"Reasonable!"
Qian Dianli nodded, and the guard who looked at him came over with a bag of silver coins.
The escort agency also ordered escorts again on the spot, then affixed a seal and drove away in a mighty convoy.
After watching a group of people from the escort agency leave, the government servants and people from the bank dispersed.
On the way back, the white servant, who had only been on duty for two days, clicked his tongue and said, "Good guy, four hundred miles of land, six hundred silver dollars, and a round trip of at least half a month. I got twenty yuan per person."
"It's so easy to make money."
"You have a good idea, kid." The old white servant with black and yellow teeth on the side said disdainfully with a piece of weed in his mouth:
"People eat horse chews along the way. If you don't protect yourself, you encounter bandits and water bandits. You will die. No matter how much money you have, it will be useless."
"That's a lot of money!" The young man chirped: "Let's say he is a yamen servant. He only earns five cents a month and five buckets of food. He has to live in the city without starving to death. How can a bodyguard agency be as majestic as that?"
"This thing can't be done just because you want to."
The old man said casually: "All of them are masters of swordsmanship and spear-wielding. I heard that many of them are retired from the army. They have to be connected. Only the official escorts can enjoy the food and drink. If they are smuggled escorts, they will starve for nine days in three days." pause."
"Uncle Zhang, what's the difference between an official escort and a private escort?"
"It's a big difference."
The old white servant showed off: "The county government reconciles the accounts, and it's the public company. There is no need to default, otherwise there will be no one to transport escorts in the coming year."
"And it's all official. Who would dare to rob something like this? All the local elders are waiting for meritorious deeds!"
"Private escorts are different. They transport either family members or commercial goods, just like rich fat sheep. Who can bear it?"
With the active business, the escort agency officially appeared a hundred years ahead of schedule during the Qianlong period in history and became a legitimate industry.
Escort agencies are divided into official escorts and private escorts.
For private escort freighters, calculated based on mileage, it is basically a silver dollar per hundred miles.
The official bodyguards, on the other hand, escort taxes, grain, or money, depending on their value.
Fifty yuan will be drawn for every 10,000 yuan.
The taxes of each county were transferred to the prefecture by the young men and government servants, and then from each prefecture to the capital.
Among them, the escort bureau occupies the main force, which is also an extension of the power of the government and is an important component.
Because all of them were official jobs, the escort agencies were either run by local gentry or relatives and friends of the officials.
Because they are so easy to use, the Escort Bureau is usually paid to be dispatched when there is a shortage of manpower. For example, the Escort Bureau will be called to protect the victims, build dams, and official roads.
Even when Shangguan comes to inspect, sometimes he is short of manpower and will ask the escort agency to clean the streets together, which is regarded as a guard.
As for the patrol camp, it is an army. If more than fifty people are mobilized locally, they must report it to the prefect, otherwise they will be punished severely.
Shunfeng Escort walked leisurely on the official road. The seal on the car made many pedestrians avoid it, as if they had seen a poisonous scorpion.
If you touch the official's things even a little bit, you will be compensated by the whole family. No one dares to mess with it.
There were about thirty people in the escort agency, all holding their heads, walking in the sun, sweating profusely.
The swords and guns were all placed on the mule cart. He was wearing short clothes and his hair was tied up one by one, so he only had to stick out his tongue to dissipate heat.
The wide official road was smooth, and the speed of the mule cart was very gentle, but the thoughts of the group became increasingly intense.
"Head, please take a rest, it's too hot."
"Shit, look at you all, this is official silver, you have to be serious."
"Just because it's official silver, who's heart is filled with lard and dares to steal official silver?"
A few people were chatting, and the cicada monkeys on the trees on the roadside kept chirping, which was annoying.
Suddenly, dozens of burly men in tattered clothes broke into the official road and said: "I drove this road and planted this tree. If you want to live here, I will leave money to buy the road."
"You dare to rob our escort agency. You are a good man, but you don't know that we are an official escort? The governor is waiting to use you. You really don't know how to live or die."
The leading bodyguard frowned and ordered everyone to raise their weapons.
"I don't care if you are an official banker or a private banker. If you don't protect it, it's a corrupt official's property. This is called robbing the rich and giving to the poor."
The black-faced man at the head roared, brandished a butcher knife, and rushed in headlong.
Dozens of minions also rushed forward.
The escorts were groaning in their hearts, but they unexpectedly encountered a lengtouqing.
But after all, they were well organized and quickly gained the upper hand.
At this moment, hundreds of bandits rushed out from the woods on both sides.
"I'm here to help you—"
Faced with several times of siege by bandits, the escorts were instantly at a disadvantage and immediately sensed something was wrong.
"withdraw--"
Taking the wounded with them, a group of people fled, leaving behind the official silver.
The bandits rejoiced and tore off the seal.
"What? How dare you rob an official's money?"
Anqing Mansion was in great turmoil instantly, and the patrol battalion moved directly to suppress the bandits.
But when they arrived, it was already a mess and no one could be seen at all.
The matter cannot be concealed, Anqing can only report it to Luzhou Prefecture and let the governor make a decision.
This is the first time since Anhui was founded as a province, and its political influence has been huge.
After searching in every possible way, thousands of people were mobilized to eliminate them. After half a month, the thieves were finally found. The amount of silver coins recovered was less than 30,000 yuan.
This is a deficit of nearly 90,000 silver dollars.
Even the governor can't stand it.
There was no choice but to report it to the court.
"The money just disappeared without a trace?"
Zhu Mou said angrily: "Three months' business tax is almost the same as two taxes in one county, and it just disappeared without a trace."
"What does the prefect of Anqing do for food? Where is the governor?"
Feng Xianzong looked solemn.
Du Yinxi remained silent.
Only Yan Yingyuan looked calm.
There is certainly a reason for this.
Because the governor of Anhui belongs to Feng Xianzong and was recommended by him last year, he now sends gifts every year and festival.
Because of his dereliction of duty, Feng Xianzong was not in good stead.
The prefect of Anqing was Du Yinxi's nephew and son-in-law, so he was a relative.
In this major incident, the prefect of Anqing cannot absolve himself of the blame.
Good guy, a robbery directly involved two cabinet ministers, and they had different reactions.
Yan Yingyuan, on the other hand, had just joined the cabinet and had no manpower at all in his pocket. Instead, he was able to stay out and watch the show.
"In my opinion, there are no such courageous bandits in the world. They must be deceived by the local government and used as an excuse to steal taxes..."
Zhu Mou's face was full of anger, and his eyes seemed to be bursting with fire: "Investigate, we must investigate strictly."
Feng Xianzong also said seriously: "Once the truth is revealed, even the governor will have to masturbate."
"The investigation must be carried out, but we still have to listen to what the superiors say."
Du Yinxi said softly: "It depends on how your Majesty arranges it."
Soon, the emperor issued an oral order and asked the cabinet to handle it on its own.
At this time, Zhu Mou became more and more public. He advocated that the Metropolitan Procuratorate send censors to inspect. In addition, the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple sent special personnel to investigate.
At the same time, the governor of Anhui was temporarily dismissed and replaced by the chief envoy, and the prefect of Anqing was detained and replaced by a general judge.
For a time, Anhui's officialdom was in turmoil and people were uneasy.
There are even rumors that not only Anqing but also other prefectures in Anhui are experiencing corruption. A large amount of money is gathered in the capital and goes into the pockets of certain ministers.
Rumors spread, and the capital instantly became noisy.
As the emperor of Beijing is at the feet of the emperor, its people are extremely concerned about politics, and there are heated discussions in the streets and alleys, alluding to the cabinet.
Back at the mansion, Feng Xianzong took off his official robe and continued to practice calligraphy in his study, writing one after another without knowing how to stop.
At this time, his wife came quietly and brought tea: "Have a rest, your disciple is here to see you."
Feng Xianzong took a breath, but he was still depressed. He drank tea and said, "This Zhu Mou is so unruly."
Since local officials are involved in civil affairs, they like to hire staff to help them govern and regulate the local area.
Although this group of scholars have been observing politics in the Eight Departments for many years, their knowledge on paper is ultimately shallow and there is a huge difference between the central and local governments.
Although the participation of staff has various disadvantages, it is the key to helping civil servants take control of the place as quickly as possible, so the court is also in a state of acquiescence.
After all, they pay for it themselves.
But the officials in Beijing are different.
There is a lot of paperwork and political struggles every day, but basically everyone is familiar with it, which is far easier than local government affairs, so there are very few staff.
Moreover, if you hire a staff, they have a local perspective and have little understanding of the central power structure, so it is difficult to provide help.
Therefore, officials in the capital, even pavilion elders and ministers, rarely hire staff. At most, they only have one or two guests.
Discussions should also be conducted among colleagues in the party as much as possible.
Immediately, he came to the living room and saw a middle-aged man in his mid-thirties, with a dignified appearance and an elegant look on his face.
His name was Gao Liang and he was from Luoyang. When Feng Xianzong was in his hometown, he taught Confucian boys and he was one of them.
With this kind of relationship, coupled with his diligence, even though he was born with the same Jinshi, he was promoted to the prefecture and became the prefect of Huai'an.
"Teacher!" Gao Liang wore fashionable glass glasses and a slightly loose robe, and bowed directly with a smile on his lips.
"Get up!" Feng Xianzong sat down, and Lao Huai comforted him: "I haven't seen you for many years, but you are getting better and better."
"Three hundred reservoirs were built in Huai'an a year, and thousands of acres of land were turned into fertile farmland, benefiting tens of thousands of people. In terms of governance, you can be regarded as getting three of them."
"Students don't dare to show their strength in front of teachers."
Gao Liang's eyes were full of joy, but he still had to be humble.
The master and apprentice reminisced about old times, while Gao Liang brought some Huai'an specialties.
As for money, there was none.
As the current cabinet minister, Du Yinxi holds the title of bachelor and receives thousands of silver coins every year. On weekdays, plus the rewards from the palace, it is impossible to spend all the money.
Not to mention the property at home.
In the founding stage of the People's Republic of China, military ministers performed meritorious services and thus obtained military merit and land, while civil servants were only rewarded with land and money.
Feng Xianzong was still a viscount at this time, but he had hundreds of hectares of land, mostly fertile land, and he would not accept bribes at all.
From the shallower to the deeper, finally, we talked about this incident spreading in Beijing.
Gao Liangliang changed his mind and said: "The city of Beijing is extremely lively, and the local area is also in an uproar. If this continues, countless officials will be implicated. I'm afraid it will be another big case."
"Perhaps, this is what the chief minister wants."
"That's right." Feng Xianzong sneered: "Prestige, power, take the opportunity to hit me again, this is what he wants to do."
"I don't know how many people heard his plan even in Anhui, which is thousands of miles away."
"But who asked him to find a good opportunity? This is a conspiracy!"
As he spoke, he revealed that the Anqing magistrate was Du Yinxi's nephew and son-in-law.
This major case must be carried out by someone. The prefect is not qualified and the governor is too much. This will lead to a secret fight between Feng Xianzong and Du Yinxi.
The second auxiliary fights with the group auxiliaries, and the first auxiliary reaps the benefits.
Once the fight actually breaks out, it will be difficult to reconcile.
Because this is a fight between two political factions, not individuals.
Gao Liang took a breath and said immediately: "As far as the students know, this matter should be caused by the incompetence of the escort agency!"
Hearing this, Feng Xianzong sighed: "The trouble is, in this escort agency, the prefect owns 20% of the shares, and I heard there are several imperial merchants."
"If the escort agency is really allowed to take the blame, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be investigated if it is not safe..."
It is simply appropriate that the Emperor is behind the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Moreover, the imperial businessmen in the Ministry of Internal Affairs were extremely well-connected, so how could they tolerate this kind of taking the blame? The commotion became even greater.
"That's strange. Where did the things go?"
Zhu Mansion.
"The things are gone long ago."
Zhu Mou was in the study, looking at the secret letter.
120,000 yuan, nearly 130,000 yuan, turned out to be only 100,000 yuan, which was 30,000 yuan less on the road.
This must be a trick of the Anqing Mansion, and there is simply no way to get rid of it.
Therefore, 30,000 yuan is not much, and it can be filled in a few clicks, so he asked people to take away another 70,000 yuan, leaving only 30,000 yuan.
One hundred thousand silver dollars cannot be made up in a short time. If it cannot be made up, it will have to be reported.
"High salary cannot support honesty, it will only increase people's appetite."
Zhu Mou sighed, and then smiled.
This matter, whether it is public or private, he will benefit.
The emperor asked him to retreat, so he naturally did not dare not to retreat.
But there is a saying that goes well, everything depends on foil.
Feng Xianzong, who was regarded as the most popular one, lost such a big face, His Majesty's mind will inevitably change.
He gained prestige, and the emperor showed his favor again, killing two birds with one stone.
At the same time, it also lifted the curtain on local corruption.
"Feng Xianzong, I see how proud you are." Zhu Mou showed a proud smile.
summer resort.
The emperor ignored it on the surface and let the cabinet do it, but privately he asked the Jin Yiwei to investigate.
In this situation without eavesdropping devices, the reason why Jinyiwei went rampant was nothing more than two things: coercion and torture.
As for the so-called inducements, they don't exist at all.
Ambush and undercover were only effective in the early Ming Dynasty. Who doesn't have many families nowadays?
Therefore, Jin Yiwei can only act as a second-guessing person most of the time and find out the truth.
The commander of the Jinyi Guards, Chu Yu, lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, this matter was committed by the guards of Anqing. The so-called bandits are Anqing's own people."
"The patrol battalion cooperates with the prefect, and even the general magistrate is involved."
"Firstly, it is to make up for the shortfall, and secondly, it is to make meritorious deeds and exterminate the bandits to accumulate external merits."
"Afterwards, another group of bandits suddenly broke in and took advantage of others. They took away most of the silver coins and disappeared, so only 30,000 yuan was left..."
(End of chapter)
