Fang Yingwu followed Ning Shigu out of the flower hall and walked to the atrium. He was shocked to see two lobbies that looked exactly the same.
The contrast in popularity between the two lobbies is very strong. The steps of the east lobby are crowded and crowded; the steps of the west lobby are deserted and empty.
This scene made Fang Yingwu stunned. As the saying goes, there are no two masters in the world, and there is only one chief seal officer in a yamen, and only one main hall. This is common sense, so why are there two halls here?
But soon Fang Yingwu understood that the two halls were the offices of the Chief Envoy Zuoyou. The two Chief Envoys had the same rank, and their treatment was naturally similar.
But he said that this is the strangest thing about the Chief Envoy Si Yamen. The deputy positions may be divided into zuoyou, but no other official positions are also divided into zuoyou. No one has ever heard of a left minister and a right minister, a left governor and a right governor.
, as for the Imperial Envoy of Youdu, he is not a Yamen official sitting in the Supervisory Council.
In the early years of the dynasty, there were no governors. As the head of the three local departments, the chief envoy had great power. Emperor Taizu divided them into zuoyou chief envoys. However, it was possible that due to the needs of the emperor, Emperor Taizu did not clearly define zuoyou.
The division of labor among the chief envoys.
In actual operation, a convention has gradually formed. According to the rule of respecting the left, the left chief envoy is the chief envoy who is in charge of the affairs, while the right chief envoy's main job is to assist in coordination, and the left chief envoy is the chief envoy.
Assign and delegate specific tasks.
Later, the governors who centralized power appeared, and even the power of the left chief envoy was greatly weakened. In many places, the right chief envoy became an idle official, basically just to earn his seniority.
wèizhi. It can be seen from the official seniority list that the tenure of the right chief envoy is very short. He is often promoted and left within a few months, playing an excessive role.
Having said that, in Zhejiang's Chief Envoy Department, the boss is of course the current Left Chief Envoy Ning Liang. As for the Right Chief Envoy who is nominally on par with Mr. Ning, Fang Yingwu didn't bother to ask Ning Shigu.
If you think about it, you will know that under the shadow of Mr. Ning, who is said to be the closest to the governor in the world, the situation of the right chief envoy must be extremely miserable. It is estimated that he will not have even half of real power, and there is no point in asking.
Ning Shigu brought Fang Yingwu into the east hall. There was an old man in scarlet robe sitting behind the koan, who must be Ning Liang. Fang Yingwu hurriedly stepped forward to salute, showing the courtesy of a junior.
However, he heard Mr. Ning say "um" as a signal, and Fang Yingwu peeped and looked carefully. He saw that Mr. Ning had white hair and beard, and he was very old. There were age spots on his face and the back of his hands. He could not sit very firmly and was trembling.
It's towering and heart-wrenching.
Looking at this appearance, he is much more ruined than Mr. Shang who returned home from his official career. Fang Yingwu sighed secretly. Mr. Ning asked the servant to serve tea and said politely: "How is Mr. Su'an doing now?"
Su'an Gong was Shang Ren, and it was common for him to ask about the current situation of his elders during greetings. However, Fang Yingwu had just returned from the north and passed by Hangzhou. He had not been in Chun'an for nearly a year. How had he seen Mr. Shang's current situation? How could he contact him?
answer?
Ning Shigu, who accompanied his father to meet the guests, quickly reminded him, "Brother Fang Xian went to Yulin last year and is about to return home now."
"Oh. Oh." Mr. Ning Liang then changed his subject, "Nephew Fang Xian is serving the country in the border town. He has worked hard all the way."
Fang Yingwu sighed again. Mr. Ning has become so confused. No wonder Master Ning, Ning Yanei, wants to run around to help him. There is no other way. Fighting tiger brothers, father and son go into battle, so Ning Yanei still can't do it.
Can help wholeheartedly.
When I was thinking wildly, I heard Mr. Ning say: "Thanks to my nephew for reminding me today, otherwise I would have fallen into a trap without knowing it. However, I have no idea how to deal with this matter. How can my nephew teach me?"
Fang Yingwu hurriedly said a few words of humility, and then declined: "The old man is mature and has his own opinions, so there is no need for me to talk too much."
Ning Liang strongly praised: "I have heard that my wise nephew is in the north, planning like a god, and he is a man with a gap in his heart. It is not a bad thing for a young man to be energetic, why should he be so humble?"
Fang Yingwu continued to refuse, "It was just a mistake and a bit of good luck, not to mention a plan or not. But it provoked praise from the boss, which was beyond the boy's expectation.
.”
Only those who are just starting out will be excited and work hard for a few words of praise and praise from others. Fang Yingwu had already passed that age in his previous life.
He will not refuse to do just things, nor will he deliberately refrain from doing good deeds when he can, but he will also not do things beyond his ability. It can be said that the most destructive part of Vanity Fair is this.
Said mature.
The Zhejiang garrison eunuch may be involved behind today's incident. Today's overall atmosphere is dominated by evil and the power of the eunuchs is in a period of expansion. Not everyone is as "moral" as Wang Zhi.
If he could just remind him a few words, he would have fulfilled his duty as a junior. Being too active in helping Mr. Ning to stand out would be too much for him.
When he finally left, Mr. Ning said again: "Next year is the year of the provincial examination. I think Nephew Fang will come to Hangzhou again. I may be inconvenienced then, so I will entrust my son to entertain you, just like today."
Fang Yingwu's heart skipped a beat when he heard the word "provincial examination" and heard Mr. Ning say, "There will be a lot of inconvenience then." Is this a hint? Only if you participate in the examination work, you will be inconvenienced.
?
After exiting the lobby, Fang Yingwu still had the word "provincial examination" echoing in his mind. If there were opportunities that he could or could not seize, and there were opportunities that he had to seize, then the "provincial examination" was a must-choice.
If you compare the road to the imperial examination to a single-plank bridge with thousands of troops and horses squeezing it, the narrowest place is the provincial examination. When the elite masters from all over the province are gathered, the probability is only one in thirty, which is simply miserable.
After Fang Yingwu thought about it, he decided to get a feel for the situation first, and while walking with Ning Shigu, he asked: "Today's matter is strange, but it is really strange. There is something that the prefecture and county can't handle, so why would anyone come to take charge of the government?"
Are you asking the Secretary to make trouble in the Yamen?"
Ning Shigu no longer concealed anything, "In fact, it is my father's responsibility. Now that my father is getting older and his road to fame has come to an end, he begins to think about what will happen after his death.
People have three virtues, and my father is self-aware. He dare not think about virtue and reputation. The only thing he is obsessed with is meritorious service."
Fang Yingwu expressed his understanding of this. It is normal behavior in official circles for a flying goose to leave a sound and a dead leopard to leave its skin, except for some heartless ones. "What kind of service do you want to accomplish, sir?"
Ning Shigu continued: "Zhejiang has been suffering from sea tides for thousands of years. My father wanted to build a legacy on the seawall. So starting from the 13th year of Chenghua, large-scale repairs to the seawall began."
Fang Yingwu was even more confused, "This is good governance, what does it have to do with Nao Yamen?"
Ning Shigu said helplessly: "This is not a short-term achievement. My father felt that he would not have much time left, and did not want to leave problems to future generations, so the corvee collection was a little more urgent.
In addition, in February this year, the situation worsened. The tide was too strong and the ponds and dams were severely damaged. Various factors caused dissatisfaction among the people along the coast, which is why today's villagers petitioned the government to cause trouble.
Although you suspect that there is someone behind the scenes, if there were no roots, there would be no results today, and the people's resentment is indeed there."
Fang Yingwu suddenly realized, no wonder, no wonder, good things often happen without good intentions.
He thought for a while and then asked: "If what happened today is no coincidence, and someone is indeed using the people to manipulate the situation, who do you think is the most likely person to help Eunuch Li organize behind the scenes? In other words, who is most looking forward to the old man's official career?
?”
It wasn't that Fang Yingwu wasn't smart enough. He didn't know much about the official situation in Zhejiang Province, and even his guesses were pointless. So he had to rely on Ning Yanei, who was familiar with the situation, to guess.
Ning Shigu frowned and said nothing, but he raised his head and looked to the west. Fang Yingwu followed his gaze and saw the other of the two halls of the Chief Envoy's Office, which was the empty right Chief Envoy.
Office.
Fang Yingwu didn't quite believe it, "If Mr. Lao takes office, then the Right Chief Envoy can take over as a matter of course? But Mr. Lao is old, so you can just wait slowly. Why rush to take risks and cause what we have done today?"
action?"
Master Ning said mockingly: "That Lord Lu Chenlu's term is about to come. I'm afraid that my father will be transferred out before he can reach the end of his career.
Zhejiang is one of the most prosperous places in the world, and there is currently no governor to restrict it. Who doesn’t want to stay in Zhejiang? Mr. Lu is no exception."
From this point of view, the motive of the Right Chief Envoy for committing the crime is quite clear, but the Chief Envoy Lu's thoughts are also quite clever, Fang Yingwu thought.
If Mr. Lu himself comes forward to seize Mr. Ning's mistakes and launch an impeachment attack, even if he finally succeeds in getting the court to order Mr. Ning to retire and he takes over as Zuo's chief envoy, then his own reputation will be ruined, at least in the eyes of the world.
Looks too sinister.
Unless he gives up the opportunity to take over as Zuo Bu's envoy, he can prove his innocence. But if so, why did he come?
And now Mr. Lu is setting fire to the Weaving Bureau and asking the eunuch to come forward to impeach Mr. Ning. That is really a clever move. First, it takes advantage of the close relationship between the eunuch and the emperor. Second, it avoids being a villain himself. Third, it is to bring fire to the Weaving Bureau.
, it will be easier for the emperor to be unhappy about this.
Of course, there is a premise that Mr. Lu's collusion with Eunuch Li Yi, the eunuch in charge of Zhejiang Province and in charge of the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau, has not been made public, at least no one has brought it up in person. Otherwise Mr. Lu's reputation in Shilin will also be ruined.
Of course, if you don't care about ruining your reputation, you can still be the Pavilion Elder, but judging from Master Lu's unwillingness to come forward in person, Master Lu still cares about Feather.
Mr. Lu did indeed leave no trace. So far, there is no direct evidence pointing to him. Fang Yingwu actually relies on his own intuitive guesses. He does not believe that there are so many coincidences in the world. There is a great possibility of being self-willed and wronging others.
.
After touching his penis, lines from a soap opera in his previous life suddenly popped up in Fang Yingwu's mind: This is what happened, and this is what the situation is (to be continued...)
ps: I was coding at work, and something unexpected happened, so I have delayed finishing it until now. The next chapter will be published in the evening.