Chapter 177 This is not a coincidence (seeking the moon
The next day, Fang Yingwu went to Si Yamen, Zhejiang's chief envoy in the city, to visit Ning Shigu as agreed.
As for gifts, Fang Yingwu bought an exquisite folding fan and copied a poem on it in his own hand. This was what he had always done. Not only was it cheap and plentiful, but it also looked elegant and not tacky. At the same time, it could also make his poems famous.
It can be said that it kills multiple birds with one stone - I still have enough in my stomach anyway.
As the capital of Zhejiang and one of the top three metropolises in the southeast, Hangzhou City certainly has a large number of government offices. The more well-known ones are the Sansi, Hangyandao, Hangzhou Prefecture, Qiantang County, Renhe County, as well as the Procuratorate, Weaving Bureau, and Wei
So wait.
There is a characteristic in the distribution of these government offices. Most of the government offices are concentrated in the middle of the western half of the city, between Yongjinmen and Qingbomen. The density of government offices in this area is extremely high. It can be said that there is one government office every three steps, and one government office every five steps.
The buildings are almost built one after another.
Fang Yingwu entered the city from Wulin Gate and walked southward along the street while inquiring. When he had walked more than half way, he suddenly saw a crowd of people at the intersection in front of him.
Walking closer, I found that this was near the office of Hangzhou Weaving Bureau. In the middle of the street, there was a fire, with some things scattered on the ground, and dozens of people standing around and pointing.
Fang Yingwu curiously pricked up his ears to listen to other people's comments. It turned out that there was a conflict here just now, and a silk transport truck of the Weaving Bureau was damaged and burned during the melee.
After seeing the excitement, Fang Yingwu continued to go south. The Chief Envoy Si Yamen was more than a mile south of the Weaving Bureau.
After passing the archway on the street, Fang Yingwu walked to the gate of the Chief Envoy's Office, and saw his senior Ningshi, Guning Yanei, whom he was going to visit today, standing next to the stone lion, constantly looking around.
Seeing Fang Yingwu, Master Ning stepped forward to say hello: "Brother Fang Xian, Brother Yu has been waiting for a long time!"
Being able to go out to greet him is an extra-standard treatment, let alone waiting outside the gate in advance. Although Fang Yingwu does not think low of himself, he also knows his own propriety. Therefore, Ning Shigu’s gift really flattered Fang Yingwu, “What are you doing next?
How can you be so virtuous that you dare to trouble Senior Ning to wait here for a long time? You can kill me!"
Ning Shigu waved his hand and said, "You really misunderstood. There were dozens of villagers here just now filing a petition to cause trouble in the government office. I was worried that you would not be able to get in, so I came out to take a look."
Someone is actually making a fuss in the Chief Envoy's office? But it is said that the world has been at peace for a long time, and the local customs in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are gradually liberated. There are cases of making trouble in the Yamen from time to time, but at present, it is usually just making trouble in the lowest level county government.
In Fang Yingwu's memory, during the Wanli period, people would often cause trouble with the chief envoy and the governor, but the folk customs in the Chenghua Dynasty should not have reached this level.
Therefore, he was very surprised and asked in a ruling class tone: "Who is this unruly person? He is so bold!"
Ning Shigu sighed and said, "It's a long story, so I won't talk about it today."
The two exchanged a few words at the door, and when they were about to enter, a servant suddenly came back from outside and reported to Ning Shigu: "Just now, after the unruly people in Yaqian were persuaded to leave, I secretly followed them and saw them heading north out of the city.
But when passing by the Weaving Bureau, the unruly people clashed with the people transporting raw silk from the Weaving Bureau. It was said that the people from the Weaving Bureau were too domineering, and the carriage hit someone, which angered the unruly people, and the two sides fought each other in the street.
, and also burned the Weaving Bureau’s vehicles.”
Fang Yingwu couldn't help but asked: "Where have these people gone now?"
The servant looked at Fang Yingwu, then at Ning Shigu, and then replied: "After burning the silk cart, they also knew that they had caused trouble, so they scattered and fled, unable to catch up."
Ning Shigu had no favorable impression of the unruly people who came to make trouble in the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, but he also had no favorable impression of the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau, which specialized in exploiting and apportioning taxes. When he heard this, he muttered in a low voice: "Dog bites dog."
Fang Yingwu secretly laughed, Ning Yanei was a straightforward person. But then his heart moved. From this muttering, it could be seen that Ning Yanei had a bad impression of the Weaving Bureau. He then said: "I dare to ask, what is the relationship between Fantai and Weaving Bureau?"
What is the relationship between the Weaving Bureau and the Weaving Bureau?"
Ning Shigu said truthfully: "Those eunuchs in the Weaving Bureau specialize in knocking bones and sucking out marrow, disturbing the people, and the local governments and counties cannot bear the disturbance. My father repeatedly tried to dissuade them, but luckily I was able to stop them."
Could this really be a coincidence? Fang Yingwu, who has been exposed to many conspiracies in recent years, habitually frowned and thought for a moment. After he came to his senses, he said to Master Ning: "Senior Ning should quickly tell the boss to be careful about what happened today.
I see something weird in it!"
Ning Shigu was puzzled. He didn't see anything strange. It was strange that a group fight between unruly people and people from the Weaving Bureau was considered a crime. However, the people from the Weaving Bureau were used to being domineering, and the carriage bumped into someone and angered him.
It is normal for a group of unruly people to be attacked in anger.
"Who is the current weaving eunuch of Hangzhou?" Fang Yingwu asked again.
Ning Shigu replied: "I heard that the weaving was done by Suhang, the chief eunuch in the palace. In Hangzhou itself, Li Yi, the Zhejiang garrison eunuch, was also in charge of Hangzhou weaving."
Fang Yingwu reminded: "If I were Eunuch Li, I would definitely report to the emperor that impeachment of Mr. Ning would trigger a civil uprising, harm the Weaving Bureau and cause losses."
Ning Shigu was not a stupid person, and he immediately realized what he said. If Eunuch Li really did this, his father might really need to be reprimanded.
Local affairs are complicated, and no one can be foolproof. It is not uncommon for problems to occur. But if it affects others, it is incompetence and fault, especially if the Weaving Bureau's property was burned. In a sense, this is
It is equivalent to His Majesty's property.
"I'm afraid it's not just Eunuch Li!" Fang Yingwu threw out another sentence that Ning Shigu didn't quite understand.
Ning Shigu had a question mark on his face, not sure what Fang Yingwu wanted to say.
Fang Yingwu looked around and saw that there was no one around, and then pointed out: "Assuming that what happened today is not a coincidence, there must be a connection behind it!
Although the duty of the guarding eunuch is said to be to provide peace of mind to the people, he is not an official who is close to the people after all. He is just a eunuch who checks and balances the local government. Therefore, if the guarding eunuch wants to find a group of unruly people to go to the chief envoy Si Nao Yamen, he will definitely need the secret help of other local government offices. This is
That’s the most worrying thing!”
Ning Shigu was shocked by Fang Yingwu's imagination. Fang Yingwu's words imply that there was collusion between local officials and the guarding eunuchs, so what happened today? If this is true, then we must be vigilant. They are targeting
His target is obviously his father, and what happened today may be just the beginning.
He invited Fang Yingwu to the flower hall, ordered the servants to serve tea, and invited the Qing guest to accompany him to talk. Then he cupped his hands and apologized: "Brother Fool, come as soon as you go. I hope that Brother Fang will take care of you."
Not long after, Ning Shigu came back in a hurry, pulled Fang Yingwu and walked out, "Father, please ask Fang Xiandi to come over and talk."
Fang Yingwu smiled bitterly. He came today just to pay a courtesy visit to Ningshi Guning's office to thank him for yesterday's incident. He didn't want to alarm Ning Liang, Zhejiang's left governor, but he ended up not keeping a low profile.
The chief envoy is the nominal chief executive of a province, especially before the emergence of the governor with full power. However, because the former chief envoy had too much power, Emperor Taizu divided the chief envoy into left and right groups out of the principle of checks and balances.
Chief Envoy and Right Chief Envoy.
Today's Zhejiang Chief Minister Si Zuo Chief Minister Ning Liang Ning is also an official with quite distinctive official experience.
His greatest characteristic is that he served as chief envoy in Zhejiang for more than ten consecutive years. Such official qualifications are very rare in the Ming Dynasty. To serve as chief envoy in a province for more than ten consecutive years is probably unprecedented and unique.
Especially in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, a system that attaches great importance to balance.
As early as the early years of Chenghua, Mr. Ning was promoted to Zhejiang Chief Envoy Si Right Chief Envoy. He served as Chief Envoy to the Right until the 11th year of Chenghua, and was promoted to Left Chief Envoy. Then he has been serving as the Chief Envoy to the Left until the 15th year of Chenghua.
Year
Official rumors (actually true): Mr. Ning has such a special experience because of the blessing of former Chief Minister Shang Xianggong. It is precisely because of Mr. Shang’s trust and strong support that Mr. Ning can be a stable leader in Zhejiang
as chief envoy.
After all, Zhejiang is the hometown of Shang Xianggong. When it comes to the appointment of officials in Zhejiang, the court usually gives Shang Xianggong face. This can be regarded as a hidden benefit and unspoken rule.
If you can serve as an official in one place for more than ten years, it is enough to turn an outsider into a local emperor. Especially eleven years after Chenghua, due to various reasons, the imperial court dismissed the governor of Zhejiang. In the absence of a governor, Mr. Ning
The Chief Envoy Zuo became the real top official in Zhejiang.
It is said that this was the compensation given by Mr. Shang after Mr. Ning Liang's promotion to governor was disrupted, allowing him to become a governor who is not a governor. Therefore, there is a wise saying in the official circles that Mr. Ning Liang is the closest to a governor among the local officials in the world.
exist.
However, Fang Yingwu really had no intention of visiting such an important person. When he passed by Hangzhou on his way north last year, he did not go to visit Ning Liang.
This is not hypocritical or pretentious, nor is it deliberately showing arrogance. The reason is very simple, because Mr. Ning is too old.
Mr. Ning was in the same year as Xianggong Shang, and he was a Jinshi for ten years. It has been more than thirty years now. Xianggong Shang has already become an official, and there are almost no people active in politics in that era, so Mr. Ning has obviously entered the officialdom.
twilight period.
For Fang Yingwu, who is young and values long-term benefits, Mr. Ning does not have long-term investment value.
First, although his grandfather Wang Shu was also an old man, he was a famous figure in history. Fang Yingwu knew that old man Wang could endure until the Hongzhi Dynasty and became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
However, Fang Yingwu had no impression of Mr. Ning, which meant that this was the end of the story for Mr. Ning, and his retirement was just around the corner.
Secondly, this kind of old bureaucrat in a high position is well-informed and cannot be fooled by small profits and small righteousness, and most of them are very particular. If you want to make friends, you often have to invest a lot of money, and the price-performance ratio is very poor. If you invest too much, what happens if you fail?
If an old man becomes an official in two days, wouldn't he lose all his money?
Thirdly, although Mr. Ning holds a high position as Chief Envoy of Zhejiang, he has never entered the court or held an important central position. He has great limitations and has very little influence on the country. In other words, he is a disciple and an old official.
Probably not enough resources either
Fourthly, Fang Yingwu has gained some foundation and is very calm and relaxed. Therefore, there is no need to let go of any opportunity and seize every possibility as before. Now even if he does not make friends with Mr. Ning, he I don’t feel any pity either.
However, analysis is analysis. Since Mr. Ning, a senior official with a long history, takes the initiative to invite us to meet him, Fang Yingwu will not deliberately refuse to meet him. He should do what he should do, which is also the basic skill of dealing with others. (Unfinished) To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)