"Sir, sir, a group of people came from outside the city, claiming to be the patrol censor. They have entered the city and are heading towards the county government..."
"What?"
The servant rushed into the study in a panic, and Wu Hong, who was practicing calligraphy, stood up in shock, and the brush in his hand fell on the table.
"Pah! What a damn unlucky person, even this one could be chosen..."
After regaining his composure, Wu Hong slapped the table hard and cursed angrily, but he had to leave the study in a hurry and headed to the Yamen Gate.
He had just received a notification from the Cabinet yesterday that the Ministry of Household Affairs would randomly select ten counties and send ten batches of inspection officials to verify the land area data reported by each county. The selected counties should be fully cooperated without obstruction.
There are at least a hundred counties in the whole of South Zhili, and one out of ten is drawn to Dingyuan County. Isn't this the result of eight lifetimes of bad luck?
At this moment, the entire yamen had obviously heard about the inspection of the censor, and all the officials were in a panic.
Wu Hong was not in the mood to care about them. When he came to the gate of the county government office, he saw a large group of people approaching not far away.
Seeing a civil servant at the head, followed by one or two hundred scholars wearing long gowns, Wu Hong's scalp suddenly felt numb.
As for the civil servants behind them, their legs weakened and they almost collapsed on the ground. This battle was really scary.
"Haha, brother Yongnian, I haven't seen you for half a year, but I want to call you a brother."
When the civil servant at the head came closer and saw Wu Hong, who looked like he had seen a ghost, he immediately laughed, stepped forward and greeted him affectionately.
"It turns out to be Brother Fang. Brother Fang suddenly killed me. Brother Rang was really disappointed to meet him from afar!"
Wu Hong didn't expect that it was his classmate who came, so he quickly calmed down and responded with a smile. Although he knew him, he didn't dare to relax at all.
"Haha, don't you want to give Brother Yongnian a surprise? Brother Yongnian suddenly became the inspection censor, and later became the magistrate of Dingyuan County, which made us both surprised and envious!"
The leading civil censor, whose surname was Fang Mingze, was, like Wu Hong, one of the first batch of new scholars in the Shenwu Dynasty. When they competed for the post of inspection censor, they both gave a lot of money to the Minister of Civil Affairs and wanted to go on inspections.
, and then obtain the actual deficiency.
However, due to lack of financial resources, Fang Ze still lost to Wu Hong. Later, Wu Hong found out that there was something wrong with the original magistrate of Yuan County and took his place. He was even credited once by the Ministry of Officials.
This made Fang Ze, who was still sitting on the bench, so envious and jealous that he became ruthless this time. He borrowed a huge sum of money from the bank and successfully obtained a spot as an inspection censor.
.
Who would have thought that when the lottery was drawn, Dingyuan County was drawn again? My heart felt so happy that I wanted to put on my wings and fly over immediately.
"Haha, Brother Fang is joking. We are all new scholars in the Shenwu Dynasty. We have to take up our posts and contribute to the country sooner or later. We have to support each other in the future."
"What Brother Yongnian said is absolutely true."
Fang Ze smiled and nodded, but said in his heart that if he wanted to support me, he would have to wait until I became the county magistrate and made meritorious service.
"Brother Fang, are these...?" Wu Hong didn't say any more, but looked at the people behind him.
"Haha, these are the deputy envoys for this inspection. They are the talents who have just been admitted by the Ministry of Personnel. Brother Yongnian must not know that the rules of the Ministry of Personnel have changed again. The talents who have just been admitted are no longer directly awarded the title of Eighth Grade Officer, but instead
The official title is awarded to the ninth rank, and the eighth rank is awarded to the public. If there is no meritorious service, you will have to wait two years before you can be promoted to the outside world, so this time everyone is waiting for meritorious service."
Fang Ze explained with a smile.
Looking at those wolf-like eyes, Wu Hong's face twitched, and the official behind him almost fainted from fright.
Almost everyone understands that these talented people are definitely coming with bad intentions. Let alone bribery and accommodation, it would be good if they don't find fault in their eggs.
Although Wu Hong and a group of civil servants were very enthusiastic about arranging accommodation for Fang Ze and others, in the end they ended up with a warm face but a cold butt.
All the scholars chose to stay in the inn, obviously they all knew the principle of taking advantage of others and eating others with short mouths.
What's more, this time the Ministry of Revenue allocated five hundred taels of funds to each batch of inspection censors, which was enough for more than two hundred people to eat and drink for half a month.
In order to complete the verification as soon as possible this time, Ma Shiying sent out almost all the newly admitted scholars, nearly two thousand people.
Literary style flourished in the south of the Yangtze River, and there were as many scholars as dogs. In addition, Zhu Cihong also issued a message asking the Ministry of Personnel to recruit more people to prepare for the new policies of each province, so the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was eager to recruit all the talents.
However, those who actually came to sign up for the assessment were mostly self-aware or elderly scholars.
Some young people who think that they can pass the examination for civil servants or even Jinshi have decided to study hard for a few more years and wait until they fail before taking the civil service examination.
After all, once you have filed a record with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and obtained an official status, I am afraid that you will not be able to take the imperial examination again in the future.
As a scholar, no matter how well you do your job, everyone knows that it is impossible to become a truly high official.
But for these old scholars, they would be satisfied if they could become county magistrates or even county magistrates in their lifetime.
Because of the new regulations of the Ministry of Personnel, after two years without any fault, you will be directly promoted to the ninth rank. After three years, without any fault, you will be promoted to the eighth rank. After four years, you will be promoted to the eighth rank. After five years, you will be promoted to the seventh rank. Those who have made meritorious services during this period can
The promotion time is shortened, and those who have made great achievements can be promoted exceptionally.
Therefore, even if you don't make any meritorious service, you can reach the seventh rank in twenty years. If you make meritorious service or make great achievements during this period, the county magistrate will have great expectations.
So the next day, almost before dawn, more than two hundred people were divided into twelve teams, and with soldiers and measuring tools, they hurried to their assigned towns for verification.
The civil servants who were in charge of each town at the time had no choice but to accompany these scholars, and the one hundred troops stationed in Dingyuan County were all removed.
As the envoy this time, Fang Ze did not sit in the city, but chose the nearest town of Sanhe. Wu Hong had no choice but to accompany him to the countryside.
The two of them sat in a sedan chair, and the others could only follow on foot and on horseback. A large group of people arrived at Sanhe Town.
Several gentlemen and landowners in the town also wanted to support him, but this time they were met with failure.
"Brother Yongnian seems to be confident."
Fang Ze was quite surprised to see that Wu Hong was always calm and composed.
"As the saying goes, if you are upright, you will not be afraid of a distorted shadow. If you serve as a brother and serve as an official for one term and benefit one party, why should you fear censorship?"
Wu Hong put his hands behind his back and said solemnly.
But the officials around him were already sweating profusely and their legs were trembling.
Seeing this, Fang Ze said nothing more, smiled and said directly: "Let's get started, get the account books."
A scholar immediately handed over the account book that he had prepared long ago. This was the detailed data on acres of land in Dingyuan County that they had copied from the Ministry of Household Affairs when they arrived. How many towns were there, and how many acres of paddy fields, dry fields, and mulberry fields there were in each town?
And it is clear who belongs to them, so there is no need to obtain relevant data from the county government.
"Where is Hong Tianbao?"
"Back to my lord, I'm here."
"You have 500 acres of mulberry fields, 4,000 acres of paddy fields, and 3,000 acres of dry fields under your name, right?"
"Yes, sir." Old Man Hong, the largest landowner in Sanhe Town, stood up.
"Submit the land deed and I will inspect it."
Old Man Hong hesitated a little and looked at the civil servants and Wu Hong on the side, but Wu Hong shouted coldly: "Why don't you get the land deed quickly? Do you want to die?"
"Yes, yes, sir, please wait a moment..." Old man Wu was so frightened that he nodded quickly, then ran back to the town. After a while, he came back with the land deed, holding it in both hands and handing it to Fang Ze.
"Sir, this is the land deed newly issued by the Yamen to the old man. Please take a look at it."
Fang Ze saw that the number on the land deed was the same as the data from the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he nodded and returned the land deed to him, and then asked: "Which ones are your family's fields? Point them out."
"Sir, the fields on the north bank belong to the old man's family, and there are some on the other bank."
"As for the dry land, first point out the three thousand acres of dry land."
Fang Ze saw that all the farmland on both sides of the Taiwan Strait was green and green, and sneered. It was obvious that late rice had just been planted not long ago.
"These fields under your feet are the dry fields of the old man's family. Sir, please see that there is no water in these fields. They are real dry fields..."
The old man obviously drained all the water in the field last night.
"Haha, this is the first time I've seen dry fields that can grow rice. Do you really think I don't know about grains? I'm afraid this wasn't the water just released last night, right? Brother Yongnian, what do you think?"
As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of mud from the field and threw it on the field ridge. Then he asked the soldier to pour water from a kettle, and while rinsing his hands, he turned to look at Wu Hong.
"You idiot, how did you do this job? You can't even tell the difference between paddy fields and dry fields?" Wu Hong turned around and rushed away from the clerk and cursed.
"My lord, please forgive me. I just harvested the early rice a while ago, the fields were dry, and these evil gentry set a fire. I just didn't pay attention for a moment and was deceived." The civil servant hurriedly defended.
"Whether it was an oversight or not, we will tell you after we have measured all the fields in Sanhe Town. Don't blame me for not reminding you. An oversight is the most likely to result in dismissal. But if the number of acres does not match, then it is a false report, and you will be dismissed and investigated.
Handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for trial.
So you have to remember it clearly next time, and don’t identify it randomly, thinking that you can tear down the east wall to repair the west wall. I only measure it once, so don’t screw yourself up and blame me for not reminding you."
After Fang Ze finished speaking, he asked a dozen scholars to lead the soldiers to start measuring. However, the clerk in charge of Sanhe Town heard that they only measured once, so they did not dare to identify randomly for fear that they would make mistakes.
After all, there are more than 30,000 acres of land in Sanhe Town. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the error can only be more than 30 acres. If it exceeds 40 acres, it will be considered as malpractice.
Because Sanhe Town is located in a plain, the measurement was very fast and uncomplicated. In just ten days, more than 30,000 acres of farmland were measured.
Seeing that the numbers were not much different and did not exceed the regulations of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Fang Ze was also quite surprised, his brows furrowed into the character "Sichuan", but he could only say: "Records, after checking Sanhe Town, Dingyuan County, the reported land area data is,
There are 2,351 acres of mulberry fields, 15,300 acres of paddy fields, and 13,235 acres of dry fields.
In fact, there are 2,360 acres of mulberry fields, 25,300 acres of paddy fields, and 3,120 acres of dry fields. The difference between the number of dry fields and the reported number is nearly 10,000 acres. Favoritism and fraud are suspected. The official in charge,
Liu Hong, number A..."
The scholar on the side was recording quickly, while the clerk in charge had already collapsed on the ground.
Wu Hong's face was expressionless. He didn't expect that Fang Ze was so merciless and wanted to kill them.
This could clearly be said to be an oversight, but they insist on saying it is malpractice for personal gain. It is clear that they want to climb up by stepping on their corpses. This is simply shameless and worse than a beast.
"Mr. Fang, the number of acres is adequate. Our county government has limited manpower and lack of energy. It is understandable that we were deceived and mistook the paddy fields for dry fields. It is a bit inappropriate to directly treat it as a form of malpractice for personal gain, isn't it?
"
"Master Wu, what you said is wrong. If it is tens or even hundreds of acres, it is indeed excusable. But if there are tens of thousands of acres of paddy fields mistakenly thought of dry fields, what else is it if it is not malpractice for personal gain?
What's more, I only enforce the law impartially and report the truth truthfully. As for how to judge, the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs will make their own decisions."
Fang replied unceremoniously.
After saying that, he took the people back to the county seat directly.
In the next few days, other towns also completed verifications one after another, and the situation was similar to that of Sanhe Town.
Fang Ze knew that if he reported this situation, he would probably be able to dismiss the twelve responsible civil servants at most. He might not be able to get rid of Wu Hong, the county magistrate.
Now that he has been offended to death, if he does not completely defeat him, he will definitely take revenge on himself in the future with his connections and family wealth.
Thinking of this, Fang Ze separated all the civil servants and cadres and interrogated them one by one. The civil servants also knew that they could not hide anything, so they all confessed honestly.
Seeing these civil servants, although they all accepted money from the gentry and landlords, Wu Hong refused their filial piety money several times. Fang Ze also got angry and yelled, secretly scolding Wu Hong for being cunning and insidious.
If Wu Hong had accepted money, at the very least he would have failed to report it, which was a serious dereliction of duty. In addition, he would have been dismissed from his post if he had accepted bribes.
But if the money is confiscated, you can refuse to admit it and put all the blame on the officials. At most, it will be an oversight and a demerit will be recorded.
Fang Ze really wanted to get some false evidence, but there were too many people coming this time, and the new Jinshi was not easily framed. In the end, he had no choice but to report the truth truthfully and wait for the official's response.
Sure enough, the official document from the Ministry of Personnel came down in just seven days.
Wu Hong, the magistrate of Dingyuan County, was under investigation and received one demerit. In addition to his previous meritorious service, the merits and demerits were almost unaffected.
Twelve civil servants only seriously neglected their duties and there was no fraud. They were dismissed from their official positions and returned to their hometowns. The assisting officials were given one demerit and their bonuses were cancelled. The minor officials were given one warning and their bonuses were cancelled.
Wu Hong burst out laughing when he saw the official punishment document from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
"The elder is wise, the department is wise!"
"Brother Yongnian, I am acting impartially this time. I hope Brother Yongnian won't take it too seriously!"
"Humph, Mr. Fang, I am busy with official duties, so I will not accompany you." Wu Hong left the hall after saying this.
Fang Ze was unable to leave immediately, and the officials chose to give him a lighter sentence. The confession must have been burned by the officials, and he had to make another copy and take it back, and delete the matter of collecting money from the landlords and gentry, otherwise he would
Don't go back.
All the scholars were also very disappointed and depressed. This kind of result can only be recorded as a small achievement at most. Considering that everyone’s expectations when they came here were very different.