The prefect had just woken up at this time. He heard that Prime Minister Yan had already sent a document to inform him. Supervisor Chen and others were reading it in the house, feeling very frightened. He hurriedly put on his official uniform and paced in the room, waiting for Chen Tongpao to come to discuss with him. But because he was too anxious, he couldn't calm down, so he had to pick an ancient book at random and forced himself to read it for a while to calm down.
"Master Futai, Supervisor Chen has read the documents in the court and said that there are still some things that need to be considered. Please come to the room for a confidential discussion." The clerk who had been sent out had just returned and hurriedly reported to him.
"Go... to him?" The magistrate immediately put down the book and stood up, feeling anxious after finally letting go.
"Yes, and for confidential purposes, no one is allowed in or out."
The magistrate froze on the spot, with random thoughts in his mind and sweat already covering his forehead.
"Okay... then I'll go," he took a long breath and wiped the sweat with his sleeve, "you can lead the way."
Although he was still in his own yamen, when the magistrate walked to the door of the guest room, he felt that the surrounding environment suddenly became so unfamiliar that he could not even recognize the road clearly and was confused for a moment. Thanks to the reminder from the clerk, he slowly regained his energy and looked at the room in front of him again. He looked inside the window, trying to see some clues, but all he saw was a vast darkness, as if it was about to force him straight into the room. Come up and hold his heart down.
He didn't even dare to take a breath, and his face turned sallow. To show that he was not timid, he glanced at the book office with his peripheral vision and said, "Just close the door for me. Don't worry." After that, he strode over and opened the door. Only with the light outside the door, he saw The general outline of the house, but the mood is still not relaxed.
He didn't find Chen Tongpao's figure, so he went to sit on the armchair next to the wall, sitting extremely upright; but when he heard the two doors behind him slamming, he suddenly tightened his body again.
"Master Magistrate," Chen Tongpao opened the curtains in the inner room, walked out with the documents in his hands, and bowed in a very graceful manner, "the two clerks are not here today, so you can do your best and don't be careful."
The magistrate hurriedly shrugged his shoulders and returned the greeting: "The three superiors have all come here with orders. The subordinates have always talked about it. How could they be wary? Please sit down, too."
"No," Chen Tongpao lamented, frowning and looking into the distance blankly, "I'd better wait until you read this document."
"What?" The prefect no longer remained calm, "Does Prime Minister Yan have anything new to say?"
"Well, it's up to you, sir, to read it yourself," Tongpao Chen slapped the document on the table, "Just say one thing and wish for more blessings."
The magistrate glanced at him and saw that there was no movement, so he had to tremble his hands, open the cover of the document, and look at them one by one, his face turned earth-colored.
"Prime Minister Yan ordered us to kill the people in power, now Hu Zhizhang and Yan Laifu. I know you are afraid that this will cause chaos in Shandong, but this is the order of Zhongshu, and I can only carry it out. I am here to tell you specifically that if in the future If something goes wrong in Shandong, the responsibility will definitely fall on Futai. I will try my best to rescue you when the time comes, and I will definitely protect you from death."
These words pierced the prefect's ears like thunder. He seemed at a loss at first, but in the end he couldn't think of a solution, so he gritted his teeth, turned around, knelt down, and pressed his head tightly to the ground: " I have always been cautious in my work as an official, and I am very kind to my subordinates, but I don’t want to suffer such an accident... The supervisor is a man who has weathered many hardships. I hope you can help me and not let the people suffer innocently!" Two rows above and below him His teeth were chattering and he was stumbling over his words. Fortunately, Tongpao Chen listened clearly.
Chen Tongpao helped him up and saw that although he seemed calm, his whole face was numb from too much tension, so he put his arms around his shoulders and sighed: "It is not easy for a prefect to predict the people. Based on this, Naturally, I want to help you. After looking at the fields, I know that this new policy for establishing schools is a dead end. All the local government schools are mutually exclusive with the local gentry, so the power of the fields will naturally be in their hands. Once it is expanded today, How can he be willing to submit when he has little to gain? Now there are two gentry in Qufu County alone to stop him. If we look at the north and south of the river, wouldn't everyone be able to kill them? If people are in panic, there will be no way to talk about the teachings of saints."
Seeing that he had such a heart-to-heart talk, the prefect slowly relaxed and said to him: "More than that, most of these landowners also hold the posts of governor and security chief. They are highly virtuous among the people, and the government often relies on them to restrain the countryside." People, implement the policy. We will kill them all today, and of course the order will be disordered. This is something the higher-ups did not consider."
"That's why this order cannot be carried out." Tongpao Chen poked at the official document and made his words very clear.
"As long as Supervisor Chen has a plan in mind, the subordinates will do their best to help!" The prefect clenched his fists and expressed his loyalty to him.
Chen Tongpao was relieved and slowly sat down holding the armrest of the armchair: "I do have a solution here, but it is also the only solution, which is the word 'ease'. Nowadays, the New Deal is not only implemented in Shandong, but also in the whole country." We must act in accordance with this. When people are upset and the overall situation is about to be lost, you and I can keep our positions and achieve nothing. Today, the two book offices will urge us to go to Qufu for work. The crisis is imminent. There is no room for mistakes. You listen to my arrangements now and follow them one by one later."
The magistrate's spirit immediately rose. He focused his attention and silently listened to Chen Shilang's words. He continued speaking for half an hour and remembered them all in his mind.
Chen Tongpao walked out of the room, quickly returned to the two book offices, and said: "It's all done. It took me a long time to talk and made my mouth dry, but finally it made sense!"
The two secretaries were overjoyed and rushed to pour him tea and brought it to his mouth: "You are indeed the person chosen by Prime Minister Yan at a glance. You are indeed very courageous!"
"Don't dare, don't dare." Chen Tongpao smiled and took a sip of tea.
"Without further delay, the supervisor can hurry up and head to Qufu with us," Yishu said.
"That's right," the other person also became proud, "When you get there, you must be polite first and then fight. If they don't listen to the advice again, we will send out the army and send them to the capital to see if they still dare to be arrogant!"
Chen Tongpao said: "I also want to solve it quickly, but how many officers and soldiers should be dispatched and how to dispatch them? We are not familiar with the situation, so we have to ask the prefect. You all follow me to see him and come to a clear conclusion. Come."
Thinking about the hectic scene when they first came here, the two secretarial offices felt deeply convinced and went with him to the second hall to have further discussions with the prefect.
After the magistrate left the guest room, his blood color was different from before. He shouted loudly to the clerk to lead the way, and strode into the second hall. Hearing the sound of footsteps outside the door, he took a look out of the corner of his eye and smiled easily. : "Secretary's office, serve tea to the three of you!"
