In the next two or three days, Nanjing Hu Shilang, regardless of his fifty-year-old age, ran around in many directions. Whether it was the general judge of the government office, the censor of the capital procuratorate, or other related departments that might be involved, they all
I've seen it in person.
Once you are sure that you have secured your position, this is called tightening the fence to consolidate your position, and then you want to see what the people on the other side do.
Based on his rich experience in officialdom, Hu Shilang judged that Qin Dewei, the magistrate of Feng County, would probably have three options in the future:
The first is to incite local people to be xenophobic, create oppositional sentiments, and then control public opinion; the second is to appeal to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then find ways to take advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble and create problems; the third is to find high-level officials to rescue the situation or negotiate peace.
Hu Shilang's idea is to wait for the opponent to show his strength first, and then counterattack in a targeted manner. After all, his own side has more abundant resources to mobilize and has the capital to make tricks at first sight.
Moreover, the current situation is different from the previous situation. It is the other party who is anxious to solve the problem. How long can Feng Zhixian endure the suspicion of corruption? How long can he endure it? And when we should be calm, we still have to calm down.
But what surprised Hu Shilang was that after more than ten days in a row, there was still no movement from the other side.
Feng Zhixian, the county magistrate, has not even been promoted to court, and he never goes out. He hides in the back hall and handles official duties every day.
I went to inquire about Qin Dewei's activities again, and it turned out that this person was even more cowardly! He actually moved into the Huitong Hall, pretending to write and draw every day, and never came out at all!
Then look at Qizhi County of Shangyuan County. After two days of vigorous activity, he immediately stopped and stayed behind closed doors.
So Hu Shilang was really confused. What were they trying to do? Delay time? Did they go to the capital to invite big shots and then wait to come and support them?
To be honest, when you reach the position of official of the Sixth Department of the Imperial Court, even though you are just a minister and not a minister, and you are still from Nanjing, you are basically considered to be the first echelon of bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty.
As a minister who has no ambition to make progress, even if the other party invites a minister to support him, he won't sell his face if he doesn't want to sell it, and he doesn't want to be promoted anyway.
Originally, Hu Shilang believed that the other party would be anxious first, but now he found that he could no longer bear it, so he began to think about some means of pressure to test the other party's background.
The distance from Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty to the northern capital is about two thousand miles. According to the legal speed of three hundred miles a day and night, the one-way delivery of ordinary memorials theoretically takes about seven days, but the actual situation is uncertain.
In the capital city of the Ming Dynasty, after passing through the Meridian Gate and entering the Zuoshun Gate, you will find the Wenhua Hall, with the Cabinet opposite.
According to the original intention of functional design, Wenhua Hall was the emperor’s daily office, and also had functions such as study and reception.
If you encounter an emperor who doesn't like to work, such as Emperor Chenghua, the grandfather of the current emperor Jiajing, or Emperor Wanli, the grandson of the emperor, then the function of the Wenhua Hall will basically be useless.
As for the current Holy Emperor Jiajing, at least he was still working normally during the tenth year of Jiajing. Although he had begun to practice Taoism enthusiastically, it was still in the category of hobbies.
As for the matter of the Holy One turning Taoism into his main business ten or twenty years later, it’s better not to speculate now!
Emperor Jiajing, who was still in his youth and probably didn't need medicine much, was sitting on the throne of Wenhua Palace, while another handsome Jiangxi native stood under the throne, reading a memorial in fluent and clear Henan dialect.
Note: A native of Jiangxi, he was a minister of the Ministry of Rites, in charge of the affairs of the Hanlin Academy, a consultant to the imperial government, and an old friend of Master Xia Yanxia, the magistrate of Feng County in Jiangning.
Also note: The Henan dialect of the Ming Dynasty is Zhongzhou Mandarin, also called Heluo Yayin, which is the Mandarin that Qin Dewei and Meiren learned at night.
There is no way, at this time, the whole world regards Zhongyuan as the correct pronunciation, and other Beijing Mandarin, Nanjing Mandarin, and Jianghuai Mandarin are actually self-proclaimed.
I only heard Master Xia read in a more authentic Henan dialect: "The two counties are just investigating the money industry and abusing the people with heavy interest on debts. Occasionally, the county treasury can get a tael of silver, which is beneficial to both the officials and the people."
.....
Unexpectedly, officials from the Nandu Procuratorate, Nanhu Department, and Yingtianfu Yamen all came out one after another. Taking advantage of their power, they destroyed the ethics of officials and people, blatantly protected the money industry, and bullied the county like wolves and tigers. They did not consider the dignity of officials who were close to the people at all.
meaning!
I have a low-level official position and have no way to appeal in the southern capital! I have no choice but to cry blood and beg for mercy. If Your Majesty does not make the decision for me, I will have no choice but to go home and sell sweet potatoes!"
"Pfft!" Hearing this, the emperor, who had not mastered the art of unpredictable moods and anger, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Master Xia stopped temporarily, waiting for the emperor to calm down.
The emperor may not know, but Master Xia understands very well. I don’t know who ghostwritten this memorial. The words and sentences are written like a folk poem. Was it written by the master next to Feng En?
But this time the master's idea was really good...
After the emperor finished laughing, he added: "Nandu is really talented."
Then Master Xia understood again. It seemed that this memorial was to the emperor's taste, and he also understood the reason.
Because deep down in the heart of the emperor, he just wants to see his ministers groveling and begging for mercy. At the very least, they must have a gentle and courteous attitude.
Therefore, there is actually nothing wrong with the common people's tone of pleading to Master Qingtian for his decision... and it even successfully aroused the emperor's interest.
Of course, the reason why this memorial was so solemnly presented to the emperor was not because of the special writing method, but because it was a joint memorial from two counties in the capital.
If it's just a county magistrate reporting something, it's just a daily memorial, and it's enough to follow the procedures in the bureaucracy.
But if two magistrates and magistrates from Beijing jointly sign, it is definitely the effect of one plus one being greater than two, which is quite symbolic.
There are only two counties in Nanjing, so the two magistrates can be regarded as all the magistrates of Nanjing, covering the entire territory of Nanjing. This is of course extraordinary significance.
So in a nutshell, this memorial is a joint memorial from all the magistrates and counties in Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty, complaining to the emperor about being collectively bullied by the Shangguan Yamen.
If a magistrate dares to rebel in such a disrespectful way, he may be directly reprimanded or dismissed. But if it is "all the magistrates in the capital", then even the emperor will have to think twice.
Moreover, the narrative angle of this memorial is also very interesting. To the ears of the emperor, the story is that two counties wanted to scrape some money from the private sector, but a large group of Shangguan officials joined forces to stop it - maybe they received benefits?
In other words, the money that could have been collected by the government ended up in the pockets of these Nanjing officials?
Not to mention that there was Master Xia beside him who was responsible for explaining. Even if the emperor didn't expect this, Master Xia would probably be able to remind him.
Therefore, the emperor and his ministers often view problems from different perspectives, and guessing the holy will is always the most profound knowledge.
The emperor suddenly spoke again: "The Prime Minister Wang Ting of the Southern War Department also gave a secret report a few days ago, saying that the city of Nanjing has been in peace for a long time, and the official morale and arrogance have been reduced.
What would Mr. Xia think if the royal minister was sent to rectify the situation?"
Xia Yan responded: "Your Majesty has his own judgment. But if there are more vacancies in the Southern Capital this time, I hope your Majesty will take it into consideration."
The emperor thought for a while and then ordered: "Mr. Xia, if you have any talents to recommend, please write to me and tell the officials to put them in the southern capital for later use."
Although Nanjing in the Ming Dynasty is remembered by everyone as a place for leisure and retirement, Nanjing is also a capital city after all, and its political significance is also not small. Moreover, transfers between the two capitals are frequent, so going to Nanjing does not necessarily mean being demoted.
If you think about it, you will understand. If there is a vacancy for a minister in a certain department in Beijing, is it easier to transfer a minister from Nanjing or choose one from local officials from other places?
In other words, if someone wants to be promoted, but there is no vacancy in Beijing, he can first be transferred to Nanjing to solve the rank problem, and then transferred back to Beijing when there is vacancy. This is also a routine operation.
Xia Yan's rise to fame was too fast, and the cultivation of party members has not kept up. Since the atmosphere in Nanjing needs to be rectified, some people will definitely step down to make room. Master Xia likes this kind of opportunity the most now.
The emperor, who liked to manipulate power, also wanted to support Xia Dang, so he responded to Xia Yan's suggestion and asked Xia Yan to recommend a few people to be placed in Nandu for backup.