Dong Mingxuan lowered his head and said, "Yes, thank you sir. Le-Wen-I just asked you to send me a document to allow my son and daughter to live in Guangzhou."
Liu Xiang said: "The Senate has a policy for the families of Ming officials: those who are willing to return to their hometowns will be given travel expenses, and those who are unwilling to return will find their own way out. It's okay if you want to stay in Guangzhou. When the review is over, you can go wherever you want. Where to go."
"Thank you for your kindness, sir." Dong Mingxuan said, "It's just that I am an orphan and a widowed mother now. I have no livelihood and few people to take care of me. Please be extra gracious and reward several servants and the private property of my mother and daughter."
"If they are willing to follow you, we will not make it difficult for them. Everyone is free to stay or go. As for your mother and daughter's private houses, they need to be reviewed. In principle, they can be returned as long as they do not exceed the limit." Liu Xiang said.
Dong Mingxuan knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you for your grace!"
Guo Xi'er came out of the office and saw Dong Mingjuan's still calm expression, and couldn't help complaining: "You killed me today!"
Dong Mingjuan took Guo Xier's arm and said with a smile: "It's all Mingjuan's fault. I'll help my sister this time." He put a handkerchief bag into Guo Xier's hand. whispered:
"Thanks to my sister Xiang's help this time, Mingjun never forgets it. A little trifle is not disrespectful."
Guo Xier felt as if she had been burned by fire, and quickly pushed back and said: "No, no, don't try to hurt me."
Dong Mingxuan thought that she had bought it too lightly and thought it was worthless, so he deliberately opened a corner of the handkerchief. It turned out that inside was a gold bustle with an emerald begonia flower pendant - worth at least two to three hundred taels of silver.
Unexpectedly, Guo Xier still refused to accept it. Dong Mingxuan was afraid that the push would attract too much attention, so he had to withdraw it and said: "Sister, Mingxuan is so polite..."
"Don't be polite." Although Guo Xi'er was not born into a rich family, she could still see the luxury and exquisiteness of the jewelry. Although she was moved, she did not dare to be greedy. Thinking about her poor background, she couldn't help but feel sympathy. "My hometown is also from Shandong, and I am from the same hometown as your mother, so I always have to help." She sighed, "I didn't expect that your life experience is so miserable. You mother and daughter now don't even have a well-established man. No. The days ahead are probably not going to be easy either. Let’s save it for the day.”
"I will ask my sister to take care of me more in the future." Dong Mingjuan was blessed again before leaving.
Dong Mingxuan returned to the room and briefly told her mother about the meeting with Liu Xiang, and then said: "Now Mr. Liu allows us to take away a few servants, my daughter thought about it. We, mother and daughter, only have one close person and one maidservant." Huan, even if they are all taken away, the four women will not be able to establish a family together..."
Aunt Jiang nodded silently. She was not old, only in her early thirties. She was graceful and graceful, even more beautiful than her daughter. However, Aunt Jiang was not favored by the Dong family. On the one hand, she had no son, and on the other hand, Aunt Jiang was not very interested in her. Mr. Dong didn't come to her room even a few times throughout the year.
If you are not favored, you will naturally be treated as inferior to others. The other female relatives all have one close servant and two maids, but Aunt Jiang only has one maid.
Although I can take away my relatives and maids, there are no men in the house, and a woman living alone will inevitably attract wild butterflies. If a widow is not taken care of by her husband's family or her natal family, it is common for them to be harassed and molested. There are even people who specialize in abducting, robbing, and selling widows.
Dong Mingjuan muttered, "I think Dong Xiang, who used to serve in the master's study, is a nice person. He is very smart, and he is rare and responsible. He has never been married. I think Lan'er is already twenty, so I might as well ration him. Let the couple hold the door outside. When we set up a household, we, mother and daughter, will be in charge. Neither of them are locals, and the war is in chaos right now. He won't think of returning to his hometown."
Aunt Jiang said: "Xie'er, this is fine. But what if I stay in Guangzhou to make a living in the future?" She frowned with worry as she spoke. Naturally, Master Dong's hometown cannot be visited, and Aunt Jiang's relatives have not heard from her for many years. There have been constant natural disasters in the north in recent years, and I don’t know if they are still alive. Aunt Jiang is not Aunt Hong in the Dong family, and she has no additional income except monthly money. If you have some savings, jewelry, and antiques in your hands, sitting on your hands and having nothing is not a long-term solution.
Dong Mingxuan was confident and said: "Auntie, Guangzhou is a prosperous place, and there is money everywhere. As long as you are willing to work hard to pick it up. According to my daughter, Australians are very well-organized in their actions, and they will become famous in the future. If we follow Ji, we will have a chance. You can rest assured that your daughter will have her own way to make a living in the future."
Aunt Jiang was a person with no independent opinions. Seeing that her daughter was speaking eloquently, she couldn't think of any other way and followed her.
Early the next morning, Dong Mingxuan packed up her luggage and went to Guangxiao Temple. She made excuses to delay for a few days. The other family members and servants in the Yamen were no longer there. The search team of the Planning Institute had seized the silver hidden in Prefecture Dong, so only a few people were left. Check and register worthless bulk goods. The Dong family's mother and daughter didn't have many things, and Guo Xi'er came to take care of them, so the inspection was hasty. Dong Mingjuan tried her best to deal with Guo Xier. She knew that the other party was unwilling to accept expensive gifts, so she gave her a Sichuan fan as a gift. Guo Xier also accepted it.
Liu Xiang naturally has no energy to pay attention to the friendship between the female secretary and Dong Mingjuan. He has too much to do. At this moment, he was meeting with the three and six-room subordinate officials and government officials of Guangzhou Prefecture in the lobby. Today is their first day at Xinde Guangzhou Municipal Government to "Dian Mao".
In the takeover of Guangzhou City, one of the basic principles set by the Senate was to "temporarily preserve the old ruling machinery." The Senate had established a clean and relatively efficient administrative machinery on Hainan Island and also trained a large number of cadres. But these cadres are far from enough to be used in the big city of Guangzhou. Liu Xiang's first step was to ensure that the subordinate staff in one government and two counties could work stably and to ensure the stability of Guangzhou's urban order and basic functions. Subordinate officials were at the bottom of society, but they were responsible for most of the administrative work in ancient cities. Their familiarity with the city was far higher than that of ordinary people. Although they have always been very harmful, Liu Xiang cannot cleanly sweep them away, but must make use of them.
For this reason, he and Lin Baiguang roughly agreed on a basic principle for handling subordinate staff in several meetings before entering the city: "Crack down on typical people, educate and retain most of them." The retained personnel adopt the policy of "having positions but not powers, making full use of them" " method, and then gradually eliminate the "non-activists" among the retained personnel over three to five years. "Activists" were converted into formal naturalized civilian cadres.
Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the subordinate official class has been known for being "evil" and "cunning". No matter whether you are an honest or dirty official, as long as you are against the subordinate officials, the official will not be able to work peacefully. Not to mention any political achievements.
Although Lin Baiguang is a supporter of the policy of "temporarily preserving the old ruling machinery", he is also wary of this group. Although the "old system", the best weapon for subordinates to hold officials hostage, no longer exists. Under the new system, there is no need for their set of "established rules" and "old rules." But their familiarity with the rules of officialdom makes them still capable of doing evil. The new cadres trained by the Senate and even the senators themselves will inevitably fall into their trap if they are not careful.
"If you do bad things, you can change them, but it will be difficult to regain the lost public support." Lin Baiguang reminded Liu Xiang, "You must be especially careful not to be used by them - doing bad things with good intentions. There are countless in history. In the end, it is the Senate and the Senate that are scolded. you!"
Liu Xiang wants to give full play to their role and not let them get around him.
"I have considered this." Liu Xiang said, "The first thing is to establish prestige. The so-called three things to do when a new official takes office. I think the first thing to do is to burn down this government office. I saw a lot of dirty information you gave me. I think the first thing to do is to 'eliminate the culprits'. The people in Class 3 and Room 6 who have done evil in the past have caused great anger among the people. Let's arrest a few first and hang them up as street lamps. Then the people below will naturally understand..."
"Don't underestimate them. The harm caused by subordinate officials lasted for thousands of years from the Tang and Song Dynasties to the Republic of China. During this period, no matter whether they were upright officials or wise kings, they were helpless. I have investigated and found that many of the subordinate officials have been passed down from generation to generation. , some have even been subordinates since the Song Dynasty. It is a craft passed down from family to family. You must not only be careful but also attentive."
At this moment, Liu Xiang is sitting in the office, closing his eyes and relaxing. There are case files on the table - all black materials. Relying on these black materials, he will go on a killing spree today.
Although this is contrary to the concept of "ruling the country according to law" advocated by the Senate. Fortunately, he is now the director of the Guangzhou Military Control Commission. According to the Law Society's back door, "military control" is the "marching law." As the director, he also serves as the chief officer of the Guangzhou Military Tribunal, which is almost like "talking about the Constitution of Heaven".
I saw a doorman on duty running over sweating and panting, and said: "Sir! It's already nine o'clock. Will you be promoted to the Yamen?"
"Promoted!" Liu Xiang looked at his watch, stood up and ordered: "Tell the door administrator to fire cannons! The guards are fully armed and on duty!" But he looked at his hair and new hairstyle very carefully in the mirror. Navy blue woolen Mao suit—the tailor in the general office can finally make a decent Mao suit.
After smoothing out all the wrinkles, he went out and walked slowly to the back of the lobby. Guo Xier and two armed guards followed closely behind. The doorman had already come ahead and stood at the side door, bowing and waiting.
The lobby was already filled with serious people. Along the koan table, twenty-four National Army soldiers and twenty-four Japanese National Army soldiers marched in two lines straight to the entrance of the second hall. The soldiers of the National Army were all leaning on the ground with the butts of their rifles with bright bayonets attached; the Japanese troops were wearing bright red iron fist heraldry formation haori, with double swords on their waists and stood tall without even blinking.
More than a dozen scribes in robes and boots stand on the west side of the pillars. On the east side, the leader of the third shift and the government officials in bright colors stood waiting for orders. There was a chair on the left side of the public case. Sitting there was Wei Bifu, the counselor of the Guangzhou Municipal Government, and Lu Yizhong, the newly minted secretary of the External Relations Department of the Guangzhou Municipal Government, was on the right.
Seeing such a battle, all the subordinate officials felt uneasy. Since ancient times, when a new official takes office, it is inevitable to set fire, let alone now that there is a change of dynasty! How would this Australian Mr. Liu set fire? Some people know that they have committed great sins and feel very uneasy, but they cannot throw away their ancestral rice bowl - this is not just about making a living by eating. The key to survival through reform: At the beginning of a new dynasty, if you cannot get into the system in time and without the protective umbrella, the old and new hatreds accumulated outside will break out together, and your family will be destroyed in an instant!
The lobby and courtyard were filled with people standing in the dark, but Zhou Zai was surprisingly quiet. Suddenly he heard the sound of the curtain being lifted, and he knew that Chief Liu was coming out, and then heard three cannon shots: "Bang-bang-bang!" , Mentin sang at the top of his lungs:
"The Senate of the Song Dynasty has ordered Liu Xiang, the governor of Guangzhou, to be promoted to court!"
He came up with this title after asking Guo Xi'er about it. When he shouted, the subordinates and yamen servants all had practiced kung fu. They shouted "Oh--" in unison, and they all raised their feet and took a step back like puppets. , then I heard Liu Xiang's footsteps coming out of the east back side door, and he stood upright according to the case.
"Good morning, sir!"
Hundreds of people inside and outside the court beat Qian'er down together, and the sound made the hall buzz.
"Everyone, please stand up." Liu Xiang's poker face was expressionless. Even so, everyone still breathed a sigh of relief. Wei Bifu and Lu Yizhong bowed their heads upwards and sat down with their hands on their knees. The others stood in silence with their hands down, glancing at the public seat from time to time. Liu Xiang also sat down.
Liu Xiang looked at the crowd of people standing under the public case in the lobby to the dark crowd outside the gate. He couldn't help but be a little confused. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Urban Affairs and the roster taken from the cabinet library, the number of people in this government yamen was better than that of the county yamen. There are more, but there are less than a hundred "official officials". Including those who have work, food and money, there are only more than 300 people.
Although he knew from the information that every county and government government office had many "temporary workers" who were not on staff and did not receive wages, there were not so many people!
He frowned and said, "Roll roll call!"
The roll call went quickly, and there were more than 300 people in total. After the roll call, 25 people did not show up, eight of them were on long leave, and only 17 people showed up without any reason.
"Those who have not yet arrived will be removed!" Liu Xiang ordered. Seeing that there were still many people whose names had not been called, he turned to Wei Bifu and asked: "There are still many people who have not been called. This..."
"Those who are not registered are the ones who do public work." Wei Bifu said, "Those who are registered get three to six taels of labor and food money every year. Those who are not registered only work as errands and do not receive any money."
Liu Xiang nodded, three to two six cents of labor and food silver per year, this salary is quite low. As for the many servants who only work as errands without getting paid, it goes without saying what they do to survive.
The work of a yamen servant is essentially unpaid labor. For the designers of this system, there is nothing wrong with not paying government servants wages or only paying them nominal wages, because this is a kind of "service to the public." This crude system lasted for more than a thousand years, and no court realized what was wrong with it. In addition to complaining that "officials are as cunning as oil", officials have never thought of trying to change the source.
Liu Xiang asked again: "How many people are not registered?"
"This -" Wei Bifu was confused, "I don't know what the humble position is. There are about fifteen or six hundred people." (To be continued.)
