Jinting Han people

Chapter 146: Fraud (4k)

It was actually only a dozen days since he was dismissed from office by Liu Xian, but when Dong Chong came again, he felt a sense of shock as if he was in another world.

The county government office was still the same, and the people within it were still the same. The only noticeable change was the end of late autumn, with fallen leaves covering the ground and the branches appearing bleak and withered.

But Dong Chong soon realized that everything had changed. While the county office remained familiar, consisting of a six-story courtyard with seven crabapple trees in the front yard, three locust trees in the back, and fifteen mulberry trees lining the corridors, it contained thirty-two houses housing forty-three county officials. Even though he knew the details like the back of his hand, it couldn't mask the fact that his status had changed.

In the past, when Dong Chong was at the county government office, his subordinates would always greet him politely. Even if he smiled, they would be trembling with fear, fearing they might make a mistake. But now, he couldn't even smile, and the old people who came and went ignored him as if they saw a stranger.

This made Dong Chong sigh in his heart: power is really an elusive thing. When people have it, they will feel that all goodwill is natural and their success comes from their own excellence. But after leaving power, they find that they are just a slave of power and are useless without it.

He could only comfort himself in his heart: This new county lord is actually the same, and the people in the county government just haven't seen his true nature yet. A person who dares to act so willfully, he doesn't take anyone seriously at all, and sooner or later he will be abandoned by his subordinates.

Thinking of this, he officially came to the county magistrate's study and met the new county lord Liu Xian for the first time.

Liu Xian, with his back to him, had a six-foot-wide piece of cloth pinned to the wall of his study, covered in writing. Dong Chong glanced at it and immediately recognized it as a map of Xiayang. Judging by the handwriting and ink, it must have been made by the county lord himself.

When Liu Xian heard the footsteps behind him, he didn't stop his movements for a moment. Instead, he smoothed out the wrinkles on the cloth and said, "Mr. Dong has arrived, right? I'm sorry, but I'd like to ask you to wait for a moment."

After he had nailed the four corners of the map in place, he casually took out the kettle from the stove beside him, poured a bowl of tea and placed it on the table. He smiled at Dong Chong and said, "Hearing is believing, Mr. Dong. I have heard your name every day since I took office."

Dong Chong immediately smiled back and said, "No, no, I'm not leaving my house right now, but everyone in the village is talking about what the county lord did yesterday and what he did today. I'm the one who has really heard of your great name for a long time!"

The two men had met before, but since Dong Chong arrived the earliest and Feng Yu and Tong Bin had not yet arrived, they did not talk about business, but started chatting about everything under the sun, casually chatting about local customs, mountains and rivers, geography, and some insights into ancient and modern political affairs.

Dong Chong had come early, hoping to use this official rhetoric to insinuate things, hoping to get Liu Xian to reveal something beforehand. Unexpectedly, despite his youth, Liu Xian was incredibly tight-lipped, not only keeping his plans a secret but also maintaining his appearance impeccable. This left him feeling deeply frustrated.

There was no other way around it. When Liu Xian was in Luoyang, he was always engaging in witty exchanges with people like Lu Ji and Yue Guang, and whether it was pure conversation or political discussion, they were all at the top level. In a small place like Xiayang, exchanging polite words with Dong Chong was clearly a waste of his talent.

Seeing that things were going nowhere, Dong Chong was extremely anxious, but on the surface he pretended to be calm. Since he couldn't get any advantage, he had no choice but to wait for Feng Yu and Tong Bin to arrive and see what Liu Xian had planned.

Around the quarter after midnight, the other two clan leaders also arrived. Perhaps because of their family tradition of poetry and literature, Feng Yu and Tong Bin, though of similar age, appeared more frail than Dong Chong. Liu Xian warmly welcomed them into his room and ordered the kitchen staff to serve their dishes one by one.

After the dishes were served, Liu Xian toasted the three of them with a cup of muddy wine and said with a smile, "Today's meal is rather simple, so please don't mind."

Just as Liu Xian had said, his meal today was indeed extremely simple. Besides a bowl of chicken soup, the staple food was steamed wheat rice with some corn mixed in for a richer taste, and only a plate of leeks. It could be said that, aside from the bowl of chicken soup, the meal was practically identical to that of an ordinary civilian.

But Dong Chong and the others were used to it. As a prominent family in the border area, they didn't have to eat lavish meals every day. As long as the host could maintain a sense of belonging, they would certainly accept it. Moreover, even if they were asked to eat now, they would not be able to swallow it.

The three family heads had worked together for over a decade and had a tacit understanding. After exchanging glances, the former county magistrate, Tong Bin, spoke first, "County Lord, you are from Luoyang, and we are from Xiayang. You should be the guest, and we are the host. It's truly a shame to have you treat us. The food and other things are of no importance."

Feng Yu followed up, "What's more, as the County Lord's notice stated, we are all responsible for Xiayang's decline. Every time I think about it, I feel ashamed! Today, I heard that the County Lord has a plan, and we are so happy!"

Finally, Dong Chong said, "Thankfully, the county lord is so wise. If you have any instructions, just speak frankly. We will certainly obey them."

The conversation between the three people was so smooth, it almost sounded like it was spoken by one person. Liu Xian glanced at them after hearing what they said, but did not speak immediately. He just smiled.

He took a sip of his wine and said, "You are all exaggerating. I am just a demoted official. Today is just the first time we meet. How can we discuss wisdom and innocence here? How can we use it?"

Having said this, he paused, looked at the three people with a half-smile, and asked, "Do you know who I am?"

The three of them knew that he was the Prince of Anle, but they all pretended to be confused and replied, "I don't know."

Liu Xian said slowly, "I have committed a serious crime. After being demoted this time, I may never have a chance to be reinstated."

"what?"

"My teacher was a county magistrate. He served as a county magistrate for ten years because he offended the prince. Now I have offended the regent queen. If I don't achieve some extraordinary achievements, I may have to be a county magistrate here for the rest of my life."

"This……"

"So I came to Xiayang with the intention of dying here to become the county magistrate. I'm not kidding, gentlemen. If I'm lucky, I might be able to work with you for decades. Therefore, although I haven't been in Xiayang long, I consider Xiayang my hometown."

"Yes, yes, this is a blessing for the people of Xiayang..."

Faced with this sudden statement, the three of them felt a little overwhelmed. They originally just wanted to test Liu Xian's thoughts and see if there was any area where they could guide and intervene, but the topic had just begun and was almost killed by Liu Xian.

But Liu Xian still said, "I'm still putting it in a positive light. If there are people in the court who want me dead, they will probably take action in the spring of next year."

"So I don't have any way out. I tell you all this because I want to tell you not to think you have any way out."

"Within three months, I must completely eliminate the bandits in this county. Do you understand?" Dong Chong felt the murderous intent between the lines, and his hair stood on end. However, he managed a smile and said, "Your Excellency, we all support your efforts to eliminate these bandits. Why would you even think of retreating? Didn't we come here to listen to your advice?"

"Alright!" Liu Xian laughed loudly, and the murderous aura in his voice immediately disappeared without a trace. He clapped his hands and said, "Chief Sun, come out for a moment."

Amidst the stunned gazes of the crowd, Sun Xi opened the side door of the study and came in. In front of Dong Chong and the other two, he bowed to Liu Xian and said, "Sun Xi greets the County Lord."

As one of the four great bandit leaders in Xiayang, the Xiayang County government had issued a wanted warrant and a portrait. Dong Chong and the others naturally recognized the man before them as Sun Xi. Why was he in the county government? A wave of anxiety suddenly surged in the three of them, and they immediately turned their gaze to Liu Xian, eager for an answer.

Liu Xian, however, acted nonchalant and said, "For the past few days, I've been secretly visiting the bandits, and I got to know Chief Sun. Although Chief Sun has a reputation for cruelty, the people he's offended are probably the officials, and he rarely harasses the people below him. So I thought, I could help him mediate with the officials, then appoint him as the county's bandit officer, and recruit the Longmen bandits into the county army."

"In this way, without a single soldier, we can eliminate a great threat to the people. I wonder if you are willing to do so?"

Dong Chong and others were of course unwilling, but seeing how Sun Xi obeyed Liu Xian's words, the three of them were greatly shocked. They didn't know what other cards Liu Xian had, so they were speechless for a while.

Seeing this, Liu Xian said to Sun Xi, "Chief Sun, please pour a glass of wine for everyone as an apology for your past mistakes."

Sun Xi had initially been somewhat disgruntled when he heard he had to apologize to Dong Chong and the others. But now, seeing their gnashing of teeth, unable to react, he found it a bit amusing and decided to stop refusing. He feigned a toast to each of the three men and said, "Everything that happened in the past was my fault. From now on, I will change my ways!"

After saying that, he also poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

Liu Xian looked at Dong Chong and others again. They had sad faces and hesitated for a long time, but finally drank the wine, which meant they formally agreed to Liu Xian's peace proposal.

At this point, Liu Xian's plan had been largely laid. He nodded to Sun Xi, who understood and immediately turned and left, leaving the room for the four people at the banquet.

As soon as Sun Xi left, Feng Yu was the first to breathe a sigh of relief. He said to Liu Xian with a stern face, "County Lord, the horse bandits have been wreaking havoc for years. They've become beasts in human form and are no longer useful. Your surrender to Sun Xi today might bring temporary peace, but it will be detrimental in the long run!"

Liu Xian asked, "Can Xia Yang last long?"

These words choked Feng Yu so much that he was speechless for a long time.

Tong Bin asked, "My Lord, if you intend to appease the horse bandits, then what's the point of us coming here?"

Liu Xian waved his hand and said with a smile, "You are joking, sir. I am not recruiting randomly. I recruited Sun Xi because I think he is a promising talent. However, for some horse thieves, we must eliminate them completely, such as Hu Yanchang."

Dong Chong's eyebrows jumped. He looked up at Liu Xian's playful expression and said cautiously, "County Lord, even if we recruit Sun Xi, we will only have a few dozen men. If we want to wipe out Hu Yanchang, I'm afraid we won't be able to capture him!"

Liu Xian nodded and said, "Mr. Dong is right. Sun Xi alone is certainly not enough, but didn't I recruit a hundred new county soldiers? The county already has dozens of veteran county soldiers."

"That's not enough." Dong Chong pretended to be calm and told Liu Xian about a previous incident. "Seven years ago, the county government sent 2,000 men to join the fight against Hu Yanchang, but they couldn't catch him at all, and the campaign ended in vain."

Liu Xian retorted, "Two thousand men would be too much of a show. How could Hu Yanchang not flee if he got wind of this? But this time is different. I only have this many men, and most of them are new recruits. He's certainly unprepared. I can just pick a time and launch a surprise attack at night, catching him off guard. The chances of victory will actually be much higher."

At this point, he suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and with a mysterious expression, he said to the three of them, "Besides, I have another chess piece in my hand. I guarantee he won't expect it!"

"The reason I asked you all to come here is because Wang Lin has made me an offer. As long as I can give him 600 dan of rice, he is willing to accept the appeasement and join Sun Xi in the surprise attack."

"As long as you all lend me two hundred dan of grain, no matter how capable Hu Yanchang is, he will be nothing more than a pig waiting to be slaughtered!"

"..."

After the banquet, Dong Chong, Feng Yu and Tong Bin each had their own thoughts and had no intention of communicating too much, so they hurriedly left the county government.

Along the way, Dong Chong reflected on what he had seen and heard at the banquet, feeling rather incredulous. This new county lord had managed to convince two gangs of bandits to surrender in just two weeks? How could this be possible? But thinking of Sun Xi, whom he had seen in person at the county government office, his mood inevitably darkened.

Seeing is believing. Liu Xian is indeed a descendant of Liu Bei. With the support of these two gangs of horse thieves, I'm afraid his good days are over.

Dong Chong thought again of Wang Duyou's suggestion to wait and see what happens. But how could he wait and see what happens now? If Hu Yanchang was really wiped out, he would definitely be implicated.

Thinking of the murderous intent in Liu Xian's words, Dong Chong could hardly suppress his fear, let alone the thought of resisting. He had clearly realized that he was no match for the other party.

But no matter what, we still have to inform Hu Yanchang and let him make preparations early. As long as nothing happens to him and he can hold on until next year, there may be some changes.

Therefore, as soon as he returned to Shangzhuang, he immediately called a nephew, wrote down everything he had seen and heard that day in a letter, and also wrote a suggestion for him to leave Xiayang for refuge as soon as possible. Then he asked the nephew to leave the village that night and deliver the letter to Hu Yanchang as soon as possible.

But what he didn't expect was that before dawn the next day, a sharp sound of breaking air suddenly rang out, waking Dong Chong from his dream. His eldest son Dong Heng came hurriedly to announce:
"Sir, something terrible has happened! The county lord has brought all the county soldiers over and surrounded our house!"

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(End of this chapter)