Comeback (Three)

In order to welcome the arrival of the imperial envoy, officials of Henan Prefecture spent a lot of effort. The Henan Prefecture Office, located in Luoyang City, was cleaned up spotlessly, and the stone stool in the garden was wiped at least three times. More than ten days ago, the prefect's family moved out of the government office to show their respect for the two sons-in-laws.

When the government office opened the door early in the morning, the drum officer Mei Daddy took a rag to wipe the big drum in front of the government office. The newly painted red dress on the drum body reflected the wrinkled clothes of Mr. Mei, which made him look even more embarrassed.

It was said that when the drum sounded, there were tens of thousands of taels of gold. Although the servants who were applauding and drumming at the yamen were white servants without salary, their income was ranked among the yamen. Baeksheng Mei’s father was not rich and spent hundreds of taels of silver this spring. He finally bought this errand. Before he could recover the money, he caught the imperial envoy to inspect Henan. Half a month ago, the yamen posted a notice that people were strictly prohibited from going to the near-domestic yamen to threaten the safety of the imperial envoy, otherwise the whole family would be punished according to the law. No one would beat the drum and complain, and Dad Mei would not receive the filial piety of beating the drum. No matter whether his income was stable in the money shop, the debt collector blocked the door and asked for money, and lowered the door three inches.

The imperial envoy did not leave for a day, and he could not get his filial piety money for a day. Every day, when watching the entourages coming in and out of the backyard, Dad Mei kept burning incense in private, "God of Wealth, please let the two prince consorts go quickly. I bought a year's errand, and it would be a day less for a day."

"Stop, what are you doing?" A loud shout suddenly came from behind, which scared Dad Mei's hand so much that his hands shivered and the rag almost fell to the ground.

"Zhao Er's damn bastard, you won't whisper in a low voice, alarm the imperial envoy, and you won't be able to peel your skin." Dad Mei cursed in a low voice and turned around to look again. This time the rag in his hand completely fell to the ground. Han Shan, a comrade from Gaoji Money House, led a handsome young man and was walking towards him.

"Let's look for him." The young man didn't buy the account of Zhao Er and his gang of yamen runners. He pointed his thin fingers directly towards Dad Mei.

Seeing the creditor coming to the door, Mr. Mei had to pretend to be smiling even if she was angry, and gestured to Zhao Er and said, "Old Zhao, my friend is not an outsider. I have borrowed it, borrowed it, and caused trouble for my brothers."

"Mr. Mei's friend, then you go there. If you have any questions, try to go to your house to chat. This is at the yamen. Don't let the master see it and everyone is not easy to take care of." Zhao Erting gave Dad Mei face. Dad Mei was originally a lost scholar and had a reputation. Only when his family was in decline could he eat in the yamen. Although he was a little sloppy, he usually needed to write a letter to make a calculation or something, so the relationship was relatively close.

"I know this, you are busy, you are busy," Mr. Mei called Gong one after another, first sent Zhao Er away, turned his head and said to the shopkeeper in the bank, "Master Han, what wind has blown you? I'm just listening. You can take care of the things that are not good. Otherwise, you can go to the teahouse at the corner to wait for me first, and let's have a good talk later."

"Northwest Feng'er"! The guy named Han rolled his eyelids and turned his head aside. He said in a strange voice: "Old Mei, why are you also a scholar? You have to talk about the principle of paying back the debt. Besides, this money house has the shares of your magistrate. If you owe the money house, you borrow the magistrate's money. You don't understand the rules of Henan. If you don't pay back the debt, you have to stand a cage."

"Master Han, Mr. Han, please give me two days to give you a grace. In a few days, the imperial envoy left, and I will pay the interest for this month first." Mr. Mei's face turned pale and he kept bowing to the client. After owing money from Gaoji Money House, Mr. Mei regretted it so much that his intestines were almost green. In order to do this job that was harmful to nature, he knew that the interest of Gaoji Money House was four times that of Xuji's ticket number, but he still couldn't resist the temptation to make money. There was no way, then Xuji only lent money to a regular businessman, and he did not lend him a white man who had no guarantee of the innocence.

"Grant, Lao Mei, why are we all fellow villagers? I can't force you to the dead," the man named Han raised his neck, shook his legs like a sheep, and smiled without laughing. "You haven't seen the sac in the cage before. No matter how hard it is, you will be disabled even if you don't die in five days. You are a scholar, probably won't last two days."

"You always give up your hands, you always give up your hands." Old Ma's face became paler and almost fell to the ground.

After being scared enough, the guy winked at the young man beside him, sucked his teeth, "Tsk, hiss, what should you do if you call me? I can't do it either. This is Mr. Xin, who is here to check the accounts in our general account. You can tell him what you say!"

"Yes, yes," Dad Mei stretched out her sleeves to wipe the sweat from her head, raised her head that was about to fall to the ground, and bowed to the person who came with the money shop and said, "I don't know if the shopkeeper Xin is here, I'm not far away. Please give you a cup of Xinyang Maojianer this year. You come from all the way to drink a little tea to relieve the heat."

The young man was amused by him as if he had dried shrimps and was so embarrassed that he was so embarrassed that he could not say anything. Dad Mei was stunned when he heard the laughter, and couldn't help but look up and saw a jade wrist covered with exotic patterns gently resting on a charming face. A pair of blue eyes happened to be looking at him. When he met, a wave of soul-abstracting waves came. Even though he was in his forties, Dad Mei's Adam's apple still moved up and down several times involuntarily, and his body shook, almost falling. He finally calmed his mind and turned his eyes to the friend named Han, who was already fascinated. A bright white line fell straight from the corner of his mouth to the front collar without even realizing it.

My fucking year is not good this year, and I have met a fairy. My father Mei read a few scriptures in his stomach and said stutteringly: "Girl, the shopkeeper's girl, this place is at the yamen, it is not convenient to speak. Do you think we are going to a teahouse to sit? Don't worry about money. I still have an ancestral house at home, so I'll take action tomorrow. Do you give me some free time?"

"Don't worry about money, you'll be spared from drinking tea. I'll ask you for some small things. It won't take a few minutes. If you agree, you don't even need the capital and interest. I can still make the decision for this little money." The charming fairy spoke very quickly, but the coldness in his words made people feel cold in his heels under the sun.

After all, Dad Mei was a yamen, and knew that it was definitely not a good thing. He might have done it, so he was a job of silly losing his head. He didn't dare to accept it. He raised his foot and walked a few steps to the side and whispered: "Miss, please borrow a step. I will pay the money to the cabinet tomorrow. The girl's big business, the young man said lightly, and I probably won't be able to help much."

"Don't worry, it's not difficult for you. I want to meet the imperial envoy, Master Wu. Can you give me some convenience to use the drum hammer? The money for beating the drums will be doubled according to your Henan rules?" The fairy put away her smile, and her calm expression showed a bit of heroism that is rare in a woman's body, which makes people more and more dazzling.

"Ah," Mr. Mei took a deep breath and took a few steps back. After this, her words became more and more neat: "Girl, even if you put the knife on my neck, I don't dare to do this. Can the magistrate forgive me easily? I will pay back the money tomorrow morning. Don't let me do this business, I don't have the courage"!

"Mr. Mei, I have something urgent. If you have something to do with you Henan, please help me this time. The little woman will never forget your kindness in this life. Please." The fairy's blue eyes closed gently and slowly opened, and in an instant she was filled with tears. She greeted Dad Mei with a little sob as a courtesy, which was so weak. The guy next to him cursed Dad Mei in his heart and almost stood up without frowning.

Dad Mei is not a person who is not confused by his arms. He keeps retreating, his hands shaking like a windmill. "Girl, don't do this, I really can't take it. There is a saying that the drum sounds without a heavy hammer. The drum sounds as soon as it touches, and you can hear it several miles away. As soon as the drum sounds, the entire yamen servants have to rush out. I can't give you no matter what the drum hammer says." After that, he carefully put the drum hammer in his arms, turned around and walked to the yamen, shouting, "Brother Zhao, help me deliver the guests, I'm busy this morning."

After hearing this, the blue-eyed girl put away her tears. After her thoughts changed, she had already made up her mind. She stretched out her hand to pull the cloth hat on her head, and she fell with a faint golden hair like a wave. Taking advantage of the amazing skills of her friend and the officer who arrived, she rushed to the front of the yamen in a few steps, and beat the banana on the surface of the drum like rain.

"It's unfair." The guy named Han came to his senses and his first reaction was that he shouted at the top of his throat with a lifeless voice.

"It's unfair, the little woman is unfair, the little woman asks the imperial envoy to take charge." A clear and gentle female voice quarreled the government office that had been silent for more than half a month. The officers who heard the drums rushed out of the class room, tidied up the guys while lined up. The Magistrate Niu, who was paying the silver from the back hall, immediately turned yellow like a crop that had been beaten by frost, and he kept bowing to Wu Anguo and Li Qi in embarrassment. Large beads of sweat seeped out from the roots of the temples and flowed down his ears.

The Henan Provincial Administration and the General Office are not in Luoyang. The prefect is the largest local official in Luoyang. He has been promoted and sued for prisons and lawsuits, and has all taxes and service, and has educated the people. The duties are responsibilities that must be said to be serious. The prefect Niu himself is not a clean official, and he is timid and afraid of things, and is very cowardly. His subordinates are in charge of the magistrate, magistrate, prosecutor, experience, governor, magistrate, prosecutor, prison, and prefecture, and county officials are naturally not much clearer than the Yellow River. There are also white officials who do not receive the salary of the court. The white officials, white soldiers, gray clothes are under the robbers and bully the good, which makes the government office unrest throughout the year.

Instead, the officials took pride in this and invented countless shameful means of making money. (Note: Official history records that Bai Yuan was the general name of the non-staff civil servant in the yamen in the Ming Dynasty; Bai Yuan was the general name of the non-staff civil servant, with an identity as the current assistant police officer. Gray-clothed identity was lower, and he was the helper of the white servant, responsible for additional tax collection, extortion and other matters. If something happened, he was usually pulled out to blame him. During the most honest political period in the Ming Dynasty, gray-clothed personnel were also more than ten times that of the formal officials. In the Qing Dynasty, it was even more unbearable, with more than twenty hiring gangs outside of a position).

The imperial envoy was so angry these days. The governor, who was usually supported by everyone, hid three hundred miles away and did not dare to show up. The matter of chasing the stolen money for the grain sold fell on the head of the Magistrate Niu, and he was so busy that he had finally collected all the money. He heard the sound of beating drums and making trouble at the critical moment, which made him not nervous.

About a quarter of an hour, officials from all over the world arrived. The hall shouted, and the prefect Niu plucked up his courage to order, "Bring the injustice to the hall." The entire yamen suddenly became silent, and the sound of tinging iron chains pulling from far to near, which was particularly clear.

As soon as he saw the man who was advancing, Magistrate Niu immediately buzzed his head, and two hot flames burst out of his eyes. He calmed down several times before he took his eyes back. He turned to look at the officials of all sizes and big names under his command, and was already shocked like clay sculptures and wood sculptures. Even though the two princes were well-informed, they were also shocked by the appearance of the woman locked by the servants in the hall. Almost everyone couldn't help but muttered: "Fairy, I really saw the Fairy today"!

The prince-in-law Li Qi reacted quickly, coughed gently, pulled everyone's eyes back from the woman, turned his head to ask the prefect next to him, "Dare you dare to ask Lord Niu, do you have to lock up any rules for complaints first?"

"This...", Magistrate Niu hid back and almost turned over the chair. He cursed in his heart that his subordinates had no eyes. When did it be that he dared to do such a reckless act in front of the two imperial envoys.

If the prefect is defeated, the life of the imperial envoy will be in danger as soon as the imperial envoy leaves. Zhao Er, who is holding the iron chain, quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Return to the imperial envoy, this unruly woman ignores the national laws and does not need drum hammers and beats the drums randomly, so her subordinates take it down. Since she has entered the court, she will remove the torture instruments."

After saying that, he pretended not to hear the humming from the prince-in-law Li Qi's nose, opened the chain, and retreated aside in shame.

Wu Anguo was too lazy to get involved with the prefect in such a small matter, and ordered the woman kneeling on the ground to stand up and talk, and then asked gently: "The woman below, I am the imperial envoy you want to meet. If you have anything, just say it."

The woman stood up, frowned like Xizi holding her heart, sniffed her breath, rubbed her wrists that were locked, and walked up to salute, "Sir, the little woman is the girl of the boss of the General Office of Gaoji Trading Company. My master was wronged. I asked my master to avenge my master."

"Gaoji Trading Company, your master?" Wu Anguo didn't know when Gaoji Trading Company appeared. He thought it was an emerging northern consortium and was stunned for a moment.

The prince-in-law Li Qi had long guessed that such a woman must be a female slave bought by a wealthy family from the Western Regions. Those who can use such beautiful female slaves may have hidden secrets behind them. The level of officials who dare to arrest such a master cannot be too low. First, he gave Wu Anguo a wink and blocked his words. Then he asked softly: "Woman who complained, your master is wronged. You should go to the local magistrate yamen to sue. Master Wu and his official came to provide relief to local disaster victims. It is of great importance and there is no time to delay such small matters."

"Wei..., Wu..." The officer next to him was afraid that the lawsuit would be brought to the heads of the local officials. Hearing Li Qi's words, there was no reason not to seize the opportunity. He shouted out his power, which scared the woman's legs sobbed and fell to the ground, sobbing and crying, like a cherry blossom with rain.

This cry made everyone cry so embarrassed that they stopped Tang Wei and turned to see what the imperial envoy would do.

"Photo the gavel, blast her out, blast her out, blast her out," Prefect Niu shouted in his stomach, wishing he could handle the matter himself, looking at Wu Anguo with unlimited eager eyes.

Wu Anguo has never seen this scene. He has only watched the official case trial in movies. When he came to the Ming Dynasty, he was a serious eight-book civil servant for the first time. He was inevitably in a hurry. Li Qi was the master of all things along the way. He was equivalent to an apprentice. He couldn't digest the knowledge he learned every day, and he could not digest the ability to adapt. Seeing the woman crying pitifully, he couldn't help but feel compassion in his heart. He exchanged glances with Li Qi and said gently: "Don't cry first, tell me the person you want to sue first. If you can make the decision, we will give you an explanation."

The woman slowly stopped her sad voice and said softly: "This official who bullies my master is of high power and cannot control the local area, so the little woman shows up without regard for shame and comes to see two adults from all over the world. If the two adults don't care, the little woman will have to go to Beijing to sue the emperor."

What a bold woman, Magistrate Niu couldn't help but praise her in his heart. It was probably not his Henan Prefecture's business. The stone hanging in his heart loosened and immediately cheered for this woman. The Ming Dynasty encouraged the people to sue the officials, but because of the journey and funds, there were very few people who went to Beijing to file complaints every year. Ordinary people could tolerate bullying and could not help it. At most, they went to the relevant inspectors to call Qu. There were not many strong men who could make up their minds to file lawsuits, let alone a female slave from a wealthy family.

But that official was too stupid. Since he had done something to bully people, he simply bullied them to the end. He set up a condom for the person who dared to complain to the family to limit all the people who dared to sue the case. Even if they were arrested, they would not be difficult to write a guarantee that they would never overturn the case. If it really doesn't work, sending two considerate subordinates to pretend to be bandits and intercept them on the road, in short, they can all stop the situation from expanding. If such a beauty comes out, it will be a bad person who is fascinated by beauty. Maybe he will take the lawsuit. When the small matter becomes bigger, it will cause a lot of trouble.

Li Qi also secretly admired the woman's courage, thinking that anyway, this matter will be settled sooner or later, so it's better to ask. Even if she can't control her, she will send someone to the capital safely because of her loyalty to protecting her master. She nodded to Wu Anguo, and then asked warmly: "You tell me which official I am and who can manage it. I will try to ask as much as possible. If I can't control it, I will give you an explanation."

The woman raised her head and sent Li Qi a thankful feeling with her watery blue eyes. She gritted her teeth and said loudly: "What the little woman wants to sue is Guo Pu, the governor of the four provinces. Last month, he asked my house to ask questions, but has not been released yet. She has neither reason nor evidence. My wife sent someone to visit her, but all of them were blocked. The master's life and death are still unknown. Please ask the imperial envoy to make the decision for the little woman."

Notes from Drunkard: 1. In the early Ming Dynasty, the government agencies were streamlined, but officials from all over the country tried to increase the number of people who ate imperial grain. In this section, Mr. Mei was such a person. According to Mr. Wu Si's research, during the politically honest Zhu Yuanzhang era, there were more than 3,000 non-staff officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces alone. Hey, the entire group of legal robbery teams.
Chapter completed!