Sui and Tang Dynasties: Awakening the Supreme Skills at the Beginning

"what?"

Hearing what the doorman said, Liu Zhiming was so frightened that his face turned pale. The wine glass in his hand fell to the ground with a "crack" and broke into pieces.

The rest of the people were also shocked and panicked, and they all looked at Cui Hun.

"Could it be that Scar Liu failed and was caught by someone?"

"No way! Scar Liu has been active in Guanzhong for more than 20 years, and his men are really skilled. How can that idiot's retired soldier take him down?"

Cui Hun immediately shook his head like a rattle and denied it.

After hearing what Cui Hun said, everyone felt relieved.

"What about the Chang'an County Government?"

Everyone was puzzled.

"Old Liu, is there something wrong with our gambling house again?"

Cui Hun looked at Liu Zhiming and asked.

At that time, the most profitable businesses in Chang'an City, apart from brothels, were gambling houses, and the Cui family had always held a large share of them.

"no!"

Liu Zhiming shook his head and denied it.

"That's strange. Let's ignore that for now and see what they say. We're just doing what's convenient for us!"

Cui Hun thought for a while and made the decision.

"Ok!"

Everyone nodded.

"Someone, let the squad leader come over to talk."

Cui Hun ordered.

"Yes," the concierge stepped back.

After a while, Zhuang Zhiqi, wearing the uniform of a squad leader and carrying a sword on his waist, came to the main hall.

Zhuang Zhiqi first bowed to Cui Hun, "Master Cui."

Cui Hun nodded slightly, "Zhuang Bantou, what are you doing in my house?"

Zhuang Zhiqi glanced around, then fixed his eyes on Liu Zhiming who was sitting next to him, and shouted loudly.

"Liu Zhiming, you've committed a crime. You blatantly hired someone to kill someone in broad daylight. Why don't you just roll over here and surrender?"

"what?"

Liu Zhiming screamed in shock, his face turned pale with fright, and a fishy liquid involuntarily flowed out from under his body.

"Someone, capture Liu the thief!"

Zhuang Zhiqi shouted coldly, and his runners rushed in like wolves and tigers, put iron chains and shackles on Liu Zhiming, and were about to arrest him.

"Bold, outrageous!"

Cui Lu slammed the table and stood up, shouting loudly.

"You lackeys of the government, what do you think of my Cui Mansion? How can we allow you to arrest people at will?"

Liu Zhiming couldn't help but feel refreshed, with a gleam in his eyes. He hoped that Cui Lu could intimidate these constables and runners.

Zhuang Zhiqi narrowed his eyes, and the constables around him drew their swords and strung their bows and surrounded him.

"Master Cui, are you sure you want to resist arrest? Even if you come before His Majesty, you will not get any good results!"

When Cui Lu heard this, he was stunned and his arrogance was reduced a lot.

Resist arrest? He didn't dare to do that. It was the early Tang Dynasty, and there were constant conflicts between the aristocratic families and the imperial power. If he openly resisted arrest now, what was the difference between that and rebellion? Wouldn't that be actively handing his handle to his opponent?

If the matter really gets to the attention of His Majesty Li II, not only will Liu Zhiming not be able to be protected, but the Cui family will also have to bleed heavily. It will definitely not be worth the loss!

"How dare I! How dare I! The village head is joking."

Cui Hun stepped forward, waved his hand, and bowed to Zhuang Zhiqi, "My son is so rude and disturbed the Zhuang Bantou's investigation. Please don't mind it. My Cui family are all law-abiding citizens. Since something happened to Butler Liu, my Cui family will never tolerate it and will definitely give the victim a satisfactory explanation!"

As he spoke, he quietly handed over an ingot of twenty taels of official silver from under his sleeve.

Zhuang Zhiqi accepted it calmly, then bowed to Cui Hun and said, "Goodbye!"

Liu Zhiming suddenly felt like the sky was falling and couldn't help but yell at Cui Hun.

"Master Cui, you must have a way to save me. I have worked hard for the Cui family for many years. Even if I have no merit, I have worked hard! I don't want to die yet. You must save me! Don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut and not say any unnecessary nonsense!"

When Cui Hun heard this, he was immediately frightened. Liu Zhiming was afraid of death and worried that the Cui family would abandon him, so he actually threatened them. How could this be tolerated!

He couldn't help but wave his hand and said in a low voice.

"Come here, change your clothes, I need to visit my superior."

He then gave Liu Zhiming a reassuring look. Liu Zhiming understood and said nothing more, allowing the bailiff to drag him away.

After the bailiffs left, Cui Hun took out a towel and wiped the cold sweat off his face.

Cui Lu stepped forward and said, "Father, if Butler Liu says something wrong, my Cui family will be doomed!"

"What do you want?"

"It's better than..."

Cui Lu made a beheading gesture, "Let him confess his crime and commit suicide!"

Cui Hun let out a long sigh and patted Cui Lu on the shoulder. "I will make my own arrangements for this. I will go visit the Chief Clerk Cui first, and then we can discuss it in detail."

"Okay, my son is relieved!"

Chang'an County Government Office, Reception Hall.

Li Shutong and Li Zhen were chatting.

"Junior brother, the Ministry of Personnel Poetry Festival will be held in two days. I wonder how you are preparing?"

Li Zhen smiled slightly, "Is there any need for preparation? I can write poems easily!"

Li Shutong frowned slightly. This junior fellow was good in every way except that he was a little too casual. He had hoped that Li Zhen could win the first place in the poetry meeting hosted by the Ministry of Personnel and bring honor to him as a parent official!

Li Zhen glanced at Li Shutong and knew that he was somewhat dissatisfied, so he changed the subject and talked about the locust plague.

"Brother, I recently discovered something. If we don't take action quickly, there may be a locust plague this year."

"Locust plague?"

Li Shutong was stunned, and the scene of the locust plague flashed in his mind.

Whether in the sky or on the ground, there were black and brown locusts everywhere. All the plants on the ground, whether they were crops, trees, fruits or vegetables, were all eaten up by the locusts, leaving no way for the people to survive.

If the locust plague occurs again, the Tang Dynasty may be unstable.

Li Zhen looked at Li Shutong's expression and smiled slightly, "Brother, don't be anxious. I have twelve strategies for killing locusts here, and I was just about to give them to you."

As he spoke, Li Zhen reached into his sleeve, pulled out a stack of papers and handed it to Li Shutong.

Li Shutong took it, looked at it carefully, and his frown gradually relaxed.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

"Junior brother, I never thought you were so talented that you even knew how to kill locusts!"

"I will go to the palace immediately to meet with my Lord and present the twelve strategies for exterminating locusts to him."

"If the opportunity is right, I will definitely recommend you to serve as an official in the imperial court. Please do not refuse when the time comes!"

When Li Zhen heard this, he was overjoyed. It would be great if he could become an official!

Then he stood up and bowed to Li Shuyi, "Junior brother thanks you first!"

"You and I are brothers, you're welcome!"

Li Shutong waved his hand, said goodbye to Li Zhen, took the stack of white papers, and hurried into the palace to meet the emperor.

In the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an County belonged to the capital county, and the county magistrate was a fifth-rank official with the right to go to the palace to meet the emperor.

Royal study room.

Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and Prime Minister Zhangsun Wuji were discussing matters.

At this time, a waiter came to report.

"Your Majesty, the Magistrate of Chang'an County, Li Shutong, wants to see you and present you with twelve strategies for exterminating locusts."

"Locust extermination?"

Li Shimin and the other two were stunned. The locust plague was deeply engraved in their minds.

In the second year of Zhenguan, there was a severe drought in Guanzhong and a locust plague broke out. The people were in an uproar and the Tang Dynasty seemed to be in danger of an earthquake.

As a last resort, in order to stabilize the people's hearts, Li Shimin was forced to issue an edict of repentance and take the blame on himself. This calmed the gossips of the people, but it gave the aristocratic families and political enemies many excuses. When he thought of this, Li Shimin wished he could die.

Now, Li Shutong comes to offer twelve strategies to kill locusts. Isn't this like receiving a pillow when you are about to fall asleep?

"Xuan!"

Li Shimin spoke, his face as gloomy as water.

After a while, Li Shutong arrived.

Li Shutong bowed to Li Shimin.

"Li Shutong, the magistrate of Chang'an County, kowtows to His Majesty, my Lord!"

In the Tang Dynasty, it was not popular for ministers to kneel when meeting the king. Generally, they just bowed. As for what was promoted in later TV dramas, they were all things that happened after the Ming Dynasty and had nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty.

"Be flat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Shutong stood at the foot of the dragon desk with his hands hanging down.

"Lord Li, I heard that you wanted to offer me twelve strategies for exterminating locusts. Is that true?"

Li Shimin spoke slowly, with no emotion on his face.

"Exactly!"

Li Shutong reached out, took out the stack of papers given by Li Zhen from his sleeve, and put it on the tray in the hands of the waiter beside him.

The waiter hurriedly brought the stack of papers to Li Shimin's desk.

Li Shimin picked up the stack of papers and looked at it carefully.

As he read on, his frown relaxed involuntarily, and when he came to the exquisite parts, he couldn't help but slap his hands on the table and exclaimed.

"Great, so great! If I had come up with this plan earlier, why would I have to issue an edict of guilt to defile myself?"

"Come here, auxiliary machine, take a look!"

As he spoke, Li Shimin handed the stack of papers in his hand to Changsun Wuji.

After seeing this, Changsun Wuji couldn't help but be overjoyed, but then his face darkened and he shouted coldly.

"You are so bold, Li Shutong. If you have such a good plan, why didn't you offer it earlier? The people of our Tang Dynasty have suffered from the locusts in vain!"

When Li Shuyi heard this, he was startled, but then his face returned to normal.

He bowed to Changsun Wuji and spoke.

"Please allow me to report this to you, sir. It is not that I am hiding something from you, but this plan was made by my junior fellow apprentice Li Zhen. In the early years, I did not even recognize my junior fellow apprentice."

When Changsun Wuji saw that Li Shutong remained calm in the face of his boss's questioning, he immediately nodded approvingly, thinking that this boy had a good character.

"Your junior brother?"

"Where are the others?"

Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji asked in unison.

Li Shutong bowed and answered respectfully.

"My junior fellow apprentice is from Shenxing Town, Chang'an County, and is currently farming at home."

Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji looked at each other, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes. Changsun Wuji asked.

"Besides these, what other specialties does your junior fellow apprentice have?"

Li Shutong was secretly delighted, but did not show it on his face.

"My Lord, my junior brother is an extraordinary poet. He can easily write a masterpiece that will amaze the world."

Li Shutong bowed and replied.

"Haha!" Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji laughed.

They naturally understand the psychology of their subordinates and often like to exaggerate.

Li Shimin waved his hand and asked.

"I wonder what famous poems your junior brother has written. Can you recite one or two?"

Li Shutong bowed to Li Shimin, then took a step forward, put his right hand behind his back, and began to recite a poem "Song of the Wine".

"If you don't see it, the water of the Yellow River will come up from the sky and rush to the sea never to return."

……

"You must be happy in life, and don't let the golden bottle face the moon."

……

"The five-flowered horse and the golden fur will be exchanged for fine wine, and I will sell the eternal sorrow with you."

When the poem ended, the imperial study was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

After a long time, Li Shimin woke up from his state of shock.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

"How can such a great talent be buried in vain in the countryside? I want to recruit him to serve as an official in the court to assist the government. Do you have a suitable position in your Ministry of Personnel?"