The Dushui Yamen was not located in the Governor's Mansion, but in Yishui Town, five miles north of the city and facing the river.
The clerk took the official document and led Yang Anxuan and the two out of Jingkou City. Along the road, convoys carrying goods came and went constantly. There were porters running around carrying goods, and people shouted at the cows, making it very noisy.
Yishui Town is close to the port. It originally only had a dock. However, as more ships and caravans came and went, a town became a town.
Shops are spread out along the river bank. On the side near the river are shops and on the side near the river are docks, where ships carrying cargo are moored. From time to time, ships dock or set sail.
After walking a few miles to the west along the shops, the front became empty, except for a tall building. Wu Tao, a clerk, pointed out with a smile: "That is the Dushui Yamen."
As usual, the Yamen opens to the south. In front of the door is a square with two clocks standing on a tree, drums placed below, and several armored soldiers guarding the door. After entering, I quickly got the word "please".
Entering from the gate of the mansion is a bluestone corridor, with a lobby in the middle, and official offices on both sides of the lobby. There are officials walking around in the corridors, which is similar to the layout of the governor's mansion.
Seeing Yang Anxuan and others coming in, the official behind the case stood up, adjusted his hat, and bowed to Yang Anxuan.
Du Shui is a sixth-rank official, and Yang Anxuan is also a sixth-rank official, and he came here on the order of the King of Kuaiji. Although Yang Anxuan came to serve as a seventh-rank thief envoy and returned to Dushui to be in charge, Ying Hao did not dare to take it.
Inviting Yang Anxuan and Liu Zhong to sit down, Ying Hao took over the official document from the government office and read it and said with a smile: "Yang Shidu and Liu Lingshi are willing to come to Dushui Prison to serve as thief arresters. This is what I want. Thieves are rampant on the Jingkou River. The thief envoy has been vacant for nearly half a year. I am not familiar with martial arts, so I am really helpless."
Ying Hao briefly introduced the situation of the Du Water Supervisor. The Du Shui Supervisor has 85 officials and 20 soldiers, and has jurisdiction over the hundreds of miles of water in the Jingkou section.
There are only about twenty soldiers to hunt down thieves in such a long river area. This number of people is really stretched to manage hundreds of miles of water.
"The thief-catching officer has been vacant for some time. The thief-catching officer Yu Yi will temporarily take over the task of apprehending the river thieves." Ying Hao ordered: "Go and call Yu Yi. He is familiar with the situation and ask him to explain it to Yang Ji-jing. .”
After a short effort, the people who went to invite Yu Yi turned around and reported, "Captain Yu has gone to patrol the river with his people."
Ying Hao's face condensed, and then he smiled and said: "What a coincidence, let's wait until tomorrow. Envoy Yang and Deputy Envoy Liu will choose their accommodation first, and I will take care of them at noon."
Yang Anxuan thought for a moment, maybe Capt. Yu was missing intentionally. It's no wonder that after serving as a thief hunter for so long, there is always a chance of promotion. He fell from the sky and ended his career. Of course, it was not popular.
The official residence of the Capital Water Supervisor is much more luxurious than the Governor's Mansion. Each person has a courtyard facing the river. When he opens the back window, he can see the ships passing by on the river. The river wind is biting and chilling.
The entourages of Zhang Feng and Liu Zhong took another boat to Jingkou, so they were not accompanied by them. Fortunately, there were bedding and supplies in the courtyard, so they checked in empty-handed.
The reception banquet at noon was held in the lobby. The more than ten people who came to the banquet were officials from the Capital Water Prison. Yang Anxuan knew that if he wanted to be comfortable in the Capital Water Prison, the relationship between his colleagues must be harmonious.
Yang Anxuan, who has been educated in the wine table culture, naturally has a lot of witty words. A few harmless color jokes made the man think about it and built a closer relationship between them.
Ying Hao looked at Yang Anxuan with a smile. This Yang Xiaochuang was really a wonderful person. He was a "crying doctor" and "swearing gentleman" (1). It was difficult for him to come up with it. He went back to talk to him in the evening.
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The lady listened and showed off her power as a foolish doctor.
With Yang Anxuan's witty banter, everyone enjoyed the meal with gusto, and they didn't leave for half an hour.
A thin man walked into the hall, bowed and saluted Ying Hao, and said, "Yu Yi has seen Ying Eng."
Ying Hao was recalling Yang Anxuan's joke and said with a smile: "Yu Yi, please meet Yang Jishi and Deputy Jiang soon."
As Yang Anxuan expected, when he came to the Yamen today, Yu Yi learned that a new thief-hunting envoy had arrived. His original fantasy was in vain, and he left with hatred on the pretext of patrolling the river.
When the river wind blew, Yu Yi realized that he was just a small official, not even a ninth-grade official. How could he dare to wish for the position of the thief envoy? Even if it was not Yang Anxuan, someone else would take over.
After thinking about it, Yu Yi hurriedly returned, hoping to catch up with the reception banquet and leave a good impression on the newly appointed Ambassador Yang.
When he entered the hall, Yu Yi had already noticed the two young men sitting at the bottom of the desk. Both of them had slight beards. Thinking that he was still a minor official in his mid-thirties, he felt sad. The children of the aristocratic family had a good life, and they were young. He easily became his own superior officer, leaving people helpless.
With a smile on his face, he came to Yang Anxuan and Liu Zhong, bowed deeply and said, "I have met Yang Ji Envoy and Deputy Envoy Liu in my humble position."
Yang Anxuan saw that Yu Yi's face was dark, and he might have just landed ashore. The Gebu towel on his head was wet, his beard was ruffled by the wind, and his arched hands were cracked, probably from the cold wind.
Standing up, Yang Anxuan returned the salute and said with a smile: "Yu Baotou is loyal to his duties, which Yang admires. Sit down quickly, drink a cup of hot wine, and go away the cold."
Yu Yi saw that Yang Anxuan did not have the arrogance of a child of aristocratic family, he was polite and kind, and the tension in his heart relaxed a little.
Someone took a seat next to Yang Anxuan. Yang Anxuan poured the wine for Yu Yi himself, raised the glass with both hands and said, "Captain Yu is working hard, and I will toast you with this glass of wine on behalf of the people on the river."
After saying that, Yang Anxuan raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
Yu Yi felt his eyes were astringent and his chest was warm. He hurriedly raised his sleeves to cover his face and drank all the wine.
Ying Hao smiled and said: "Yu Yi, Yang Jishi is from the Yang family of the Hong family. He is young and promising, and is highly appreciated by the King of Kuaiji. If you follow him in the future, Yang Jishi will not let you down."
Yu Yi is an honest and capable man who has served as a thief catcher for seven years. Due to his humble background, he has never had the opportunity to be promoted. Ying Hao wants to give him a try.
Yang Anxuan put down his cup, looked at Yu Yi sternly and said, "As long as Mr. Yu does his job with all his heart, Yang will definitely give Mr. Yu an explanation."
Yu Yi was overjoyed. Yang Anxuan made his promise in front of everyone, and he would probably not deceive himself.
Yu Yi poured a glass of wine, stood up and came to Yang Anxuan. He raised his head respectfully and said, "Thank you very much, Yang Jishi. I would like to give you a glass of wine for my humble duty."
Yang Anxuan took the wine glass, drank it down in one gulp, and said: "You have not let me down, and I have not let you down."
…………
The anti-thief yamen has a special official dormitory - the river patrol office. It is on the right side of the capital water prison. A place to run errands.
Yang Anxuan stepped into the room and saw many documents piled on the table in the middle. Yu Yi quickly stepped forward to clean up, and explained awkwardly: "The thief hunter has been vacant for almost half a year. He should be engaged in the temporary management of the servant. I can do errands here when it is convenient. I will let someone clean up now."
After lighting a stick of incense, the officials from the Jiang Patrol Office came to see the newly appointed thief envoy and deputy envoy.
Yu Yi stood
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On the right side of Yang Anxuan, he bowed and introduced in a low voice: "There are six officials in the river patrol office. The servants are the 'thief catchers'. There are also five scribes and eighteen catchers, who are responsible for patrolling the river to detect thieves."
Yang Anxuan paid attention to the catchers behind the scribe. These people were of different heights, their clothes were shabby, and their faces were disheveled. They were no different from the fishermen on the river.
Think about it, as a thief catcher, Yu Yi's salary is only a hundred dan, which is not enough to support his family. The salary of these catchers is only fifty or sixty dan, and it is estimated that he will not be able to support himself without doing something else.
After soothing everyone, Yang Anxuan asked people to disperse, asked Yu Yi to sit next to him, and began to inquire in detail about the situation at the Jiang Patrol Station.
After more than a quarter of an hour of detailed questioning, I learned that two of the thieves were captured and three fishing boats were seized. Those catchers often used the name of patrolling the river to catch fish and sell them to support their families.
Liu Zhong interjected: "Are there many thieves on the river?"
Yu Yi smiled bitterly and said: "There are so many of them. There are six or seven river thieves with a certain name. For example, 'Langli Jiao' and 'Zhu Shuiyan' have forty or fifty people. They have four or five boats under their command, and they are stronger than us." There are also fishermen who occasionally engage in plunder.”
After glancing at Yang Anxuan, Yu Yi said timidly: "To be honest, sir, when we encounter a large gang like Langlijiao committing a crime, we can only shout from a distance and dare not chase them."
"A group of water bandits, we're afraid of what he will do." Liu Zhong said with eagerness, feeling that he would finally be able to use force.
Yang Anxuan thought to himself that in order to forge iron, one must be strong oneself. To wipe out the river bandits in the Jingkou area, he must first train his catchers. Otherwise, even if he encounters river bandits, he can only shout at them from a distance and dare not come forward, as Yu Yi said.
Thinking of the listless look of those catchers when they saw him, Yang Anxuan's heart sank. With his father's care, An Xuanjun could spend his own money to improve his diet and strengthen training, but these catchers could not do the same and had to find ways to boost their morale.
Yang Anxuan tapped the table and said: "Captain Yu, tell me the truth, besides official salary, are there any other ways to make profit?"
Yu Yi glanced at Yang Anxuan and said solemnly: "My brothers' salary is too small to support their families, so we have to catch some fish and sell it while patrolling the river. The rest is gone."
Liu Zhong explained with a smile: "Captain Yu, Inspector Yang wants to benefit you, so feel free to say it boldly."
Seeing Yang Anxuan's smiling face, Yu Yi bravely said: "Sometimes passing merchants will stuff some money and ask brothers to guard him for a while."
Yang Anxuan knew that it was impossible for Yu Yi to tell him the whole truth, so he knocked on the table and said: "That's okay. However, blackmailing and exploiting merchants are not allowed to happen again. If the fool knows about it, he will be severely punished."
Yu Yi nodded with a grimace. He relied on mountains and rivers to survive. If he didn't rely on getting benefits from merchants to catch thieves, how could he survive?
As soon as Yang Ji arrived, he cut off everyone's money. If he went back to tell the truth, the brothers would be in trouble. It is estimated that half of them would refuse to work.
"You write down the situation of thieves on the river in a document, and Yuhui and Yingshi will submit it to the king's governor together. Ask the government for more food and salary, and subsidize it for the brothers." Yang Anxuan said.
Yu Yi said thank you to Yang Jishi, but there was not much joy on his face. Yang Anxuan knew that asking for favors from merchants was an important source of income for the catchers. If he wanted to win over the catchers, tough methods alone would obviously not work.
Conquering people's hearts is nothing more than fame and fortune. You can plan carefully after you are familiar with the situation.
(End of chapter)
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