Quick Wear: I and the Female Match Share the Battle Shirt

Chapter 244: If you are not called Qingping, you can’t be happy (13)

"Can you read?"

The three of them nodded, and Li Qiao replied, "I've learned a little."

"Who taught you that?"

Li Hui said, "My mother."

Hu Miao was afraid that Lu Changqing might misunderstand, so he explained, "It was Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou's father was once a scholar in Shu. When she was young, she learned some characters from him. Later, there was a disaster and her father became ill, so he sold her. After many twists and turns, she finally came to Yanzhou. She had a miserable life."

Lu Changqing: …

She said how could someone like Li Shibin teach her daughter to read!

Lu Changqing asked Hu Xia to take him to meet Zhou Cai. Perhaps because of her wandering in her early years, she was not tall and was half a head shorter than Lu Changqing.

Hu Miao introduced the two parties to each other. Lu Changqing didn't say much and gave Zhou Cai a salary and asked her to count the number of literate people in the entire village based on the Three Character Classic. Hu Miao would assist her. She would ask Li Shibin to make it easy for them and asked the two of them to complete the count within two days.

"Why does the deputy envoy need to collect statistics on this?" Zhou Cai asked puzzledly.

"If you don't eat, you'll be hungry. If you don't read, you'll be stupid. I heard that Li Yuanhao set a trap not long ago. If it weren't for General Manager Xia, Li Dujian would have almost fallen for it. If he had read books and knew what a counter-espionage tactic was, he wouldn't have been able to see through Li Yuanhao's scheme."

Zhou Cai sighed, "I have also advised the official to study, but he did not listen."

"So the best he can do in his lifetime is to be a military supervisor. Jinming Village is so close to Yanzhou City. If he had shown some courage, the government would not have allowed me to temporarily manage Yanzhou."

Lu Changqing cited the example of the Zhe family next door who already managed the entire prefecture, and then said: "Your husband's career can be seen at a glance, but your children still have a chance. I can stand here today, and tomorrow it may be them."

It was very difficult for women to enter officialdom, but there were cases of them being granted titles of nobility and becoming prime ministers. However, when they made great achievements, fame and chastity had to give way to loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

In feudal society, no mountain could surpass the Mount Everest of imperial power.

Lu Changqing talked to Li Shibin about the literacy campaign, and the other party thought that Lu Changqing was just making trouble.

"Dujian, don't think my words are harsh. The reason I can sit here and talk to you today is because I have read a lot of books. If you can read a few more books, you will be the one sitting in the Yanzhou government office right now."

Li Shibin: ...You know what you said is unpleasant, but why did you still say it?

At the same time, Lu Changqing also met Li Shibin's four useless clerks and aides. They had read so many books but had no brains at all. They just watched Li Shibin being deceived. It was really an eyesore to have such useless people around, so Lu Changqing arranged for them all to go to literacy classes to teach the children in the village to read.

The next thing was to have a late-night chat with Li Shibin, asking Li Shibin to spend money to be a money-giving boy.

Li Shibin naturally refused. That was his money, and once it was in his pocket, there was no way he could take it out.

"Our goal now is to unite as one to resist Li Yuanhao's troops. If you defeat the Xia army this time, the court will definitely reward you! Zhe Jia Ji Min is now in charge of the entire prefecture, but you are still only guarding the Eighteen Jinming Villages. Don't you want to move up a level?"

Li Shibin was not fooled. "Yanzhou is the seat of Fuyan Road. How could the government hand over Yanzhou to me?"

Lu Changqing was speechless. How come his brain was working well again?

"Isn't there Linzhou down there?"

Li Shibin was a little moved, "Is this really feasible?"

"I am not afraid to tell the eunuch everything. I was originally the wife of the Shangshu Neisheng. Because of my outstanding knowledge and the emperor's favor, I was given my current job as an exception." Lu Changqing raised his eyebrows and said meaningfully: "Eunuch, you understand, right?"

Li Shibin understood that this person had someone above him, and that person was the emperor, so he readily agreed to distribute the money.

Fearing that as recorded in history books, the foreign soldiers in the village would rebel against Li Shibin due to their long-term dissatisfaction with him, Lu Changqing decided to let Li Shibin deliver the silver and money to each family.

Lu Changqing followed behind him and kept accounts. She recorded clearly the whereabouts of every sum of money and would never allow herself to end up in the same situation as Teng Zongqiong and Zhang Kang.

After distributing the money, Lu Changqing asked Li Shibin to start making mobilization speeches, which were nothing more than words to boost morale.

After returning home, Li Shibin felt very sad when he saw that his private storehouse was half empty. Lu Changqing persuaded him: "You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb. You obviously have tens of thousands of soldiers, but you are still no match for Zhong Shiheng. Now you have a chance to turn things around. Do you want to be outdone by him forever?"

Li Tongpan soon rushed over from Yanzhou with silver, money and books, and informed Lu Changqing that Fan Yong had arrived with several large boxes.

Lu Changqing kept Li Tongpan and asked him to teach with Zhou Cai and others.

It was no secret that Lu Changqing took office. Li Yuanhao, who sent people to the border every now and then to inquire about the news, soon learned that a female prefect had come to Yanzhou and was now staying in Jinmingzhai.

So Li Yuanhao, who looked down on Lu Changqing, made the same choice as recorded in history books. He secretly sent people to Jinmingzhai, promising high positions and generous salaries to persuade Li Shibin to surrender.

After Lu Changqing and his men captured the bandits, he chopped the bandits to death with a knife and then threw the bodies out of the village.

Seeing that this plan failed, Li Yuanhao came up with another one and sent a large number of soldiers to pretend to surrender.

Li Shibin was panicking now. Looking at the nearly two thousand people outside the village, he really couldn't make up his mind.

"Deputy Envoy, what should we do with so many surrendered soldiers? Should we send them all to the south?"

Lu Changqing shook his head and held a small meeting with Li Shibin and several of his confidants.

After the meeting, the men began to prepare as ordered. Lu Changqing stood on the platform and used a homemade loudspeaker to shout to the Xia soldiers outside the village, "You can open the door, but you must hand in all your weapons first."

The leader was unwilling to hand over his weapons, so Lu Changqing asked again, "Why? Don't you want to surrender? How dare we let you into the village if you don't even hand over your weapons?"

The leader replied: "Court envoy, can you swear that if we lay down our weapons, you will let us into the village."

Just swear, there is nothing to be afraid of!

Lu Changqing raised his left hand, four fingers pointing to the sky, "I, Bai Fuying, swear here that if the soldiers outside the city lay down their weapons, I will open the gates of the village. If anyone disobeys, he will be struck by lightning and die miserably!"

As the leader dropped his weapon with a clang, the soldiers behind him all threw their weapons to the ground.

"Take off all the crossbows tied to your waists, legs, and arms."

Then there was another clanging sound.

Li Shibin's son led people out of the village carrying bamboo baskets to pick up weapons. After Li Shibin's son came back to report, Lu Changqing nodded at him and took the two small flags from him.

Lu Changqing unfolded the red flag and shouted to the flag-waving soldier guarding the gate: "Open the door!"

The wooden door opened from the inside, and the team leader looked proudly at Lu Changqing on the platform.

Your Majesty is right. The Song court is indeed empty-handed. They actually let a woman guard the city. Li Shibin is a fool, and this woman is also a fool.

After all the Xia soldiers entered the stockade, Lu Changqing waved the blue flag in his hand and shouted, "Close the gate! Lock it!"

When the gate closed, the Li family guards in the village retreated together. Just as Xia Bing was looking at each other in confusion, Lu Changqing's voice sounded again above his head.

"Archers prepare!"

Suddenly, a large number of soldiers armed with bows and crossbows jumped out from all around the village and surrounded Xia Bing.

The team leader took a closer look and found that the bows and crossbows they had just handed over were still there!

The team leader didn't understand anything now. He turned around and looked at Lu Changqing with bloodshot eyes.

He was actually fooled by this woman!