Lu Ming

Chapter 493
The speed of information transmission in ancient times was very slow, especially in rural areas like Chenshi Village.So after the meeting in the ancestral hall that day, Chen Shi'ai, an old scholar, spent a few more days to contact a group of colleagues and prepare to go to the county government office.

Colleagues who can only be contacted by veterans are naturally scholars.No matter how high-level Jinshi Juren is, he is not a bird, and the low-level Tongsheng is useless, so he can only be a scholar.

Fortunately, talent is enough.During the great corruption of the literati class at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the scholar was originally responsible for the charge of the charge.Scholarly taking up lawsuits, rioting in the classroom, gathering crowds to besiege government offices, and other bad things are all done by scholars.So going to the county government this time is considered routine, and everyone is very skilled in business.

Among the brave men who went to make trouble this time, except for another scholar in the clan, the rest that Chen Shiai contacted were mostly litigants and poor people from the nearby villages, and there were also two local snakes in Guangzhou city.

After receiving the asking price, this group of people geared up for it, expressing that they would help friend Chen and bring a good rhythm.

After the internal and external lineup was completed, Chen Shi'ai, an old scholar, led a group of bad scholars, and took a ticket to help the servants who were responsible for making noise, and set foot on the road to Guangzhou City in the early morning of June 6.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the city of Guangzhou was jointly administered by Panyu and Nanhai counties.The jurisdiction of these two yamen happens to divide the city of Guangzhou into two, and the area is roughly the same.

After the Ming Dynasty, due to the expansion of the land area and the urban area to varying degrees, most of Guangzhou City in this period, except for the western one-fifth of the territory, was under the jurisdiction of Panyu County.

Unlike later generations, the jurisdiction of county governments in ancient times was very large.In the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou Prefecture covered almost the entire Pearl River Delta region, with only thirteen counties in total.In later generations, there are eleven districts in just one city of Guangzhou.

So where will the new city plots under construction be managed by the crossover crowd?Sorry, it happens to be under the jurisdiction of Panyu County.So today's matter, due to emotion and reason, Panyu County can't escape.

When Chen Shi'ai and his group entered the city gate and came to the Panyu County Government located on the east side of Yushan Mountain, the sun was already hanging in the sky, and it was the time when the County Government issued an announcement—this group of old scholars naturally would not mistake the County Government release date.

Then Chen Shi'ai successfully submitted a complaint against Dashuai Cao.

At the same time, in Chenjiacun, Jinshi Chen Shiqi was holding a letter and shouting, "Hurry up and call the patriarch back!"

As the saying goes, there is no book without a coincidence.Just as Chen Shi'ai entered the city, a young man dressed as a servant also stepped into Chen Shi Village.After the young man entered the village, he found the door of Chen Shiqi's house after asking all the way, and finally handed several letters to Mr. Chen.

In ancient times, private messages were often sent by businessmen and fellow villagers.Especially for the long distance from the capital to Guangzhou, unless it is a major event, few people will send a special courier, without him, the cost is too high.

What Chen Shiqi received this time was a letter sent by his old friend in the capital more than a month ago.His old friend is also a poor Beijing official, and he can't send any express mail, let alone express it within [-] miles. It will cost his head, so he can only entrust the businessman to bring the letter.

The merchants did business all the way along the Grand Canal. After wandering around to Guangzhou, it took a few more days to settle in their carriages and horses. It was not until this morning that they sent a man to deliver the letter.

In other words, Chen Shi'ai and his group passed by the buddy.

But when Chen Shiqi read the letter, he was dumbfounded on the spot: the letter said that Cao thief actually made great contributions to the country on the border, beheaded more than 4000 people, and resisted a round of political tide, and was made an earl by the emperor!
"Hurry up and call the patriarch back!"

This was Chen Shiqi's only reaction after reading the letter.Unfortunately, his response was a bit late.

Sun Rishao, a native of Jiangxi, a Jinshi in the year of Tianqi, served as the county magistrate of Panyu from the first year to the fifth year of Chongzhen.

At this meeting, the county magistrate Sun was walking square steps, all in official robes, turning out from the back of the hall, and accompanied by the classic shouts of "Ascension + Mighty" from the servants under the hall, Da Ma sat on the seat of the main hall with a golden sword. Official hat chair.

The next moment, the emaciated county magistrate Sun Da took a letter from the letter next to his hand and read it carefully before announcing Chen Shi'ai to court.

"Scholar under the hall, today you are suing the general of Zhangchao for abusing ordinary people and seizing people's land and houses. Do you have evidence?"

At this moment, Chen Shiai's expression was calm.

Because before that, he had asked the trustee to meet the county magistrate in private, and gave a gift, explaining his intention: to maintain a low-intensity struggle with the dog leg of Cao, and wait for the situation in the court to change in the future. A springboard can be used, and the Chen family will join the army to defeat Cao. When the time comes, there will be retribution for injustice, and the loss will always be made up.

So when he saw County Magistrate Sun appearing in the lobby as usual, he was determined: After all, this is suing a second-rank official. If the county magistrate is unwilling to cooperate, then today he can make excuses for his illness, or just answer Tell yourself to stop and don't make trouble for him.

"My lord, the general surnamed Cao sent people to Chenshi Village a few days ago to threaten to buy the land. Later, when he saw that the people refused to follow suit, he asked people to destroy my fertile land and poison my fish ponds at night, ruining the hard work of the villagers over the years."

"There are clerks and witnesses for all the above, and I hope that you will not fear the powerful and avenge the people!"

Magistrate Sun frowned slightly when he heard this.

In fact, regarding the matter of land acquisition, there has been a lot of trouble in the past six months. He has received many similar complaints, and the county magistrate naturally knows the cause and effect.

Originally, for the sake of gifts and a little friendship, County Magistrate Sun planned to fight with: Chen Shi'ai's family leader and Cao's arm wrestling. Let the conflict between the two sides intensify.

The information channel on the county magistrate's side is naturally stronger than that of these country sticks.This includes the news he got from Shangguan a few days ago, as well as some public content in the mansion newspaper-to sum up, no one in Guangdong can do anything to someone surnamed Cao, at least in a short period of time.

But now the magistrate has changed his mind.He really wanted to remind this idiot in the hall: Don't drag Lao Tzu into the muddy water.What does it mean to not be afraid of the powerful?The man surnamed Cao was calling the wind and rain in the capital a few days ago, and he was really popular. It's ridiculous that these idiots are still acting as carts.In vain trying to run on himself by not being afraid of the powerful.
"Hey, wait whatever you want, I won't serve you anymore."

Thinking of this, County Magistrate Sun said with a bit of disinterest: "So, this case will stay in this office. After I write the document to the General Army's office, I will make a decision after reading the receipt."

"Thank you sir."

At this point, today's matter is considered to be over.Then Chen Shi'ai would go back and wait for the news—it wasn't the bullshit receipt from the general's yamen, but the one who could figure out what it was with his heels.

What Chen Shi'ai was waiting for was news that was not good for Zongbing Cao in terms of the overall situation.This news was basically his life-saving straw.If the news does not come, then the Chen clan can only admit defeat, because the remaining savings in the clan cannot be delayed indefinitely.

At the moment when Chen Shi'ai bowed out and Sun Ming's mansion reached out to get a certificate, there was chaos outside the hall of the county government office: a group of people broke in from the gate.

This team was wearing brand-new bright red mandarin duck jackets, copper basin helmets on their heads, and buffalo leather combat boots.

After the elites broke in, they quickly waved their whips and short sticks to drive aside the melon-eaters surrounding the hall gate.After clearing the road, the group of people formed a human wall from the gate to the main hall in groups of two.

Next, a small group of personal guards with short guns pinned to their waists walked into the county government office surrounded by a man in a red robe. There were even guards holding Remington five-shots at the front and back of the team.

At the same time, the guards who rushed into the lobby shouted out a long section of titles: "Uncle Zhongyong, Doctor Ronglu, Zhu Guo, Minister of the Ministry of War, Zuo Dudu of the Governor's Mansion of the Rear Army, Zhangchao of the Ming Dynasty, etc." Commander-in-Chief, Master Cao Chuan has arrived."

After hearing this series of titles, Chen Shixiu, who was already dumbfounded, jumped up in the hall.

I didn't want another person, but I really jumped up: Sun Rishao, the main hall of Panyu County, Guangdong, Ming Dynasty.

After a Jiling jumped up from the seat, Sun's parents hurriedly bypassed the case and stepped forward: "The next official, Sun Rishao, went to see Mr. Cao, but he didn't know that Mr. Cao was coming. He was far away to welcome him, and he hoped to make amends.".

Even at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the culture was noble and the military was cheap, but a seventh-rank county magistrate still had to practice etiquette honestly in front of the Earl of Chaopin.In fact, the county magistrate still has to kneel in theory, and it is not bad to just salute.

"Haha, I am an uninvited guest, what is the fault of Sun Mingfu?"

Dashuai Cao came to the Panyu county government office today, not to harass the county magistrate, so he didn’t bother the county magistrate, but explained with a smile: “I just came back from the capital a few days ago, and I originally came out of He Zongbing’s mansion today. Passing by the county government office, I heard that someone is suing me, magistrate Sun, may this officer listen in?"

"Yes, yes!" When Marshal Cao entered the Yamen before, Sun's parents saw the arbitrariness that no official in Guangdong dared to put on, and knew that this was a general who turned his back on the battlefield, so he would not make trouble. , hurriedly nodded in agreement.

"Haha, thank you grandparents." After Cao Dashuai finished speaking, he turned around and swaggered up to the official case, and sat on the official hat chair of the parent officer, ignoring the embarrassment of his grandparents.

After sitting on the county magistrate's position, Marshal Cao picked up the case, shook his hands and threw the paper down, and then asked with a smile, "Who is suing me?"

Chen Shixin groaned secretly in his heart, but he was already on the verge of riding a tiger, so he couldn't say that he didn't hand in the certificate?

So Chen Shi'ai lowered his head and came out, coughed, bent down and bowed his hands habitually, and planned to say something.

The next moment, as Marshal Cao said faintly, "Take it down", Chen Shi'ai was instantly pushed to the ground by two bodyguards with big arms and round waists.

Chen Shiai was shocked: "Ah!? Master Cao, why did you arrest me? What crime did you commit?"

"I yelled at Shangguan just now, can't I catch you?"

Not only Chen Shi'ai, but everyone in the hall was shocked at this moment: Can a cough count as a roar Shangguan?
"I don't accept it, this is an attempted crime!"

"A mere scholar, not only roaring at the court, but also condescending to the superior officials, the earl didn't kneel when he saw me."

Marshal Cao pulled out the magistrate's order and threw it down: "Come here."

"Big guy!"

"Take off this person's square scarf and green robe, and put him in a cage for public display."

"Order!"

"More." Marshal Cao snapped his fingers at this moment: "Take down all the party members that this person arranged outside the hall, and put them all in the cage. By the way, take my post to the Guangdong Xuezheng Yamen, and pick up this Partner's reputation as a scholar."

"Order!"

(End of this chapter)