Fei Hong, the governor of Sichuan, basically hit the road after the third grade of junior high school.
The road to Shu was difficult, so he had to set off long in advance so that he could reach the capital before the meeting.
Besides him, there are three special people in his team.
Among them, two people were tied up and thrown into the prison car, while the other person was normal.
In October last year, a decree came from the Imperial Attendant's Office in the capital, asking him to describe in detail the virtues and ways of government of Jiading Prefecture Governor Li Danhua, Shunqing Prefecture Governor Liu Fu, and Xuzhou Prefecture Governor Fu Maoxing.
This is the first time such a decree has been made. But what came from the attendant's room must have been ordered by the emperor himself.
And he also knows the rules of the attendant's room. If he doesn't reply for a long time, he will definitely place a supervision order to urge him to handle it. If he places it too many times, he will be the basic official.
So he took care of it himself.
But if you don’t check, you won’t know. When you check, you will be shocked. Li Danhua, the prefect of Jiading Prefecture, and Liu Fu, the prefect of Shunqing Prefecture, are flattering and flattering to those above, and oppressive and enslaving to those below. Their lifestyles are extravagant, lustful, and excessive. Pomp and circumstance, the key is that people like this also get honors in the civil service department.
This matter is no small matter.
And why did the emperor who was thousands of miles away suddenly want to investigate these two people? Could it be said that the emperor already knew?
But he, the governor of Sichuan, didn’t know!
And he himself hated such officials very much.
So no matter which angle you look at, Li Danhua and Liu Fu must be caught!
As for their relationship in Beijing, Fei Hong is not afraid!
Fei Hong, also known as Zichong, ranked first in the Dingwei Kedian examination list in the 23rd year of Chenghua and was awarded the first place as a Jinshi!
But having said that, this is not something to be afraid of or not, the main thing is that it is a bit embarrassing.
The emperor selected three people to question him. It turned out that two of the prefects were corrupt officials. The other one, Fu Maoxing, was actually an embarrassing man. He had mediocre talents and was good at flattering his superiors. What could be said about such people?
So the question is, how to write this memorial?
None of the three prefects turned out to be good, and there was no need for him to bear the brunt of these people's lies.
Fortunately, his wife Pu reminded him in the end.
Gu Renyi of Yibin County was unyielding, upright and honest, and dared to fight for the people. Although he was only a seventh-rank county magistrate, good officials were rare. As a governor, even if the emperor did not mention this, he should still recommend talents to the court.
Fei Hong thought it made sense, so he stayed with this person for a while at the end of the memorial.
Unexpectedly, the effect was very good. The instructions from the palace were: Shan, take him to Beijing.
Only then did Fei Hong understand the meaning of the emperor's action.
It's not to investigate these people, but to select the best.
This Gu Renyi is lucky.
Unfortunately, his luck was mediocre. This year, Sichuan suffered floods during the flood season and drought during the autumn and winter. It can be said that drought and floods were both serious, and famine broke out in four prefectures.
Sichuan is far away from the capital, so it is difficult to respond in time whether it is transferring money or transferring grain to Sichuan.
So this year, not only did Sichuan's taxes and grains drop sharply, but tens of thousands of people starved to death due to famine.
As the chief official who was governor of Sichuan, he would become responsible even if he had no responsibilities.
Should the emperor and the court be held responsible?
In this case, his position will not be touched again.
Even if it is a natural disaster, it is still unjustifiable to have people die of hunger all over the country while having a prosperous official career.
It was in this situation that Gu Renyi came forward. The disaster in Yibin County was not serious, but he opened the warehouse in time to release grain, and mobilized donations from large households in the county, and finally saved many people's lives.
The "resistance for the people" mentioned in the memorial is that he had a big quarrel with the prefect in court over the withholding of some disaster relief food.
He was still not satisfied with 40,000 shi of the 50,000 shi promised by the superiors.
Therefore, he became famous for a while.
After more than two months of traveling, their group finally arrived in Shuntian Mansion.
In the north in February, there are still dead trees everywhere as far as the eye can see, and a thin layer of ice can still be seen on most rivers in the early morning.
The weather is bitter and cold and it is hard for the people. Next to the official road, from time to time you will see some refugees begging along the road.
Such scenes were not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty.
But it still makes people feel heavy every time they see it.
Among them was an old farmer, with ragged clothes and disheveled hair. For some reason, he was carrying a baby in a bamboo basket. It was so cold that the baby had sores on his face and kept crying.
"There are natural disasters in Sichuan, but I don't know why in Beizhili."
Gu Renyi in the team suddenly said this, and then he put down his pretense of being a scholar and ran to the prison car behind the team, shouting: "Come here! Take off the clothes of these two people!"
Li Danhua and Liu Fu suddenly started to break into cold sweats in the cold winter, "Gu Renyi! You are crazy, what are you going to do?"
"You are the ones crazy! The infant baby has no clothes to keep warm, but you two corrupt officials are wrapped up tightly!"
"Don't be generous to others. You look at Dayi Lingran, but aren't you wearing cotton-padded clothes and trousers?"
Gu Renyi was stunned, "Okay, then none of us will wear any. You two, go and take off theirs, and I will take off my own clothes!"
Fei Hong, who was in the front, opened the curtain of the carriage and only glanced back without saying anything.
Like a tacit consent.
And this Gu Renyi was really like a lunatic. He actually took off his cotton-padded clothes and handed them to the old farmer on the roadside along with Li and Liu's. The two people immediately curled up with the cold. , and started to curse.
Gu Renyi had already gone to the roadside, "Old man, it's cold, so I'd better put some clothes on for your grandson."
This scene will not give a truly benevolent person a sense of accomplishment, but will only make him feel that the world is difficult and people's livelihood is suffering.
"Thank you sir, thank you sir."
The old man kowtowed to Gu Renyi, which made people feel sad.
Unfortunately, Gu Renyi had distributed a lot of food along the way, which made him a little hungry at this time. There was no solid food in my arms at all.
"Old man, where are you going in this winter?"
The old man said: "Go to the capital."
"To defect?"
"No, I heard from people in the village that I want to earn some money where the capital is working."
"But... why are we leaving at this time?"
At this time, there were one or two men following behind. They were also out of breath when they reached this point. They squatted down and said, "We have finished the food. If we don't go to work, we will starve to death."
Gu Renyi sighed, "This place is still a hundred miles away from the capital. You guys..."
"The official... must also be on the team entering the capital. Recently, many people from all over the country have entered the capital. Anyway, we will go there while begging for food, and we will talk about it when we get to the capital."
The old man silently put on his grandson's clothes again. The clothes were very big and the loops made it warmer. Because of this, the little baby stopped crying.
Gu Renyi did not expect that this man knew something about the court, so he said: "Today, the Holy Father loves the people like his own son, and the people and pastoral care in Hebei are gradually being cancelled... You, if you persist more, things will definitely be better in the future. "
"The livestock farming program in Zhuoxian County was canceled last year." The old man said quickly.
Gu Renyi was shocked, "Then why can we only beg?"
"With the abolition of pastoralism, the court will have to take back the horses. If the horses raised by the old man are not up to standard, they can only be fined, and the original few acres of thin farmland can only be sold."
If Gu Renyi was still a Jinshi who had just left Beijing, he probably wouldn't be able to understand the connotation.
But he has been the county magistrate for six years.
What does it mean to be unqualified?
What does it mean to be qualified?
There is a lot of room for maneuver here.
But thinking about it, Gu Renyi was quite shocked. She turned her head and asked the others, "You...you too?"
Everyone was silent.
…
…
"Zhongcheng, my subordinate wants to enter Beijing later."
In a pavilion, Gu Renyi knelt in front of Fei Hong, who was sitting upright.
Fei Hong ate very hard dry food, drank water, and kept walking. In fact, his complexion was not very good. "Yishan (Gu Renyi), why are you an official?"
"Naturally, I will serve my father-in-law above and my concubine below."
"Do you want to be promoted?"
"It doesn't matter whether Zhongcheng believes in him or not. He has been magistrate of the county for six years and has never thought about being promoted."
Fei Hong sighed, "You should think about it. If you want to do more for the people, you should think about it. Back then, when His Majesty was still the crown prince, he encouraged the officials in the East Palace to hone their skills so that they could sit on higher-level posts. Position. How many people can you, a small seventh-grade county magistrate, save even if you break your legs and break your tongue? People in Beijing often say that if you want to be an official, you must first seek a career. This sentence is not unreasonable, you must It depends on how you understand it."
Gu Renyi kowtowed, "Xiaguan naturally understands the meaning of Zhongcheng's suggestion. But seven years ago, Xiaguan went to Beijing to take the exam. Six years ago, Xiaguan traveled far to take office. At that time, the land in the capital had already implemented the transformation of pastoralism into agriculture. , the policy of returning the people to their fields. The official thought that when he entered the capital this time, he would see the smoke from the cooking pots, but he didn't expect that the refugees would still be begging along the road. The official was really puzzled. If this doubt was not solved, even if the emperor himself came to the Jinluan Palace When asked, the lower official could only hesitate and hesitate, not knowing how to answer, and it would still be a disgrace to Zhongcheng."
Fei Hong gave the young official a thoughtful look.
"...Then when you go, don't wear official uniforms, and bring two people with you. When you get to the capital, go to Yangyang Lane to find me. Also, don't delay too long. You must enter the capital before March."
Gu Renyi was overjoyed, "Thank you Zhongcheng!"
Fei Hong actually had something to say. He stood up and faced him with his hands behind his back.
After about a while, he suddenly turned around, and his eyes had become extremely serious.
"You can ask, watch, and even report matters about Shuntian Mansion. The imperial meeting in March is for His Majesty to ask questions about the world. But this is Gyeonggi, and the relations between Gyeonggi and Gyeonggi are intertwined. Many people and many things are not just Li. The two corrupt officials, Dan Hua and Liu Fu, are so simple that sometimes they even involve the palace.
When you are fighting in Sichuan, in the final analysis, it is me, the governor, who is carrying it for you. But when we get to the capital, you, the seventh rank, are too young, and I, the governor, are also too young. If it remains the same as before, I am afraid it will be difficult to protect you. But having said that, when the Holy Emperor is in the court, the Emperor will believe the words of a seventh-level official more, so the uncertainty is very large. The key to this is that you have to grasp it accurately. "
Gu Renyi looked upright, "Xiaguan only tells what he has seen and is convinced of. Since he is the Holy Emperor, he must be able to tell the difference between loyalty and treachery."
"That's not what I meant."
"What does Zhongcheng mean?"
Fei Hong helped him up, and he wanted to say something from the bottom of his heart, "Yishan, today, you are extremely talented, and you can make decisions based on your opinions. You have your own arrangements for doing things and sending officials, so this is not a matter of distinguishing between loyalists and traitors. This is a matter of whether you disrupt His Majesty’s arrangements. Do you understand?”
"Then...does Your Majesty know these things or not?" Gu Renyi asked with confusion on his face.
But Fei Hong did not give an accurate answer.
However, the capital has always been complicated, and not all questions have clear answers.
It is at this uncertain fork that human destiny leads to a completely different landscape.
However, what Gu Renyi didn't understand was, what did Zhong Cheng mean when he mentioned the land of Gyeonggi and its intricate branches?
