Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 105 Party Struggle!See you again!
Chongzhen did not go directly to the Yamen of the Governor of Water Transport, but first came to the Yamen of Huai'an Prefecture.

Fan Zhongjie, the prefect of Huai'an, was so startled that his shoes ran away, he hurried to the gate to pick him up.

"Fan Zhongjie, the magistrate of Huai'an, kowtowed to the Holy Majesty." Fan Zhongjie knelt down with his head on the ground, and the Tongzhi, Tongju, and officials of the Huai'an Prefecture also knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.

I don't know about other prefectures, but in the hearts of Huai'an officials, Chongzhen is almost comparable to Taizu Chengzu.

Liu Zeqing, the General Soldier of Shandong Province, is a very arrogant figure, and he holds an army of tens of thousands in his hands, but in the end, he was taken down by the Holy Majesty without a single soldier and executed on the spot.

"Stay flat, get up."

Chongzhen glanced at the kneeling Huai'an officials, and went straight into the lobby.

After entering the government office lobby, Chongzhen sat directly on the magistrate's big chair under the "Fair and Bright" plaque.

After Fan Zhongjie and a group of assistant officials and officials entered, they were about to kneel on the ground again, but Chongzhen stopped them with a wave of his hand.

"No, just stand and answer." Chongzhen waved his hand and asked again, "I ask you, what happened to the hundreds of merchant ships gathered on the canal wharf outside?"

Fan Zhongjie hesitated a little.

Chongzhen immediately said with a straight face: "Fan Zhongjie, you'd better tell me the truth!"

"The minister leads the decree." Fan Zhongjie trembled with fright, and subconsciously wanted to kneel down again, but just as he knelt down halfway, he saw Chongzhen's eyes sweep over him, and immediately stood up with his legs straight.

"That's right." Chongzhen said, "Master Fan, your father named you Zhongjie because he definitely hoped that you would become an outstanding man when you grow up. As a father, I also hope that you can stand up and do it You are an indomitable magistrate, even if the sky falls today, you can support the people of Huai'an!"

"The minister leads the decree." Fan Zhongjie's face flushed red.

In a daze, Fan Zhongjie recalled the scene when he was just a Jinshi.

When Chongzhen first became a Jinshi in the tenth year, he was full of pride and dreamed of achieving something. Even if he could not achieve the Three Immortals, he would at least leave a strong mark in the history books.

However, for some reason, he got lost in the vast officialdom as he walked.

From then on, he only knew how to go with the flow, and never lost the enthusiasm of the past.

But what Chongzhen said just now, like a sound of Huang Zhong Dalu, woke him up.

"My Majesty." Fan Zhongjie said solemnly, "The cause of the matter is that Lu Butang wanted to bypass the state capitals of various states, and no longer purchased grain from various state capitals according to the grain collection quota, but planned to buy grain directly from grain merchants. .”

The second assistant officials standing beside them winked repeatedly, but Fan Zhongjie ignored them.

Fan Zhongjie paused, and continued: "Lu Butang buys grain from grain merchants at a price that is [-]% higher than the market price, but the premise is that the grain merchants are responsible for transporting the grain to Shanyang City."

"After the news spread, grain merchants from eight prefectures and one state in the south of the Yangtze River came in droves."

"However, at this moment, Qi Biaojia, the imperial censor of the Southern Direct Inspection, participated in a copy of the Lubutang. Immediately afterwards, Hu Kedu gave the incident. The Ministry buys grain at a price that is [-]% higher than the market price, and there must be a transfer of interests between the grain merchants."

"In the face of the raging public opinion, Lu Butang couldn't argue with a hundred mouths, so he could only dismiss the governor of water transport and defend himself."

"Lu Butang dismissed himself as the Governor of Water Transport, and several assistant officials in the Governor's Office were either Ding You or suddenly fell ill. Because no one was paying attention, hundreds of grain ships blocked the canal wharf."

"Ha!" Chongzhen laughed back angrily, "Is it such a coincidence?"

Zhu Cijiong also said angrily: "It's all right to fall ill suddenly, just at this time Ding You?"

Chongzhen snorted, and asked again: "Where is Lu Zhenfei now? Is he still in Shanyang?"

"Yes." Fan Zhongjie nodded and said, "Lu Butang chained himself and sent him to prison, and he also said that he will never step out of prison until the court finds out his innocence!"

"It's simply not possible!" Chongzhen was furious.

It's just that everyone didn't know who Chongzhen was angry with.

"Go, go to the Water Transport Yamen!" Chongzhen stood up and left.

Fan Zhongjie bowed to the tunnel and said, "My minister Fan Zhongjie respectfully sends you off."

The Chongzhen people came outside the door and another voice came: "Fan Zhongjie, as the magistrate, you summoned all the grain merchants, and said that the imperial court has always kept its promises, and the Governor of Water Transport said that if you buy grain at a price that is [-]% higher than the market price, you will definitely follow it." It is agreed to buy grain, please calm down and wait patiently for half a day, there must be a discussion before this evening."

"The minister leads the decree." Fan Zhongjie just got up, and bowed to the ground again.

……

"Lu Butang, eat something."

The cell boss handed a bowl of plain noodles to Lu Zhenfei through the fence.

The head of the cell had a sad look on his face, so he went to prison with his own father.

The big prison here is the prison of the Governor's Department of Water Transport, so Lu Zhenfei is the immediate boss of the prison boss's immediate boss, and now the immediate boss's immediate boss has come to squat in his own big prison, how can the prison boss feel better?

Lu Zhenfei turned his body sideways and didn't even look at the bowl of plain noodles.

"Lu Butang, why don't you take a bite." The prison chief was about to kneel down.

"You haven't eaten a grain of rice for three days. If this continues, something will happen."

Lu Zhenfei still ignored the cell boss, but just stared at the small window above his head.

When the prison chief wanted to persuade him again, a majestic and cold voice suddenly came: "So, starving to death is a minor issue, but injustice is a major issue, isn't it? Is Lu Butang planning to prove his innocence by dying?"

"Who?" The cell boss turned around in astonishment.

I saw a stranger standing in front of him, wearing commoner clothes.

Just when the cell boss was about to get angry, a middle-aged man also wearing common clothes behind the stranger showed his waist card, and the cell boss turned over and fell to his knees in a jerk.

Chongzhen jumped over the prison head and walked directly to the fence.

"Lu Butang, answer me, are you planning to prove your innocence by death?"

I?Lu Zhenfei turned around in astonishment, and when he saw that it was Chongzhen standing in front of the cell, he quickly turned over and knelt down on the ground: Minister Lu Zhenfei kowtowed to the Holy Majesty.

"Answer me!"

Chongzhen stared at Lu Zhenfei's eyes and said solemnly.

"I'm confused." Lu Zhenfei's high head finally drooped.

"Of course you are confused, and you are so confused!" Chongzhen Zhu yelled like a cannonball, "You call yourself a good minister, but you don't believe what you say, and you are indifferent to the pleas of hundreds of grain merchants. Duty, you turn a blind eye to the soldiers of the [-] towns on the front line of Xuzhou and millions of refugees waiting to be fed, you claim to be a loyal minister but you are ashamed of your father, military affairs are not as important as your personal reputation in your eyes, right?"

"I'm confused." Lu Zhenfei broke out in cold sweat.

The sentence I said just now was confused, and it was just a scene.

But the current sentence of being confused comes from the bottom of my heart.

In addition to being terrified, Lu Zhenfei himself felt a little dazed, remembering that he was not like this before, since when did he become so concerned about his personal reputation?
It's because the whole officialdom is as light as dust,
So it aroused my own rebellious psychology?

"Zuo Chuanyun, who doesn't have guards? The past can be corrected, and there is nothing good about it!"

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "Lu Zhenfei, do you know what you should do now?"

"I know, my lord, please forgive me for being rude." Lu Zhenfei signaled the jailer to release him from the chain, and immediately picked up the bowl of plain noodles in front of him and started to devour it.

After eating the plain noodles, he stood up and went out: "The minister will go back to the Yamen to watch the matter, and deal with the matter of grain as soon as possible."

"Lu Zhenfei." Chongzhen said loudly towards Lu Zhenfei's back, "I only give you half a month, if the third batch of grain cannot be delivered to Xuzhou within half a month, if a refugee starves to death, I only ask you!"

"The minister leads the decree!" Lu Zhenfei turned around and bowed, then turned and left.

……

At the same time, in the court room of Wenyuan Pavilion in Nanjing.

Shi Kefa summoned Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong to discuss the matter together.

Shi Kefa said worriedly: "Everyone, Lu Zhenfei has been on a hunger strike for three days in order to prove his innocence, and I am worried that if he continues to starve, he will end up hungry, so it must be difficult."

"What are you afraid of?" Gao Hongtu said disapprovingly, "I don't believe that he can really die from a hunger strike."

In fact, Gao Hongtu is not a direct descendant of the Donglin Party. He even fought against the Donglin Party in his early years, but later he joined the Donglin Party because he was suppressed by the Eunuch Party. Now he is the leader of the Donglin Party. point.

Shi Kefa said: "My servant is not worried about Lu Zhenfei, but worried that the supply of food will not disturb the morale of the frontline troops."

"Mr. Shi Ge is worrying too much." Jiang Yueguang waved his hands and said, "It's only a month or two of delay, what can happen? Besides, didn't you already transport two batches of 28 shi of grain to Xuzhou?"

Gao Hongtu said: "Lu Zhenfei doesn't follow the rules. If the governors from all over the country are as messy as he is, if they don't agree with each other and leave the court to do their own thing, then what about the court's affairs? So this time he must be taken down. , change to one of our own people, in short, the water transportation must be in the hands of our own people."

Jiang Yueguang asked Xie Xuelong again: "Old Xie Ge, how is your investigation going?"

Although Xie Xuelong has already joined the cabinet as a chancellor, he is still the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, so it is up to him to check whether Lu Zhenfei has benefited from grain merchants from all over the country.

"Checking, checking." Xie Xuelong said hurriedly.

"Every time I'm investigating." Gao Hongtu said angrily, "Give me a quasi-inquiry this time!"

"Mr. Gao Ge, this matter is really embarrassing." Xie Xuelong was also anxious, "Lu Zhenfei has an excellent official reputation in Huai'an, and the people from the Ministry of Punishment have made open and unannounced visits for several days and have not found any bad deeds."

"Then you don't have to do this matter." Gao Hongtu ignored Shi Kefa's presence, and decided directly, "I asked Zhang Cai, the head of the Ritual System Department of the Ministry of Etiquette, to do it. There are many people in the rehabilitative society, so I don't expect to let me wait. disappointment."

Xie Xuelong was furious, but he looked at Shi Kefa and finally held back his anger.

Shi Kefa also acquiesced to Gao Hongtu's decision, and changed the topic: "Then let's talk about taxation. Huguang Xunshi Huang Shu said that Hubei has suffered from floods this year, and it is a foregone conclusion that there will be a large area of ​​grain shortage. What do you think of the request to exempt Huguang from this year's three salaries, small taxes, and corvee discounts?"

(End of this chapter)