Sitting in the Prime Minister's Mansion, Wei Wuji looked at the bamboo slips in his hands.
Hou Ying sat next to him, waiting for his instructions. What Wei Wuji had in his hand was a reply from Zhao Kuo. Zhao Kuo often sent knights to deliver letters to him, telling him everything he saw in various places in Zhao. Wei Wuji just casually
After looking at it for a few times, he put the bamboo slips aside. Hou Ying smiled and asked, "What did Mr. Ma Fu say again?"
"It's still his experiences and greetings from various places in the Zhao Kingdom."
"Then what did he see?"
"What he saw is no different from what we saw in Wei." Wei Wuji said seriously. After hearing Wei Wuji's words, Hou Ying just smiled bitterly and did not ask any more questions. Wei Wuji sighed and said
: "Kuo has passed through Huyang and will not be able to come back within a short period of time."
Hou Ying pursed his lips and asked again: "Have you really made up your mind? Is it really worth doing this?"
"It's worth it...he will change everything. I believe in him. What about you?"
"I believe you."
"Then please make arrangements." Wei Wuji ordered. Hou Ying stood up slowly, bowed to Wei Wuji, and then walked out of the inner room. Wei Wuji stood up and arranged his clothes. He always
He has a lazy temperament and never cares about his own clothes. He and Jing Yang of Chu are the only nobles who can go shirtless and drink with the guests. Wei Wuji straightened his clothes, took out his sword, and wiped it carefully.
With.
King Zhao had just hosted a banquet for the nobles in the country not long ago, and now Wei Wuji hosted a banquet for them again.
Since Wei Wuji arrived in the State of Zhao, he has made many friends and got along very well with the nobles of the State of Zhao. He is forthright, informal, and loves drinking. These nobles are also willing to accompany him to drink. Wei Wuji's retainers are very
There were many of them, and these retainers also had the shadow of Wei Wuji. They would often find retainers of other nobles and make friends with them. Therefore, Wei Wuji quickly established a foothold in Handan.
Wei Wuji's retainers visited almost all the nobles in the country. When these people heard that the Prime Minister invited them to the banquet, they did not refuse and happily agreed to him. Only a few people such as Ji Xiang Yu Qing were very upset about this.
Yu Qing resisted and kicked the guests out. He hated the banquet. At the same time, he was very disappointed that Wei Wuji was going to hold the banquet.
However, Wei Wuji's retainers refused to give up. They stood outside Yu Qing's door. Another retainer came with Wei Wuji's letter and Wei Wuji personally invited him. Yu Qing walked out of the house helplessly, but his expression was still not the same.
very good.
Tian Dan was also unwilling to come. Wei Wuji personally invited him. I don’t know what they talked about, but Tian Dan actually agreed to Wei Wuji.
From Lieutenant Zhao Bao, to Generals Lian Po, Tian Yue, Yu Shi Zhao Hui, Zhi Shi Gan, Zuo Shi Pang Nuan, Erwen Shi Tian Dan, Ji Xiang Yu Qing, Si Kou Dong Chengzi, Zuo Si Guo Lou Xu and others, almost everyone in the palace
None of the officials, big or small, were left behind. As the night gradually became darker, these wise ministers appeared in Wei Wuji's courtyard.
King Zhao gave Wei Wuji a large courtyard, close to the palace, so that he could summon Wei Wuji at any time. Several nearby courtyards were also bought by Wei Wuji and joined together to accommodate his guests. Therefore, so,
Even though many talented people arrived here, the place would not become crowded. Wei Wuji's guests came out to greet these distinguished guests. In the courtyard, there were seats and tripods.
In this season, the wind is not too cold. It is also a good pleasure to light candles and hold a banquet in the night. The mutton in the cauldron is rolling up and down, exuding a rich fragrance, and various fruits are placed
On the table, it was very rich. The nobles admired Lord Xinling's generosity and stood up straight, waiting for the banquet to begin. They only waited for a moment before they saw Wei Wuji walking into the courtyard. Wei Wuji led Tian Dan away
Entered the courtyard.
Everyone looked at Tian Dan in surprise, not knowing how Wei Wuji persuaded him. After all, it was difficult for King Zhao to invite this person.
Wei Wuji leaned over and saluted everyone, and everyone returned the salute. Wei Wuji then smiled and sat on the upper seat. No matter whether he was the host or the country, he had no problem sitting on the upper seat. The ministers sat beside him. Wei Wuji
After giving the order, the banquet officially began. The officials were a little surprised to find that Wei Wuji had not drunk a drop of wine. He was neatly dressed, changed from his usual casualness, and began to truly look like a prince of a great country.
Wei Wuji chatted with everyone and continued his banquet. The retainers were busy around him. Wei Wuji's guests also left the courtyard to help. Wei Wuji looked at the ministers of Zhao State, raised his hand, and stopped everyone's conversation.
, he then said with a smile: "I invite you to the banquet this time not only because of my friendship with the second and third sons, but also because of my duty as the prime minister, I want to discuss political affairs with you."
"Hahaha, please tell me, we will obey your orders." Zhao Bao asked drunkenly. He had drunk a lot of wine, his face was red and his eyes were blurred.
Wei Wuji sat upright, looked at everyone, and asked: "What I ordered before was to rectify the Zhaoguo's officialdom, restrict the closeness of his retainers, remove incompetent villains, and recommend talented people. How did the second and third sons do?"
"We are all following your instructions. Please rest assured. I have already ordered my retainers and restrained them." Zhao Bao replied again. Wei Wuji nodded and waved to the side.
After waving his hand, Hou Ying immediately walked to him holding the bamboo slip. Wei Wuji took the bamboo slip, raised his head, glanced at Zhao Bao, and then said: "Your retainer has left to serve as an assistant to the lieutenant. The day before yesterday, just now,
He beat a young man from Handan to death and took his wife away."
"Your wife's brother De, who serves as the prison warden, accepted a bribe three days ago to replace two criminals who were sentenced with refugees and let the criminals go. These two criminals had brutally killed a mother and her child.
.”
Wei Wuji read a few more words, and the drunk Zhao Bao suddenly stood up and woke up. He looked at Wei Wuji in shock, widened his eyes, shook his head, and then said: "I don't know these things, I will go
Please forgive me for reprimanding them."
"If you want to reprimand, please do so now." Wei Wuji said, looking behind him, and suddenly eight guests walked out, each escorting the prisoner, and pushed them in front of Wei Wuji. Zhao Bao recognized them, and they all
They were his disciples and relatives. Their mouths were blocked and they were whimpering and speechless. Zhao Bao was about to speak when Wei Wuji put down his hand. The warriors drew out their daggers and stabbed them directly into their chests.
back.
These people fell to the ground one after another, roaring, squirming, and struggling for a long time. Finally, they became motionless.
Zhao Bao's eyes were red, he fell down, and shouted angrily, "Ji~Wu~Ji~", he read out Wei Wuji's name word by word, and roared: "What did you do?!"
, Wei Wuji stared at him coldly, pulled out his dagger, leaned over and struck out with the sword, decapitating Zhao Bao's wife and brother, lifted his head up, and threw it directly into the cauldron in front of him, looking at him ferociously.
He looked at Zhao Bao and asked, "This is the meat of a wicked person, do you want to take a bite?!"
Zhao Bao was so frightened that his face turned pale. He took a few steps back and suddenly fell on his seat. He looked at Wei Wuji in front of him tremblingly, speechless.
Wei Wuji signaled again, and more warriors escorted the officials out. Wei Wuji picked up the bamboo slips that fell on the ground, looked at Zhen Shigan not far away, and said: "The three county magistrates you recommended for the king are all
These cruel and shameless villains dared to privately increase the prescribed taxes six times! They forced nearly ten thousand people to death! As I said before, the person who was recommended made a mistake, and the person who recommended it will suffer the same punishment.
I gave you a chance to change your ways, but you actually want to help them destroy the evidence?!"
Wei Wuji roared angrily, and a group of disciples rushed from the surroundings. They were wearing armor and holding short swords. Everyone at the banquet was already stunned by what happened in front of them. Only a few people were not afraid. Lian Pomi
Tian Dan was still drinking his wine with his eyes closed, and Tian Dan was still eating the fruit. The others were all frightened, especially after they were surrounded by Wei Wuji's retainers.
Wei Wuji gave the order, and immediately some warriors came forward, pulled Gan Gan out, and killed him directly together with the county magistrate recommended by him.
"How dare you kill me? I want to see the Lord..." Before he even finished speaking, he was stabbed through, spurting blood, and fell to the ground.
Wei Wuji continued to give orders, and batch after batch of people were continuously sent in front of everyone. These people were not only officials around Handan, but some were even officials from Dai County and Yanmen County. They could not imagine how Wei Wuji captured them.
He lived with them and brought them back, unless he had this idea very early and went into investigation and arrest with different expressions just for this day.
Seeing the officials brought by Wei Wuji, the imperial censor Zhao Hui trembled. Wei Wuji glanced at him and said, "You don't have to worry. After you learned of my order, you reported several officials you recommended and sent them to the police."
The evil-doing guest was brought to Dong Chengzi, and you performed your duties well." Wei Wuji waved his hand, and immediately a guest came forward with a plate of gold and placed it in front of Zhao Hui.
"There are ministers who harbor evildoers and oppress the people, and they will be put to death, while officials who reform and recommend virtuous people will be rewarded." Wei Wuji said again, and then continued to kill. Wei Wuji killed many officials.
Not only officials, but also ministers were killed by him. The whole courtyard was covered with blood. Everyone was sitting on their knees, almost soaked in blood.
There were also three disciples of Dong Chengzi who had bad records, including Rong. Wei Wuji did not kill Rong because Rong did not conceal his crime. He killed the other two disciples who shouted that they were wronged.
Then he looked at Dong Chengzi, and Wei Wuji asked seriously: "If a guest makes a mistake, how should he punish his master?" Dong Chengzi, as a Sikou, stood up tremblingly.
He had always been close to Wei Wuji, but he had never seen such a terrifying side of him. He felt a chill in his back and wanted to say something, but couldn't. Seeing Wei Wuji's expression gradually becoming impatient, Dong
Chengzi just said: "The law does not stipulate...I think...it can be forgiven..." Listening to Dong Chengzi's voice that was distorted by fear, Wei Wuji couldn't help but smile.
"I think the head of the family should be allowed to compensate the person who was harmed by the retainer and pay the money and silk that he embezzled. What do you think?"
"You're absolutely right."
Afterwards, Wei Wuji had to follow Dong Chengzi's advice every time he dealt with a minister. When the courtyard was filled with corpses, Wei Wuji asked the warriors to come and clean it up. The warriors who stood behind the ministers and stared at them finally left.
, but even so, these ministers still did not dare to move. They were all frightened. Even if Wei Wuji smiled again and gently discussed the next thing with them, they were still very frightened.
Wei Wuji proposed to comprehensively rectify the government and let recommenders be responsible for the people they recommended. If they cover up the people they recommend, both of them will be guilty. Later, he also proposed to let all localities recommend sages for the palace, and every township of 50,000 people would recommend one person every year.
A city of 100,000 people recommends two people every year, and these talents recommended from the local areas must pass the assessment and then be assigned to serve as officials in various places.
No one dared to object, and everyone agreed. Even Lieutenant Zhao Bao was nodding his head stupidly at this moment. The scene just now scared King Zhao's father-in-law half of his life, and he is still in a daze to this day.
"I want to set up a school in Handan and recruit noble children. What do the second and third sons think?"
"good, very good."
"You're absolutely right."
"I want to recruit for the vacant local official position. Regardless of their origin, they can participate in the assessment. The capable people who pass can get this vacancy. What do you think?"
"good, very good."
Wei Wuji immediately decided on a new set of methods for recruiting talented people, which he had already discussed with Zhao Kuo. However, Zhao Kuo was planning to wait until he returned to Handan before the two of them implemented it together. The ministers did not know that Wei Wuji
Why do you care so much about the administration of officials, let alone why he kills people indiscriminately, but they are indeed afraid. In the State of Zhao, no minister has been killed for a long time since King Zhao came to the throne.
All the people were accustomed to such a leisurely life and to the favor of King Zhao. Such a scene was like a heavy hammer hitting them hard.
The warriors finally moved the corpse away. In the strong smell of blood, Wei Wuji smiled and discussed with everyone the governance of Zhao State. Rectifying the officialdom was only the first and most critical step. Zhaoguo's officialdom was already rotten to the core.
, The problem cannot be solved without killing people. Zhao Kuo's tour in the country can make local officials restrain themselves a little, but it cannot scare these favored talents in the palace.
When Wei Wuji ended the banquet, the officials fled from the courtyard in fear.
A retainer had already prepared a carriage for Wei Wuji, and Wei Wuji was rushing to the palace.
Hou Ying sniffed the disgusting stench and glanced at Wei Wuji again, his eyes filled with helplessness.
Wei Wuji looked at him and smiled, and asked:
"Righteous people come to save good people, and cruel people come to punish despicable evil people. Is there anything wrong with this?"