This has long been an open secret. Now that Wu Liehou revealed it, after being slightly embarrassed, Mu Chengxian did not panic at all, but smiled: "Wu Liehou Yingming, I do have this intention.
Please rest assured, Marquis Wu Lie, this time the Marquis will not be stingy in taking concubines and serving as officials, and is willing to repay him with one hundred thousand taels of silver as a gift from the Marquis!"
Ding Yunyi and Ye Yuan looked at each other in shock. What kind of big deal was this? It was a hundred thousand taels of silver, but there was no sign of any distress on his part!
How much money has he made from this position over the years?
Ding Yunyi calmed down his anger and said, "How can this town afford Master Mu's generous gesture?"
"It is an honor for me to serve Marquis Wu Lie," Mu Chengxian said with a smile.
"You bastard, shameless thing!" Ding Yunyi suddenly roared: "You are corrupt, pervert the law, deceive superiors and deceive subordinates, are all the officials in the world the same as you!"
The sudden rage made Mu Chengxian, who was originally very proud, stunned for a moment. He had no idea what was going on, and he had no idea why he had aroused so much anger from Marquis Wu Lie.
"Shameless!" Ding Yunyi stared at him with terrifying eyes: "I know so many officials, but there has never been one more shameless than you! Mu Chengxian, do you think I dare to kill you?"
With a "plop", Mu Chengxian fell to his knees on the ground. He finally knew what kind of situation he was facing.
Ding Yunyi's voice was cold: "Yes, killing an official like you has to be reported to the court. But I, Ding Yunyi, am the first unreasonable person in the world. Come here, put him in a sack and throw him into the sea.
Go, and then report to the imperial court that Mr. Mu Chengxian, Fujian's Secretary of Transport, lost his moral integrity after drinking and failed to molest a good woman. He fell into the sea!"
"Wu Liehou, spare your life, Wu Liehou, spare your life!" Mu Chengxian was trembling all over. He never thought that one day he would face an official like Ding Yunyi who didn't care about anything at all.
He can do what he says. He can kill Fujian deputy general Zheng Zhilong and Fujian governor Zhang Kentang. How can he still not kill a transport official like himself?
Ye Yuan knew it was time for him to come forward: "Wu Liehou, please calm down. I think that although Mu Chengxian can be killed, he seems to have his own secrets. Besides, he has been in office for so many years and has no merit and hard work. Why should Wu Liehou please
Give him a chance to change his ways."
"Yes, Lord Wu Lie, spare your life, spare your life!" Mu Chengxian also begged repeatedly.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Ding Yunyi said with a cold face: "Mu Chengxian, I kill like a dog, but since Ye Fushuai pleads for you, this town has to think more. But if you want to save your dog's life,
Just tell me all the evil things you have done in the past. If one thing is missing, the sea will still be waiting for you, Master Mu..."
Mu Chengxian was dragged down and held in solitary confinement. This official who was greedy for life and afraid of death would never refuse no matter what Ding Yunyi asked him to do.
And this person is also the key to breaking the entire chain of interests in Fujian officialdom...
"Is Marquis Wu Lie planning to take advantage of the opportunity to take concubines next month?" Ye Yuan asked slowly.
Ding Yunyi nodded, he had nothing to hide in front of Ye Yuan: "Yes, I just want to catch them all on the sixth day of next month. I used four people, Lu Xi, Guan Zhe, Ou Jue and Song Xianji to jointly investigate.
At the same time, Xie Tian and his Jin Daowei were ordered to assist in the investigation, and with the correction of a key witness like Mu Chengxian, those corrupt and shameless people in Fujian officialdom can be put to rest."
"This is indeed a solution, but the Fujian officialdom will be greatly shaken by this..." Ye Yuan's brows knitted together: "Will the court allow us to do this?"
"Yes." Ding Yunyi's answer was decisive: "The court's biggest concern now is to stabilize the situation in Fujian. Zhang Kentang was killed, and you were appointed as acting governor of Fujian. The court has satisfied us with all our requests. Now we are purging the officialdom.
The reason is even more high-sounding.”
Ye Yuan nodded at first.
In fact, he knows Ding Yunyi's thoughts very well. Purging Fujian's officialdom is one factor. The other most important factor is that he wants to use this opportunity to drive all forces outside his own group out of Fujian, thereby firmly controlling Fujian.
In your own hands.
And now the chaos in Ming Dynasty can provide him with an excellent opportunity...
The court will agree to him. Although the court will be angry at what he has done, under internal and external difficulties, the court will definitely agree to any of his requests even though it is reluctant!
Ding Yunyi knows when to seize what opportunities!
"What should we do with the huge official vacancies?" Ye Yuan once raised another level of concern.
"Civil selection of talents."
When these words were spoken, Ye Yuan stayed there. Crazy, crazy, his brother-in-law, the dignified Marquis Wulie, was really crazy. He actually wanted to appoint officials himself!
"It's no different from a rebellion, right?" Ding Yunyi smiled indifferently: "But we are not rebelling. What is the difference between the officials appointed by the imperial court and the previous Fujian officials? Could it be that we have solved a group and have to face it again?
A new batch of corrupt officials? I don’t want to do that. Those officials who have done nothing but themselves, such as Guan Zhe, Ou Jue, Lu Xi, and others, will be retained and re-elected!”
"Xiang Wen, think twice!" Ye Yuan was a little anxious at first: "This method of yours is too radical. The court can tolerate all your actions, but appointing officials privately has touched the bottom line of the court. I know you want to take action as soon as possible.
Fujian has become stronger, but now is not the time to officially fall out with the imperial court!"
"Then what do you think we should do?" Ding Yunyi also knew that his method was too hasty: "Time is passing day by day, and there is not much time left for us!"
Ye Yuan never understood why Ding Yunyi cared so much about time. He pondered for a moment: "There is a way, you can tell if it works. All the officials who have been investigated will not be reported to the court, and they will still be kept in their current positions, but
But they are all put under house arrest, and the officials we have promoted are all given a false title, but they use the false title to manage real affairs. In other words, the officials are still the same officials, but they are just giving them a name.
.The people who are really in charge are our people. Although the court will be aware of it sooner or later, it can buy us the maximum time!"
"What a good idea, what a good idea." Ding Yunyi was overjoyed upon hearing this and said, "Brother-in-law, this method is good. I think this method can be used, so let's make arrangements like this!"
Ye Yuan was a smart man. He was also an old man in the officialdom. He knew how to face these things.
His method is ten times or twenty times better than his own method...
"Xiang Wen, logically speaking there are some things I shouldn't tell you, but I am your brother-in-law. Your sister has always asked me to take good care of you. I must tell you all these things." Ye Yuan suddenly said.
"You are invincible and known to the whole world. You are passionate and treat the people well. You work hard and make the place rich. I have an official like you in the Ming Dynasty. It is a blessing for the court and a blessing for the people. But only one thing is yours."
You have a somewhat impatient temper. You must do what you think of without thinking too much about the consequences. For example, this time, although you eliminated two enemies, Zheng Zhilong and Zhang Kentang, in one fell swoop, do you really think now is the best time?
The whole process is like walking on thin ice. If you are not careful, you will lose everything. Have you ever thought about why you won this time? It is because of the huge reputation you have accumulated over the years, which makes your subordinates willing to die for it and unite as one; your
The enemy is extremely afraid of your reputation and does not dare to confront you head-on!"
He glanced at Ding Yunyi and found that he listened very carefully, so he continued: "Although you have used all the power at your disposal. For example, Zhang Pu, such as Wu Sangui, but have you ever thought about what would happen if the imperial court ignored everything?
What's the situation? If you don't rebel, you will be waiting for death; if you rebel, you will be a treasonous and unruly minister, and the world can punish him."
"Yes, I did it in a bit of a hurry." Ding Yunyi said calmly: "In fact, during the days of waiting, I was also very uneasy. I didn't know what attitude the court would use towards me. Once the formal breakup, I
What should I do? This time I was lucky enough to win, but now that I think about it, I’m really afraid of that..."
Ye Yuanxian said: "You are no longer the inspector Ding you were back then. You have nothing to worry about alone. Now you have so many subordinates following you, and everything about them is tied to you. Everyone will be prosperous, and everyone will suffer.
.You must not let all your efforts go to waste because of your impatience.”
"I understand, brother-in-law." Ding Yunyi said seriously: "I will remember what brother-in-law said."
Ye Yuan nodded. The reason why he said this to Ding Yunyi was because from now on, he and Ding Yunyi were in the same boat. If Ding Yunyi's boat capsized, he would also die without a burial place.
Ding Yunyi suddenly said: "Brother-in-law, what about you? This time the officialdom in Fujian is really serious. Will you be involved?"
Ye Yuan knew what he meant: "I will not be implicated because I am neither a member of the Zhang Party nor a member of the Zheng Party. I am a member of the Ding Party. In Fujian, I have no handover with those officials.
, so I can’t get involved. But Xiang Wen, I don’t think that’s what you really mean, right?”
He didn't need the other party to answer him: "Yes, I like money. Since I became the prefect of Quanzhou, I have made a lot of money, but I have also done a lot of things...
But then again, from now on I will not think of ways to continue making money."
"Oh, why is this?" Ding Yunyi asked.
"Because the situation is too dangerous!" Ye Yuan sighed and said: "The whole world is watching us in Fujian, and I am yours. The only thing I have to do now is to assist you with all my heart, and do my best.
Don't let our ship sink, instead of talking about how much money we can make and what kind of fortune we can make. Such words will only make my own head fall to the ground first. So from now on until you really do it, no one dares to touch you.
Now, I will become a very upright official who is rare in Fujian and even in the world!"
"What happens in the future?" Ding Yunyi asked again: "If one day I really have the power and no one dares to touch me anymore, will you continue to be an upright official or a corrupt official?"
Ye Yuan smiled again: "I don't know, I really don't know. No one can tell what will happen in the future..."
"Brother-in-law, wouldn't it be good to be an upright official?" Ding Yunyi said silently: "Do you have to be a corrupt official to be satisfied? Do you really think that when that time comes, will I attack you or not?"
Ye Yuanxian smiled lightly: "Xiang Wen, do you really think that honest officials are better than corrupt officials? Do you really think that if the whole world is filled with honest officials, the world will be peaceful?"
"Is it true that only corrupt officials can bring peace to the world?" Ding Yunyi said with some displeasure.
Ye Yuanxian said slowly: "Integrity officials have a problem. The problem with upright officials is that they have an absolute sense of moral superiority, which makes them feel that everything they do has a clear conscience, and thus it is easy to fall into a situation of self-righteousness and even self-righteousness. The belief in upright officials has been a major feature for thousands of years. Over the years, people have been eager to expect and praise upright officials, making this belief even form a culture. The names of famous upright officials such as Bao Zheng and Hai Rui are even three feet apart. Tong is also familiar with it. The common people build temples for their Qingtian Grand Master, and enjoy worship at all seasons, and the incense has lasted for thousands of years. This is not only because of the quality of upright officials themselves, upright, selfless, and considerate of the people, but it also shows that such a sad The problem is that there are endless corrupt officials, and they are everywhere. The people are in a situation of being insulted and harmed. They are isolated and helpless. They desperately hope that someone can parent the people and make decisions for them. To put it more pessimistically, it is just painting cakes to satisfy hunger. . ”
Ding Yunyi's heart skipped a beat after hearing this, and he suddenly felt that Ye Yuan's previous words were not unreasonable.
Ye Yuan looked at him and said: "In the hearts of ordinary people, an upright official can be said to be a perfect person and the incarnation of God. He only has a dazzling halo and cannot have even a slight blemish on a white jade. However, reading the ink left by the ancients , but we can find an intriguing problem. The evaluation of upright officials by the scholar-bureaucrats is really not satisfactory to ordinary people, and sometimes they are even very different. Some of them are even to the point of criticizing them with words and writings!"
Ding Yunyi suddenly thought of something while listening:
"Incorruptible people are the most admirable, but there is only one who has a bad temper. He always feels that the world is full of villains, and he is the only one who is a gentleman. This idea is the most harmful, and it has caused countless harm to the world's major events... ...Corrupt officials are hateful, and everyone knows it; honest officials are especially hateful, and many people don't know it. Corrupt officials know that they are sick, and dare not openly do wrong; honest officials think that they don't want money, so there is nothing they can do, and they are self-willed, killing people in small ways, and killing people in big ways. It will harm the country."
Although this is a bit extreme, it is not necessarily unreasonable. (To be continued. Registered members of Piaotian Literature recommend this work.