Du Fenghe stood on the playground with some fear. He had been hungry for several days at the age of more than sixty and only had one porridge to eat every day. Although Du Fenghe was born in a poor family, he had not won the gold medal since he was twenty years old.
From the beginning of Xiucai's career, he actually didn't suffer too much anymore.
Later, he studied hard for ten years and was awarded the title of Juren. All his relatives in his hometown of Shaoxing came to set off firecrackers and send congratulatory gifts. He was only thirty years old at that time. This young candidate, especially in a place like Shaoxing, was considered a young and talented person.
for.
If you pass the examination, you will be qualified to be an official. However, you need to go to Beijing to become an official. It is difficult to say when you will be able to get it. Thirty-one is not too late, so you bite the bullet and continue to take the examination. Only by passing the examination can you live a complete life.
Change.
Du Fenghe took the Jinshi examination three times in a row, but failed three times. He turned forty in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, since he passed the examination, people have volunteered, and his name has gained more land, population, etc.
Although there is something fishy here, you have your own privileges and exemptions. If someone else submits your name, you have to pay him the agreed money and food. Even in lawsuits, imperial examinations, etc., this title is also very useful, and there is good income.
, life was pretty good.
But he failed to pass the Jinshi examination, and the difference was still huge. In the end, Du Fenghe went to Beijing to be a candidate.
In the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing, numerous candidates failed to pass the examination, and some even waited for twenty years before being filled. Du Fenghe did not get a candidate that year, and was unwilling to go home, so he became a Beijing official in Beijing.
Piao, he asked his fellow villagers for help, found a lucrative job, and became a master in charge of an honorable family in Beijing. He wrote letters, managed accounts, and even taught his children, allowing him to settle down in Beijing, the best place in the world.
Come.
Then it lasted ten years.
Whenever he was selected by various provinces, he would participate, but time and time again, he participated more than 30 times and failed to be selected. Seeing that his hair was turning white, his old boss of ten years couldn't stand it anymore and pulled him away.
After drinking, he kindly reminded him that being a candidate for the civil service is not that simple and requires money.
The more money you spend, the higher the candidate ranking will be, and you can even jump in the queue.
Du Fenghe also knew how to use money, but he had no money. He wandered in Beijing for ten years, barely making ends meet, and had to send some money to his hometown to support his wife and children.
Later, it was the boss who helped guide him and asked him to borrow Beijing debt. There were some people in the capital who lent money to the scholars who were taking the imperial examination in Beijing.
We all had no money, so they provided loans. Although the interest was high, many people had no choice but to borrow for the sake of their career.
Du Fenghe borrowed the Beijing debt through his employer's relationship, and successfully sent out the money. Then he joined a team and barely caught up with the selected vacancies, and finally successfully obtained a job as a county magistrate.
From the age of thirty to fifty, he failed to pass the Jinshi examination for ten years, went to Beijing as a candidate, and spent ten years in Beijing to get an official position.
Finally, he was awarded the title of magistrate of a remote area.
I got the official license from the Ministry of Personnel and was appointed within a time limit, but I spent all my money on traveling. I had no travel expenses, so I had no choice but to borrow another debt. I borrowed one hundred taels and got fifty taels. Finally, I got another one through my old boss.
This time there was an additional condition attached to a Beijing debt. His old employer wanted to arrange for a concubine of his to follow Du Fenghe to take office, and then arrange a position in the Yamen.
Du Fenghe readily agreed, and finally borrowed four thousand taels of silver, and actually got two thousand taels. Before departure, he paid off the debt, gave gifts, and packed his luggage. But he spent all the money before he even set off, so he borrowed another two thousand taels.
Halfway through, I didn't have enough money, so I borrowed another two thousand.
When I got to the place, I met with the governor, governor, envoy, envoy, inspector, magistrate, Taoist, etc. After a round, I gave away three thousand taels of silver. I didn't have enough money, so I borrowed another three thousand and five taels from the provincial capital.
One hundred taels.
At this time, Du Fenghe had already become numb to borrowing. He borrowed money when he had no money, regardless of whether the interest rate was nine out of ten or ten to nine. By the time he officially took over the county government, he had already borrowed more than 10,000 yuan.
Two silver coins.
As a county magistrate, his salary is only a few dozen taels. If he expects his salary to repay his debts, ten lifetimes of work will not be enough. Of course, he has been in Beijing for ten years and knows the ins and outs of the officialdom. What official can live on these tens of taels of salary?
Even if you are a magistrate in a remote place, you are still a local official. Money can come to you just by opening your mouth and extending your hand.
Anyway, after he took office, local gentry and merchants came to visit him one after another, and they all paid tribute to him. During one visit, they actually received several thousand taels.
When a well-known local gentleman comes to see you, if you want to ask for something, you must give at least one hundred taels of silver. Even if you open a shop, you must give fifty taels. Other official gifts, birthday gifts, and festive gifts are all indispensable.
Because he was burdened with more than 10,000 taels of foreign debt, Du Fenghe was a little impatient when he took office.
To make money.
For a time, the whole county was very dissatisfied with this new magistrate, who had no background. At this time, the world was in turmoil, and the court didn't care about you. The magistrate's first priority was taxes, and they all had fixed tax amounts. It could not be collected.
, and you have to pay all the money.
Anyway, in the first year after taking office, Du Fenghe pressed for food and tax every day. As a result, everyone was resentful, but he failed to complete the task. In the end, he owed more than 10,000 taels of silver.
The assessment was also not good and he was transferred to a more remote county.
Fortunately, he learned a lesson this time and gained some experience. He knew that to be a good county magistrate, he must first have a good relationship with the local gentry. Taxation cannot be imposed on them. Otherwise, they will take the lead in resisting the payment, and they will do anything at that time.
No.
This time he tried many things and deliberately made friends with the local gentry. He actually did it well and his superiors were very satisfied, and finally he was appointed as the magistrate of Penglai County.
Penglai County is the county seat of Dengzhou Prefecture, a prefecture, and the first port in the north. Although there are governors, general soldiers, military preparations, and prefects in the same city, there are many mothers-in-law in charge, but Du Feng, who is already very experienced,
He did very well. He served as county magistrate for two years and made a lot of money.
And this time he was very smart, he made a fortune for himself, and all parties took care of it, but he still had the good sense to proactively request for transfer, so as not to keep occupying this position and make people jealous.
He worked in Shandong for a few more years, and then was transferred back to Penglai. Although his official position was never promoted, Du Fenghe only wanted to make money and didn't care about anything else.
He returned to Penglai and worked as a county magistrate for another two years. At first, he wanted to quit, but first he entered Shandong with the army, and then the Qing army arrived. Because he made too much money and property, he could not win for a while, so he was forced to stay and continue to be the county magistrate.
Not long after that, he was appreciated by the Qing army, saying that he was safe and efficient in collecting taxes, and promoted him to the prefect of Dengzhou.
He has been an official for ten years since he first became a county magistrate and is now a magistrate. He is sixty this year. He originally planned to retire and return to his hometown this year. During his ten years as an official, except for the loss of more than 10,000 taels in the first year, the rest
I have made a lot of money during my tenure, especially after staying in Penglai for almost five years, I have made even more money.
Anyway, the Beijing debt that year has been paid off long ago, and now I have saved one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Not counting the money I usually send to my hometown of Shaoxing.
Suddenly, the Ming army entered Dengzhou City and recovered.
Du Fenghe was shocked when he was captured by the Ming army and starved for three days.
Some of the captured Dengzhou government officials took the opportunity to report him as the person responsible for the embezzlement, and some even took out their account books.
The trial was about to begin. Du Fenghe was panicking, but he still tried his best to stay calm. He had been in officialdom for ten years, and although he had been serving as a county magistrate and became an old official, he could still make money without any problems.
Still very capable.
He has been analyzing the Emperor Shaotian for the past three days, and he has already understood the rise of Nanfang in the past year, and some of their policies.
These new policies such as tax increases and so on have been thoroughly studied and even studied in depth.
Because he thinks this is a good way to make money.
He also vigorously promoted these new policies in Dengzhou. Every time he implemented a new policy, he could make a lot of money. He made it himself, and his subordinates shared it and gave it to his superiors. Everyone was very satisfied.
Gu Yan
For example, he was very active in the introduction of the Lijin tax, and he was also very active in the re-imposition of the industrial and commercial tax.
When the peasants were spread over acres of land, the officials and gentry became more active in collecting grain.
Even because of his new policies, many rebellions broke out in Dengzhou one after another. However, the warriors who served as soldiers were there to wipe out the rebellion. Even after the rebellion was put down, another wave of wealth could be made.
No matter what his purpose was, he felt that he had found a way to escape or even make a comeback.
"Du Fenghe, come here!"
Several soldiers from the imperial camp came over to call for help.
"Come right here." Du Fenghe knew that he was going to be interrogated, so he cooperated happily.
When they got to the court, Du Fenghe took the initiative to explain, telling everything he knew. In the end, he even made an impassioned speech, saying that he had always been loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but he just didn't have time to go south.
He talked about his hometown of Shaoxing, and also said that his wife and children had long donated food and money to the emperor and the court, paid back taxes, etc.
He even said that he had been implementing the emperor's new policy in Dengzhou Prefecture, and he hoped that the imperial court could return to Dengzhou as soon as possible.
This initiative surprised the officials in charge of interrogating him.
"Okay, you should go back and reflect on it first."
"We are awaiting notification of the specific disposition."
A few days later.
Du Fenghe's investigation report was sent to Zhu Yihai together with many other reports. Chen Qianfu told the emperor, "This Du Fenghe served as Penglai magistrate for two times and half as Penglai magistrate. This person has good political management ability, but he is very corrupt. According to
Our preliminary investigation shows that this person has been an official for ten years and has been greedy for a small amount of two hundred thousand taels of silver."
Zhu Yihai couldn't help but marvel, "Just because he served as county magistrate for nine years and prefect one year, he can make two hundred thousand, he is indeed very capable."
He saw that it was noted in the investigation report that after Du Feng and he were appointed as prefects, they vigorously implemented the Ming Dynasty's New Deal in Dengzhou, and they actually did very well, including clearing fields and households, recovering tax arrears, setting up tax collections, etc.
Very capable.
This guy looks a bit like Zhu Dadian or Pan Yinglou, Ruan Dacheng, Ma Shiying, Liu Kongzhao, Yang Wencong. He is not a very upright and innocent official, but his ability is indeed good.
"What's his attitude?"
"This man is very sensible. He has always said that he must be loyal to the Holy Emperor and the imperial court."
Zhu Yihai flicked his bullet and reported, "His 100,000 stolen silver?"
"He didn't know that we had found his hidden silver. He only said that he had more than 10,000 taels of silver, which was a bit dishonest."
"Hahaha, it seems that this person values money the most and loves money. However, it is human nature. This person is just the most ordinary low-level official. He has spent twenty years in poverty, ten years as a candidate, and ten years in officialdom.
I have just followed the crowd and become so sophisticated, talking about loyalty and ideals, and forcing myself to do so."
"In this case, didn't he confess that he had ten thousand taels of silver? Then leave these ten thousand taels to him and say that I reward him. As for the ninety thousand taels that he did not confess, they will be confiscated directly.
I'll give him a beating. If he can understand current affairs, then I will give him a chance to continue acting as the governor of Dengzhou. If he doesn't understand current affairs, then he will be sent to Changdao for labor reform, and all his money will be confiscated."
"Banzai is so kind to this guy."
"There is no way, most of the officials in the world are like this, but they also serve as a foil to loyal ministers such as Qing. Use it if you can, just use it with caution. Greed is not terrible. If you have the ability and can be restrained, you can do it.
Okay. If it's still the same by then, it won't be too late to deal with it."
Du Fenghe ate porridge for three more days in the prisoner camp, and his stomach was full of acidity from hunger.
"Du Fenghe!"
Finally I heard him being called again.
He was brought all the way to Chen Qianfu,
"I am the minister of the Dali Temple of the imperial court. I am walking in front of the emperor and also serving as the general officer of the imperial camp. I have a piece of good news for you. The saint appreciates it and has issued a special pardon for you. Not only will you be appointed as the magistrate of Dengzhou, but your ten thousand taels of silver will also be given to you.
I have given you a reward, so work hard and don’t let down the saint’s kindness.”
Du Fenghe was stunned and couldn't believe it.
"By the way, the imperial soldiers just found 90,000 taels of silver from the ground in the backyard of the government office. Do you know who hid it there?"
Du Fenghe was breathing heavily. That was his money, which he had saved for many years after serving as an official for many years.
But facing Chen Qianfu, who was wearing a purple robe and jade belt, with an expression that was half-smiling but not smiling, Du Fenghe did not dare to say that it was his own. The old official's mind quickly turned around with various thoughts, and finally said, "Let's go."
When the official took office as prefect, he discovered that there was a large sum of money in the treasury that was not reconciled. Someone embezzled money from the treasury, but the whereabouts were not found in the end. It is estimated that this money may have been buried by the previous prefect. He was one year old.
Those who died in office may have died suddenly, and then the war broke out, so the money has been buried in the ground..."
Chen Qianfu smiled slightly.
"Oh, really, I didn't expect this. How does Governor Du think this money should be used?"
"The lower official suggested that 50,000 taels should be donated to the emperor, 30,000 taels should be used to support the army, and the remaining 10,000 taels should be used to buy food to provide relief to the victims, as well as to restore prefecture and county officials, pay salaries, and replenish the staff, so that the restoration can be restored as soon as possible.
The operation of the yamen can also restore order and production in the county as soon as possible."
"Well, after you go back, quickly prepare a report on the restoration regulations. We must get the government office up and running as soon as possible. Report any shortage of people or money. We must restore people's livelihood as soon as possible without causing chaos."
"I understand, I understand."
"Go ahead,"
Chen Qianfu looked at Du Fenghe's cautious back, shook his head, and then called several officials and arranged for them to temporarily go to the Dengzhou government office to assist Du Fenghe in his work.
