"You mean, we let the bandit become the prefect and then expose him?" Wang Ding asked.
"That's right. Intercepting bandits used to be a troublesome task, but now we let him do it, and we will expose him after he takes over." Li Yan said, "It's not uncommon for bandits to kill officials, but pretending to be officials is It's rare that Lao Wu exposes him, which means he has made a great contribution since he took office - the word "capable man" is already appropriate."
"The problem is that his meritorious service is of little value," Wang Ding said. "It is not necessarily possible to promote him immediately. I think it is better to let Lao Wu use this to threaten him, and to use the fake prefect to order Leizhou."
Jiang Shan shook his head: "The bandit can walk away, why should he be held hostage by you? You must know that once this matter is exposed, it will be a head-turning matter. He can still distinguish the importance. Even if the other party agrees for a moment, There are too many variables in it. It’s inappropriate.”
"I think so too." Li Yan said, "Actually, you should think so. Once Old Wu exposes the fake prefect, won't the position of prefect become vacant?"
"Wu Mingjin is the acting magistrate? Da Er is a fellow magistrate of Leizhou!"
"Can't we let him die of a sudden illness?" Li Yan said lightly, "Who else can come now?"
"Whether it's a prefect or a co-prefect, the court will always send a new official to take over. It's impossible to let Old Wu act forever."
"The matter of appointing a magistrate has to go through the Ministry of Personnel. The sky is high here and the emperor is far away. It will be at least a year until the correspondence is completed and the new magistrate takes office. As for the magistrates, Leizhou has always been a place with evil forces from far away states. The epidemic is prevalent, and there is no guarantee that you will catch the disease and die on the way... After a year and a half, the situation will be different from now."
"There is another question." Wang Ding said, "What if there is no longer that bandit in time and space?" He looked at everyone, "This is very likely to happen."
Li Yan said: "It doesn't matter whether there is this bandit or not. Anyway, the prefect of Leizhou who took office in 1632 must be a fake."
Wu Mingjin looked at the courtyard of the inner hall in front of him, and a burst of emotion came to his heart.
In the courtyard of the inner hall, the vegetation was still there under the autumn sunshine, but he was about to leave here soon.
If he had received the transfer order two or three years ago, he would have called gods, Buddhas and ancestors for blessings, packed his luggage hurriedly, and driven off with his whole family. Like a bird escaping from its cage. In the past few years, every year has come to an end. When he was putting incense on his ancestor's memorial tablet, he silently prayed that he would be able to leave Lingao, a place of right and wrong, as soon as possible - he didn't even want to be an official anymore, he just wanted to go back to his hometown in Nanzhi in peace.
However, now, he didn't feel happy at all, but instead felt a little melancholy.
In the past few years, he has been living as a vegetarian in Lingao's corpse position. In the beginning, there were some private lawsuits, but in the past year or so, he has been completely forgotten. In addition to Wang Zhaomin, Wu Ya, Sun Ruiwu and other county officials would only visit him during the holidays. Judging from their appearance, they must have done well in the hands of the Australians. Each of them has a glowing face and is full of energy. I heard that Wu Ya brought all his family members to Lingao. It makes sense to settle down here.
Compared with them, Wu Mingjin is lonely. He was unwilling to do anything for the Australians, so in addition to sitting in the county advisory bureau every month and talking to the local gentry, he also presided over the monthly examinations of the county school. There is almost nothing to do outside of Anshi sacrifices - Master Wang is doing all the work for those who serve here. He spent most of his time sitting in the small world of the county government office, either reading lessons or entertaining himself with poetry, tea and wine, living a leisurely "immortal" life. Except Master Wang. Elder Xiong will visit him once every three to five days and play chess with him. Drink and drink. From time to time, gifts and "allowances" are also given.
Wu Daling's earlier visit to Elder Xiong contained caution and disdain. He knew that Xiong Buyou's actual position was the "county magistrate" of the Australians, and that his "yamen" was right next door to the county government office. Needless to say, he was also tasked with monitoring him. On several occasions, Wu Mingjin was prepared to be "poisoned to death" - especially when the imperial army approached.
Now his attitude has almost softened. Australians are mostly humorous and knowledgeable people. Although their words are inevitably vulgar, in recent years they have been suppressing bandits in Lingao, building water conservancy projects, providing relief to the people, encouraging industry and commerce, encouraging farmers to teach, and establishing education and schools... Lingao is making great strides and is changing with each passing day. , just turned a poor and desolate small border county into the richest county in Qiongzhou.
As long as he wants, he can go out for a walk at any time, and even go to the southern mountainous area where he never dared to go deep when he was the county magistrate. The changes in Lingao are obvious to all. Wu Mingjin is not blind or deaf, nor is he willing to speak out of conscience - Australians are truly talented people who help the world and are experts in governing the country. I, and even many other scholars, are far from being able to compare with them.
It's funny to say that when he was the county magistrate in Lingao, his performance evaluation in the first year was only "average". On the contrary, an Australian came here and made several great political achievements in a row and got "outstanding". Now that his term of office has expired and he has been promoted to the position of general magistrate of Leizhou - this official was probably obtained through the activities of the Australians - Wu Mingjin is not a fool. He generally knows that Leizhou is also under the control of the Australians now, so he can get the job of general magistrate of Leizhou. Moreover, he can leave before his successor receives the seal, and the county magistrate is temporarily appointed by Wu Ya. This is obviously an arrangement of the Australians. As for the purpose, it is probably just the consideration of "acquaintances make things easier". As long as he continues to "rule from the top" during his tenure in Leizhou and continues to perform "excellent" in his performance evaluation, it probably won't be a problem for him to be promoted after his tenure.
The housekeeper trotted over and said, "Sir, everything is ready. Please tell me if you want to set off?"
"Master Wang, have you gotten in the car?"
"Reply to the master, we are already in the car."
Wu Mingjin looked around the courtyard again: He is leaving here now - speaking of it, the county government office has been repaired by Australians now. It is more dilapidated than when he took over. The grass is knee-deep and the shabby government office is infested with foxes and mice. Much more beautiful and tidy. In this courtyard, he and his family sat around and ate "Australian barbecue" in autumn and winter, and ate shaved ice and sour plum soup in summer nights. He also smoked cigars and drank oolong tea here... All kinds of past events came to mind, and he suddenly became reluctant to let go.
"Let's go." He finally said the word, then dusted off his robe and stepped out.
Many people had already gathered at the gate of the county government office. Except for the miscellaneous officials in the county, most of the others were squires from the advisory bureau, students from the county school, and some ordinary people watching the excitement. The Australian sent Xiong Buyou, whom he was most familiar with. Elder Xiong, with a smile on his face, led a team of musicians and several subordinates.
In front of the screen wall was a band, playing an Australian song called "Milmi Music". Wu Mingjin had heard someone sing it as a ditty, and it seemed to be called: "When Will You Come Again".
Although it is a Mi Mi sound, it is very appropriate at this time. Wu Mingjin bowed to everyone on the steps of the county government gate. When he saw Liu Jinshi among the Jin gentry seeing him off, all kinds of emotions came to his heart. He felt hot in his heart and his eyes were slightly sore.
Xiong Buyou came up and shook hands, and said a few compliments such as "I'm going to be better soon", and then Liu Dalin was helped up to toast - since he received treatment from Lingao General Hospital, Liu San has trained again He hired several servants and maids as physical therapists, and insisted on giving him medicine, acupuncture, massage, and various types of rehabilitation every day. Not only did Liu Jinshi not die as young as in history, but he was gradually able to walk with a cane. No more wheelchairs.
Wu Mingjin took the wine glass - Liu Dalin was the "head" of a large gentry family in Lingao, and it was a great honor for the state and county magistrates to be toasted by him. This is much more impressive than some state and county officials with a bad reputation who can only hire a few people to fool the scene when they leave office.
After drinking the wine offered by Mr. Liu, firecrackers went off for a while. Two people came forward and took off one of his boots. This was the ceremony of taking off his boots. Then someone gave him a shoe with two big characters of "德正" painted on it. The red lacquered wooden sign was presented with a Wanmin umbrella. The ceremony to see off retiring officials was completed.
Director Xiong has arranged several two-wheeled and four-wheeled carriages to transport family members and luggage. The family members had already boarded the carriage, and Wu Mingjin boarded the red-flag carriage. At this time, the band played the folk music version of "Auld Lang Syne." Everyone in the farewell group saluted together. At this time, he heard someone crying in the farewell crowd. Wu Daling couldn't bear it any longer. He wiped his tears with his sleeves and held his hands over his hands again and again. Then he got into the car and the motorcade started slowly with the accompaniment of the band. Head out of the city along Xianqian Street.
Wu Mingjin's new appointment place is across the strait from Lingao, but as usual, he has to make a trip to the provincial capital before taking up his post. Before Wu Mingjin boarded the ferry to Guangzhou, the Bureau of Foreign Intelligence began to operate.
It is not difficult at all for Wu Mingjin, a movement from the Guangzhou station, to serve as the general judge of Leizhou - his performance evaluation and term of office are suitable, and Leizhou is a distant state where few people are willing to go. Although the prospects are very good, outside officials are often not accustomed to the local environment. Or contracting an epidemic and dying, officials often regard this as a fearful approach. The Intelligence Bureau is more concerned about how to continue to effectively control Wu Tongpan in the new environment.
Master Wang has been "developed", but this cunning, profit-seeking master alone cannot guarantee complete reliability. Therefore, Li Yan decided to form a loyal and reliable team of naturalized civilian staff around Wu Mingjin and others to ensure that they are completely in the hands of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.
The Wu team is easy to say, and they have a lot of room for choice; but there is a slight lack in the team - there are not many scholars they can recruit, and there are even fewer who can be confirmed to be reliable. After careful consideration, Li Yan decided to send Xiao Zhanfeng, a former scholar from Xuwen County, to Wu Mingjin's side to act as a "supervising army" as a case master.
