Chapter 90: The greedy history books
did not rely on the Yanping Guards. Where did the weapons, bows and arrows smuggled by Xu Shisheng come from?
Su Ze had long been suspicious of Yanpingwei, and Lin Qingjian's words only confirmed his suspicion.
However, after visiting Yanpingwei's Fire Bureau today, Su Ze had new speculations.
Yanpingwei's powder and fire bureau produces day and night, and there is no way it can use so much gunpowder.
As for where the gunpowder was transported, the result is ready to come out.
So it seems that Xu Shisheng is really a scumbag like a jackal. When the Japanese rebellion in the southeast is so serious, he is still smuggling gunpowder to the Japanese pirates?
Su Ze was originally just a little hostile to Xu Shisheng, but now he has murderous intentions.
Yan Maoqing came to Fujian Qing Army just for money. This was originally a matter of spending money to buy peace.
Changning Guard is just a hereditary place for hundreds of households, so only two hundred taels of silver can avoid disaster.
But Xu Shisheng interfered, and it turned into five hundred taels of silver. I am afraid that in the world before the time travel, Changning Wei was in debt and never recovered.
For the current Changning Guard, two hundred taels of silver are not impossible to come up with. The most important thing is to eliminate Xu Shisheng, the county government's enemy.
After clarifying who was the main enemy and who was the secondary enemy, Su Ze decided to kill Xu Shisheng, the fox of the county government, first to get rid of this big worry!
However, Changning Guard is not a bandit den. Xu Shisheng is a clerk in the county government. It is definitely not possible to kill people directly in the county seat.
Su Ze asked Lin Qingjian: "Is this taxation matter all in the hands of Xu Shisheng?"
Lin Qingjian nodded and said: "Which company in the county has the most oil and water to squeeze out, which company is soft and not hard, which company Xu Shisheng knows that he will take the hard and not the soft. Every year when collecting taxes, he is the only one who takes the servants, and he will never let other clerks interfere." Su Ze now understood why several county magistrates
had Although he didn't like Xu Shisheng, he still let him continue to be a clerk in the household.
Guys like Xu Shisheng are familiar with various situations in the county. Whenever the court needs to collect taxes, the county magistrate cannot do without him.
This tax collection is naturally a technical job.
Who can you extort money from, and who are tough ideas? Don't waste your efforts.
Those who are impulsive and impulsive certainly don't have to fight with such people. If a popular uprising is provoked, the county magistrate will not be able to come to power.
Those who are powerful cannot blackmail them at will. If they are forced to say hello to someone in a hurry, it will appear that the county magistrate cannot distinguish between the important and the important, leaving a bad impression on the Shangguan.
Therefore, Xu Shisheng, who is familiar with the situation in the county, should be used by the county magistrate no matter what.
However, Xu Shisheng was never allowed to be a historian, which was also the method used by the two previous county magistrates to control people. If Xu Shisheng had his name in the official department, the county government would not be able to deal with him casually, as that would really be a big deal.
This is why Xu Shisheng worked so hard, and the previous magistrate did not allow him to be a classics historian.
Now this guy only wants to make money, but Baizhi County still wants to use him.
Su Ze said to Lin Qingjian again: "Brother Lin, I was born in Changning Guard, and you also know the enmity between the guard and Changning Guard."
Lin Qingjian nodded quickly.
"The imperial censor came to the Qing army in Fujian recently, and I would like to ask Brother Lin to help keep an eye on Xu Shisheng's movements and not let him assassinate Chang Ning Guard."
Lin Qingjian saw Su Ze's generosity, and he already wanted to make friends.
Su Ze solved his food problem with Changningwei's specialty rock candy, and now he was tied to Changningwei.
Lin Qingjian understood that his relationship with Sun Dianshi had created an undying hatred between him and Xu Shisheng.
Since Xu Shisheng has been offended, it is better for Changning Wei to become an ally and defeat Xu Shisheng together.
Lin Qingjian immediately said: "Brother Su, don't worry, if there is anything unusual about Xu Shisheng, I will go to Changning Guard and let you know immediately!" The
guests and hosts had a good time, and after the banquet, Su Ze dragged the three drunken classmates back to the school building.
Lin Qingjian's experience seems to have awakened Chen Chaoyuan, who originally wanted to be a subordinate official. He also understood that with his character, he would definitely not be able to survive among this group of subordinate officials who were like wolves. It would be better for him to study peacefully and become a junior official after he was selected. Like Hai Rui, it is enough to support his family by being an academic official like an edict.
During the banquet, Xiong Yue also intentionally made friends with Lin Qingjian.
Escorting tribute tea to the northern and southern capitals was also one of Lin Qingjian's responsibilities.
This section of the road has to go over mountains first, and also has to go through the mountainous areas of Jiangxi and northern Zhejiang. It can be said to be very difficult. However, the time limit required for tribute tea is very tight. The officials responsible for escorting often force the slaves to rush, causing the slaves to rush. Many people have fallen off a cliff or died from exhaustion. It is considered good if six or seven of ten people set out to reach their destination.
Even if you arrive safely, you will get seriously ill or even become disabled when you return.
The Xiong Yue family is considered a rich farmer with their own tea garden. Naturally, their family will not let their children carry tea to the two capitals, so they will hire people to do the work for them.
As the name suggests, substitute service means serving on behalf of someone else. This was strictly prohibited in the early Ming Dynasty. Once it was discovered that either a substitute servant or someone who paid someone to serve on his behalf would be severely punished.
But at this time, substitute service has become quite common.
However, the Xiong family hires people to serve on their behalf. Whether the person who serves on their behalf comes back alive or dies on the road, the Xiong family's capital is completely different.
As long as the person can come back, it's easy. Even if he becomes disabled, the Xiong family will have to pay for some soup and medicine.
But if a person dies on the road, the Xiong family will suffer a great loss.
Family members would make trouble and come to the house, and then demand a large sum of money from the Xiong family.
Although it is very common for the Xiong family to hire someone to serve on their behalf, it is illegal. If they go to court, the Xiong family will suffer even more blood.
Xiong Yue's family has been declining in the past two years because the civilian husband who served as a substitute died on the road twice in a row, and a large amount of compensation was paid!
Xiong Yue asked Lin Qingjian to help intercede with the servants who delivered the tribute tea. Next time when the tribute tea was delivered, he would take care of the civilian husband who helped the Xiong family.
Lin Qingjian naturally agreed to this matter.
After a night of silence, Su Ze was woken up by Hai Rui early the next morning and brought to the stables behind the county school.
In the county school system designed by Lao Zhu, students in the county school originally had to learn not only the Four Books and the Five Classics, but also the Six Arts of a Gentleman such as riding and archery.
Therefore, every county school has stables and shooting gardens. However, as the civil and military leaders of the Ming Dynasty changed their paths, and after Tumu Fortress, the nobles and the military were humble, these facilities were also abandoned.
[I found the stable in the location where I can learn the skill "Riding". Do you want to learn it? 】
Su Ze was overjoyed and quickly chose to study.
Although he had ridden a donkey before, riding a horse was completely different from riding a donkey. Some simple points entered Su Ze's mind and turned into his memory. Sure enough, as Hai Rui said, the horse he rode to Nanping when he took office was a Yunnan horse with a short stature and a large age.
Just such a horse was bought by Hai Rui's mother and daughter-in-law after they spent their savings from years of spinning.
Although this horse's tongue is a little loose, Hai Rui still raises it well, and its shiny coat shows that Hai Rui washes it frequently.
Su Ze rode back to Changning Guard with a grateful heart. At the same time, in Fuzhou City, Yan Maoqing, the censor of the Fujian Qing Army sent by the imperial court, finally started to get down to business after several rounds of banquets.
When the censor leaves the capital, he represents the emperor and is an imperial envoy of the imperial court. Officials of all sizes in Fuzhou Prefecture dare not neglect him. These days, there are constant feasts and banquets.
Yan Maoqing also refused anyone who came, and he would gladly attend any invitation. If someone offered him a bribe, he would accept it.
After Yan Maoqing offered the price of Ping'an for military households at all levels, convoys filled with gold and silver jewelry entered Fuzhou City in an endless stream these days. The Yamen warehouse where Yan Maoqing stayed temporarily was filled with gold and silver jewelry.
There are those who take the initiative to pay, and naturally there are those who pretend to be dead and refuse to pay.
With so many military positions in Fujian, it is natural that not all ancestors are guilty. There are always those in the Wei Suo who think that their family background is innocent and there is no need to report to Yan Maoqing.
Yan Maoqing did not take any action against these people. Everyone in Fujian breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this was the end of Yan Yushi. Yan Maoqing came to Fujian Chief Envoy Yamen.
Today's Fujian chief envoy can be regarded as Yan Song's partisan and Yan Maoqing's ally.
Yan Maoqing came to the Qing army this time and had little to do with civil affairs, so the chief envoy still supported Yan Maoqing.
Welcoming Yan Maoqing into the main hall, after a moment of greetings, Yan Maoqing explained his intention.
Putting down the white porcelain tea bowl in his hand, the chief envoy said: "Yan Yushi wants to borrow someone?"
Yan Maoqing cupped his hands and said: "I would like to ask the chief envoy to do it for your convenience." "
It doesn't matter if the people are needed, but Yan Yu Why does Shi want a clerk from the household room instead of a clerk from the military room? Isn't the military room more familiar with the local military situation than the household room?"
Yan Maoqing said with a smile: "That's not necessarily the case." "
In that case, I will make a comment. Please send the official documents to each prefecture and county."
Soon, the chief envoy Yamen issued an order, requiring the tax clerks in each prefecture and county to go to the provincial capital Fujian to report.
The distance from each place to Fuzhou City is different. Counties in Fuzhou Prefecture received the news the fastest and arrived in Fuzhou City on May 5th.
Yan Maoqing decided to start with the secular military generals in Fuzhou Prefecture. He immediately met with the household tax collectors in Fuzhou Prefecture and counties and began to ask them about the situation of military households in the county.
It has to be said that the scribes summoned by Yan Maoqing really know the local situation best.
They all know exactly which hereditary military families there are in the local area and which hereditary military family is the richest.
Yan Maoqing took out another account book and asked the clerk in Fuzhou Prefecture to check which military households had not sent money.
The scribes were making calculations day and night, and quickly calculated the list of military households in Fuzhou Prefecture that had not yet been submitted to Yan Maoqing.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Maoqing took this list to the Fujian Dusi Yamen, took out his imperial edict and seal of the Qing Army Censor, and set up court directly at the Dusi Yamen.
Yan Maoqing was the censor of the Qing army, and the Fujian Dusi did not dare to neglect him. He could only ask his subordinates to cooperate with Yan Maoqing and pass the list of world-level generals to the Dusi Yamen.
In the entire Fuzhou Prefecture, all the generals who had not paid tribute, or who had paid tribute but did not pay enough tribute, all received the summons from the imperial censor, even the most remote guard posts were not omitted.
Several affluent health clinics in Fuzhou Prefecture received more violent subpoenas, and even those health clinics that had submitted adequate confessions received subpoenas for re-inspection.
Yan Maoqing's meaning is very clear, you rich guys can't pass the test so easily, you have to pay more!
All of a sudden, the whole Fuzhou Prefecture was in a tremble. Even the hundreds of households in the guard station who were supposed to be on guard against the Deer King and repair fortifications in preparation for the war, put aside their work and rushed to Fuzhou City with gold, silver and jewelry.
This time, except for those poor guards who couldn't take the blame, everyone gave a sufficient amount of money.
Those wealthy and worldly military generals even wrapped a thick gift envelope and sent it to the Yamen where Yan Maoqing was staying.
Yan Maoqing moved very quickly. On May 7th, in the various guards in Fuzhou Prefecture, the list of worldly military generals whose ancestors were criminal officials and still inherited their official duties was pulled out. Those who did not submit sacrifices to Yan Maoqing, or who submitted insufficient sacrifices, were shocked. It's on the list.
Yan Maoqing issued a military order in the name of the Censor of the Qing Army, temporarily removing these "criminal generals" from their positions and handing them over to their deputy generals to take charge of their duties.
These "criminal generals" must go to Fuzhou City within three days to submit a defense to Yan Maoqing, the censor of the Qing army. If they cannot prove their ancestor's innocence, they will be dismissed immediately and the salary received by their ancestors will be recovered.
Yan Maoqing's set of boxing combinations not only completely defeated all the world-class generals in Fuzhou, but also spread panic throughout Fujian.
This series of operations is worthy of being remembered in history books.
Just when Yanping Mansion received an official document from the Chief Envoy's Yamen, they were preparing to mobilize scribes from each county in Yanping Mansion to go to Fuzhou City.
The well-informed military households in Yanping Mansion already knew what happened in Fuzhou Mansion.
Including the Yu family, the commander of the Yanping Guards, all the guard posts in the entire Yanping Prefecture were in panic.
After Yu Zongyuan received the news, he immediately sent someone to notify Su Ze who had returned to Changning Wei.
Lin Qingjian of the county government office also passed the news to Su Ze that Xu Shisheng had received an order from the chief envoy's office and was preparing to go to the capital of Fuzhou.
After seeing these two pieces of news, Su Ze finally understood how Xu Shisheng, a small scribe, was related to Yan Maoqing, a noble censor.
It turned out that Yan Maoqing wanted to blackmail the place and recruited scribes from various houses.
Su Ze also had to sigh with emotion. Yan Maoqing was worthy of being listed in a separate biography in the history of the Ming Dynasty. He was indeed much more powerful than ordinary corrupt officials.
The recruitment of household clerks is really a clever move. You must know that the people who know the local situation best are not the magistrates above, but the clerks responsible for collecting taxes.
House clerks know best who is rich and who is poor in Nanping County, and they know how to settle accounts themselves, so Yan Maoqing does not need to worry about the accounts.
Xu Shisheng, a scribe in Nanping County, had a grudge against Changning Wei.
That's why there is a record in the family tree that Xu Shisheng falsely accused Chang Ningwei to Yan Maoqing.
With Xu Shisheng by Yan Maoqing's side, Changning Guards had to spend money to eliminate disasters, and it couldn't be done with just one or two hundred taels.
No, Xu Shisheng must not be allowed to go to Fuzhou City!
(End of chapter)