The distance between Qianhu Village in front of Xiahe Village and Lingshan Guard is neither far nor too close. Liu Yan, Chen Xun and others rode their horses for most of the day before arriving at Lingshan Guard in the evening. .
Seeing the huge Lingshan Acropolis again, Liu Yan's mood was completely different from when he went north to Qingzhou. At this time, Liu Yan's heart was full of joy, and he had a mood of returning home in rich clothes.
"Integrity officer Hu Zongming is okay, but I don't know what the attitude of those civil servants is."
In the late Ming Dynasty, civil servants were famous for their discrimination and suppression of military generals. A seventh-grade county magistrate dared to point his finger at the nose of a fifth-grade military attache with thousands of households and curse loudly, but the military attache who was scolded did not dare to reply a word. This is The current situation between civil and military forces in the late Ming Dynasty.
Chen Xun said with a smile: "Sir, ignore those snarky scholars. What are their abilities? If they are really capable, let them go to the battlefield and cut off a few heads and come back to see!"
Liu Yan waved his hand noncommittally and told Chen Xun: "When you meet those superiors later, please don't talk nonsense."
"Yes, I understand."
The conduct officer's residence was not far from the south gate of Lingshan Guard. When Liu Yan and others arrived, conduct officer Hu Zongming had already led a group of officials to greet them at the entrance of the residence.
Upon seeing this, Liu Yan hurriedly led his troops to dismount and saluted Hu Zongming with clasped fists.
"This subordinate has met your Excellency!"
Although Liu Yan was not interested in Hu Zongming, his ability in the Battle of Yaoshan did not impress Liu Yan. But Hu Zongming was Liu Yan's superior officer after all, and at least he took good care of Liu Yan after the war, and Liu Yan was happy to give him face.
At this time, Liu Yan said with emotion: "Why do you, my subordinates, bother me to wait here? It's really embarrassing for me!"
Hu Zongming laughed and said: "Liu Qianhu, there is no need to be so polite. You are a great contributor to our Lingshan Guard. According to Governor Yan's evaluation of you, let alone greet you here, even if I lead the team to Xiahe It's okay for thousands of households in front of the village to invite you."
What Hu Zongming said is all true. Relying on Liu Yan's military exploits in the battle on Yaoshan Mountain Road, the Lingshan Guards, including the governor Yan Jizu and other officials, were able to successfully pass the battle when the Qing troops entered the pass.
You must know that Emperor Chongzhen was extremely angry at the performance of various Ming armies this time. He had already arrested more than thirty people of rank three or above. The experience of the military generals was even more miserable. As long as it was found that they were defeated or were involved in the defeat, they would be beheaded on the spot. Eighteen people were beheaded just for the fifth-grade and above military generals!
In such a general environment, relying on Liu Yan's military exploits, Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, passed the test without any danger, and remained in a high position with merit and demerit evenly balanced. Lingshan Wei and other Shandong generals not only passed the test smoothly, but also Many people have been promoted due to merit. Such a result can only be said to be a miracle.
At this time, Hu Zongming said this, and the officials around him had different expressions. Liu Yan also noticed the expressions of these people. Looking at the official uniforms, these people were all civil servants in Lingshan Acropolis.
Liu Yan clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty's words will offend my subordinates!"
"Haha, let's not talk anymore. Let's go in. The banquet is ready. We won't come back until we get drunk today!"
After saying that, Hu Zongming pulled Liu Yan into the official residence. Chen Xun followed him in with a group of night guards and guards. However, when entering the second courtyard gate, a group of soldiers were arranged by Hu Zongming A chief flag officer led him away to eat and drink in the side courtyard. Only Chen Xun followed Liu Yan into the main hall of the backyard.
The civil servants following Hu Zongming and Liu Yan mainly heard about Hu Zongming's appreciation for Liu Yan, and also heard that Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, also admired him, so they came out to greet them.
At this time, everyone looked at Hu Zongming smiling and chatting with Liu Yan while walking. Although these civil servants also chimed in from time to time, the sense of superiority in their bones still made people uncomfortable. Chen Xun was behind Liu Yan. After curling his lips, Liu Yan looked calm and chatted and laughed with Hu Zongming.
After the greetings were completed, everyone came to the main hall of the mansion. Hu Zongming smiled and waved, and everyone took their seats one by one.
At this time, Hu Zongming, the ethics officer, introduced a group of colleagues to Liu Yan. Liu Yan saw a large number of civil servants wearing black gauze and green official uniforms, embroidered with quails or practicing magpie patchwork. Most of them were ninth grade. Strictly speaking, there are no civil servants in the Lingshan Acropolis, such as petty officials or miscellaneous officials. These people should all be considered officials in a strict sense.
Among this group of people is Lingshan Wei Confucianism Zhengfu Zhang Wenqi, and behind him are Confucianism instructors Jiang Hongzhi and Huang Rixun.
There were also Lingshan Guardsman Mu Wenyuan, Beihuangcang Ambassador Wang Ju, Secretary Qi Guan and others. At this time, they saw that a warrior with a background as a flag officer had now become the defense officer of a city. They all found it incredible.
In addition, there is the Dianke Dynasty of the Department of Medicine, from whom Liu Yan once took Bao Xuezhen away.
There is also Lingshan Guard Hu Daguan, a strong middle-aged man. He is in charge of more than 200 people in the city. These people are under the jurisdiction of the ethics officer in peacetime and controlled by ethics in time of war. Hu Daguan seemed to admire Liu Yan very much, and his face was full of admiration for Liu Yan at this time.
Liu Yan also noticed that behind the conduct officer Hu Zongming, in addition to Ji Xianhai, the defender of the Zhongqianhu Station, and Tang Jingming, the defender of the Jiaozhou Qianhu Station, there were also a group of squires from the Lingshan Guard. They all have no good feelings toward Liu Yan.
At first, Liu Yan was a little confused. He should have no chance of offending these gentry. But after thinking about it carefully, Liu Yan figured it out.
It should be Liu Yan who implemented new policies in Wangjiazhuang. Not only did he lead military households to reclaim wasteland and distribute cultivated land and farm tools, but he also implemented relatively low land taxes at this time. Such things were extremely attractive to farmers.
Many tenants in these gentry families escaped, and many of these escaped tenants fled to Wangjiazhuang and became military households under Liu Yan's rule.
"If that's the case, then don't blame me. If not, blame you vampires for being too greedy!"
Liu Yan wanted to understand the connection and stopped paying attention to those gentry.
At this time, after Hu Zongming introduced all the civil servants, he smiled and invited everyone to sit down. This banquet was held in a small hall on the side of the main hall, with three tables.
Liu Yan walked into the small hall and took a look, only to see that the table was already full of delicacies.
However, compared to yesterday's military attache's banquet, these delicacies were obviously a little plain and a little more elegant. They lacked the big fish and meat of the military attache's banquet, but there were many more vegetarian dishes, as well as elegant and meaningful dishes.
After everyone sat down, the banquet began with the conductor Hu Zongming holding a cup.
However, unlike the military attache's banquet, the civil servants and gentry present were not as dissolute as the military attaché, and the banquet among literati was even more boring.
Hu Zongming entertained Liu Yan. After some polite greetings and some nonsense about civil and military cooperation, reporting to the king, and sharing the worries of the holy king, a group of literati and squires present proposed to write poems and lyrics, and the people present proposed to write poems and lyrics. The prostitutes played and sang the zither on the spot. They were all in high spirits. They composed one poem after another and composed one song after another. The more they wrote, the more cheerful they became.
Chen Xun only drank two glasses of wine, then yawned and had no intention of eating or drinking anymore. When Liu Yan saw such a scene, what else could he do besides keep smiling?
Hu Zongming once asked Liu Yan to compose a few poems as a courtesy. Liu Yan knew nothing about composing poems and believed that 99 out of 100 time-travelers did not have the ability to compose poems. Of course Hu Zongming didn't believe that Liu Yan, a martial artist, had the talent to write poetry. When Liu Yan declined, he didn't force it, he just showed off his talents.
At this time, Hu Zongming became very popular in poetry and composed one after another in public. His cadence of voice attracted applause from one to another. The civil servants and gentry kept high-fiving and praising each other, turning the banquet into a poetry contest, leaving Liu Yan speechless.
However, Hu Zongming's performance surprised Liu Yan. He did not expect that an ethics officer in a guard station would have such talent.
Ji Xianhai, the defense officer of Zhongqianhu Station next to him, saw the confusion in Liu Yan's eyes, so he came over and whispered: "Master Hu also spent several years in a private school with famous teachers. Although he was a military attache, he was also very talented in literature. Not bad. Otherwise, Mr. Li, the former conductor, would not have used our Mr. Hu so highly."
Liu Yan nodded to express his understanding. He didn't expect the conduct officer Hu Zongming to have such ability. He really looked down upon others.
After finishing the poem, the civil servants and gentry talked loudly again, talking about Lao, Zhuang, Confucius and Mencius. Liu Yan listened carefully, but he had no profound insights.
Looking at the officials chatting happily, Liu Yan fell into deep thought. After yesterday's and today's banquet, Liu Yan felt deeply disappointed with the officials of Lingshan Guard. Whether they are the civil servants in Lingshan Acropolis or the generals in Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village, they all have the same virtues: timid and arrogant, corrupt and greedy. The people who talk about empty talk and make promises in history books are probably referring to this kind of thing.
The bigger the city, the more degenerate the officialdom is. This is true for both civil servants and generals in the thousands of homes in front of the Lingshan Acropolis and the small Xiahe Village. Presumably the more prosperous places are even more unsightly.
In the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, the world has experienced a glorious civilization. Until now, at least in the officialdom, it has been completely broken. Now Liu Yan has never seen any of the eunuchs, but they must not be much better.
From Liu Yan's feelings about Hu Zongming, Hu Zongming seems to have a certain ambition, but he prefers empty talk rather than pragmatic politics, and just concentrates on officialdom.
Liu Yan finally stopped listening and asked Chen Xun to concentrate on eating. There was no point in listening. Although the officials and squires present were polite and courteous to Liu Yan, there was a kind of indifference in their bones, and Liu Yan couldn't get along with them. If you go into a circle like this, what else can you do if you don’t eat vegetables? Fortunately, the food in this banquet was still very rich. Looking at these delicious food and wine, one would never have imagined that there were a large number of soldiers and civilians outside who were about to starve to death. They thought that the Ming Dynasty was still in peace and prosperity.
Finally, after the boring banquet ended, Liu Yan and Chen Xun said goodbye and came out. The conduct officer Hu Zongming saw them off in person. The two chatted for a while, and then Liu Yan and Chen Xun got on their horses and left with fists in their hands.
At this time, Hu Zongming couldn't help but frown as he looked at Liu Yan and others leaving, especially at the dozens of armored cavalry. He murmured to himself: "This person is hard to fathom, and with such strength, his future achievements may be far greater than mine."
It is said that after Liu Yan led his troops back to Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village, he did not conduct military affairs for several days, but focused on hygiene.
The sanitation of Qianhusuo in front of Xiahe Village is also very worrying. There are garbage and human and animal excrement everywhere. It is summer and autumn, and the weather is hot. The stench inside and outside Qianhusuo is unbearable for Liu Yan.
So Liu Yan ordered all the soldiers and officials from the Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village to take to the streets, clean all the streets and government offices in the city, and called on the people in the city to clean up together. 33
Liu Yan launched a general cleanup that lasted for four days. A large amount of garbage was cleaned up. The amount was so large that the military and civilian officials in the city were dumbfounded. The Qianhu House in front of Xiahe Village also had a brand new look. It was everywhere. It was extremely neat and tidy, and the military and civilian officials also felt extremely refreshed and understood a lot about Liu Yan's orders.
The next day, Liu Yan sent people to Wangjiazhuang and took Wang Yunhe to the Qianhu Office in front of Xiahe Village and settled him in the Qianhu Official Hall. Wang Yunhe also brought back the two women Dai Jingbin sent as a gift.
Some people died, but not completely...
