During the Yongle period, there was a proverb in the officialdom: "In the previous life, I was a cultivator, and I was an official in Qilu." Shandong has been suffering a lot since the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, heroes were competing for hegemony, and Shandong was the main battlefield, and it was even more miserable. In this dynasty, it was even more miserable.
Catching up with Jingnan, Shandong was the main battlefield to resist Zhu Di's southern invasion. Under the leadership of the chief envoy Tie Xuan, the soldiers and civilians of Shandong fought bravely, causing Zhu Di to suffer a lot and was forced to die several times.
Later, Zhu Di had no choice but to lead his troops to bypass Shandong and attack Jinling. In fact, he gave up the retreat and made a desperate move. As long as the provinces along the way tried their best to block it, or there were not so many traitors in Nanjing, they could defeat the Yan army. Zhu Di basically
It was defeated. However, whether it was destiny or Jianwen Taicai, Zhu Di actually took this seemingly hopeless risk and captured the capital city of Jinling!
As soon as the capital city fell and Emperor Jianwen was missing in the palace fire, Zhu Di actually sat on the throne and became the Ming Dynasty Emperor according to the summons from prefectures and counties all over the world! The Shandong soldiers and civilians who had been loyal to the court and bravely resisted the enemy were suddenly reduced to
Tragic rebellion! After Zhu Di seized the throne, he personally led his army back to the north to attack Jinan, killing everyone in his path and leaving no grass behind. The army surrounded Jinan, and Tie Xuan refused to surrender, but in the end he was outnumbered.
The city was captured and Jinan was massacred...
Tie Xuan was escorted to the capital. When he saw Zhu Di, he cursed and stood up without kneeling! The angry Zhu Di had his ears and nose cut off, cooked and stuffed into his mouth, and asked him how he tasted? Tie Xuan snapped.
What's not to like about the meat of a loyal minister and filial son? In the end, he was executed by Ling Chi, and the whole family was made into slaves. His wife and daughter were made into prostitutes by the priest, and they died of torture...
After venting his anger, Zhu Di's hatred for Shandong remained undiminished. The exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were far higher than those in other provinces. The dredging of canals and the construction of Beijing all fell on Shandong's young men. Hundreds of thousands of young men left every year, and half of them would be good to come back.
So... it is not difficult to understand that the Shandong elders hate the Ming Dynasty and the emperor far more than any other province!
You can imagine how miserable it must be to work as an official in such a harsh environment. The annual taxes and grains will definitely not be collected in full, bandits are rampant in the territory, and civil unrest is frequent. Every year, you will definitely lose your reputation in performance appraisals, let alone promotions.
Well, even if you can survive safely until you are transferred to another place, you have to burn high incense. As for dismissal from office, it is commonplace, and it is not uncommon to be convicted and killed. Therefore, officials regard being an official in Shandong as a fearful road, and they are a little bit afraid of it.
Those with connections have all stayed away, and the rest are those who have no backing, those who have been punished and demoted, or those who have offended their superiors and been punished. In short, they are a group of wretches without hope.
These Shandong officials were already in danger. After the fire in the three main halls, the imperial court identified the Shandong White Lotus Sect as the culprit. Shandong officials were even more panicked. The three military and political officials in Shandong were Chu Yan, the chief envoy, and Liu Ben, the inspector general.
Hedu Commander Ma Zhong and the other two people discussed all day long to come up with countermeasures... It is the duty of the envoys to investigate the case of the White Lotus Sect; but the White Lotus Sect hides its troops among the people, and the envoys also have the unshirkable responsibility; if they want to deal with the all over the
The White Lotus cultists in the whole province cannot do without an army, so they cannot do without the capital commander.
Fortunately, the yamen of the three divisions are all in Jinan Prefecture, so it is convenient for the three adults to meet. They discussed it over and over again, but before they could come up with a charter, another thunderbolt struck the three adults' heads - the emperor actually sent Wang
Xian was an imperial envoy and came to Shandong to investigate Bai Lian and arrest the Buddha's mother! This frightened the three adults so much. Who is Wang Xian? He was the number one murderer in the world who went to heaven and earth to kill gods and Buddhas! Over the years, about
There are too many legends about Wang Xian, some are true or false, some are not, officials and people of the Ming Dynasty can tell two stories about him, all in all, this is an extremely difficult guy to deal with!
How difficult was it to deal with? Anyone who opposed him, whether it was the King of Han, Ji Gang, or the Shanxi group, all ended in miserably... Now that Wang Xian is the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, he has numerous aids from the DPRK, China, and Austria, not to mention local officials like them who can compete with him.
Yes!
"We can't afford to offend such an imperial envoy..." After gasping for a while, the chief envoy spoke out the thoughts of the three of them.
Liu Ben and Ma Zhong nodded vigorously after hearing this, didn't they? After so many years, no one had a good ending after fighting with him. Ji Gang who left Shandong had his home confiscated and his family exterminated! The arrogant King of Han also had his military power reduced.
I'm just nesting in Shandong!
"Fantai, you are the chief, you set the tone." Although the three departments are separate and not subordinate to each other, there is no doubt that the chief envoy in charge of civil affairs has the greatest power. This is what Liu Ben and Ma Zhong said.
"We must show the greatest enthusiasm, provide the best conditions, pay the highest respect, and make them feel at home and satisfied?!" Chu Yan pondered for a moment and gave his opinion.
"That's good!" Ma Zhong is a martial artist and speaks more directly. He was overjoyed when he heard this: "They say you don't hit the smiling person, so we all knelt down and licked him... He can't still be on top of our shoes."
Step on your feet, right?"
Chu Yan and Liu Ben heard what he said was vulgar and frowned secretly, but when he thought about it carefully, it was just like this? So Liu Ben asked directly: "What should we do specifically?"
"When will uncle arrive?" Chu Yan asked.
"It is reported that the date of leaving Beijing is February 2nd. The capital is 800 miles away from Jinan Prefecture." Ma Zhong pointed his fingers and said: "If we ride a horse, we should arrive in half a month." After a pause, he said: "But I also said
Unsure, it is said that this man once traveled from Nanjing to Beijing in three days."
"That's to save him," Liu Bendao said, "You don't have to rush to take office in Shandong, right?"
"If you're not afraid of ten thousand, you're afraid of the worst." Chu Yan thought about it and made a final decision: "Let's hurry up and make arrangements for the provincial capital, and go to Dezhou in seven days to welcome the imperial envoy!" Dezhou belongs to Jinan Prefecture, which is the territory of Shandong and Hebei.
Provincial boundaries... Oh yes, today's Hebei has been changed to Beizhili.
Liu Ben and Ma Zhong had no objection to going to the provincial border to greet the imperial envoy.
"We all have to be busy these days!" Chu Yan thought about it and gave specific instructions: "From Jinan City to the border of Dezhou Province, all the paths that the imperial envoy passes must be paved with loess, and no garbage is allowed to be seen. Also,
Yes, it is the season of spring famine, and the official roads are full of beggars fleeing the spring famine. Let all prefectures and counties mobilize to lock up all these people. Be sure not to stain the eyes of the imperial envoy!"
"Sure." Liu Ben nodded and accepted the task.
"Besides the provincial capital, after all, the imperial envoy is just passing by, asking people to clean up his face, and just make superficial remarks. The most important thing is Jinan City. Our Jinan is a good place. 'Four sides are lotuses, three are willows, and the city is full of mountains.
Sebancheng Lake', we must take advantage of this to make the imperial envoy live well, eat well, play well, and everything is fine."
"It's so easy to have fun and eat. Although Shandong is poor, it's still no problem to feed and drink an imperial envoy! Taishan's aunt is famous all over the world. Let's pick some of the most beautiful ones to serve the imperial envoy and keep him happy." Ma Zhong said: "It's just that the imperial envoy travels.
That's the most important thing, where should it be located?" When he said this, he glanced at Chu Yan. There was a public case here. Although Jinan Prefecture is known as one city with mountains and half a city with lakes, the real essence is the big city.
Ming Lake, Baotu Spring, and Pearl Spring were all owned by Zhang Rong, the Duke of Jinan during the Yuan Dynasty. During the Guo Dynasty, the original Jinan Palace became the official government office of Shandong Province. Later, in the ninth year of Hongwu,
The Provincial Chief Secretary was abolished and replaced by the Chief Secretary, and three departments were divided. The judicial power and military power that were originally vested in the provincial chief were assigned to the Inspectorate Department and the Capital Command Department. Since these two departments are at the same level as the Chief Secretary, they naturally have to move out of the original ones.
Provincial government office. At this point, the Chief Envoy has monopolized half of the beautiful scenery of the city!
Every time Ma Zhong came to the Chief Envoy's Yamen with the breathtaking scenery here, he would get upset for a while. When he went back to look at his small official Yamen, he felt even more angry and suffocated, indescribable. Since he couldn't live there, he couldn't make the other party happy either.
In line with the principle, he deliberately said: "I am going to free up my yamen and use it as a palace for the imperial envoy."
"It's better to let me go." On this matter, Liu Ben agreed with Ma Zhong, and he immediately understood: "At any rate, my place used to be a garden, and the Black Tiger Spring is also famous. The Imperial Envoy should like it.
"
Listening to the two people talking about each other, Chu Yan felt sick in his heart. Since it was about Teng Yamen, he naturally had to give the best to the imperial envoy. Otherwise, when the imperial envoy came over, he would see the chief envoy's Yamen far away.
Even though his body was aching for a while, these two bitches were even more jealous. He didn't know how to blame him. Thinking of this, he still gritted his teeth and said: "It's better to let me go. Since you are entertaining the imperial envoy, of course you have to use your best."
OK."
"What Fan Tai said is very true!" Ma Zhong said happily: "Auntie Taishan, I'm here to find you."
"Leave the chef's meal to me." Liu Ben also smiled.
"Okay." Chu Yan shivered with distress, and nodded with a forced smile...
In the next few days, the three adults worked together to tidy up the appearance of Jinan City. They painted all the houses facing the streets. They also pulled out all the beggars and homeless people who were an eyesore. They even asked officials to pretend to be ordinary people and walk around in various places.
They patrolled every street so that emergencies could be dealt with in a timely manner. The three of them tried their best to listen to Wang Xian's relevant information, his likes and dislikes, habits, and even the followers around him. As long as they could get information, they studied it all
, just in case anything goes wrong.
As expected, Chu Yan vacated the Chief Envoy's Yamen, and even removed the plaques and replaced them with a new plaque of 'Imperial Envoy's Office'. All the gardens in the Yamen were tidied up, and even the residences of people around Wang Xian were decorated.
All the furnishings and furnishings were also replaced with new ones. As for Wang Xian's residence, it was even more carefully designed. Every furnishing was not the best, but the most expensive. Anyway, the chief envoy was in charge of the vassal treasury, so he just opened the flowers!
As they spoke, it was the eighth day of the second lunar month. The three adults took their officials and marched north to Dezhou, arriving at the border between Shandong and Zhili, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the imperial envoy!