The reception banquet was held in the lobby of the west courtyard of the mansion. After Qin Zhongtang left, he headed towards the main courtyard on the middle road.
Magistrate Shen was afraid that Qin Zhongtang would go too far, so he ran after him in small steps.
He originally thought that in the face of very strong local interest groups, it would be difficult for Qin Zhongtang to make drastic measures when he first arrived, so he chose a safer and slimmer attitude, so that he could generally avoid offending both sides.
But he didn't expect that Qin Zhongtang would directly pull the team together and start fighting, making his docile attitude look more like "uncooperative".
In the context of confrontation, if you don't cooperate, you can easily be regarded as an enemy!
Magistrate Shen saw Qin Zhongtang and Mr. Feng from the Shipping Department walking along the corridor from a distance, saying something while walking.
So Magistrate Shen quickened his pace again. If Qin Zhongtang entered the inner courtyard first, he would be separated from the outside and would have to go through a lot of troubles if he wanted to see him.
The servants in the mansion all recognized Magistrate Shen, so they didn't stop him.
Qin Dewei heard the footsteps and turned around to see Magistrate Shen, but he did not stop and continued walking.
Magistrate Shen walked over to the front and saluted. Qin Dewei lowered his face and asked coldly: "What are you chasing after?"
Magistrate Shen quickly replied: "Zhong Tang may have misunderstood Xia Guan, and I would like to explain something."
Qin Dewei scolded: "What else do you need to explain? The coastal situation is so corrupted. I have seen it with my own eyes. I really don't know what you are doing!"
The imperial court sent you to station in Ningbo, but as a result, you were unable to abide by the imperial ban, clear up chaos, and maintain peace in the sea, but you were also unable to respond flexibly and find ways to work around and benefit the country!
What's the difference between a magistrate like you who is of no use to the imperial court and Feng En of Shibo Division?"
Mr. Feng, who was standing nearby, snorted coldly, Qin Banqiao, who are you scolding with these words?
At first it sounded like he was scolding Magistrate Shen, but when he thought about it more, it seemed like he was scolding himself!
Magistrate Shen took advantage of Qin Zhongtang's breather break and tried his best to explain: "Being an official in Ningbo Prefecture is not easy to do. There are too many constraints, and there are too few available chips."
Qin Dewei continued to reprimand without giving any face at all: "When I leave the southeast of the town, my primary responsibility is along the coast.
According to general principles, when we first come to this center, we should seek the support of your local civil servants. Then based on your support, we can start to do things step by step.
But Ben Zhong Tang discovered that you civil servants are of no use at all! So much so that in order to seek support, Ben Zhong Tang actually went to the military attache of Sanhaiwei!
In other words, the new situation needs to be opened by me personally, and I can’t count on you at all!
So I really don’t know what you officials are doing in Ningbo City?
It can only be said to be mediocrity and nothing!"
Shen Kai was a dignified fourth-grade magistrate, and was respectfully called the prefect by the people. He couldn't lift his head when Qin Zhongtang sprayed him, and he didn't dare to talk back.
But he could only rack his brains and think about how to resolve Qin Zhongtang's dissatisfaction.
Suddenly I heard Feng En from the shipping department next to me say angrily: "Qin Banqiao! I have reason to suspect that you are referring to Sang and Huai!"
Qin Zhongtang: "..."
I was taking the opportunity to train Magistrate Shen, why did you, Feng En, jump out and cause trouble?
Mr. Feng, why do you love to add drama to yourself so much? Or do you feel empathy and guilt when you are living in Ningbo, doing nothing and doing nothing?
Being disturbed by Feng En like this, Qin Zhongtang couldn't control him any longer, so he waved his hand to Magistrate Shen and said, "Just stand down!"
Magistrate Shen suddenly became anxious, "All the lower officials understand what Qin Zhongtang said, but in reality there are many situations where one has no control over one's own circumstances! Not everyone has a backer like Qin Zhongtang... "
When Mr. Feng heard this, he interrupted in surprise: "Qin Banqiao also has a backer? Who is it?"
Magistrate Shen's heart skipped a beat because he made a mistake and said the wrong thing again!
I accidentally said "a backer like Qin Zhongtang" instead of "a backer like Qin Zhongtang"!
thoughts
In a sudden turn, Magistrate Shen replied to Feng En: "Of course Qin Zhongtang also has a backer, that is, he has abilities beyond ordinary people!"
Mr. Feng: "..."
Qin Dewei sighed sadly: "In this case, it is understandable that Prefect Shen did not do a good job in Ningbo Mansion.
After all, not everyone has extraordinary abilities. Whether you can accomplish something or not really depends on the person!"
Mr. Feng complained implicitly: "In addition to ability, there is also some spirit that is also indispensable."
Qin Dewei said sarcastically: "If we don't rely on spirit, how can we be like you and rely on sticks for all official duties?"
In the past two days, Feng En was repeatedly criticized by Qin Dewei as "nothing". He felt a little unhappy and couldn't help but fight back:
"You blame others every day, but I haven't seen what you have accomplished since you came here. There is not even a sign of success."
Qin Dewei replied: "Didn't we mention everything I want to do at the banquet today? The two most important ones are collecting money and banning ships."
Mr. Feng asked back: "You don't think that just by establishing a financial relationship with three commanders, it counts as getting things done, do you?
If it was really that simple, Prefect Shen would have been able to do it a long time ago! The interests of the military attachés guarding the seaside and the local wealthy families are not so easy to crack!
Even if they are forced to verbally agree to something because of your power, in practice, some of them are enacting laws to hinder your laws!"
Qin Dewei responded: "These two things are actually the same thing. Banning ships and collecting money can be combined into one!
If you ban the boats first, won’t there be a reason to charge money later? If you don’t ban the boats, there will be no reason to charge money!”
Before Master Feng could react, "Since it's banned, why do you need to charge money?"
Qin Zhongtang said sadly: "Well, what Squire Yang said is right, these large ferries are the property of the people on the seaside!
Therefore, it would be a pity if all of them were banned. It would be a waste of resources and would make the boat people unable to make a living.
Therefore, you still need to open an opening. If you still want to use a boat to go fishing, you must register with the government and dock at a designated harbor.
Only by voluntarily paying Japanese silver to the government in exchange for a limited pilot can you go to sea."
Only then did Mr. Feng realize that fishing in the sea is still smuggling.
After the ship owners paid the money and received the ship's pilot, they could "legally" smuggle with the tacit approval of the government?
Qin Dewei continued: "You also know that seaside ports and harbors are all on the ground under the jurisdiction of the guard station, and management and inspection must be completed through the guard station.
So after friendly discussions between me and the commander of Sanhaiwei, they were happy to cooperate."
Mr. Feng just felt that his brain was not enough as usual - he always said this when talking to Qin Dewei, "All these commanders agree?"
Qin Dewei asked, "Why don't you agree?"
Mr. Feng asked again: "What about the local wealthy families who colluded with the guards and monopolized the ships going to sea?"
Qin Dewei smiled disdainfully and said, "Do you think these so-called wealthy families will be needed in the future smuggling process?"