Chapter 94 The third time, the angry horse is like a dragon, and the whole city fights to see the feast

With curiosity, Zhang Juzheng followed Qian Pu to the backyard of the inn.When he saw the large sedan chair parked in the yard, he couldn't help being surprised. This sedan chair was several times larger than ordinary sedan chairs. The little witch is the big witch.The brocade railings around the sedan chair are carved with patterns of hundreds of birds and flowers, a beak, a feather, a branch and a leaf, all of which are colorful and lifelike.The roof of the sedan chair is densely woven with thin silk strips that are as bright as golden threads, and covered with bright yellow silk that is waterproof. The roof of the sedan chair rolls up like a curved roof.Under the eaves is a circle of hanging curtains about one foot high, also made of gorgeous yellow satin. Under the gentle wind, the scarlet silk ribbons adorned on the curtains sway slightly, like slender jade hands waving on the silk strings, which is breathtaking. Daydreaming suddenly.Half-hidden by the hanging curtain, there are latticed windows lightly covered with white silk. There are four on each side. The stunning window grilles are paper-cuts by well-known local artists. Look at the appearance of this sedan chair.Zhang Juzheng thinks it is luxurious and refined.Then, Qian Pu invited him into the sedan chair to have a look.When he stepped on the carved sedan chair and got into the sedan chair, he was even more surprised by the standard furnishings of the sedan chair house.There are two rooms in this sedan chair house, and there is a book case in the outer room with paper, pen, ink and inkstone on the case.On both sides of the case table, there is a young girl of fifteen or sixteen years old standing on each side. The inner room is relatively small, and only one sheet is placed at the end, which can be used as an incense orchid room for sleeping tiredly.The top is uniquely painted.The lower bunk is a thick scarlet carpet, which is soft and soft without any sound when stepped on: Zhang Juzheng looked inside, outside, up, down, left, and right, and finally his eyes fell on the two little girls. He asked the one standing on the left:

"what's your name?" The little girl squatted down and said nervously, "Yuqin." "What about you?" Zhang Juzheng asked another one. "Yuyi." "Ah, Yiqingyiyi, Jin Yuban said," Zhang Juzheng joked casually, a beautiful image of Yuniang suddenly flashed in his mind, and he felt melancholy, so he asked again, "You don't look like locals." "Ah, the two of them are humble old family members." Qian Pu replied on his behalf. "Where is it?" "Suzhou." "Ah?" Zhang Juzheng's heart seemed to be brushed by a duster, because Yuniang was also from Suzhou.He looked at the two girls carefully, and found that they were both graceful and charming, especially Yuqin, who was full of charm when she lowered her eyebrows and raised her eyes, it seemed that she could find the shadow of Yuniang in her body.Zhang Juzheng couldn't help being moved, and asked again, "Suzhou girl, why did you come to Zhending Mansion?"

Qian Pu replied: "Yuqin and Yuyi are two maids who are served by the humble servants of the concubine. The concubine is good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, so I have trained them both. This time I brought them here to let them Take care of Mr. Shoufu all the way, and have the right to be a book boy." Zhang Juzhengxin didn't mean to refuse, but just asked Yuqin with a smile, "Can you endure the long and bumpy journey?" Yuqin replied: "This big sedan chair is stable. Sitting in it looks like staying at home. It's not going to be hard." Zhang Juzheng got off the sedan chair, and walked around the big sedan chair again, he was really satisfied with this sedan chair, firstly, he could handle official duties in the sedan chair, and secondly, he would have a bed to sleep in if he was tired.But such a huge monster is inconvenient on the road? He asked Champ:

"How many people will carry this sedan chair?" "Thirty-two:" "convenient?" "It's very convenient," Qian Pu said, clapping his hands and ordering the thirty-two slender and round veterans in livery to stand beside him, "lift up your sedan chair and grind two circles in this yard for the Chief Assistant. My lord, take a look." All the veterans were ordered to step forward and take their positions, the leader shouted "get up the sedan chair", the veterans straightened their backs, and started to make two laps in the yard, the sedan chair was very stable without gliding or falling.Zhang Juzheng said with a smile:

"Thirty-two people carry a big sedan chair. It has never been done since ancient times. This is the creation of your Champ." Qian Pu, who was praised, was very happy in his heart. With a fawning look on his face, he glanced at Zhang Juzheng, and answered half of bragging and half of sincerity: "As soon as I got the news of the chief assistant's return to the south, my first thought was how much bumps and bumps I would have to endure during the two thousand-plus-mile journey. So I boldly imagined making a sedan chair, which can be used for reviewing official documents and resting in bed: So from Suzhou invited several craftsmen to discuss how to make this large sedan chair."

"Why hire craftsmen from Suzhou?" "As far as craftsmanship is concerned, Jiangnan is none other than Jiangnan, and most of the skilled craftsmen in Jiangnan are from Suzhou." "I can't tell, this Qian Pu is still a caring person." Zhang Juzheng praised Qian Pu in his heart, and suddenly he felt in a good mood.He said: "Thanks to your kindness, Benfu will transfer to your big sedan chair." At noon on the third day, the brigade entered the city of Zhending.There are gunners in military uniform in front, guards in golden armor in the back, and flags in the middle.Guided by drums and music, surrounded by a long line of sedan chairs, the leader of the group carried a large sedan chair with yellow satin curtains and yellow satin curtains, like a moving golden and jade palace.Have you ever seen such majesty and magnificence, almost all of them came out, and thousands of people crowded to the side of the road to watch the excitement.They knew that sitting in the big sedan chair with carved railings and curtains was the teacher of the current emperor.Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant with power all over the world, would not want to see the greatness of a great man.But the lattice windows were tightly covered, and on both sides there were sixteen ambulances holding gourds in their hands and golden sheathed swords hanging from their waists, riding tall Mongolian horses with manes and manes in their bridles. People are shocked, and the onlookers are all amazed.

Amidst the non-stop sound of "tom tom tom" gun salutes, the car and cavalry team stopped at the square in front of the Zhending government office on Nanmen Street, and Zhang Juzheng's sedan chair was carried directly into the Yimen of the government office, and rushed to greet him Qian Pu personally moved the carved sedan chair, opened the curtain of the sedan chair and asked Zhang Juzheng to get off the sedan chair.After he was invited to the place where he was staying and settled properly, the accompanying people dared to disperse, and under the arrangement of the reception staff of Zhending Mansion, they each found a place to untie their saddles and rest.

That night, in the spacious hall of Zhending Mansion, Qian Pu held a grand reception to welcome Zhang Juzheng.Since leaving Beijing, Zhang Juzheng has traveled through more than a dozen prefectures and counties. The local officials all speculated that the first assistant minister, in the capital full of pearls and pearls, had never tasted any rare delicacies.Even cooking dragons and phoenixes is only a common meal.In order to please Shoufu, they all racked their brains to search for "local flavor" food, and put seven big dishes and eight big dishes on the banquet in one go.The northern diet tastes salty and oily, these two are exactly Zhang Juzheng's taboos.Therefore, Zhang Juzheng lost his appetite every time he had a meal. Although the dishes of each meal were over a hundred, he still felt that there was nothing to eat.The local officials only thought that the chief minister was too picky to be received, but they didn't think about why the chief minister didn't show face.Hearing these news, Qian Pu laughed secretly in his stomach. He laughed that the officials of Baoding Mansion were all out of date ghosts. tastes, truly crafting a menu that surprises.

However, Qian Pu invited Zhang Juzheng from the post shop where he was staying into the hall where the palace lanterns were shining brightly like daytime. Seeing this grand and grand scene, Zhang Juzheng immediately frowned and said reproachfully: "Champ, why do you have to arrange a meal so casually?" Qian Puyin had dealt with Shoufu for two days, and he already knew a little bit about it, and he was no longer just blindly afraid like before.Now with a shy face, he replied: "It has been two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention that no chief assistant has been to our Zhending mansion, even the six divisions and nine ministers have rarely come. Mr. Zhang, you are the first prime minister to visit our Zhending mansion. When we entered the city at noon, Mr. Shoufu and your family also saw it. The people of our Zhending Mansion and the whole city crowded to the roadside to welcome them. Hundreds of officials in the Dingfu are in the same mood as Xiaomin, they all want to have the opportunity to meet the Chief Assistant's dignity and listen to the Chief Assistant's teachings, in order to satisfy the wishes of the officials, the humble staff arranged this meeting."

After hearing Qian Pu's explanation, Zhang Juzheng couldn't say anything more, shook his head, walked into the curtain, and sat down on the guest seat protected by six mahogany landscape screens.Since he has truly determined the boundaries of the mansion by himself, his mood has become better.I didn't see anyone on the road two days ago, and I just took this opportunity to meet with local officials today. At this time, all the officials had already taken their seats, and the thirty tables were packed to the brim. Before the banquet began, Qian Pu had an opening speech as usual.When the master of ceremonies, Zhendingfu Tongzhi, slapped everyone to be quiet, Qian Pu stood up from Zhang Juzheng, straightened his official robes, then cleared his throat, and said eloquently:

"Since ancient times, where the way of heaven and the way of humanity are in harmony, the country will prosper and the common people will live and work in peace and contentment. My Ming Dynasty was especially favored by the way of heaven. Whenever the court encountered a turning point, or even when a traitor was in power, heaven would give birth to a person to calm him down. In such a situation There are many examples in history. For example, Yingzong Beishou fell into the tent of the captive chief Yexian, and a Yu Sumin was born, who bravely shouldered the state affairs and bridged the gap; A Yang Wenxiang, set things right, return the majesty and blessing to the emperor; Jiangxi Ning Wang Zhu Chenhao rebelled, and Wang Yangming was born, who rescued the danger and punished the violence, and the demon atmosphere was relieved; Emperor Wuzong Dajian, the favorite minister Jiang Bin conspired and coveted the throne , then give birth to Yang Wenzhong and Wang Jinxi, who strive to eliminate the opportunity of danger and disaster, and strengthen the foundation of the country: These people are all good ministers of the country's chaos, and they are all the nemesis of treacherous and slippery people. ..." Having said that, Qian Pu glanced at Zhang Juzheng.Seeing him drooping his eyelids slightly, sitting there like a human-made Arhat: I knew that the introduction to the opening remarks was too long to attract his interest, so I hurriedly turned around and elaborated on the current situation: "These good deeds of the previous dynasties will be imitated by future generations, and they will be tirelessly practiced. A talent born for a lifetime must be useful for a lifetime. This is true. But these good ministers in the previous life, compared with the current Shoufu Master Zhang, have more effort to move mountains. , and a little inferior. The ancients said that the sage is ordered, saves the drowning and cherishes virtue, blames himself, and extends favor to the people. The Ming Dynasty has no partiality, and the public has no personal relatives. Therefore, one person governs the world, and the world does not serve one person. These few sentences The words could not be more appropriate when applied to Mr. Zhang." "Imagine that when Master Zhang was in danger in the sixth year of Longqing and was ordered to do so, the current sage is ten years old, and the master of the country is suspicious, and disasters are everywhere. Master Zhang respects the holy love, looks down at the public opinion, eliminates the evil beetles in the officialdom, and observes the success or failure of the grand plan. In the previous traces, the visits are lost in the present. From the incident of the pepper and hematoxylin salaries in the fall of the sixth year of Longqing to the storm of seizing love in the winter of last year, how many hardships Mr. Zhang has experienced in the past six years! The officials are diligent and diligent, the people are happy to work, and the world is prestige. The establishment of this peaceful and prosperous age is because the emperor has chosen a good prime minister for the world. The demeanor of Mr. Zhang, the prime minister, and the future generations will be the patriarch of the country for thousands of years. , can also be predicted..." Champ was impassioned, and when he spoke here, he won a burst of applause.Zhang Juzheng, who had been half-closed his eyes, bowed politely at this moment, and expressed his thanks to the applauding officials. Once the applause fell, Qian Pu continued to speak: "There are unforeseen circumstances, the first assistant's father-in-law Zhang Taigong suddenly ascended to immortality, and the first assistant is in great pain, but for the sake of the imperial court and the common people in the world, he can't return to his hometown to guard the system. He can only hide the grief of mourning and ruining the bones in his heart, and don't take the emperor as an excuse." Seriously, for those who serve the people, how can An Neng have the mind to give up one's filial piety and fulfill the loyalty of the world? Based on this, the chief minister is a role model for us ministers. This time the chief minister returns to his hometown to bury his father. The government, all the officials in the twenty-seven counties of the five prefectures in our prefecture are both sad and excited. What is sad is that the chief minister is filial, and the sorrow of the chief minister is also the sorrow of the world. We wish we could meet Jiangling wore hemp and filial piety, mourning at the coffin. But after mourning, we were extremely excited. After all, the Chief Assistant came to our Zhending Mansion, and all the officials of our Zhending Mansion were able to sit with the Chief Assistant today. It is a great honor. Now, I propose, for the presence of the first assistant, everyone drink this cup to the full!" "Dry!" "Dry!" All the officials lined up together, raised their cups and shouted at the same time, and the whole hall was deafeningly loud.Holding the wine glass in both hands, Qian Pu walked up to Zhang Juzheng respectfully, and said: "Shoufu, please do me a favor and drink this glass of wine." On behalf of the emperor, Zhang Hong, the eunuch of Bingbi, the director of ceremonies, hosted a banquet at the Vacuum Temple in the suburbs of Beijing. Zhang Juzheng drank three cups.After so many days, he has not drunk a drop of alcohol.Tonight, he originally planned not to touch his lips with wine, but firstly, Qian Pu's words made him happy, and secondly, the warm atmosphere at the scene made him feel too generous: at this moment, he could only stand up and hold his glass. After touching Qian Pu, he said with a smile: "It's hard for you to say so many flattering words, so I agree with you, let's do this!" After the toast, the master of ceremonies announced loudly again: "Now, Lord Shoufu please give me instructions!" Another burst of warm applause = Zhang Juzheng knew that in such a situation, a speech was inevitable, so he had already prepared the draft.At this moment, he slowly left the table and took a few steps, his sharp eyes patrolling the field for a week.The hall was suddenly silent, and everyone almost held their breath: Zhang Juzheng first smiled lightly, and then said: "Just now, your prefect, Mr. Qian Puqian, said a lot of flattery in front of Benfu: No matter whether he is sincere or not, he is still suspected of flattering. What kind of former good minister compared to me, Zhang Juzheng? Shanxin's strength is slightly inferior, this is nonsense, you don't have to take it seriously. But there is one thing he said is true, I, Zhang Juzheng, ascended the position of chief assistant, and I was ordered in the face of danger. There are many ways to be an official, and some people are vain Indifferent, modest and polite, self-examination when encountering problems. Although unwilling to cooperate with evil, but dare not change the past and innovate bravely. This kind of person is a clean stream. The first priority in his eyes is personal fame, and the second is the imperial court. ;Some people have big mellowness and small flaws. Such and other flaws can be easily identified, but he has the court in mind, does not fear power, does not avoid disasters, does not flatter and flatter, and does not pretend to be a hypocrite. Such an official , is a follower..." Speaking of this, Zhang Juzheng paused for a moment, then glanced around again, and saw that everyone was tense and listened with their ears stunned. Suddenly he felt that his tone was too strict, so his tone softened: "You are all state shepherds and county magistrates, and you all have the responsibility of guarding the land and keeping the people safe. Those who rule the world are people-oriented. If they want to make the people live and work in peace and contentment, only the magistrates and county magistrates. There are more than 1,300 county magistrates in the country. It's really difficult for everyone to be wise and upright. You probably don't know that there are six screens on the side of Danbi in the Wenhua Hall, just like the one behind me. The list of county officials. The emperor knows at a glance who is the county magistrate in which county. The emperor must read the daily residence newspapers and memorials from various places. Therefore, although he lives in Jiuchong, he has a clear understanding of the government, government and people in the world. In the chest. When a county magistrate opens a vacancy, there will be a vacancy on the list of officials. If it is not filled in three days, the emperor will ask the reason. Therefore, you should not think that the emperor is far away. In fact, your words and deeds are all in the The emperor's deep concern. "If a state has a good state shepherd, the state will be stable. If a county has a good county magistrate, the whole county will be blessed. Since ancient times, the state guards and county magistrates have chosen virtuous virtues. Therefore, the emperor can arch above the temple and under the heavy corridors, and the people will not worry or complain. Therefore, people who have not been a county magistrate do not know the difficulties of governing, and do not know how to love the people. According to this supplement The most difficult official in the world is probably the county magistrate. Just now Qian Pu said that I am a good minister. Let me ask, if all the county magistrates in the world neglect their duties and serve the common people, where can I get the reputation of being a good minister? Based on this, I hereby offer a toast to everyone, for your hard work!" Shoufu's words are both kind and powerful, and every word touches people's hearts, and the listeners are all moved.Seeing Shoufu raise a glass to toast at this moment, everyone was stunned at first, but then they all understood, and immediately stood up in unison, shouting "Thank you Shoufu!" while clinking the wine glasses loudly. Zhang Juzheng drank the wine in the glass with a lift of his neck. Seeing everyone chatting and cheering, the atmosphere in the venue was already lively. He suddenly coughed majesticly again, and when the hall returned to calm, he said with a downcast face: "Over the past few years, Zhending Mansion's political performance has only been average when compared with the whole country. Yesterday, Qian Pu told me that Zhending Mansion should learn from Shandong and immediately begin clearing the land and complete the campaign within a year. I told him, don’t brag first, try to do it first. The rich and powerful in Zhending’s mansion deceived the farmers. If you have to be careful about his fields, isn’t that the same as digging his ancestral grave? As the saying goes, money can buy ghosts Grinding the mill. People bribe powerful families with money. When the time comes, those who come to intercede may break the threshold of your Mr. Qian. Can you stop it? Some officials are eager to make contributions. There are even more abominable people who dare to openly bribe under my Zhang Juzheng's nose, it is really lawless!" When Zhang Juzheng said these words, he didn't shout hysterically, but spoke in a calm and slow voice, but the listeners were as shocked as thunder.All of a sudden, the originally warm and dry living room turned into an ice cellar.The magistrate of Fu, who was the master of ceremonies, didn't know what to do, so he stood there and looked at Qian Pu.Champ was also looking at him, and the two looked at each other.Qian Pu lowered his head, staring at the wine glass in front of him in a daze. Zhang Juzheng looked at the embarrassed expressions of all the officials, and suddenly shouted behind the screen: "Li Ke!" "exist!" With a resounding promise, Li Ke, dressed in the military uniform of a small school, stepped out, holding a wooden plate in his hand: Zhang Juzheng ordered: "Li Ke. Go around the field and let everyone see what is on this plate?" Li Ke got the order, holding the wooden tray with both hands, and walked through the banquet.All the officials at the table stretched their heads to look, only to see that there were nine silver ingots of five taels on the plate.After walking around the field, Li Ke walked back to Zhang Juzheng and stood still.Zhang Juzheng reached out his hand and took out a silver ingot from the wooden tray, held it under the palace lantern, shook it and said: "You all see clearly that this is a silver ingot. Everyone will ask, where did this silver ingot come from? Bensuke is here to tell you that it was given by one of you!" As soon as this remark came out, there was a bang in the hall, everyone looked at each other, and there was a lot of chatter.Zhang Juzheng threw the silver ingot into the wooden tray again, signaled Li Ke to step back, and loudly explained the whole story: "It's very dark today, just before Benfu came to this hall for a banquet, Li Ke came to tell me that someone gave him five taels of silver, saying that he had worked hard in Zhending Mansion, and this was the money for tea. I asked Li Ke, did you take it alone, or did someone else take it? Li Ke went out to ask the people around him, and after asking eight people, he took back eight silver ingots. Look, how generous and generous this is! There were a thousand or several hundred people traveling south with Benfu, and even if two hundred of them received the tea money, the total would be ten thousand taels. How much is the annual tax money of Zhending Mansion? If I remember correctly, over It's only one hundred thousand taels. Where did the ten thousand taels of silver come from? The country's tax money is very important. In the end, it's not a clever trick to apportion it on the common people. You are all court officials, and you all know that Zhang Juzheng's biggest aversion is ink and bribery. Fu has sent someone to investigate, and those who followed me to the south, no matter who they are, have received benefits like 'tea money', all of them will be handed over. If anyone hides and refuses to hand over, once found out, they will be tortured and returned to Beijing immediately, and severely punished No loan. As for who gave it to me, in order not to spoil everyone’s interest tonight, Honsuke will not pursue it for the time being. After talking for a long time, everyone must be hungry. Now, please enjoy this delicious meal to the fullest .” There were only some cold dishes on the table before, Zhang Juzheng just sat down after speaking, the master of ceremonies relieved quickly raised his voice and shouted: "Hot food—" For the dinner tonight, Champ had really used his brains.He no longer unearthed local flavors like the officials in Baoding Prefecture, but carefully prepared a Huaiyang dish according to Zhang Juzheng's light eating habits.Famous specialties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, such as Jinhua ham, Hangzhou soft-shelled turtle, Songjiang yellow squirrel, Jiangyin anchovy, Taizhou Tianmo bamboo shoots, Suzhou honey-soaked carved dates, Wuxi sugar-cured pork ribs, Shaoxing daughter red, Huzhou bayberry wine and other rare delicacies. Before the banquet, Zhang Juzheng whetted his appetite in the face of these delicious dishes and drinks. He ate a mouthful of delicious Jiangyin broiled anchovy, and asked Qian Pu: "Where did the chef make this?" Zhang Juzheng's sudden anger over the "tea money" matter really caught Qian Pu by surprise, and it must be known that this was all a "surprise victory" program arranged by him.For a while, he was in a state of disorientation, always thinking about what the chief assistant would do next.Therefore, no matter how good the dishes are, they can't arouse his appetite. At this moment, the chief assistant asked a question, and he forced a smile and replied: "The chef of Tianxinglou in Yangzhou is a master of Huaiyang cuisine." "Did you come here on purpose?" "No, no," Qian Pu didn't dare to admit it, and only covered it up, "I brought it when I was transferred from Yangzhou to Zhending Mansion." Zhang Juzheng didn't delve into it, but said excitedly: "There is no better delicacy in the world than Huaiyang. I remember many years ago, the old master Xu Jie invited Bugu to Huaiyang restaurant in the capital for dinner. There was a bowl of stewed crucian carp with shredded radish. I still have a lingering taste in my mouth." Zhang Juzheng talked about delicious food over a cup, as if he had never been angry at all tonight, and Qian Pu finally learned the thunderous method of the chief assistant who keeps quiet without speaking and makes people tremble without anger.Now there is no other way but to step up flattery, he called the Tongzhi of Zhending Mansion and asked him: "Master Shoufu praised stewed crucian carp with shredded radish, is it arranged for tonight?" The Tongzhi was slightly surprised and replied: "There is this dish. Did your magistrate personally arrange this menu? Why did you forget?" "Oh, yes, look at my memory," Champ looked at the menu on the table, patted his head, and smiled dryly.He had been waiting for Zhang Juzheng to talk to him about the "tea money", and seeing that Zhang Juzheng kept silent, he couldn't hold back anymore, so he took the initiative to say, "Shou Fu, the matter of tea money, the humble official must strictly investigate." Zhang Juzheng nodded, and Qian Pu wanted to continue explaining himself, when he suddenly saw a person walking over crookedly with a wine jug, a few feet away from the table, and the person shouted: "Master Shoufu, I am here to toast you." Zhang Juzheng saw that this person was wearing a seventh-grade men's clothing, the cuffs were heavily stained, and his face was pimpled, as if he had never been clean, he felt a little displeased at first, and he asked Qian Pu: "Who is this guy?" "The magistrate of Zhending County is called Kang Liqian." Qian Pu said, and reprimanded Kang Ligan, "Old Kang, what are you going to do? You don't even look around when you're drunk." "We've only had a few glasses of wine, how can we get drunk? Don't worry, Mr. Qian, we won't go crazy." Kang Liqian said, put the jug on the table, then slipped to the ground, and knocked three times to Zhang Juzheng With a ringing head, he said in his mouth, "Kang Liqian, a low-ranking officer, kowtows to Mr. Chief Assistant." When he made a fuss, the already noisy hall quieted down again, and everyone turned their suspicious eyes over, wanting to see what kind of tricks this Kang Ligan was playing. This kneeling came suddenly, Zhang Juzheng didn't expect it, so he had to order him to get up, and then asked him: "What's the matter with you?" "It's false to toast the chief minister, but it's true that the humble official will drink as a fine." Kang Liqian said, holding the jug to the spout and gulping a few more times. "Why do you have to drink as a fine?" Zhang Juzheng asked patiently. "Criminal crime." "What crime did you commit?" "The tea money for the followers around you are all given by the humble staff." "you?" Zhang Juzheng only knew that someone gave tea money, but it was too late to find out who did it.Now that Kang Liqian took the initiative to admit it, he was surprised. He asked: "How much silver did you send?" "Looking back at Mr. Fu, I did prepare 200 copies, but only sent out more than 90 copies." "Why are you sending it?" "Because of the corruption in the officialdom, I dare not refuse to give up humble positions." "There's no reason for that," Zhang Juzheng slapped the table and stood up, angrily angrily said, "Could it be that I, Zhang Juzheng, can't ask you for a bribe?" Kang Liqian smiled bleakly, and said, "It is true that the first assistant did not ask for bribes, and none of the first assistant's entourage asked for money from lowly officials. But the long-standing problems in the officialdom have accumulated for many years. When passing through the peak, besides eating and drinking, there is also a Free money. The common people say it well, there is no cat who does not eat fish, and there is no official who does not love money. The chief minister is clean and does not love money, and has long been famous. But I have seen many high-ranking officials in humble positions, and they say they are honest. But there is greed in his heart. He is honest and upright in the yamen during the day, and it is not wrong to accept bribes at home at night. If you treat him according to the reputation of integrity, he will treat you like wine and carrots. He praises you on the surface, but hates you to death in his heart The humble official thinks that the chief assistant is also such a person, so according to the usual practice, give tea money to your entourage. As the saying goes, the king of hell likes to deal with little ghosts, and the people around high-ranking officials all raise their arms and claim to be saints and sages. To put it bluntly, isn’t it a fox pretending to be a tiger? You don’t like it, but you don’t dare to offend. If a county magistrate wants to benefit the people of the county, the most important thing is not to offend Shangfeng: once offended, the county magistrate will wear shoes for you , Sit on the bench, this is still a trivial matter, the most fearful thing is to send extra taxes and corvees to the county under your jurisdiction. In this way, the people in the border will be miserable? Therefore, whenever there is a border crossing, our local officials , there is nothing like serving a Bodhisattva with sincerity, fear and care. Master Chief Assistant, do you think that the humble official is willing to do this? This is really out of helplessness!" When Kang Liqian said this, it was like tearing open a bloody scar, so the muscles on his face convulsed, his throat choked up and he couldn't speak anymore.All the officials present were sweating for him, and they also knew that everything Kang Liqian said was true, but how could such filthy deeds be exposed in court? Kang Liqian is usually cautious, if he hadn't drunk a few more tonight With yellow soup in his mouth, he would never dare to be so presumptuous.Besides Zhang Juzheng, since he became the first assistant, no official has ever dared to speak so aggressively in front of him.These words sounded very harsh to him, but after careful scrutiny, they were not lies.He suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and asked coldly: "Is it your idea or someone ordered you to send tea money?" At this question, Champ sitting next to him seemed to have been stung by a snake.This time, it cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to receive Zhang Juzheng for transit.The treasury couldn't squeeze out this much silver, so he forced it to be apportioned among the counties.The tea money is the bulk of the expenditure, and he forcibly apportioned it to Zhending County.He was afraid that Kang Liqian would tell the truth, and when he was scratching his head and scratching his head like sitting on pins and needles, he only heard Kang Ligan answer: "The humble job was not instructed by anyone, and it was my idea to send tea money. Therefore, all the responsibilities are borne by myself." "Where did you get this ten thousand taels of silver?" "I would like to report to Lord Shoufu that this sum of money was not obtained by stealing the people's fat and anointing, but by stealing from a lowly position." "Treating robbers?" "Yes, against robbers." Kang Liqian hiccupped a few times in a row, seemed to be more sober, and continued to answer, "I have been working as a magistrate in Zhending County for five years. Among the 27 county magistrates in Zhending Prefecture , we are the one with the longest time. As soon as I took office, I found that there were too few bridges on the Hutuo River in the territory, and it was extremely inconvenient for people on both sides of the bank to pass by. The river is the widest, and it is very difficult for farmers to cross the river and cultivate land, so we decided to build one there first. We asked someone to measure and calculate, and it would cost 10,000 taels of silver to build a strong stone bridge in Fanggezhuang. After making up our minds, The most difficult thing is to raise money. The country’s taxes must not be less than one per cent, and it cannot be apportioned to increase the burden on the common people. , There are many thieves' dens, stealing cattle, sheep, chickens, dogs, even women and children, all kinds of cases have happened. The police in the county are busy all year round, but the thieves are like leeks in the field. One stubble was cut and another stubble was grown. The humble official did not believe in this evil, so he set up a regulation, caught a thief, and took his three relatives and six relatives into prison and locked them up. Heavy fines range from a minimum of one tael of silver to ten taels of twenty taels. There is no flexibility in taking money and letting people go: in this way, although it is a bit harsher, it still works. In the first year, our county government collected nearly five thousand A fine of two taels of silver; in the second year, it dropped sharply to more than two thousand taels, and then decreased every year: By the spring of this year, the thieves in the county had basically disappeared, and the fines had finally accumulated to ten thousand taels. The Zhuang Bridge coincided with the transit of the capital and the auxiliary, so I had to borrow the fine money temporarily and changed it to tea money: " After listening to Kang Liqian's narration, Zhang Juzheng's frosty face eased a little, and he couldn't help sighing: "I can't tell, you're still an understanding officer." "I only understand that Lao Kang is still an upright official." Qian Pu was grateful for Kang Liqian's initiative to take responsibility, and wished he could have a few more mouths to say good things for him, "Old Kang, you are wearing a white robe under your official robe." Clothes?" Kang Liqian nodded. "What patchwork clothes?" Zhang Juzheng asked. Qian Pu felt that seeing is believing no matter how much he explained, so he said to Kang Liqian, "Old Kang, take off your official robe and let the chief assistant take a look." Kang Liqian took off his official robe embarrassingly, revealing his shirt and underpants. He saw patches one after another, one deep and one shallow, but he couldn't find a piece of clean cloth that was as big as the mouth of a bowl. "Ah, is this your patchwork robe?" Zhang Juzheng asked in surprise. Kang Li blushed and couldn't answer, so it was Qian Pu who answered for him: "This old Kang is a famous old man, and the official robes on the outside are related to the dignity of the court, so he still dare not be too sloppy, but the clothes inside are not worn. He couldn't absorb the needle like a fishnet, and he refused to throw it away." Zhang Juzheng said: "Although the salary of the imperial court is not rich enough, it will not make you naked. Where is your money?" It was still Qian Pu who replied: "In addition to supporting his family, he has saved a little money from his private house, and every spring, he gives it to beggars." "It seems that Ben Fu wrongly blamed you," Zhang Juzheng got up and walked slowly to Kang Liqian.He patted him affectionately on the shoulder, "Integrity officials must also pay bribes. It can be seen that the corruption in the officialdom has reached its peak. I will return all the tea money to you. I hope that the Hutuo River Bridge in Fanggezhuang can be completed one day sooner." "Thank you, Chief Assistant!" Kang Ligan changed from his previous madness and became very cramped.Looking at the complex expressions of the officials in front of him, Zhang Juzheng said with deep emotion: "Benfu was in Zhending Mansion for two days, and met two county magistrates, one was Han Liqi, and the other was this Kang Liqian. These two were the officials I was looking for, and they were role models for all county magistrates in the world. A small The small Zhending Mansion is like a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger. By extension, how many experienced officials and good ministers should there be in every prefecture and county in the country! Bu Gu is on duty in the cabinet every day, and he always laments the lack of talents in state affairs. It seems that there are no talents , but our vision is not enough! It is not that local officials are willing to be corrupt, but that the upper beam is not upright and the lower beam is crooked..." Before Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, all the officials couldn't help clapping their hands and cheering again.Compared with the previous applause, this time it was not only enthusiastic, but also lasted for a long time.From this, Zhang Juzheng heard the official's intentions. He was about to make use of the topic to explain his policy ideas, but Li Ke suddenly ran up and said to him in a low voice: "My lord, there are urgent documents from the cabinet." "Ah!" Zhang Juzheng followed Li Ke to the back of the screen, took the cowhide envelope sealed with wax lacquer from the postman, opened it, took out the letter and opened it to read, his face suddenly changed color.