King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 30 Secret Discussion
After being swayed by He Gujin, Xue Pan put down the pleadings and left.

As soon as he left, Chen Xuanyi appeared in the garden on his back, standing in front of He Gujin with a serious expression.

"Your Excellency left the certificate to take up this case?"

Sighing, He Gujin said helplessly, "I'm afraid I can't accept it!"

"Who can force you, my lord?"

"What do you think?" He Gujin asked back.

Chen Xuanyi was stunned for a moment, and he thought a lot in an instant, and he had a rough idea of ​​the situation.

The two were silent for a while, and it was Chen Xuanyi who spoke first: "Now that the government treasury is being investigated, the yamen at all levels are focused on making up for the shortfall. If Hu Jin'an's extortion of wealthy households is brought up, my lord will know what the consequences will be!"

The consequence is, of course, that if Jinling's officials regard him as an enemy, he will no longer be able to be an official.

He Gujin understands the truth, but the conversation with Zheng Xianlin earlier made him give up the idea of ​​getting out.

It is a good thing for He Gujin to follow up the case and be dismissed in the end if things get serious.

What's wrong with leaving the vortex of Jinling and returning to my hometown to spend my old age in peace.

"Let me think about this matter again!"

Putting away the complaint, He Gujin walked out of the court, he planned to discuss it with Zheng Xianlin before making a decision.

However, he didn't know that the matter of Xue Pan suing Hu Jin'an had gradually spread to Jinling official circles under the impetus of people with good intentions.

In the evening, thirty miles southwest of Yingtianfu City, there is a very large farm.

There are all pavilions and pavilions in the manor, which is really a good place for leisure and cultivation.

On one of the attics, an old man in green robes was standing against a railing, looking deeply at the bright moon in the sky.

This person is Qian Ruiming, a member of the Jinling Chief Political Department who is also in charge of the Taoist priest Qian Ruiming. He is one of the few high-ranking officials on the ground in Jinling.

Although he is a senior official of the fourth rank, Qian Ruiming's face is full of sadness, because he has encountered difficult things recently.

As an official who supervises the money and grain of the two prefectures of Zhenjiang and Changzhou, the money and grain of these two prefectures are in short supply, and part of it is related to Qian Ruiming. How can this not make him feel anxious.

The shortfall will definitely not be made up in a short time, so can you really report the real situation?If he really did that, the law of the country would not spare him.

The two local officials pretended to be deaf and dumb, and a group of censors didn't ask anything. If Qian Ruiming didn't want to sit still, he had to do something.

"Sir, the guests are here..."

"Please!"

After a while, an old man in a blue round neck robe and a Dongpo scarf appeared in the attic.

"Master Qian, you are so leisurely, I really admire you!"

"Master Liu, don't make fun of me, we are both ants on the hot pot now!"

"Ants on a hot pot, if it continues like this... I'm afraid we will really be burned to death by this fire!"

Qian Ruiming sighed, and beckoned downstairs: "Okay, hurry up and talk!"

This is an extremely private conversation, so there are no servants in the attic, and the two old men can only pour wine and vegetables by themselves.

"Lord Liu, what's the situation over there?"

After drinking a glass, Liu Deyan put down his glass and said, "It's almost the same, what else can happen!"

"Can you think of a way to let the pirates burn some treasuries, so we..."

Hearing Qian Ruiming's bold decision, Liu Deyan immediately interrupted him: "Old Qian, are you crazy!"

"The government treasury is short, we have been greedy for money, but we will be dismissed or exiled, or be beheaded..."

"If you collude with Japanese pirates, you will be punished as treason, and you will be punished by the nine clans!"

As a procurator, Liu Deyan supervised the punishments of the two prefectures of Songjiang, Suzhou, and the law of the Ming Dynasty was naturally clear to his heart.

Hearing this, Qian Ruiming sneered and said, "As long as you have a well-planned plan, you may not be known by others!"

Unexpectedly, Liu Deyan stood up directly, and said with a gloomy face: "If you ask me to talk about this, then let's end here!"

Seeing that Liu Deyan was about to leave, Qian Ruiming quickly said, "It's not that there is no other way, you might as well sit down and listen!"

After glaring at Qian Ruiming, Liu Deyan sat back down again with a bit of impatience in his expression.

"The so-called united will makes a city, and there is a saying that does not blame the crowd. How many officials are there in the entire Jinling like us? How many are in the entire Ming Dynasty?"

"If this is called the Thirteenth Master's investigation, I'm afraid everyone in the court and the public will be in danger!"

"So?" Liu Deyan asked coldly.

"We don't care about other places. As long as we gather people in Jinling and go directly to the palace to petition for the abolition of the bad government, the crown prince will surely compromise under the momentum!"

"Why did the prince compromise?"

"Let's just say that the forced investigation will definitely lead to people's resentment, and the local area is in danger of changing. If we arrange one or two counties to make trouble, the prince will surely retreat!"

Hearing this, Liu Deyan felt that it was a little feasible, and he asked with a relaxed expression: "But what we do, the people in the court are not blind, and your majesty is a holy candle, instigating the people to create chaos...is a capital crime!"

"You don't have to worry about the imperial court, someone will speak for us!"

"Who?" Liu Deyan scrutinized.

Pouring the wine by himself, Qian Ruiming replied with a smile: "Who else!"

Nodding his head, the answer was self-evident, so Liu Deyan didn't continue to ask.

After clinking glasses with Liu Deyan, Qian Ruiming continued: "Actually, it's not just Prince Rui, there are many people in the court who don't want to make trouble here, and they will speak up for us!"

"is it?"

"The amount of money and food does not match. Where is the problem? Apart from officials being greedy for ink, should we check the land? Should we check the population?"

Pointing to the sky, Qian Ruiming said solemnly: "Now Xie Ge is old, and the cabinet fight is getting more intense..."

"Old Zhao Ge is determined to innovate, and these things may be exploited..."

Combining the big account of the imperial court with the small account of the local government is the performance of an excellent local official, and Qian Ruiming is undoubtedly exceptional.

"Since that's the case, why don't Master Zheng and Master He talk about it too?" Liu Deyan said in a deep voice.

"I've been to Mr. Zheng's place before, but I was blocked before I could say anything!" At this point, Qian Ruiming was extremely unhappy, and drank another glass of wine.

Nodding his head, Liu Deyan said helplessly: "I also went to see Mr. He the day before yesterday, but he acted like a businessman. I really don't know what they think!"

Qian Ruiming said: "They have their own concerns, they can only say different things!"

Only relatively clean people can choose to do business, otherwise they will be like the two of them.

When mentioning the inspector, Liu Deyan suddenly remembered something.

"According to the case today, the eldest son of the Xue family sued Yingtian Tui officer Hu Jin'an, claiming that he bullied Liangshan and extorted money!"

Such a strange event happened at this juncture, which immediately aroused Qian Ruiming's association.

Of course he is a smart person, without Liu Deyan reminding him, he realized that things are not simple.

The two chatted for a while, and finally reached a consensus, and the next step is to recruit people into the group.

"Eleven prefectures and 72 counties in Jinling, all can be brought in. The more people there are, the safer we will be!"

Standing up, Liu Deyan cupped his hands and said, "That's it, you go south and we go north, let's do our own thing!"

"It's so good, when will you petition?" Qian Ruiming said solemnly.

Liu Deyan thought for a while, and then said: "In three days' time, we will gather in Jinling, and then we will act in camera!"

"Just do it!" Qian Ruiming said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)