Guo Binchang's eyes lit up.
But soon, he shook his head and sighed: "It's useless. I don't know anyone in the capital. Those who were born in the same year didn't even have time to hide from the Tiger Flag, so how could they take the initiative to contaminate it? I'm afraid that if you go to the capital, you won't even get in." Not going."
In the officialdom, there are only icing on the cake, not much help in times of need.
Originally, he, a Jinshi, came to a place like Datong to be a county magistrate because he had no connections. If he had powerful connections in the court, even if he couldn't go to Jiangnan, he would still have the opportunity to be a magistrate of a rich county instead of coming to Lingqiu. Such a county magistrate.
After all, in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, county magistrates like Lingqiu were often appointed by juren.
"If you have money, you should be able to find someone willing to help Dong Weng!" Master Jia said hesitantly.
Guo Binchang shook his head and said: "I'm afraid I have been abandoned by the court. Otherwise, Lingqiu Guards has been in office for three days. Why hasn't he come to visit me? It can be seen that the whole Datong wants to use me as a scapegoat."
Those who can pass the Jinshi exam may not understand practical things, but they are definitely not stupid, and they are even smarter than many people.
The governor and commander-in-chief of Datong have all been replaced, and even the Lingqiu garrison has been replaced. Only he, the Lingqiu County Magistrate who has been in office for several years, has not been transferred.
Not only that, when the new governor took office, he took the initiative to visit him without even entering. The gift list was also sent back. It was obvious that the new governor did not want to have a relationship with him.
"Why don't you, Dong Weng, go to the Defense Mansion to meet the newly appointed Zheng Shoubei?" Master Jia said, "He can come to Lingqiu to guard, maybe he knows something?"
Guo Binchang waved his hand and said: "I, the magistrate of Lingqiu County, who was born as a Jinshi, bent down to visit the garrison of Lingqiu. If this spreads out, I will not have any dignity among the scholars."
He directly rejected Master Jia’s proposal.
Master Jia smiled bitterly.
At this time, he didn't expect that the other party was still acting like a scholar. However, based on his understanding of Guo Binchang, it was useless to persuade him. It was impossible to let go of the air of being a scholar.
At this time, Guo Binchang didn't know what he was thinking. He said to Master Jia: "I can't go, but you can go too, or you can ask Zheng Shoubei for me."
"Then let the students make the trip." Master Jia nodded in agreement.
He also wanted to know the purpose of Zheng Shoubei's coming to Lingqiu. Even without Guo Binchang's instructions, he would have found a way to send someone to find out.
Although he is just a master, he has been in Lingqiu for so many years and has rich connections. Even if the Lingqiu garrison changes people, many people in the Lingqiu garrison will not change, so the relationship is still there.
With these connections, it is not a troublesome thing to find out something.
"I think you don't have to wait any longer. Go today. If you find out earlier, I can feel at ease." Guo Binchang said to Master Jia.
However, at this moment, a policeman came quickly to the back office.
"I would like to report to the eldest lord, Dongzhu Xu, Dongzhu Yang, Dongzhu Li, and Dongzhu Wang. I would like to ask to see you, eldest lord." Someone came in to report.
The four proprietors mentioned by the police were all powerful people in Lingqiu. Even without hearing their full names, Guo Binchang thought of the identities of these people.
"No, no." Guo Binchang waved his hand in disgust.
These people who came here all have a close relationship with the Tiger Character Flag. It was too late for him to hide from the Tiger Character Flag now, let alone meet these people whose relationship with the Tiger Character Flag was unclear.
The messenger turned around and prepared to leave.
"Wait a minute." Master Jia stopped the police and said to Guo Binchang, "Dong Weng had better meet them. I'm afraid these people must be desperate at this time. Maybe they can do something."
As a master, I know all the powerful people in Lingqiu County. These proprietors have been able to stand in Lingqiu for so many years, and there are various connections behind them.
Just like Dongzhu Xu mentioned by the police, he has a relationship with the head of the Punishment Department behind him. If Dongzhu Xu is driven away at this time, maybe the head of the Punishment Department will stumble over such a trivial matter.
The biggest person in the county government is the county magistrate, and those who can maintain the operation of the county magistrate are the small officials below.
The so-called county government is made of iron and the county magistrate is made of flowing water.
The county magistrate may change at any time, but the minor officials are all from the same county and have clan support behind them, and their relationships are complicated.
Many times it is better to offend the county magistrate than to offend the subordinate officials.
"That's fine, let's meet him!" Guo Binchang didn't have any ideas. Seeing what his master said, he asked the messenger to bring him in.
The messengers retreated.
After a short time, the police led several middle-aged people into the back office. One of the middle-aged people looked particularly fat, as big as the three people around him.
"I've met the great master."
Several middle-aged people bowed to Guo Binchang.
These people are all local squires, and some of them have Tongsheng hats. They are not in the lobby where the case is being heard, so when they face the county magistrate, they do not need to kneel on the ground to salute like other common people.
"You don't have to be polite, proprietors. Please take a seat!" Guo Binchang motioned to the proprietors in front of him to take over.
By this time, he had already taken the lead.
Everyone sat down separately. Only Dongzhu Xu had some trouble sitting down because he was too fat. He had someone bring two benches and put them together before he sat down.
After everyone sat down, the servants served hot tea.
Guo Binchang used the cup lid to stir the tea in the cup and said: "The proprietors came to my place in such a neat manner. I think there must be something going on, so you might as well say it openly."
"To be honest with you, sir, we really don't know what to do now, so I'm here to ask you to come up with an idea and save us." The first person to speak was Yang Yuqian, the boss of Yang.
Guo Binchang put down the tureen in his hand and asked curiously: "Don't you think Yang Dongzhu has anything to say?"
"There are several officials in Datong who do not take advantage of the Tiger Flag, and you are not the only one, Dong Weng, so Dong Weng, you don't need to be so worried." Master Jia advised.
He didn't take the benefit of the Tiger Flag seriously.
Now is not the time when the country was founded in the early Ming Dynasty, when tens of thousands of people could be implicated in any crime of rebellion. In today's court, even if the Tiger Character Banner rebels, most officials will at most regard it as an oversight and will not really search the whole house.
Guo Binchang sighed and said: "Others can hide, but I can't. The headquarters of the Tiger-Character Flag is in Lingqiu. As the magistrate of Lingqiu County, let alone receiving the benefits of the Tiger-Character Flag, even if I am nothing Even if I don’t get any benefits, the court will not let me go.”
After saying this, he walked to the seat next to him and sat down.
"How about the student go to the capital and try to find a way to help Dong Weng, and see if we can transfer Dong Weng from Lingqiu to another place through the Ministry of Personnel?" Master Jia asked tentatively.
