Ever since Zhu Qiyu personally ordered Yang Hong and Yang Jun's father and son to be executed in public in the Xuan Mansion, the officials, gentry, and wealthy households in the Xuan Mansion have been in panic all day long.
After that, there will be endless purges.
Even Yang Hong's legitimate son, Yang Jie, was sent to the Xuan Mansion by the emperor to assist Li Bing in inspecting officials and managing the gentry.
Therefore, the people's hearts in Xuanfu showed a two-sided situation: the poor people were happy to see the success, while the gentry and wealthy households were full of resentment.
In this way, it is normal for Li Bing to be frustrated. Except for Yang Jie, who was sent by the emperor, no local was willing to serve as the governor.
When Li Bing first recruited staff, many people came to apply, but they were all crooked and difficult to use. Li Bing had no choice but to remove all those people based on the principle of "better to lack than to abuse." As time went by, no one came anymore.
The poor and the poor were unable to participate in such a political struggle, while the wealthy gentry were united and carried out silent protests.
Today, someone finally came to apply for a position as a staff member. Li Bing was overjoyed and took the greeting card in person, opened it and looked at it carefully.
Two staff members, Zhou Shen and Liu Xiang, also craned their necks to watch Li Bing's reaction curiously.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Li Binggang finished reading, he threw the greeting card to the ground angrily: "Look, another poor scholar. Wang Shan, a student of the Imperial Academy, is not even a scholar."
And he is still a foreign monk. Can he read this bad scripture of Xuanfu?
Give him two ounces of money and send him away quickly. "
When the servant heard this, he quickly agreed and turned around to send the people on their way.
Li Bing complained to his staff: "You must have read the recent imperial newspaper. The capital is in chaos. Emperor Gongrang is seriously ill, the crown prince is seriously ill, and the second and third princes are seriously ill.
All civil and military officials thought this was an act of flattery by a young man, and they all wrote sarcastic remonstrances to His Majesty.
There were also rumors in the capital that His Majesty wanted to depose the crown prince, which caused an uproar and became more and more intense.
There are constant personnel changes in the cabinet and the six ministries, and dozens of new scholars are involved in political disputes.
I also want to write to the court to ask for help. As a result, the court was in chaos, and there was no time to deal with us.
Tell me, what should you do next? "
Zhou Shen heard this and replied: "How about we start with Ji Guang, the deputy general of the Xuanfu?"
Li Bing shook his head helplessly: "I heard that His Majesty has agreed to investigate Ji Guang. But for some reason, the formal edict has never reached the Xuanfu. Even the cabinet, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate have not given a clear statement.
The imperial court is fighting so fiercely now, who knows what is going on. The official arrest warrant might have been stuck in the ceremonial office.
Ji Guang was highly recommended by Wang Zhen, and it is said that Emperor Gongrang can still exert influence on the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Hey, I have a headache. This governor can't do his job anymore. "
The two staff were grumbling with Li Bing, but unexpectedly the servant came back again.
Li Bing complained helplessly to the servant: "Just send the person away. There is no need for you to come back to me again."
The servant carefully handed over a letter: "Zhongcheng, I didn't ask for any money. The scholar named Wang Shan said that he has a letter of recommendation. Please take a look at it, Zhongcheng."
Li Bing glanced at Zhou Shen, then weakly leaned back on the chair.
Zhou Shen understood, took the letter, and opened it to read.
But when Zhou Shen saw the signature of the letter, he was stunned.
Li Bing asked curiously: "What's wrong?"
"Zhongcheng, look at the signature of this letter, Master Xun of Wuyingdian University."
"ah?"
Li Bing didn't dare to neglect and stood up immediately.
You can deny other people's face, but you can't ignore Chen Xun's face.
Li Bing was a Jinshi in the first year of Zhengtong, and Chen Xun was the examiner of the examination in the first year of Zhengtong. They had a teacher-student relationship.
Li Bing took the letter and looked at it carefully. It was really the master's handwriting.
After respectfully opening the letter and reading it carefully, Li Bing took a deep breath: He really suspected that his mentor was holding a knife to his neck and writing this letter of recommendation. Why use so many complimentary words to a scholar who appeared from nowhere?
Li Bing handed the letter to his two staff: "Tell me where this guy from the outside came from. He was able to ask my master, the majestic Bachelor of Wuyingdian, to write this letter of recommendation in his own hand."
Zhou Shen read the recommendation letter, thought for a moment, and replied: "A flood occurred in Shandong the year before last, which destroyed a large area of the Yellow River and canals.
Last year, His Majesty appointed Xu Youzhen, the censor of Youqiandu, to go to control floods and provide disaster relief.
Xu Yushi wrote to His Majesty, asking for donations of money and food. Then, for those wealthy gentry who donated money and food, the imperial court granted them the title of scholar and allowed them to study in the Imperial College. "
Hearing this, Li Bing suddenly realized: "Oh, isn't this person outside a serious scholar who has passed the examination?"
Zhou Shen smiled bitterly and said: "It's probably the same as ten."
Li Bing waved to the servant: "Go and invite him in."
Not long after, Wang Shan went up to the hall and bowed his hands.
Li Bing raised his eyes and took a closer look. In front of him was a well-dressed middle-aged man with a decent appearance and good temperament.
Li Bing said with a smile: "Sir, please sit down. May I ask you where you are from? Where do you live now? In what year did you become a scholar?"
Wang Shan replied: "I am a person from Zhili who currently lives in Xuanfu. As for the scholars, last year the imperial court was in Shandong to regulate rivers and collect donations of money and grain.
I donated 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 shi of fine rice, and the imperial court granted him the title of scholar and allowed him to study in the Imperial College. "
Li Bing's questions were straightforward, and Wang Shan's answers were also straightforward.
Li Bing glanced at Zhou Shen with admiration. His staff member's deduction was indeed accurate.
After taking a sip of tea, Li Bing continued to ask: "As an official, I am neither aggressive nor corrupt, and I am a poor governor. The remuneration I can give to my staff is a drop in the bucket compared to my husband's one hundred thousand taels of silver and two hundred thousand stones of fine rice." Can't even be called that.
May I ask why you are applying for a position as a staff officer? "
Wang Shan replied straightforwardly: "I want to help Zhongcheng do things, and then Zhongcheng will arrange a civil servant position for me. Using this as a springboard, I want to be a prefect in the future, which can be regarded as a glorious ancestor."
Li Bing heard this and replied helplessly: "I am not the one who poured cold water on you. No matter how good the officials are, they will never be the prefect."
"Not necessarily. The imperial court is about to carry out personnel reforms, and Xuanfu is the first to be piloted. If I occupy the position early, I will have unexpected gains."
"The imperial court is going to reform the civil service? Who did you listen to, sir? Did Mr. Chen Ge reveal this?"
Wang Shan shook his head: "Chen Ge, the old pillar of the imperial court and Lao Cheng Mouguo, how could he reveal the national policy of the imperial court indiscriminately?"
Li Bing was a little frightened when he heard this, so he had to reply: "I have no way of knowing the national policy of the imperial court, and I can't influence it, but I can promise to do my best to arrange the positions of officials for you.
But how will my husband teach me? "
Li Bing also thought about it: I don't want to ask so many questions, I just want to know what you can do for me?
Wang Shan smiled and said: "Zhongcheng is cleaning up the officialdom and wealthy gentry in Xuanfu. Is it difficult now and can't go on?"
Li Bing nodded: "That's true. Do you dare to ask sir to teach me?"
Wang Shan explained in detail the process of how Shanxi officials, gentry, and wealthy households colluded with Wala and how to smuggle and divide the stolen goods, and then went on to talk about the most critical point:
"Zhongcheng should start with the guards now, especially Ji Guang, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu.
Yang Hong and his son were San Yang's agents in the Shanxi garrison, while Ji Guang was Wang Zhen's interest representative.
As long as you start investigating from Ji Guang, you can grab a large piece from top to bottom.
You must take action now. In a few days, Ji Guang will silence all the insiders and destroy all the evidence, and you can just stare. "
Li Bing sighed heavily: "I know what you are saying, sir. But I am the governor and cannot arrest people directly. Arresting people should be under the control of the inspector. The problem is that the current inspector of Xuanfu is simply not Don't cooperate with me.
Besides, even if the patrol commander cooperated with me, he would not dare to arrest the deputy commander-in-chief of Xuanfu without official documents from the court. "
Wang Shan smiled and said: "Within three days, the imperial court will definitely send ministers and capable officials to announce the government. Zhongcheng first used the power granted by your majesty to arrest Ji Guang and his gang members.
When the minister arrives, you can just pass the responsibility on to him. "
Li Bing was helpless after hearing this: "Although His Majesty did give me the right to act expediently, he did not clearly say that arresting the deputy commander was among the expedients.
And sir, are you sure that an internal official will arrive within three days? Even if the internal official comes, will he take the responsibility for me for no reason? "
Wang Shan smiled and said: "This is what I am for. Zhongcheng hires me as his staff, and I lobby the internal officials for Zhongcheng. If things don't work out, I can leave Zhongcheng alone."
Li Bing lowered his head and pondered for a long time before replying: "Then Mr. Lao, I will immediately send people to arrest Ji Guang's gang members."
After that, Li Bing ordered people to take Wang Shan down to rest.
As soon as Wang Shan walked away, Zhou Shen asked with a worried look on his face: "Did Zhong Cheng believe him so easily?"
Li Bing shook his head and smiled bitterly: "How can I trust people so easily, especially for such a big thing. But I have no choice. If Ji Guang is really allowed to kill someone and destroy evidence, I will also be punished.
Rather than sit back and wait for death, it's better to take a gamble. Put Ji Guang in jail and prove his crimes. Even if he loses the bet, at least he can be regarded as asking for orders for the people, punishing rape and eradicating evil.
Besides, through my understanding of His Majesty's governing style in the past two years, I feel that even if Mr. Wang is a charlatan and has no effect at all, His Majesty will not do anything to me in the end.
Okay, you can take the soldiers and officers to arrest people. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility. "
…
Two days later, April 17th.
Zhu Qiyu stayed at ease for another three days. It was almost noon and he came to Qingyun Pavilion leisurely.
Leaning on the soft couch on the third floor, he watched the scenery of the lake and mountains for half an hour. Seeing that no one came, Zhu Qiyu planned to go home for dinner.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, the ministers rushed over by coincidence.
After everyone bowed, Zhu Qiyu looked around. First of all, Wang Ji didn't come. The old fox had already left Beijing, far away from the place of right and wrong. Secondly, Xu Qi also returned to Nanjing.
Yu Qian was unlucky. He was sent by Zhu Qiyu to assist Wang Wen in the Ministry of Punishment to try the bad things in Shanxi and Wala. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to.
But Yu Qian won't come to court today either.
There are three missing ministers of the Ministry of War, but there are two new faces.
One was Shen Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, and the other was Zou Qian, the Minister of Rites.
Zou Qian was promoted to Shangshu because he took the lead in writing letters to satirize the emperor and fight against injustices for the emperor.
Now that Zhu Qiyu and Zou Qian met for the first time, Zou Qian was also very embarrassed.
Zhu Qiyu didn't pay attention to Zou Qian, but asked Chen Yi first in a pleasant manner.
(End of chapter)
