Chapter 888: How can I seek refuge? (Continue to ask for the month
Magistrate Shen and Master Feng of the Shipping Department said goodbye outside the gate of the mansion, but Magistrate Shen stood still and watched Master Feng leave.
Then Magistrate Shen walked into the mansion gate again and came to the outside of the Yimen.
Qin Zhongtang arrived in Ningbo in a hurry and there were not enough people to accompany him, so Chang Sui Ma Er temporarily acted as the gatekeeper and guarded the ceremonial gate of the mansion.
Seeing Magistrate Shen reappear, Ma Er was very surprised and didn't understand why Magistrate Shen was back.
Magistrate Shen walked up to Ma Er and asked his followers to avoid him. Then he asked Ma Er, "Can you please give me some advice on how to join Qin Zhongtang? I will definitely give you generous gifts from now on."
Ma Eryi was speechless for a moment. He had followed Mr. Qin all these years and had gained a lot of knowledge, but this was the first time he heard such a straightforward question about "how to take refuge".
So Ma Er also asked in confusion: "I'm just wondering, why do you officials, as long as you see my master with your own eyes, want to take refuge?"
Magistrate Shen replied: "Because Qin Zhongtang has a high standard of demeanor, which makes people heartbroken whenever they see him."
The real idea is that if you don't see Qin Zhongtang doing trouble with your own eyes, you can't imagine how high the upper limit of trouble can be. If a normal person can choose a person to seek refuge with, of course he must find such a smart and capable person.
Ma Er then also replied: "I don't want to hide it from Master Shen, but it's difficult now! My master doesn't care about anything you can give me; you can't give me what my master asks for."
These words made Prefect Shen helpless. Logically speaking, Qin Zhongtang wanted to do something in Ningbo, and he, the prefect of Ningbo, might be able to help him and come in handy.
But now that Qin Zhongtang has ditched the government office and directly connected with Sanhaiwei, what use does he have as a prefect?
After thinking for a while, Magistrate Shen asked again: "I heard that Mr. Liu from Shaoxing Prefecture nearby committed a crime in Datong and was almost sent to the army.
But he took refuge in Qin Zhongtang and was transferred to a good place like Shaoxing Mansion. What did he do?"
Ma Er smiled mysteriously, "Prefect Shen can ask for it himself, but I would like to remind Prefect Shen that you can't follow Mr. Liu's way. I'm afraid it will be in vain if you ask."
Magistrate Shen chatted with Ma Er for a while and then said goodbye again. Then when he walked to the gate, he saw another one-eyed fat man walking out from the side yard.
Magistrate Shen greeted him warmly: "Where are you going, Master Yan? I can use the government's guard of honor to send you there, lest someone with no eyesight collide with Master Yan again!"
Normally, a prefect would not be able to catch the eye of Uncle Yan, and it is not surprising that such enthusiastic smiling faces can be seen everywhere.
But the recent period has been special. Under the shadow of Qin Zhongtang's evil intentions, Uncle Yan has been living a life where his father does not care for his mother, and there are always people who want his life.
Now seeing Magistrate Shen's enthusiasm again, Uncle Yan suddenly felt a little like he was in another world. It seemed that he had not enjoyed this kind of treatment for a long time.
It seems that people within the system understand the rules and respect the identity of Yan Ge's son.
Feeling grateful for this, Uncle Yan also rarely looked kindly to the young magistrate. He nodded and said: "I'm just trying to catch someone, I don't dare to bother the government anymore."
Magistrate Shen immediately reacted, "Could it be that person named Xu Weixue?"
Some time ago, this suspected maritime merchant transported silk to Ningbo together with Yan Shifan, and then caused a lot of trouble.
Yan Shifan did not want to hide it, and responded: "He is now trapped in Fusi, Ningbo Wei Town, but I will use this person in the future, so I will go and get him out."
Magistrate Shen smiled and said: "The distance is not far. I will go with Mr. Yan. The people over there want to sell me face."
Originally, Ma Kui, the commander of Dinghaiwei, had already communicated with Fusi of Ningbowei Town. In addition, Yan Shifan had Qin Zhongtang's handwriting, so it was not a problem to bring people out smoothly.
But Uncle Yan doesn't mind having one more magistrate as his "entourage". People are all vain.
So the two of them walked out of the gate together. Magistrate Shen asked seemingly unintentionally: "I heard that Mr. Yan Ge and Qin Zhongtang have never been on good terms?"
Even with Yan Shifan's intelligence, he didn't even guess what Magistrate Shen meant when he suddenly said this.
If Magistrate Shen felt afraid because of this, he would not have taken the initiative to greet him just now.
Magistrate Shen added: "Under such circumstances, it is really not easy for Master Yan to be repeatedly entrusted with important tasks by Qin Zhongtang!"
Yan Shifan became more and more confused. What do you, the prefect, want to express? The words "entrusted with important tasks" sound strange. Could it be that you are making a mockery of it?
Finally, Magistrate Shen revealed his true purpose: "I just want to know, how can I be like Mr. Yan and be trusted by Qin Zhongtang to entrust him with important tasks?"
Yan Shifan: "..."
I originally thought that the sensible prefect wanted to lick me, but in the end he wanted to lick Qin Dewei!
If you have a father who can be Qin Dewei's political enemy, you will also be entrusted with important tasks by Qin Dewei in every possible way!
[To be honest, I have been using Yeguo Reading recently to catch up on books, change sources, and read aloud with many sounds, and it can be used on both Android and Apple.]
"I'd better pick them up myself. I really don't need to bother Prefect Shen!" Yan Shifan snorted coldly and left without looking back.
Magistrate Shen caught up a few steps and saw that Yan Shifan still refused to pay attention to him, so he gave up.
You must be measured in your conduct. Under Qin Zhongtang's eyes, you must not please Mr. Yan too much.
In the end, Magistrate Shen still had no idea about how to take refuge in Qin Zhongtang, so he could only return to the government office unhappy.
I can't blame anyone, I can only blame myself for misjudging the situation at the beginning and always wanting to appear as He Xini.
As soon as Magistrate Shen sat down in the back office and looked through today's official documents, he heard his disciple report: "Professor Xie from the Prefecture School is here!"
This made Magistrate Shen a little surprised. Although the instructors of Gainfu County School had a low status and no real power, after all, they had to maintain their status as instructors and could not easily visit the county government.
Immediately, Professor Xie from the Fu School was brought in by the disciples and said in a panic: "It's a big deal!"
Seeing Professor Xie's appearance, Magistrate Shen's forehead suddenly felt a little painful.
Any experienced local official would be able to tell that what could make the instructors so panicked would be other than the school students, that is, the scholars, joining forces to cause trouble.
As we all know, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, the power of local students, especially in places where the imperial examination was at its peak, was almost like a hornet's nest.
Relying on their political privileges, they often gather people to cause trouble, which makes it difficult for the government to arrest them or to punish them.
However, due to the political correctness of "treating scholars preferentially", the government is often restrained in the face of scholars who gather to cause trouble.
There is a special term called "broken boots formation" to describe this phenomenon.
In history, some officials were beaten up by the troublemaking scholars, and there were even dignified border officials and governors who were forced to jump over the wall and escape.
"What's going on?" Magistrate Shen didn't want to ask, but he had to ask.
Professor Xie said quickly: "Just now, both the government school and the county school were communicating with each other, telling each other that they were going to the mansion tomorrow to make a fuss for the sake of classmate Yang Chengmin and Yang who suffered injustice!"
At the Jie Feng banquet today, Yang Chengmin, a young man who dared to speak out and directly accused Qin Zhongtang, left a deep impression on everyone.
However, his ending was not very happy. It is said that he will be removed from his meritorious service by Qin Zhongtang and banned from taking exams for life.
Professor Xie continued: "Not only did Yang Chengmin suffer injustice, but he also said that he would also protest against Qin Zhongtang's intention to go against the grain in Ningbo and plunder people's wealth!"
Magistrate Shen asked another key question: "Who is making the connection?"
Professor Xie obviously understood what he was asking and answered accurately: "It's Lu Mengguan from the Lu family!"
Magistrate Shen smiled bitterly, and another member of the Lu family jumped out. In this way, members of Yang, Lu, Zhang, and Tu Ningbo City's four major families all came out in turn.
Among the four major families, Yang and Lu are married, so when Yang Chengmin encounters injustice, it is normal for the Lu family to jump a little.
Besides, the trend has been such in recent years that if local forces are dissatisfied with the government, it is often heard of instigating scholars to gather in crowds to protest.
The reason why the four major families are top-notch among the local wealthy families is because they are also a family of scholars and imperial examination families. It is completely expected to use the Broken Boot Formation to deal with Qin Zhongtang.
Professor Xie asked: "What should we do?"
Magistrate Shen was thinking about his own concerns. After hearing Professor Xie's inquiry, he subconsciously said: "Very good! It's a God-given opportunity!"
Professor Xie was confused, something was very wrong with the prefect!
Magistrate Shen realized that he had made a mistake and waved his hand quickly, "I know, please go down!"
But before Professor Xie could walk out the door, he was called back by Magistrate Shen. Magistrate Shen then asked: "Do you have any students you can trust in the government school? I need to find three or five to do something, but please
Don’t worry, it’s a good thing!”
At the same time, Magistrate Shen sent a close entourage to the mansion to inform Qin Zhongtang.
By the next day, as expected, a large number of scholars began to gather at the government school, and there were also many children who joined in the fun. In fact, children were more active in participating in such scholar activities than the famous scholars.
In a place like Ningbo Prefecture, where the imperial examination is developed, the number of students is already large. Moreover, Ningbo City is in the same city as the prefecture and county. There are both county schools and prefectural schools, and the number of students and scholars is at least several hundred.
Coupled with the countless children, the number of so-called "students" becomes even greater.
By morning, there were already two to three hundred scholars gathered here at Fu Xue.
Lu Mengguan, the number one "academic tyrant" in the Fu School, stood under the eaves in front of Minglun Hall and said passionately to the comrades gathered here:
"What's wrong with Yang Chengmin? He just said a few words that others didn't dare to say, and he suffered huge injustice! How can we just sit idly by and ignore it and vow to seek justice!"
Several friends at the bottom of the stairs applauded together, lifting the atmosphere.
Another person in the crowd shouted: "I heard that Qin Zhongtang came to Ningbo just to make money! Why are we studying? If we can't plead for the people, we are in vain as scholars!"
In the atmosphere of collective justice, personal emotions can easily be stirred up. Immediately, everyone left the gate of the mansion and headed west.
In Ningbo city, most of the government offices are in the northwest, but the government schools are in the northeast area of Ningbo city.
The scholars who were angrily preparing to go to the mansion to protest came to the alley and saw an official blocking the middle of the alley.
Most scholars know who the prefect Shen is, if not the parent of the entire Ningbo Prefecture.
Many people dared to follow blindly, but they did not dare to take the lead. When their parents and officials blocked the way in person, they shrank back and did not dare to confront the boss of the prefect.
Only those who were truly confident rushed forward, such as Lu Mengguan, the leader of this student protest.
On the one hand, he came from four major families with numerous ministers. His father, Lu Bo, was also a governor and was dismissed from his post the year before last.
With this confidence, Lu Mengguan was naturally not afraid of Magistrate Shen, so he took a few friends and surrounded him.
He even took the initiative to ask: "Why are my parents standing here on the street?"
Magistrate Shen asked back: "If you don't study literature in school, what are you doing out for leisurely activities?"
However, Lu Mengguan said seriously: "I'm not just wandering around, I'm actually asking for life for the people! You can't just watch injustice happen and remain indifferent in your heart."
Magistrate Shen still refused to give in: "Emperor Taizu Gao has issued an edict that students in school are only allowed to study diligently and are not allowed to discuss political affairs at will.
No matter what your motives are, I am here to stop you! Unless you step over me."
Lu Meng looked at the sun and felt a little anxious. As the saying goes, if you make a big effort, you will lose it again and again. There is no point in dawdling here with Magistrate Shen!
If the people who have been dawdling are dissipated and the team is difficult to lead, how many people can continue to "fight"?
Lu Mengguan reorganized his words and even tried to move his father out for use, but saw several classmates suddenly rush out from behind him.
One of them pointed at Magistrate Shen and yelled: "You, a dog official, are definitely colluding with Qin Dewei! We went to the mansion to promote justice, but you, a dog official, are getting stuck here!"
Another person also said aggressively: "I heard that Qin Zhongtang has decided to recruit people on a large scale, and the people are panicked and cannot live and work in peace and contentment!
For the sake of the tranquility of the government and the well-being of thousands of people, we were about to go to denounce it, but you, a dog official, stopped us here and got in the way!
Could it be that you and Qin Zhongtang have colluded to use the common people as your promotion? You can block it for a while, but you can't block it forever!
Don’t say you dare not step over you, the wheel of justice will eventually crush you and keep moving forward!”
The crowd in the back immediately cheered, applauding these two people who spoke extremely fiercely!
Lu Mengguan, the previous leader, was surprised. He was already radical enough. Could it be that there was someone more radical than him in the team?
The point is, it seems that the more radical someone is, the more they are cheered by their own crowd.
Lu Mengguan absolutely does not want to see other people take the limelight, or steal his own limelight.
So he quickly stood up again and said to the two scholars who criticized Magistrate Shen, "Comrades, be careful what you say! We must be reasonable and restrained, and don't involve others at will!"
Master Shen is a good prefect, he is just worried that we will cause trouble and lead to unpredictable consequences!"
The two men shouted: "I thought that Mr. Lu was a righteous person, but I didn't expect that he is also a compromiser! You are a weakling without eggs, just stand down and don't hinder us from moving forward for justice!"
Lu Mengguan: "..."
He is a little obsessed, why is he even being criticized? Is it just because he is not as radical as them?
While Lu Xiucai was still hesitating, several people suddenly rushed forward.
Magistrate Shen shouted: "Qin Zhongtang has his own beauty in his heart, and you childish scholars will never be allowed to interfere with Qin Zhongtang!"
Then he stretched out his arms and blocked the alley, even reaching out to grab the person who wanted to cross him.
Then Lu Xiucai saw that Magistrate Shen was being pushed by those people who were scolded as childish and "angry". Then for some reason, Magistrate Shen's red official robe was torn, and his black gauze hat fell to the ground unluckily.
Already.
Between the lake and the lake, another group of people followed excitedly. Then Magistrate Shen was overwhelmed by the crowd at the narrow alley. He fell to the ground in a state of embarrassment, then rolled over and rolled to the base of the wall while rubbing the dirt.
A new doubt arose in Lu Xiucai's mind, where are the government officials? When the dignified prefect came out, how could there be no government officials around him?
In addition, perhaps because he was dazzled, Magistrate Shen who fell to the ground seemed to have a mysterious smile on his lips?
