Han officials

Chapter 56: People become better with age

The person who spoke was Gao Peng, a powerful man in Zengdi County, and he was also the first person to send Meiji to Wei Zhe.

As soon as he finished speaking, the head of the Peishui Ma family across from him immediately echoed, "That's right. Since he took office, we've been extremely respectful. I'm not afraid of being laughed at. If he just asked, I'd even be willing to send my own daughter as a slave. But this man is really going too far!"

Encouraged by the two, the faces of the powerful leaders in the hall couldn't help but look a little ugly.

You have to know that when Zhang Qi was the prefect of Lelang, they had never suffered such injustice.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the field was almost heated, Gao Peng immediately looked up at Wang Duan and said, "My Lord, I don't think we need to be polite to that guy! Which family doesn't have hundreds of soldiers? If the time comes, even thousands of young and strong men can be gathered. Why put yourself in such a difficult position?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the field suddenly tensed, and many family heads were tempted.

Just as Gao Peng said, if they joined forces, they could definitely gather tens of thousands of soldiers.

When they thought about the fact that they had tens of thousands of soldiers under their command and still had to worry, some of them suddenly became impulsive.

However, Wang Duan was an experienced man, so how could he be deceived by such low-level instigation?

He looked at Gao Peng in the hall with a half-smile and said sarcastically, "I didn't know that Master Gao was so proficient in military tactics. But why didn't I see you go and destroy those evil people in previous years?"

I have to say, the old fox is an old fox. He calmed everyone down with just one sentence.

Indeed, if numbers were useful, the Yellow Turban Army would not have lost, and the seven tribes of the Xianbei would not have been destroyed by Wei Zhe.

After all, Wei Zhe had only 4,000 cavalrymen in total, but the seven tribes of the Hubei had more than 200,000 people.

No one present is a fool. Being extremely bold does not mean they are not afraid of death.

For a moment, the old men laughed again and asked Wang Duan for other ways to deal with the situation.

Seeing this, Gao Peng and others could only sit down with gloomy faces.

After this group of people left, a tall young scholar came out from the inner room.

Seeing that Wang Duan, whose hair and beard were all white, looked tired, this person immediately stepped forward to support him.

"Father, why waste your breath on such people?"

However, Wang Duan said nothing after hearing this. After drinking a few sips of honey water and regaining some energy, he sighed and said, "I'm old, and there's not much I can do for you anymore."

At this point, Wang Duan touched the young scholar's hair with a melancholy look, and said with emotion, "Duke Wei of Wei is not an ordinary man. These people are definitely no match for him. However, these people are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. If they really start a rebellion, it will be enough to cause heavy losses to Lelang County. I understand this, and so does Duke Wei of Wei."

"Since you have accepted Duke Wei's invitation, then use this achievement as a gift!"

This young Confucian scholar was Wang Jun, the eldest grandson of Wang Duan.

Ever since Wang Duan's only son died suddenly in his prime, he has devoted himself to raising this grandson.

It is said that this time Wei Zhe wanted to use the title of "Xiaolian" in exchange for the cooperation of the Lelang Wang family, but he did not expect that Wang Duan actually refused. Instead, he took the initiative to let his eldest grandson serve in the county government.

If not for this, Wang Duan would not have spoken up for Wei Zhe at the party just now.

Wang Jun naturally understood the old man's thoughts.

However, there was one thing Wang Jun didn't quite understand. He asked in confusion, "Father, why don't you let me go to Luoyang?"

Wang Jun didn’t feel sorry for the position of filial and honest official. After all, if he missed it this time, there would be another one next time.

Compared to this, he was very curious about his grandfather's choice.

You know, if he was recommended as a filial and honest official, he could go to Luoyang to be a Lang, which would obviously have a brighter future.

Faced with his grandson's doubts, Wang Duan thought about it and finally spoke his true feelings.

He said helplessly with a bitter look on his face, "Alas! The waters of Luoyang are too muddy. It's not something a small family like us can meddle with!"

It is said that filial and honest people are the ladder to success in officialdom, but countless filial and honest people eventually become ordinary people.

Now is no longer the time of founding the country.

Nowadays, people compete with each other for their origins and family background. Although the Wang family of Lelang has some strength in the border counties, they are no different from local tyrants in Luoyang.

Of course, Wang Duan actually had something else to say.

In fact, Wang Duan was really afraid of the frequent turmoil in the political situation in Luoyang.

After all, he had personally experienced the first Party and Faction Persecution.

At that time, Chen Fan and General Dou Wu discussed the extermination of the eunuchs, but the plan was leaked. The eunuch Cao Jie and others immediately forged the order of Empress Dowager Dou and induced Duan Jiong to lead troops to kill Dou Wu and others.

Chen Fan was already over seventy years old at that time. Wang Duan still remembers that day when he heard about the rebellion, Chen Fan, whose hair and beard had turned white, resolutely led his officials and more than eighty students to draw their swords and rush into Chengming Gate.

In the end, Chen Fan was killed, and the Party and Faction Persecution that shocked the world occurred.

However, unlike other people, Wang Duan did not sympathize with those celebrities. Instead, he felt more pity for the more than 80 Taixue students who died with Chen Fan.

These people may be as insignificant as ants in the eyes of the nobles in Luoyang, but they are all well-known young men in their hometowns!

The situation at that moment is too similar to the current situation.

Wang Duan didn't want his most promising grandson to become a victim of court intrigue in the future!
However, he was sincere in letting Wang Jun serve in the county government.

Wang Duan smiled benevolently as he stroked his beard. "Don't worry, my dear grandson. I've noticed that Duke Wei placed great emphasis on farming when he was in Daifang, and he certainly does now. If he develops water conservancy projects, your accomplishments will surely be unmatched in the county."

This is not Wang Duan bragging.

After all, the notes left by Wang Jing when he was controlling the flood, as well as the various books on flood control and summaries of experience in local governance that he collected later, were all hidden in the Wang family's secret cabinet.

Although Wang Jun's talent was only average, he had a calm temperament. Therefore, he delved deeply into water conservancy and inherited a lot of the true teachings from his ancestors.

……

Not long after, Wei Zhe received news from Wang.

After reading the letter, Wei Zhe immediately nodded with satisfaction.

He wants to kill the powerful, but Lelang must not be in chaos.

After all, the damage caused by one day of war may take several years or even more than ten years to recover, and Wei Zhe does not have that much time to waste.

In this regard, the old fox Wang Duan really helped a lot.

Of course, what satisfied Wei Zhe the most was that he was shameless enough.

Looking at the thick pile of evidence related to Zengdi Gao's crimes in the box, Wei Zhe would have eaten the box if it had not been premeditated!

However, even though he laughed, Wei Zhe couldn't help but feel his veins bulging after reading the evidence. He had underestimated the shamelessness of some people.

Wei Zhe slammed the letter in his hand onto the table and shouted angrily:
"Bo Yuan!"

"exist!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Hu immediately bowed and obeyed.

"Take my order and lead 500 cavalry to attack Zengdi immediately. Command the local county troops and destroy the Gao family in Zengdi!"

Upon hearing this, Zhong Hu immediately took the order and left.

Seeing this, Wei Zhe's anger subsided a little.

There is no way, it’s because Zengdi Gao family is so shameless.

Doing business with Goguryeo and selling weapons is one thing, but actually selling Han people to Goguryeo as slaves? This is simply the height of betrayal!

It is because there are too many beasts like this that the jurisdiction of Lelang County is shrinking.

If he doesn't kill these people, Wei Zhe's thoughts will be difficult to understand!

(End of this chapter)