But Gong Ye is not stupid. Since he can count on Fang Zhenru to find him, he must have prepared his words. Gong Ye has been an official in Guangxi for many years. Although he is now a magistrate, he is actually only a fifth-rank official. The ranking of officials is not low, but it is not high either. At least compared to the governor, it is several levels lower, so Gong Ye has his own way of dealing with Shangguan.
For an upright and honest Shangguan like Fang Zhenru, it is absolutely impossible to reject him outright, and he must first agree to it. Gong Ye rolled his eyes and said: "My lord, these words are mature and prudent. They not only solved the urgent needs of the soldiers at the front, but also saved the court a large amount of money that can be used in more important places. Your lord is worthy of being a good minister of the country." , I feel ashamed of myself as a subordinate."
Fang Zhenru didn't speak, just looked at Gong Ye to see how he would express his position. Gong Ye said again: "Since the Lord has spoken, Nanning has an obligation, and Guangxi has an obligation as well. Let's do this. Nanning Prefecture will pay two thousand taels of silver and food." Give me a thousand stones as a reward for my son-in-law from Guangxi."
"How much?" Fang Zhenru raised his voice. Nanning Prefecture is the richest place in Guangxi, and Fang Zhenru doesn't expect them to spend too much money on food. But Gong Ye's figure clearly shows that he is sending beggars. For such a big place as Nanning Prefecture, they only have two thousand taels of silver. , even a wealthy household in a place has more than just this amount of property. Gong Ye is fooling himself.
Seeing Fang Zhenru's expression of displeasure, Gong Ye knew that he must have said this number and he was very dissatisfied. However, Gong Ye was not stupid. He said this number deliberately, just like buying vegetables at the vegetable market. He and Fang Ye Zhenru is bound to have to bargain. If the price is too high, there will be no room for negotiation later.
Gong Ye said with a look of embarrassment on his face: "Sir, what you just said has been taken to heart by the lower officials, but there is one thing. It is said that Guangxi pays for it, but in fact it is Nanning government that pays. The finances of other places are also stretched. In the past, the chieftains paid tribute to the court. Now you know what is going on in the court. The chieftains no longer pay. They are all old foxes who want to protect themselves. Nanning also needs to protect people's livelihood. If there is too much, we will suffer a big loss here. ”
Fang Zhenru shook his head and said: "Two thousand taels is too little. The soldiers at the front are fighting bloody battles. For whom? Is it for the court or for the people? If Zhennanguan is breached by the Annan people, there will be no intact eggs in the nest. , Nanning Prefecture will also suffer, use some money to reward the soldiers at the front, this is what the rear should do."
Gong Ye said: "Your Majesty, what you said is true, but my Nanning Mansion really has no money. Now more and more refugees are coming from the north, and the passes in various places have begun to be closed. They are not allowed to enter, otherwise they will have to eat if they have more mouths." , Where can our local government get so much food for them? We can't drive away those who came in before, so the local finance is also stretched, sir."
Seeing that Fang Zhenru didn't speak, Gong Ye felt that the time was ripe, "Okay, sir, you are a first-class official in Guangxi. If you speak, our subordinates must carry out the execution. Five thousand taels. Nanning Prefecture will pay five thousand." Two, double the food, two thousand dan. This is already the limit. If you don’t believe me, you can go to the treasury to check."
"Let's go and have a look with me." Fang Zhenru said suddenly. Gong Ye was stunned for a moment. This old guy really didn't play his cards according to common sense. He even said it for his own sake and added more words. It was like giving you a step down, but this old guy didn't even use the slope to step down. Donkey, I really want to go to the treasury.
"What? Is there a problem?" Fang Zhenru raised his eyes and asked. Gong Ye immediately said: "How can you do that? It's my honor for you to inspect the treasury. Please come with me." Gong Ye snorted in his heart. Fortunately, I do a good job on weekdays. Even if you go, you can't do it. Nothing could be found.
Gong Ye is not an ordinary person. He has everything in Nanning. Every time he turns in money and food to the treasury, as soon as he enters the front door, Gong Ye transports the things from the back door to his private treasury, and then distributes them to various manors or compounds. This became his own private property. In normal times, he would not have dared to be so crazy, but now, in troubled times, the court is in danger, so no matter what, Gong Ye is just trying to make money crazily.
Fang Zhenru followed him all the way to the Nanning treasury. Gong Ye calmly took the key from the gatekeeper and opened the treasury in front of Fang Zhenru. Fang Zhenru walked in and almost fell down. The huge treasury was completely empty. Those who didn't know it might have thought that the thieves had raided it. There were only a few scattered shelves with silver boxes on them, and the other shelves were basically empty.
Gong Ye's acting skills were outstanding, and the emotions that had been brewing for a long time suddenly burst out, "Sir, you have seen it, and I know that I have some thoughts about Xia Guan. I feel that Xia Guan is so fat because of corruption and bribery. He is not a good official. But you don’t know, if you work hard for official duties and lead a chaotic life, you will become obese."
After saying this, he took out a handkerchief from his arms, wiped the corners of his eyes and said: "Although Nanning Prefecture is not a big city within the Ming Dynasty, at least it can only be considered a medium-sized city compared to other capitals of the Chief Envoys. It's a little lower, but it's also a city with a population of 20 to 300,000. So many people need to be taken care of by Xiaguan, and there are also refugees coming from other places. Xiaguan here also demolishes the east wall to make up for the west wall. That's called Wang Xiaoer During the New Year, every year is not as good as the last.”
"My lord, you have also seen that the treasury has been like this for several years. The situation in the Ming Dynasty has gone from bad to worse. Our life is not easy, and the life of the common people is even harder. Even the lower officials have not received their salary for more than half a year. This There are only more than ten thousand taels of silver in the treasury. If you want it, please take it all." Gong Ye pretended to wipe his tears while peeking at Fang Zhenru with his peripheral vision.
The muscles on Fang Zhenru's face twitched. A big fat man was crying in front of him. The scene was indescribably awkward. He knew in his heart that Gong Ye must have done something to him. A Nanning Mansion was not affected by the war. As for how miserable it was, it was just that he had no way to verify it now. I can only follow his words and say: "Okay, I know your difficulty. In this case, it is a bit difficult for Nanning Mansion."
Gong Ye immediately put away his handkerchief, stepped forward and said, "It's better than this. I have a way to get the best of both worlds."
Fang Zhenru turned around and said, "You tell me."
"Although we can't get much money, they won the battle and should have also captured a lot of gold and silver supplies. According to the custom, they have to be handed over to the court. Simply, let's not give it up and let the local soldiers divide it all. Let’s add part of it, wouldn’t it?” Gong Ye said.
Fang Zhenru glanced at Gong Ye, this guy really had a wishful thinking. If this were the case, wouldn't the border troops become private soldiers and keep the things they seized without paying them, and they would fight to make money by themselves? Then they would have nothing to do with the court. Is it still related to half a copper plate?
Fang Zhenru pursed his lips and said: "Let's do this. According to what you just said, five thousand taels of silver and two thousand stones of food are ready. I will personally lead the team to visit the front line. Since the money is not in place, people must be in place. .”
"Sir, you are old, how can you put yourself in danger?" Gong Ye pretended to be concerned.
Fang Zhenru waved his hand, "It's just because I'm old that it doesn't matter. But there was such a beautiful battle on the front line. As the governor of Guangxi, I must go and see it."
Gong Ye nodded and said: "I understand, I will go and prepare now."
Fang Zhenru no longer argued with Gong Ye. If anything happened, we would wait until he came back to discuss it. Then he went back home, wrote a memorial, and sent a fast horse to report to the capital in an 800-mile rush. However, Fang Zhenru didn’t know when the memorial would be delivered. The eight-hundred-mile expedited service, as the name suggests, means that Tang Ma has to run eight hundred miles a day, changing horses without changing people, but that is a situation where all official roads and inns are open. Now, the army is in chaos, the official roads are blocked, and the post stations are deserted. I don't know whether it can be delivered smoothly.
Three days later, Gong Ye prepared everything. In order to facilitate transportation, Nanning Prefecture mobilized many mule carts and donkey carts for Fang Zhenru to drive. A total of more than 300 soldiers from the governor's Yamen were dispatched to escort Fang Zhenru to the front line.
"What, you said the governor came in person?" Although the governor's dispatch can't be compared with the pomp and circumstance of the governor or the capital's senior officials, after all, he is the highest official of the Chief Envoy, and it is also a big deal to personally visit the frontline workers. Tang Ma arrived at Zhennanguan in advance and informed the general of Zhennanguan and the Pingxiang Prefecture government of the news.
Zuo Bin was shocked when he heard the news. According to common sense, it was a good thing for Fang Zhenru to come in person. At least Zuo Bin could show his face in front of him. With this achievement and Fang Zhenru's appreciation, It may be a success in the future. But there is a problem, that is, Fang Zhenru didn't know the specific situation here in Nanning. If he came here, he would definitely know that he deliberately concealed Gao Heng's affairs. When Fang Zhenru came, wouldn't the truth be revealed.
Zuo Bin was pacing back and forth in the military office. Suddenly he came to Zhennanguan with the official document of Xiangzhou Zhizhou. He was Zuo Bin's superior officer. As soon as he arrived at Zhennanguan, he hurried into the army office and said, "Oh, Mr. Zuo Qian, you are still here. What are you going to do? Hurry up and tell your men to get ready. According to the governor's speed, it will probably arrive in two or three days. This is your first time coming to Pingxiangzhou, and we have to leave a good impression on you."
Since Zuo Bin didn't write about Gao Heng in the battle report, Fang Wen naturally didn't know much about it. It was true that Fang Wen relied on Xiangzhou to know the state, but for him, a civilian official, to know clearly about the battle report on the front line, he still needed his generals. If his subordinates didn't report it, he wouldn't be able to figure it out. Besides, the battle reports of Ming generals were often very watery, so it was difficult to check whether they were true or false.
When Zuo Bin saw him coming in, he immediately greeted him and said, "See Zhizhou."
"Okay, these false etiquettes are waived. Please tell me, there is no problem with the battle report this time." Fang Wen suddenly said this.
Zuo Bin's face turned red. Fang Wen was too careless to ask such a sensitive question. Fang Wen saw Zuo Bin's expression was wrong, and he must have something wrong in his mind, but it was normal these days. If Zuo Bin actually reported it, Fang Wen would really feel like the sun was coming out from the west.
"Okay, let's be honest, what's the problem? Is it the wrong number of enemies killed, or is it that the materials seized are concealed? We are old acquaintances, and I won't do anything to you if you tell me straight away." Fang Wen said.
The Ming Dynasty has always been a country where civil society is strong but military is weak. The policy pursued by the court is to control military affairs with civil society. Therefore, military generals have a much lower status than civilian officials. Let alone being equal, even high-level military generals are in a weak position when they meet low-level civilian officials. . In the past, Fang Wen would have ignored Zuo Bin at all, but times have changed now. As the war deteriorates, the status of generals becomes more and more important.
Take the imperial court in the capital as an example. Killing civil servants during Chongzhen's reign was like killing chickens. During the Chongzhen dynasty, more than fifty chief ministers were replaced. In seventeen years, an average of three chief ministers were replaced each year. However, the status of one person below ten thousand people is trembling with fear, let alone ordinary civil servants. As for local civil servants, they are even more like little shrimps.
But the military leaders are different. As long as they have soldiers, the court will be wary of them, especially for fear that they will betray the enemy and surrender to bandits or captives. The war in Liaodong is not going well. Many Ming army generals have surrendered. Li Zicheng's side Likewise, often these people can be reused by each other. The imperial court's soldiers were fighting less and less, and the enemy's soldiers were fighting more and more. The imperial court could only coax these military leaders.
At the local level, the gap in status between civil servants and military generals has narrowed rapidly. Although Zuo Bin is only a thousand-year-old general, Fang Wen cannot take his words seriously because he has a knife in his hand.
The relationship between Zuo Bin and Fang Wen should be said to be pretty good. During his time under him, Zuo Bin was very filial, so after thinking about it, he came clean.
Fang Wen was surprised after hearing this, "Is everything you said true? Are you sure it's accurate?"
Zuo Bin nodded and said, "I'm 90% sure of my position. Judging from the information compiled by all parties, it's absolutely true."
"Oh, this is a big deal, this is a big deal." Fang Wen immediately started pacing back and forth in the room. He never expected that a small flag officer named Gao Heng under Zuo Bin would cause such a big commotion outside the country. Not only did they occupy the county seat of the Annan people, but they also gathered tens of thousands of people, and obtained thousands of soldiers and horses. Not to mention, they captured the Annan Crown Prince. This is a huge achievement.
"Can you still contact him now?" Fang Wen said.
"I didn't take it seriously at first because I was in a humble position. I thought he would never come back. How could I know now." Zuo Bin hesitated.
"Confused! This person is now getting bigger and stronger. How can you use the position of a small flag officer to mobilize him? If you provide support from the beginning, aren't we just reaping the benefits now? Hand over Prince Annan to the court. I still don’t know how happy His Majesty will be and how he will reward us, you!” Fang Wen pointed at Zuo Bin, hating that iron cannot make steel.
"Then what should we do now?" Zuo Bin asked.
"What else can be done? Of course, report it truthfully and let the governor make the decision."
