Lin Tailai sent Zhang Wen and his men to the town to receive the prisoners, and then personally led 20 archers and 20 river speeders. While guarding the prisoners, he sat on the dock on the river bank and interrogated the short and sturdy man.
After the interrogation, Lin Tailai learned that the short and stocky man was named Meng Shixiong. He was originally a boat owner in Taihu Lake. He joined Huantang more than ten years ago and is now regarded as the second leader of Huantang.
Then Lin Tailai said calmly: "I can spare you, but according to the rules of the rivers and lakes, do I have to submit a certificate of surrender first?"
It makes sense that the trend of submitting certificates of name has become popular, otherwise how can people quickly establish initial trust when they meet for the first time?
Meng Shixiong might be "killed and rebelled" if he didn't submit a certificate of surrender. At this moment, he had no choice but to say happily:
"I also ask the senior official to give you orders. As long as I don't harm my brothers and cousins, I will try my best to do it."
Lin Tailai nodded and said with approval: "Okay, it's great if you have this attitude!"
While he was talking, he saw that the large ship "Godly Water" was already docked at the riverside pier.
Then I saw the capital of the king, Yuan Hongdao, two gentlemen who were traveling incognito. Under the protection of about a dozen government servants, they disembarked from the boat with dark faces.
It's a shame that the two gentlemen were in a good mood. They were happily going out, but they were inexplicably surrounded by a group of bad guys. It wouldn't be good for anyone else!
Official Lin secretly screamed, someone more difficult to serve is coming! He had to leave Meng Shixiong behind and go to meet the two masters.
No matter what the reason was, Lin Daguan first admitted his mistake when he went up: "The river is not smooth and it frightened the two gentlemen. It is all my fault as the customs official!"
Wang Zhidu shouted unhappily: "You little Fengxian, are you deliberately planning to use Master Yuan and me as bait to lure the snake out of its hole?"
Official Lin immediately called Tian Qu: "I still have a lot of reliance on these two gentlemen, so how could I deliberately put them in danger?
Besides, if I want to destroy Hu'antang, it's like plowing a hole in a garden, and I don't need any extra strategies at all!
Unexpectedly, the prince misunderstood me so much. It is snowing in July. It is such a huge injustice that I wish I could throw myself into the river to prove my innocence!"
Wang Zhidu frowned and said, "That seems to be a coincidence?"
Lin Tailai quickly added: "Everything is really a coincidence! Who would have thought that someone would attack the Divine Power Liesui as me!"
The secret meaning of Lin Daguanren's words is that the Shenwei Lieshui was borrowed by King Capital on a temporary basis today, and it was not forced upon you by me.
If you still say that I deliberately designed you, it is simply a slap in the face.
Wang Zhidu had nothing to say, and Yuan Hongdao also advised: "It's just an occasional misunderstanding, don't ruin the fun of the tour!
Yesterday, the county government received a report that the governor will return to Suzhou City in three days, so I don't have much time to travel."
Lin Daguan was very surprised and said glibly: "Why didn't I know that the governor returned to Suzhou City? No one informed me?"
Yuan Hongdao: "."
Dare I ask you what rank Lin Tailai is? What is the relationship between the border official and the customs clerk when he returns to Suzhou? Why do you need to inform you of this mere military officer? Do you think a crime solver can be on the stage?
Lin Tailai quickly added: "I'm just surprised that the governor returned to Suzhou a little earlier than usual.
In previous years, I would go back to Suzhou in August or September before the autumn harvest, but I didn’t expect to come back in July this year.”
Yuan Hongdao said disapprovingly: "You think too much, it wouldn't be too strange to do it a month or two earlier!"
Official Lin also stopped talking. A great writer is so insensitive to the trends in the officialdom. No wonder his career is not going well!
Zuo Dharma Protector Zhang Wen, who had returned from cleaning the entrance of Hu'an Hall, was thoughtful when he saw this scene.
Zhang Wu, the right protector, asked in a low voice: "Tell me, the two masters were besieged. Was it designed by us sitting in the pavilion?"
Zhang Wen scolded in a very stern voice: "Shut up! If you want to live, don't talk about this!"
Zhang Wu was just standing there bored and asked casually, but when he saw his brother's attitude, he immediately got excited.
I couldn't help but think about it carefully, and the more I thought about it, the more doubts I found.
Knowing that his opponent Xi's family was on a boat on the other side, Lin Zuiguan did not rush over to kill them as he did most of the time. Instead, he used one move to capture the thief first.
When deploying troops in Mudu Town and preparing to attack Huantang in Xukou Town, Lin Ziguan, although clamoring for a surprise attack, did not pay much attention to confidentiality.
Before setting off, Lin Zaiguan had to inspect the team at the pier, waiting for the Divine Fiery Water to leave first, and then took the team aboard.
Is it a coincidence or a deliberate arrangement? Probably only Lin Zuiguan knows the truth in his heart.
Although Zhang Wu is not as smart as his brother, he is not stupid enough to ask Lin Zuoguan what the truth is. He can just keep some ideas in his heart.
Finally, Lin Tailai said sadly to Wang Zhidu and Yuan Hongdao: "No one wants this to happen.
The consequences are serious and the lessons are profound. I will seriously review it, pay close attention to its implementation, and immediately launch a 100-day special operation to clean up the river."
These words made the boss Wang Zhidu feel confused and waved his hand: "Since it is a misunderstanding, there is no need to mention it again!"
Lin Tailai replied: "This incident has sounded a wake-up call for me. In the future, if the alarm bell keeps ringing, it will inevitably be mentioned again and again. Today is considered as informing the two gentlemen in advance."
The gentlemen who were not in danger continued to travel around the mountains and rivers, but Lin Daguan, who had to shoulder many things, was still busy working hard.
Uncle Song, who had recently gained more experience in "receiving", was called over again and temporarily stationed in Xukou Town.
Official Lin then returned to Mudu Port. After sitting there for a day without any major incident, he returned to Suzhou City to see Mr. Shen.
"The government does not agree with the construction of the new city gate." Mr. Shen said a little angrily.
Lin Daguan sighed: "Now I really doubt your ability as a prime minister.
You can’t even handle such a good project that benefits the city and the people, and brings both fame and fortune?”
A national-level second-generation person can't even run a municipal-level engineering project, so his fighting ability is quite bad.
Regarding his dignity as the second generation of the country, Mr. Shen absolutely refused to take the blame and said angrily:
"How can the responsibility be all mine? It's all your fault! The city gate project was originally expected to be approved, but you proposed using Wu County's agricultural warehouse, so the government opposed it!"
Lin Tailai retorted: "A project like building a new city gate is not as simple as building a number one archway for your home!
Not only do we need to open the Land Gate and Water Gate, we also need to add a barbican outside, and we also need to build a new bridge on the moat!
Therefore, the entire project is huge. If there is no need to reserve funds in the farm warehouse, where will the funds be enough?
Without subsidies from the farmhouse, how much money can be donated even if we rely on persuading donations?"
Second Master Shen said with habitual anger: "Then what do you think we should do!"
Lin Tailai replied: "Of course we will continue to put pressure on the government."
Second Master Shen couldn't help but laugh and said: "You sent a few victims to kneel at the gate of the government office to beg for opening a warehouse, but it didn't seem to be of much use.
What I saw with my own eyes was that the government officials were blown away, and then there was nothing more."
Lin Tailai thought for a while and said: "Then continue to upgrade and increase pressure!
I heard that the governor will arrive in Suzhou soon, so we can gather more victims and wait in Fengqiao Town!"
The etiquette of greetings and farewells in official circles is very particular. Fengqiao Town is ten miles away from Suzhou City, which is exactly in line with the etiquette of welcoming people ten miles out of the city.
And even better is that Fengqiao Town is located at the junction of Wu County and Changzhou County, which is more convenient for officials from the two counties to appear together.
Therefore, when a big boss comes to Suzhou City, the first entry greeting ceremony is usually outside Fengqiao.
The locals all know that if you want to block the road and complain, you can go to Fengqiao to block the boss.
Mr. Shen Erye was relatively clear about the rules of officialdom and immediately expressed his disapproval.
"It's useless if you ask the victims to go before the governor. Don't you understand the words "officials protect each other?"
Under normal circumstances, the governor would definitely not blame the government for a few disaster victims."
Lin Daguan sighed: "Second Master, you'd better go for the project, other things are not suitable for you.
The purpose of letting the disaster victims make a fuss is not to force the government officials or governors to submit. How could these officials directly submit to the people?
As long as there are so many people making trouble, it is enough. The purpose is just to create momentum. Only with these momentum can we use the momentum to exert force.
For example, Magistrate Yuan of Changzhou County could take advantage of the situation and forcefully take over the county's agricultural warehouse, or use his connections to exert pressure. Wouldn't that give him a reason?
Even Mr. Shen, don’t you have an excuse to write to your father to complain? If you don’t create momentum, even if your father wants to help, what reason can you use to put pressure on me?”
Mr. Shen waved his hand, "Okay, okay! I'm not here to listen to your preaching!"
Lin Tailai sighed again and said: "And I always feel that this governor's visit is abnormal.
So it’s a good idea to find a few disaster victims to test it out and see if there’s anything fishy about it.”
Second Master Shen was stunned. You, Mr. Lin, take yourself too seriously, right?
What does it have to do with you, a petty official who is also a military officer, to be a normal and abnormal official in a feudal territory?
However, Mr. Shen still asked: "Is there anything abnormal?"
Today there are more than twenty permanent governors, which can be roughly divided into two categories: inland governors and border town governors.
There are a few special ones among them, and Governor Yingtian is one of them.
Governor Yingtian is also known as Governor Jiangnan, also known as Governor Su Song. He is special not only because of the special place of South Zhili, but also because of his special attributes.
Generally, the governor's official assignment is "to patrol a certain place and to supervise military affairs", which starts with "governor".
The title "Governor Yingtian" is "Prime Minister of Grain Reserves, Supervisor of Military Affairs and Governor of Yingtian and other Mansion", which starts with "Prime Minister of Grain Reserves", and the format is completely different.
This shows that the main job of the governor Yingtian is to supervise the money and grain of Jiangnan, but the governor of Jiangnan is only a part-time job.
Again, Jiangnan's money and grain were too important to the imperial court. This was the lifeblood of the imperial court, so it was worth setting up officials for this purpose.
If you think about it, you will know that half of the four million stone grain that was related to the imperial court's food issue came from Jiangnan, and one-sixth came from Suzhou Prefecture.
Further subdivided, about one-fiftieth came from Wu County, and one-hundred-fifty came from the territory of Xinwu Lian, a member of Lin Daguan's family (after the Mudu Town Alliance).
If Lin Daguan expands his business in Cheung Chau County next door, it won't be a big problem to achieve the "one percent grain harvest" achievement.
All in all, in order to better collect money and grain from Suzhou, Governor Yingtian's residence has been unstable in recent years, and he often moves between Nanjing and Suzhou.
Generally before the autumn harvest, Governor Yingtian would station in Suzhou and personally supervise the harvesting of grain in the south of the Yangtze River, and then stay there until the grain was shipped in the spring of the next year.
Finally, Lin Tailai concluded to Mr. Shen: "So if we follow the usual practice, we should come back in August or September. It's only July now, so of course it's not normal."
After separating from Lin Tailai, Shen Yongjia returned to his house, only to find Fan Yunlin, the Xu family's son-in-law, waiting for him.
Shen Yongjia and Fan Yunlin are "relatives" of similar age. Shen Yongjia needs help to support the family at a young age, so they had a lot of contacts in the past.
Otherwise, when Lin Tailai blocked Shen's Yizhuang, Fan Yunlin smashed Lin Tailai's entrance.
But since Shen Yongjia and Lin Tailai got closer, Fan Yunlin and Shen Yongjia had less contact.
So today Fan Yunlin suddenly arrived without saying hello, which surprised Shen Yongjia.
Fan Yunlin said straight to the point: "I came here today just to remind you that someone is going to deal with Lin Tailai."
Shen Yongjia smiled and said: "Is this worth saying? When will no one want to deal with Lin Tailai?"
Fan Yunlin did not laugh, but said seriously: "But according to my analysis, Lin Tailai is 80% doomed this time."
Shen Yongjia also frowned and asked, "Are you involved?"
Fan Yunlin did not answer directly, "I would also like to remind you that it is best to cut off with Lin Tailai as soon as possible.
As for the things Lin Tai did, it would be a serious crime if someone exposes old scores.
And you and Lin Tailai have a close relationship, so I'm afraid you will get involved. After all, others think you are Lin Tailai's backer.
Although that little thing can't possibly do anything to you, Mr. Zaifu, but after being stained, how do you know that someone with ulterior motives will not use it to criticize your father?"
Fan Yunlin stopped at the point and fulfilled his "relative" obligation to remind him so far without revealing too much.
Shen Yongjia sent Fan Yunlin away and fell into deep thought.
Fan Yunlin didn't make it clear who wanted to deal with Lin Tailai, so he could only make wild guesses.
Moreover, it is not certain whether it has anything to do with the upcoming governor.
When nothing was certain, even if he wanted to tip off Lin Tailai, it would be difficult to do so.
So Shen Yongjia was thinking about going to attend the ceremony to welcome the governor. After the governor arrived, we would see what the situation was like.
If there is any sign, just say hello to Lin Tailai and ask him to run away quickly, so as not to implicate Wei Guangzheng himself!
Wei Lin, the current governor of Yingtian, who is remembered by many people in Suzhou City, is fifty-nine and a half years old this year, half a year shy of sixty. This age is very important.
According to the Ming Dynasty system, officials can take the initiative to "beg for their bones" and retire when they reach the age of sixty.
Of course, if you don’t want to retire, you can continue working. It’s entirely voluntary to stay or leave. The system does not force you to retire at an old age.
However, Governor Wei had no intention of continuing his official career. He was not in good health and his relationships with senior officials were not strong enough.
To be able to become the third-grade governor of Yingtian is already at the top of the seniority ladder, and there is absolutely no hope of further advancement.
So after half a year, when he reaches sixty, he retires to his hometown to live out his old life.
After working hard for the Ming Dynasty all your life, it’s not an exaggeration to make some extra money for retirement in the last six months, right?
