Chapter 78 Section 78: The way of being an official with caution in words and deeds

All preparations were complete, and the trial of the bank deficit case kicked off. The presiding judge of the case was naturally the co-organizer of the University Scholars' Office, Minister of Punishment Qi Yuzao, and Wen Qing and Zeng Guofan served as deputy presiding judges.The left and right servants of Dali Temple and all ministries (except the household department) sat on both sides to hear the trial. Lao Nami and Yushi Lai Damama have already been transferred from the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.The censor Lai Damama's crime of negligence does not need to be tried, and it can be reported according to the laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty. The main trial is Laonami.Lao Nami was brought into the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment, where he knelt down.

Qi Yuzao stroked his beard, and asked slowly: "The prisoner has reported his name, where is his family?" Lao Nami bowed his head and replied: "Back to the words of the chief officer. The slave, Lao Nami, is from Fengtian Prefecture. The slave has been working in the capital for many years. The lord knows the slave." Qi Yuzao said coldly: "Presumptuous! You can answer whatever the hall asks you, don't talk nonsense! The hall is asking you now, and you have to answer truthfully. Lao Nami, the bank deficit is 2.86 million taels, at least The gold is 420,000 taels, but only 1.2 million taels of silver and 90,000 taels of gold were copied from your house. More than one hundred and ninety thousand taels. Raunami, where did the money go? You have to tell the truth."

Lao Nami looked at Qi Shizao, then at Wenqing and Zeng Guofan, gritted his teeth and replied, "If you go back to Da Sikou, the rest of the money will be squandered by the slaves." "Well," Qi Yuzao nodded, then casually stroked his beard, and suddenly lowered his voice and said to Wen Qing and Zeng Guofan: "It seems that there is no need for a trial. It is enough to set a date for execution and exile the family for three thousand miles. Two What do adults think?" Wen Qing said nothing, Zeng Guofan pondered for a while, and asked in a low voice: "Big Sikou, I want to ask you a few more questions."

Qi Yuzao looked at Wenqing and nodded reluctantly. Zeng Guofan then raised his voice and said: "Laonami, yesterday the people in the headquarters liquidated your property, removed the gold and silver jewelry, your real estate and clothing treasures are all included, and it is only worth 700,000 taels. You squandered 300,000 taels of food and drink in two years, and you still have nearly a million taels of silver and more than 300,000 taels of gold. Where did this huge amount of silver and gold go? Lao Nami, the capital of the main hall Jiuli, I have handled several major cases. I believe you have heard about the work of the Ministry. Where did you put the gold and silver, and who did you give them to? I hope you can tell them all, so that the Ministry can offer a discount to intercede for you. .Since the Ministry has meddled in your matter, don't take any chances! Tell me."

Lao Nami replied without thinking: "Master Zeng, the remaining gold and silver were indeed squandered by the slaves! What else do you want me to say?" Zeng Guofan said calmly: "Lao Nami, have you squandered this huge amount of gold and silver? The Ministry will find out after an investigation, and you can't deny it. Today, the Ministry will not punish you. I want to give you a chance to redeem yourself, but you..." Lao Nami lowered his head, and simply showed the posture of a dead pig not afraid of boiling water. Zeng Guofan suddenly squinted his triangular eyes, slapped the desk with his hand, and shouted: "Come here, I will wait for you!"

Raunami shuddered.Qi Yuzao's complexion changed slightly, and he whispered to Wen Qing: "Laonami is a criminal committed by the imperial court. He will be severely punished. If something goes wrong, how can you and I report to the emperor?" These words were clearly addressed to Wen Qing, but they were actually addressed to Zeng Guofan. Wen Qing bowed his head and thought for a while, then whispered to Zeng Guofan: "Mr. Zeng, use punishment carefully and do not make mistakes. Lao Nami is the main party involved." One sentence reminded Zeng Guofan, but the torture equipment in the hall of the Ministry of Punishment had already been carried up brightly, and beads of sweat had already rolled down Lao Nami's face.

Zeng Guofan held his breath and asked, "Laonami, I'm going to ask you again, are you recruiting or not?" Laonami gritted her teeth, pretending to be extremely aggrieved and said, "Master Zeng, what did you ask this servant to recruit? Where did this servant start!" "Okay!" Zeng Guofan patted the desk with his hand: "According to what you said, the hall will give you a night to think about it carefully. Chief Sikou, Master Wen, what do you think?" Qi Yuzao stroked his beard and said, "Master Yi Zeng." Wen Qing looked at Lao Nami and said, "See if you recruit tomorrow!"

Qi Yuzao shouted loudly: "Retire! Take the criminal to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice!" Raunami was dragged out by force. The next day, for some reason, Emperor Daoguang stopped his day. Zeng Guofan went to the office of the Ministry of Rites and sat down for a while, then returned home in a sedan chair. The Imperial Academy also happened to be on vacation that day, so Li Hongzhang, a concubine of the Imperial Academy, invited Qu Ziliang to Zengfu to visit his mentor. As soon as Zhou Sheng saw Li Hongzhang walking in, he wanted to enter the room to report.Li Hongzhang waved his hands with a smile, pulled Qu Ziliang and walked straight in.

As soon as the two of them entered the study, they saw Zeng Guofan was flipping through the laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty, with eight lines of paper spread out in front of him, and the ink had also been researched. It was obvious that he wanted to write something. As soon as Li Hongzhang came in, he greeted Zeng Guofan respectfully. Zeng Guofan put down the Qing regulations in his hand, smiled and helped Li Hongzhang up, and returned a salute to Qu Ziliang, and the three returned to their seats. At this time Li Bao came in with three cups of tea, Li Hongzhang and Qu Ziliang hurriedly left their seats to take them, Li Bao said "use it slowly" and walked out slowly.

It was the first time for Qu Ziliang to enter Zeng's mansion, so he seemed a little cautious. Zeng Guofan smiled and said to Qu Ziliang: "Master Qu, the main hall is now in the Ministry of Rites. Although it is also the deputy governor of the left, you and I have terminated the affiliation. You must not be cautious. Besides, this is at home. , it’s not on business.” Qu Ziliang bowed and replied: "Responding to my lord's words, I am willing to be your subordinate forever. My lord's kindness to me is so great that I can never repay you in my life." Hearing this, Zeng Guofan's face suddenly sank, and he said slowly: "Qu Shiyu is very wrong! This department respects you as a man, and I also believe that this department recommends you to the emperor, you will not pollute this department and you Your own name. Grace comes from above, you should be grateful, you should be grateful to the imperial court!"

Qu Ziliang blushed, bowed his head and replied: "Your Excellency taught me that! The officer is indeed wrong!" Zeng Guofan's expression returned to normal.He glanced at Li Hongzhang, and then said: "This department has lived in Beijing for many years, and never dared to overprotect anyone. I am afraid that because of my own likes and dislikes, I will miss the important affairs of the court. Be careful with your words and conduct as an official. You can do it yourself. Everything Try to be cautious!" At this time, Li Hongzhang said: "The mentor is strict with people. Not only the Han officials are afraid, but also the Manchu officials. When the students are in the Imperial Academy, they often hear the Manchu officials talking about the mentor together. They say that seeing the mentor is worse than seeing the emperor." People are scared!" Qu Ziliang couldn't help but smile slightly.Because although the comments he heard also said that Zeng Guofan was scary, what he said was that Zeng Guofan's triangular eyes made people afraid, which was purely derogatory.When Li Hongzhang said this in a flexible way, it not only became a compliment, but also sounded quite pleasant.From this day on, Qu Ziliang had to take a look at Li Hongzhang, who was more than 20 years younger than himself. The three of them talked until noon, and Qu Ziliang gave Li Hongzhang a wink. Li Hongzhang understood, put down his teacup, stood up and said, "It's time for the mentor to have lunch, so the disciple and Master Qu are leaving. Tomorrow, the disciple and Master Qu will come to visit the teacher again." Zeng Guofan waved his hand and said, "Shaoquan, Qu Shiyu is not an outsider, you two should have lunch here before leaving. Didn't you see that I wrote a note to Li Bao? That's our lunch menu !" Qu Ziliang couldn't help asking: "Do you have to write the recipes for the meals at your house?" Li Hongzhang couldn't help smiling. Zeng Guofan also replied with a smile: "The ancients said that without rules, nothing can be achieved. If there are recipes for my meals here, you can just ask Shaoquan." Li Hongzhang smiled and said, "Master's three meals a day are not as good as ordinary people in Manchuria, so there is no need to write any recipes. The note just now from my mentor is an extra menu specially written for the chef to see you here. I don't know what kind of dishes the teacher added to Mr. Qu and his disciples today?" Zeng Guofan smiled, pretending to be mysterious and said: "You will know soon, but you are so anxious!" Qu Ziliang said: "It's better to be respectful than to obey orders, and I'll disturb you if I'm an official." The lunch was placed in Zeng Guofan's study. When Li Hongzhang and Qu Ziliang looked up, they saw a plate of fried tofu in the middle, surrounded by three different main dishes on three sides of the fried tofu, namely: fried bean curd with spicy peppers, shredded ginger pork strips, and fried peanuts.There are also two small plates containing two kinds of pickled vegetables, which are so colorful and beautiful.Then there are three bowls of white rice and three pairs of bamboo chopsticks. Zeng Guofan picked up the chopsticks, pointed to the dining table and said, "Shaoquan, I'll test you, which one do you think is the extra dish for today?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "This can't pass the test for students. Tofu, peanuts and pickled vegetables are the usual dishes of my mentor. My mentor doesn't eat spicy food because of ringworm. Today's extra dish must be this plate of stir-fried spicy beans. Teacher, students guess Hit it!" Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "You guessed half right, I asked the chef to add that plate of shredded ginger meat today. Shaoquan, you come and go often, but Qu Shiyu is the first time here. You have to make up four large plates to be able to treat guests!" This time it was Qu Ziliang's turn to be surprised, he hesitated for a while before saying: "Sir, it turns out that this is not a common meal for you, it is specially prepared for lower officials. You are not the same now, but you are a second-rank high-ranking official in the dynasty! " Zeng Guofan smiled wryly and said, "Master Qu, you are an old official in Beijing, why are you so confused? Don't talk about second-rank high-ranking officials, even if you are first-rank in the dynasty, the salary given by the court is still considerable. Car bearers, housekeepers, The concierge, the kitchen, everything has to spend money. I am considered good now, my wife and dog live in an old house in Xiangxiang, and my ancestors still have a few acres of Susukida, so I don’t have to worry about eating. Otherwise, you Qu Shiyu I can't even eat such four dishes. Okay, let's eat quickly. Once the tofu is cold, the taste will not be good." The three of them buried their heads in eating.