I become a god in another world

Chapter 751 Strange Events in the Hao Family
Chapter 751

Even if Cao Gu was stupid, he would realize from the expressions of Zhao Fusheng and Magistrate Pang that he had said the wrong thing.

His thinking had long been influenced by the laws of Tongshan County, and sadly, he didn't even realize which of his words was wrong.

The old man with the gloomy face looked bewildered and instinctively turned to look at Zhang Wanquan. Zhang Wanquan also looked stunned and shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

"You can talk about the lantern festival now, we can discuss the rest later."

Zhao Fusheng clenched her fists repeatedly, slamming them against the table. A glimpse of Sun Ming's head caught her eye, and her anger finally erupted. She shouted angrily:
"Take the head away, don't display it here. Who are you trying to show it off to?"

Cao Gu was terrified, not knowing why she had suddenly become so angry.

He waved frantically to the servants, signaling them to leave quickly, and finally said tremblingly:

"My lord, the lantern festival, the lantern, the lantern raising—oh no, the lantern festival, oh, we're talking about the lantern festival."

In his panic, he spoke incoherently.

The more flustered you are, the more likely you are to say the wrong thing.

After a while, once his tongue was cleared, he said:

"Wang Puyi was detained in Tongshan County and had to paint a beautiful woman every month as practice, and the beautiful woman was presented to him by the people of the county."

If Wang Puyi's painting was not good, these beauties would be killed on the day the painting was completed, and their skins would be made into special 'scrolls' and sent to Wang Puyi's room to be used as 'blueprints' for his next painting of beauties.

Under such circumstances, Wang Puyi did not go mad, purely because of his strong will.

His painting skills improved slowly in the early stages.

Cao Gu said:
"But Lord Liang was kind-hearted and had a good impression of scholars. He did not punish him, but gave him time to practice. After about ten years of practice, Wang Puyi's painting skills matured, and finally the eight unparalleled palace lanterns hanging outside were created."

"Is that why Liang Yu established the Lantern Festival?" Zhao Fusheng asked in a deep voice.

Cao Gu hesitated for a moment:
"Actually, no. It's because in the year the lanterns were completed, Lord Liang held a lantern exhibition and invited prominent aristocratic landlords to appreciate the lanterns. As a result, a ghost case occurred that night, and Lord Liang also died in this ghost case when the evil spirit revived."

He sighed:
"This official ruled Tongshan County for 22 years, from 168 to 188 AD during the Han Dynasty. He did a good job throughout. He was mild-mannered and cared for the people. The local gentry and nobles respected and admired him."

After Liang Yu's death, local powerful families independently made lanterns to commemorate him.

Strangely enough, once the Lantern Festival is completed each year, no more ghostly calamities occur in Tongshan County—as if the spirit of Lord Liang, who was once 'beloved' by many, still lingers in the heavens and protects the elderly in the villages of Tongshan County.

"This is absurd."

Zhao Fusheng sighed.

Cao Gu also adopted a fawning expression:

"What you say is true, sir; I also find the concept of the soul utterly absurd—"

"fart!"

Zhao Fusheng interrupted him sharply, "I'm saying that it's absurd to think that someone like Liang Yu is mild-tempered and caring!"

Her shout startled Cao Gu.

He wasn't stupid; he immediately realized what Zhao Fusheng disliked.

She actually disliked the Tongshan County's practice of using people as sacrificial offerings!

Realizing this, Cao Gu recalled his previous words and their implications, and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"Liang Yu ruled Tongshan County for 22 years. Were there any other ghost-controlling individuals in the county?"

Zhao Fusheng took a deep breath to calm his anger, and then asked again.

Cao Gu was in a state of utter confusion, but when asked about past events in the county, he was indeed able to answer them:

"No, no, there are quite a few ordinary messengers and servants. Most of these messengers are sons of aristocratic families and powerful clans. They are selected from the families of the gentry and nobles every three years. This rule has continued from then until now."

Zhao Fusheng then asked:
"How are they selected? Based on the number of supplies offered?"

Her tone was calm, but Cao Gu dared not look into her eyes. Even without seeing her face, he could imagine that Zhao Fusheng's expression was very unpleasant.

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

"If that's the case, then since there's no more ghostly trouble in Tongshan County, being the magistrate would be a very desirable job, wouldn't it?" Zhao Fusheng said.
“Selecting envoys is like planting people in the Demon Suppression Division. They can help their own families and compete for positions by offering sacrifices. Wouldn’t the aristocratic families in Tongshan County be fighting tooth and nail?”

With only so many resources available, and the nobles having limited annual income, they had no choice but to relentlessly oppress the people.

Beneath the seemingly casual term "Lantern Festival" lies the cry of countless wronged souls and a mountain of bloody accusations.

Cao Gu hunched his shoulders and nodded uneasily:

"Well, it's not exactly a fight, but the competition is indeed fierce every year during the Lantern Festival, and the gentry are always trying to come up with new ideas."

Zhao Fusheng wasn't interested in the gentry's tricks. She asked:

"In your words, Liang Yu is a 'good person'—"

She scoffed when she said the word, then quickly composed herself.

"That's true. What do the lives of ordinary people matter to the people of the Demon Suppression Division? As long as no ghostly calamity occurs, it's better to die for a fellow Daoist than for me."

She looked at Magistrate Pang and made a joking remark with a smile.

However, her smile was forced and did not reach her eyes. Under the brightly lit hall, her gaze was sharp, with a kind of sharpness that Cao Gu could not resist.

Zhao Fusheng's fist clenched and unclenched repeatedly.

"If we're talking about the number of ghostly disasters, Liang Yu might seem like a good person to you. But have you ever counted how many households in Tongshan County disappeared or how many people died during his tenure?"

She tried her best to control herself, her cheek muscles trembling slightly:

"I suspect the number of these civilians who died may be even greater than the number affected by the ghostly calamity. What do you think, Lord Cao?"

With each question she asked, Cao Gu's lips twitched. Later, he became restless again. He didn't even want to sit anymore; he wanted to kneel on the ground to answer. He even felt more at ease being humble.

"I...I don't know either," Cao Gu replied.

"Has the county magistrate ever compiled a household registration report?" Zhao Fusheng asked again.

Cao Gu shook his head again:

"I truly do not know."

This is a classic case of someone being completely clueless when asked.

Zhao Fusheng sighed:
"Now I know that 48 years ago in Tongshan County—"

She looked at Xu Yu, and the child tenderly took her hand, sharing her anger.

“The people from the Demon Suppression Division shouldn’t have done that,” Zhao Fusheng shook his head.

Magistrate Pang remained silent.

After she finished speaking, she suddenly felt an indescribable weariness wash over her.

Zhao Fusheng reached up to her forehead and rubbed her temples.

Just then, Kuai Manzhou came close to her and hugged the child tightly. She held him close for a moment, then released him, her emotions returning to calm. She continued:
"I also veered off-topic while we were talking, and then Liang Yu's successor as a Ghost Tamer continued to use the Lamp Offering Law?"

Cao Gu could answer this question.

He nodded cautiously:

"Yes, sir. Ever since Lord Liang's vengeful spirit revived, this tradition has continued to this day, held annually on the fifteenth of July—"

He originally wanted to say: During the Lantern Festival, Tongshan County is bustling with activity. Each family displays their skills and wealth, and the people of the city bring their families to go out. It is a well-known festival in Tongshan County.

Upon seeing Zhao Fusheng's face, he dared not utter a sound. Cao Gu had never realized before that he was not good with words.

The Tongshan County Lantern Festival is a big event, with preparations starting in early July and officially beginning in mid-July.

Every household in the county lights "sky lanterns" until the end of July.

This is also a unique scenic spot in Tongshan County.

"You mentioned rural slaves earlier."

Zhao Fusheng felt disgusted by his timid and hesitant manner, and then asked:

"You haven't explained clearly what a rural slave is."

Cao Gu had already sensed her dislike, and feeling despair, he replied with a mournful face:
"As you know, sir, we have gentry and powerful families in our area. They keep local slaves. These slaves are used for farming, mining, and doing odd jobs, but they are also used to prepare people for sacrifices and for offerings—"

He had a premonition that as soon as he finished speaking, he would be reprimanded by Zhao Fusheng.

But as soon as she finished speaking, perhaps because the situation was already as bad as Zhao Fusheng had anticipated, she calmly accepted it.

"..."

Cao Gu let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, then looked at Zhao Fusheng's face, his heartstrings tightening again.

Zhao Fusheng picked up the teacup on the table, dipped his finger in the tea, and drew a huge circle on the surface:

“If this circle represents the territory of Tongshan County,” she said, drawing a smaller circle inside the larger one.

"This is the Demon Suppression Division of Tongshan County."

The circle she drew resembled the arc-shaped character "回" (hui). After finishing, she looked at Cao Gu:
"Did I draw it correctly?"

Cao Gu mustered his courage and peeked ahead, then nodded:

"Your writing is truly masterful."

"..."

Zhao Fusheng suppressed the urge to hit him and drew another circle around the inner circle representing the Demon Suppression Division:
"This is the dwelling place of so-called rural slaves, isn't it?"

Cao Gu shrank his neck and nodded:

"Correct."

"Where do the gentry, powerful families, and nobles live?" Zhao Fusheng asked.

Cao Gu's hand trembled; he wanted to reach out and point, but he didn't dare.

Zhao Fusheng shouted:
"Raise your hand and draw it for me!"

"Yes Yes Yes."

Cao Gu raised his arm and drew a circle around the village slaves:
“At this location.” After saying that, he added:

"This circle is divided into five sections, with gentry, powerful families, nobles, and merchants each living in different directions."

They banded together, forming different alliances, and competed fiercely with each other like landlord guilds.

"They're quite organized and disciplined," Zhao Fusheng sneered.

Cao Gu dared not respond to this.

"And then the government offices are here." Cao Gu pointed to a location outside the residences of these large landowners:
"Beyond this are the residences of the people of Tongshan County. Different people live in different directions. These people generally have a little property and belong to the middle class. The outermost ones are the lower class."

He said:
“This area outside the city is the territory of Tongshan County.”

He didn't know Zhao Fusheng's purpose, but since things had come to this point, he simply drew out the entire layout of Tongshan County:

“Tongshan County has a unique location, easy to defend and difficult to attack, surrounded by mountains on three sides. These mountains are rich in mineral resources, which belong to this area within the city—” He pointed to the residences of the large landowners:

“These people’s assets. Every year they divide up the mountains under their names, then divide these properties into different areas, and then rent them to some upper-level owners. The upper-level owners use the rent to take over the mountains, and then recruit lower-level owners or miscellaneous owners to dig and mine.”

In fact, this industrial chain in Tongshan County is already very mature.

The mountain, including the mineral resources, belonged to the large landowner, who then transferred the mining rights of the mountain to the next-level tenant.

After acquiring mining rights, the upper-level households would resell them to the lower-level households at a higher price. In order to profit from this, the lower-level households would recruit miscellaneous households, and some would even secretly use cheap village slaves to mine, exploiting them relentlessly to earn enough profit.

……

Magistrate Pang, being an official of high rank, immediately understood the underlying meaning and explained it to Zhao Fusheng:
"Sir, it's like a large landowner having mining rights. He sells these rights to an upper-class household for ten taels of silver, and the upper-class household then resells them to a lower-class household for fifteen taels of silver. If the lower-class household wants to make money, they have to start with the miscellaneous households and village slaves."

Zhao Fusheng was stunned by these words.

"Who says the people of our Great Han Dynasty are stupid? We even have a contract responsibility system." She chuckled dryly.

But beneath that smile, she realized the hardships of life for the lower-class laborers and rural slaves.

Magistrate Pang used the example of ten taels of silver for mining rights, but in reality, the large landowners charged far more than ten taels of silver.

Everyone in the process makes a profit, but those at the bottom, despite working hard, often struggle to make ends meet.

"Ugh--"

She sighed deeply:
"How are we supposed to live like this?"

Besides the pressures of reality, there is also the threat of man-made disasters in this city.

This so-called 'man-made disaster' is the Lantern Festival.

In such circumstances, the higher-ups in Tongshan County were completely unaware of the seriousness of the problem, and even thought it was a time of 'peace and prosperity'. It is no wonder that the county was wiped out 48 years ago.

She looked at Cao Gu:
“I understand the general situation. Could you tell me about the matter in Tongshan County?”

After all that, Zhao Fusheng had lost her temper – thankfully she was still rational and didn't lose control, otherwise she would have killed Cao Gu, and Cao Gu would have had no choice but to accept his bad luck.

He secretly rejoiced: finally, we're getting back to this ghost case.

Cao Gu initially thought the ghost case in Tongshan County was a minor matter and didn't even want to mention it at first.

However, Cao Gu felt immense pressure rather than discussing matters related to local government affairs in Tongshan County; he preferred to bring up this ghost case.

“My lord, this case is not a big deal—” Cao Gu said:

"As you know, sir, in this place, the Demon Suppression Division is the most respected, followed by the large landowners, then the government, and then the upper, middle, and lower classes."

Now that the matter was settled, Zhao Fusheng's impatience vanished, and he nodded.

Where did the ghostly calamity occur?

“The calamity occurred in the home of a wealthy landowner,” Cao Gu quickly replied.

When the ghost case was mentioned, Zhao Fusheng's expression turned solemn:
"Please tell me in detail."

Cao Gu replied respectfully:

"Yes."

He thought for a moment, first organizing the sequence of events in his mind, before saying:

"My lord, more than a month ago, the Hao family ancestral hall in Cixi Road sent someone to the Demon Suppression Bureau, saying that strange things had happened in their home."

　I need to take the day off tomorrow; something will take me away from me.

　　Please don't refresh the page.

　　(End of this chapter)