Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 339
The three top ten candidates knelt in the hall with pale faces. They all chose the wrong "own" paper.After the government tried it, they were just a few who were impatient to read, so they would not memorize the articles written by the shooter.

The title and name of the article were blurred, and they were so unlucky that they were escorted out by the guards.

Amidst Fang Chaoli's blushing face, Zhang Zhe took out the Moyi questions from last year's government examination and began to ask these three questions one by one.With only half a cup of tea, the three of them sweated profusely in the winter.

When Zhang Zhe stopped asking questions in a leisurely manner, Fang Chaoli also thought of a way to deal with it in this short period of time.

He acted "in a sudden" and took the lead in attacking the three candidates.

"You guys are so courageous! Could it be that you colluded with the subordinates in the field and did this shameful scandal!?"

Is this going to be pushed on the subordinates?Zhang Zhe started to drink tea calmly and let him do his best.

Hearing Fang Chaoli's call, the three candidates looked extremely exciting.

Stunned, disheartened, ashamed, puzzled and lost are all mixed together, but there is no expression of guilt.

They didn't expect Fang Tuiguan to turn his face and deny anyone!

Obviously, it was the third master of the Fang family who collected the money, and they got an excellent ranking as they wished.But the official word is two mouthfuls, Fang pushes the official one pushes two five six, these people really can only consider themselves unlucky.

The Xiushan scholars in the hall also cursed loudly, but because of Fang Chaoli's official status, they only dared to scold these three cheaters!

"Come here, drag it down and bring it back to the Tuiguan Yamen, and torture me carefully!"

Fang Chaoli's voice was extremely angry, but the servants in Xiushan County turned a deaf ear to it, even the few officials who stayed outside the yamen wanted to enter to arrest people, but were kicked down by the guards of the palace.

"This?!" Fang Chaoli looked at Zhang Zhe pretending to be puzzled.

But Zhang Zhe was looking down at the teacup in his hand. The teacup for hospitality at Brother Yue's house is very simple, maybe it only costs ten yuan?
Cao Lingwen got up slightly and saluted Fang Chaoli.

"Lord Fang, please be calm and don't be impatient. This is the place where Lord Tongzhi is promoted. Whether those who push the official gate can enter or not, it depends on Master Tongzhi's words. You are in a hurry!"

Fang Chaoli wished he could eat Cao Lingwen raw immediately, but there was nothing wrong with Cao Lingwen's words.There was faint laughter among the surrounding officials, as if they were happy to see Fang Chaoli's rare faux pas and gaffe.

From the fifth-rank Tongzhi to the Yamen, a regular seventh-rank official is yelling, is it strange that someone pays attention to him?Otherwise, the integrity of the officialdom will be ruined at this moment.

"My lord, don't blame me for being disrespectful. I was really deceived by these villains. Fang was really irritated."

Du Bian and others immediately agreed with each other, asking Zhang Tongzhi to forgive him.

Before Zhang Zhe could speak, these people began to defend Fang Chaoli.

"After decades of officialdom, it is inevitable that there will be some negligence!"

"Everything big and small in the county is on Mr. Fang's shoulders, and there are times when you are careless in your busy schedule."

"In the past few years, I have worked with Mr. Fang for a long time, and I know that Mr. Fang is a noble and pure person. This so-called flaw does not conceal the goodness!"

Fang Chaoli didn't lose his composure at all, but wanted to find a small mistake of his own, and his colleagues persuaded him again, letting Zhang Zhehuu temporarily let go of the investigation.

Zhang Zhe just looked at Fang Chaoli with a smile in silence.

Fang Chaoli only said that Zhang Zhe wanted to force him to bow his head, he was slightly angry, and then sneered secretly.He can find a scapegoat to take care of such things, and at most he will be punished and then be judged as "low" by Zhang Xinzhi in the performance appraisal.But the days are long, and when Zhang Xinzhi has to rely on him, he is even sure that in a few days, Zhang Xinzhi will be able to force Zhang Xinzhi to take the initiative to eliminate this "down" for him.

"The lower official committed the crime of negligence, please punish him!"

As soon as Fang Chaoli said these words, he heard Zhang Zhe's laughter.

"Your Excellency Fang, if you know your mistakes, you can correct them. There is nothing good about it! My views are similar to those of you."

Everyone in Fang Party was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but they heard Zhang Zhe's voice fade.

"The truth is unknown, but in the government examination last year, Mr. Fang was guilty of negligence, but it is real," Zhang Zhe twitched his lips. Burn it a little, so that you don't think that Zhang Mou is too broad. Today, brother Yue's funeral should be the first priority, and this official will only review a few sentences casually, and you don't have to copy them."

Hearing Zhang Zhe said that civil servants are not required to record statements in court, the expressions of many officials became subtle.

With such obvious beatings and water releases, it seems that Mr. Fang will have to spend his money for a while.

The first emotion that flashed across Fang Chaoli's heart was also a slight pain in the flesh.I don't know how big the appetite of this champion is?

"However, since this case involves Mr. Fang, according to the law, please ask Mr. Fang to sit in the back hall for a while. After I ask a few questions in front of you, Mr. Fang will be invited back to the hall."

Fang Chaoli hesitated for a while, and after looking at Du Bian and the others for a while, he could only agree.

"The lower officials should naturally avoid it!"

The scribes of the two counties immediately stepped forward to invite Fang Chaoli, and went to the back office.

Fang Chaoli went out of the inner hall, turned around only one screen wall and came to a courtyard.There is no door in the yard, and there is only a blue belt hanging over the moon gate.After Fang Chaoli saw the blue ribbon, he could hardly suppress his sneer.

He thought that Zhang Zhe was deliberately trying to show him off, and this belt that was the same color as his official robe was the proof.As long as he entered the courtyard, the civil servants would reattach the belt.This is preferential treatment and courteous treatment for officials who have committed crimes, and the tape at the door indicates that an official is locked up in the yard.

"I'm not a newcomer to the officialdom, so this little trick can anger someone?" Fang Chaoli asked the civil servant to untie his belt, and walked into the yard confidently.He was certain about the government examination, and it would be an oversight at most if it was brought up on him.Although the money was collected in the name of the third child, the person who handled it was someone who had nothing to do with them.

This kind of thing goes on and on, and it will automatically disappear in the official letters and letters within a year or two at most.

Fang Chaoli calmly watched the two clerks fasten the belts on the door again, and there were people around him looking in the distance.He calmly waved his hand towards the distance, and even his attendants stood at the door leading to the end of the front hall corridor with peace of mind.

However, when the two civil servants left the corridor, they closed the door of the corridor.

Fang Chaoli's two attendants didn't care, but Fang Chaoli in the yard frowned slightly, so impolite Zhang Xinzhi!
"Lord Fang, long time no see!"

A voice suddenly sounded from behind Fang Chaoli, and Fang Chaoli was so frightened that he hurriedly looked back.

There was actually a person standing behind him, this person was wearing a dark blue official robe from the eighth rank, tall and tall, he should have walked behind him from the room in the courtyard.

He knows this person!
"Wei Po~! Why are you here?"

Wei Po let out a grin, his eyes were slightly red: "This is the correctional office temporarily set up by Master Tongzhi. If I want to question the crime, Master Tongzhi will summon me here from the county government office. When I was young, I would go to the front government office to answer questions. Mr. Fang also made a mistake? God is so forthright, to make someone so lucky to meet Mr. Fang here?!"

Fang Chaoli was terrified and wanted to yell loudly, but Wei Po had been preventing him from yelling, so he grabbed Fang Chaoli's face with his big hand, covered his mouth, and dragged him into the house.Fang Chaoli, a scribe, was no match for Wei Po, who was born in a bloody fight. After being dragged into the house by Wei Po, he gagged his mouth with a stinky sock.Two huge fists hit Fang Chaoli's face in turn!

"Dog thief! Give back my brother-in-law's life!"

The painful and muffled voice spread to another room separated by a wall.In this room, Mrs. Chen is burning paper in front of Yue Tang's spiritual tablet.The sound of beating coming from the next door made Chen frowned slightly.

Naturally, Zhang Zhe would not just take Fang Chaoli's life like this, Wei Po's presence here was just a part of his plan.He spent a lot of time looking for Fang Chaoli's mistakes and omissions, because Fang Chaoli couldn't immediately respond to his next move.

His combined punches will be resolved within half a day, one step followed by another, each step seems to be a beating, and only a moment later, when he is trying to see him, he will launch a fatal blow to the entire Fang family.

Above the Qianya, the officials thought that Zhang Zhe would interrogate the three scholars immediately.Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhe asked people to detain the three of them first, and only asked the remaining candidates and scholars outside the hall to write poems in honor of Yue Tang.

Du Bian and others were also eager for Zhang Zhe to let go of this matter first, and they all cooperated with each other to taste poems.

Outside the yamen, little Zhao Ping hurried over with a few people.

The leading one, about 27, was [-]% similar to the Nanyang cloth merchant Leping who visited Zhang Zhe in Jiangling that day.

This person is Le Ping's younger brother, called Le An, who has been staying at the dock these days to take care of the cargo.

Several people with him are the owners of this batch of seized cloth.

The grievance drum in front of the Xiushan County Yamen rang loudly.

In the county yamen, the scholars had already read half of the poems and essays. Zhang Zhe, who was flirting with Du Bian and others, heard the sound of drums outside, and thought to himself: Fortunately, it was on time!
"I am promoted here today. First, I came to meet with my colleagues. Second, I came to attend the funeral for Brother Yue. I went to the left and right to inform the sufferer that I will not accept the paper today. Ask him to come back tomorrow!"

After Cao Lingwen heard the words, he saluted and withdrew, and went to the front door, and the hall was once again "harmonious".

But Cao Lingwen came back quickly, still holding a piece of pleading paper in his hand.

Du Bian was most afraid that this person surnamed Cao would cause trouble, so he immediately scolded him loudly.

"Lord Cao, Master Tongzhi has already said that he will not release the prosecution today, but your words are like the wind in your ears!"

Cao Lingwen didn't even look at Du Bian, he just reported to Zhang Zhe expressionlessly.

"My lord, the people who played drums outside the door not only held the pleadings, but also a post from Mr. Lin from Nanyang Tong! I don't know if your lord has seen it or not?"

Hearing this, Du Bian glanced at each other with the few people around him, and didn't really care about it.Those cloth merchants probably received the news that the new Tongzhi was promoted to Yamen in Xiushan, and wanted to use Lin Tongpan's post to ask Zhang Tongzhi to take back the dozen or so boat cloths.

"Someone heard that Mr. Tongzhi had friendship with Lin Tongpan when he was in Nanyang. Now the Fang family's windfall may be a bit difficult."

"More than that, there were rumors earlier that the Nanyang cloth merchants seemed to have contacts with Mr. Zhang. Is it strange that these dozen or so ships of good cloth can be kept?"

A group of officials communicated in low voices, and all looked at Zhang Zhe.

Sure enough, Zhang Zhe pretended to be embarrassed and "hesitated" for a while, then asked someone to bring him to the hall.

"During the provincial examination, I had a lot of contacts with Mr. Lin. It's hard for me to refute his posts. Let's see what's going on! Bring people in."

As soon as the words fell, Du Bian's expression changed slightly.

Someone beside him reminded him in a low voice: "The problem of co-authorship is here. Those Nanyang cloth merchants are indeed related to Mr. Zhang. What is it for Yue Shigui? It is obvious that we moved his purse, so we showed Mr. Fang to us." Woolen cloth!"

Du Bian was also a little annoyed, he had heard before that Nanyang Xinbu was the prescription of the champion of Xinke, and he and Fang Chaoli both worked as Nanyang cloth merchants to force gold on their faces, it seems to be true today!If it were a few of them who were mobilized for money, they might not be as easy-talking as Mr. Zhang, so they just beat the matter.

"Those ships and goods can't be kept," Du Bian told the people behind him in a low voice, "Arranging people to entertain these cloth merchants in the evening, we must turn things around, and the wind and water will take turns. It's not shameful!"

The people behind him hesitated.

"Fang Sanye has already evacuated two ships with the imperial merchant's seal, what should we do?"

"Imperial business seal? Hehe, Mr. Fang is really cautious in handling things. Sealing the note is a tribute. According to the rules, the settlement of the imperial merchants is to wait for the settlement in the palace before paying to the merchants. In this way, there is a person who has not paid the money before." Speaking of which, it’s amazing that I paid the money for the two ships in advance, so I can still help Mr. Fang do it.”

While the officials were discussing, seven or eight cloth merchants were brought into the lobby.

Zhang Zhe read Le'an's certificate and Lin Lang's post, and immediately asked Cao Lingwen to take his decree and cloth merchants to the dock to order goods.

What is the intention to link Wu to smuggle?None of the officials in the hall mentioned it, and that crime was simply not something that the Fang family could give.If there was really a connection with Wu Guo, the case would have been taken over by the army. What's the matter with the Fang family?

After Cao Lingwen left, Zhang Zhe continued to read poems and essays with a smile on his face.

When the time for two cups of tea passed, Cao Lingwen led the cloth merchants back to the county office in a noisy manner.

Looking at Cao Lingwen who nodded slightly to him, Zhang Zhe was relieved, and he could see him poorly.

"My lord, I went to the wharf. According to the officials watching the wharf, there are fourteen Nanyang cloth boats. The other twelve boats have all the cloth goods, and there are only two boats with a total of [-] bolts of Nanyang new cloth. It was chosen by Fang Chaozhu, the imperial merchant of this county, as a tribute to this county in November last year, and it has already moved away! But the cloth merchants also said that they did not know that Fang Chaozhu talked about the sale of tributes."

Le An threw himself on the lobby: "My lord, the villains have never discussed with the Fang family about paying cloth as a tribute. It's not that the villains are unwilling to flatter the royal family, but that the villains are really small. The business of tributes often costs several dollars." The settlement is only once a year, if the Fang family deliberately shirks it, even the villains will not be able to settle the account for ten years!"

"What a joke!" Du Bian stood up immediately, "Fang Chaozhu is originally the imperial merchant of the new committee of the county. When you do business with his family, you come to this county to trade because the imperial merchant's goods can be reduced or exempted from taxes. At this time, I don’t recognize it again, and I’m afraid that Fang’s family won’t pay for the two shipments. It’s really a villain’s heart. Tell the Fang family to marry you!"

"and many more!"

Everyone in the hall looked at the person who made the noise, it was Zhang Xinzhi.

Zhang Zhe showed a hint of "doubt", and asked Du Bian quite seriously.

"It's true that the imperial merchant's seal was affixed, and [-] horses were taken away last November?"

Du Bian didn't think it was a big deal: "It's true. Just rest assured, my lord, this matter will be covered by the officials, and tomorrow I will ask Fang's family to settle the debt together."

"After your majesty's southern expedition, three-year-old imperial merchants from various counties in the south of the Yangtze River have been exempted from paying tribute. Where can this Fang family get the tribute?" Cao Lingwen said coldly, and immediately stunned Du Bian.

Du Bian was not to be outdone: "The affairs of the imperial merchants must not be under the jurisdiction of our county. If Mr. Cao has the time to spare, you may as well go to Chang'an to ask the palace and Taichang Temple. If you go to file a complaint, Zongzheng Temple happens to be in charge of the royal merchants. A lawsuit about buying and selling!"

"There is no need to go to Chang'an," Zhang Zhe pulled his face down, and took out a small official seal from his sleeve, "I happen to be the doctor of Zongzheng Temple. This case can be directly asked in this county. If it is true If someone pretends to use the name of royal tribute to occupy it privately, that is disrespectful!"

The development of the matter made everyone stunned, what's going on?Wasn't it just talking and laughing, talking about poetry like a spring breeze and drizzle?

Du Bian's reaction was not slow, and he immediately asked a question through gritted teeth.

"It's not that the lower officials questioned your lord. Even though your lord is a doctor of Zongzheng Temple, I'm afraid you can't settle this case in our place."

"Master Du reminded you very well," Zhang Zhe smiled, "A mere doctor of Zongzheng Temple is really not qualified to interrogate this case on the spot. It's just that I just want to temporarily seal up this batch of [tributes], and then hand them over to Zongzheng." The temple will deal with it."

"Storage?"

Zhang Zhe didn't look at Du Bian any more, but took all his "Zongzheng Temple Doctor Zhongyin", "Lanxiu Palace Envoy's Token" and "County King's Decree" and handed them to Xu Qian who had been watching the show.

"I am troublesome, Chief Xu, to return to the county seat immediately, order more than a hundred guards in the mansion, and a hundred county soldiers in Xiushan, go to Fang Mansion immediately, and seize all items with the words tribute and papers related to this case. Remember, don't take Fang Your lord's things are mixed up with Fang Sanye's things, so you must look carefully and distinguish them clearly. Do you understand?"

Xu Qian and Han Danian immediately laughed after hearing the order, took the things and strode out the door.

How could everyone in the royal palace mess up such a greasy job?Even if the Fang family's secrets can't be found, some of the Fang family's treasures will not be available to them.

However, Du Bian and the others completely changed their faces. The "paper and writing" hidden in Fang's mansion are really fatal!Zhang Xinzhi is clearly looking for an excuse to search Fangfu, the purpose is the real account of Tian Mu!

"My lord~~~, since you are going to the Fang mansion, you can't go around Mr. Fang! Anyway, it is also an official's residence, please ask Mr. Fang to come out and go together!"

After Du Bian finished speaking, he led a few people directly to the back office, and at this moment, he couldn't care less about tearing his face.

At this moment, little Zhao Ping rushed out from the back office "rolling and crawling".

"My lord, something is wrong! Fang Tuiguan beat Wei Xianwei, who was locked in a place, and Wei Xianwei's face was covered with blood~! Fang Tuiguan probably fainted from blood, and he himself fainted to death."

Du Bian almost fell down, Fang Chaoli beat Wei Po?Is there still the law of heaven, is there still the law of the king?

The four brothers of the Fang family are all ten years younger and shoulder to shoulder, and Wei Po is not alone!Can you show some face!

(End of this chapter)