Chinese dining table

Chapter 1239: The Gentleman's Grace, Cut off in Three Generations
Yun Chu, wearing armor and a sword on his waist, sat in the middle of the Wannian County cafeteria to eat.

No one knew why the county magistrate came to the cafeteria to eat fully armed, and seeing that the county magistrate had a gloomy face, no one dared to approach him.

Even the Wu brothers don’t dare!
Wu Sansi stuffed a piece of strip of meat into his mouth and ate it, then leaned his head towards Wu Chengsi and asked, "Brother, do you know the reason?"

Wu Chengsi glanced at the horse lance behind Yun Chu and whispered, "His Majesty is coming."

Wu Sansi was shocked and spat out all the soup he had just drunk. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and blocked it with his sleeve.

Wu Chengsi stood still as a mountain, and said softly, "Your Excellency still has the badge of the Minister of the Interior hanging on his waist."

Wu Sansi, who had reacted, took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty came in person, but no one knew about it?"

Wu Chengsi put a piece of braised pork in his mouth and said, "Don't you know, my Lord?"

Wu Sansi didn't want to talk anymore.

The emperor came to Chang'an secretly without notifying anyone except Yun Chu. Just because of this trust, those people in Chang'an who wanted to laugh at Yun Chu became the ones being laughed at... or even died of laughter?

What Wannian County lacks the most is smart people. Wu Chengsi could see it, and so could Lu Xiu, Lu Zhaolin, and Yang Jiong. Even some of the experienced officials in Wannian County could vaguely see some clues.

Lu Xiu was so shocked that she threw away her chopsticks and hurriedly left the cafeteria. Some officials from Wannian County also left the table in dismay...

Yun Chu was eating his meal and ignored this scene.

Wu Sansi thought of his sleeves covered in broth and left the cafeteria as well.

Wu Chengsi looked at the sky that was covered with dark clouds and howling north winds, and calmly drank a mouthful of soup to clear his mouth, muttering to himself: "Clouds follow the dragon, winds follow the tiger, your Majesty is here, Xue Rengui should be here too, right?"

After Yun Chu had eaten and drunk his fill, Yin Erhu put a cloak on him, put on gloves, and helped him hold the lance. The master and servant then left the cafeteria and came to the gate of Wannian County Government.

Amid the howling gale, no one could be seen in the large square of the Wannian County government office. Only the notices on the signboard were constantly torn by the wind. Several pictures and graphics from other places on it were not posted firmly enough and were soon torn off by Lu Xiu.

In Yun Chu's opinion, shadow drawings and arrest warrants are useless. Even if the villain in the drawing is standing in front of Yun Chu, Yun Chu has no way to use the drawing to determine whether this person is the villain himself.

Yun Chu's cloak was blown back by the wind, and the road in front of the county government office was empty.

"It's snowing, clear the snow!"

In the biting cold weather, Lu Xiu was sweating profusely, and her whole body was like a basket of white buns just out of the pot, constantly emitting white steam.

The servant who came out with a broom looked at the ground that was cleaned by the wind and didn't know where to sweep.

"Just wait quietly."

Yun Chu's voice came out from under the visor, and everyone immediately stood behind him, staring at the intersection ahead without saying a word.

First, sixteen mighty cavalrymen suddenly appeared at the intersection, and the next moment, they came in front of everyone in Wannian County.

Yun Chu lifted his visor and looked at the leading cavalryman and said, "Whatever is necessary, let it be."

The leading cavalryman nodded, jumped off his horse, and drove away the group of people behind Yun Chu.

Yun Chu looked at Ruichun, who was frozen like a quail, and said, "Be patient for a moment, and you will have hot soup to drink."

Ruichun got off the carriage and stood beside Yunchu and said, "It is normal that you should not have sharp weapons on you when you are close to His Majesty. You are fully armed and look like you are going to fight. Do you think it is okay?"

Yun Chu sneered and said, "You dare to take His Majesty out for a trip with only a thousand elite cavalrymen as your escort. Ruichun, you should be executed according to the law!"

"A thousand elite Tang cavalrymen, no matter how weak they are, can protect Your Majesty for half an hour without any loss."

"So, reinforcements will arrive in half an hour, right?"

"This is a secret of His Majesty's guards. You have no right to know it."

Yun Chu asked, "Your Majesty, where are the guards staying this time?"

Ruichun sighed and said, "Xingqing Palace."

Yun Chu said: "Daming Palace and Taiji Palace are also very good."

Ruichun wanted to say a few more words when he saw a large carriage driven by Xue Rengui appear at the entrance of the street.

Li Zhi had just stepped off the carriage when Yun Chu, who had just finished saluting, hurried forward and said, "Your Majesty is too frivolous."

Li Zhi glanced at Yun Chu and said, "The way you pretend to be a loyal minister makes me want to vomit."

Yun Chu said: "It is the duty of a minister to give advice and remonstrance. If His Majesty does not listen after giving advice and remonstrance, it is no longer the business of this humble minister."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "You are indeed a slippery Yunchu. According to what you said, all the mistakes in the world are my fault. After all, you have already explained the pros and cons of all the affairs in the world in your memorials in the court, but I was the one who made the decision."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Yun Chu, who was dressed in military uniform, and said with disdain: "In Chang'an, do you think anyone would harm me?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "Six hours ago, I learned that Your Majesty had entered Chang'an, and I had already secretly blocked Chang'an. The market was closed, and the gates that should be closed were closed. The Sixteen Guards camps and the markets where the Hu people lived in the city were all under close surveillance by the Bad People.

Therefore, Your Majesty can rest assured in Chang'an."

"Six hours, plus the time it takes to get the message back, that means I only entered Chang'an eight hours ago, and you already knew I was coming?"

"This is the cultivation that a subject should have."

Li Zhi looked at the embarrassed Xue Rengui and said, "Go in and take a look at the place I'm going to today."

Yun Chu followed the emperor into Wannian County. Li Zhi glanced at the densely packed official residences on both sides and said, "Wannian County's official and clerk configuration is the best among all prefectures in the Tang Dynasty."

Yun Chu said: "The main thing is that there are 27 more rooms, each in charge of a certain area, and finally the six room heads will be in charge of each area. The 27 rooms are responsible for specific affairs, and the original six rooms are for supervision."

Li Zhi said: "We can't expand without limit. The number of clerks in the government office will only increase. Once they increase, it will be difficult to dismiss them. You have the ability to support so many officials, but the officials after you may not have your ability. When the time comes, there will be too many officials sucking the blood of the people, which will be a disaster for the people."

Yun Chu said: "Your Majesty is right. I will definitely guard this gate well and no useless person will be allowed to enter the government office."

The emperor came to the gate of Yunchu's official residence, looked at the obviously new doors and windows, turned around to look at Wu Chengsi and the Wu Sansi brothers and said, "Is this where you were beaten?"

The Wu brothers hurried over and bowed, saying, "This is where I received the teachings of Lord Yun."

Li Zhi smiled and asked, "Did you gain anything?"

Wu Chengsi said: "I have gained something, but my body is not strong enough to bear it, and I feel ashamed of the teachings of Yun Hou."

Yun Chu continued, "If it weren't for the fact that they are still useful in governing the local area and have a more thorough understanding of things, and sometimes they are used to take the blame, they would have been kicked to death by me a long time ago."

Li Zhi looked at Yun Chu, who looked disappointed, and then looked at the Wu brothers, who looked fawning, and laughed, "Speaking of which, they are all birds of a feather, so let's just get along.

By the way, you beat up the brothers, why didn't you beat up Lu Xiu as well?"

Yun Chu glanced at the sweaty Lu Xiu and said with a smile, "You are so stubborn. Seeing the Wu brothers being beaten horribly by me, you didn't even run away. You actually stood there and said to me - if you have the guts, beat him to death.

For a man like this, it is not enough to just beat him up. I gave him a book and told him to change his mind first. When his mind is clear, I can beat him up again, and it will be twice as effective with half the effort. "

Li Zhi looked at Lu Xiu and sighed, "It's still not presentable."

When Lu Xiu heard this, her knees went weak and she sat on the ground.

Yun Chu said, "Wannian County lacks a chief clerk who is not smart enough to keep an eye on the people. In a year, the tax revenue is nearly two million guan. If there is no loyal dog to watch over it, I will not feel at ease."

While Yun Chu was talking, he waited for the military eunuchs to check the official residence. After Ruichun took a final look, Li Zhi stepped into Yun Chu's official residence.

Li Zhi would not go to the Zhengyin Hall of Wannian County, because that was Yun Chu's real territory. If the emperor went in, it would be detrimental to the official authority that he had worked so hard to establish.

Generally speaking, when senior officials go down to the local level, they basically do not enter the local government offices.

Although the emperor had no taboos, Li Zhi was unwilling to do such a useless thing.

After Li Zhi, Yun Chu, Xue Rengui and Ruichun entered Yun Chu's official residence, all the utensils there had been replaced with those for the emperor only. Yun Chu's own things, except for a table, a chair and a pile of documents, were left.

Li Zhi sat down on Yun Chu's chair naturally, and curiously flipped through the documents on Yun Chu's desk, then threw them aside and looked around, saying, "It's still easier to worry about you here."

Yun Chu used the water, stove and tea sets brought by the emperor to boil a pot of tea. The one for the emperor was without sugar, but a large piece of yellow rock sugar was specially added for Xue Rengui and Ruichun.

Li Zhi took a sip of the tea and said, "It's so bitter, but it's amazing that you can drink it for decades without getting tired of it."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "When you taste bitterness, if you can occasionally taste a hint of sweetness from the bitterness, it is the greatest happiness in the world."

Li Zhi slapped the table and laughed, "So you added a lot of sugar to make your happiness more intense?"

Yun Chu laughed and said, "So, I suggest that when your majesty tastes bitterness, you might as well add some sugar to yourself. In this way, you can taste the bitterness and gain a lot of sweetness."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "Are you kidding yourself..."

Looking at Yun Chu chatting and laughing with the emperor, Xue Rengui held the boiling hot teacup and drank the can tea in sips. Xue Rengui didn't know what the can tea tasted like, but he did taste something else about the relationship between Yun Chu and the emperor from these conversations.

Just as Pei Xingjian said, they were all the emperor's subjects, and only Yun Chu could be considered half a friend of the emperor.

Why half?

The main reason is that being a friend of the emperor is very dangerous. Many emperors would intentionally or unintentionally clean out those who could be considered friends of theirs every once in a while.

It was extremely rare for Yun Chu to be half a friend of the emperor for decades.

Ruichun was a person with extremely sensitive senses. He clearly felt that since the emperor saw Yun Chu, his body and mind immediately relaxed. Not only did he smile more often, but his one eye also seemed extremely tender.

This is an expression that only an emperor would display when he is in an environment that he has complete control over.

He hoped that the emperor could maintain this state for a longer period of time, and not change the secretary supervisor at will, and not change the guards and maids around him at will...

Yun Chu was chatting with the emperor, and all he said was nonsense. In short, it was all irrelevant.

"In June of the second year of Kaihuang, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty issued an edict: "Now the region is peaceful and unified, and the yin and yang are in order. Move peacefully and do not harbor resentment. Longshou has beautiful mountains and rivers, and abundant plants and crops. It is a good place to build a capital city. The foundation of the capital will be forever solid, and endless achievements will be made here. The size of public and private government buildings, their distance, and construction costs will be reported accordingly."

Soon there was Daxing City, which is today's Chang'an. Han Chang'an stood for four hundred years, but its water supply and drainage were seriously problematic. Sewage often accumulated and could not be discharged, and the water was all salty and not very pleasant.

You are putting a lot of effort into cleaning up Chang'an now, but are you worried about this?"

Hearing the emperor's concerns, Yun Chu said shamelessly: "Chang'an is now being built on a thousand-year timeline, especially water supply and drainage, and garbage disposal is the top priority. The two visible and hidden canals that Your Majesty saw along the way can ensure that Chang'an's sewage will not leak out or seep in. It will flow into the moat and finally into the Wei River and the Yellow River, which will lead directly to the sea."

Li Zhi laughed and said, "How can there be a thousand-year-old city?"

Yun Chu said: "If there is a country that has existed for a thousand years, there should be a city that has existed for a thousand years."

Li Zhi said with amusement: "How can the Tang Dynasty last a thousand years?"

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "If someone else had said this, I would have already cut off his head."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "Listening to your nonsense always makes me so energetic."

Yun Chu said: "As long as the Tang Dynasty's spirit and vitality are not exhausted, a thousand years is not too long. After all, both the Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty lasted for four hundred years."

Li Zhi asked: "How can we keep the vitality of the Tang Dynasty from fading?"

Yun Chu said seriously: "As long as every decree and every national policy issued by the Tang Dynasty stands on the side of the majority of the people, rather than standing on the side of a few dignitaries, the spirit of the Tang Dynasty can be guaranteed not to be lost."

Li Zhi said: "Every emperor thinks this way and does this, but the result is completely different from the emperor's expectations. Even the emperor can do nothing about it."

Yun Chu smiled and said, "The grace of a gentleman will be cut off after three generations. If Heaven cannot cut it off, then Your Majesty should cut it off."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment and said, "This shouldn't be understood this way."

Yun Chu said proudly: "That's because we all misunderstood before. The achievements of one generation can only benefit three generations at most. After three generations, we have to work hard again to succeed."

Xue Rengui, who had been listening to Yun Chu's twisted theories for a long time, said, "How about starting with your Yun family?"

Yun Chu laughed loudly and said, "That is what I wish for, but I dare not ask for it."

(End of this chapter)