The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 238: Punish your son first, then your concubine

If you want to bring down a determined person, it's best to bring down the people around him first.

For example, the hooligans of later generations always say "I know where your wife and children live."

Chang Ponu's provincial examination papers are still at the Beizhili Xuezheng Yamen.

Three days later at night after completely breaking up with the civil service group.

Liu Jin came to Chang Mansion in a hurry.

Chang Feng is fighting crickets with Chang Ponu.Liu Jin walked directly to Chang Feng and took away the insect straw in his hand.

Chang Feng turned around and asked: "What's wrong?"

Liu Jin said: "Something happened. The Beizhili Township Examination papers have been marked and the names have been removed. Zhuangzhuang ranked No. 20 in the Beizhili Township Examination."

This is a very good ranking.Chang Ponu was extremely excited after hearing this. He waved his hand: "Hey, okay, I won!"

Liu Jin smiled bitterly: "My good brother. What did you get? Xie Qian instructed Zhou Bo, the academic administrator of Beizhili, to smear one of your papers."

"According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty imperial examination. If there is any stain on the paper, the entire examination paper will be invalid."

"The invalid test paper was the one with the most circles among all nine of your test papers. Your ranking went from 21st to just outside the [-]th place, and you fell behind!"

Chang Feng frowned: "Po Nu is Li Dongyang's student! Are they so cruel that they even punished him?"

Liu Jin replied: "Li Dongyang doesn't seem to know about this. It was Xie Qian who gave the instructions to Zhou Bo alone."

Chang Feng looked at Liu Jin suspiciously: "You are quite well-informed. Do you even know their tactics?"

Liu Jin smiled and said nothing.

Liu Jin has three extremely secretive confidants.Jiao Fang, Zhang Cai, Zhang Cai.

Even Chang Feng didn't know that these three people were Liu Jin's secret party.

Jiao Fang was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. He was the same year as the academician Zhou Bo and had a close friendship with each other.The two were drinking yesterday, and Zhou Bo drank too much and revealed the incident.Jiao Fang immediately told Liu Jin what happened.

Civil officials launched a shameless sneak attack on Chang Feng.Chang Feng naturally wants to take advantage of the situation.

This battle is related to his son's future. He can only win but not lose.

Chang Feng said: "Come on, call Qian Ning, Shi Wenyi, and Zhang Cai."

Liu Jin smiled and said: "Little uncle, want to touch Zhou Bo and keep Zhuangzhuang's reputation? I have a way."

Chang Feng was stunned: "What method?"

Liu Jin took it to the court and said, "It's so hard to come to your house. I want to enjoy a bowl of good tea."

Chang Feng quickly told Chang Ponu: "Go to your grandfather's room. There is a red porcelain tea jar next to his bookshelf, and there is Pu'er tribute tea from Yunnan in it."

Chang Ponu took the order and left.It didn't take long to go and come back.Chang Feng made tea for Liu Jin with his own hands.

Liu Jin took a sip of tea: "Fragrant, sweet, mellow, thick, and smooth. It tastes like the best Pu'er made in eight years."

Chang Feng said: "You are naughty. You have been here for eight years. Stop showing off. What can you do?"

Liu Jin said: "Others tease your son. You don't know how to tease other people's sons?"

"Zhou Bo's son Zhou Yaozu is the magistrate of Sanhe County in Tongzhou Prefecture. I heard that the duck business is very big."

Chang Feng was stunned: "Duck?"

Liu Jin nodded: "Yes, duck!"

Liu Jin told Chang Feng about Zhou Yaozu's method of making money.

Tongzhou is the end point of the Grand Canal.During the loading and unloading of grain, there is always some loss caused by spilling it into the river.

Tongzhou has to unload 400 million rocks of grain every year, and the spilled grain may be hundreds of thousands of kilograms.

The food that fell into the river fattened the wild ducks on the Grand Canal.

The wild duck on the Grand Canal is called "little white-eyed duck".It is the best of ducks.The roast duck roasted with it has a slightly yellow color, a mellow taste, and the meat is fat but not greasy.There is no duck smell like ordinary domestic duck.

Restaurants in Beijing all go to Tongzhou to buy small white-eyed ducks, and the supply exceeds demand.

On both sides of the river in Sanhe County, countless people make a living by catching small white-eyed ducks.

After Zhou Yaozu took office, he saw the business opportunities.People are directly prohibited from catching white-eyed ducks privately.

He opened a poultry shop, hired a group of people, and rowed boats to catch ducks on the river.Typically, only state officials set fires and people are not allowed to light lamps.

Don’t underestimate this humble business.Zhou Yaozu could get thousands of taels of silver from it every year.

After Liu Jin finished speaking, Chang Feng scolded: "This is a typical case of local officials competing for profits with the people! A dignified seventh-rank official in the imperial court is so shameless when it comes to making money."

"Oh, I am still a second-class Jinshi. It is not a disgrace to my official integrity to do this kind of business."

Liu Jin smiled and said, "Who says it's not the case? What I mean is that you send someone to Sanhe County and arrest Zhou Yaozu. Then remind Zhou Bo that the township examination must be fair when recruiting talents."

Chang Feng said: "Sure. I will send someone to Sanhe early tomorrow morning."

Liu Jin took a sip of tea and said with emotion: "Little uncle. Now the civil servants regard you as fire and water. Your factory guards must be of the same mind as the people in the palace to avoid being harmed by the civil servants."

Chang Feng smiled and said: "Heh, you want me to become the ninth tiger, right?"

The name of the Eight Tigers has been known to both the government and the public for a long time in the past two years.

Liu Jin said: "If you join us, then you will be the Tiger King."

Chang Feng waved his hand: "Forget it. I don't form a party with anyone. I only act to check and balance the forces in the court when they are out of balance."

"This is why the emperor has never abandoned me."

Liu Jin had no choice but: "Okay. No matter what my uncle chooses, I respect your choice. Without you, I'm afraid I would still be a humble fireman."

The next day, Chang Feng sent Zhang Cai to Sanhe County.Zhou Yaozu was imprisoned in the capital on the charge of "officials doing business and competing for profits with the people."

However, Chang Feng did not imprison Zhou Yaozu in imperial prison.

He held a banquet at Linjiang Tower, the most famous roast duck restaurant in Beijing, and invited academician Zhou Bo to the banquet.

Zhou Bo sat opposite Chang Feng.In the past, the academic administration of a province would be trembling with fear when they saw the leader of Jinyiwei.

Today is no better than before.The civil service group is powerful and the cabinet has power over the government and the opposition.With the cabinet as his backer, Zhou Bo had no fear of Chang Feng.

Zhou Bo held a fan in his hand and said with a serious face: "Chang Tongzhi, we have never been in contact with each other. You invited me to dinner, maybe you have something to ask for, right?"

"I know that Mr. Ling took part in the Beizhili Township Examination this year. If you want to ask me to facilitate him, you'd better not say anything."

"Whether it is the imperial examination, the general examination, the provincial examination, the college examination, the prefectural examination, or the county examination, it is a national talent promotion ceremony."

"How can Zhou, who has read the books of sages and sages, practice favoritism and malpractice at the national talent promotion ceremony?"

Chang Feng gave a thumbs up: "Ah! Zhou Xuetai is really a selfless person!"

Zhou Bo began to hang his book bag: "That's natural. Ma Rong's "The Book of Loyalty" written by Ma Rong in the Han Dynasty said - among the loyal ones, they are most public and selfless."

"Being impartial is winning. I will never open the door for Young Master Ling because of your power."

Chang Feng interrupted Zhou Bo and changed the subject: "Did you know that the most famous dish in Linjiang Restaurant is Bazhen Roast Duck. The raw materials used for roast duck are very particular, and they are small white-eyed ducks from the canal."

Zhou Bo snorted coldly: "A gentleman has nothing to eat and nothing to live in. I don't know how to eat. I'm not interested."

Chang Feng said: "Then do you dare to be interested in your son?"

Zhou Bo frowned: "You mean Yaozu? He was an upright and honest official in Sanhe County."

Chang Feng clapped his hands.Zhang Cai and Zhou Yaozu entered the private room.Zhang Cai also held an account book in his hand.

Chang Feng said: "Zhou Xuetai, your son is very good at doing business. He is really good at making money! Zhou Yaozu, tell your father about your little white-eyed duck business."

Zhou Yaozu knelt on the ground and told him all about his methods of making money.

Zhang Cai put the account book in Zhou Xuetai's hand again: "Zhou Xuetai, these are the accounts of the poultry business opened by the Young Master. Although we can't say that we make a lot of money every day, we can still say that we have a lot of money."

"Last year alone I got 5000 taels of silver."

After Zhou Bo listened to his son's confession, his face was ashen and he said nothing.

He knew that his son was in the little white-eyed duck business.This kind of thing is as big as it sounds and as small as it is small.

No matter whether they are greedy for money or not, on the surface they always pretend to be aloof and "I'm not interested in money."

Chang Feng learned about the duck business, and the crime of "competing with the people for profit" could not be avoided.

This crime will not lead to loss of office, but at most a demotion.But word got out that Zhou Yaozu's reputation and future were ruined as he engaged in such despicable business and took away people's jobs.

Chang Feng said with a smile: "The Ministry of Civil Affairs is conducting inspections in the capital. If I tell this matter to Ma Wen Shengma's old department, I'm afraid Ling Gongzi will not be able to avoid a low-level examination."

Although Ma Wensheng is a civil servant, he does not belong to the civil service group.

The reason why he has been able to serve as an official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs for more than ten years is that he never takes sides or joins gangs or gangs.

Ma Wensheng is truly selfless.

Chang Feng said: "Zhou Xuetai, let me tell you tomorrow. I know someone has instructed you to persecute my son."

"Haha, how can you call him a man if you don't fight back after being beaten? I'm here specifically to punish your son today."

"I don't ask for a high ranking for Quan Zi. I just hope you will be fair and equal. Put him on the list of honors as high as he gets."

Zhou Bo hesitated: "Don't say secret words in front of people. Master Chang and I had no grudges in the past and have no grudges in recent times. Targeting Mr. Ling is the instruction from above."

"If I put Mr. Ling on the list of honors, what the Zhou family will lose will not be the official title of magistrate of Sanhe County, but the title of academic and political official of Beizhili!"

Chang Feng smiled and said: "I know that it is difficult for Zhou to study politics. But let me tell you, if you act unfairly, you will lose not only your official title, but also your head!"

"If you are an official like Ma Wensheng or Wang Shu, who is honest, selfless and selfless, I will naturally not be able to catch you."

"But as far as I know, Zhou Xuetai, your butt is not very clean. Two generations of the Zhou family have been officials, and the illegal things they have done are not limited to competing with the people for profit."

"Jinyiwei is the best at digging out the illegal affairs of officials."

Zhou Bo remained silent.

Chang Feng picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine: "I don't have any other big problems. I just love the little ones."

"For the sake of my subordinate Qian Ning, I will not hesitate to make an enemy of the cabinet. Not to mention that my own son is being persecuted?"

"Whoever harms my son, I will use the power of the factory guards to cut off his life!"

"If you insist on going your own way, you will have to erase Quanzi's reputation. Oh, I will do nothing for the next year. I will only bring thousands of factory guards to target you alone."

"If you are upright, you are not afraid of slanted shadows. I wonder if Zhou Xuetai is upright?"

Chang Feng's eyes were sharp and coercive when he said this.

Zhou Bo could still decide which was more important, his official title or his life.

Zhou Bo was frightened: "Master Chang, what are you talking about? How could I practice favoritism and destroy the reputation of young talents?"

"Don't worry. As the chief examiner of the provincial examination, I will do things impartially. Whoever gets the highest number will be the number one on the list!"

Chang Feng clapped his hands: "Okay! I've heard it a long time ago. Zhou Xuetai and his son are both selfless people!"

After speaking, Chang Feng picked up the account book of the poultry business and threw it to Zhang Cai: "Why don't you take it out quickly and find a brazier to burn it?"

After half a month.

Today is the day when the ranking list is announced.Chang Feng did not let Chang Ponu go to Gongyuan to read the list, but asked him to wait at home for the good news.

Chang Feng sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and drank tea.

Chang Ponu was like a feather duster. After sitting for a while, he stood up and paced back and forth: "Dad, have you done this? Are they really going to kick my name off the list?"

Chang Feng put down the tea bowl: "If your father couldn't even figure out this thing, he would have spent more than 20 years in Jinyiwei in vain!"

Madam Ninth came over and comforted Chang Ponu: "Zhuangzhuang, you are relieved. I have even prepared firecrackers to celebrate your victory."

At this moment, the sound of gongs and suonas suddenly came from outside the door.

"Dili da la, dili da la."

Chang Feng stood up: "Isn't this coming?"

The family came to the gate.

The newspaper shouted: "Is Mr. Chang Po Nu Chang here?"

Chang Ponu said loudly: "I am."

The newspaper said: "Congratulations to Mr. Chang, he won No. 20 in the Beizhili Township Examination of the high school!"

Chang Ponu waved his fist: "Hey! Okay, I really hit it!"

Chang Feng smiled and said: "Next spring, we and I will take the Tribute Academy Examination together."

Liu Xiaoyan couldn't help but recite Buddha's name: "Amitabha, Buddha has blessed my son to go to high school."

Liu Xiaoyan became a believer in Buddhism as she got older.In the past two years, I stopped playing with bows, arrows and swords, and switched to praying beads.

Mrs. Jiu said: "Our family has a strong talent for learning. Isn't it just a matter of taking the chance to be a candidate? Next year, I will be named a high school Jinshi on the gold list!"

"He is better than you, master!"

Let's talk about Chang's family being happy.Xie Qian was very unhappy.

Inside the cabinet value room.

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang went to Qianqing Palace to report the matter.Xie Qian was the only one left on duty.Not long after, Min Gui, the Minister of Punishment, walked in.

Min Gui is Chang Feng's old enemy.The two have been at odds since the Li Guang case nine years ago.

Min Gui said: "Zhou Bo is a coward! He doesn't have the pride of a scholar. He gave in after being frightened by Chang Feng for a few words."

Xie Qian flipped through the documents at hand: "There is a vacancy in Guangxi's academic affairs. I have already written a proposal to transfer Zhou Bo to Guangxi."

The grades of Guangxi Academic Affairs and Beizhili Academic Affairs are the same.It seems to be a flat tone, but in fact it is a relegation.

Min Gui said: "We lost to Chang Feng this time. But in the next time, we will definitely win."

Xie Qian asked: "Oh? Brother Min has any idea?"

Min Gui smiled and said: "Chang Feng has a concubine who everyone in the capital calls 'Mrs. Ninth'. As far as I know, this 'Mrs. Ninth' was not very clean before!"

Before the attempt on Chang Po Nu was successful, they began to prepare for the attack on Mrs. Jiu.

Madam Ninth's past was not only unclean, it was simply unclean.

According to Ming Dynasty law, selling stolen goods is the same crime as stealing.According to legal standards, Mrs. Ninth may have been charged with thousands of robberies and she would have to go to jail.

Min Gui added: "Also. Madam Ninth is from the Tujia people. There are hundreds of clan members in the capital. Chang Feng placed all the clansmen of Madam Ninth into the Jinyi Guards."

"At a small scale, this is called favoritism, but at a larger scale, it is called gathering foreign gangsters and inserting themselves into the emperor's personal army to plot evil and rebel!"

(End of this chapter)