Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 442
Dengzhou prefecture, Penglai.

Du Fenghe stood on the playground with some trepidation. In his 60s, he had been hungry for several days and only had one meal of porridge every day. , In fact, it has not suffered too much.

Later, he studied hard for ten years in the cold window, and won the Juren. The relatives in his hometown Shaoxing all came to set off firecrackers and give gifts. He was only 30 years old at that time. This young Juren, especially in a place like Shaoxing, is young and promising. .

If you pass the examination, you will be qualified to be an official, but you need to go to Beijing to be an official. It is hard to say when you will be able to wait. It is not too late at the age of 31, so I gritted my teeth and continued the examination. Only by passing the examination can my life be completely changed.

Du Fenghe passed the three-year Jinshi examination three times in a row, but lost his name three times, and turned [-] in a blink of an eye. Fortunately, since he passed the examination, someone volunteered to donate, and the land and population of the name were added to his name. Although there are tricks here, but I have privileges and exemptions. Others send their names, and they have to pay him the customary money and food. Even lawsuits, imperial examinations, etc., this title is also very useful, and they all have good income. , the day is not bad.

But there was still a huge difference in failing to pass the Jinshi exam. In the end, Du Fenghe went to Beijing to be elected.

In the Ministry of Officials in Beijing, there are countless people who fail the candidates in the general examination. Some people even waited for 20 years without finding a real shortage. , he asked fellow villagers for help, found a lucrative job, became a master in charge of a noble family in Beijing, wrote letters and managed accounts, and even taught his children, allowing him to settle down in Beijing, the best place in the world. .

Then drift for ten years.

He would participate in every province's selection, but again and again, more than [-] times before and after, he failed to be selected.Seeing that his hair was all gray, in the end his ten-year-old boss couldn't stand it anymore, took him to drink, and kindly reminded him that it was not that simple to be a candidate for the official department, and he had to spend money.

The more money you spend, the higher the ranking of candidates, and you can even jump in the queue.

Du Fenghe also knows how to send money, but he has no money. He has been wandering in Beijing for ten years, barely making ends meet, and has to send some money to his hometown to support his wife and children.

Later, it was the boss who gave him advice and asked him to borrow Beijing debts. There are some people in the capital who lend money to the scholars in the imperial examination in Beijing, the candidates of the Houguan, and the Jinshi. Because they want to be an official, they have to get money everywhere. They have no money, so they provide loans, although the interest rate is high, but for the sake of official career, many people can only grit their teeth and borrow.

Du Fenghe borrowed Beijing debts through the relationship of his boss, and successfully sent out the money. Then he joined a team, barely caught up with the selection team, and finally got a county magistrate's decision.

From the age of 30 to 50, he failed in the Jinshi examination for ten years, went to Beijing for election, and spent ten years in Beijing before getting an official.

Finally, a magistrate in a remote place was awarded.

I got the official certificate from the Ministry of Officials, and I was appointed within a time limit, but all the money was used to get around. There was no travel expenses, so I had no choice but to borrow money again. I borrowed 100 taels and got 50 taels in hand. Finally, I got another sum through the old boss. Beijing debt, this time there is an additional condition, the status of the old boss will arrange for him a bastard to follow Du Fenghe to take office, and then arrange a position in the yamen.

Du Fenghe readily agreed, and finally borrowed 4000 taels of silver, and actually got 2000 taels.

Halfway there was not enough money, so I borrowed another two thousand.

When I got to the place, I visited the governor, governor, chief envoy, inspector, inspector, magistrate, Daotai, etc. After a round, 3000 taels of silver were sent out. I didn’t have enough money, so I borrowed another 500 taels in the provincial capital. .

At this time, Du Fenghe was numb to borrowing for a long time. He borrowed when he had no money, regardless of whether the interest was nine out of ten or ten to nine. When he officially entered the county government, he had already borrowed more than 1 Two silver.

As a county magistrate, his salary is only a few dozen taels of silver. If he counts on his salary to pay off his debts, ten lifetimes would not be enough.

Even the county magistrate in a remote place is also a local parent official, who can get money by opening his mouth and extending his hand.

Anyway, after he took office, local gentry and merchants came to see him one after another, and they all wanted to pay respects.

A famous local gentry came to see him. If he wanted to invite him for something, at least 100 taels of silver would be given.Even for the opening of the store, 50 taels must be given, and various other official gifts, birthday gifts, and festivals are indispensable.

Because of the foreign debt of more than 1 taels on his body, Du Fenghe was a little impatient when he took office. to make money.

For a while, the whole county was very dissatisfied with this new county magistrate who had no background. At this time, the world was in turmoil, and the imperial court didn't care so much about you. The first task of the county magistrate was to pay taxes. , and have to cover the bottom line to lose money.

Anyway, in the first year of his tenure, Du Fenghe urged grain and taxation every day, and in the end, everyone complained, but he didn't complete the task, and finally owed more than 1 taels of silver.

The assessment was also not good, so he was transferred to a more remote county.

Fortunately, this time he has learned his lesson and gained some experience. He knows that to be a good county magistrate, he must first establish a good relationship with the local gentry, and he cannot collect taxes from them. Otherwise, they will take the lead in resisting the payment and will do anything at that time no.

This time, he took various measures and deliberately made friends with the local gentry, and he did it so well that his boss was very satisfied, and finally transferred him to be the magistrate of Penglai County.

Penglai County is the county where Dengzhou Prefecture is located, it is a prefecture, and it is also the first port in the north. Although there are many mother-in-laws in the same city, such as the governor, the general soldier, the military preparation platform, and the magistrate, Du Feng, who is already very experienced He did a good job. He worked as a county magistrate for two years and made enough money.

And this time he was very smart, he made money by himself, and managed all parties involved, but he was still very sensible and took the initiative to ask for a transfer, so as not to keep occupying this position to make people jealous.

He worked in Shandong for a few more years, and then transferred back to Penglai. Although the official position has not been promoted, Du Fenghe only wants to make money, and he doesn't care about other things.

After returning to Penglai, he worked for another two years. At first he wanted to quit, but first he went to Shandong with the army, and then the Qing army came again. Because he made too much money and property, he failed to 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 effective in tax collection, and he was promoted to the prefect of Dengzhou.

From the first time he served as the magistrate to now as the magistrate, he has also been an official for ten years. He is 1 this year. He made a lot of money during his tenure, especially after staying in Penglai for almost five years, he made a lot of money.

Anyway, the Beijing debts back then have been paid off long ago, and now I have saved 10 taels of silver.

Not counting the silver that is usually sent to my hometown Shaoxing one after another.

Suddenly, the Ming army entered Dengzhou City and recovered.

Du Fenghe was shocked, but also 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 most illicit person, and some even took out the ledger.

The trial was imminent, Du Fenghe was flustered, but he still tried his best to stay calm. He has been in the officialdom for ten years, although he has been a county magistrate, and he has become a veteran in the officialdom, but he can be in office for ten years, and he can still get money without any problems. Still very capable.

He has been analyzing the Emperor Shaotian for the past three days, and he has already known about the rise of the south in the past year, and some of their policies, and he even has no idea about what kind of stalls in the south, where officials and gentry pay for food. These new policies, such as adding taxes, have been well understood and studied, and even in-depth research.

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 get a lot of money.

For example, he was very active in the levy of lijin, and he was also very active in re-levying the industrial and commercial tax.

The gentry is more active in paying for food.

Even because of his new policies, there were many rebellions in Dengzhou one after another, but the military men who served in the army had to wipe their buttocks to quell the rebellion, and even after the pacification, they could make another wave of money.

Whatever his purpose, he felt he had found a way to escape and even make a comeback.

"Du Fenghe, come here!"

A few soldiers from the imperial battalion came to call for someone,

"Here, come." Du Fenghe knew that he was going to be interrogated, and he cooperated happily.

When they got to the hall, Du Fenghe confessed very proactively, he knew everything, and he even made a passionate speech at the end, saying that he had always been loyal to Daming, but he didn't have time to go south when he came here.He also said that his hometown was Shaoxing, and that his wives and children had already donated food and money to the emperor and the court, paid back taxes and so on.

He even said that he had been implementing the emperor's new policy in Dengzhou, and he hoped that the court would return to Dengzhou as soon as possible.

This initiative surprised the imperial camp officials who were in charge of interrogating him.

"Okay, go back and reflect on yourself first."

"Specific disposal, waiting for notification."

a few days later.

Du Fenghe's investigation report was sent to Zhu Yihai along with many other reports. Chen Qianfu told the emperor, "This Du Fenghe served as the county magistrate of Penglai and half of the prefect of Penglai. According to our preliminary investigation, this person has been an official for ten years, and he has been corrupted for as little as 20 taels of silver."

Zhu Yihai couldn't help but marvel, "Just being a county magistrate for nine years and magistrate for one year, he can earn 20 yuan, which is indeed very capable."

He saw that the investigation report indicated that after Du Feng and Ren Zhifu, they wantonly implemented Daming's New Deal in Dengzhou, and they did a good job, such as clearing land and checking households, recovering tax arrears, setting up tax collection, etc. It's a great deal.

This guy is somewhat like Zhu Dadian or Pan Yinglou, Ruan Dacheng, Ma Shiying, Liu Kongzhao, and Yang Wencong. He is not a very upright and clean official, but his ability is indeed good.

"What's his attitude?"

"This man is very knowledgeable. He always said that he would be loyal to the Holy Majesty and the imperial court."

Zhu Yihai flicked and reported, "His one hundred thousand stolen silver?"

"He didn't know that his hidden silver had been found by us. He only confessed that there were more than 1 taels of silver, which was a bit dishonest."

"Hahaha, it seems that this person values ​​money the most, and loves money. However, it is also human nature. This person is just the most ordinary low-level official. After 20 years of poor work, ten years of election, and ten years of official career, he has been in office for ten years. Going with the flow and being so sophisticated, talk about loyalty and ideals, force it.”

"In this way, didn't he confess that he has 1 taels of silver, then leave the 1 taels to him, and say that I rewarded him, as for the 9 taels he didn't confess, they will be confiscated directly.

Beat him, if he can understand current affairs, then I will give him a chance to continue acting as the prefect of Dengzhou. If he doesn't understand current affairs, he will be sent to Long Island for labor reform, and all money will be confiscated. "

"Hurray is too kind to this man."

"No way, most of the officials in the world are so ordinary nowadays, but they are also showing off loyal ministers such as Qing. Use it if you can, use it carefully, and use it with caution. Greed is not terrible. If you have the ability and can be restrained, you can return Good. If it’s still the same by then, it won’t be too late to deal with it.”

Du Fenghe ate porridge for another three days in the prison camp, and his hungry stomach was sour.

"Du Fenghe!"

Finally he was called again.

He was brought all the way to Chen Qianfu,
"I am the minister of the Dali Temple in the imperial court, walking before the imperial court, and the general soldier of the imperial battalion. I want to tell you good news. The sage appreciates it and specially decreed to pardon you. I have given you a reward, do it well, and don't let down the kindness of the saint."

Du Fenghe was stunned, unable to believe it.

"By the way, the soldiers of the imperial camp just found 9 taels of silver from the backyard of the government office. Do you know who hid it there?"

Du Fenghe was short of breath, it was his money, he had been an official for several years and had accumulated it for many years.

But facing Chen Qianfu who was wearing a purple robe and jade belt, Du Fenghe didn't dare to say that it was his own expression that seemed to be a smile but not a smile. When the official was appointed as the magistrate before, he found that there was a large amount of money in the treasury that was not reconciled. Those who died in office before, maybe because of the sudden death, and then the chaos of the war, the money has been buried in the ground..."

Chen Qianfu smiled slightly.

"Oh, is that right? I didn't expect it to be so. How does Prefect Du think this money should be used?"

"The lower official suggested that 5 taels should be donated to the emperor, 3 taels should be used to pay for the army, and the remaining 1 taels should be used to buy food to relieve the victims, and to restore prefectural and county officials, pay salaries, and make up for the officials and servants, so that they can be restored as soon as possible. With the functioning of the yamen, order and production in prefectures and counties can be restored as soon as possible.”

"Well, after you go back, quickly draw up a restoration charter and report to it. You must make the government run as soon as possible. If you are short of people and money, report it. You must restore people's livelihood as soon as possible, and there must be no chaos."

"Your officer understands,"

"Go,"

Looking at Du Fenghe's cautious back, Chen Qianfu shook his head, then called a few officials and arranged for them to temporarily go to the Dengzhou government office to assist Du Fenghe in his work.

"Keep an eye on him,"

(End of this chapter)