The Great Seminary

Chapter 174 The Beginning of Jie and Zhou

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Gui obtained the position of "Chief Coroner" from King Zhen in exchange for the favor of "Han Lishen".

Although since ancient times, the status of "coroners" in Dongzhou, including the island countries in the Eastern Inland Sea that were deeply influenced by the East Continent, was very low.

Even if he reached the top, he was not an official, but a clerk, so King Zhen had the right to increase or decrease appointments at will.

But according to the rules of Dongzhou officialdom, a senior official who is in charge of a matter or a business can lead a "service" and hold great power.

For example, in a county with a population of hundreds of thousands during the Ming and Song dynasties, the government set up six departments, namely agriculture, industry, household, etc., although the officials in charge had no rank.

But their actual status in this county is equivalent to the "Six Ministries" of the imperial court, and they can "exploit" ordinary people at will.

King Zhen's current status in Seonyongdo, Gyeongsang Province, Seoul Prefecture and other places is like that of an emperor.

If you just give an order, there will naturally be people who are willing to take it as a token of support and do their best to get it done.

In addition, Zhang Gui was generous in spending money to pave the way, so the "office" run by him as the chief coroner was quite impressive.

In addition to dealing with the mountains of corpses on the battlefield, they were also responsible for collecting the unclaimed corpses at the place where King Zhen was "residing".

Under his command were more than a dozen old coroners from before the fall of Han Liguo, as well as hundreds of apprentices and servants.

Because after the first round of "Small Country War", King Zhen's new army and Yuanshan's guards both stopped fighting, and there were not many corpses to collect.

As the chief coroner, Zhang Gui took the opportunity to return to Dongzhou.

After he left, his subordinate Han Liren did not dare to slack off and still reported for duty at the office at 5:00 every day.

Then he went to patrol the streets of Seoul and collected the beggars who died of hunger and cold at night and buried them in wooden carts.

They transported the bodies to the mass grave outside the city and dug graves to bury them, without a moment's slackness until four quarters past the hour of Mao, which was six in the evening.

But even so, because Seoul was too big, there were too many people, the winter wind was too cold, and the common people were too hungry... In short, there were too many deaths and they could not be buried properly.

Zhang Gui looked at his men who had just buried the dead, their faces full of flattery and ashen as the dead from cold and hunger, and felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart.

"Alright, alright, you're so hungry that your bones weigh less than four ounces, and you still want to cook for me.

What if he falls headfirst into my soup pot and dies?

okay.

Go and clean up the remaining dead donkeys, including the skin, flesh and bones, and go into the water.

Let’s go to the big kitchen at the office and cook it on the big stove, and share it.

Pedestrians can eat more good meat, but even if the servants have to swallow it all, they still have to be given a pound.

I can hear it clearly."

Before he finished speaking, a small commotion was heard in the yard.

As the "chief of the medical examiner office," the second person besides Zhang Gui, Zhang Qi nodded repeatedly, trembling.
"Yes Yes Yes.

Thank you for your reward, Chief Coroner."

"Also, our 'Yi Suo' is where we serve Prince Zhen, no matter what.

I was so hungry that I couldn't go out to work.

Within three days, the streets of Seoul City will be filled with dead bodies.

There is no good or bad, just eat your fill at home.

Now that I'm back, if there's no corn left, I'll ask for it. You don't have to save it for me.

From today on, there are no restrictions on eating steamed buns in the office.

At night, five pedestrians and three handymen took some half-pound wowo home as a midnight snack..."

In troubled times, human lives are like straw.

A few corn cobs are just daily food even for a poor family during the peaceful New Year.

But at this moment, it is the lives of several family members that are at stake.

Suddenly, some people felt dizzy with joy, collapsed to the ground, and then burst into tears.

Seeing this, Zhang Gui stopped talking and continued to pack the donkey ribs in silence.

At this time, another of Han Li's men came to help sincerely with tears in his eyes, but he did not stop them.

He sighed, walked to Lu Zhenduan, patted his shoulder, and motioned for him to go into the room together.

Just before entering the room, he seemed to suddenly remember something and said casually, "Starting tomorrow, collect the bodies and transport them to the mass grave. Don't bury them. Throw them in the pit and I'll take care of them.

You all go back to the office and wait for orders. There's a fire in the hall."

"Yes." Zhang Qi answered with a slightly trembling voice.

Thinking of how Zhang Gui disposed of the corpses, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

But when I think of the kindness of this chief coroner, I can't help but feel grateful.

The thought was extremely contradictory: "Treat the dead like demons, and treat the living like Bodhisattvas!

I really don’t know whether this great man from the upper country is a devil or a Buddha.

Will I fall into the eighteen levels of hell or be reborn in the supreme paradise in the future?

"Boss, what should we do?"

"Didn't you hear what the adults said? Shave the hair and skin the dead donkey and treat it well tonight.

But first, prepare the adult's pot, and don't keep him waiting for too long."

At this moment, any emotion was not as great as a meal of fat donkey. Zhang Qi came to his senses and gave orders loudly.

Lu Zhenduan, who had just returned to the house, heard this vaguely and laughed out loud.

“Old man, old man, hahaha.

Mr. Zhang, you've become an old man at the age of seventeen or eighteen. How do you feel?

"Han Li's customs follow the old practice of our Donglu, 'treating superiors as parents'. Isn't this title appropriate?" Zhang Gui said with a smile:

"You think the common people in the island countries are ignorant and flattering, but in fact, I am the same.

But to treat them as if they were not human beings, to exploit them to death, and to leave their entire family to starve and freeze, is a bit too much."

"Yes, this is the beginning of the reign of Jie and Zhou!"

It was just a casual remark that came to mind, but I never expected it would elicit such a response from Lu Zhenduan.

Zhang Gui was stunned for a moment, turned his head and looked at Lu Zhenduan and said:

"Lao, Lao Lu, who are you talking about?"

"Who are you talking about? Who are you talking about? Did I say anything?" Lu Zhenduan lowered his head and changed the subject.
"By the way, Long Hu, after you left, Captain Zhang Rui often came to the office to see if you would come back.

It feels like he works harder than me.

After a while, he told me a strange story, which I don’t know whether it is true or not.”

"What's strange?"

"Aren't there always large ships bringing people into the city from the Nine Islands of Heavenly Creation? It's said that more than ten thousand people gather there every day.

Due to the harsh cold climate and insufficient food and fodder, some of the weak could not hold on any longer.

Anyone in such a situation will inevitably disappear mysteriously within three days.

The island's managers all said, "He couldn't stand the hardship and jumped into the sea."

"So what?"

Zhang Gui, the instigator of this incident, said dryly.

“Nothing.

This matter was originally considered a secret, but because hundreds of thousands of new soldiers knew about it, it could not be concealed at all.

As a result, two days ago, King Zhen personally issued an order to revise the rumor, defining it as "the enemy's secret spy spread rumors and caused trouble, disrupting the morale of our army, and he should be punished."

After killing a few more people, the disturbance was finally settled."

Zhang Gui realized that Lu Zhenduan might have misunderstood the disappearance of the people from the 'Nine Islands of Heavenly Works' and that it was a shady trick by the island manager to save food and abandon the burden.

King Zhen acquiesced to this behavior out of consideration for his own benefit and avoidance of harm.

Even more conspiratorially, this behavior was secretly instigated by King Zhen.

That's why I just said the four words, 'the beginning of Jie and Zhou'.

(End of this chapter)