Chapter 987 0982 [An opportunity for a coward to make a contribution]
Liu Yao was getting old after all, especially the years of disasters and the conquest of Xixia, and his busy schedule made his body unable to bear it.
At the end of the summer campaign, he began to resign, which lasted until autumn.
Now that the national disaster has eased, Liu Yao and Zhao Quan both retired, leaving two cabinet ministers at once.
The new list of cabinet members is as follows: Li Hanzhang, Qian Chen, Zhang Bor, Fang Mengqing, Meng Zhao, Chen Dong, and Liang Yi.
Only Fang Mengqing is not the "old man" from Conglong, and he seems a bit out of place in the cabinet.
At that time, Zhu Ming personally led troops to garrison Xiangyang, and Fang Mengqing was the only Song minister who actively trained his troops to "suppress the Zhu thieves." Unexpectedly, when Li Bao led his army to Huainan, Song Huizong's blind chicken commanded him on the way to escape, and Fang Mengqing's hard-earned skills were
Most of the army was destroyed, and they continued to flee south regardless of the frontline soldiers.
In anger, Fang Mengqing rebelled against the Song Dynasty and became a traitor.
As a result, Li Bao rushed to the capital and threw all the captured officers and soldiers to him. Fang Mengqing, with these miscellaneous troops, actually captured half of the Huainan area, and the Ming Dynasty skyrocketed.
That’s fucking outrageous!
The cabinet changed, and Qin Hui was promoted as well.
The grade remains unchanged, but it is changed from the Minister of the Ministry of Industry to the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and "Special Advancement" and "Prince Shaobao" are also added.
The main reason is that Qin Hui has been engaged in infrastructure construction in recent years. As Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Qin Hui has accumulated too many political achievements, large and small. Even though Qin Hui did not have much involvement in the Yellow River control project, he still deserves a share of the credit.
"Teacher, this is Zhao Kai's masterpiece "Old Bird Picture"." A middle-aged official presented the scroll.
Qin Hui unfolded it and looked at it for a long time, then nodded in approval and said, "Madman Zhao's painting skills are becoming more and more exquisite and strange."
The middle-aged official's name is Yang Yuan, a native of Suzhou.
When Qin Hui was serving as the imperial eunuch in the former Song Dynasty, Yang Yuan happened to be the imperial student at that time. The two had no friendship at that time, but as Qin Hui rose in the Ming dynasty, Yang Yuan came to follow him as a student.
To be honest, Qin Hui looked down on this guy because Yang Yuan had no ability at all, and even the official documents were written in such a way that he didn't know what to say.
But Yang Yuantai is very good at flattering people, and he is so good at flattering that he can even flatter someone like Qin Hui!
Historically, Qin Hui was just tired of this person and sent him to be a local official. As a result, Yang Yuan scared himself to death.
Not only is he incompetent, he is also as timid as a mouse.
Qin Hui put down Zhao Kai's "Old Bird Pictures", sat on the chair and asked: "Tell me, what's the matter?"
Yang Yuan sighed and said, "I dare not hide my mentor. My disciple was Ding You who returned to Beijing after finishing his studies. Yesterday he went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to report his arrival. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said that my disciple's political performance in the past was not good and he must stay in the capital to wait for a job. I don't know if my mentor can do it."
Can you help me a little or two?"
Qin Hui said with a smile: "I am the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, how can I take care of the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel? You are really useless. You have passed the imperial examination of the former Song Dynasty. How come you can't even be a minor official in the state?"
"It's because the officials in the yamen are disobedient and can't give orders because of the complicated situation." Yang Yuan complained.
Qin Hui sneered: "To be manipulated by subordinate officials, it is extremely incompetent!"
Yang Yuan took out ten more Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes: "I heard that there are many official vacancies in Ningxia and Shaanxi this time when Xia is destroyed, and I hope that my teacher will help me. Disciples don't expect anything, a remote state is enough. I don't ask for anything else, just ask for something.
Don't waste your time waiting around."
Qin Hui glanced at the treasure banknotes, which amounted to five thousand guan, and thought that the Yang family was indeed a wealthy businessman, and a judge from a remote state could give so much money.
The Ming Dynasty was not like the previous Song Dynasty, and corruption was strictly investigated.
Officials are bound to be greedy, but they are very secretive.
How much profit can a state judge in a remote and impoverished area get? Unless he is greedy to death, it will be difficult to make back his money after one term.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Qin Hui to accept this money.
But Yang Yuan's situation is quite special. This guy has enough qualifications to serve as an official, and Ding You was stuck by the Ministry of Civil Affairs when his term expired. Even if Qin Hui doesn't take action, it is estimated that he can be filled normally after waiting for a year and a half.
Things that go smoothly and favorably are easy to handle, and the official doctor will give you face.
What's more, Yang Yuan secretly gave his niece to Qin Hui as a concubine.
Qin Hui put away the treasure and warned: "After taking office, restrain yourself."
Yang Yuan said: "Disciple, don't worry."
In terms of corruption, Qin Hui is still very relieved about Yang Yuan.
How could a guy as timid as a mouse dare to be extremely corrupt in the face of a court that strictly investigates corruption?
Let's put it this way, in the past ten years, Yang Yuan has sent many bribes to Qin Hui, but he has not even recovered his capital through corruption.
My family is not short of money, and I want to climb up the career ladder. I am a proper official fan.
Even when Yang Yuan was able to enter Taixue, it was through the self-financing route. Then he bribed Wang Fu's gang members, successfully passed the Taixue examination, and got a Jinshi degree. Then he continued to send money and stayed in Taixue to open a school.
The little official here,
It’s been almost twenty years since I made money all the way, and I haven’t even gotten through to a state judge.
After a few more instructions, Qin Hui sent Yang Yuan away.
As he became more powerful, Qin Hui became more and more courageous. The money he obtained in the past was stored in a small house he bought quietly, but now it is placed directly in the Shangshu's official residence.
I am still in my hometown in Jiangning, buying land and building a mansion, waiting to live there when I retire.
He also sent people back to his ancestral home to overhaul his ancestral graves and his father's graves. Anyway, it was unlikely that anything would happen to Emperor Tiangao.
After putting the treasure banknotes away, Qin Hui watched "Old Bird Picture" again.
He likes Zhao Kai's paintings very much. There is an evil nature in the weirdness and a kind of deviant beauty.
Qin Hui spread the paper and studied ink, and began to imitate the painting method, but he always felt something was wrong and could not paint like Zhao Kai.
"It's a pity that this person is from the former Song Dynasty royal family, otherwise I would have to invite him for advice." Qin Hui felt very sorry for this.
The next day, Qin Hui called a close aide and asked him to handle the matter.
It's a trivial matter. There is no need for Qin Hui to show up, and he doesn't even need to give money. He can just send his cronies to treat the doctor from the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel to have a meal and listen to music by the way.
With Yang Yuan's own official qualifications, he can already go to the vacant state to judge normally. He just hopes that the officials will not deliberately get stuck.
This kind of thing is not illegal!
Of course, the premise is that the court does not strictly investigate, but once it is strictly investigated, it can be put online.
…
Yang Yuan stayed in the capital and waited, but there was no news after waiting and waiting.
Although the doctor from the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel promised to help, there was indeed no real shortage for a while.
It was not until early winter that the magistrate of Xuan Prefecture was not acclimated to the climate and the climate. He became ill and asked for leave to recuperate. Yang Yuan was actually replaced as the magistrate of Xuan Prefecture.
Although he didn't know where Xuanzhou was, Yang Yuan was still extremely excited.
He only wanted to be a state judge, but he actually became a magistrate!
This guy happily ran to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to go through the formalities and check Xuanzhou's information, and then he was a little dumbfounded.
Xuanzhou is Zhongwei City. The reason why Zhu Ming changed its name is from Zuanjuan County in the Han Dynasty.
There are only two counties in this state, one is Yingli County attached to Guozhou City, and the other is Mingsha County south of Qingtongxia. Both counties are relatively "rich" only along the Yellow River, and the rest are mountainous areas, deserts and grasslands without counties.
No wonder he was allowed to make up the province. This poor place is too small, poor and remote.
Said to be a magistrate, the grade is actually similar to that of a normal magistrate.
Yang Yuanlai pretended to be ill in Luoyang and refused to leave. Qin Hui sent someone to scold him, so he had to set off before it started to snow.
Before he arrived in Lanzhou, the road was blocked by heavy snow, and it was not until the snow melted in spring that he continued on his way to his appointment.
Outside Xuanzhou City.
Li Xian, the former governor of the state, asked for a leave because he couldn't afford it. He waited until the snow melted and left by boat, then looked back at the state city with a sneer.
Sooner or later something will happen here, the state judge and the commander are too greedy!
Li Xian was delayed by something on the road, so he took office a month late last year. After only a few days as an official in Xuanzhou, he felt something was wrong, and his money and food accounts were completely inconsistent.
The state magistrate and the commander invited him to drink. Li Xian asked very vaguely, but the other party directly stated the matter.
The commander Pu Quan had no scruples and said with a smile: "I joined the army in Bazhou and served as a soldier under Privy Li (Li Bao). Before the Emperor became emperor, I was already Privy Li's personal soldier, and several of them
I know both your lord and your lordship. Who are these people here? They are all remnants of Xixia. It would be better to starve to death! Especially those grazing tribes, even if they all rebel, the five hundred soldiers in my hand can wipe them out.
Then we can still make meritorious deeds."
Li Xian was dumbfounded when he heard this. He deliberately deducted relief food, deliberately deprived the people of food, forced the Xixia farmers and herdsmen to rebel, and then made meritorious deeds to suppress the rebellion!
This operation is really cool, if you don't do it well, you will have to mess it up.
After eating and drinking, Li Xian quietly went to the state judge Yan Shunqing and said: "Pan Yan, aren't you afraid of losing your head in this kind of thing?"
Yan Shunqing said: "When I took office, this account was no longer right. There were five hundred soldiers named Pu stationed here, and he was a personal soldier of Privy Li. Can I still report him to the court? Commander Pu said
That's right. They are all remnants of Xixia. They happened to be forced to rebel and were killed. When the time comes, we civil servants will be able to follow suit and perform meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion."
Li Xian fell seriously ill that night and remained ill for two full months. He could not handle any government affairs and could only entrust the state magistrate with full power.
He felt that it would be difficult for him to recover in a short time, so he wrote to the Ningxia Governor's Mansion, claiming that he was not acclimatized to the climate and asked to return to his hometown to recuperate.
He waited until it started snowing before being approved by the court, so he could only continue to recuperate and wait for the snow to melt.
He really couldn't afford to offend Li Bao's personal soldiers, and he didn't want to cause a conflict with the army, so he simply stayed away.
The old governor Li Xian left, and the new governor Yang Yuan came.
Arriving at the bank of the Yellow River, Yang Yuan was very surprised to find that this place was not as poor as he thought.
Yang Yuan's journey was very hard, and he took half a month's rest before handling government affairs.
It was not until the second month after taking office that Yang Yuan finally discovered that there was something wrong with the accounts.
Well, the account is actually correct, but the amount of money and food in the warehouse is wrong!
Yang Yuan quickly found the prefectural judge Yan Shunqing, and Yan Shunqing brought the commander Pu Quan over.
The two of them still said the same thing.
Yang Yuan asked: "If the court investigates, how will you settle the account? Not only did you deduct the disaster relief food, but you also embezzled most of the other funds!"
Pu Quan smiled and said: "Those tribes are rebelling. If we lead troops to suppress them, won't we be able to settle the score? Just blame the rebels for everything."
"This...is this too courageous?" Yang Yuan was frightened.
Pu Quan said: "In the past, when we stationed troops in Shaanxi, we didn't dare to do this. But now we are the hometown of Xixia, and there are remnants of Xixia outside, not our Han family. What are we afraid of a group of barbarians?"
Yang Yuan asked: "There are only 500 troops stationed in Xuanzhou. What will happen if those Dangxiang tribes come to attack us?"
Pu Quan said: "We, the Ming Dynasty officers and men, can each weigh one against a hundred, and a garrison of five hundred is more than enough to quell the rebellion."
"Really?" Yang Yuan didn't believe it.
Pu Quan smiled and said: "How can you, a turbaned man, know anything about military affairs?"
Yang Yuan thought about the previous achievements of the Ming army, and subconsciously nodded in belief.
Yan Shunqing took the opportunity and said: "The prefect is the official in charge of this land, why don't we do this business together? Not only can we make money, but we can also share the credit of suppressing the rebellion."
Yang Yuan's family is very rich in business, so he doesn't really care how much he can embezzle.
But Yang Yuan's eyes lit up when he heard the words "I can share the credit for suppressing the rebellion." He had been an official for nearly 20 years, and what he lacked was political performance and merit. He had to seize this opportunity quickly.
A group of Xixia remnants, a group of party barbarians, just kill them. Can the court still blame them?
Yang Yuan drank a glass of white wine to strengthen his courage, slammed the table and said: "I will follow you!"