A group of beautiful Suzhou girls had never been on a train before, and they were very curious when they took the train for the first time. There was a sightseeing plank road outside the carriage. They did not go into the carriage to rest. They gathered on the plank road, holding on to the railings, looking at the scenery outside, and chattering.
The train slowly drove out from Suzhou Station with shouts of joy. Although it was already late autumn, the trees on both sides of the railway were still lush and green, unique to the south of the Yangtze River. The girls with colorful branches looked at it curiously. Suddenly, someone gave birth to a child.
cried: "Look at that good sign of life!"
On the official road parallel to the railway, three carriages were traveling north and passed by the southbound train. The handsome young man sitting on the roof heard the excited shouts of the girls on the train and looked up.
Then he turned his head numbly and stared ahead. This man was none other than Cao Zhan, a famous young man from a well-known family in Suzhou City in the past.
Although the kind-hearted imperial envoy did not confiscate the Cao family's house and property, everyone pushed the wall. Since the Cao family was investigated, those who had had problems with them in the past have appeared. There are people who come to collect debts.
Some of the lawsuits were filed against the Suzhou Prefecture. Anyway, the old accounts of rotten millet were brought out. The acting prefect Wang Lei was very upright in judging these cases, which caused the Cao family to go bankrupt. The old lady was furious and died. The Cao family sent
After marrying the old lady, the family moved to the old house in Beijing and left the sad place of Suzhou.
Cao Zhan was wearing an old silk shirt and sitting on a carriage piled with tables, chairs and benches. He ignored the train whizzing by beside him. The sorrow of leaving his hometown and the great changes in his family were weighing on his heart like a mountain. How could he still be in the mood to look at beautiful girls?
.
"That person is so melancholy, is it because he is leaving his hometown?" A girl on the train looked at Cao Zhan's retreating figure and said thoughtfully. A gust of wind blew by, and the girls all stopped making noise, as if they thought that they too would be leaving.
The fate of leaving home.
After a moment of silence, "Let's go back to the carriage." I don't know who said it. Everyone entered the carriage one by one without saying a word. The train whistle blew longly and accelerated towards Shanghai.
The distance between Suzhou and Shanghai is very close. It took half a day for the imperial envoy's special car to arrive at the Shanghai Railway Station. Civil and military officials from Shanghai Road had been waiting for a long time. The entire station was cleared and no idlers were allowed to approach. Civil and military officials wearing brand-new robes
They lined the streets to welcome the imperial envoy. When the imperial envoy walked down the escalator of the carriage, Governor Cheng Liangjue stood at the front and led all the officials to greet the imperial envoy. Of course, this was not to give Liu Ziguang face, but to give face to the emperor's talisman in Liu Ziguang's hand. Who did he represent?
Where is the current emperor?
After the kneeling ceremony was over, Cheng Liangjue smiled and greeted Liu Ziguang again. He and Qian Qianyi were Jinshi in the same year and good brothers of the alliance. This time the court structure changed greatly, he relied on this relationship to ensure that his position was stable.
Therefore, Liu Ziguang, a young imperial envoy, was not taken seriously.
"Master Liu is young and promising. I have someone to succeed me in Ming Dynasty. I am very pleased." Cheng Liangjue laughed while stroking his beard. He looked at Liu Ziguang as if he were looking at his nephew. This made Liu Ziguang feel unhappy and did not wait for Cheng Liangjue to introduce him.
The eager officials at the back said coldly that they were tired from the journey and needed to rest. Cheng Liangjue was slightly startled. He didn't expect that the imperial envoy would give him a cold look when he first arrived, and he was immediately unhappy. But after all, he had been immersed in officialdom for many years and was neither happy nor angry.
Putting it on his face, he still said with a smile: "In that case, your Majesty, please take a good rest. I have prepared a small amount of wine and will be waiting for you in the evening."
Liu Ziguang looked at Cheng Liangjue, then got into the big green cloth sedan without comment and drove away. Cheng Liangjue looked at the retreating figures of the imperial envoys and nodded slightly, with no expression on his calm face. A man wearing a uniform appeared from behind the governor.
The young man in the white python robe said angrily: "Sir, the imperial envoy is so rude, we have to show him some color."
"Being rude to others is rude to yourself. It seems that the rumors in Suzhou are true. This person is here to cause trouble. Sending such a stupid young man here would be too underestimated for our Shanghai Road. Zi Ang
Remember, the harder something is, the easier it is to break." Cheng Liangjue said meaningfully.
That night, the Governor's Yamen held a grand banquet to welcome the Imperial Envoy. The newly installed neon lights were shining with colorful lights under the night. Civil and military officials, ladies and gentlemen, wealthy and wealthy people gathered together. However, after waiting for a long time, only one arrogant guard came.
He told everyone: "Mr. Liu is tired from the journey and has gone to bed. Please help yourself."
Everyone was in an uproar. Even the solemn Cheng Liangjue in the old city couldn't help but walk away. The rest of the people also left angrily. Only a few hours after the imperial envoy arrived, a smell of disharmony spread, and everyone couldn't help but think of Suzhou Mansion.
What happened recently made me feel the same way: bad people come, and good people never come.
Early the next morning, Liu Ziguang, who had changed into a red sitting python robe, came to the governor's office with a group of subordinates to listen to the work reports of officials at all levels of Shanghai Road. He sat upright in his official seat and listened to Governor Cheng introduce the officials below him one by one. Liu Ziguang
The main task of this imperial envoy is to inspect various tasks under the Ministry of Household Affairs. He does not care about the military and politics of Shanghai Road, but he must be involved in economic issues, so the first person to report on his work is the top leader of the Municipal Shipping Department, who was promoted to the fifth rank.
Chen Ziang.
Chen Ziang was still wearing a white python robe with a shoulder python embroidered with silver thread. At this moment, he was standing proudly in the queue of officials, listening to the governor's brother-in-law introducing himself.
"Chen Zi'ang, who was promoted by the Shibo Si, was born in two imperial examinations. He ranked first in the Nanzhili Township Examination in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Jie Yuan, and Chuanlu, who ranked first in the second class of the Imperial Examination in the seventh year of the Apocalypse. He is really the number one in Shanghai Road for me.
A great talent. At the same time, he is also my brother-in-law. I do not avoid relatives when promoting talents, so I asked the emperor to confirm that he has been promoted to the Shanghai Shipping Department." Cheng Liangjue introduced Chen Ziang's glorious history like a treasure trove, and all the officials whispered to each other.
They were all full of praise, and even the imperial envoy nodded approvingly.
"Since Mr. Chen took charge of the Shipping Department, various tax collections have increased year by year, and the common people and merchants have all praised it. Now let's ask Chen Tiju to introduce the situation of the Shipping Department to the Imperial Envoy." After Cheng Liangjue finished speaking, he took a step back and said to him.
Chen Ziang made an inviting gesture.
Chen Ziang smiled reservedly and lifted the hem of his python robe. He was about to stand up and make a speech. Before he could take two steps, the aloof imperial envoy suddenly changed his expression. He pointed at his nose and cursed without restraint: "Who said that?"
You stood up and spoke? Do you understand the rules? You were born in the second rank of Jinshi, I think you are a shit-eating Jinshi!"
Chen Zi'ang had never been so insulted before, and he immediately became furious. But after all, he was only a fifth-grade official. Faced with the insults from the imperial envoy and the admiral of Nanchang, he could only swallow his anger and returned to the train without saying a word.
Cheng Liangjue was very dissatisfied. It depends on the owner to beat the dog. Liu Ziguang clearly made it difficult for him to get off the stage, but he couldn't challenge the imperial envoy in front of so many officials, so he had to look down and ask Chen Ziang: "Who told you to do whatever you want?"
You just stood up casually? Why did you move around when the Imperial Envoy didn't say anything?" After saying that, he turned around and bowed to Liu Ziguang: "Officials from the Shipping Department have dealt with foreigners a lot, and the Chinese etiquette is a bit unfamiliar. Please forgive me."
Liu Ziguang snorted coldly and said to Chen Zi'ang: "You, please stand up and answer me, tell me what achievements the Shipping Department has made in the past few years?"
Chen Ziang suppressed the anger in his chest and said: "Since I have been promoted to the Municipal Shipping Secretary, the tax paid to the Ministry of Accounts has increased every year. The specific data are as follows..."
After listening to Chen Ziang's report, Liu Ziguang sneered and said: "It's true that there is an increase every year, but you forgot another data. I asked you, how many sea-going ships entered the port this year, how many cargo ships? How many silver ships?
What is the total tonnage? How much has it increased compared to last year? Don’t tell me that the increase in tax dollars is the same as yours!"
Chen Ziang said: "These data are all recorded in the Shipping Department. I will send someone to get the files and ask your Excellency to take a closer look."
Liu Ziguang did not answer his words and continued to ask: "I heard that the Shipping Department has closed its doors in recent days, stopped issuing official certificates, and even beat up businessmen waiting in line. Is this possible?"
Chen Ziang was shocked. Sure enough, the imperial envoy had already conducted an investigation and knew very well what happened at the gate of the Shibo Division a few days ago. It seemed that he was determined to deal with him, so he simply risked his life and said calmly: "Shibo Division
It is a fifth-grade yamen, with a small number of officials, but the affairs it manages are extremely complex. It is reasonable to close the door occasionally to sort out files. As for punishing businessmen who behave inappropriately and bump into officials, it is even a trivial matter. He Lao, the imperial envoy, is concerned about it.
The lower official thought that the imperial court sent the adults here to inspect the performance of the Municipal Shipping Department, rather than to get involved in such trivial matters."
"What a eloquent recommendation. Of course I will inspect the Municipal Shipping Department and check the accounts in detail. That's what the officials from the Ministry of Accounts I brought here do, but I need to take care of you first today.
"After Liu Ziguang finished speaking, he waved his hand, and two guards came behind him to tie up Chen Ziang.
"Wait a minute! May I ask why you want to arrest Chen Tiju? What crime is Chen Tiju guilty of?" the governor asked with a livid face. Although the imperial envoy is patrolling on behalf of the emperor, he cannot arrest people at will as he wants. As a local official
He could defend against the imperial envoy's behavior when necessary. After all, Governor Cheng also held the title of Yushi of Zuodu.
"I took him because he was overdressed. Were the robes worn casually? A small fifth-grade official dared to wear the robe without authorization. As the admiral of the South Factory, I have the responsibility to check the conduct of officials. Are you satisfied with this reason?
"?" Liu Ziguang said, staring directly into Cheng Liangjue's eyes.