The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

The destruction of the Third Clan has both advantages and disadvantages.

The good side is that it increases the prestige of Xun Zhen. Up to Xie, Fei, Gao and other powerful surnames, down to the village officials and villagers, they all changed their perception of Xun Zhen because of this.

The downside is that, in the eyes of most village officials and villagers, Xun Zhen has become a "torture official", a "profound" person who does nothing if he doesn't do anything. After all, there are hundreds of people implicated in the Third Clan's "Yaoyan" case, and more than half of them will definitely be executed. Not to mention Xixiang, even Yingyin County has not had such a big case for a long time.

I don't know who was the first to hear that the magistrate Zhu Chang once praised Xun Zhen as "the milk tiger of the Xun family". Zhu Chang's meaning was to praise, and he praised Xun Zhen as "a young tiger of the Xun family", which meant that he had an infinite future, but the person who spread the word understood the "milk tiger" as "the one who breastfeeds and raises children". The meaning of "tigress", which secretly compared Xun Zhen to Ning Cheng, a cruel official of the former Han Dynasty.

Ning Cheng was a well-known cruel official in the reign of Emperor Jing and Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty. His administration was harsh and harsh. "His governance was like a wolf shepherding sheep." When he served as the commander of Guan, people at the entrance and exit said: "I would rather see a milk tiger than worth the wrath of Ning Cheng". "Milk tiger" has two meanings, one is the meaning of a young tiger, and the other is the meaning of a mother tiger. Here, the "milk tiger" means the latter. Tigers tend to be more ferocious than usual when they are breastfeeding. Tigers are ferocious enough. One can imagine that the adopted tiger is more ferocious, and everyone fears it.

Xiao Xia heard this rumor when she was collecting horses in the countryside, and immediately returned to the official temple, met Xun Zhen, and said, "Mr. Xun, there is a rumor in the countryside recently, I wonder if you heard it?"

"What rumor?"

"Everyone in the village calls you a 'milk tiger'. When I was buying a horse at Liuzhuang in Baiting yesterday, the owner of the village, Liu Weng, said to me: 'Someone compares you to Ningcheng of the former Han Dynasty'. He instructed me and asked me to Let me tell you this." "Boting Liuzhuang" is the village that Xun Zhen rescued when he was serving as the head of Fanyang Pavilion and "crossing the border to attack thieves". The owner of the village, Liu Weng, asked Xiao Xia to tell Xun Zhen about the matter in order to repay his kindness.

After Zi Le came in, Xun Zhen didn't go out for several days. Every day, she only chatted with Le Jin and Xu Zhong, drank alcohol, and enhanced her relationship. When she heard the words, she was stunned for a while, and then she laughed: "Take me and Ning Cheng as each other. Compare?"

When he was determined to annihilate the entire third clan, he guessed that he might be named a "torture official" after the incident. After hearing this, he was not surprised. Zhong said: "Ning Cheng served as an official to two thousand stone, and after being released from office because of his crimes, he turned to business, and he was hired to tens of millions. Although he was cruel and unkind, corrupt and incorrupt, he left a bad name in later generations, but he was also an outstanding person at the time. With only a hundred stones and a family capital of only 100,000, how can he be compared with him? The villagers look at me too highly!"

Le Jin has read books. Although he is not deeply influenced by Confucianism because of his heroic nature, and he does not think that strict law enforcement is a bad thing, he also knows that today's scholars and celebrities do not like "cruel officials" and pay attention to them. It is "Renzhi", so he said with a worried face: "For my sake, I have been implicated in Zhenzhi's name as a 'torture official', and I am really uneasy. . . . , If the name of 'Ning Cheng' is spread far and wide, it may be detrimental to your future future, so don't take it lightly, just laugh it off."

The two Han Dynasties attached great importance to the public opinion of the people. In the former Han Dynasty, there was a system of "citing rumors" that originated from the "collecting style" system of the Zhou Dynasty. official basis. The folk songs in the villages are closely related to the political future and even the lives of local officials. Six or seven years ago, in the five years of Xiping, the imperial court "ordered the three Dukes to report rumors", which caused the chief officials of the world's prefectures and states to "be pleased with the success of the dukes, and those who were mad with anxiety and fear".

Xun Zhen naturally knew that this was powerful, but in order not to make Le Jin feel too guilty, he pretended to be disapproving and said with a big laugh, "Why does Wen Qian need to blame himself? 'Ku Li' is not a bad name, so how can it affect me? ? Today's cruel officials are like Yang Qiu and Zhang Jian, Yang Qiu's corpse of Wang Fu is so cruel, and it is praised by the world. Before he was convicted and died, he still said: 'May the false ministers make a jackal for a month. The owls, each serving their guilt', is a man of true loyalty. Zhang Jian was convicted for impeaching Chang Shi Hou Lan, and he fled desperately. Domestic loyalty to Zhang Yuanjie'.

"..., in today's world the tyrants are tyrannical and the people are hanging upside down, so it is suitable to use severe punishment and severe punishment. It doesn't matter who is 'cool', the key is who is 'cool'. If 'ku' to the people is an evil official, and 'kuo' to the righteous' Cool' is the sky."

Le Jin knew his intentions and knew that he was trying to forgive his family. He was very moved and said, "Nevertheless, don't be careless."

A few days ago, Xun Yu wrote a letter. The letter said: "I have recently heard that my brother has shaken the township, the officials and the people are afraid of submission, and although he has the virtue of Qiu Jizhi, Luanfeng and Feng, he has also imposed strict punishments. The leniency and the ferocity should complement each other. "Biography" says: 'the fierce rule / the people's disability'. Now that the third clan has been exterminated, the noble right and cunning have gone, the brotherhood has been established, the officials and the people have been obeyed, perhaps it should be lenient to help them. ”. The implication is to persuade Xun Zhen not to kill blindly, but to "combine leniency and ferocity".

Just now, Xun Zhen's "compliment" to the cruel official was only to relieve Le Jin's guilt, and Xun Yu's letter was actually written into his heart. He originally planned to show the "benevolence" to the villagers after he killed the third clan. After listening to Le Jin's persuasion, he pondered for a moment and said, "It's okay, I planned to tour the village a few days earlier. It was only because of Wenqian that you came back. I was very happy. I drank and talked for a few days. I forgot the time, so it was delayed until now. Now that there are rumors all over the country, I will go down to inspect and let them see, I not only There are 'strong' and some 'wide'." Fu Xiu stood up and instructed Xiao Xia, "Go to the stable in the backyard and bring the horse here." Xiao smiled and said to Le Jin and Xu Zhong, "You two are walking with me."

Le Jin and Xu Zhong agreed.

On the way out of the hall and courtyard, on the way to the outside of the temple, I met a few village officials. When these villagers saw Xun Zhen going out, they all held their breath, trembling with fear, gave way to the side of the road, and bowed down to see each other. Before Xun Zhen killed the third clan, they were also very respectful to Xun Zhen, but most of the respect at that time was superficial, but now it is awe from the bottom of the heart, especially a small official surnamed Chen.

This little official's name is Chen Lei, who is the assistant secretary who once accepted the money of the Third Clan, betrayed Xun Zhen's whereabouts, and later peeped at Tang Er, thinking that Xun Zhen was "sexy". His relative who was a guest in the third house died in the battle of Xun Zhen's extermination of the third clan. Since then, he has hardly slept well, and if he closed his eyes, it would be a nightmare. It wasn't that Xun Zhen raised the sword and sneered. Every night, he was sweating profusely and was woken up from his dream several times, always afraid that Xun Zhen would know what he had done.

Dreaming is still like this, let alone in front of Xun Zhen at this time? He knelt down on the ground, raised his back, buried his head deeply between his elbows, knocked the crown he was wearing crooked, and shivered.

Xun Zhen noticed his abnormality, stopped in front of him, and asked pleasantly, "What's the matter with you?"

Chen Lei didn't dare to look up, pouted his buttocks, and crouched down on the ground with his hips high and his head low, and said in a trembling voice, "Xiaoli, Xiaguan, ..."

Just as Xun Zhen was about to show his "generous benevolence" to others, he didn't pay much attention to his trembling voice, and said very gently, "You trembling all over, but you are suffering from a cold? If you are sick, go home and rest for a while. sky."

Chen Lei lay on the ground and said incoherently: "Yes, yes. Lower officials, lower officials,..."

Xun Zhen glanced at him a few times and thought: "Looking at his appearance, he doesn't look like he is suffering from the cold, but rather fearful. Could it be that killing a third clan has such great power? Even the village officials are afraid of this. What does it look like?" To be honest, although he knew that killing the third clan would shock the villagers, he really didn't expect the villagers to be "shocked" to such a degree, he frowned and thought, "It's too much. It seems that Wen Qian said Not bad, I really can't be careless about it. I really should put away Yan Meng and show the villagers a good show of kindness."

He originally planned to just go out for this "inspection", but he immediately changed his mind, waited for Xiao Xia to bring the horse over, and ordered him to find Xiao Ren, and then went to the backyard to get some money and meat, put it on the horse, and greeted Le Jin. Xu Zhong said: "Before I killed the third clan, I also visited the village. Although I didn't go all the pavilions and li, I was already familiar with the village pavilions. There are lonely and widowed old people in every li of the town pavilion. , Today's Zhengdan has passed, the weather is still cold, and I don't know how their days are going? Let's go to these people's homes first."

Yue Jin and Xu Zhong replied, "No."

Earlier, most of Xu Zhong knew about Xun Zhen's administration at Fanyang Pavilion, and he thought to himself, "Is Xun-Jun planning to repeat the administrative measures in Fanyang Pavilion in Xiangting?" - Xun Zhen Why did you win the hearts of the people when you were in Fanyangting? Relief for orphans is one of the main reasons.

After leaving the gate of the official monastery, Xiao Xia did not accompany Xun Zhen because of the responsibility of accepting horses.

Xun Zhen, Le Jin, Xu Zhong, and Xiao Ren all got on their horses one after another and set off to condolence to the orphans and widows in the village pavilion. ——Xun Zhen originally only had one horse in hand. Taking advantage of Xiao Xia’s opportunity to collect horses this time, he chose a few good horses. He didn’t give them to Gao Su, but kept them for himself.

...

The people of Xiangting are the same as those of Fanyangting, some are rich and some are poor.

The rich are like the Gao family, just like the Feng Gong family in Fanyangting. They have their own manor, occupy a lot of fertile land, keep guests and disciples, travel with horses and horses, and support them. The poor have only four walls, no long things, no place to stand, and they work hard every day, but they can't get enough food and warm clothes. Proportionally speaking, there is only one family in Xiangting for such a powerful family as the Gao family, about one or two families with tens of thousands of dollars and barely enough food and clothing, and the rest are all poor families.

There are two types of poor families. One is poor, but the family has strong people, or they farm and work odd jobs, or they simply go to work as apprentices for the tyrannical. Anyway, they can get some food, either one meal a day or two days. , not to starve to death. One is that there is no Ding Zhuang in the family, only the old and the weak, who are already on the verge of starvation, and fortunately have the help of the clan, they have survived to this day.

There are too many of the former category, and Xun Zhen is temporarily unable to help. If he wants to show benevolence, he can only try his best to help the latter. It took him most of the day to take Xu Zhong, Le Jin, and Xiao Ren to run through all the villages in the villages and pavilions, and all the poor families who belonged to the latter were not missed.

Every time he went to a household, he would first express his condolences with "New Year's greetings", and then, in the tears moved by the poor family, he left two hundred money and a little meat, and sincerely said: "I have an order in the township, and I can't make the leader of Guizhou. Being rich is also my fault. I should have come to condolences to you years ago, but it was postponed until today because of the third clan’s mischievous words. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come to the official temple to find me.” Before leaving, he was stern and stern, ordering the chief to take good care of the poor family in the book. If something goes wrong, "the third clan is your role model"!

After running down one day, I spent more than 8,000 yuan, and I harvested the gratitude of the people. Until the twilight was deep, the people returned to the official temple.

...

Standing in the bleak and cold wind, Xun Zhen supported the big tree in the backyard, watched Xiao Ren lead the horses into the stable one by one under the dark twilight, and looked at Tang Er who was busy in the kitchen, He sighed and said: "Compared to those lonely, widowed and poor families, you and I enjoy too much happiness! Wen Qian, I said to those poor families: I am ashamed of my hometown and have an order, and I can't make the head of Qian rich. This sentence is in my heart. talk."

This sentence is indeed Xun Zhen's heart. He came to serve as a pavilion chief and a rank husband in order to save his life, but in the process of taking office, he had heard and witnessed, and had deep sympathy and compassion for the poor people in the countryside. He feared the Yellow Turban Uprising, but at the same time sympathized with those poor Taiping Taoists. ——Many of the poor families he visited today believed in the Way of Peace.

People are so strange.

In order to win over Xu Zhong, he could bend the law, but because of his guilt, he could take the initiative to arrest Wu Gui, who harassed Wang Tu's wife and daughter, into prison. In order to establish prestige, he could kill the third clan, but out of sympathy, he also sympathized with the followers of Taiping Dao who were about to disrupt the world.

Le Jin and Xu Zhong were born in a poor family.

Xu Zhong has always been taciturn. Le Jin also did not take Xun Zhen's words, but frowned and said: "Zhenzhi, today you toured the village pavilion, visited the orphans and widows, spoke earnestly, gave money and meat, and you will have a good reputation tomorrow. After a while, the villagers will Surely you will no longer be regarded as a 'torture official'. However, although you are kind to the villagers today, you are too harsh on the chiefs of the various li."

A good officer should not only treat the people well, but also the subordinates. In order to be praised under the rule, both are necessary. Xun Zhen explained: "Today, I scolded the licheng sternly and harshly, in order to show my love for the people, and I had to do it."

"But if you do this, although you can gain the respect and love of the people, it is inevitable that you will be complained by the village chiefs, and even the village officials will be dissatisfied. Zhenzhi, you are in the township now, and the village officials and the village chiefs are your minions. In the future, no matter whether it is to impose corvée or collect taxes, none of them will be able to leave them. If they hold grudges, they may make it difficult to implement government orders and unfavorable actions.”

The chief and the township officials are both small and medium-sized officials in the township. Seeing that the village chiefs were being treated harshly, the village officials might feel a sense of grief. Once this happened, even if Xun Zhen had the power to kill the third clan, they might still act passively. If it reaches this point, Xun Zhen can be said to have achieved the top in this township. He nodded and said with a smile, "I know what I have in mind, and I have my own way."

"any solution?"

Xun Zhen smiled mysteriously and said, "You will know soon."

...

Next, for three consecutive days, Xun Zhen inspected the five pavilions. On the afternoon of the third day, in Baiting, just after getting out of one rib and preparing to go to the next rib, a man rushed out from the field outside the rien door and stopped the horse to file a complaint.

Xun Zhen expressed her humility. She didn't ride a horse when she went in and out of the inner door. She was leading the horse and was taken aback. Xu Zhong, who was beside him, dropped the reins, drew his sword and unsheathed it, leaped up, and protected Xun Zhen, shouting angrily, "Who is this? So bold, ramming in front of the horse!" Xu Zhong's voice was originally low, but this After a while, he shouted and scolded, like hammering a drum, with a horizontal knife in his chest, murderous.

The man was startled, took a few steps back, his legs and feet were weak, he fell to the ground, and said in his mouth: "The villain dare not ram Xun Jun, he is here to complain."

The township has a rank and a position to hear lawsuits, and there are villagers who complain, and Xun Zhen can't ignore it. He motioned Xu Zhong to step back, and asked the chief, elder and others who sent him out: "Is this a resident of your li?"

The chief and the elders did not know this person, so they all said, "No."

The man said, "The villain is from Sangyinting."

"Oh? Sang Yinting?... Who are you going to sue?"

"The villain wants to sue Sang Yin Pavilion as the new pavilion chief."

Sang Yin Pavilion is the pavilion where the third clan lives. Because of being implicated in the third clan's case, the previous pavilion chief was charged by Cao Qingan, a thief under his door, to commit a crime because he knew it, and now he is in prison, waiting to be executed. . A new pavilion has been placed upstairs.

Xun Zhen asked, "You want to sue your patriarch? What happened to him?"

"Yesterday, the villain gave him a few catties of rice and meat, and he accepted it."

The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the management of officials was very strict, even if they accepted a few kilograms of rice and meat. When Xun Zhen was the head of Fanyang Pavilion, he had repeatedly refused gifts from the people under his rule.

Standing behind Xun Zhen, the Chief Li Li and the Elder Li looked at each other, and both thought: "Xun Jun will destroy the third clan first, and in one day, lead the soldiers to kill all their guests, kill dozens of people, and recapture four or five. Hundreds of people left the pavilion empty, and then reported to the county center to kill more than 200 people; now, when I inspected the township, I rebuked my generation, and threatened us that if we could not take good care of the poor family in the center, the third clan would be me. He is a very stern and harsh person!  …, I am afraid that this deceased pavilion will be out of luck." Sneaking a look at Xun Zhen's face, seeing the smile on his face, his heart skipped a beat, thinking, "Why is he laughing? Is it because he can start killing again?" Thinking of this, he shuddered, hurriedly retracted his gaze, lowered his hands and bowed his head, and stood respectfully.

Xun Zhen laughed, of course not because "you can kill again", but to show her kindness. He didn't know the misunderstanding of the li long and the li elders. He thought that he was kind and looked around. Seeing that more and more people from the li came to watch the news, he asked in a warm voice: "The rice and meat you gave to the pavilion chief, Did Chief Ting ask you for it? Or did you ask him for something?"

"neither."

"what is that?"

"It was the villain who saw him for the first time and gave him a gift in order to have a good relationship with him."

"Since you gave him a gift in order to have a good relationship with him, why did you sue him?"

"The reason why the villain wants to marry him is because the villain is afraid of him, so he gave him rice and meat. He accepted it without any excuses, which made the villain even more afraid, so the villain came to sue him."

Li Chang and Li Elder thought: "This pavilion chief is really pitiful. There are such troublesome people under his control, and he took the initiative to give rice and meat. After he accepts it, he will sue back! , and fearing Xun Zhen's anger, he did not dare to speak out.

The onlookers did not agree with the behavior of the complainant, and whispered: "It's not that the pavilion chief asked for it, but you gave it. After the gift is over, how can you sue back?"

Xun Zhen laughed, pointed at the man with the whip, and said with a smile: "You are so unreasonable! How can you sue after taking the initiative to give gifts?"

The man said: "If the villain is not afraid of officials, he will not give him rice and meat. He should not accept it without any excuses, but this makes the villain even more afraid!"

Xun Zhen shook her head again and again and said, "Sun Qing said: 'People are the most precious in the world'. Why is this? Because people have anger, life, knowledge, and righteousness, because people emphasize benevolence, know each other and respect each other. Gift each other Gifts are a form of ritual, and they are expressions of benevolence and respect for each other. Don’t the elders in the village often leave gifts to each other during festivals? The same is true between officials and the people. It’s a human relationship. You can't force it by force, but you gave him rice and meat to make a good relationship with him, why can't he accept it? If you don't accept it, isn't it ignorant of etiquette and unkind?"

The man asked, "If that's the case ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ why is the law forbidden?"

"The law establishes the great law, and the propriety obeys people's feelings. Now I teach you with propriety, and you will have no resentment; if I punish you with the law, can you accept it? You know, accepting money and giving money are the same crime! Accepting bribes is the same crime! Of course that pavilion chief is at fault, and you, the bribe-payer, are also guilty! We are all from the village, and we have friendship, so small mistakes can be avoided, and big sins can be beheaded. Go back and think about what I said. "

The li long and li elders who were listening in never expected that Xun Zhen would say such a thing. They raised their heads in amazement, looked at each other, and bowed down to the ground. Excuse me, beheaded for a big crime'. Xun Jun, your benevolence, the villain will only know today!" All the people who were onlookers fell to the ground and said in unison, "Xunjun's benevolence will only be known today."

Xun Zhen hurriedly turned around, lifted the two of them up, and said with a smile, "Why is this!" She looked at the people in the village who were bowing their heads, and saw Le Jin standing among them. Yue Jin was full of admiration. He was not a fool. He had already guessed that the complainant must have been specially arranged by Xun Zhen when he contacted Xun Zhen a few days ago.

——

1. Seeing the reason and committing sin.

"Seeing someone who knows someone breaking the law does not sue for it."

Any official who knows that someone has violated the law but fails to report it in time, or a criminal who corresponds to the sentence but does not sentence it, is a dereliction of duty.

2. Bribery and bribery are the same crime.

"A person who accepts bribes by perverting the law or doing bribes will all sit on his own (steal) as theft. The crime is heavier than the thief, and the heavier one will be considered." Corruption and theft are the same crime, and both offering and accepting bribes are guilty. There is also the crime of bribery in today's laws. Some people say that it was learned from the West. In fact, it was stipulated in the laws of our country as early as thousands of years ago.