Governor Zhao, who was no longer sleepy and still had a headache, drank the newly served tea with a cold expression.
Not long after, a servant came in from the outside and reported to him: "Sir, we followed your order and followed Mr. Qi. We found him leaving the Governor's Mansion, crying as he walked, saying that he had sinned, implicated the people, and was guilty... …It’s so miserable!”
"This old man is so good at acting, but he is trying to force me into the palace!" Governor Zhao was angry and amused after hearing this.
But he also understood that if he didn't really care about the people, why would he sacrifice his face to force him into the palace? This means killing a thousand enemies and damaging yourself eight hundred.
Thinking about the rumors I heard before, I didn't believe them before, but now I believe them a little bit, I couldn't help but feel filled with emotion.
"Well, since that's the case, if I don't help, it will appear that I am stingy and careless about the general situation. You should go out and catch up with Magistrate Qi and ask him to come back to see me."
"Yes, sir!"
When Qi Hongxin came back, he saw that everyone around the flower hall had evacuated. Governor Zhao was half leaning on his chair drinking tea and did not speak. He seemed to be a different person, lost in thought. Qi Hongxin did not speak either and just stood there. .
"Brother Qinian, I'm thinking about the time when you were the first disciple of the second class, and you were immediately elected to the Hanlin Academy and then to the East Palace. We were all envious at that time." Governor Zhao stroked his forehead and took a deep breath: "Who can Think about it, twenty years from now, what will happen to you and me like this?"
"Really?" Qi Hongxin smiled, with no trace of sadness on his dull face: "This is fate."
Governor Zhao nodded and said coldly: "Yes, this is fate. You and I are of the same age. I will tell you the truth. It is normal for the vassal to borrow money."
"It's just that in your Shun'an Mansion, I was told by someone I can't afford to offend. I'm not allowed to borrow a tael of silver."
"I see." Qi Hongxin's heart sank. The governor of a province in Zheng and Wei had no empty title. He was a third-rank official, but he was also a frontier official with real power. There were very few people who could make the governor say he couldn't afford to offend him.
Just listen to Governor Zhao say calmly: "That's all. During your third term as prefect, you have already become more violent. You blindly offend others when running the government. You don't have your upper or lower intentions."
"Let's not talk about the official's feelings. You should know how harshly you treat them. As for the people's feelings, the people have always been the most ungrateful people."
"Not to mention a hundred years, even if you took office in Yiyun Mansion, how many people still miss you?"
Qi Hongxin couldn't help being startled, and just nodded without saying a word.
Governor Zhao continued: "The provincial government pays you every year. The gift you gave Governor Yu last time was a little too thin. Everyone knows your situation and doesn't care about it, but why do you still write poems to ridicule it?"
"Brother Qinian, the road cannot get narrower and narrower. Listen to my advice. You are almost old. Just resign and return to your hometown. Otherwise, you will not end up in the end."
When Governor Zhao said this, he shook his head sadly.
Qi Hongxin looked calm on the surface, but his heart was turbulent.
"Why don't you speak?" Governor Zhao suddenly became angry: "Am I wrong?"
"What you said is absolutely correct." Qi Hongxin sighed and suddenly became jealous. "Other people have a long way to go, but I have a hard time to go, so I do things in reverse."
"I am a guilty person. Someone just saw this and blocked the road everywhere, making it difficult for me to move forward."
"If I didn't do the opposite, I wouldn't even be able to get out of the yamen."
"You are the same year as me, and if you are talking sincerely at this time, you will be in the same year..." Qi Hongxin said plainly, but there were no tears when he said this, and he took a sip of tea: "Since I can't get it, If I can't enter the temple, I will work hard to do something for the people and never expect the people to remember me."
"If anything happens to me, please take care of my wife and children out of love."
After hearing this, Governor Zhao was stunned for a long time and felt speechless. He stood up and opened the two boxes: "In this case, I can only help you get here."
There was silver in the box, all official silver, with silver frost.
Although it was less than expected, only 6,000 taels, at the critical moment of eradicating locusts and when the treasury of Shun'an Prefecture was empty, Qi Hongxin breathed a sigh of relief.
At least I won't be as anxious as an ant on a hot pot these days.
Qi Hongxin knew that although the money was small, the governor still had some responsibility. He bowed to the ground and expressed gratitude to Governor Zhao: "I would like to thank the governor on behalf of the people of Shun'an Mansion!"
"Okay, now that you have the money, let's go back quickly." Governor Zhao, who was in a complicated mood and didn't want to see this face, waved his hand and said.
Qi Hongxin didn't say much, took a deep breath, and asked the accompanying county soldiers to disperse the 6,000 taels of silver and carry them all the way back to Fucheng.
After returning home, Qi Hongxin immediately ordered: "Ask the county magistrates to come to the Yamen for a meeting in the afternoon, and tell them that I will allocate money so that they can prepare to control the locusts."
The messenger left in response. Although he had not slept all night and was extremely tired, Qi Hongxin still had no sleep at all. After eating some food, he went to the desk, spread out a piece of paper, and started writing the memorial.
Just as Qi Hongxin told the governor, he blamed one person for the suppression of Shun'an Mansion.
But in addition to this incident, he also wrote to the court about the fact that the government had suffered serious losses and could no longer operate.
After finishing writing, he read it carefully and found that it was getting late. Qi Hongxin simply ate some food and sat on the chair with his eyes closed to rest. It seemed that only for a while, a servant reminded: "Master, all the county magistrates are here." coming."
Qi Hongxin arrived at the flower hall and saw that everyone was there. On the one hand, he asked to sit down, and on the other hand, he looked out the window thoughtfully. When the county magistrate saw Shangguan like this, no one said anything.
After a long while, Qi Hongxinfang smiled embarrassedly and said, "You have all seen that I went to beg for alms and only donated 6,000 taels of silver, which can only be used in counties where the locust plague may be the worst."
Then he named three counties: "I won't leave a penny now. I will allocate all the money to you. You can start controlling locusts directly, and there is no need to stay for a while."
These county magistrates did not expect that the prefect actually asked for the silver, and they felt relieved. After taking the money, they hurried back and began to mobilize migrant workers.
Qi Hongxin watched them leave, was silent for a moment, and then said: "As for the other money, I have already written to the court, stating that the government has suffered serious losses and can no longer operate."
Upon hearing this, the officials were stunned by the operations of the new prefect Qi Hongxin.
Before that, because they had witnessed or heard about Qi Hongxin's order to massacre the troubled people, they were all a little afraid of the butcher magistrate. When they ordered the locust extermination today, they did not dare to object at all, but after hearing Qi Hongxin Xin actually submitted a letter to the imperial court about the losses in the palace, and these officials couldn't sit still.
Someone was shocked: "Sir! How can you directly write to the court?"
"If this matter is reported to the imperial court, they will definitely be held accountable. You are the head of an official in the government. If you are held accountable, you are not afraid..."
Qi Hongxin was sitting in the top position when he suddenly coughed violently. This cough not only interrupted the official's words, but also made the people sitting below finally realize that this man had been in various ways since he arrived at Shun'an Mansion. The man who gave cold and hard orders was already old. Not only was he old, but he seemed to be in poor health.
"Afraid?" After coughing, he covered it with a handkerchief and wiped it. Qi Hongxin held the handkerchief in his hand, glanced at everyone, and said lightly: "What else do I have to worry about now?"
