Snapped!
A yamen servant kicked open the door of the Huai'an Prefecture Magistrate's yamen, and two teams of people rushed in and stood up.
Outside the main entrance, an official in a red robe with a round collar and a black gauze hat walked out of the sedan. The dignified magistrate's office seemed not to be in his eyes. He was short in stature, but his face was not angry or intimidating, so he walked in calmly.
However, it was said that Tian Ruofu wanted to scold who dared to be so bold at first, but when he came out and saw only a blurry figure, he immediately ran out with his clothes in his hands and his head lowered.
"I didn't know that Chief Cao was coming, and I missed the welcome from afar. Please forgive me for it."
Snapped!
Although the person who came was short, he could still reach Tian Ruofu who was kneeling on the ground. Such a slap was crisp and clear, and everyone in the yard heard it. The sound and the force were like a slap in the heart. Same as above.
Then I saw him pointing at Tian Ruofu's head and yelling, "I've been away for a few days, and you caused such trouble! Which of the things I told you did you do beautifully?!"
"I apologize, I apologize," Tian Ruofu covered his face, as if a grown man was about to cry.
He was really unlucky, because the person who lost his temper with him was his immediate boss, the Governor of Water Transport, Chen Tai.
This requires sorting out the administrative relations here.
First of all, South Zhili is divided into two parts, one is the governor of Yingtian and the other is the governor of Fengyang. Governor Yingtian is permanently based in Yingtian, which is Nanjing, while Governor Fengyang's office is in Huai'an most of the time.
But the Governor of Fengyang is usually a concurrent person, and there is a long list in front of it.
Chen Tai's official title at this time should be "Governor-General of Water Transport and Admiral of Military Affairs, Governor of Fengyang and other places and also in charge of rivers".
Water transport, Fengyang, rivers... none of these are trivial matters, but the headquarters of the general water supply is indeed in Huai'an.
Because the city of Huai'an was a proper hub city during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
To the northwest of Nanjing is Fengyang and to the northeast is Huai'an. If Fengyang's focus is military, then Huai'an's focus is water transportation.
Because Huai'an is the intersection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Huaihe River, merchant ships coming and going will dock in Huai'an.
Secondly, the national destiny of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was tied to water transportation. For this purpose, there was a special governor of water transportation, and the governor's office was in Huai'an.
In addition, during the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River diverted the Huai River and entered the sea. Until the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River passed through Huai'an and entered the sea for more than 600 years.
However, the Yellow River flooded and caused disasters. In the early and mid-Ming Dynasties, the Yellow River was less infested, so the Governor of Water Transport still had the four words "also in charge of the river." Of course, if such a big flood really happened, the imperial court would temporarily send commissioners to deal with it, and then the matter would be over. Immediate withdrawal, not permanent.
After that, from the Jia and Wan years of the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River began to gradually become crazy. Emperor Kangxi also regarded the management of the Yellow River as his three major tasks, so one person really could not hold multiple positions.
The Ming court first began to separate rivers and canals during the Chenghua period. Of course, they later reunited them. The separation and recombination were repeated several times. Finally, from the late Wanli period to the end of the Ming Dynasty, rivers and canals were always separated. This was also the case in the Qing Dynasty.
The governor of the river and its governor's palace are also in Huai'an.
There are only a few governors in the world, but for a long time, there were two in Huai'an, which shows the key to this geographical location.
To this day, there is still an ancient path of the Yellow River in Huai'an City, which the locals call the 'Abandoned Yellow River'. The two events of the river and the canal have also left two scenic spots, the Jiangnan River Governor's Office and the Water Transport Governor's Mansion.
Therefore, at this time, Chen Tai was both the governor of water transportation and the governor of Fengyang, and also in charge of rivers. With such an official position... if the court wanted to transfer the governor of water transportation, he usually had to choose from among the ministers.
This was still the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, river channels and water transportation became more and more important, and they had to be second-rank officials.
For an official of this level, slapping Tian Ruofu, the prefect, is really a trivial matter. Let alone slapping him, it is even more outrageous. As long as he says it, Tian Ruofu must do it honestly.
It's just that Tian Ruofu was really aggrieved. He was doing his job well, but he didn't know what happened. He was slapped inexplicably. Looking at Chen Tai who was fluttering his sleeves, he said carefully:
"Xiaoguan, I still don't know what happened to anger General Cao. Please tell me, General Cao, and I will correct it immediately!"
"You don't even know it. Do you know that for your affairs, Beijing sent a cabinet minister to come down!"
"Ah! Mr. Ge is coming?!"
Tian Ruofu was so shocked by the news that his jaw almost dislocated and he was speechless for several breaths.
"General, General Cao, lower official, lower official..."
"Don't be demoted again!" Chen Tai scolded angrily: "What a fool. Why did the capital send people down to investigate the case? Isn't it just because a memorial from that magistrate got into the eyes of the Holy Emperor? Do you think so many When an official leaves the capital, why don’t he need the Holy Father’s approval? But you, at this time, planted a crime against him and put him in jail! Now this person cannot be killed or released. He can care about his head but not his buttocks. He is extremely stupid and absurd. !”
"Go!" Chen Tai pointed at him, "Send someone to release him!"
Tian Ruofu's lips were trembling, and he said mournfully: "General, General Cao, but he did run short of warehouses to store grain. This is also true!"
"You know the truth yourself! This person has no roots here, so he will naturally follow your nonsense. Those idiots from Beijing only want to protect themselves and will not go into details with you. But when the elder Ge comes, you What should I do if I panic?
Who transported six thousand two hundred shi of grain, where did it go, and who took over it. Have you killed everyone inside and outside this place? Or is it that the magistrate of Qingjiangpu could not say anything in front of Mr. Ge? ! "
Chen Tai's words were like a heavy hammer hitting his heart.
As someone who occupies a high position and is an important minister of the country, his brain must not be inferior to his.
After talking about it this way, I feel that the crime I planted has many loopholes. The biggest loophole is that there are so many people handling it.
He is still the prefect, and these people will not speak for themselves and their families, but if he is captured, it will be difficult to talk about it.
Seeing that he was still hesitating, Chen Tai gave the order angrily. He pointed at the people in the magistrate's office and said, "I say it again, let him go. If a finger is missing, none of you can afford it!"
Tian Ruofu hadn't spoken yet, but he shrank like a turtle. The people below looked around and followed the general Cao's words.
After all, this official is too big.
In fact, Tian Ruofu is a little desperate now.
How could the dignified Governor of Water Transport and the Governor of Fengyang stand up for a small magistrate of Shanyang? They must have seen the wind and started to take sides.
It was obvious why they were taking sides, and Jingli became suspicious.
It's a pity that he can't stand on this team.
…
…
When Xie Guangxie and Liu Chun heard that the elder was coming, they immediately felt bad.
"Is there something wrong with the memorial we sent up?!"
Liu Chun carefully thought about what he wrote. They came to investigate the case of wage deduction, and the replies were all related to this. After asking the people, it was indeed true, but the Shaofu's account books were all in order. They are paid, which means the problem lies with the engineering team.
Handled according to normal cases,
If there is no special noise from the palace, then they will close the case.
Catch the people in the engineering team, confiscate their property, distribute some to the people, and divide the excess.
This way everyone is safe and sound.
As for Zhang Cong's warehouse storing grain, it was Tian Ruofu's fault. He pooped and wiped his own ass.
Anyway, once the people receive the money, their mission is completed.
But now the court's reaction is that Mr. Ge has come down directly, which is not good.
This at least directly shows that the emperor is quite dissatisfied with this, otherwise he would not react so quickly and violently.
What are you dissatisfied with?
"The case was investigated lightly," Liu Chun said.
Chen Ding also thinks so, "For a magistrate to risk his life to sue the young government must be groundless. If it is just a matter of a few engineering teams, even a ninth-grade magistrate can help the people with their iron teeth." When money comes out, there must still be government officials involved."
Xie Guangxie nodded repeatedly, "Yes! The Shaofu's account still needs to be investigated! The prefect of Huai'an Prefecture also has problems. He must put Zhang Cong in jail at this time, sooner or later. Why? This case is full of doubts, and it is really not possible to close it hastily. OK. Fortunately, the case we submitted is not closed, but the current situation is like this. Next, we will investigate more carefully. "
"It is our duty to find out the whole story." Liu Chun also added.
simply put,
Now at this juncture, they were about to "disembark". The wind was high and the waves were strong, and they couldn't care about anything at this time.
"Thanks to Fuxian and Liu Shilang, I think Zhang Cong, the magistrate of Shanyang County, should be released immediately. No matter how serious it is, he will not arbitrarily accept the letter of wage deduction. Since he accepted it, he must have something to rely on, otherwise it is no different from committing suicide. ? Therefore, I feel that if I want to find out more about this case, I still need to rely on his help."
Both bosses nodded.
"Come here! Go to the prefect's Yamen!"
It's easy for a dignified imperial envoy to catch someone.
But when they rushed to the magistrate's office in a hurry, they didn't even look at the back of the general manager.
After arresting someone inside and questioning them, they realized that someone had taken Zhang Cong away before them.
This Chen Tai does have some skills, at least he reacts faster than them.
But as the Minister of Criminal Affairs and the right deputy of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, they could still enter the gate of the Governor of Water Transport.
So we changed the route to the Water Transport Governor's Mansion a few miles away.
And at this time,
Zhang Cong had been unshackled, changed his clothes, and was then led to Chen Tai.
Chen Tai was sitting in the pavilion at the end of the corridor.
Zhang Cong was fortunate enough to have seen him from a distance several times, so he recognized him, so he immediately knelt down and said, "Zhang Cong, the guilty officer, pay your respects to the chief minister."
"Get up." Chen Tai's face was wide and fat, and his voice was full of flesh. He deliberately leaked a bit of kindness in his voice. "You are named Bingyong. You were a Jinshi in Bingyin in the first year. It has been three years since you arrived in Shanyang." ?”
"It's been three and a half years since I returned to Zongcao."
"Do you know why I saved you?"
"I don't know."
"There are not many dissatisfied ministers in the world. If you dare to go to that office, I will know that you are an extraordinary person. In addition to being the chief governor, I am also the governor of Fengyang and the pastor on behalf of the emperor. In addition to protecting the people, I also recommend officials. It’s not time for you to die.”
When Zhang Cong entered the officialdom for the first time, he felt that the Governor of Water Transport in front of him was upright and that he had helped him save his life. Naturally, he couldn't hide his excitement. "Zhang Cong, the guilty minister, thank you, Mr. Cao, for saving your life and giving me advice! Mr. Cao's kindness." , if my parents are reborn, I will definitely repay you in this lifetime!"
"Hahaha. I still expect you, the county magistrate, to repay you?" Chen Tai stroked his beard and laughed loudly, holding his hand to help him stand up, "Bingyong, you are not guilty, and you don't need to call yourself a guilty officer. You just You need to remember that in the case of a young official deducting wages, you should investigate and report the truth truthfully. It doesn’t matter how big the officials are involved. At worst, I will report it to His Majesty!"
When Zhang Cong heard that this was a platform for him, he became even more excited and said, "I will obey the order!"
Chen Tai felt more comfortable. With the cabinet cabinet aging, this matter must have attracted the emperor's attention. He knew the emperor's character. Instead of deliberately trying to fight against him at this time, it would be better to create his own image openly.
As for him coming to report to His Majesty?
Where is the need? No matter how big the trouble is caused by Zhang Cong, there is still Ge Laowang Suo. He will report it to the emperor.
