"Prefect, there are villagers gathering outside the city and they were stopped by the soldiers guarding the city!"
Jiang Wei hurriedly ran inside.
Nie Wen put down his brush and asked, "How many people are here?"
Jiang Heng said: "There are thousands of people, and villagers are coming after hearing the news."
Nie Wen stood up calmly and walked slowly outside.
The matter can be big or small. If it can be suppressed, there will be no risk. If it gets bigger, it can alarm the court.
Nie asked, "Aren't you afraid?"
He's afraid he can't make the decision.
This is a provincial capital, not just a prefectural city.
With all the officials from the three divisions of Huainan Province here, what can a small provincial prefect do?
If he was not good in his previous life, he will be the magistrate of the county in this life. If he was evil in his previous life, the magistrate will be attached to Guo. If he is full of evil, he will be attached to the provincial capital of Guo.
"Full of evil" refers to Nie Wen.
When it comes to big things, he can't make the decision at all, but if something goes wrong, he has to take the blame.
Nie Wen sent people to post notices all over the Chuzhou Prefecture. They were not only posted for the officials to see, nor were they only posted for the common people at the bottom. They were also posted for provincial officials to see!
Do you want me to take the blame?
I will just make this pot bigger and cover all the officials of the third division.
Jiang Og had already run to the inner door of the government office lobby, but found that the prefect Nie Wen had not come. When he turned around, he saw that Nie Wen was standing in front of the commandment stone pavilion, with his hands behind his hands, looking at the words engraved on the commandment stone.
"Prefect, it's almost too late!" Jiang Yu hurried back to urge him.
Nie Wen recited the commandment and said: "Your salary is good for the people, and it is easy for the people to abuse them, but it is difficult for God to bully them. Do you know the origin of these sixteen words?"
Jiang Wei said: "I know it, but there are tens of thousands of people in urgent need outside the city..."
"Some people are more anxious than us," Nie Wen said with a smile. "They usually turn a blind eye and even turn a blind eye to my advertisements. Some people think that the matter is not a big deal, while others are happy to make it a big deal. I will take the lead.
If I take a step back, it will be their turn to shoulder the responsibility."
Hearing this, Jiang Yu became even more anxious: "But my husband is the prefect, and when there is civil unrest in Chuzhou Prefecture, my husband is the first to be held accountable!"
Nie Wen walked slowly to the lobby, rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'm afraid of a bird! I was born as a censor. I broke out of the nest and made meritorious service and became a civil official. It was so exciting when I was a censor. Some of the officials who were dismissed by me were
There are dozens of them. In recent years, the more I live, the more uncomfortable I become. I am constrained in everything I do, so I just go out and break things in Chuzhou Prefecture."
Jiang Yi was stunned when he heard this.
Nie Wen said: "What happened here, if I can still serve as an official, I will ask to be transferred to Anxi or Jiaozhi. Those two places will not be recovered soon, and the court needs to open up the situation. I can be more free as an official in the past. Or, simply
Transferred to Dali. Don't be afraid, I still have some old memories and will consider your future."
"Why is this so?" Jiang Wei sighed.
Nie Wen said: "You don't understand, the water here is muddy. Mr. Li Ge... has been the prime minister for too long, and I don't know how many people are looking forward to him moving away. Some bastards have always wanted to use me as a gunman. I have this gun."
Just poke a hole in the sky."
Involving court disputes?
Jiang Ying suddenly didn't dare to speak anymore.
Nie Wen said with a smile: "Although the life of the magistrate of Chuzhou is miserable, he is actually a fat man. If I am promoted normally, can I get this official position? It's just that they see me as a censor, and they know that I have an upright and upright character.
There is no dirt in their eyes. They also want to use this incident to bring in the old mentor behind me."
Jiang Heng walked silently behind Nie Wen like a little daughter-in-law, her head buzzing and she lost the ability to think.
Walking on the street, they met officials from the Chief Secretary.
The two chief envoys were both riding horses, and some of the other officials were riding in cars, some on horses, and some running at a fast pace.
The officials in charge of the inspection department had already gone to the city gate with their official envoys.
As for the commander-in-chief and the capital commander, they have already arrived at the military camps inside and outside the city to directly mobilize troops to prevent the incident from getting worse.
The city gates were closed, and the soldiers climbed onto the city walls.
Li Jiang, the commander-in-chief, angrily scolded the archers: "You are not allowed to draw your bow without orders. What if the arrow is fired?"
The archers on the city wall relaxed their bow strings one after another.
Li Jiang was a salt lord who defected to Li Bao in Bazhou. He was very senior and had average abilities. He had been punished because his hands and feet were unclean.
Overall, it's not a big problem.
The real big problem is the commander of the capital outside the city, Guo Xiong.
Guo Xiong is not only responsible for the recruitment, training, and retirement of soldiers across the province, but he is also in charge of anti-smuggling and theft arrests - he is only responsible for anti-smuggling and theft arrests in the countryside, but not in urban areas. And if the scale of the bandits is too large, he will
It must be handed over to the commander-in-chief for processing.
The gangsters under Li Xiaojian's protection often intercepted canal merchant ships and extorted money. This matter was also within the scope of Guo Xiong's responsibilities. He never seriously investigated and dealt with it, so he naturally took advantage of it.
"Everyone has dispersed, do you still want to rebel?"
At this moment, Guo Xiong arrived with troops from the military camp outside the city and angrily scolded the villagers who had gathered to petition.
The troops were coming in front of them, and many villagers were afraid. Even some of the armor commanders were frightened and subconsciously stepped back and wanted to go home.
Tao Ding'an, who initiated and co-organized the petition, stepped forward and clasped his fists and said: "This military man, we are not here to rebel. We are just ordinary farmers. The government posted a notice saying that they will not collect money, but they sent people to demand the money for exemption from military service."
The common people are short-sighted and can't figure out what's going on, so they went to the provincial capital to ask."
Guo Xiong asked: "Are you the leader?"
Tao Ding'an said: "The common people were entrusted by the villagers to come forward to ask whether they would receive the money for exemption..."
“Take the lead in making trouble, and we’ll take it down later!”
Guo Xiong didn't bother to say anything and just asked the soldiers to arrest him.
Seeing the soldiers taking action, most of the villagers were so frightened that they fled and dispersed through the gap deliberately left by the army.
But there were also twenty or thirty people who showed great courage and stepped forward to protect Tao Ding'an.
Guo Xiong said: "Arrest all those who come forward!"
These twenty or thirty people were quickly pushed down and their hands were tied behind their backs with ropes.
"Why should I be tied up?"
"We are here to ask about the exemption money, and we want to see the prefect!"
"The prefect put a big seal on the notice and clearly stated that he would not collect money from the people. Why can't he keep his words?"
"Is it still the prefect who makes the decision in Chuzhou Prefecture?"
"..."
A bunch of civil servants stood on the tower, frowning at the farce outside the city.
Of course, there are also people who look normal.
"Open the city gate." Nie Wen said to the soldiers guarding the city gate.
Commander-in-Chief Li Jiang walked over quickly and scolded: "Why are you still standing there in a daze?"
The city gate opened, Nie Wen came out with his hands behind his back, and Guo Xiong was escorting the people over.
Nie Wen stopped at the city gate: "Guo Du pointed out that I asked for the notice to be posted, and these people also came to ask me. They did not steal, rob, or bring weapons, and the gathering place was located in the city wall. You have no reason to arrest them, and you have no right to arrest them."
Guo Xiong was a little angry and asked: "This is not only a prefectural city, but also a provincial capital! You are just the prefect. If trouble occurs, can you afford it?"
Nie Wen pointed to the arrested people: "These are the people under my rule. I believe they are not bad people. If something goes wrong, I will bear all the blame alone."
Guo Xiong did not speak, but stood there and stared at Nie Wen.
Nie Wen was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore and turned back to look at the officials standing on the tower.
Zhang Su, the right chief envoy, came downstairs first and said, "Take him to the Chief Secretary's Yamen."
Soon, Huang Shilian, the inspector general, also appeared: "I think it was just some misunderstanding. I will take them to the inspector's Yamen for questioning. When the misunderstanding is resolved, they will all be released home."
Nie Wen said: "I'm afraid there is a hidden reason for the exemption money. It's probably not a misunderstanding."
To be continued...