After deliberation among the patriarchs present in the inner hall of the mansion, Patriarch Fan finally stood up to speak. He smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Fu, we have already discussed it. This time, our seventeen family members will come together first." Come on, collect two hundred thousand shi of grain and send it to the government's granary."
Kang Zhifu was overjoyed, and said with cupped hands: "Fan Laozhen is a role model for our clan in the Ming Dynasty. I, the clan clan in Yangzhou Prefecture, are well aware of the righteousness of the nation, and I admire you. You are all heroes of our Ming Dynasty. When I meet the Crown Prince, I will The official must praise you all."
He originally just wanted these clan leaders to come up with one hundred and eighty thousand, but he didn't expect these people to be so powerful and ask for two hundred thousand.
You know, in Zhending Mansion in the north, the entire year's land tax is only 110,000 shi. And these Yangzhou clan chiefs directly took out two years of land tax from Zhending Mansion. In addition to the 200,000 yuan in taxes that Yangzhou already had this year, it is a total of 400,000 shi.
Four hundred thousand dan of grain was enough to satisfy the prince.
And Governor Kang can also keep the black gauze hat on his head.
Patriarch Fan waved his hand and said, "Your Excellency, you are too polite. This is what we gentlemen should do to serve the country and the people."
Magistrate Kang said solemnly: "Mr. Fan understands the great righteousness."
…
After Kang Zhifu sent all the clan officials away, a man slowly walked out from behind the screen. This man was wearing a white shirt, with an old-fashioned appearance, a goat's beard, and red and phoenix eyes.
This man is the master of the Yangzhou government office.
Masters are very common in government or county yamen. They have no official position and can only be regarded as a "official". Generally, they are filled by people who failed the imperial examination and turned to study administrative affairs to make suggestions for the prefect or county magistrate.
"Master Fu, why do I feel that something is wrong here?"
The master frowned and said, "In the past, these squires were pushovers, and they would never move unless they were given a favor. But if you want them to give a penny, they will be pestering the government for a long time. Why are they today? Suddenly he became generous and promised us 200,000 shi of food in one breath. Is there something fishy in this...?"
"Master, you are worrying too much."
At this time, Governor Kang was very proud of the spring breeze and said happily, "Although these noble clansmen are sometimes stupid, they are still very smart when they should be smart. If the prince comes to Yangzhou, he will treat the people in the Yangzhou granary If they are not satisfied with the number, I will definitely suffer first, but how can they survive after I die?"
"In the past year, although I am not said to be colluding with these clan leaders, I have also protected them and served as the magistrate of Yangzhou for a year. For them, they can earn more when I am in office. .”
"With the style of our prince, how could he not know the deeper meaning? Killing me is just to satisfy his temporary anger. As far as Yangzhou is concerned, what is my crime? The real guilty ones are these clan chiefs. They control the money and food of the Yangzhou government. The court cannot get the money and food because these clan leaders are unwilling to let go. If I die, the prince will definitely take the blame for the city of Yangzhou. None of these people can Don’t even think about living!”
"Under this situation, how can they not compromise?"
"This food will not only save me, but also them. I can only live for a few more decades at most, but they want to continue their family for hundreds or thousands of years. How can this small profit in front of me be compared to thousands of years?" Will the family last for many years?"
After hearing this, the master felt that what he said made sense. He knew that Magistrate Kang was in a state of joy at this time and could not listen to what others said. I am afraid that if he continued to speak, it would not help. It would only make the other party unhappy, and he felt that it was disturbing the atmosphere.
Helpless, he could only clasp his fists and say: "I hope so."
…
The royal boat docked, the river was surging, the spring was gradually coming up the Yangtze River, the mountains and waters on both sides of the bank were beautiful, the scenery was just right, and the natural chasm was majestic.
Zhu Gaojiu stepped off the dragon boat, followed by Yu Qian and Zhang Muzhiwen Yiwu. Officials from the Yangzhou government office were already waiting to pay homage at the pier. They all knelt down and kowtowed, and shouted in unison: "Your Highness, may you be blessed!"
"Excuse me."
Zhu Gaojie looked at one of them with a smile on his face, "Are you Kang Shike, the governor of Yangzhou?"
Magistrate Kang raised his head, somewhat flattered: "Your Highness, do you still remember me?"
"We met when we were in Nanjing."
Zhu Gaojie smiled slightly and said, "You were promoted to the prefect of Yangzhou before, just because of Gu Pi. You should have an impression, right?"
"Your Highness's kindness in supporting me will never be forgotten even if I die."
Magistrate Kang said quickly, "When I came to Beijing to report on my duties, I met His Highness once. I never thought that His Highness the Prince has such a good memory. He still remembers this little magistrate."
"The magistrate is not a minor official. As long as he is in office, there will be no minor officials. Even if he is a minor official in the county government without a rank, he is called a minor official, but to the local people, he is the master. There are six officials in the county government. That's just like the six ministers of the imperial court. I've heard that the county magistrates in this county often engage in "little court affairs", where they are like emperors. Aren't the six ministers just like little ministers? Minister?"
Zhu Gaojie patted Magistrate Kang on the shoulder and said, "Even a seventh-grade magistrate can create a small court. Aiqing, the fourth-grade magistrate, is directly under Nanjing. It is one of the two prefectures in the south and north, and has jurisdiction over three counties. With seven counties in the state, how can he be a minor official?"
Magistrate Kang was so slapped that he almost fell apart and was frightened. He raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said quickly: "These daring people who have taken advantage of the courage of a bear and a leopard are simply abominable. They can do such things." Such a treacherous and disrespectful act. Your Highness, don’t worry, I can’t control other places. Anyway, in Yangzhou Prefecture, I will never allow such things to happen."
Zhu Gaojie waved his hand and said: "As far as Yu Gu is concerned, as far as His Majesty is concerned, and as far as the court is concerned, this doesn't matter. As long as you can do practical things, let alone a small court, even a large court can do it." What, what if we can make local people rich and pay taxes to the country on time and in compliance with regulations? I have always been like this, I can ignore some minor flaws in my official appointment, as long as I can achieve political achievements, my dear , what do you think?"
Kang Zhifu said with a look of shame: "Your Highness's words are reasonable. How dare I ask Your Highness to come to the guild hall first? I have already set up a banquet in the guild hall to welcome His Highness."
"Not urgent."
Zhu Gaojie looked around and asked, "Why do I only see officials but not the people?"
Magistrate Kang said: "Reporting to Your Highness, the government office has dispersed the people in this area in order to welcome Your Highness, in order to protect His Highness's safety."
Zhu Gaojie frowned slightly: "Prefect Kang, are you doing this unfairly?"
Governor Kang's heart skipped a beat: "Your Highness, why did you say this? Is there anything wrong with my plan?"
"Think about it for yourself, why is Gu traveling to the south?"
Zhu Gaojie sighed, "The purpose of Gu Nan's tour is to observe the people's sentiments and care about the people of Ming Dynasty. But you dispersed the people in advance, so how can I observe the people? Let's talk about it again. As soon as the prince comes, the people have to leave. Then Doesn’t it mean that Gu has become the god of plague, how will the people view Gu?"
Magistrate Kang immediately knelt on the ground: "I am guilty!"
"My dear, what are you doing?"
Zhu Gaojie helped Magistrate Kang up and said harmoniously, "Who in the world is not a commoner? You are also a commoner, Gu is also a commoner, and our ancestors of the Zhu family are still old farmers. No one is a saint, and no one can do anything wrong. When Magistrate Kang drove away the people, he was also thinking about Gu Gu. It’s fine that Gu doesn’t appreciate it, so how can he accuse you of being innocent?”
He smiled softly and said, "Since the people failed to come to welcome me, I will go to welcome the people. Governor Kang, please find someone to take me to Yangzhou City so that I can talk to the people for a while. Soon."
"Okay, okay."
Magistrate Kang quickly waved and called a group of people, "You guys, come here quickly and lead the way for His Highness the Crown Prince!"
…
After Zhu Gaojie left, Magistrate Kang changed his panicked demeanor and stood calmly on the spot, motionless in the wind.
The master of the government office couldn't help but sigh: "As expected of the master of the government, he is calm and calm in the face of danger. The panic just now was just pretending, but in fact there is a universe inside. Such a city is admirable."
Magistrate Kang said calmly: "Master, come here for a moment."
The master walked over in a hurry, tilted his head and asked: "Master Fu, do you have any orders?"
"It's nothing, I just want you to help me."
Magistrate Kang put his arm on the other party's shoulders, and his whole body went limp as if he was deflated. He was so limp that he couldn't use any strength. "I was so frightened that my legs went weak, and my crotch almost got wet."
The master was stunned. He thought that his master was calm in the face of danger, but he never thought that the other party was so frightened that he could not move.
After so many years of working in the government office, he has never seen the other party behave in such an ugly manner!
"You were not with me just now, so you don't know how scary the aura of our prince is. He is worthy of being a prince who has walked out of the flames of war. His whole body has the aura of fighting and fighting. Like a towering mountain, like the tide crashing on the shore, it makes people’s ears ring and their eyes dazzle, and their whole body becomes paralyzed.”
Kang Zhifu said tremblingly, "Looking from a distance, His Highness the Crown Prince seems to be speaking in a gentle and gentle manner, but in fact there is a knife hidden in every word. He uses both soft and hard tactics, and both Yin and Yang are combined. Every word is like a sharp sword piercing into my heart, it’s really scary.”
"Just now, the prince used the county government office to take over the conversation. He seemed to be casually asking me about the county government's political achievements. In fact, he was reminding me whether I had taken care of the granary. How dare I tell the truth? I was able to deal with it for the time being, but fortunately the prince gave me a step down and did not continue to ask further questions."
Having said this, Lord Fu seemed to have regained his composure, and asked quickly: "Master, I have ordered you to keep an eye on the seventeen clan clan chiefs in the past two days. Have they ever sent food and grass to the government office?" In the granary, this is a job that requires my head to bet. If something goes wrong, I will go to heaven where I am!"
The master smiled bitterly and said: "Seventeen families only received 20,000 shi of food and grass."
"What!"
Magistrate Kang was shocked, "We agreed on 200,000 shi, but they only sent 20,000 shi. What is this, are you making fun of me?"
The master said: "The head of the Fan family sent someone to convey a message. The scenery this year is not good. At the end of last year, we sold dozens of ships of grain to the north. It is too difficult to collect 200,000 shi in a short time. Now we can only send it first." Come here for 20,000 dan. But if Master Fu Zun can hold the prince for two or three days, they will definitely be able to send all the food."
"He gave his grandma a leg!"
Magistrate Kang cursed loudly, "How dare he think of asking me to hold back the Crown Prince? What level am I and what level is the Crown Prince? I'm a fourth-grade magistrate, and I'm okay with being domineering in the local area. Who has seen it?" You have to call me 'Master Fu Zun', but in front of the human prince, that's nonsense!"
"The Crown Prince is happy and has saved face for me, a local official, and calls me Aiqing. If he is unhappy, he will ask me to be beheaded at Caishikou!"
He held his forehead irritably, "Master, if you come up with an idea for me, you have to let the prince deal with it."
Master: "..."
Damn you beast, you, a prefect, are not looked down upon by the crown prince, but I, a master who doesn’t even have a rank, are looked down upon by others?
I can go to hell!
…
Yu Qian followed Zhu Gaojie. After much hesitation, he stepped forward and whispered: "Sir, the Yangzhou magistrate must be perfunctory with you, right?"
Zhu Gaojie raised his eyebrows slightly: "You finally understand?"
Yu Qian scratched his head and said, "You just asked him about his political achievements. In fact, you were asking him whether the granary issue has been resolved. But he was refusing to change the subject. Most likely it has not been resolved yet."
"Yes, Not Bad."
Zhu Gaojie nodded and said, "You have made progress, and you are no longer the dull young man you were before. It seems that the month you went to Annan Province to be the prefect has improved you a lot. You are right, judging from the situation, this is a good thing." The prefect is not just 80%, he has not yet solved the granary 10% of the time."
Yu Qian said: "Then why should we talk nonsense with him? Why don't we just kill him directly? Kill him first and then ransack his house. Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. Just kill him and that's it!"
"...how come you have become a reckless man even after staying in the liberal arts college for a month?"
Zhu Gaojie said helplessly, "Think about it carefully with your not-so-smart little head, can it be his fault alone if he can't get enough food? In the Zhili areas of the northern and southern capitals, there are tax inspectors and inspectors. The most ruthless part of the investigation is that if Magistrate Kang is an official who only knows how to take money but does nothing, can Lu Chaoyang let him go? Can Saiha intelligently let him go? Of these two people, one was once the most powerful leader of Jin Yiwei, and the other was once Jin Yiwei. The honorary commander is neat and tidy in his work. How can he evade their swords when he is the prefect of Yangzhou at the gate of Nanjing?"
"Lu Chaoyang and Sai Hazhi didn't touch him, which shows that the Yangzhou magistrate still has something to do. But it's not his fault that the food cannot be harvested. Just the Yangzhou government office's granary only had 200,000 shi to hold it to death. Grain, this is already a qualified figure. But now that Gu has come to Yangzhou, these two hundred thousand dan are not enough. After all, two hundred thousand dan is a regular land tax, but when Gu comes, he will at least Double that, an inspection by a superior officer and a regular situation are two different things.”
“There’s not enough food, what should I do?”
"Robbing the people? Does he dare? He is here alone, how dare he go and plunder the people?"
"Then we can only get it from the local powerful gentry. Whose problem is this?"
(End of chapter)
