The prefect does not have the authority to appoint and remove government officials, but he has the authority to appoint and remove officials and servants of the government.
What do Wu Kang, Tang Xian and others rely on to control the government?
In addition to the power seal in the hand and the black gauze on the head, isn't it just relying on a group of subordinates and servants to do evil and misbehave?
Gu Zhengchen posted a recruitment notice and hit the legs of Wu Kang, Tang Xian and others. Without these legs, if they want to do evil, they at least need to run errands by themselves. Not to mention the many flaws, they may not be able to escape. .
Officials are not irreplaceable. The local li chiefs and Jia chiefs are also experienced and knowledgeable about local affairs. It is entirely feasible to replace a group of officials to run errands.
As for the handymen, as long as they can understand the language and carry out the orders accurately, no formal education is required. Of course, you still need to have some strength, and it is estimated that the government office will inevitably have to do the errands of boarding.
Shaojiu Alley, Big Bowl Restaurant.
The shopkeeper Lin Fu looked through the account books and didn't even bother to move the abacus on the counter. With this amount, there was no need for an abacus. A few glances would tell you how miserable it was.
Jinjiang City is becoming more and more desolate day by day.
Think about the Yuan Dynasty. Quanzhou Port was the most prosperous port. Countless merchants gathered here. Countless ships sailed from here and returned here, loaded with silk, porcelain, tea and wine sets. The guests who came here also told stories about the sea. , they had to empty the wine cellar before leaving, and they also clamored to leave some good wine waiting for their return.
Lin Fu lamented that at that time, he was still young, a teenager, but in the blink of an eye, the Yuan Dynasty was gone and the Ming Dynasty was established. He thought that the bustle of Quanzhou Port would continue, and there were still legends of the sea in Jinjiang City.
It's just that the imperial court banned the sea and prohibited voyages. Even fishermen were not allowed to go to sea.
How can Jinjiang City survive without relying on the sea?
Lin Fu really wanted to ask the Ming Emperor whether Jinling can eat from the Yangtze River, whether it can go by boat, whether it can fish, and why it has to treat Quanzhou Port like this. All year round, it is just a few envoys on small boats, bringing the Ordering goods is not enough to fill your teeth, some goods have to be sent to Jinling...
Without merchants and ships for long voyages, Jinjiang City and Quanzhou Port would have no chance of dying.
This restaurant relies on Haike.
Now that there are no more overseas customers, the restaurant business is getting worse year by year. In addition, those people from the government office often ask people from the tax collection department to collect taxes. They used to collect taxes once a month, but now they collect four taxes a month. Second-rate.
The capital is about to be depleted, and this big restaurant should be closed.
Lin Fu heard the commotion outside the door and shouted to the two guys who were napping: "Lin Da, Lin Liu, go and see what's going on outside?"
As soon as Lin Da got up after hearing this, he saw regular customer Wang Sheng and four or five people walking in.
Wang Sheng didn't wait for Lin Da to greet him, and shouted to Lin Fu: "Old Buddha, take out your best wine. Today is a happy day, and I will drink it to my heart's content even if I spend my money!"
Lin Fu didn't like others calling him "Old Buddha", but he had no choice. These people were all neighbors: "I say Wang Sheng, what a happy day, your daughter got married, your mother-in-law should forgive you for climbing over the wall to find a widow. Already?"
Wang Sheng said: "Nonsense, I'm just looking for a widow to save people. If it weren't for the little food we provided, Widow Wang and her two sons would have starved to death. When my mother-in-law knew about it, she praised me as a good person. Why don't you forgive me?" Forgive me, hurry up, serve the best wine and prepare the best dishes!"
Lin Fu arranged for Lin Da to tell the cooking room about the preparations. When Wang Sheng and others were seated, he went up to him and asked: "In the past two or three years, I have rarely seen you come to this big restaurant together. Once in a while, you always take takeaways home." After a few sips, what’s wrong today, we came here together, did you know that the Big Bowl Restaurant was about to close down, so you came here specially for a last meal?”
"What, you want to close this big restaurant?"
Wang Sheng was stunned for a moment and then became angry: "I said, Old Buddha, this is your father's lifeblood. If you dare to imprison him, wouldn't he immediately go to the Buddha to complain? He wouldn't dare to do such an unfilial thing. How about a poke in the spine!"
Lin Fu was helpless: "It's hard to do business."
Wang Qijin, who was on the side, pulled Wang Sheng and said to Lin Fu: "I'm afraid this big restaurant can't be closed, look."
Lin Fu followed Wang Qijin's gaze and saw another wave of people coming to the door, shouting: "Old Buddha, hurry up, good wine and good food are here, it's a happy day..."
"W-what on earth is going on?"
Lin Fu was a little confused.
In the past, it would have been good to have three drinkers at this hour, but today there were more than a dozen people, and there were still drinkers coming.
There were more and more people, and the originally empty Big Bowl Restaurant was quickly filled with people.
The waiters Lin Da and Lin Liu were so tired from carrying the wine that they were sweating profusely. At this moment, they had caught up with the wine that had been moved for more than half a month. The food prepared in the kitchen was not enough, so they had to buy it temporarily.
This was a delay, but the drinkers didn't mind, and they were all enjoying themselves.
"What exactly is going on?"
Lin Ting looked at Wang Sheng.
Wang Sheng held the wine jar and filled two large bowls of wine. He then picked up a bowl of wine and handed it to Lin Fu. He grinned and said: "It's a shame that you are still the owner of the restaurant. You don't know this bit of news. Did you know that there is someone with this surname in Jinjiang?" Gu’s new prefect?”
Lin Fu nodded and refused to answer: "I know about such a big thing, but what does this have to do with us?"
No matter who is the prefect, the government office will take no less than a penny, and the tax collector will be very arrogant when he comes. Whoever becomes the prefect will really have no impact on a commoner like me.
Wang Sheng handed the wine bowl to Lin Fu again: "This bowl of wine is for you to drink. Today, today, Yang Baiju and Yang Tong of the government office were convicted of forcibly occupying other people's houses and were rewarded with eighty sticks by Magistrate Gu. , guess what, this guy couldn’t resist and died, haha!”
"Dead, dead?"
Lin Fu was shocked.
Li Xi, a drinker on the side, stood up and shouted: "Yes, the prefect beat him to death without even giving him a chance to beg for mercy. It's so refreshing. I have lived in Jinjiang City for thirty-six years. This is the first time I feel so happy." !”
"You were unhappy when you married your mother-in-law. You screamed and screamed all night long, which made people very noisy."
"I'll go, Mr. Wang, I'm marrying my wife and calling her in the middle of the night. How about you, howling like ghosts and wolves every now and then, and why don't you let me sleep with you?"
"A few of you said that Yang Tongpuan was beaten to death. What does it have to do with the mother-in-law..."
Lin Fu's biggest headache is this group of drinkers, who can't talk without his mother-in-law.
Wang Sheng pulled Lin Fu and sat down: "Prefect Gu beat Yang Tongpan to death. Many people saw it with their own eyes. Even Yang Tongpan's house was confiscated. The house was also given to Zhou Honglai, Huang Er and others. , I heard that compensation will be given after the case is cleared up. You don’t know that although Magistrate Gu is young, his methods are really powerful. He is so ruthless that even Wu Tongzhi did not stop him personally. "
"Wu Tongzhi is here too?"
Lin Fu was even more shocked.
Wang Sheng nodded, drank a few sips of wine, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Old Buddha, it's not me who said that Jinjiang City is likely to change. Magistrate Gu has issued a message, and the government will issue an announcement tomorrow, and even You can file a lawsuit even if you don’t have a petition. Didn’t your boss have his leg broken by the tax department? Let me tell you, this lawsuit can be filed! As long as the government office gets rid of the people from the tax department, your restaurant can survive. It’s not until Mr. Lin is gone.”
Lin Fu looked a little pained. The eldest son was originally going to take over the restaurant, but unfortunately the tax department kept asking for money. The eldest son's tough nature caused a conflict. One of his legs was broken with a stick, and now he is a lame.
But when did the businessmen dare to fight with the government and file a complaint? Oh, just think about it and you will know that you will not win. Once you get to the government office, you may be accused of being falsely accused, and you won't be able to escape unscathed without spending a fortune.
"forget it."
Lin Fu did not believe that Gu Zhengchen could really make decisions for the people, although killing Yang Baiju did prove that he was different from other prefects and that he was not the same party as Yang Baiju.
Seeing Lin Fu's concerns, Wang Sheng smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry. Tomorrow the government will announce the report. Go and see for yourself how the prefect tries the case. If he really makes decisions for the people, he will make a clear judgment on the merits. , it’s not too late for you to file a lawsuit. If it’s just a pretense and a confused judgment of the case, then we’ll just ignore it.”
Lin Fu thought about it and it made sense. When he saw other drinkers greeting him, he nodded to Wang Sheng and walked over to entertain him.
Nancheng, Blacksmith Alley.
The door of the blacksmith shop was closed and a closing sign was hung.
In the backyard, there is a strong smell of soup.
Huang Fei picked up a needle, popped the blood bubble on his palm, squeezed out the blood inside, looked at the bulging skin collapsed in the palm of his hand, clenched his fist and stretched it, inserted the needle on the thread, picked it up The wooden stick stirred the Chinese medicine in the casserole and covered it again.
After cooking, he distributed the medicine and brought it to the bedside. Looking at his father Huang Scissors, who was pale and suffering from a stroke in bed, Huang Fei forced a smile and said, "The medicine is still a little hot. My son, please wipe your body first." "
Huang Scissors closed his eyes and said softly: "My family has no money. Where did you get the medicine? Although we are poor, we cannot steal and abduct."
Huang Fei opened his hands: "You can still make some money by blacksmithing. Although my son has never blacksmithed with his father, he still knows how to do it after watching it for many years. Don't worry, this medicine was obtained with a kitchen knife. The doctor said Well, dad just suffered a minor stroke and will recover after three months of rest. You are the same, the government servants have been using kitchen knives for nothing, so why bother with them."
Huang Scissor lamented: "You have set your sights on the daughter of Xu butcher's family across the street. Dad always saves some money for you as a betrothal gift. In the past, we would accept the yamen when he took away a kitchen knife, but this time he actually took away seven. , How long do we need to sell to make money back, these people are going too far."
After Huang Fei wiped his father's body, gave him some decoction, and said with emotion: "I put down the book and picked up the hammer and realized that my father's life has not been easy these years."
"Brother Fei."
A light voice came from outside.
The corner of Huang Scissor's mouth moved: "Go ahead, I don't need you to serve me now."
Huang Fei thought for a while, walked out, looked at Xu Cui who was about to climb over the wall, and coughed: "The door is unlocked, so there's no need to climb over the wall."
Xu Cui was the daughter of a butcher and was used to being carefree. When she saw Huang Fei coming out, she jumped off the low courtyard wall, clapped her hands and said, "Aren't you short of money? You don't want my family's money. Now the Yamen is recruiting people." For officials and handymen, two or three thousand dollars a month is enough to treat Uncle Huang."
Huang Fei shook his head and said bitterly: "Girl Cui, no matter how much the yamen is short of scribes or handymen, there is no need to recruit them. Two or three guans of money is just a trick. There are not even two or three bags of rice, only one rice a month." Bags of rice…”
