Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 385 Loyal Shandong Cadres Head South

Hundreds of Huaixi New Army soldiers had anticipation in their eyes.

Fu Chang'an looked calm.
Walking into the yard:
"You have resolutely carried out the military orders of this governor, which is very good. Each of you will be rewarded with three taels of silver."

"Thank you, Governor."

Everyone was smiling.

There is no danger in killing a group of unarmed rebel officials, and the reward is easy to earn.

"The first soldier to take action, stand up."

Xu Mancang immediately squeezed out of the crowd and knelt on one knee.

"Well done, young warrior. I'll give you another 2 catties of beef and a jug of wine."

……

After arranging all this,
Fu Chang'an turned and left, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind his official boots.

Night gradually falls,

The trembling clerks checked the bodies one by one with torches.

If it matches, put a cross on the roster.

142 bright red crosses, shocking to the eye.

The soldiers of the Fuyang Camp were amazed as if they were watching a play.

When the coroner shouted out "The former Yangzhou prefect Hu Zuoyou has been identified and executed."

A fellow countryman laughed and said:

"Xiao Cangzi, you are really stupid. You killed a prefect without saying a word."

"What happened to the prefect?"

"Yeah, you are so arrogant. He is a higher official than the county magistrate~"

……

Xu Mancang chuckled and walked over to take a closer look.

Hu Zuoyou's face was split in half by his knife, and it was all covered in blood. It was impossible to tell whether he looked majestic or ugly in his life.

The sense of accomplishment of killing a fourth-rank official with his own hands made him feel elated.

Eating beef and rice wine given by the governor.

He has a big appetite~
He had saved 40 taels of silver from his salary and reward. This was a considerable fortune, and he planned to ask someone to bring it back home, enough to make the whole family happy for a while.

My younger siblings won’t starve to death at home for the time being.

Thinking of this,

He felt that the prefect he had hacked to death deserved the death and it was a relief for him to do so.

……

Fu Chang'an did not sleep all night.

He was wearing a helmet and armor, his hand was on the hilt of the sword, and his eyes were as bright as torches.

The Jiangbei officialdom is now in a vacuum, which is very dangerous.

There are also soldiers and horses scattered all over the place, especially those trusted soldiers who kill officials, who are even more dangerous mines.

Once these people start causing trouble, the entire Jiangbei region will be in chaos without the Wu army having to attack.

"Report, the deputy commander of the Cavalry Battalion, Zu Youen, wants to see you."

"Please come in."

As soon as Zu Youen entered the tent, he immediately knelt on one knee, completely ignoring the armor on his body.

This humble attitude immediately won Fu Chang'an's favor. He personally stepped down from the case and helped Zu Youen, who was a generation older than him.

As both were nobles in the capital, they had known each other for a long time.

"Master Zu, I need to temporarily transfer your Cavalry Battalion."

"Your Excellency the Governor, please give the order. The 5000 brothers in the Cavalry Battalion will resolutely carry it out."

"it is good!"

……

Half an hour later,
The cavalry battalion was divided into more than a dozen groups, marching with torches under the leadership of guides.

Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow at the latest.

They would appear in every prefecture, city or state, take over the city defense offices, and arrest the family members, advisers, servants, and trusted assistants of the former judges.

After that, review it slowly.

According to the official practice of the Qing Dynasty, these people were considered accomplices and could be implicated.

This night,
Everyone in Huai'an Prefecture was frightened and dared not sleep.

The new Huaixi army coming from Xinghua County in the south declared their allegiance to Fu Chang'an.

After obtaining the military power of the army directly under his command, the first thing Fu Chang'an did was to surround the Huai'an City Defense Camp and the Caobiao Camp and disarm them by force.

These two battalions were directly under the command of the Governor of the Grain and Grain Transport Department, Guan Mingen.

According to common sense, he must be deeply involved in the case.

Among the hundreds of people who participated in the "burning of the imperial envoy" at that time, most of the soldiers took the 800 taels of reward silver and fled to the south of the Yangtze River on a ship.

The officers basically stayed put.

They have families, businesses and official positions, and are reluctant to give them up and start over.

After being surrounded on all sides, they naturally would not sit idly by and tried their best to incite the soldiers in the camp to resist and fight their way out together.
The sound of gunfire and fighting continued for half an hour.
Fu Chang'an successfully disbanded the two camps, arrested key criminals and sent them to the capital. This was done mainly to prove to the court and the public the wisdom of the emperor's decision.

……

By dawn, Fu Chang'an had complete control of the Huai'an city defense.

He breathed a sigh of relief and sent yamen runners to read the "Imperially-appointed Letter from the Governor of Jiangsu to the People" throughout the city as the official statement.

The 142 local officials who were executed were charged with the crimes of "embezzlement and reselling of grain, frantic money-making, and arson and burning of warehouses."

The people all breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

No matter what the trouble is, as long as it's over, it's fine.

A middle-aged man who runs a small business sighed:
"The court is wise, and the killing is well done."

A young man who had come to the city to sell firewood also put down his load, wiped his sweat, and murmured:

"It turns out that these people are the ones who are doing evil. The grain collected this year is too much. There are seven people in my family, and the remaining grain can't even last until the autumn harvest. Now it's finally okay, and we will have a good life from now on."

The content of this conversation fell into the ears of Zhao Baixiu, the governor of Huai'an Prefecture's Experience Office who was passing by.

He snorted disdainfully and walked away.

I feel so much contempt for these poor people in my heart.

……

He was worried.
I don’t know whether it is a blessing or a curse to be suddenly summoned by the governor during such a troubled time.

Just arrived at the gate of the government office,

He was taken in by the soldiers, forced to kneel and kowtow.

Fu Changan sat high up in the room and asked only one question:
"Are you Zhao Baixiu?"

"Reply to the governor, it is the villain."

"From today on, you will be acting as the magistrate of Huai'an Prefecture. From now on, you should address yourself as your humble official. Do not call yourself a villain anymore. An official must have authority."

Zhao Baixiu looked up in surprise, tears of excitement welling up in her eyes.

Bang, bang, bang, three bangs.

"Thank you, Governor, and thank you, Prime Minister."

Fu Changan was too lazy to comfort her and just waved his hand.

The butler next to him immediately pulled the person out and asked when he reached the door:
"Sir Zhao, you will know how to be an official in the future, right?"

"I know, I know. I will follow the orders of the governor."

The butler nodded and added:
"We must be clear-headed. We must not mess up the important affairs of the court."

"Thank you for your advice, Lord."

……

From the 9th rank to the 7th rank, this speed of promotion is incredible.

Zhao Baixiu walked on the road and felt the bright sunshine and the spring breeze on her face.

The overwhelming wealth has fallen on my head.

And later,
Then he understood the reason for the pie falling from the sky.

Fu Chang'an cleared out the Huai'an government office and there was no one to work.

So all those who had been left out, punished and harassed by the former prefect Chang Huoyan for a long time were pulled out.

Promoted quickly without asking reasons.

These people are definitely not Chang Huoyan’s accomplices, that’s enough.

Such things are happening in the three prefectures, two states and one department in Jiangbei.

Although Fu Chang'an is young, he is well versed in political politics.

He promoted 30 men from the Han army bannermen of the Cavalry Battalion and the guards he brought with him to various prefectures and states as Tongzhi and Tongpan. He also left 50 vacancies of the eighth and ninth grades for those who had made contributions in the Battle of Jiangbei.

He didn't want to get involved with high-ranking officials such as prefects, county magistrates, and county magistrates.

The emperor had already made arrangements.

……

Jinan Prefecture, Shandong.

Ji Yun, the president of the Hanlin Academy, came suddenly.

"According to the imperial decree, an additional special examination will be held before the autumn imperial examination. It will be held 10 days later. All students, additional students, attached students, and annual tribute students can take the exam. Those who pass will be appointed as officials immediately."

"Jinan Prefecture will immediately dispatch 50 express horsemen to all prefectures and counties in the province to notify them. No one will be allowed to wait after the deadline."

This kind of beautiful thing doesn't come around every 10 years.

In an era of poor transportation, many people would miss this special exam because they could not get the information or could not get to the exam site in 10 days.

The scholars who lived near the provincial capital were very lucky. They arrived early to prepare for the examination.

As to whether "going to Jiangsu to fill vacancies" is a good thing or a bad thing, different classes have different understandings.

The children of the Beijing Bannermen avoided him as much as possible.

The local big families also regarded it as chicken ribs.

But the scholar from a poor family was almost crazy about it.

……

Enko!

The admission rate was high, and those who passed the examination would be immediately appointed to fill vacancies such as prefect, associate prefect, county magistrate, and county magistrate.

What about war zones?
If there is no war, how can we have such a good thing?

According to the normal process, one must first pass the provincial examination, then take part in the metropolitan examination, and eventually pass the second place. One would only be sent to a remote county to be a magistrate, and then slowly endure the hardships.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was extremely difficult for county magistrates to be promoted. Even if they made it to retirement age, they might not be able to advance any further.

His arsenic is mine honey.

The scholars from western Shandong, either riding donkey carts, walking or taking boats, travelled madly through the night to their destination - Jinan Prefecture.

The scholars in the hometown of Confucius and Mencius all have a burning desire for progress.

Actually, this is nothing to be disdainful of.
……

Anyone with a discerning eye can see it.

This year's Shandong Enke is very unusual.

There was no sign of this beforehand; it was an unexpected decision by Emperor Qianlong.

The day he decided to collectively wipe out the Jiangbei officials, he was thinking about "filling the gaps".

During the war,

We need capable people and real people.

The Jingqi people are very smart and have many talents, so there are not many of them.

quickly,

He thought of a group of people - scholars from poor families.

These scholars, who are a long way from making the leap over the dragon gate, will certainly cherish and be grateful once they are appointed as officials.

They will definitely carry out the emperor's orders loyally.

Therefore,
The old emperor made a dictatorial decision and sent Ji Yun, an obedient servant, to Shandong to serve as the chief examiner.

can only say,
Qianlong saw through everything.

Ji Yun followed the rules and strictly obeyed the emperor's order to "select a group of scholars from poor families who must believe in the orthodox teachings and be loyal and reliable."

……

It happened that the previous Duke of Yansheng, Kong Zhaohuan, passed away, and Qianlong appointed his eldest son, Kong Xianpei, to succeed the title of Duke of Yansheng and serve as deputy chief examiner.

It's a courtesy.

The honor is greater than the reality.

"Master Ji, please."

"Master Kong, please."

Regarding the traditional etiquette of Shandong drinking tables, Ji Yun and Kong Xianpei repeatedly and cordially expressed their willingness to give way to each other.

finally,
Kong Xianpei sat right in front of the door - the host.

The Shandong Provincial Education Commissioner sat opposite him, with his back to the door - the deputy companion.

The prefect of Jinan sat in the third place, and Yu Shihe, the director of the Guangxi Division and concurrently the general supervisor of the Weifang Coal Mine, sat in the fourth place.

The above “accompaniments” refer to the host’s side.

"Bin" is the seat where the guests at the banquet sit.

Ji Yun sat on the right hand side of Kong Xianpei - the guest of honor.

A chief official from the Ministry of Rites who came with Ji Yun sat in the seat of deputy guest.

The other two attendants were the third guest and the fourth guest.

……

The seating culture in Shandong is very particular and does not tolerate any negligence.

The chairs for the host and guest of honor are half an inch higher than those for others.

The tableware in front of him is also more luxurious, with ivory chopsticks, jade wine glasses, and gold chopstick holders, showing his status.

The host Kong Xianpei first toasted three times and said some polite words.

The deputy provincial governor then toasted with two glasses of wine, speaking in a more literary manner.

The rest of the guests will take turns to toast once to enhance the relationship.

This set of procedures is called 321 toast, which is the standard opening remark at the Shandong dinner table.

Ji Yun felt a little dizzy. He drank a lot of wine before he could even take two bites of the food.

I kept saying that Shandong is such a welcoming place.

The drinks came one round after another.

……

When Ji Yun and Si were drinking with Yu Shihe, they finally seized the opportunity.

Asked in a low voice:

"Mr. Yu, why are you here?"

He was confused from the moment he came in. How did the young master of the Yu family get the position of the fourth companion? Just because he was in a coal mine in Weifang? This was too far-fetched.

The others heard it and burst into laughter.

Kong Xianpei quickly explained:

"Mr. Yu is the Taishan of this humble servant. Brother Yu can naturally be considered the host."

Ji Yun suddenly realized.

He actually forgot about this. This marriage was arranged more than ten years ago and caused a sensation at the time.

Because he offended Emperor Qianlong, he was demoted to the frontier and spent two years there.

Therefore,
My memory of this old incident is vague.

"Oh, I was confused, I should drink a glass of wine."

Ji Yun drank two cups in a row to express his apology.

Yu Shihe also drank two glasses with a smile, bringing the atmosphere at the table to a climax.

……

At this time,

Two beautiful girls in silk skirts brought a plate of delicious dish - Taishan red-scaled fish.

The fish head was steadily facing Ji Yun.

Show respect to your guests.

Ji Yun was the first to pick up his chopsticks, and at the same time he glanced at the two girls who were serving the dishes.

Yu Shihe saw this, laughed secretly, and threw a look at Kong Xianpei.

Kong Xianpei immediately understood:
"You two must ensure the daily living of the examiner."

"Yes."

Ji Yun did not refuse. This was just his hobby, so he accepted the kindness with a smile.

At last,
Everyone chatted about the latest news about the war in Jiangsu, without much worry.

In the words of Kong Xianpei:
"The Qing Dynasty has plenty of soldiers, plenty of money, and plenty of loyal ministers and generals. Let's fight."

……

Yu Shihe was relatively sober.
He often received letters from his father, in which he expressed his personal pessimism about the "war against Wu" and predicted that the war would be protracted and might even exceed the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories.

Although Yu Shihe is naughty, he knows his father's vision.

He imitated the honeycomb coal from the south, which had no technical content.

Yu Shihe had already obtained the samples and asked the craftsmen to analyze and imitate them. Mass production was not difficult, but it was quite difficult to bring them to market.

The rich look down on it and the poor dare not use it.

People say that coal smoke is very poisonous and if you inhale it, you will die the next day.

There was not a single wound on his body and he was still smiling foolishly.

It must be the evil barbarians from the south of the Yangtze River who are poisoning the kind people from the north.

……

The honest and conservative Shandong people left Yu Shihe helpless.

He didn't have the power to ask the Shandong government to force the people to burn coal.

Weifang Fangzi Coal Mine has huge output.

Apart from the official firearms workshops, blacksmith workshops, and cold weapon forging workshops that supply North China, the rest had nowhere to go.

Looking at the mountains of high-quality coal, he had the evil thought of "smuggling" many times.

However, he did not dare to wade into the water until his father spoke. Compared with his brother Yu Yunhe, the grain supervisor of Huai'an, who seemed to be "law-abiding", he was actually more cautious.

Yu Yunhe was dragged into the incident by the Huaiyang officials and gentry. If it had not been for Yu Minzhong's mediation, they would have been buried together.

Qianlong also wanted to use Minzhong, so it was not convenient to chop off someone else's son, and Heshen also helped to make excuses.

Although Fu Chang'an is a proud person, he comes from a noble family and naturally pays attention to the trends among the upper class.

quickly,

He made the case of "burning the imperial envoy and grain tax fraud" ironclad and got rid of Master Yu.

[I'm asking for leave from all the military officials. I'm going to take a day off tomorrow to go to the Magic City for a closed-door meeting. The topic is "How to manage a business in the context of today's weak economy." ]

(End of this chapter)