"I wonder what I'm going to do, sir?" the three assistants asked nervously.
"I am planning a big event..." Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice.
"What's the big deal?" the three asked.
"This big deal is..." Wei Zhixian looked at the three of them, and the three of them also looked at him with bated breath. It was not until they suppressed their blushes that they saw him grinning and saying: "Keep it secret!"
"..." The three of them fainted for a while, but saw Wei Zhixian laughing loudly, swinging his long robe and big sleeves, and his long hair fluttering away, leaving only a string of generous songs:
"The wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man is gone - never to return;
Explore the tiger's den - enter the dragon's palace, look up to the sky and exhale - it will become a white rainbow!"
Beside the lotus pond, the three assistants looked at each other.
"Okay, first Nie Zheng, then Jing Ke... Do you want to fight against the wealthy squire family?" Marginal people have their advantages. Ma Dianshi spoke sarcastically without any pressure at all.
"Nonsense!" Chief Diao was not as relaxed as he was. He flicked his sleeves and said bitterly: "If you refuse to repent and insist on going your own way, you will definitely get everyone killed!"
"It's not that serious..." Jiang County Cheng also had some doubts: "Let's first find out what he wants to do?"
"Yes." Chief Diao nodded. There was a long-term follower beside Magistrate Wei, who was actually arranged by him. Now he has entered the custody room. Although he is only serving tea and water, there is still no problem in getting some information.
When he turned around, he sent someone to notify the chief attendant to pay close attention to Wei Zhixian's every word and deed. In the next few days, there was a steady stream of news coming back...
First, I heard that Weizhi County ordered the household to send all the household registration files since Yongle to the signing room. Then I heard that Weizhi County was looking for a workshop and ordered them to rush to carve eighty stone tablets. I also heard that he wrote a memorial,
However, he was stopped by Sima Qiu Shisheng. For this reason, a quarrel broke out between the two.
The chief attendant outside could clearly hear Sima Qiu saying loudly: 'My boss can't do this. Once the prison breaks out, how many people will fall to the ground? What a crime!'
"It's just that Emperor Yongle was too kind, and those people would be unscrupulous! Emperor Taizu had only been in heaven for more than ten years, and the prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty had already been ruined!" I heard Wei Zhixian say angrily: "The Yinjian of Meng Yuan is not far away.
, If the collusion between officials and gentry continues, the country of our Ming Dynasty will be hollowed out by moths!" He slapped the case heavily and said: "We have to do the Guo Huan case again! Let those guys who embezzled national taxes all be punished, our Ming Dynasty will be hollowed out by moths!"
There is hope for Chao Cai!'
"Dong Weng, if you do this, will you still have a foothold in the future?" Sima Qiu said in panic.
'Wei was deeply favored by the emperor, sacrificed his life for the country, and died a worthy death!' Wei Zhixian said flatly: 'Sir, there is no need to persuade me anymore, I have made up my mind. The truth about the population reduction and tax reduction in Fuyang County must be made known to the public!'
'My boss...' Sima Qiu said sadly: 'The old man has no choice but to resign...'
"Even if everyone leaves, I won't be shaken!" Weizhixian said loudly.
"Wei Yuan really said that?" After hearing this, Master Diao was covered in white hair sweat.
"It's absolutely true." His personal attendant said: "If Lao Wu didn't hear it, how could he have fabricated it? Moreover, he locked up all the masons in the county in the county government office, making noises from morning to night. This can't be true.
Is it fake?"
"Lao Wu didn't say what they were carving?" Master Diao asked.
"It's a yellow book..." the personal attendant said, taking out a few pieces of ink paper used for engraving monuments from his arms. "He brought this out when no one was paying attention."
Master Diao took it and took a look. Some of them were yellow album pages from the 30th year of Hongwu in this county. Others were from the yellow album pages from the 8th year of Yongle... He immediately understood what the other party was going to do!
Weizhi County actually wants to engrave the yellow books from the Hongwu period and the latest yellow books into stone tablets and make them public! Let the people of Fuyang see how much more taxes they have paid over the years!
In this way, those grain chiefs who deceived the superiors and deceived the people, and myself, the chief clerk in charge of money and grain, might be eaten alive by the angry people without waiting for the court to deal with them!
"This madman!" Master Diao fell on the back of his chair, his hands and feet became weak and said: "Crazy, crazy, completely crazy..."
.
After a long time to come to his senses, Director Diao could no longer sit still and went straight to the county magistrate's office.
After listening to his story, Jiang County Cheng was also shocked, "This Master Wei has such a fierce temper..."
"Hey, my brother, please stop making sarcastic remarks." Chief Diao wiped his sweat and said anxiously: "He is going to kill the fish and break the net! Why do you think we are so unlucky to have such a second-rate county magistrate?
"
"I'm not asking you to force me." Jiang County Cheng said quietly: "It was a cruel move to ask the students to file a complaint, but it shouldn't be used when you encounter a master who is soft but not hard. Otherwise it will be like this.
, pissed him off completely..."
"The deal is done, what's the use of talking about it?" Diao Boss interrupted impatiently: "Tell me, what should we do now?"
"What else can we do? Either bow down or kill him." Jiang County Cheng sighed.
"How to kill him?" Master Diao asked.
"Cut with a knife, chop with an axe, twist a rope with poison, any one of them will do." Jiang County Cheng's face was expressionless.
"Are you kidding me? If the magistrate of a county dies inexplicably, the cold-faced Tiehan will definitely get to the bottom of it." Chief Diao shook his head and said, "Let's try to drive him away."
"It's too late." Jiang Xiancheng shook his head and said: "He would have erected the stone monument before you finished the operation."
"You..." Master Diao now understood what Jiang Xiancheng meant, glared at him and said, "If you want me to bow my head, just say so. Why are you talking in circles!"
"Otherwise, how would you know that you have no other choice?" Jiang Xiancheng said with a bitter smile: "Brother Ren'an, he is afraid of being stunned, and he is afraid of losing his life. You are bullying, but he is stunned and does not want his life. He is still his true nature.
As a county official, this is the result if you continue to fight with him."
"What's the use of talking about this now?" Master Diao frowned.
"Of course it works. It's not too late to remedy the situation." Jiang County Prime Minister is eager to settle the matter. Although he is not deeply involved, he will not be able to escape if the trouble gets bigger. "Whoever wants to make trouble come to this stage, it's not all because of you."
Yes? He has lost face. You guys want to get it back for him. He wants to collect 20% more tax. You can also discuss it. Isn’t it just about making less money?" After that, he looked at Master Diao and said, "I'm not talking about you.
Lao Diao, you only have three years left in Fuyang, why do you need to get in so deep?"
"Oh, it's too late to get out now." Master Diao said bitterly: "I was the editor-in-chief of the pornographic books for the eighth year of Yongle. Do you think I can still stay out of it?"
"Get over this hurdle first, and then slowly think of a solution in the future." Jiang County Cheng also sighed and said: "Go and persuade them to stop making trouble. Sit down and have a good talk with Weizhi County."
"Alas..." Director Diao said depressedly: "You can also help tell the man surnamed Wei and don't let him send out the memorial."
"Yes." Jiang Xiancheng nodded and said, "Let's split up."
Unexpectedly, both of them hit a wall...
On Jiang County Cheng's side, Weizhi County did not listen to the advice at all, acting like a tortoise eating the weights - determined to fight to the death with the big players.
On the side of Master Diao, the squires also thought that County Magistrate Wei was bluffing. If he bowed to him like this, wouldn't Fuyang County become his world in the future?! They didn't believe that there was such a life-threatening official in the world...
In fact, in the final analysis, even if something happens, it is the five grain captains who are unlucky, and it has nothing to do with most of the squires. So they can't feel the personal fear, so they can naturally guarantee to the five grain captains that as long as we are here, they will definitely
It'll be okay! Well, don't worry, it will be okay...
The grain chiefs were naturally panic-stricken, but they did not dare to offend the public and could only hold on... until they heard the news that the cold-faced iron-faced Zhou Zhitai had probably paid a private visit to the county incognito!
Many people saw a middle-aged foreigner in a green preacher's robe, accompanied by two companions, walking up the Fuchun River. Every time he visited villages and towns, he walked from house to house in search of grievances. He was exactly like the legendary Zhou Zhitai.
Match... The news spread like wildfire, and it is said that Wei Zhi County also got the news and ordered the masons to work day and night, preparing to erect those stone tablets before Zhou Zhitai arrived in the county!
Director Diao and several others became ants on a hot pot. It is said that a grain chief knelt in front of Grandpa Li Sheng and begged him to save his life. There was also a grain chief who was so frightened that he hung himself from a beam. Fortunately, he was discovered early and an old man was saved.
Life.
Director Diao even said harshly that if a few of them went in, they would reveal all the old accounts of the gentry concealing land, expropriating their families, plundering, and reselling grain, and everyone would be finished!
Seeing that a fire broke out in the backyard before the enemy took action, the squires had to discuss what to do.
At noon that day, more than a dozen well-known squire and landowners gathered at the Li family in Huanshan Township. The two sons of the old man of the Li family were both Jinshi. The eldest son was serving as the chief envoy and counselor in Sichuan, and the second son was the imperial servant Cheng. 1
The honor of being a Jinshi from both families is extremely rare even in a province like Zhejiang, which has a major imperial examination system. The squires of this county naturally recommended Mr. Li as the leader.
Mr. Li is in his seventies, wearing a dongpo scarf and a maroon cloak with bats and dark flowers. His every move and gesture shows that he is highly respected. He twirled his beard and said slowly: "Unexpectedly, this old man has a really bad temper...
"
"Actually, I'm really not afraid of him making trouble. The key is that the cold-faced Tiehan is here. This man is so scary. I heard that the children in the capital were crying at night, and the people often shouted, 'The cold-faced Tiehan is coming', which scared the children to silence immediately.
." Sitting on his right is the old man of the Wang family. Since his son is a member of the Criminal Department, he is the second highest ranking squire in the county. "If something happens at this juncture, I'm afraid it won't end well."
"But it has come to this," Mr. Yu, who sat in third place, asked on behalf of everyone: "Where can we put our dignity?"
"Let him apologize." Mr. Wang said: "Let someone pass the message over. As long as Wei Yuan comes to help Brother Li, everything will be easy to discuss..."