Han officials

Chapter 185 Sugar-Coated Bullet [12]

On the Gengxu day of October, the Liaodong army finally arrived at Ji County.

When they saw Wei Zhe stationed in front of Macheng, the prefect of Guangyang County and many of his officials stood in front of him respectfully.

Guangyang County was actually the Yan State in the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the prince Liu Dan was named King of Yan and his capital was set in Ji County.

However, later King Liu Dan of Yan rebelled, so the State of Yan was abolished and renamed Guangyang County.

Although Guangyang County only has five counties, its population is nearly 300,000.

In other words, the population of Ji County alone is almost the same as that of Xuanqiu County.

As for Ji County, it has been the center of Youzhou since ancient times, and its prosperity is no less than that of the counties in the Central Plains.

Looking at the ancient and heavy Jixian city wall in front of him, Wei Zhe on horseback couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

I don't know what he was thinking about, but he suddenly smiled inexplicably.

After a moment, Wei Zhe flicked his whip and said, "Let's go into the city. Don't keep the villagers waiting for too long."

However, Wei Zhe said this, but there was a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

Then, amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves, the Liaodong army slowly entered Ji County like a long dragon.

The giant python from Liaodong now looks like a dragon.

……

As the saying goes:

Three lives are unfortunate, the magistrate is attached to the city;
Three lives do evil, attach to the provincial capital;
He is full of evil and is even exiled to the capital city.

From this perspective, it would be almost the same if Ji Ling Dongguo Lu had not committed all kinds of evil in his previous life.

After all, not only did he have to live in the same city with the prefect of Guangyang County, but he also had an outrageous number of neighbors on both sides.

For example, at this moment, with Guo Yuan's insistence, the former governor's mansion was changed into the left general's mansion.

So he, the governor of Youzhou, could only temporarily live in Guangyang County.

The prefect of Guangyang had no place to live, so he simply moved to the county temple in Ji County.

As a result, in the huge Ji County, Dongguo Lu, the Ji Ling, had no place to stay.

In desperation, Dongguo Lu could only temporarily stay in the General Temple in Xicheng.

"Alas, I'd rather not be an official!"

In the backyard of the shrine, Dongguo Lu was seen muttering like a nagging woman.

Before he could finish his words, he heard an old man's scolding voice coming from the study behind him:
"Idiot! How could my father have a son like you?"

Upon hearing this, Dongguo Lu shook his head helplessly and went in obediently to listen to the lecture.

In the study, there was an old man with white hair and beard but ruddy face sitting on the couch.

If a herbalist saw this thing in the mountains, he would definitely kneel down and call it "immortal".

And this old man was none other than Dongguo Yannian, the father of Dongguo Lu.

He was originally from a branch of the Dongguo clan in Dongjun, but unlike the main family, he had been interested in magical arts since he was a child.

Whether you call him a sorcerer, an alchemist, or a Taoist priest, he has indeed made a name for himself.

Although he is over seventy years old, he still has a rosy complexion and is in good spirits.

What Dongguo Yannian was best at was Rong Chengzi's technique, namely "the art of bedroom".

After all, there are records in the pre-Qin classics that say he once lived in Taimu Mountain to refine medicine, and later lived in Kongtong Mountain. Huangdi admired his way, so he built five cities and twelve towers to wait for the gods and immortals, and only then was he able to learn the way of controlling women.

Even in folk records, it is rumored that Rong Chengzi was Laozi's teacher.

Liezi Tangwen also says:
"Only Huangdi and Rongchengzi lived on top of Kongtong Mountain and fasted together for three months. Their hearts were dead and their bodies were worn out." Fortunately, in the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism had not yet been mixed with the study of prophecies and divinations.

But after Emperor Guangwu established the country, these supernatural things began to become popular in the world.

The most respected immortals in the world today are none other than Rong Chengzi and Huangdi.

It’s just because of Huangdi’s special status that ordinary people don’t dare to learn his imperial skills.

As time went by, Rong Chengzi became the most famous.

After all, in this dynasty, "the art of sex" is a serious subject that can be discussed openly.

Dongguo Yannian became rich and powerful thanks to his superb skills in the art of sex, and even lived in the homes of officials.

Even Dongguo Lu's position as the magistrate of Ji County was thanks to his father.

So when he saw that Dongguo Lu only knew how to complain about himself but had no idea of making progress, Dongguo Yannian became dissatisfied.

He said gloomily, "I've had you reading the Tao Te Ching for so many years, but you haven't made any progress! If I had known, I would have drowned you in the potty."

As soon as these words were spoken, Dongguo Lu's face turned red, but he was still confused.

Seeing that he still didn't understand, Dongguo Yannian sighed and could only helplessly advise:

"When the government is dull, the people are honest; when the government is strict, the people are corrupt, what will happen?"

Dongguo Lu immediately responded, "Misfortune is the root of good fortune, and good fortune is the root of misfortune. Who can know the limit?"

"Indeed!" Dongguo Yannian nodded and said, "There is no right way. Right becomes strange, and good becomes evil. People's confusion has been going on for a long time!"

After saying this, Dongguo Yannian could not help but sigh repeatedly and said, "The saints have explained to you the way of being an official clearly, but you, a fool, are still completely ignorant of it. This really makes me so angry!"

Hearing this, Dongguo Lu finally understood what his father meant, and his face immediately showed surprise.

Yes, now that General Zuo has taken control of Youzhou, he is obviously preparing to make a big move.

In this case, what's the big deal about living in a temple? Isn't this a godsend opportunity?
This is truly the case of "Misfortune often brings good fortune, and good fortune often brings misfortune often."

But then Dongguo Lu looked embarrassed: "Father, I'm afraid it's not that easy to get into General Zuo's house."

You have to know that although their family has some savings, they are only slightly richer than the common people.

If you simply send some gold, silver and other valuables, I'm afraid you won't even be able to enter the general's mansion.

In this respect, his family is not even as good as those poor families.

After all, it is possible that their ancestors had done favors for the Wei family and left some incense and favors behind.

However, Dongguo Yannian was not at all panicked. The old man stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "How difficult is this?"

After saying that, he took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve and threw it to his silly son.

When Dongguo Lu untied it, he saw the words "Rongcheng Sutra" written on it, and he was immediately surprised.

Dongguo Yannian, upon seeing this, was immediately quite pleased with himself and said, "I once stumbled upon a few fragments of the Rongcheng Sutra, and after decades of diligent study, I have finally achieved what I have today. If General Zuo follows this profound path, he will surely be able to prolong his life infinitely. With this gift, you should have no reason to worry about not being accepted as your disciple."

It is no wonder that Dongguo Yannian was so proud. After all, his book was different from the twenty-six volumes of "Rongcheng Yindou" included in the "Book of Han". It was a unique ancient book that Ban Gu had never seen at that time.

Dongguo Yannian also spent more than ten years to decipher the pre-Qin texts and figure out the general meaning.

From this perspective, his generation is actually much higher than Zhang Jiao, and he is the real descendant of Rong Chengzi.

But Dongguo Lu didn't think about these things at the moment.

Seeing that his father had even taken out the most precious treasure in the box, he was overjoyed.

So after thanking him, he hurried to General Zuo's residence...

(End of this chapter)