you also buy an official position with money? You are so fake and noble." When Cao Cao said this, the eight county magistrates sneered at Zhang Jing.Zhang Jing felt feverish on his face, so he knelt down and saluted: "Your Majesty, although Zhang is an official bought with money, he has the heart to do his best for the court and relieve the people's suffering. Since I took office, although I dare not It is said that Tai County is governed so that the households are not closed at night, but it is also clean and clear like water. I have gold and silver that can be given to the people, and can also be used to help the victims of disasters, but I can’t bribe the superiors and dirty the lintel of my Zhang ancestors! , I will not be the county magistrate anymore, my lord can dismiss me as much as I want, whether it is crime or punishment, life or death, my surname Zhang is waiting for you!" After saying that, he got up and took off the crown of Jinxian on his head, and went down to the ground. Throw it, turn around and walk out.

"Stop!" Cao Cao stopped him.Zhang Jing was sure that he was going to kill him, so he didn't turn his head back, and said, "I'm going to be an official, I hope you will respect yourself, don't ruin your bright future because of my humble life!" "Hahaha... It's not you who wants to be dismissed from office." Zhang Jing was horrified, and turned to look at him.I saw Cao Cao held up the other people's gift list in his hand, and said with a straight face: "Kneel down for me, eight of you."