Chapter 131 The days of the government office are about to change!
Chapter 131: Things are about to change in the government office!
Li You and Wang Tongzhi thought they would have to wait for several months. They did not expect that the imperial court would respond so quickly and actually send an imperial envoy here a year ago. This efficient style made the two grassroots workers unbelievable.
Let’s start from the beginning. On that day, there was a court meeting in the capital, which was presided over by Xu Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. When Chen Yingzhen’s secret memorial was revealed from the hands of Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and passed on to the big shots in the imperial court, it caused a stir.
attached great importance and strong attention.
As for the reason, everyone in the imperial court knows that half of the capital's money, food and palace expenses depend on the southeast, and Suzhou is the first county in the southeast and is actually the most wealthy place in the world. Moreover, officials all know that the salary is too low and is too greedy.
Money is fine, it belongs to the unspoken rules of the industry, but don't be greedy for food, you may really end up with your head on the ground. This is a rule established after the chaos of the Chongzhen Dynasty, and now it has become an ancestral law that cannot be touched. This has not happened in the country for nearly ten years.
Who would have thought that a case like this would happen now, how could it not attract attention?
The above are all familiar, and there is no need to elaborate on them. But there is another situation that many people know very well but will not talk about: although the southerners do not seem to be tough, Suzhou Prefecture probably has too many proletarians and petty bourgeoisie.
Because of the reason, or the resentment generated by the imperial court in Suzhou Prefecture, which was too harsh, needed a way to vent (one-tenth, one-tenth), so there was a small tradition of citizen riots (not rebellion).
The big ones include Ge Cheng of the Wanli Tianqi Dynasty and the Five Righteous Soldiers, who are still regarded as heroes and worshiped by the people of Suzhou a hundred years later. Other smaller ones include relief and tax resistance, especially when the economic situation is not good.
Good times.
Who knows if there will be another trouble this time? Therefore, the big bosses in the DPRK and the Central Government believe that the matter needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, the sooner the better. Even Yuan Ge Lao abandoned his fellow prefect Mao, because he thought that Chen Yingzhen dared to risk dismissal from office.
It is definitely safe to go beyond the level and sue the prefect. Besides, Xu Shangshu brought the matter to court discussion, and he was unable to block everyone's mouth. Speaking for prefect Mao would only be humiliating, and maybe his political enemies were waiting for him.
For this reason, he opened his mouth to attack in groups. After all, embezzling grain has violated the bottom line of officialdom, and no one can open his mouth to excuse himself in public. So in the final analysis, we can only blame this man named Mao for his audacity, losing his wits due to profit, and leaving it to his own devices.
But the imperial court could not just listen to the words of Chen Yingzhen, the county magistrate, and had to send special personnel to Suzhou to investigate the case. The capital was too far away from Suzhou, and the matter was urgent. No one was willing to go far away as the Chinese New Year was approaching. So the imperial officials finally
It was unanimously agreed to send people from Nanjing, and Xie Yan, the deputy censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, won the big prize and came to Suzhou in the twelfth lunar month of winter in the name of imperial envoy.
Mr. Xie was advised by a caring person and instead of going directly to Fucheng with great fanfare as usual, he first secretly went to Xujiang to see the magistrate Chen, and then summoned Li You to inquire about the details of the government office. He planned to carry out a surprise attack this morning. Li You also reminded him
Next, in order to prevent the soldiers garrisoning the city from not cooperating, 200 soldiers were recruited from Xujiang County to follow them.
Then there was the two-act drama in which Li You first scolded the prefect in the lobby of the government office with both madness and righteousness, and then transformed into a suffering hero and accepted the cheers of the people. This was actually because of his confidence.
But he said that there was no fly like Li You in the lobby of the government office, and the government office was going smoothly. When it was about to end, the gate guard at the government office rushed in and shouted: "There is an imperial envoy outside! Look at the name of the deputy capital censor."
"Happiness" came so suddenly. Magistrate Mao's face changed drastically, but he had no time to think about it. Who dared to hesitate to greet the imperial envoy when he arrived? He calmed down and said to a group of subordinate officials in a deep voice: "You
Wait for me to go out with you to greet you."
The door of the Yimen of the government office was wide open. Magistrate Mao and dozens of his subordinates filed out and walked all the way to the gate. They came forward to pay homage and said: "Suzhou Mansion welcomes Zhongcheng."
Xie Zhongcheng said expressionlessly in the sedan chair: "No need to be polite, please gather all the officials of the government office in the lobby."
Magistrate Mao promised not to mention it.
Here are a few words to popularize the official titles of this dynasty. Naturally, there is a certain set of rules. Anyone with the title of Du Censor, and the Deputy Du Censor are all respectfully called Zhongcheng. Naturally, Xie Fu, Deputy Censor of the City, is here today.
Yes. Other common honorifics include Ge Lao, Tian Guan, Fu Zun, County Zun, etc.
In addition, you can't call an adult randomly like a soap opera, otherwise you will be waiting to be tricked. Only when you address a low-grade official, the superior calls the subordinate, or when both parties have similar grades, it is possible to directly call an adult, such as a ninth-grade official like Li You.
Miscellaneous officials are often called Mr. Li, and of course more often they are addressed directly by official title.
The common title used by junior officials when addressing high-ranking officials is "Lao Sir". Adding "Lao" means respect. It doesn't mean how old the person is. Without the word "Lao", calling a Shangguan "Sir" is almost equivalent to an insult and insult.
Contempt. For example, when Li You asked for help from Wang Tongzhi, he called him "Sir, Mr. Mr. Tongzhi", and when he didn't want to see him, he directly called Mr. Wang or Mr. Tongzhi. But he could never call him Mr. Wang, otherwise it would be a slap in the face, which is the same as shouting in the 21st century.
Xiao Wang means the same thing. Which hero dares to call his boss Xiao Wang to his face?
Without further ado, Xie Zhongcheng's sedan stopped when he was about to pass through the gate of the government office. After opening the curtain, Xie Zhongcheng pointed at the wall in disguise and said, "Who is this? Is he also a member of an official in the department? If there is nothing else, please bring it with you.
Come in."
Everyone looked along their fingers and saw that it was Governor Li who was wearing wooden shackles. They couldn't help but secretly laugh at him. He really showed off his performance art today and played it directly in front of the imperial envoy. It can be used as a joke in the future. It's a pity that they don't know.
It was almost Li You who was laughing at them.
After Li You took off the wooden shackles, he couldn't help but look happy. Everyone thought he was crazy.
When all the officials of the Suzhou government office entered the lobby, Xie Zhongcheng sealed the entrance and exit according to the pre-planned plan, isolated internal and external news, and ordered the soldiers brought from Xujiang and Nanjing to watch carefully. At the same time, he sent experienced people to take the account books to the Gusu warehouse for inventory, and returned
Don't forget to invite the magistrates of Wu County and Changzhou County to come and work together with the government officials.
As an imperial envoy, Xie Zhongcheng always had to maintain the appearance of impartiality and fairness. At this time, it could not be confirmed that the warehouse rice had been embezzled, and everything was unknown. The two insider heroes, Li You and Wang Tongzhi, could theoretically have committed the crime of false accusation and frame-up, so it was also
He had to be locked in the lobby with other officials in the government department to wait for the result.
The sudden attack by the imperial envoy cut the knot faster, and the government was caught off guard. By the evening, Panku had a rough idea - about 200,000 kilograms of rice in Gusu warehouse were missing.
After hearing the news, ninety-nine percent of the people in the lobby fell into despair and fear after the incident was exposed. What should they do? Everyone looked at Magistrate Mao in unison.
But Magistrate Mao's face was pale at this time and his eyes were dull. He had worked hard recently and he had some features, but he was caught by the sudden imperial envoy. Originally, he planned to use personal connections to buy some from other places, and on the other hand, he would
Slow down the rate of turning in money and grain, and increase the turnover stock. In this way, we can survive the spring famine next year. As long as there are no troubles after that period, the accounts in the warehouse can be slowly smoothed out.
However, he did not expect that the imperial court would send an imperial envoy to inspect the warehouse at an unexpected time in the twelfth lunar month of the previous year. The sudden arrival without informing the place in advance, and the direct sealing of the government warehouse showed that it was absolutely targeted and well prepared.
.
Someone must have reported the matter directly to the central court, otherwise this situation would not have occurred. Magistrate Mao made an instinctive judgment based on his officialdom experience, but it was of no use. Because he did not receive any news, which means that he probably
It has been given up by everyone, so no one reported to him, so what's the use of being more accurate?
Seeing that the investigation went so smoothly, Xie Zhongcheng was overjoyed. In the profession of censor, the most important thing is to have a loud voice, and reputation is capital. If you are famous, you will speak louder. Being able to investigate and deal with such a rare and major case, it is certain that the reputation will be greatly improved, and
Without intercession or obstruction, Xie Zhongcheng got a big advantage, which is why I mentioned above that he won the jackpot.
Things gradually became clear, and it turned out that the report was correct and not a malicious frame-up. Therefore, Wang Tongzhi and Governor Li were officially cleared of suspicion. Xie Zhongcheng then issued an order: "Master Wang will assist me in the trial of the case. Governor Li will temporarily lead the soldiers to guard the suspect."
Because Governor Li had served as a patrol inspector in Xujiang, the soldiers sent to control Xujiang at this time were doing their best.
Li You got the letter, and left the lobby with Wang Tongzhi triumphantly. Before leaving, he and his colleagues from top to bottom, including the governor, general magistrates, officials, experience, supervisors, inspectors, etc., smiled and nodded one by one. It was considered that he had done his best in life.
The farewell etiquette at Chadaokou was ignored, as for the cold looks received. As for those officials, they were not worthy of Mr. Li's courtesy.
Seeing this scene, who among the people in the hall could not understand? The old man and the young man are definitely the masterminds behind the scenes! The arrival of the imperial envoy today is inextricably linked to them. Two hundred thousand Shicang rice, I don’t know how much it will cost.
With so many heads and so many families implicated, these two are really ruthless enough to commit suicide.
The angry *** yelled: "How can you two tolerate this!"
Li You turned around and scolded: "You worms in this country still don't know how to repent!"
After leaving the lobby, I saw many yamen servants gathered in small groups outside the ceremonial gate and whispering. Such a big thing happened in the government office. I really don't know how it will end. They who are making a living in the yamen must pay attention to it.
Inspector Hong was also standing in the crowd. When he saw Li Youshi coming out suddenly, he felt that it was both unexpected and reasonable. He separated from the people around him and hurried forward to greet him: "Master Li, you must have foresight."
Hey, can you clarify my doubts with the villain?"
Li You laughed loudly and said: "It's nothing big, it's just that the government's affairs are about to change!"
Hearing Governor Li's words, the hearts of everyone present jumped and they looked at Li You with extremely eager eyes. It was obvious from his high-spirited or arrogant demeanor that this cold stove was about to become a hot stove.