Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 517: The Intelligence Agency landed at Dagukou, and the silver bullet opened the way~
There was jubilation throughout the Ministry of Revenue.

It is like finding sweet dew after a long drought, or like meeting a secluded woman after a long period of loneliness.

In one breath, a total of 9,243,800 taels of silver were collected.

The officials who were accused were angry and frightened at first, but later they gradually figured out the meaning and were actually secretly delighted.

This day, it changed~
……

but,

The Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was very jealous, so he went to He Mansion in person and had a face-to-face argument, and successfully won a fee of 20 taels.

He took 10 taels home, and the other members of the Censorate shared the 10 taels equally.

With the money, the censors' enthusiasm for biting people was unprecedentedly high.

Hearsay and speak.

He just sat behind a three-foot-long wooden desk and looked at the roster and wrote out the crimes of everyone out of thin air.

Thank you for your kindness,

Agui was enfeoffed in Yunnan and Guizhou.

If we don't strike hard at the fallen Lao A's family now, when will we strike hard?

Heshen would never show mercy in such matters. Like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, he took down 11 officials above the fourth rank who were promoted by Agui in one fell swoop.

Even if these 11 people were willing to pay the fine for their crimes, the Ministry of Revenue would not accept it.

Send him to the three judicial departments.

He was arrested and tried on the same day, and was put in jail on the same day.
……

Except Ah Dang, everyone else celebrated.
The emperor is the "Yao and Shun" of the modern world.

Although everyone bleeds, their hearts are not bleeding.

This can be cited as an example in the future.

If you did anything wrong, you just had to pay a sum of money to get away with it.

Very good!
The full implementation of the criminal silver system has relieved everyone of their heavy psychological burden. From now on, the world is bright and the sky is blue.

……

But we are all smart people and are not sure about some details.

It’s like when you go to buy insurance. Although the terms are good, you still have to figure out what the insurance company’s supplementary terms say.

Several enthusiastic people held a banquet and invited the brother-in-law of Liu Quan, the chief steward of the He Mansion.

After several attempts, I got the answer.

First of all,

The silver for negotiating crimes covered the vast majority of crimes in the Great Qing Law, except for treason.

As long as you do not secretly communicate with the Wu court and do not collude with the Wu army to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, the system of negotiating silver for crimes is 100% suitable for you.

Secondly,

It is the validity period of the silver for negotiating crimes.

Only guaranteed for 1 year!
Within one year, I demand that you do not commit treason, and the Censorate promises not to harm you again.

One year later, it’s hard to say~
……

In addition, the gentry class was equivalent to officials in the court, and if they accidentally broke the royal law, they could all invoke the system of silver for crime.

When the news came out, there was jubilation everywhere.

Qianlong received unprecedented support from the official gentry in the north, especially in the Zhili region.

The Ministry of Revenue once again welcomed a wave of silver rain.

The gentry and powerful people in many places voluntarily paid 4.98 million taels of silver as punishment for their crimes.

People at that time joked that

It is a wonder of the ages that everyone is guilty.

Everyone was proactive, rushing to confess their guilt and to pay the money.

……

The digger does not forget to dig the well.

Everyone praised Heshen and Da Ren as famous prime ministers of the time.

Every day after the morning,
There was an endless stream of respectable people riding in sedan chairs to the house next to the He Mansion to eat noodles.

Noodles with gravy have different ingredients.

For dishes below 5th grade, you can only put some pork belly.

5th to 2nd grade is pigeon meat.

For rank 2 and above, it must be a flying dragon.

……

The adults carry their own bowls and scoop out the food themselves, depending on how much or how little they eat.

We ate and walked and had a friendly conversation.

Eat 100 kilograms of noodles a day.

The yard is very large, and there is a painting hanging at the door of the main house.

"Harmony is the most precious thing."

Everyone deeply understands the meaning of "harmony is the most valuable", that is, colleagues from different departments should not have any grudges and should discuss things together when encountering problems.

……

Blindly worshipping foreign things is not desirable.

The barbarians have "Western-style buffets", and we in the Qing Dynasty have "Chinese-style hot buffets".

Chilly spring~
Hot meals would be more suitable for my physique as a Qing Dynasty civil servant.

Everyone ate comfortably, ate with peace of mind, and had a rosy face.

Eating noodles without drinking wine, and drinking wine without eating noodles, started a new trend for our Qing Dynasty.

It was impossible for Heshen to show up, after all, he was not aware of it.

Only the noodle shop owner, the chief steward Liu Quan, would come to take a look occasionally and tell everyone that they could take their bowls away after finishing their meals.

The large sea bowl symbolizes abundance.

The bowl wall is one inch thick, which symbolizes safety.

The bottom of the bowl is inlaid with a circle of gold wire, which symbolizes getting rich.

……

Compared with the revelry of his people, Qianlong seemed exceptionally calm.

A series of military defeats shattered his self-esteem.

The injured Tiger King licked his wounds silently, and at the same time had to accept the reality that conventional means could not save the Qing Dynasty today.

If you want to save the Qing Dynasty, you have to take an unconventional path.

On the imperial desk, the pen moves quickly.

Because of the hand tremors, the already poor calligraphy became even worse.

The chief eunuch Qin Si took a glance.
Saw:
Discussing criminal silver, sticking pole office, militia, imperial examination~
The handwriting at the back is too sloppy, it seems to be from the Han army, but I'm not sure.

Anyway,

Qianlong's aging machine fought back from all aspects, including the economy, espionage, politics, and the morale of scholars.

……

Compared with his previous cautious measures, Qianlong's measures this time were more radical, so radical that they frightened all those who understood the situation.

Like,
The doctor prescribed a prescription for a critically ill patient:
Arsenic 2 liang, taken with liquid mercury. Medicine guide, living five poisons~
Well, the efficacy of the drug is unpredictable.

Qianlong sat in front of the imperial desk for an hour, looking at the paper full of ridiculous words and revealing a creepy smile.

When the tiger king smiles, life and death are unpredictable.

You know what, the short-term effects are impressive.

The Ministry of Revenue obtained more than 1400 million taels of silver in one go, which was the annual collection of silver for crimes in Zhili and the capital region.

Heshen struck while the iron was hot and sent a document to the northern provinces through the Grand Council.

Let’s start with the governor.

The governor and governor-general have passed the review and will preside over the discussion of crimes within the province.

Even if it was a clerk of no rank or a small external commissioner, he could not be let off.

In the Qing Dynasty, everyone is guilty.

……

The back hall of the Linqing Prefecture government office in Shandong.

The prefect Lei Fu stood up from his chair and yelled:
"No accusation, no accusation! When did I embezzle 2 taels of disaster relief silver?"

Sitting on one side, the staff member named Zhang who came down from the governor's office was quite unhappy and frowned:
"Master Lei, don't be so excited. No one is going to take your hat off. Just admit your guilt and pay a fine of 50,000 taels of silver, and the matter will be over."

"But, but I didn't take it."

Master Zhang's face darkened and he stood up:
"I have been ordered by the governor to visit Tai'an Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture, and Wuding Prefecture. From the prefect to the county magistrate, no one is as ignorant as you."

Lei Fu was surprised and asked:
"He, they all handed it in."

"Yes."

……

Master Zhang made no secret of it:
"We set the amount of silver according to rank, length of service, and the wealth of the place."

"You have been the prefect for four years, and Linqing is a good place. So, you can take out 4 taels. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lei Fu opened his hands excitedly:

"But I am truly incorruptible."

The atmosphere instantly degraded to freezing point.

Master Zhang stared at Lei Fu and blurted out:
"So you don't think you're guilty?"

"I have done nothing wrong. All my belongings are only 2000 taels."

Master Zhang walked away in a huff.

The next day, a team of Green Camp soldiers drove a prisoner cart into the Linqing Prefecture Government Office.

Lei Fu had his hat and official robes knocked off and was put into a prison van.

He cried out in grief and indignation:

"The sky is clear, the sky is clear~"

……

Half a month later, the new prefect arrived.

The new prefect came from a merchant family in Baoding. He had no official title but donated money to become a student at the Imperial Academy ten years ago.

this time,

I don't know which expert gave him advice, but he took out 19 taels in one go to open up various links and fill the gap.

Just arrived,
During a routine visit to the governor, he took the initiative to pay 5 taels of silver to cover the crimes he would commit in the next year. What could the governor say?

It's nothing more than sighing at the bizarre phenomenon that hasn't been seen in 100 years.

The incident in Linqing Prefecture is just a microcosm.

but,

The Qing officials, from top to bottom, all accepted a reality:
While the holy light of the sin silver has not yet disappeared, everyone should open their hearts, abandon their fantasies, and let go to make money.

As for fire consumption, increase it by three times first.

Wu’s salary will be doubled again.

All kinds of taxes, customs duties, and other levies that can be thought of were included.

otherwise,

Next year, you will be unlucky.

The case of Lei Zhizhou was a precedent. As soon as he arrived in the capital, the three judges sentenced his entire family to exile in Ningguta and become slaves to the armored men.

……

The wind blew across the northern land in one breath.

but,

If local officials want to increase taxes, they must consider partners.

Imperial power has not extended to the countryside, and this has been the case for thousands of years.

With the limited manpower available in the county government, it is impossible to collect food and wages directly from the common people. The support of the gentry is necessary.

Therefore,
The gentry were the partners of the Qing Dynasty.

Since it is a partnership, we have to discuss profit sharing.

Only enough were left for the county government, and the rest belonged to the gentry.

……

The gateway to the capital is Tianjin.

The gateway to Tianjin is Dagukou.

Dagu Fort, located at the mouth of the Haihe River, is the copper lock that opens the gate of the old city.

A few years ago,
The old battery was destroyed by Saxon warships.

Afterwards, the Qing government spent a huge amount of money to rebuild it again, with more cannons of larger caliber.

The Dagukou navy also replaced old ships with new ones, and carried out routine patrols every day, patrolling Changshan Island every month and Weihaiwei every quarter.

sea ​​surface,

On the deck of a merchant ship,
Liu Qian stood at the bow with his back straight, while Jiang Tianmu stood respectfully on the side with his back slightly bent. He had arrived in Dengzhou in advance as agreed in advance and boarded the ship there.

"Is everything set up?"

"Don't worry, Director. All of our people are on this line."

……

A navy patrol boat is approaching quickly~
The Qing army shouted:

"Stop the boat and check."

Half a quarter of an hour later, a guerrilla general led the navy soldiers onto the gangplank and boarded the merchant ship.

Jiang Tianmu took out an official document and a badge from his arms.

Take a quick look to make sure it's not fake.

At the end of the official document is stamped with a bright red seal from Shuntian Prefecture, and the pure gold waist badge is from the Imperial Household Department.

Anyone who can gather these two things is not an ordinary person, he must be a god who can walk sideways in the city.

Guerrilla's expression changed instantly, from flattering to humble to fear~
……

Jiang Tianmu was in high spirits, and he put his arm around the shoulder of the highest-ranking guerrilla general of the Dagukou Navy present.

"Where's Lao Wang?"

"Old Wang is ill, and I will take over his position."

"Want to check?"

"no, I'm fine."

"Know the rules and you have a future."

Jiang Tianmu patted the guerrilla general on the shoulder with satisfaction and said softly:
"Do you believe in Buddhism?"

The guerrilla was stunned, not knowing whether to believe it or not.

Jiang Tianmu looked solemn and chanted the Buddhist name softly:

"Amitabha. Brother, listen to me. It's better to believe in Buddha."

……

The guerrilla general held the small golden Buddha pendant in his hand, smiled widely, and waved goodbye to the nobleman.

He decided to have a vegetarian dinner tonight.

There is a future in Buddhism.

The two merchant ships sailed into the Haihe River in a swaggering manner and slowly moved upstream under the pull of trackers.

Liu Qian looked at the scenery along the coast with great interest~
Deep in enemy territory, I'm not nervous at all.

Because he mastered the secret to unimpeded passage in the Qing Dynasty—silver.

The silver bullet clears the way and is invincible.

If you meet the rare and difficult one percent, give them a few slaps in the face first, and then take out the token of your benefactor.

The waist badge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the visiting card of Liu Quan, the chief steward of the Hefu, the official letter of Shuntian Prefecture, and the escort and customs clearance documents of the Ministry of Revenue.

Each one is more intimidating than the other.

……

When Jiang Tianmu heard the whole story, his jaw dropped.

"Madam Yang Fei is dead?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god, what about the Ministry of the Interior?"

"Your Majesty will take charge for the time being."

Liu Qian spoke calmly, but he was actually very uneasy inside.

It is definitely not a good thing for the Intelligence Agency that His Majesty personally leads the Ministry of the Interior.

suddenly,

He turned his head and stared at Jiang Tianmu:
"This operation must be successful to demonstrate the strength of our intelligence agency."

"clear."

Jiang Tianmu looked solemn.

Looking at the bustling city of Tianjin in the distance, I thought that my future days might not be so comfortable.

……

The Haihe River Wharf is a mixed crowd.

There is no one better than him in the world!

Jiang Tianmu directly found the local inspection office, and the soldiers held shining swords and guns to supervise the foot laborers transporting the goods.

Tea and silk are both in-demand commodities nowadays.

If you are not careful, both the person and the goods will be gone.

The situation in Tianjin is too complicated!
In the evening,

Liu Qiancai ordered his men to move dozens of wooden boxes off the ship, ready to transport them into Sijiu City for the fireworks display.

Jiang Tianmu looked lonely.
I thought that after this attack, my overseas career would come to an end and my carefree days would be gone forever.

……

Liu Qian didn't fall asleep at night.

Continue to fill in the map information based on your impressions, from the Yangtze River Estuary to the Bohai Sea, from Dagukou to the Jinmen Prefecture City~
This is one of the tasks entrusted by His Majesty.

In the future, Wu's army attacks Yanjing City.

There are 2 routes:
One is to take the land route, penetrate the Central Plains and attack the capital.

The second is to transport troops from the sea, launch a surprise attack on Dagukou, and quickly reach the capital.

The first route is positive and the second route is odd.

Pros and cons.

It depends on the specific battle situation.

The report submitted by Liu Qian will become the basis for the General Staff to formulate combat plans in the future.

……

Under the soybean oil lamp,

Liu Qian's eyes sparkled.

He really wanted to use this operation to demonstrate his ability and the strength of the Intelligence Agency, so that His Majesty would relegate the Ministry of the Interior, which had no sense of existence, to the sidelines, or pack it up and throw it to him.

Thinking of this,

A question mark suddenly popped up in his mind.

What is the Ministry of the Interior, which has always had no sense of existence, doing? What is its operating model? What is its scale? How much is its funding? Is its focus internally or externally?
Why has the Intelligence Agency never had any intersection with the Ministry of the Interior?
For the first time, Liu Qian discovered that he actually knew everything about the Ministry of the Interior, which made him feel vaguely uneasy.

Looking back at His Majesty, it seemed as if there was also a veil between us.

……

The next day, Liu Qian entered the city.

Tianjin is a bustling and prosperous city with people crowded together.

However, he noticed a noticeable increase in beggars on the roadside.

The idlers hired by the government office drove ox carts to pull out the bodies.

“So many people died?”

Jiang Tianmu whispered:
"You haven't seen the city in the twelfth lunar month. Every day, truckloads of dumpling trucks are being driven out of Shuntianfu, and everyone is frozen like popsicles."

Liu Qian nodded.

This winter, the population in the north has been severely reduced.

……

"Ah, here we are."

Liu Qian got off the car and looked up at the plaque~
Cangyi Escort Agency.

At the door, four burly men stood solemnly with their fists clasped. One could tell from their chaps that they were martial artists.

(End of this chapter)