Chapter eight hundred and sixty seventh new officer takes office
All officials in the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian knew that Qin Zhongtang's march south was not just about quelling the Japanese rebellion, but also a reaction by the imperial court to the out-of-control chaos on the southeastern coast in recent years.
The imperial court is not blind, how could it not be blind to the widespread smuggling situation.
Due to Qin Zhongtang's status and the huge authority he received, people in the officialdom could basically tell that Qin Zhongtang was different from other governors.
When other governors leave the town, they basically come with the court's decision and act in accordance with the court's policy. But Qin Zhongtang is not like that, he himself is the decision-maker.
So everyone had been guessing which way Qin Zhongtang's attitude was.
Probably Qin Zhongtang also understood everyone's urgency, so he made a public statement before getting off the ship.
Regardless of whether it is in line with everyone's wishes or not, this is at least an open and honest way to let officials know which way the wind is blowing.
Whether it is banning the sea or opening the sea, it is all decided by the bosses above. For most officials, all they can do is adjust their own policies according to the decisions above.
In addition, everyone has a premonition that there will be trouble in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces in the past two years.
Seeing that Qin Zhongtang is young and vigorous, the measures to ban the sea must be harsh, and then the coastal counties of the two provinces will inevitably be turbulent, and civil unrest may even occur.
Among the officials who came to greet Qin Zhongtang, the one with the highest status was Ren Zhong, the envoy to the left of Zhejiang Province.
When Qin Zhongtang abandoned the boat and landed ashore, Lord Ren quickly took a few steps forward. Then he greeted Qin Zhongtang on behalf of other officials and said a few words of courtesy.
At the same time, it is also indispensable to say "hold a public banquet to cleanse the Qin Zhongtang", which is a prescribed routine for welcoming and sending off.
However, Qin Zhongtang refused to accept the request today, waving his hands and saying: "I shoulder the king's mandate and dare not be negligent. I am a newbie here, so I should first familiarize myself with the customs of the territory.
There is no need to have a banquet today. After ten days, when we have gained a little bit, we can entertain you all again!"
The official level is overwhelming, and Qin Zhongtang is the biggest here. Of course, Qin Zhongtang has the final say on how to arrange it.
All the officials thought in their hearts that this Lord of the Central Hall was indeed as good as the rumors, he really had a personality.
The normal routine should be to first get to know people through social interactions, make preliminary contacts, and make judgments about who is the enemy and who is the friend, who is easy to bully and who is not to be messed with, and then the new official takes office and starts to stir up troubles.
But this Master of the Central Hall had to "be silent" for ten days before he started to contact people, which was indeed quite unusual.
Just when everyone was thinking about it, they suddenly heard Qin Zhongtang's order: "In these ten days, all government agencies will complete what they are currently doing, what they plan to do in the second half of the year, and the planned completion time.
All progress is listed in detail and reported to me."
Isn't this the way to pass the exam? Mr. Ren, the governor of Zuo, couldn't help but muttered in his heart.
Most officials have heard that when Qin Zhongtang was in the capital, he vigorously promoted the examination method, which made the officials of the six departments miserable.
However, because Qin Zhongtang deliberately restrained himself, the examination method was not implemented locally this year.
Unexpectedly, Qin Zhongtang personally went out to Zhejiang and Fujian and actually brought the Kao Chengfa with him.
There is really no one here who can compete with Qin Zhongtang head-on, so no matter what Qin Zhongtang orders, the response he receives is "good".
Some people began to wonder, maybe this is Qin Zhongtang's first spark after taking office?
After that, Qin Zhongtang got into the sedan chair and entered the city through Wulin Gate in a mighty manner, surrounded by his own soldiers. The officials followed behind to escort him.
Qin Zhongtang's nature was to want to enter the city in a low profile without disturbing the people or disturbing the ground. However, due to his status and status here, he decided that he could not enter the city in a low profile.
Needless to say, the Qingluo umbrella cover on the top of the head is a standard feature for local officials, and there is also a high-legged sign in front of the ceremonial guard.
If it were in the capital, it would be impossible for officials to put on such a show.
In terms of pomp and prestige, Beijing officials are generally considered to be far inferior to local officials.
As a rule, the owner's most proud history and current status will be written on the stem tag.
The first pair of cards, "Silence" and "Avoidance," are commonplace and not new at all, but the other cards are a bit exaggerated.
"Wenkui" and "Zhuangyuan" are a pair, "Doctor Tejin Guanglu" and "Dongge University Scholar" are a pair, "Yudu Yushi" and "Minister of the Ministry of War" are a pair, "Governor of Liangzhe" is a pair.
It is a pair with "Admiral Military Affairs".
There are a total of five pairs of ten high-legged cards, held proudly in front of them. This is probably the most luxurious card in the world, and it is all arranged by the subordinate officer Chen Feng who is standing in front of the card.
If Chen Feng hadn't known that Qin Dewei liked to keep a low profile, he could have added five more pairs of these high-legged cards, such as "special access to Donghua Gate", "Fengzhou Bo", "Jing Kui" and so on.
The entire city of Hangzhou is roughly long from north to south and narrow from east to west. The northeast belongs to Renhe County, the southwest belongs to Qiantang County, and to the west is the famous West Lake outside the city.
The shogunate station arranged by Chen Feng is next to Tongjiang Bridge. It doesn't matter whether the transportation is convenient or whether it is far from other government offices. Qin Zhongtang will not be inconvenient anyway.
There are many names for the governor's office. The more standard official name is the procuratorate. After all, all governors have the official title of the procuratorate. In private, they are called Xingtai, Xingyuan, and so on.
.
However, the governor Qin Zhongtang was so special that the traditional name for the government office was inappropriate, so others thought about it and simply called it shogunate verbally.
After entering the shogunate, Mrs. Li was asked to take the servants to settle down and stay. In the living area, Qin Dewei and Chen Feng came to the side hall to talk.
Chen Feng reported the arrangements and said to Qin Dewei: "I went to Ningbo and made a preliminary inspection of the place, but I didn't have time to arrange the government office there. Are you sure you want to go to Ningbo in the future?"
Qin Dewei nodded and said: "If you want to deal with maritime affairs, you must go to Ningbo. The warm wind makes tourists drunk, so what can you do in Hangzhou? So there must be a government office in Ningbo."
Chen Feng took the initiative and said: "After everything is settled here, I will go to Yigui to have a look."
Qin Zhongtang was not very particular about things like government offices, and then asked Chen Feng: "You have been here for a while, and you should have collected different information. What is the current situation of the Japanese pirates?"
Chen Feng replied: "After summarizing the recent situation, the nine Japanese ships pretending to be tribute envoys did not dock at Ningbo, perhaps because the government and army were tightly guarded.
Then they went south to attack Tai, Wen, Zhang, and Quan, causing many losses to the army and civilians, so all the garrison posts just defended their homeland.
This group of Japanese pirates, plus the other people they kidnapped, were divided into several groups, with a total number of roughly two to three thousand, which is really a lot."
Qin Dewei casually analyzed: "It is estimated that the forces on Shuangyu Island prevent Japanese pirates from looting in Ningbo, so as not to hinder the operation of Shuangyu Island. After all, Shuangyu Island is close to the sea outside Ningbo, and they will also be affected if there is chaos on the coast.
"
"Can these Japanese pirates listen to Shuangyu Island?" Chen Feng asked in surprise.
Qin Dewei explained: "Japanese pirates are also human beings, and they have to sell the stolen goods after they robbed them, so they asked for help from Shuangyu Island!"
Then he sighed: "This year, the imperial court was caught off guard against the lax defenses of the coastal guard stations, which allowed these Japanese pirates to taste the sweetness and see the reality of each guard station!
I'm afraid that next year, the number of real and fake Japanese pirates will increase several times, and it will be too troublesome at that time! So we are pressed for time and the task is heavy!"
Chen Feng was just a subordinate officer responsible for enforcement and did not have many independent ideas, but he still couldn't help but wonder: "Then why did you openly declare a sea ban? The more stringent the sea ban, the greater the number of pirates. You still don't think so next year?"
Not troublesome enough?"
"I have calculated in my mind that I will just follow the usual policy inertia first, so as not to make drastic changes later and cause the local tycoons to become wary.
There is a very metaphysical "paradox" here. The big coastal households are secretly engaged in smuggling trade, but they hope to continue to maintain the sea ban, but at the same time they also hope that the sea ban will not be too strict."
Chen Feng also said with emotion: "Before you came to Zhejiang, I stayed in Ningbo for two days.
It's hard to believe without seeing it with your own eyes. Almost every household on the beach is involved in smuggling to a greater or lesser extent.
I advise you to go and see it with your own eyes. Only after reading it can you understand that sitting in the shogunate and issuing orders will not allow you to experience the true feelings.
condition."
Qin Dewei nodded in agreement and said, "The situation is too complicated. You really should see it with your own eyes."
Chen Feng thought of something and reported again: "By the way, aren't you looking for a Fujian military attaché named Yu Dayou?
He heard that you were looking for him, so he came to Hangzhou early to wait, and he has been meeting with the shogunate in the past few days."
Qin Dewei was very surprised, why is this historical celebrity so unreserved? Just because he called me, he ran from Fujian to Hangzhou in advance? Is his personality so charming?"
"Isn't he a guard at Qianhu and Kinmen? How dare you escape without permission?" Qin Zhongtang will never deliberately show favoritism just because he is a historical celebrity.
He himself is probably the most famous "historical celebrity" of this era.
Chen Feng smiled bitterly and said, "You don't know something. This Yu Dayou was born in a hundred households. After passing the martial arts examination, he was promoted to a thousand households and served as the guard of Jinmen.
In the past two years, he wrote a letter to express his opinions, which angered the inspector and was directly removed from his post. So now he is a small household with nothing to do and no actual assignments.
Qin Dewei was speechless. No wonder Yu Dayou heard his call and immediately ran over in advance. I bet he was a fool now.
In the original historical time and space, Mao Bowen was a nobleman who appreciated Yu Dayou. After Mao Bowen became Minister of the Ministry of War, he reactivated Yu Dayou.
But in this time and space, because of the exclusion from a certain high school, Mao Bowen has been serving as the Minister of Punishment.
Qin Dewei thought about it and ordered: "Bring him here! Mao Bowen
At this time, Yu Dayou had no choice. He waited in the shogunate gatehouse every day, looking forward to the stars and the moon, so he arrived very quickly.
Before Qin Zhongtang could taste the Longjing tea, he saw a burly man striding in under the guidance of Chen Feng.
At this time, Yu Dayou was very excited. He was full of strategies and liked to write letters and give opinions on matters. As a result, he lost his official position a few years ago.
After that, I submitted letters many times, but the result was that it still hit a wall at every turn, and it has not been able to be reactivated to this day.
Unexpectedly, there is no way out of the mountains and rivers, and there is a bright future in another village. Qin Zhongtang, a top boss who has never met him before, actually named himself!
Qin Zhongtang looked at it for a few times and said inexplicably: "It's okay, okay, you are in your prime, not a teenager."
Yu Dayou couldn't understand this sentence, but he guessed in his heart that Qin Zhongtang must have seen his petition somewhere and appreciated his talent and strategy, so he was ready to use him!
Now that the Japanese war is back and getting worse, it’s time for good men to make contributions!
After Yu Dayou finished the ceremony, he took out the folder from his arms, presented it to Qin Zhongtang and said: "These are the eight strategies for pacifying the Japanese that I have painstakingly conceived, and I boldly present them to the Zhongtang!"
Qin Zhongtang took it casually, but without looking at it, he said again: "I'll keep it first, but I didn't ask you to give me advice. I just wanted to use you."
Yu Dayou saw that Qin Zhongtang was not interested in his suggestions. Although he was a little disappointed, he immediately expressed his position and said: "You can go anywhere from Ningbo to Taizhou to Zhangzhou to Quanzhou. Qin Zhongtang can use it!"
Qin Zhongtang put down the tea cup and said casually: "I plan to appoint you as the camp commander."
Yu Dayou was overjoyed to be able to command the camp. This official position meant he was directly in charge of the troops, and his status was not low!
Then I heard Qin Zhongtang add: "Then you go to Guangdong!"
Yu Dayou was confused immediately and thought he heard wrongly.
He had a strong desire to go into battle and kill the enemy immediately, so why did he send himself to Guangdong in one fell swoop? Is Qin Zhongtang reliable? Isn't going to Guangdong equivalent to exile?
Qin Dewei added: "Two thousand native soldiers have been recruited from various chieftains in Guangxi. You can be responsible for receiving them when you go to Guangdong and complete the training before the end of the year!"
Yu Dayou: "..."
What the hell are native soldiers? Can they fight? What on earth is Qin Zhongtang thinking? Let himself go to Guangdong to train native soldiers?
"Are you going?" Qin Zhongtang asked without doubt.
Yu Dayou came back to his senses and said repeatedly: "I
Go, I’ll go!”
It’s impossible not to go now, there is no other way out.
Let the local soldiers be local soldiers. Anyway, it was Qin Zhongtang's order.
Qin Dewei continued, "The second thing is my private matter. After you arrive in Guangdong, wait for Daotai named Qi to take office, and then assist him in building a large sailing ship that can fight!"
When Yu Dayou was thinking deeply about Qin Zhongtang's intentions, he heard Qin Zhongtang say: "Remember to keep these two matters secret, and don't let any news leak out in Zhejiang and Fujian!"
After Yu Dayou thought about it for a while, he understood that he was building warships and training troops in Guangdong, far away from Zhejiang, so that he could be used as a surprise soldier in the future. He nodded and clasped his fists and said, "I understand!"
At least it can prove that Qin Zhongtang had a plan in mind, either he did it on a whim, or he didn't know whether the Guangxi native soldiers could do it.
After seeing off Yu Dayou, Chen Feng continued to talk to Qin Dewei and advised: "You are really tired from the journey, you might as well take a day or two to relax.
For example, let’s go see the scenic beauty of West Lake.”
Qin Dewei couldn't help but think of the experience of visiting the West Lake during the Golden Week five hundred years later, and subconsciously said: "Forget it, there are too many people."
Chen Feng suggested: "If you want to be quiet, then clear the place and just drive away the other tourists. Do you think you are a fake governor?"
Is it so satisfying to be the ruling class? Qin Dewei waved his hand.
"The king is on his side and the Japanese pirates have not been exterminated, so there is no need to deliberately visit the West Lake, but you should go to the Yuewang Temple to worship."
Chen Feng couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You, a man named Qin, are going to pay homage to Yue Fei?"
"What? No? No? What do you know? Superficial!" Qin Zhongtang said disdainfully.
"People since the Song Dynasty were ashamed to be named Hui, and I would be ashamed to be named Qin when I go to the grave." These two sentences are still being circulated five hundred years later.
My surname is Qin myself, how can this bitch not pretend?
And you can't go there in an official capacity with great fanfare. You should visit secretly and privately, and then leave these two sentences behind, so that the story will be interesting enough.