When meeting your immediate boss, you naturally cannot go empty-handed. There is no need to explain this clearly.
In one sentence, you can understand everything you need to know.
Qi Yu had been an official in the capital for many years and could not be disrespectful in matters of honor, so he specially brought a bunch of local products from Qiongzhou Prefecture to honor his old boss, Mr. Lu.
What gift?
Let’s take a look: salted fish, scallops, kelp, and some dry shrimps.
Ahem, Mr. Qi is so generous!
In this regard, Mr. Qi explained with a pious face: "Qiongzhou is poor and does not produce any rare goods. I have no choice but to bring some local specialties here to show my filial piety..."
What?
Qiongzhou is poor. How can you still trade spices if you are poor?
Besides, if you really want to give it away, can't you use the money to buy it in Yangcheng Mansion?
Hypocritical~~
Therefore, Governor Lu rolled his eyes at him and said in a neutral tone: "Haha, Shaocheng, you are too polite. You and I are old friends and we are very sincere, so why should we care about those clichéd things? Well, there is no need to explain anymore. ,sit down."
"Mr. Lu is elegant and indifferent. I have learned from you..."
"Ahem, come here! Watch the tea!"
"..."
After greetings, the two of them sat down to drink tea and chat about current political affairs.
Lu Boxuan took the lead in opening up the conversation and introduced to Qi Yu two major events that had happened recently.
The first is the imperial report about Zhang Chengdong, the former Secretary of the Ministry of War, treason and surrender to the enemy, and the appointment of Qi Jing as the general of Zhenbei and Beigu Border Guard.
Both of these are northern military affairs and have little relationship with Guangdong Prefecture, which is located in the south. Therefore, Lu Boxuan only briefly introduced them and did not discuss them in detail.
However, Qi Yu felt mixed emotions when he heard this.
Fortunately, old friend Qi Jing finally took another step forward in his official career and grew into a general guarding one side.
He is one of the few military generals who has a civilized education background. The higher he stands in the position, the more prominent his literary and political advantages will be. In the near future, he is likely to become the pinnacle of the Great North.
The one who was angry was naturally the disgusting Zhang Chengdong. I never imagined that this old guy would embark on the path of betraying his country and seeking glory. It was really infuriating.
After talking about these important things, Lu Boxuan asked in a somewhat thoughtful tone: "Shaocheng is here, do you have anything to discuss?"
"Uh...yes!"
"It's true... tell me, what's the matter?"
Hearing this, Qi Yu took out the document from his sleeve pocket, presented it and solemnly said: "I want to reorganize the administration of Qiongzhou, and I hope to get your support."
Reorganize administration?
What does this mean?
Lu Boxuan thought that he came here this time to test his determination to eliminate King Yong. In the end, he was involved in administration. Could it be that he had guessed wrong?
In fact, this is not the case. This is Qi Dalang's deliberate move to confuse the public. It would be very impolite to directly test the boss's thoughts as soon as he comes up.
Therefore, he first started with other topics, and then gradually brought them to King Yong in a less obvious way.
"Master Lu, our Qiongzhou Prefecture only has a population of more than 300,000, but it is divided into so many administrative regions as one prefecture, three states and ten counties. Its bureaucracy is too bloated and has become a burden. This is not conducive to the long-term development of our government. develop……"
"Well, keep talking."
"I will take the configuration of a county government as an example to explain. A county government, in addition to the chief official and county magistrate, is also equipped with two masters of money, food and punishment, as well as soldiers, punishments, workers, rituals, officials, and households. These six offices are responsible for the management and their subordinates. In addition, there are also departments and their configurations such as the experience department, the prison department, the Zhaomo Office, the acceptance room, and the shop manager's room. If you add the yamen and cadres of various ministries, this county The total number of yamen is almost more than one hundred, not including the local officials. Taking this as a guide, in our Qiongzhou Prefecture, there are currently about two thousand people who are facing financial expenses...
"However, our labor force of young and strong men in Qiongzhou is only over 60,000. For now, is the ratio of officials to servants too high?"
What does it mean?
In short, there are too many leaders who live idle and too few laborers who actually do the work. The ratio between the two is seriously imbalanced.
As for the meaning of this, it is self-explanatory.
Once these numbers are listed, it is obvious where the problem lies.
Lu Boxuan frowned slightly and said, "Could it be that you want to re-divide the administrative regions in order to streamline the military and streamline administration?"
"Yes!" Qi Yu did not comment, and said: "According to my opinion, for the current Qiongzhou, it is enough to divide the three administrative regions of Qiongbei, Qiongzhong and Qiongnan. In this way, after the troops are streamlined and the administration is streamlined, The administration of officials will also be greatly improved..."
Qi Shaocheng, Qi Shaocheng, you are ruthless enough to fire so many people...
From an official point of view, this is an 'immoral thing' that offends others, and is no different from ruining a person's financial path.
However, from the perspective of the country and the people, this is a great thing that benefits the country and the people and is desirable.
However, the appointment and dismissal of such a number of officials must be approved by the imperial staff before it can be implemented. Otherwise, it will violate the official system.
It is precisely because of this that Qi Yu roped in Lu Boxuan in order to use a common name to report to the Central Committee to promote the success of the matter.
Under normal circumstances, the court will basically not object to any official document approved by the governor. Unless it inadvertently touches someone's interests, it will be criticized.
Fortunately, Lu Boxuan was a relatively open-minded person. He only thought about it for a moment before making the decision to agree.
However, before the court makes a public announcement, the matter still needs to be kept secret to avoid the negative impact of putting everyone in danger.
After talking about this matter, Qi Yu started the biggest purpose of his trip: fanning the flames!
"Sir Lu, not long ago, the merchant ship of Hai Dafu, a medicine merchant in Qiongzhou, was robbed by Japanese pirates at sea. Later, someone discovered that the robbed medicine ship appeared in Tuen Mun, Feng Port. I hope your Excellency will elaborate on the case. Check, thinking that the people under my command uphold justice."
Haha, the fox’s tail is finally exposed...
I thought you really just held it back and stopped talking!
Lu Boxuan didn't point it out, he just said with a smile: "Okay, tomorrow, I will order the inspector to send someone to investigate."
Qi Yu continued following these words: "To be honest with you, I have sent people to conduct a secret investigation. The evidence is basically conclusive and the case can be filed."
"Oh, is it so?"
"Absolutely true!"
In fact, Lu Boxuan was still very concerned about his secret investigation, and he also wanted to know what he had found.
This guy is accompanied by Ouchi guards. In terms of covert investigation ability, they are much better than the provincial inspectors.
"I said, what did you find out?"
Seeing that Mr. Lu was so virtuous, Qi Yu introduced him politely: "Come to think of it, I'm a little disappointed."
"Disappointed? How do you say this?"
"I thought there was a group of fierce thieves there, but who knew, it turned out to be a mob. Their number, to say the least, is more than five hundred..."
"Is there really just such a small number of people?"
"How can the feedback from the inner guards be false?"
"oh……"
Qi Yu had already guessed that the reason why Lu Boxuan did not take any action was mainly because he did not know the true enemy situation and was afraid to act rashly.
But this time, Qi Dalang only told the actual number of people on the other side, but did not mention firearms at all, which was obviously an attempt to avoid the most important.
Sure enough, after hearing these words, Governor Lu's eyes flashed suddenly and he said with a smile: "It seems that we can suppress a mere five hundred people..."
Following his topic, Qi Yu started to encourage and mobilize again.
There is no way, we must rely on the government army to suppress the bandits. Even if I try to do my best, I am not qualified!
What to say?
There is no other reason. Fourth-grade prefects are not allowed to have private armies. Even if they are hidden, they cannot be openly displayed, otherwise they will be punished for treason.
In the end, Lu Boxuan completely let down his guard and made the decision to wield the sword against King Yong.
For him, it would not work if he did not do this, because the emperor had already issued a secret decree, asking him to destroy the thieves as soon as possible, so how could he stay still for a long time?
What he was worried about was that if he failed to suppress the thieves and turned around, it would be a huge loss. It is precisely based on this consideration that it seems a bit hesitant.
Now that the worries are gone, what else is there to worry about?
