Emperor Hongzhi was really angry. But as an emperor, he always remained rational despite his anger.
He did not punish Qiu Jun for recommending Nie Cheng.
Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was the only knowledge that allowed one to advance through the imperial examination, and controlled the entire path of advancement in the Ming Dynasty. To exaggerate, today’s Ming Dynasty is based on Neo-Confucianism.
The core of Neo-Confucianism is obedience, which is a tool to control and rule people.
For any feudal emperor, respecting Neo-Confucianism is an excellent means of governing the world.
Qiu Jun, a leader of Neo-Confucianism, could not be easily moved, but he still wanted to enshrine him in the cabinet as a Buddha... even though Emperor Hongzhi believed that he was not worthy of carrying shoes to Wang Shu or Ma Wensheng.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a wise king from ancient times or a successful entrepreneur from later generations. If you want to achieve your highest ideals, you must first learn to compromise.
Emperor Hongzhi already knew this well.
An imperial edict spread to Shandong. ap.
Huang Boren, who lives in Yanggu County, is like Qin Shihuang and Hu Hai stacked on top of each other - winning more and more!
He was directly promoted from the fourth-rank magistrate to acting governor. He also received the title of Minister of War and was promoted to the third-rank official of the imperial court.
Good officials are rewarded with good rewards.
According to the decree, the Jinyi Guards were ordered to execute Nie Cheng.
Chang Feng started to be a thief again. It stands to reason that to kill the governor of a province, it would be more appropriate for the governor of Beizhen to go there in person.
However, he ordered Qian Ning to go to Jinan on his behalf to imprison and execute Nie Cheng on the grounds that he was busy with disaster relief work and had no time to go to Jinan.
Let Qian Ning do the killing and offending people.
I often do things like saving people from water and fire, which is a matter of accumulating official reputation and popularity.
If he wants to stay in the officialdom safely for a long time, Chang Feng must learn to be smooth.
Qian Ning knew Chang Feng's intentions. The adopted son of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi is not a fool.
In other words, there are not many fools in this world. It's just that everyone takes different time to figure something out.
We call those who can figure things out in a very short time a smart person.
We call people who take a long time to figure things out a fool.
No matter how stupid Qian Ning is, he has served Chang Feng as a murderer and a substitute for offending people for six years. How could he not understand?
Not to mention that there is a godfather behind him who is as good as a human being for guidance.
However, Qian Ning did not feel that he had suffered a loss. He is happy to be Chang Feng's knife. He enjoyed being feared.
It's both good to be feared and admired. If he could only choose one thing, Qian Ning would choose the former.
Channing went to kill people. Chang Feng was busy rescuing people.
Ping'an Township Porridge.
Chang Feng followed Liu Daxia and Huang Boren into the porridge shop.
In the big pot of the porridge, wheat rice thick enough to insert chopsticks is boiling, and it is steaming.
An old man walked up to the cauldron holding a broken bowl. The food servant scooped out a whole bowl for him.
The old man fell to his knees in excitement, held the bowl above his head with both hands, and shouted: "Long live the emperor!"
Chang Feng was quite moved when he saw this scene: "The people actually don't ask for much. If they can have a mouthful of hot rice, they will express their gratitude to the emperor from the bottom of their hearts."
Liu Daxia agreed: "Yes. On the other hand, the emperor who can make the common people eat a hot meal can be called a wise king."
The official food provided by Laizhou Prefecture to aid Luxi has been eaten by the people. Grains purchased from other provinces and grain relief from the Ministry of Household Affairs are also on their way to Western Shandong.
Acting Governor Huang Boren also ordered the wealthy prefectures in eastern Shandong to transfer official grain to the disaster-stricken areas in western Shandong.
Chang Feng lamented: "With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, as long as the officials at the top and bottom have a little bit of humanity, there will be no tragic situation of starving to death everywhere."
Liu Daxia sighed: "I remembered what my master said."
Chang Feng asked: "What are you talking about?"
Liu Daxia replied: "Neo-Confucianism wants to shape people, but it distorts people so much that they no longer behave as human beings."
"I believe that human nature is inherently good. But once a person starts studying and becomes busy studying Neo-Confucianism, he eventually becomes a less human being."
Chang Feng smiled and said: "Let Mr. Qiu Ge in the cabinet know what you said, and he will definitely fight for you."
. "
At the same time, Jinan.
Qian Ning sat majestically on the execution platform.
Former Shandong Governor Nie Cheng was tied up and kneeling on the execution platform.
Jinan Tongfu officials stood under the execution platform with their hands lowered and watched the execution. People crowded around the beheading platform to watch the excitement.
It's almost noon.
Qian Ning said loudly: "Fellow folks from Shandong! Nie Cheng's corpse was left without food, causing the floods in Western Shandong to starve to death."
"Today, I, Qian Ning, a member of Qian Ning's Imperial Guard, will kill Nie Cheng on behalf of the emperor to avenge the common people!"
All the people shouted: "Okay!"
"Master Qingtian!"
The common people are like this. As long as the person killed is an official, they will be happy and applaud.
Because they believe that nine out of ten officials are bad, and killing one of them will not be unjust.
Qian Ning said again: "Officials from Shandong Province, please listen to me! I killed Nie Cheng today to show you!"
"Whoever dares to disobey Liu Duyuan, Changzhen Governor, and Huang Butang in matters of flood control and disaster relief will be the one I kill next!"
Huang Boren now holds the title of Minister of War. Therefore, Qian Ning called it "Butang".
The local officials in Shandong fell to their knees one after another and said in unison: "Yes!"
This group of people pride themselves on being saints and students all day long, with a noble character. When there was a real danger of beheading, they were too busy to kneel down to Qian Ning, a slave of the emperor.
Qian Ning gave an order: "It's noon, execution!"
The sword and ax were raised and dropped, and Nie Cheng's skull rolled to the ground.
The people cheered again.
Qian Ning ordered a group of officials: "Now the imperial envoy for flood control and the acting governor are in Yanggu County. After the officials have watched the execution, they will rush to Yanggu County immediately!"
The officials obeyed and left the execution ground and headed for Yanggu County.
At this moment, Shandong River Supervisor Guo Qilu came to Qian Ning.
Guo Qilu raised his hand towards Qian Ning and said, "Brother! Things are really different now. You are so majestic now!"
Guo Qilu is also Qian Neng’s adopted son. Therefore, he calls Qian Ning "Big Brother".
Qian Ning smiled and said: "Nine donkeys. We haven't seen each other for three whole years. How are you doing lately?"
Guo Qilu gave a wry smile and said, "Oh, Zhang Qiudi broke the bank, and I, the river supervisor, cannot escape the blame. I'm just waiting for the court to investigate."
"This time the imperial envoys come to Shandong to control floods. Brother, I have to cover up more for me."
Qian Ning said meaningfully: "Although we have the same godfather, when it comes to official matters, I have to be unselfish."
Guo Qilu understood the idea and directly stuffed a three thousand tael banknote into Qian Ning's sleeve: "Brother, I'm sorry to bother you."
Qian Ning received the generous gift and immediately changed his mind: "Ahem! We are half-brothers. It's an exaggeration to say it's troublesome. If I can help you cover it up, I will definitely help you cover it up."
Guo Qilu is the chief steward of river affairs stationed in Shandong. He knew full well that during his three years in office, Shandong's river governance silver totaled 200,000 taels.
Only 50,000 taels at most were spent on building embankments.
He didn't spend the remaining 150,000 taels by himself. He didn't have such a big appetite.
It was divided by river officials from top to bottom, big and small.
He himself received thirty thousand taels of silver. If the imperial envoy gets to the bottom of it, he will be blamed for Zhang Qiudi's breach.
Qian Ning patted his chest to cover him up, and his anxious heart returned to his stomach. No one in the officialdom knows that Qian Ning is now the confidant of Mr. Chang, the Jin Yiwei.
Let us say that Chang Feng, Liu Daxia and others spent a month to basically stabilize the situation in Luxi.
Disaster relief has been done in every possible way. Now it’s time to focus on water control.
Liu Daxia led a group of officials to inspect Zhang Qiudi first.
The Yellow River water still surges out from the breach of Zhang Qiudi.
After the inspection, Liu Daxia and the officials returned to the Yanggu County Government Office to discuss: "Now it seems that it is impossible to block the gap in Zhang Qiu Embankment. The only way is to use the water diversion method and the water barrier method together."
As the name suggests, the water diversion method refers to dredging tributary rivers and diverting the main river
The water potential of the Tao is divided.
The water barrier rule is to set up river embankments on the shore.
Chang Feng stood beside Liu Daxia without saying a word. He never expresses opinions on things he doesn't understand.
How to control the river is Liu Daxia's business. He just wanted to ensure that the river bank was managed and that officials would not be corrupted.
Liu Daxia ordered people to lay out a "Shandong River Map".
He pointed to three places with his hand: "We have to dredge the Jialu River in Huanglinggang, and at the same time dredge the upper reaches of Sunjiadu and Sifuying to divert the flow of water."
"Use the water dividing method in these three places."
"At the same time, a long embankment was built from Xucheng through Dongming and Changyuan to Xuzhou. The water barrier method was used in this line."
Water control is a big game. According to Liu Daxia's vision, this major project started from western Shandong in the north and reached the Central Plains of Xuzhou in the south.
The construction site of the first step of the project, Huanglinggang, is located in the center of the universe in later generations - Cao County, Heze, Shandong! That awesome place.
River supervisor Guo Qilu heard that Liu Daxia was going to dredge the Jialu River in Huanglinggang, and big beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.
Every section of dam in Shandong is a tofu-like project.
Civil servants eat grass, military officers eat dirt. He, an uncivilized eunuch, eats both grass and soil.
Zhang Qiudi is a tofu project. But Zhang Qiudi has been washed away by the flood, and there is no evidence of his death.
No one can tell whether the breach was caused by too much water or the tofu construction.
The embankments along the Jialu River are different. It wasn't washed away by the water, it was just there.
As soon as the imperial envoy arrived, those potty workers who were not as good as grass, or even 100% grass, leaked... Qian Ning couldn't protect him even if he wanted to!
Although Chang Feng didn't speak, his eyes kept scanning the officials. He could tell from Guo Qi's expression that there was something wrong in this man's heart.
Guo Qilu's mind was spinning very quickly.
If the warehouse is in short supply, there is a risk that the secret will be exposed. The grain management officer has a unique method: "burning the warehouse with fire dragons". That is, setting fire to the granary and destroying the evidence of the crime.
There is a risk that river tofu projects will be exposed, and river officials also have a unique method: "water dragons flush the embankments." That is to say, artificially breaking the embankment and letting the flood wash away the evidence of crime.
Guo Qilu made up his mind and sent people to Huanglinggang, Cao County to break the embankment and release water. As for whether the common people suffered or not, he didn't care.
Huang Boren raised a question: "According to Liu Duyuan's assumptions, such a huge project may require more than 100,000 civilians."
"If corvee labor is imposed from Shandong, the people in Shandong will be overburdened."
Everyone must think about issues from their own standpoint.
Huang Boren is the acting governor of Shandong. Things must be done in the interests of the people of Shandong. There's nothing wrong with that.
Liu Daxia said: "It's still the old way of controlling floods, using work for relief! There are hundreds of thousands of flood victims in Western Shandong. Every strong man between the ages of 16 and 40 who participates in water conservancy construction will receive half a stone of grain and rice every month."
Half a stone of grain and rice equals eighty-three kilograms. Add some wild vegetables and cook it into a paste, which is enough for a family of four to eat for a month.
Huang Boren said: "How wonderful! The victims of the disaster will be able to earn food and rice, so they will definitely sign up enthusiastically."
Liu Daxia said: "You all go and mobilize the people of Luxi. Within five days, we will gather 100,000 people and set off for Caoxian County."
The officials dispersed.
Chang Feng's eyes remained on the river supervisor Guo Qilu.
Ten years of experience in Jinyiwei gave him a keen intuition.
He always felt that Guo Qilu was a little sneaky.
Guo Qi's donkey came out of Deyanggu County Yamen. In front of the gate of the county government office stood several young eunuchs who were responsible for supervising the government office.
Chang Feng stood inside the gate and peeped at Guo Qilu.
I saw Guo Qilu talking to a young eunuch for a long time. The young eunuch held up his hand and got on the horse.
Fatty Xu happened to come over and said, "Master Chang, what are you looking at?"
Chang Feng said: "Did you see that little eunuch riding a horse? Follow him. Capture him outside the city. I want to interrogate him."
"Don't let Guo Qilu and Qian Ning know about this."
Fatty Xu was surprised: "Why are you still carrying Qian Ning?"
Chang Feng reminded him
"You forgot, Guo Qilu and Qian Ning are both the adopted sons of Eunuch Qian!"
According to Bai Ang's previous lecture, none of the river officials are clean.
Chang Feng believes that Guo Qi's designation has also benefited from the river. It’s just a matter of more or less.
Today, when the county government was discussing matters, Chang Feng saw that he looked panicked. He acted sneakily after he came out, so he must have a guilty conscience.
In the evening, Chang Feng, Liu Daxia and Huang Boren were having dinner.
Dinner is three bowls of steamed wheat rice, a plate of pickles, and a plate of fried vegetables.
The victims ate wheat porridge. The three of them couldn't bear to be extravagant.
Liu Daxia said: "Huang Butang, the three thousand stones of sea salt you brought from Laizhou have been put to great use."
"I asked every porridge shack to put a handful in every pot of wheat porridge."
"If people don't eat salt, they will have no strength. How can we ask the victims to follow us to control the flood?"
Huang Boren said: "I forced the salt merchants to donate that batch of sea salt. Oh, I guess they are still greeting my eighth generation ancestors."
Although the meal was simple, Chang Feng felt it was even sweeter than the banquet at the Confucius House.
He participated in too many official battles and palace intrigues in the capital. This time, I finally took on an errand that could benefit the people.
At this moment, a strong man came to report: "Master Chang, Master Xu said that the person you want has been arrested. He is imprisoned in the Tutu Temple in the west of the city."
Chang Feng stood up and said, "I'm going to the west of the city. Liu Duyuan and Huang Butang, please use them with ease."
Liu Daxia asked: "Who did you arrest?"
Chang Feng smiled and said: "It is a matter of confidentiality and it is not convenient to disclose it at the moment."
Half an hour later, in the west of the city, there was the Earth Temple.
Chang Feng dismounted, threw the reins to an accompanying warrior, and strode into the Earth Temple.
The young eunuch who supervises the Yamen in Hedao was blindfolded. Fatty Xu crossed his legs and sat opposite the little eunuch.
Chang Feng ordered Fatty Xu: "Tear off his blindfold."
Fatty Xu did as he was told.
The young eunuch saw clearly that it was Chang Feng and said quickly: "Master Chang, why are you arresting me? Is there a misunderstanding? We are all the emperor's slaves and we are one family!"
Fatty Xu spat at him: "Ah haha! What kind of family do you deserve?"
The young eunuch is very good at making connections: "After all, I am the great-great-grandson of the old eunuch Huai'en. Mr. Chang is the great-great-grandson of the old eunuch. I have to call Mr. Chang my grandpa!"
Chang Feng looked at the young eunuch with a smile: "My dear grandson! You are right, we are a family. We can talk about anything as a family."
"Tell me, what did Young Inspector Guo send you out of the city for?"
The young eunuch said perfunctorily: "Ah, Young Supervisor Guo asked me to go back to Jinan to send a message to the brothers who supervise the Yamen in Hedao."
Chang Feng asked: "Oh? What's the message?"
The young eunuch made up: "Ah, let them bring the Yellow River flood table for the past ten years for Liu Duyuan's reference."
Chang Feng's expression changed: "How dare you! How dare you lie to your grandpa and me? Don't think I don't know!"
"Don't think I don't know" is a false confession of snake oil. Chang Feng has three sticks, whether there are jujubes or not.
Although the young eunuch was not wearing a condom, there was a panic look on his face: "Really...really."
Chang Feng said: "If you don't tell the truth, then I will have to punish you. Xu Guangzuo!"
Fatty Xu smiled and said, "Yes! Master Chang, tell me, should I let him sit on the tiger bench, or should I nail the feet with nails first?"
Chang Feng shook his head slightly: "Fart! After all, he is my good grandson. How can he be subjected to those cruel punishments?"
"Lao Qi, who was in charge of executions in the prison, told me that the lightest punishment for Jinyiwei was the soles of the feet. It was to scratch the soles of the feet of the person being tortured with horsehair."
"The most ticklish place for people is the soles of their feet. People who are tortured will be extremely itchy."
Fatty Xu took out his knife and said, "Okay, I'll cut the horse's mane."
Fatty Xu came out of the Tutu Temple and cut a large tuft of horse hair on the horse. It didn't take long to go and come back.
Chang Feng took off the young eunuch's shoes. Fatty Xu began to torture him.
The young eunuch laughed first: "Hahaha, sir, please stop teasing me, grandson, hahaha."
After a while, the itching on the skin turned into a heart-piercing itching.
The itching was excruciating, more unbearable than the pain.
The young eunuch begged for mercy: "Godfather, hahaha, spare your grandson! I'll tell you all, hahaha!"
Chang Feng ordered Fatty Xu to stop.
The little eunuch seemed to have escaped from death, gasping for air: "Master Chang, if I tell you, can you save me from death?"
Chang Feng nodded: "As long as you tell the truth, I will protect you from death."
The young eunuch came from the palace and had long heard of the ruthless methods of Jin Yiwei Chang Tu.
He knew he couldn't escape this disaster, so he simply sold his boss Guo Qilu.
The young eunuch said: "Our young eunuch Guo asked me to go to Cao County and find Zhang Zhixian of Cao County."
Chang Feng asked: "Oh? What are you doing with Zhang Zhixian?"
The young eunuch's words shocked Chang Feng: "Let Zhang Zhixian lead people to open a hole in the Jialu River embankment and destroy the embankment."
Chang Feng took a breath of cold air: "Destroy the embankment? As long as a hole is made, the river water can destroy the entire section of the embankment."
"There are people from three counties along the Jialu River embankment. Are you, Shaojian Guo, crazy? He is trying to create a flood!"
"for what?"
The young eunuch replied: "In order to destroy the evidence of the crime. The workers on the Jialu River Embankment are all like tofu."
"In the past three years, the river supervision office has spent 30,000 taels of silver on its books for the Jialu River embankment project."
"We, Young Supervisor Guo, colluded with the Heze Magistrate, the Caoxian County Magistrate, and the commander of the Hegong Camp. We lied about the number of piles, cut corners, and even falsely reported the number of earthworks excavated by the civilian workers."
"There are only 4,000 taels actually used on the dam."
Chang Feng frowned: "In other words, out of 30,000 taels of industrial silver, they misappropriated 26,000 taels?"
The young eunuch replied: "Exactly. Not only the Jialu River, but also the river banks of large and small rivers in Shandong are full of ghosts!"
"Guo Shaojian heard that Liu Duyuan was going to Caoxian County and panicked, fearing that the secret would be exposed. That's why he ordered me to report the news, and the water dragon rushed down the embankment!"
Chang Feng was furious: "Liu Duyuan and Huang Butang racked their brains to think of how to control the water. Guo Qilu actually ordered people to destroy embankments and drown people?"
"If he is allowed to do this, Heze Mansion will have tens of thousands more victims out of thin air!"
The young eunuch echoed: "Yes, yes! He has such a dark heart! I can't even stand my grandson anymore!"
Chang Feng said: "Boy, you came from the palace. You should know that I have a good relationship with Eunuch Xiao, Eunuch Qian and Eunuch Li."
"Do you dare to confront Guo Qilu? If you do, I will guarantee that you will be promoted from the ninth-level envoy to the seventh-level permanent attendant!"
"If you don't listen to me. Hey, I will make you disappear from the world as easily as splitting an earthworm in half."
With threats and inducements, the young eunuch immediately rebelled.
The young eunuch said: "Then from now on, my grandson will have to rely on my grandpa for support!"
Chang Feng said: "Let's go back to Yanggu County."
The three of them left the Earth Temple.
Fatty Xu pulled Chang Feng aside: "Are you sure you want to touch Guo Qilu? You said it yourself, he is Eunuch Qian's godson."
Chang Feng said: "Liu Duyuan's flood control plan is so grand, the amount of silver and silver used will be a huge number."
"The national treasury of silver is limited. I plan to punish a group of Shandong local officials and confiscate their homes to increase the supply of mercury!"
"Guo Qilu is the young supervisor of the river. All officials related to the river surround him."
"First we have to deal with Guo Qilu, and then we can follow the clues and pull out the carrots and bring out the mud!"
Fatty Xu was surprised: "Aren't you the most opposed to starting a major case these years?"
Chang Feng said: "This is now and then. If it weren't for these river officials in Shandong, who were greedy and greedy, why would the people change their sons to eat?"
A major river case in Shandong is about to begin.
