Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 553 Living Lu Bu

night.

The new wind howled.

A group of elite cavalry came out of Datong City, with horses and hooves wrapped around their heads, and they charged straight at the Qing army outside the city as fast as the wind and lightning.

The leading general, riding a white horse, wearing a white robe and silver armor, and carrying a bright silver spear, is extremely obvious in this dark night.

"Who?"

The Qing army on duty at night saw a white rider coming in the darkness, and asked in surprise.

As a result, the next moment, it felt like a white wind was blowing, and then the person was lifted into the sky.

"Grandpa is the assistant minister of King Lu Bu!"

The Datong cavalry charged swiftly and furiously behind them, and the Qing army shouted in panic.

"Enemy attack!"

No one expected that Datong had been besieged for so long, and now that so many reinforcements had arrived, the city would dare to come out again.

"Live Lu Bu is here!"

"Wang Fuchen!"

In the dark night, many panicked and frightened voices sounded.

"It's the horse kite!"

There was panic in the voice!

Wang Fuchen led the cavalry to kill all the way, and no one could stop him. Many Qing soldiers even turned around and ran away when they heard his name.

In the blink of an eye, the outermost Qing army camp was smashed to pieces and fled in all directions.

Wang Fuchen led the cavalry like wind and electricity to the next camp.

The news was urgently reported to Yue Le on the outskirts.

Prince An Fule put on his armor in a hurry, and asked while rubbing his red eyes, "Who is this Wang Fuchen, and why is he so amazing?"

Wakda, the king of Doro County who has been in charge of the garrison here, hurriedly told him, "This thief will be called Wang Fuchen. He is very brave and fierce. We have been besieging Datong for the past few months. Our army was killed by dozens of generals and schools."

"Oh?" Yue Le was a little surprised.

"Do you know the details of this person?"

"This man's nickname is Huo Lu Bu, which means that he is brave, but also that he has changed his master. His surname is Li, and his name is Li Fuchen. It is said that his parents were servants of a magistrate's family in Ming Dynasty. Li Fuchen grew up in that prefect since he was a child. At home, he cultivated a brave and aggressive character, ignorant of learning and skills, and not involved in production. After the death of his parents, the family had no money and made friends everywhere.

Later, there was a great famine in northern Shaanxi, and the refugees rebelled. Li Fuchen's brother-in-law also rebelled and became a leader. Li Fuchen later went to vote for him. Li Fuchen was tall and mighty, and he dared to fight and rush. Heel, but Li Fuchen is fond of gambling, and once even stole more than 600 taels of public silver from his brother-in-law's camp to gamble, but lost all of it. His brother-in-law wanted to kill him in a rage, but he took it away The man was killed and then fled.

Li Fuchen fled to Jiang Yu, the general of Datong, and joined the army. He joined Wang Jinchao, a general under his command. Seeing that he was tall and burly and good at martial arts, Chaochao recruited him as his subordinate. Later, he adopted him as his adopted son and changed his surname to king.

Wang Fuchen was promoted very quickly in Datong because he had a good adoptive father and was capable.Later, after the death of his adoptive father, Jiang Tuan still let him lead his old ministry, and became Jiang Tuan's confidant, and turned to worship Jiang Tuan as his foster father.

When Li Zicheng attacked Shanxi, Wang Fuchen surrendered with Jiang Guan. Later, seeing Li Zicheng's success or failure, he wanted to join our dynasty, so he asked Wang Fuchen to get rid of Zhang Tianlin and Ke Tianxiang who were left behind by Li Zicheng. The two lied to come here, and then beheaded the two on the spot, and brought their heads to our Qing camp to ask for their surrender.

Wang Fuchen was later awarded the title of lieutenant general. "

Before Jiang Guan's rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, he also deliberately found two confidantes, deputy generals Yang Zhenwei and Wang Fuchen, to ask their attitudes. Both of them were Jiang Guan's old subordinates, and they were willing to listen to him.

That's why Jiang Guan dared to rebel.

During the few months when the Qing army surrounded Datong, this Wang Fuchen repeatedly attacked and defeated the Qing army many times. Even the elite of the Eight Banners were frightened.

This guy is very brave and ferocious, and he can attack every time when he sees the opportunity. I went back again.

Time and time again.

He is as agile as a kite, so he got the name of a horse kite, and because he is very brave and has voted for many masters, he is called a living Lu Bu.

Even the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners, when they saw this living Lu Bu come out, they would be very scared to avoid it.Let alone other Mongolian soldiers or Han army flags.

And if those green camps saw it, they wouldn't dare to fight at all.

"If it weren't for this active Lu Bu, we would have taken Datong City long ago, but every time we besiege and attack the city, this guy will always find a chance to come here for a while, no one can stop him!"

"Damn it, I never thought that I would dare to come out again tonight!"

Wakda felt very unlucky.

This Wang Fuchen ran out again without being watched. It is estimated that there will be a mess again tonight, and there will be a lot of casualties.

The mother-in-law of Datong was from Suide, and Wang Fuchen was from Suide.

Yue Le had been fighting on the periphery before, but he never knew that there was such a strong general in Datong.

"This is something interesting for Lu Bu. Let's see if there is a chance to contact this person secretly. As long as he can kill Jiang Yu and surrender, I will protect him as the king of Datong and the commander-in-chief of Datong, and let him take over from Jiang Yu's troops. And continue to guard Datong."

"This person is Jiang Guan's adopted son."

"This king knows, but since this person is called Huo Lu Bu, he even killed his own brother-in-law, and even killed Zhang Tianlin and the others so happily, we know that this person is not the kind of loyal person. As long as there are enough benefits, this king Can't believe he wasn't moved.

Jiang Guan is a capricious villain, how will his adopted son be any better? "

Varda was very impressed after hearing this, "Why didn't I think of this trick before."

"Hahaha, the strongest castle is always easy to breach from the inside. By the way, doesn't Jiang Yu also have a confidant lieutenant named Yang Zhenwei? Why don't you contact him secretly and give him the conditions for living Lu Bu? promise."

"Will this go wrong?"

"Wang Fuchen and Yang Zhenwu wouldn't be so stupid as to discuss this matter together?"

"Too!"

Not long after, the Ba Yala guards came to report. Sure enough, Wang Fuchen rushed back to Datong City after wantonly charging for a while. The Qing army was smashed through several battalions and lost hundreds of people. As a result, all the elite came to surround them. They are still not surrounded.

Yue Le didn't care about this anymore.

"Let all the battalions be more vigilant. The battalion officers who were trampled tonight cut off their heads and passed it on to the battalions to show the public. Those who were on guard at night were also chopped off.

The few battalions that were dispersed were all fined with twenty military sticks.

If there is a next time, there will be no mercy, no mercy. "

······
Beijing.

Faced with Yue Le's request, the two regent uncles, Jierhalang and Daishan, reluctantly agreed to give him another month to attack Datong.

Yue Le also asked for the transfer of food and grass, but Beijing is also suffering from famine, so there is no food.I had to give an order to the governor of Shanxi to be responsible for raising food and grass on the spot, and to order the Shanxi merchants of the eight imperial merchants of the inner government to help them raise food.

At the same time, the Ministry of Officials was asked to quickly fill in the missing officials in Shanxi, especially the food supervisors.

During the great chaos in Shanxi, many prefectures and counties were destroyed, and local officials fled to death. The loss was huge. Now we can only deal with urgent matters and make up for it quickly. Let them quickly find a way to restore local order and help collect food and grass. For the army, if there is more than enough, some more have to be sent to Beijing.

The price of grain in Beijing is now one price per day, and the Qing government was forced to start controlling the grain market, but with more people and less food, the price has been rising steadily, especially in the underground black market, where Jiangmi is already ten taels a stone.

It is said that there are no beggars in Beijing recently, and some say that they are all secretly kidnapped to make rice and meat for sale in the underground black market.

······
Zhang Ji came out of the yamen of the Ministry of Officials, and stood there with a happy expression on his face. Just now, he was notified by the Ministry of Officials that he had obtained the post of Superintendent of Food and Road in Shanxi.

This is a fat job, responsible for the allocation of grain and grass throughout Shanxi, and can make a lot of money from it.

Zhang Ji's last errand was the magistrate, and he went to Beijing Hou post after his full term, and finally got a fat job.

But while he was happy, he couldn't help but feel sad, because even if the official department was vacant, if he really wanted to secure his position, he had to pay the money first.

Zhang Ji is a native of Yizheng in the south of the Yangtze River. Chongzhen first came to Beijing to donate to obtain the qualification of supervising students. Later, he took part in the provincial examination and was listed as a person. After failing twice in the general examination, he studied hard in Beijing for several years, and finally won the Jinshi in the third general examination. .

Select the scholars of the Hanlin Academy, edit them, and release them to the magistrate.

When the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Zhang Ji, who was the magistrate in Beizhi, immediately took the lead in welcoming the surrender, so he stayed in office.

Zhang Ji was born as a Jinshi, and he also worked as a Hanlin editor. His articles are good, his flattery is even better, and he is very flexible. He knows that being an official is not based on ability, but on connections, so he is usually very good at flattering and following connections. .

Therefore, this official served very well in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

This time, I even found a job in Shanxi's food and road industry. As long as this job is well managed, it is not a problem to earn 20 or 6 a year. Can earn a lot.

But he has no money now.

When I was the magistrate before, I got a lot of money, but it was used up in the upper and lower management.

From the Ming Dynasty to the current Qing Dynasty, the officialdom is full of various bad rules. Anyway, it is gift giving, and it is not a general etiquette, but a gift of money.

Foreign officials send gifts to Beijing officials. In summer, there is ice respect, in winter, there is charcoal respect, and there is special respect when leaving Beijing to take office.

Only Jingxin Changtong, Tanjing Changfeng, you can do a good job as an official. In fact, there are already agreed unspoken rules about how much you should give. Officials of different levels have a certain number of gifts to officials of a certain level. of.

Even if you go to a local office, you have to give gifts to a group of immediate superiors, one must not be less, and the same amount is also regulated.

Even in addition to the salutes for officials, the salutes at the gates of the yamen and the officials' homes are indispensable.

Some big yamen even get 50 taels of silver for a bag.

Zhang Ji, who was born in the Imperial Academy, worked in the Imperial Academy for seven years in Beijing. The Imperial Academy is a Qingshui yamen. Although there is a bit of Bing Jing Tan Jing, but it is pitiful, so life is quite miserable.

Later, he went out of Beijing and was sent to the magistrate of Shuoping, Shanxi Province. Because of his meager salary in Beijing, he did not receive any salutes, so when he left Beijing, he could not give much respect as usual. , and even impeached soon.

Later, after he returned to Beijing, he got advice from someone, so he gritted his teeth cruelly, and began to borrow Beijing debts to manage, and made up for it everywhere, and sure enough, it was short again soon. After staying in the place for nearly ten years, he finally paid off the Beijing debts Also got some.

But this time, in order to get this fat job, I have already spent all my savings in advance, and now I have to go out of Beijing, I have to pay special respects as usual, and even give more, otherwise this official will not be easy to sit.

Now that he has experience, he sits in the sedan chair at home, calculates in his mind, and finally comes to the result that at least 2 to [-] taels of silver will be needed.

So next, Zhang Ji began to run Beijing debt. In Beijing, there are special loans for Jinshi and officials called Beijing debt, and the interest is quite high.

Yitong borrowed and successfully borrowed 2 taels, of which 9000 taels were borrowed from Guangdong Bank, with an annual interest of 2000%, and [-] taels from Shandong Bank, also [-]%, and [-] taels from a friend in the same year.

The 2 taels of silver were received, and they were all given away within three days.

With a monthly interest rate of nine percent, the annual interest rate is ten percent and eight percent, and the annual interest rate is 160 taels, which is not bad.

Before departure, the father-in-law fell ill and asked him to borrow money, but he had no choice but to borrow another 3000 taels, giving one thousand to the father-in-law, one thousand to his wife and children, and keeping one thousand for the journey.

But enough money was sent, and the errands went smoothly. I got all kinds of official documents and so on, and then I took office.

The academicians of the Inner Three Academy gave 400 taels per person, 100 taels each for the six ministers and the general constitution, 50 taels each for the ministers, and Da Jiuqing. ,
Said that, in the end, the 2 taels were used up.

At the end of the day, I borrowed another three thousand.

But Zhang Ji did not panic. He has been an official for more than ten years, and he has also given experience in giving gifts. What is this little money? 800 taels. In addition, these are all generals, chief soldiers, etc., which are all to be given away, as well as chief envoys, inspectors, patrols, etc. Every bodhisattva, big and small, has to worship in place.

At that time, tens of thousands of taels of silver will have to be thrown out.

But this is just the cost, as long as the position of the grain road is firmly established, and it is in charge of grain in Shanxi province, not to mention getting 20 a year. Five or sixty thousand taels of silver.

Or say that being an official for thousands of miles is only for money.

This is only the obvious income, which is considered semi-legal. If there is embezzlement, then there is no limit.

Of course, a smart person like Zhang Ji would not stretch out his hands indiscriminately. It is enough to fiddle with this kind of bad rules and other gray income.

Officials rely entirely on these bad rules for their income. In Beijing, there are ice and charcoal respects, etc., and local officials have three festivals and two birthdays. This is a tradition.

He heard that there is now a sage emperor in his hometown, who not only raised the salaries of officials, but also came up with some money to support the honesty. It is said that a governor directly gave 2 taels of silver to support the honesty a year, and some county magistrates gave one thousand, and some Give two thousand.

Then it is said that these bad rules and customs are prohibited, and the acceptance of bad rules is regarded as corruption, and the arrest is quite strict.

Zhang Ji felt that there might be something wrong with the emperor, and this kind of thing is also in charge. Who will be an official in those days?

The regent Dorgon, as the emperor's father and regent, collected a few 10 taels of silver at the gate, and his wives and concubines also paid respects with makeup. There are festivals and festivals during the New Year and festivals, and there are joyful respects for all kinds of happy events. Well, even the Regent does not prohibit these, why does Zhu Yihai insist on prohibiting these?

Does he want to kill all the corrupt officials in the world like his ancestor Zhu Baba, but can he kill them?

However, when he heard that Huo consumption was returned to the public, and Huo consumption was used to raise integrity, he thought it was quite innovative. What if the Qing Dynasty also increased the amount of money for officials to maintain integrity?

I heard that there is no grain supervising road there, but something called the grain department and water conservancy department. The grain department is still a third grade, and each province has a director. It is said that the maintenance silver is 5000 taels.

If Zhang Ji was allowed to be a food supervisor and only given a subsidy of 5000 taels a year, he would definitely not want to do it.But if all kinds of bad regulations are collected, he can get an extra 5000 taels of maintenance money, and even mention his salary, and give him some salary or something. Don't want to waste his extra few thousand taels of income.

Now that food is so expensive, it will be a disaster if you just add a little waste when collecting food. If you get some food and sell it on the black market, you will be able to make more money. It depends on how brave you are.

The price of rice in the capital is more than ten taels and one shi. Zhang Ji secretly planned that when he got there, he must get some grain to sell in Beijing. It must be done together with the governor and governors, and even the princes of the Eight Banners, and even the ministers and servants in Beijing.

The more people involved in the matter, the more reliable the money will be. Even if he doesn't get the big head, he can still get a lot of money if he occupies this position.

Do officials not want to make money, do they want to serve the people?
(End of this chapter)