The Minister of Works stared at Kou Ji in astonishment.
It was like hearing something unbelievable.
Kou Ji ignored his look and continued: "After you fell to the ground, you immediately sent someone to spread the word, saying that the Third Division refused to hand over the power assigned to me by the inner court to the Ministry of Works, and even beat people.
Then have someone carry you to the Chui Gong Hall and ask for an explanation in the inner court.
Or have someone carry you to Li Mansion and ask Li Zhen for an explanation.
Not only must we get back the rights to farmland, but we must also check the accounts and field records of the three divisions of farmland.
In the end, I had to ask Li Zhen for several thousand guan for the decoction and medicine.
But it's the same, you can't recover from your illness, so you have to stay at the door of Li's house."
The Minister of Works stared blankly at Kou Ji. After a long time, he lost his voice and said, "You... aren't you asking me to act like a rogue?"
Kou Ji glanced at him and said, "What's wrong with being a naughty person? Sansi tried to trick you first, why can't you be a naughty person for them?"
"But the reputation of being a lower official..."
"As long as you help the Ministry of Works gain power, all officials who serve in the Ministry of Works in the future will only praise you and not destroy your reputation. Not only will your reputation not be bad, but it will be improved to a higher level.
Maybe in the future, someone will extol your deceitful behavior as a story about outsmarting a treacherous minister or something like that."
"..."
The Minister of Industry was stunned for a moment after being fooled by Kou Ji.
But he was not stupid, and did not believe Kou Ji's words. Instead, he said with a troubled face: "Shangguan, why don't you go back to the Third Division to ask for power? You have more face than this official."
Kou Ji stared and scolded: "You are a minister of the Ministry of Works. If you ask for even a small amount of power, you have to ask me, a superior officer, to take action. So what does the Ministry of Works want you, a minister of mine, to do?"
"But……"
"This is the order I gave you!"
"..."
The Minister of Industry lowered his head and agreed dejectedly.
He still wanted to hang out in the court, so he couldn't disobey Kou Ji, the superior officer.
After he left Koji's tent, he stood outside the tent and thought for a long time.
Finally a decision was made.
He decided that if his reputation was damaged by his cheating, he would blame the matter on Kou Ji.
If, as Kou Ji said, it was a good story, then he would accept it decisively.
With the decision made, the Minister of Industry hurried back to Bianjing City and followed Kou Ji's instructions.
Just as he expected, when he went to the Third Division to ask for farm rights, the Third Division had no intention of handing over the power and made various excuses.
Then, he was "angry" by the people from the Third Division.
After he fell, someone immediately went out to spread rumors that the Third Division was unwilling to hand over the power of the farmland allocated to the Ministry of Works by the inner court.
In an instant, there was a lot of discussion in Bianjing City.
Kou Zhun and the others were furious and summoned Li Zhen into the palace for questioning.
After Li Zhen entered the palace, he was scolded by Kou Zhun and others in turn.
After Li Zhen returned to the Third Division, he scolded those officials in the Third Division who had offended the Minister of Works.
Then, someone threw some farm documents, account books, and field records to the Ministry of Industry.
But it did not hand over the main power of farming.
After the officials from the Ministry of Industry collected the documents, account books, and field records, they began to conduct an inventory according to Kou Ji's instructions.
Then the Minister of Works asked someone to carry him to the door of Li's Mansion and blocked the door of Li's Mansion.
Seeing this, the people gathered around to watch.
The door of Li's Mansion suddenly became crowded.
When Li Zhen returned to his mansion, he saw the Minister of Industry lying at the door of his mansion, and he almost died of anger.
Li Zhen pointed at the Minister of Industry and cursed him, accusing him of being a naughty person.
The Minister of Works ignored him and lay at the door of Li's house, saying nothing and refusing to leave.
The matter eventually reached the inner court again.
Kou Zhun personally came to the Third Division and urged the Third Division to hand over the power of farming to the Ministry of Works.
However.
The Minister of Industry did not give up even after he got the power to farm.
Still lying at the door of Li's house, refusing to leave, he told Li Shen confidently, "Who knows if your third division has taken bribes and perverted the law in the farming affairs? If you, the third division, have taken bribes and perverted the law, then our Ministry of Works will take over the job rashly."
Doesn’t the power of farming mean that you, the Third Division, will take the blame?”
Li Shen was so angry that he almost asked someone to beat the Minister of Works to death.
Li Shen was tricked by the minister of the Ministry of Industry and tortured to death.
Kou Ji didn't pay much attention to this matter.
He had already made up his mind that as long as the Minister of Works could handle this job well, he would leave the Minister of Works to continue to stay in the Ministry of Works.
If the Minister of Works cannot handle this job, then he will tell the Minister of Works to get out.
Rather than asking the Minister of Industry to demand power, he was more concerned about the resettlement of the refugees.
After the largest group of refugees arrived, refugees continued to arrive in Bianjing intermittently.
In three days, Kou Ji gathered more than 20,000 refugees.
The number of refugees in the refugee settlements has exceeded 130,000.
There is a big gap between the number of refugees resettled by Kou Ji and the number of refugees detected by the court.
The difference is a full 40,000 to 50,000 yuan.
No one told Kou Ji where these 40,000 to 50,000 refugees had gone.
Kou Ji didn't ask either.
He only learned some information from the scouts sent by Liu Heng.
On their way to Bianjing City, some refugees sold their children to traffickers and old bustards who rushed towards them smelling the smell of blood for some food.
Some refugees also fell on the way to Bianjing City.
There were also some refugees who were beaten to death when they made trouble on the road or robbed others of their food.
On the last day of the three days, Li Di sent someone to deliver a large amount of food to Kou Ji, and told Kou Ji that before the heavy snow closed the road, more food would be delivered one after another, and he would definitely deliver enough for the refugees to survive the winter.
food.
From that day on, Li Di sent people to resettle very few refugees.
Basically no more than a thousand people.
Someone told Kou Ji that there were still many refugees at the south city gate.
But Li Di did not send all the people over.
Kou Ji had some guesses as to why Li Di did this, but he didn't ask.
A person cannot survive for more than a few days without food to eat.
If he is still alive after more than ten days, there will be a big problem.
He may have eaten something he shouldn't have.
The imperial court could not tolerate such people, and the place where the refugees were settled by Kou Ji could not tolerate such people either.
Under Kou Ji's arrangement, the refugees finally built houses sufficient for them to live in.
Seeing that all the refugees had houses to live in, Kou Ji stood in front of the tent with a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
Countless living people's sense of accomplishment is indeed more satisfying than any other achievement.
Just when Kou Ji was standing in front of the rows of houses feeling proud, the old man walked up to Kou Ji with his hands behind his back, bent over, and wandering.
"My dear friend, we will go back in a few days."
The old man said to Kou Ji with a smile.
Kou Ji was stunned and asked: "Why are you so anxious to go back? There is no shortage of food here for you to eat?"
The old man smiled shyly and said: "The little old man has already received the food money paid by the court. There is no danger for you here. It would be pointless for the little old man to stay in Bianjing City any longer.
The little old man has to send the money back quickly and distribute it to the children in Baozhou who are still waiting for it."
Kou Ji stared at him for a while and said, "The officials know about your righteous deeds and want to confer an official title to you as the leader. Don't you want to accept it?"
The old man thought for a moment and shook his head, "I am old and don't know a few words. Once I become an official, I can't do anything. Since I can't do anything, why should I get the salary from the court in vain?
Instead of wasting time in Bianjing City, it is better to go back to Baozhou and teach those kids a lesson so that they will have fewer deaths when they go to the battlefield."
After saying this, the old man stared at Kou Ji and continued: "The little old man still has to go back and keep an eye on the children, to prevent them from getting carried away after they have money and food, and also to remind them all the time to remind them,
Who gave them a good life?
Don’t be ungrateful…”
Hearing the old man's words, Kou Ji suddenly felt that Baozhou's soldiers and civilians were not born with the ability to value affection and justice.
There are these old men who are grateful in their hearts, reminding me from time to time, and teaching me by words and deeds.
Kou Jicheng sighed and said, "Since you have decided to return to Baozhou, I won't stop you."
In fact, Kou Ji wanted to keep the old man in Bianjing City to help him seek wealth.
But the old man obviously had no intention of enjoying wealth. He seemed to just want to stay in Baozhou and stay with the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou.
When the old man saw that Kou Ji agreed, he let out a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that Kou Jiqiang would keep him.
Although Bianjing City is rich and prosperous, not everyone wants to stay there.
At least the old man doesn't want to stay in Bianjing City.
"There is something I want to discuss with you..."
The old man rubbed his hands nervously, as if what he wanted to say was a bit difficult to say.
Kou Ji said happily: "Just tell me, as long as I can do it, I will find a way to help you."
The old man rubbed his hands and said awkwardly: "Actually, it's not a big deal... The little old man was thinking that when the old man can't walk in the future, can he ask for a gatekeeper in the temple of you and the official family?
identity."
Kou Ji looked at the old man in astonishment.
The old man thought that Kou Ji was a little unhappy, so he quickly waved his hand and said: "Little old man, it's not for myself. Little old man just wants to stay in the Sheng Temple. He always reminds the dolls to remember to make offerings and don't let the incense burn out in the Sheng Temple.
.”
Kou Ji couldn't laugh or cry and said, "I don't mean to blame you. Now that you have spoken, from now on, the affairs in the temple will be left to you."
When the old man heard this, a bright smile appeared on his face.
"Then I won't disturb my benefactor, little old man."
The old man bowed his hands to Kou Jigong and walked away.
Kou Ji stared at the old man's back and said faintly: "When you die in the future, I will inevitably let you enjoy a share of incense in the living temple."
Kou Ji actually didn't care about the issue of incense.
He just felt that if the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou continued to worship and the incense continued, after the death of him and Zhao Zhen, the living shrine might be upgraded into a temple.
He and Zhao Zhen will also be canonized as gods and passed down from generation to generation.
People like the old man should also be praised from generation to generation.
The old man walked a few steps and seemed to have thought of something. He turned around and asked Kou Ji, "My benefactor, what are the houses you built next to Ruisheng Garden for?
When our people went on patrol in the morning, they heard some noises.
If the government officials hadn't stopped us, our people would have gone in to find out."
Kou Ji was stunned when he heard this, stamped his feet suddenly and said: "I was so busy worrying about the food rations for the refugees that I actually forgot about these guys."
"Quickly go find someone and give an order to the government officials guarding the place and ask them to release the people inside."
The old man said suspiciously: "Is there someone locked inside?"
"Some people made trouble when I resettled the refugees."
Kou Ji explained.
The old man hummed and said nothing.
He naturally dislikes anyone who causes trouble for Koji.
The old man casually summoned a man from the patrol horse guard who passed by him and asked him to help Kou Ji pass the order.
The man mounted his horse and rushed to the edge of Ruisheng Garden.
Then he stared at the government officials at the edge of Ruisheng Garden and opened the door of the house.
Immediately afterwards, I saw people walking out with glaring eyes and bloodshot eyes.
These people seemed to have suffered some great torture, and there was no figure in their eyes.
Like a group of lunatics, and like a group of walking zombies.
Even though that man was used to seeing dead people, when he saw these people, his heart twitched.
After all, there is nothing terrible about killing people with just a nod of the head.
What's terrible are the methods of torture.
There are some methods of torture that can be said to be inhumane.
The man took a deep look at these people, then rode back to write a reply to Koo Ji.
When he saw Kou Ji again, he was very silent.
When Kou Ji saw him, he quickly asked: "Have you been released?"
The man nodded silently.
Kou Ji continued to ask, "Are there any dead people?"
The man shook his head.
Kou Ji breathed a sigh of relief. If the person was imprisoned to death due to his negligence, then he might feel a little guilty.
After all, those people's sins do not lead to death.
"How are they doing?"
Kou Ji continued to ask.
The man twitched the corner of his mouth and did not answer.
Kou Ji immediately realized that the man might have seen something bad.
He didn't chase after them to get to the bottom of it, but hurried to those people.
After Kou Ji left, the man came close to the old man and whispered: "Chen Matou, I just saw..."
The old man raised his hand, interrupted the man's words, clasped his hands behind his back, and said calmly: "No need to say more... It is understandable that my benefactor used some extraordinary means to manage the refugees.
After all, if those refugees make trouble, many lives will be hurt.
My benefactor also thought about the lives of more people."
The man hesitated to speak, but finally nodded obediently.
The old man then ordered: "Don't tell others what you saw."
The man was a little dazed.
The old man didn't give any extra explanation.
The reason why he didn't let the man spread this kind of thing was because he didn't want to damage Kou Ji's perfect image in the hearts of the soldiers and people of Baozhou.
When he did this, he was not simply protecting Kou Ji.
But I don't want the newly born cohesiveness of Baozhou's soldiers and civilians to disperse because of this incident.