"Which route will the newly arrived officials take? I'll send someone to pick them up!" He Feng asked after becoming suspicious.
Cai Yan found one from a pile of documents: "There is the route they took."
He Feng took it and looked at it, then compared it with the northern map in his mind and calculated the route taken by these people.
"Haha, according to this route, you should be faster than me... Even if some people are acclimatized, wouldn't everyone be able to walk on the road?"
He Feng became more and more suspicious that these people were deliberately delaying and did not want to come to Suzhou.
To be honest, no one wants to come to Suzhou, but if you take charge of something like this, you should be on duty. This kind of behavior is dereliction of duty.
"General He, these are civil servants and cannot compare with your physique." Cai Yan defended himself a little.
"Our Suzhou Battalion has almost been rebuilt, but they haven't taken up their duties yet. What if the Young Master needs our support and there is no one in Suzhou to take charge?" He Feng thought very far.
Because when he submitted the letter to Fang Jue, he had already asked for orders to take Suzhou Camp to the rear of the rebel army and also train troops on the way.
He believed that His Majesty would agree, and since he was not going to the front line, he could still make a profit from this small contribution.
Since the Suzhou Battalion will be training troops soon, who is in charge of Suzhou's internal affairs?
Without the military camp to suppress them, the refugees have nothing to do. As time goes by, they will naturally cause trouble, and if they are not careful, it will lead to another chaos.
But those civil servants didn't care about this at all and still delayed it in the middle.
"Master Cai, where did they go when they wrote last time?" He Feng asked.
Cai Yan looked for the coupon and handed it to He Feng.
"Are you arriving in Ganzhou five days ago?"
"Don't say they came by carriage, even if they came on foot, they should have arrived in Suzhou in five days, right?"
It took more than ten days to transport disaster relief food from Ganzhou to Suzhou. That was because the baggage was too heavy.
With a light car and a simple journey, we should reach Suzhou in two days at most, but they haven't appeared in Suzhou yet!
This is not intentional neglect, who believes it?
"Master Cai, they are so slack, why did you write a report and go back to Beijing to impeach them?" He Feng asked.
Cai Yan nodded: "I wrote it, but I didn't impeach them. After all, I don't know if they are in danger. Let's wait until the people arrive to question the charges."
He is a patrol censor who can only report and has no authority to supervise those officials unless they are involved in corruption, rebellion or other criminal activities.
But it was just laziness and dereliction of duty. This matter was not handled by the inspection censor. He could only report it and wait for the handling regulations of the Ministry of Personnel.
“The people of Suzhou can’t wait!”
While the two were discussing, a newly recruited police officer from the state came to report.
"Master Cai, Master He, there is a letter from Ganzhou..."
"What did you say?"
The police officer said: "The imperial envoy in Ganzhou, Lord Qin Shiyi Qin, has asked the officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs who are providing disaster relief in Suzhou to temporarily take charge of Suzhou's government affairs until the imperial court sends new officials to take over."
"Huh?" Both of them were confused.
"Haven't the people from the imperial court already arrived in Ganzhou?" He Feng and Cai Yan were both surprised.
The detective hesitated and said: "They arrived in Ganzhou three days ago, but the day before yesterday..."
…
Two days ago.
The officials who were transferred to Suzhou went to Ganzhou together.
Along the way, all the eleven officials traveling with us became "sick".
As a result, it would take them three to five days for ordinary people to travel for one day.
When they arrived in Suzhou, this group of people was completely "crippled" and could not walk at all.
The escorting officers and soldiers naturally did not dare to rush these big men, so they had no choice but to follow them and stay at Ganzhou Station.
There are two types of inns. One is the official inn used by court officials when they go out or pass by; the other is the military inn where only generals and soldiers can stay.
The group stayed at Ganzhou Guanyi, where they stayed for two or three days.
"Master Zhang, Suzhou is right in front of us, how about a plan?"
Ganzhou and Suzhou are only two or three days away. If there is no other way, it will really be over when we get to Suzhou.
In the upper room of the official post, Zhang Daoli looked calm: "Everyone, please take care of yourself as you have come. How can you be selective in the official positions assigned by the imperial court?"
Along the way, Zhang Li was very clear about the virtues of these people.
Today one is lame, tomorrow the other has a cold, and two of them accidentally fall off the carriage... Anyway, this journey will not stop.
Zhang Lidu naturally knew what these people wanted to do. They just didn't want to go to Suzhou.
Suzhou is too bitter and cold, just like the border. People who are used to being in warm places naturally don't want to go to such a place to suffer.
But this time, they were appointed by His Majesty's order, named by the officials, and selected through procedures.
In other words, there is no turning around and Suzhou must go.
In fact, Zhang Lili didn't want to go to Suzhou, but he didn't dare to disobey orders, and he didn't bother to make any small moves that were degrading to politeness. However, he didn't expose the people's tricks.
There were more than eleven officials who came along the way, and one of them tried to avoid being dispatched by contracting lung disease on the way.
His goal was achieved, and people entered the cemetery.
Fortunately, I arranged for his funeral and bought everyone a day so they could stay reasonably.
From then on, although others wanted to follow suit, they did not dare to do so.
After all, no matter how bitter the cold is in Suzhou, it is still better than death.
Thinking of this, Zhang Lili shook his head and looked at the others with a little sigh: "Everyone, we have arrived in Ganzhou. It's better not to be coy and accept the reality."
"Master Zhang!" The others all smiled bitterly.
"That's Suzhou. A county magistrate froze to death in Suzhou the year before last. Don't you know about this?" said one person.
They had heard the most horrific versions of the rumors about the border fortresses, where only those who had committed near-death crimes would be exiled.
The stereotypes of poor mountains and harsh waters, and freezing conditions are deeply engraved in the minds of these officials who have only read books and have never seen the world.
They are extremely reluctant, but they absolutely dare not disobey orders. Being an official is not easy, and it would not be worth it if they were dismissed because of this.
Therefore, they tried every possible means to come up with a way to avoid going to Suzhou without losing their iron rice bowl.
But come to think of it, the only way is to report illness.
The imperial court is not unkind. As long as you are seriously ill, you can take a temporary leave of absence and wait until the next time there is a vacancy before continuing to dispatch.
So, a colleague tried this trick and then passed away.
In this era, lung disease is not much different from terminal illness.
"Master Zhang, I really can't walk anymore. Look at my legs..."
One person lifted up his pants to reveal his swollen instep.
Everyone was stunned.
"Master Feng, what are you doing?"
"Is it frozen like this?"
"Lord Feng, after all this effort, are you not afraid that your legs will become useless?"
Some people were in awe, and Zhang Lili felt that Feng Bin was seeking death.
He was so generous. In order not to go to Suzhou, Feng Bin didn't know when he started to take off his shoes. His feet were frostbitten after being bare for a long time in this winter.
Coupled with the trauma on the ground, it caused inflammation and swelling, and pustules appeared.
In this case, there is certainly enough reason to recuperate here.
But in Suzhou, if the new officials could not take up their duties until he could recover from his injuries, the court would send other officials to fill the vacancies.
By then, Feng Bin will stay in Ganzhou to recuperate, and when he recovers, he will be transferred back to wait for vacancies elsewhere.
Of course, the next Carrot Pit may be more bitter and cold than Suzhou, but it may also be warmer than Jinling.
Feng Bin was gambling. He didn't want to go to Suzhou anyway.
"Master Feng has such good tricks..." Someone's eyes lit up, and they immediately felt that they could imitate him.
Feng Bin reminded: "My shoes are broken, that's why I am like this, don't you guys have broken shoes too?"
"That's true..."
"Yes, yes, it can't be the same, otherwise it will be too obvious."
When it comes to cheating, everyone has a good brain.
Zhang Lili shook his head: "Since you all want to stay in Ganzhou to recuperate, I have no objection, so I will take the first step."
Zhang Lili disliked Suzhou very much, but he had no choice but to leave.
"Master Zhang, stay..."
"If you leave like this, where will you leave me?"
"Master Zhang, don't you want to go too? Why don't you stay in Ganzhou and let us all advance and retreat together?"
What's more, he directly smiled and said: "Master Zhang, there is no need to be aloof. You have followed us to recuperate all the way. Didn't you take the first step, but now you want to stop being with us?"
"hehe."
Faced with everyone's ridicule, Zhang Lili's face turned red. He just didn't want to pretend to be sick, so he took advantage of everyone's recovery... After careful calculation, he was also an accomplice.
"Qin Shiyi is in Ganzhou, please make up your own mind." Zhang Lili reminded him intentionally or unintentionally.