But this is not a good thing either.
Liu Bang was walking in the streets and alleys, heading home.
He held a bronze artifact in his hand, which was given to him by the magistrate today.
He examined the bronze artifact in his hand, feeling somewhat eerie:
"Is today's magistrate's brain kicked by a donkey?"
Just now.
The magistrate mysteriously came to find him and asked,
"Do you have any close connections in the court?"
Liu Bang looked bewildered and said, "There is no one close to me."
He pondered for a moment and then remembered an old friend he had seen ten years ago:
His elder brother Zhaozi!
Qin Shi Huang's teacher, now the imperial tutor.
They haven't been in touch for a long time.
"My elder brother should be doing something in the court."
Liu Bang looked into the magistrate's eyes and replied.
He dared not say that his elder brother was the teacher of the emperor——
If this were to be said out loud, the magistrate would definitely find a reason to punish himself.
Liu Bang's words had just come out when the magistrate, who was not smiling, suddenly brightened up. He quickly asked:
"What position does your brother hold in the court?"
"Is he a high-ranking official?"
Liu Bang nodded and said, "He is a high-ranking official."
"That explains it."
The magistrate showed a thoughtful expression and said:
"Alright, you don't need to patrol the village streets this afternoon either."
"From now on, you should take more rest and not hurt your body."
"Are you going to marry Lady Lv soon? Here, take this with you."
The magistrate handed him a bronze artifact and said, "This will serve as my wedding gift to you."
Liu Bang looked thoroughly surprised:
"Is the sun rising from the west?"
Bronze artifacts are rare items. The magistrate probably doesn't have many in his possession. How come he thinks of giving them to me?
"Sir, what do you mean by this? This is not allowed..."
He was about to refuse, but the magistrate pushed the bronze artifact into his hand:
"Take it."
"Just help your brother say a few words for me in the court, alright?"
The magistrate's eyes smiled with sincerity, "This thing, was my wife's dowry when she was married in the past."
"This thing is yours. Brother's future promotion depends on you."
Liu Bang was even more puzzled, "What's going on?"
The magistrate patted Liu Bang's shoulder and smiled, saying, "You'll find out when you get home."
"You're so well-connected that I didn't expect it from you."
Looking at the magistrate's demeanor, Liu Bang suddenly felt something was odd:
What's going on?
"Is it possible that my elder brother Zhaozi remembers me?"
Liu Bang immediately realized the only possibility.
Liu Bang didn't care about all this anymore.
Rarely taking a vacation, Liu Bang would naturally take a good rest.
He walked along the road with the bronze artifact in hand, greeting his villagers.
"Liu Tingzhang, good day!"
"Xiao Bo, how are you?"
"Head Official Liu, you've been working hard!"
"Serving the people!"
Throughout the rural area, almost everyone had a good impression of Liu Bang——
As an official of the court, Liu Bang had always been a typical figure to the elders in the village.
"Have you eaten, Liu Tingzhang? Come and eat at my home. Today, I've got the braised bean curd sticks that are especially delicious!"
"Head Official Liu, is that bronze artifact in your hand the gift for your father-in-law?"
Hearing this, Liu Bang smiled and said:
"How could this be a gift for his father-in-law?"
"It's for my mother. She always thinks about wanting a heirloom, doesn't she?"
He certainly wouldn't give such a precious item to the family of Lady Lv.
"Does the Lv family need this?"
"Better to give it to my mother!"
The family of Lord Lv has always looked down on him.
Lord Lv originally came from Dang County, but moved to Peixian County to avoid persecution.
Although he was rich and very wealthy——
In this patriarchal society, power ultimately boils down to being slender.
Then, alliances with local aristocrats can be a way to rapidly increase power.
He first set his eyes on Xiao He and Cao Shen.
Both of these were local powerful families, considered to be a match made in heaven.
But after investigating, it was discovered that both Xiao He and Cao Shen had already married, and their families had anti-outsider factors, so they looked down on Lord Lv as an outsider.
Lord Lv had to settle for second best and found Liu Bang and Fan Kuai.
Liu Bang was half a local person, though not of high status, he had a wide network and was well-liked by both the black and white communities, with everyone giving him face.
Although Fan Kuai was engaged in a low-end business like selling dog meat, he was tall and powerful, with a natural demeanor that resembled Zhu Xie.
Lord Lv's recruitment of the two of them was equivalent to "both culture and martial arts," with Liu Bang providing networking opportunities to restart a business, and Fan Kuai serving as a "hired gun" to protect his family's safety.
But as much as that may be said, life in the Si River area after coming from a patriarchal society was not so easy.
Fan Kuai was a butcher, and this business in ancient times could be considered a good fortune.
After all, the people who can afford to eat meat are the local strongmen, so naturally Fan Kuai would often visit noble families.
But Liu Bang was a roamer warrior.
In this era, harsh taxation and punitive measures were the norm for the kingdom.
This is the great Qin.
This is the Qin Dynasty, with the heaviest taxes among the countless feudal dynasties in China!
Farmers would seek protection from "elders" against such taxes.
The "elders" depended not on the "officials" sent by the court, but on the "officers" from the local area.
For example, an officer in Pei City, such as Xiao He and Cao Shen, were Liu Bang's closest friends.
They were not the kind of officers that served as successors, but a hidden identity that took on the responsibility of suppressing the strong and helping the weak, similar to a bandit leader.
They all had a few secret farmer groups who helped them, and they also controlled the entire village where these groups were located.
This is why Liu Bang was looked down upon:
"You, a people-friendly person, are in the same world as us?"
Lord Lv was a man of reason. He knew that Liu Bang's things were what he needed the most.
Lü Zhi also had a high regard for Liu Bang, and her exact words were: "A young rover warrior; isn't he a good match for me?"
However, within the Lü family, there were still some objections to Liu Bang.
Liu Bang held the bronze artifact in his hand and walked to the door of his home, knocked on the door: "Father and mother, I'm home."
The sound of drums and cymbals could be heard from inside the door.
"We welcome the union of Liu and Lü families!"
"Grandmother, you're really amazing, to have such a remarkable child!"
"The Lü family has really been blessed. They've caught such a precious son-in-law."
Liu Bang was taken aback.
What's going on here?
This voice sounds like it's from some of the high-ranking officials sent by the county government?
How did they come to his own doorstep?
When Liu Bang knocked on the door, Liu Bang's old mother quickly opened the door and couldn't help but show her joy in her face.
"Child, you've finally returned!"
"Why didn't you tell your mother earlier about such a big thing you've done?"
"When I saw these officials at our doorstep just now, I was worried that you had done something wrong again."
She wiped the dust off Liu Bang's shoulders and said, "Were you tired?"
Come in quickly. In the future, the Lü family won't look down on us anymore."
Liu Bang walked into the courtyard and saw a large group of government officials.
He immediately froze:
Who are you?
Inside the door, the head of the officials saw Liu Bang entering and immediately stood up, bowing respectfully and saying:
"Emperor of heaven, by mandate and decree: "
