marquis of jingan

Chapter 41
The reason why Ma Yuanwai is so confident is that on the one hand, the local gentry in Jiangdu is deeply rooted, and there is no need to be particularly afraid of the two "outlanders" Feng Zhixian and Chen Zhifu. The more important reason is that the Ma family also has the backing of the Ma family.

There are people in the court, so there is no need to be too afraid of these local officials. Take what Feng Zhixian said, if the Jiangdu county government came forward to buy and sell grain, it would not take long for the censor in the court to impeach Jiangdu county with a document. , Impeach Jiangdu Mansion.

There is no need for other charges, just the words "the government conducts business and strives for profits with the people", and the official skin of Fengzhi County can be stripped away.

As for the entry of grain merchants from other places...

The local gentry forces in Jiangdu are very united. If outsiders want to come to Jiangdu to do business, other businesses are fine. If they dare to intervene in the grain business, unless they have a strong background behind them, their business will fail within two months.

Therefore, these talents outside the horse have nothing to fear.

As long as they are united, the officials sent by the imperial court may not be able to deal with them. After all, in the past few decades, the local gentry forces in Jiangdu have driven away many magistrates. If the magistrate targeted the local gentry, he would either be kicked out by Jiangdu squires, or be transferred to other places.

If you want to be a good official, especially a good magistrate, you must firmly remember the principle of "imperial power does not go to the countryside", and cooperate with local gentry and local forces, you can be safe and secure, and you can serve as a magistrate comfortably. If you want to fight against the local forces, then the two sides will have to fight their hands and fight.

Now it is obvious that the Jiangdu squires headed by Ma Yuanwai are very dissatisfied with the "policies" of the two chief officials of the Jiangdu government, and the two sides are about to start fighting with each other.

After Mr. Feng interviewed Jiangdu grain merchants, the price of grain in Jiangdu City did not drop significantly, and remained at a high price of six to eight cents per catty.

Because of the high food prices, Shen Yi's very appropriate nursery rhyme couldn't be suppressed for a while. Although the county government officials didn't allow it to be sung, you could still occasionally hear "Jiangdu is full of tigers and wolves" in the streets and alleys. "The sound of the ballad.

Regarding this situation, as the county magistrate, Mr. Feng is not particularly anxious. Anyway, this matter is not his responsibility. He just acts according to the content explained above. needs attention.

However, after all, Master Feng did not want to offend his superior. On the second day after meeting with the grain merchant, the county magistrate came to the magistrate's yamen, and when he saw the prefect Chen who still had a bad face, Master Feng stood in front of the prefect Chen with his hands down, bowing his head. He lowered his head and said, "Fu Zun, I have already met those grain merchants according to your instructions, but behind these Jiangdu local merchants..."

Feng Zhixian paused, and continued: "There are more or less imperial backgrounds, and the lower officials can't force them too much, so they gave them a three-day deadline to lower the food price."

Jiangdu is not only Jiangnan, but also "Gyeonggi". It is one of the famous imperial examination holy places. In every subject, there will be several Jiangdu people. 14 years ago when the scientific examination was released, there were even ten Jiangdu natives. Seven of them came from Ganquan Academy, which is said to be a good story.

With such a large "official reserve", there will naturally be many Jiangdu officials in the court. These Jiangdu officials will more or less have some "relatives and old friends" in their hometown, and more or less will set up some family businesses .

And their relatives and friends who stayed in Jiangdu were part of Jiangdu's gentry forces.

After hearing Feng County Magistrate's words, Chen Fuzun was expressionless at first, then looked up at Feng Lu, and asked, "Have you found the person who created and spread nursery rhymes?"

Master Feng shook his head quickly, and said with a wry smile: "Master Fu, this nursery rhyme spread too fast. When the subordinate officials sent people to investigate, it had spread everywhere in Jiangdu, and there was no way to trace the source."

"The county government doesn't have enough manpower, please forgive me..."

"Three days...three days..."

Chen Fuzun sat on his seat with a gloomy face. After a moment of silence, he said: "Since it is you who said it, it represents the yamen of our Jiangdu. The government will give them three days. After three days , I will personally go down to inquire about the price of rice in Jiangdu."

Feng Zhixian looked up at Fu Zun, then lowered his head again, and said cautiously: "Fu Zun, whether it is the county government office of the lower official or your government office, there are only a few local people. If you go down in person, those people You can definitely receive the news in advance, and when the time comes, the food store will lower the price when you go, just pretend that the magistrate's office will have nowhere to go."

"They can't fool the government."

Speaking of this, Chen Yu glanced at Fengzhi County, and then said in a low voice: "This government knows that you don't want to offend these local gentry in Jiangdu, let alone offend the people behind them, but you have to remember, this Jiangdu It’s the Jiangdu of the court, not the Jiangdu of grain merchants like them!”

Chen Fuzun's voice was low: "Our residence is in Jiangdu, at least there are four years left, and you have almost one year left in Jiangdu. This residence is not afraid of dealing with them. What are you afraid of!"

"This matter has become a big deal, the court will certainly blame me, but you, the magistrate of Jiangdu, can hardly escape the blame. Next year will be Kaoquan from the Ministry of Officials. You and I are now on the same boat in Jiangdu..."

"Should Fengzhi County not use me to teach the principle of helping each other in times of trouble?"

Feng Lu, magistrate of Jiangdu County, is now serving his second term in Jiangdu. Although he has not made any great political achievements, he is considered safe and stable, and his reputation is not bad. , this term is full, there is a high probability that there will be a prospect of promotion, or go to a poorer place to be a magistrate directly, or be a general judge or a fellow magistrate in a place where you study.

And if the evaluation next year is not very good, then there is a high probability that it will be flat.

Jiangdu County Magistrate is already one of the fattest vacancies in the position of magistrate. If it is a flat transfer, unless it is transferred to several counties directly under Jiankang, transferring to any county is considered "demotion".

What Chen Fuzun said was a rare "heart-to-heart talk" in the officialdom. After hearing these words, County Magistrate Feng also changed his view of himself, a superior official who has been with him for more than a year. He bowed his head respectfully and said, "Fufu What the venerable taught is that this matter must be done with all my heart and done for the venerable."

"Ah."

Chen Yu nodded, and said slowly: "There are people behind those grain merchants, but there is no one behind this government. They really want to fight against the government and the people of Jiangdu. Don't blame the yamen for being ruthless." .”

County Magistrate Feng nodded, and said, "I understand what Fu Zun means."

………………

While the two chief officials of Jiangdu City were fighting with the squires, Shen Yi and Shen Qilang walked slowly in Jiangdu City with a few oiled paper bags in their hands.

There are several roast chickens wrapped in oil paper.

At this time, although the nursery rhyme turmoil in the city has not passed, it is almost clear that the people in the yamen have not found Xu Fu and other children.

If Xu Fu and the others were not found, Shen Yi was also not found.

Besides, now that Shen Yi has Master Lu as his guarantor, even if Shen Yi is really found out, he can justifiably push it to Master Lu, and Master Lu will take over the "cause and effect".

Therefore, Shen Yi now has the "Gold Medal for Avoiding Death", so he doesn't need to hide it anymore, and can move around in a fair manner.

Besides, it would be a bit strange if you hide in the academy and don't dare to meet people.

The few roasted chickens in Shen Yi's hands were bought by him at a roadside shop, probably from the same shop as the roasted chicken that Miss Lu sent to prison.

This time, Shen Yi bought four of them.

There are a total of six of those children, and they are not very old. Four roast chickens should be enough for them to have a delicious meal. It's not that Shen is a stingy person, and he is not willing to buy six. It is really not good to put them in his hands carry.

After pretending to be around the city for a few times, Mr. Shen finally entered the alley. At the end of the alley, he found the place where the group of children lived.

A dilapidated little house.

This small house should be an abandoned ancestral hall. It is located deep in the alley. Although it can be regarded as a shelter, it lacks bricks and tiles, and there is only one door left, which is very shabby.

In winter, this kind of house may freeze to death.

Shen Yi walked to the door with only half of the door left, and instead of going in directly, he reached out and knocked on the door.

Soon, Xu Fu, the child who took the lead, came out from inside. He looked up at Shen Yi, and heaved a long sigh of relief.

Obviously, he was also worried these days that Shen Yi was a dishonest, empty-mouthed liar.

Now that Shen Yi is back, he is relieved.

Because Shen Yi came back to find them, it meant that he would fulfill his promise.

Mr. Shen Qi handed over the four oil-paper bags in his hand, he chuckled: "This is Chen Ji's roast chicken, it is very famous, you take it and give them a share."

Xu Fu swallowed, stretched out his hand to take the oil-paper packets, then bowed his head slightly to Shen Yi: "Thank you, Mr. Shen."

After saying this, he walked into the dilapidated house with four oil-paper bags, walked out of the house not long after, came to Shen Yi, bowed his head and said: "Mr. Shen..."

Shen Yi looked at Xu Fu in surprise, and asked with a smile, "Did you eat?"

Xu Fu bowed his head and said, "I just ate steamed buns, so I'm not hungry."

After saying this, he hesitated for a moment, and said: "Mr. Shen, we didn't follow your request. We went out to sing for a day, and when I went out again, I found that this song was being sung in many places in the city. , I didn’t let them go out again.”

"You guys did a great job."

Shen Yi looked calm, and said lightly: "Remember, from now on, you don't remember this nursery rhyme, and this nursery rhyme has nothing to do with you at all, and you are not allowed to mention it, understand?"

Xu Fu thought about it, bowed his head and said, "Understood."

"I will come back to the city in two days, find you a place to live, and buy some clean clothes for you."

Shen Qilang smiled gently.

"After you clean up, I'll teach you a way to make a living. After you learn it, go to Yudai Lake to set up a stall."

　At the request of the brothers in the group, this chapter is a little longer, um... a little longer,
　　
　
(End of this chapter)