On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, a cold wind suddenly broke out. There were very few pedestrians inside and outside Qingzhou City. There were almost no pedestrians or civilians in the streets. Only a group of civil servants led by Wang Congyi, the prefect of Qingzhou, stood outside the north gate.
Not long after, Shandong Governor Yan Jizu led the newly formed Fubiao Battalion to arrive outside the city. The soldiers escorted dozens of carriages, which were loaded with more than 200,000 taels of pension silver that Chen Xinjia had scraped together.
"call!"
The large group of people stopped at the city gate. At the front of the group was a carriage. Yan Jizu opened the curtain, stuck his head out, exhaled a breath of "white smoke", rubbed his hands and stepped out of the carriage.
"My subordinates pay their respects to Lord Futai!"
The prefect Wang Congyi led a group of civil servants from the prefect's yamen to come forward and salute. Yan Jizu smiled and exchanged greetings with everyone, then glanced at everyone, frowned slightly, and said: "Why, Liu Yan's anger hasn't dissipated even when I arrived. Aren’t you here to greet me?”
Wang Congyi smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't be offended, sir. The new army is equipping some bayonets at this time. General Liu has been staying in the military camp. He probably didn't have time to come over."
Since Liu Yan established the shogunate, the ministries of the shogunate have almost completely ignored the government affairs of Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture. Officials of the shogunate ministries have begun to directly issue orders to prefecture and county officials. The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture have also begun to intervene in the affairs of private households. , so that there was nothing to do in the Zhifu Wang Congyi and Laizhou Zhifu Yamen.
However, everyone did not have much resistance to Liu Yan's "exerting power". First of all, because Liu Yan was powerful and had swords and guns in his hands, no one dared to disobey Liu Yan's orders. Secondly, Lord Liu Yan
Liu Yan also shouldered all the taxes, assessments, etc. of Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture. Even the various "miscellaneous donations" that Wang Congyi and others needed to pay to the court every year were also borne by Liu Yan, and all were paid by the General Military Mansion and the Shogunate.
Moreover, various investments made by households, such as water conservancy facilities, relief money and food, etc., are also borne by the General Military Mansion and the shogunate. Even the shortfall or arrears in the salaries of officials at all levels in Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture will be paid by Liu Yan. Provide some subsidies according to the situation.
As the saying goes, you can only take advantage of others. Now Wang Congyi and other officials in Qingzhou Prefecture, as well as officials in Laizhou Prefecture, have seen the reality clearly. Liu Yan is now powerful and cannot compete with him.
It's good to be like this now. You don't have to worry about anything, you don't have to take on any responsibilities, you still get money as usual, you just wear official uniforms to show off, or drink wine or tea, you are as happy as a god!
At this time, Yan Jizu saw that Wang Congyi and others were covering up for Liu Yan. Everyone was saying all kinds of good things to praise Liu Yan, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "It seems that Liu Yan has completely controlled Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture. It is estimated that the imperial court has The government decree can no longer be implemented in the two governments!"
Then Yan Jizu said to everyone: "Go to the city first, and I will go directly to the General Military Mansion."
"yes."
Wang Congyi and others stepped aside one after another, Yan Jizu also got on the carriage, and the large group of people drove into the city.
Wang Congyi hurriedly called Hong Tongyu, the new Qingzhou Prefect, and whispered: "Go to the military camp and inform General Liu, go quickly!"
"good!"
Soon, Yan Jizu led a large group of troops to arrive outside the General Military Mansion. Miao Shao, the general of the Guards Battalion, had received a notification from the city defense officers and rushed over to wait. When he saw Yan Jizu
Ancestor, he immediately saluted: "General, I will pay my respects to Master Futai!"
"Where's your boss?"
"The main town is handling military affairs in the military camp. The general will send people to look for him right away."
Yan Jizu said "Yeah" and strode into the General Military Mansion. Miao Shao hurriedly pulled Wu Xingzhou, the guerrilla general from the left side of the Guards Battalion, over and said, "Hurry up and come back, sir!"
"yes!"
Wu Xingzhou was about to go to the military camp, but saw that Liu Yan had already arrived on horseback, and Miao Shao and Miao Shao breathed a sigh of relief.
"grown ups……"
Liu Yan turned over and dismounted, looked at the convoy and the soldiers of Fubiao Camp, and then said to Miao Shao: "You take the brothers from Fubiao Camp to the military camp to settle down first, and we will entertain them with good wine and food."
"yes."
Miao Shao asked: "What about the things in the car?"
"Anyway, it has been shipped. Don't waste it. Put it all in the warehouse, register it and hand it over to the Ministry of Finance."
"yes."
Then Liu Yan quickly came to the main hall. Yan Jizu had already sat down and waited for a while. When he saw Liu Yan coming in, he said with some dissatisfaction: "General Liu is so busy. It's rare for me to see him."
"Haha, Futai is blaming this subordinate."
Liu Yan sat next to Yan Jizu with a smile and said, "In the cold winter months, Futai came from Jinan... is there something wrong?"
Yan Jizu looked at Liu Yan who knew what he was asking, and said in his heart: You Liu Yan is so powerful and bold. The imperial court transferred you to the capital and you didn't go. The Minister of War personally sent a letter asking me to persuade you. I don't believe you if there is such a big news. Know!
"Of course something happened!"
Yan Jizu put down his tea cup and said: "Since the blood of Governor Lu, General Lu, General Xu, and the soldiers of Governor Biao Camp and Fu Biao Camp were spilled in the Central Plains, you and I have not sat together.
Heart-to-heart talk. Liu Yan, although you and I are officials in the same dynasty, we are also close friends of life and death. I will tell you some things directly, and you must tell the truth. "
Liu Yan saw Yan Jizu starting to "play the family card". Although he knew his intention, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and said, "Ask Futai, I will definitely have something to say."
"Well!"
Yan Jizu said: "The imperial court's reward is indeed unfair. I was very angry when I heard the news! If you, Liu Yan, had not led his troops to fight in the bloody battle of Kaifeng, Li Zicheng's army would have invaded Beizhili by now. The imperial court..."
Yan Jizu directly named him and said: "Chen Benbing is confused! Such treatment of meritorious soldiers will chill the hearts of the new army soldiers."
Liu Yan took advantage of the situation and said: "Futai is right. This town does not care about official positions and wealth, but it will never chill the hearts of the army. Therefore, this town must fight for it!"
"You!"
Yan Jizu sighed: "Now Chen Benbing has raised more than 200,000 taels of pension money, and I have brought it to him. In addition, Chen Benbing asked me to come and persuade you. This is already a low profile. In my opinion, this matter is enough. That’s almost it.”
Liu Yan smiled and said: "Posture? Don't blame Futai. In my opinion, the so-called posture of my soldiers is just to calm people down. But I have to do it for the tens of thousands of soldiers of the New Army and the thousands of soldiers who died in battle." The family members are considering it. Therefore, I cannot accept the fact that my soldier wants to use more than 200,000 taels of silver to settle the matter!"
"What else?"
Yan Jizu said worriedly: "Are you really going to have a stalemate with the imperial court? Liu Yan, please listen to my advice and don't be an enemy of the imperial court in everything. Isn't this right?"
Good thing! "
"It won't be a stalemate, but the benefits can be obtained."
"Tell me, as long as the conditions you propose are reasonable, I can convey it on your behalf and help you fight for it."
Liu Yan stretched out two fingers and said: "I have two requests: First, since the beginning of this year, disasters have continued throughout Shandong, but the taxes collected by the court have not been seen at all, and the Liao, Lian, and Suppression rates have not been seen at all. Accept it without fail! Therefore, I request the imperial court to exempt all civilian and military households within the jurisdiction of Qinglai Town from taxes and the three major salary assessments for a period of three years!"
"What? Three years!"
Yan Jizu stood up suddenly. Now the court was extremely short of money and food. The jurisdiction of Qinglai Town included Qingzhou and Laizhou. How could the court agree?
"This request is a bit difficult to handle. Chen Benbing will not agree to it."
"It's his business whether he agrees or not, and it's my business whether he says it or not!"
Liu Yan continued: "Second, our Qinglai town is close to the sea, but the new army departments do not have warships and can only deploy defenses along the coast. When encountering pirates, our army can only look back and sigh. Therefore, I ask the imperial court to allocate a group of shipbuilding craftsmen. , the number should be at least a thousand, so that we in Qinglai Town can build warships and protect the sea for the imperial court."
"A thousand people!"
Yan Jizu couldn't sit still anymore and said loudly: "There are a thousand shipbuilding craftsmen, and you recruit more apprentices and assistants. How many people are there? How many warships do you want to build, and what do you want to do!"
Liu Yan said with an innocent face: "I am the chief military officer of Qinglai Town. Naturally, I have to ensure peace along the coast. Building warships is also my duty."
"The navy is responsible for coastal defense. You don't have to do it in Qinglai Town..."
"But Shandong Navy
where? There have been no traces of warships for many years, and the imperial navy's establishment of naval forces is only on paper. How can we be responsible for coastal defense? "
Yan Jizu was speechless.
"well!"
Yan Jizu shook his head and said: "I can convey these two things on your behalf, but I can't guarantee whether it will work."
"It doesn't matter."
Liu Yan said with a smile: "Futai can tell my soldiers that the conditions I put forward are also to stabilize the rear. Only when the rear is peaceful can the new army soldiers march north with peace of mind. I hope that my soldiers will put the overall situation first!"
"Okay, then I'll rush back to Jinan. My soldier's family is still staying at the governor's office and waiting for news."
"Leaving today?"
"Leave today!"
Liu Yan tried to persuade him to stay, but Yan Jizu was determined and immediately led his troops to leave Qingzhou Fucheng.
The soldiers of Fubiao camp had just finished eating and drinking when they were summoned by Yan Jizu to continue on their way. They immediately complained, but were suppressed by Yan Jizu's angry rebuke.
When Liu Yan saw this, he asked Miao Shao to take out some money and give each of the hundreds of soldiers in Fubiao Camp a "footstep silver". Only then did the hundreds of soldiers in Fubiao Camp get on the road.
A few days later, Yan Jizu braved the cold wind and returned to Jinan Fucheng. He conveyed the news proposed by Liu Yan to Chen Xinjia's family, arranged carriages and horses for him, and sent them out of the city.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days later, the family arrived in the capital. When Chen Xinjia learned about the conditions proposed by Liu Yan, he was furious: "A warrior dares to make conditions with me!"
"Come here! Prepare your carriage and horses. I'm going to see Mr. Zhou Ge."
"yes."
"etc!"
Then Chen Xinjia stopped the servant and thought about it: "In fact, these two conditions are not
It can't be done. Anyway, Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture owe relief money and food, which can be used to offset three years of taxes and exempt the people of the two prefectures. If you say this, the Holy Spirit will definitely agree. "
"As for the thousand shipbuilding craftsmen, they can also be mobilized from Tianjin Wei. Now the shipyard over Tianjin Wei has long been dilapidated. Many craftsmen make a living by repairing fishing boats, and even begging along the streets. Transferring them to Qinglai Town can be considered a A merit."
Chen Xingjia understood that Liu Yan was fighting for face and respect. As the Minister of War, he would have to rely on Liu Yan's new army in the future. Forget it this time, it was really a deadlock. It was a lose-lose situation, and he had taken advantage of others!
"Forget it, it seems I have to sell some face and get things done as soon as possible."
On December 21, Liu Yan received a notice from Governor Yan Jizu that the imperial court exempted Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture from paying taxes and the three major salaries for three years. However, the imperial court now owed disaster relief money and food to the two governments, so it offset it with taxes and apportionments. The imperial court will no longer allocate money and food, and the two governments will not have to hand over money and food within three years. The two governments do not owe each other.
As for the shipbuilding craftsmen, Yan Jizu informed Liu Yan that those craftsmen had already set off from Tianjin Wei and headed south to Lingshan Acropolis, and were expected to arrive in the first month of next year.
Liu Yan couldn't help but laugh. This Chen Xinjia was really a master of mending socks, he could actually come up with such a countermeasure. Even the thousand shipbuilding craftsmen did not come by boat from Tianjin Wei, but walked all the way south in the wind and snow, just to save the money of recruiting sea-going ships. What a "saving"!
"Forget it, the goal has been achieved anyway, let's go to the capital, lest the soldiers of the front camp be alone in Hongluo Mountain.
"
