Ming politicians

Fan Jingwen has always been very strong, but this time he did not speak, did not explain or justify, nor pleaded for Liu Zeqing and others, he has been silently watching Su Tiancheng handle all matters, perhaps in his heart, he is already thinking Now, what should an official do and how should he do it.

Following Su Tiancheng into Haiyan County, Fan Jingwen still had no expression on his face when he saw the sergeant of the inspection department captured by the Jiangning battalion.He understood Su Tiancheng's words very well. The spearhead was not only directed at the local government in Zhejiang, but also directly at the imperial court. He remembered that when the bandits were wiped out, the imperial court's army was also unscrupulous, exploiting the people and killing good people. Pretending to be meritorious and using everything to the extreme, the imperial court is a little indifferent to such things. After all, the imperial court pays attention to eliminating opponents, and does not pay attention to the interests of the people at all.

Su Tiancheng practiced himself and put the protection of the interests of the common people in a very high position, which Fan Jingwen did not expect. Sometimes, the so-called emergency and flexibility in the outline are not impossible, as long as the compensation is done afterwards. That's enough, but Su Tiancheng's insistence made Fan Jingwen's terrible feeling more and more clear. The so-called those who win the hearts of the people win the world. The contrast between the court's indifference and Su Tiancheng's attention is too obvious. Does this mean that the world is bound to be occupied by Su Tiancheng, and the common people can truly live a good life?

Fan Jingwen had no choice but to have such an idea. If Su Tiancheng did it himself, he really cared about the interests of the people and the prosperity of the country. What's wrong with such a person ruling the world? , Isn’t it also the world obtained through rebellion?

Entered the lobby of the county government.The county magistrate, Zhu Bo and others were all captured, but the county magistrate escaped. Before the Jiangning battalion attacked, he fled in disguise to Jiaxing Fucheng.

The dignified magistrate failed to lead the soldiers to resist, but fled first.This made Fan Jingwen very embarrassed.

An unusual interrogation began, and Su Tiancheng was in charge of the interrogation himself.

The first thing that needs to be clarified is that the magistrate escaped. Why did the county magistrate and the master Bo not have time to escape? The answer is somewhat unexpected. It turns out that the county magistrate and the master Bo both have concubines in the county, because they have to bring concubines with them They ran away together, so they lost time, and they received news that the Jiangning battalion was attacking the county.The time was not long, and they thought there would be a certain amount of resistance time, enough for them to escape, but Jiang Ningying's actions were so fast that they had no time to escape.

When the soldiers caught them, they seized several packages of soft goods, and found a lot of gold and silver, as well as some valuable jewelry and so on.According to the income of the county magistrate and master Bo, it is impossible to save so much gold and silver.Moreover, both of them raised concubines, so they should be unable to make ends meet.

When Su Tiancheng asked about the origin of these gold, silver and jewelry, the county magistrate and the master Bo lowered their heads and refused to say anything.

At this time, Fan Jingwen stepped forward and disclosed his identity.Ask the county magistrate and Zhu Bo to tell the truth.

Hearing Fan Jingwen reveal his identity, the county magistrate and Zhu Bo's bodies began to tremble. They didn't hold on for long, and soon knelt down, talking about the gold and silver jewelry and so on.They were all sent by Liu Zeqing, and more were given to the county magistrate, but what they got was only a small amount.

Su Tiancheng did not let the two of them go easily, and continued to ask them how much gold and silver treasures Liu Zeqing sent, why he sent these gold and silver treasures, who got the gold and silver treasures, and so on.

The rest of the story is much simpler. The main purpose of Liu Zeqing's sending of gold, silver and jewelry is to let the local people ignore the demands of the people, not only ignore the demands of the people, but also help suppress them, because this is the order of the court, and the army needs it. To collect food and pay, we need to exterminate the rebels, and the people should actively support them. As long as there are people who come to complain, they must be colluding with the rebels, opposing the imperial court, or a chaotic party, and they must be thrown into prison. .

Of course, the county government did it according to Liu Zeqing's request. In fact, not only the county government, but also the state government and the government government did the same. The common people don't even think about suing. Ignore these things, and seriously say that women do not obey women's morals, and colluding with sergeants is a crime that should be beheaded.

After such treatment, no one dares to sue, even those gentry and wealthy households dare not speak up. Of course, there is nothing wrong with some wealthy and powerful gentry and wealthy households. They may have families in the capital. Those who are officials, or have certain influence, will not suffer any harm, and it is ordinary people, businessmen and wealthy households who suffer.

After speaking of this, Su Tiancheng doesn't need to ask any more questions. His goal has been achieved, but Su Tiancheng still has great doubts about the property carried by the county magistrate and Zhu Bo. For Jiaxing, Huzhou and Hangzhou, There are quite a few prefectures and counties under its jurisdiction. Could it be said that Liu Zeqing is so generous that he gave so much gold and silver jewelry to the owner of the county government? It is enough to focus on making friends with the chief officials of the prefectures and counties. For the rest, the property owned by the county magistrate and the master Bo is obviously wrong.

At this moment, the officers and soldiers in charge of searching the magistrate's residence brought three large boxes.

After opening the box, it was full of gold and silver jewels. According to preliminary estimates, the value exceeded 10 taels of silver.

Seeing the three boxes of jewels, Su Tiancheng understood, and he continued to ask, this time very carefully, how much gold, silver and jewels Liu Zeqing sent, how many times did he send them, and so on.

The spirits of the county magistrate and the master Bo had already collapsed, and they soon began to tell the truth. It turned out that the gold, silver and jewels sent by Liu Zeqing were not much. The gold and silver jewelry are all accumulated by them in their daily life, which means they got it through corruption.

The soldiers who searched the residences of the county magistrate and Zhu Bo also came to the lobby. They found some silver, silk and satin, etc., which were not low in value.

During the process of Su Tiancheng's questioning, Fan Jingwen's face gradually turned into a pig's color. Every time Su Tiancheng asked questions, it seemed to be directed at him. Officials of the highest rank can be so corrupt and pervert the law. Think about what it will be like above, and then think about why the rogues made rebellions in the past few years, why the imperial court's conquests failed repeatedly, and why such a large place can only rely on the Jiangning camp. After exterminating the bandits and defeating the Golden Tartars, all the answers are ready to come out. It turns out that the imperial court supported by Fan Jingwen has become like this. It can be said that it is rotten to the root. Rectification, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty has no possibility of becoming strong.

One thing that Fan Jingwen understands better is the spread of party disputes within the imperial court. This kind of party struggle has become more and more mature and developed to the point where it is almost uncontrollable. Fan Jingwen is from Wuqiao, Hejian Prefecture, North Zhili. Most of the officials are from the south. This is also because the students in the south are generally more powerful, and more can stand out from the imperial examinations. After these officials entered the court, they began to develop their own power. The family definitely It is the first one. If things go on like this, the big families in the south have extraordinary power. They can even decide the admission of the imperial examinations. In this way, officials and families support each other and grow each other. In order to be able to hold power for a long time, they must To form your own faction, you must protect your own rights and interests, which has led to increasingly fierce party struggles.

The power of the southern family is very large, almost to the point where it cannot be resolved. In the early years of Chongzhen, the north suffered a large-scale drought and flood disaster, and countless people died. The imperial court once wanted to ask the southern to come to the rescue, but such a request was rejected by the imperial court. Many southern ministers vetoed it. If they can control the government, they must protect their own interests. As for the rise and fall of the country, that is the next step for them to consider.

Fan Jingwen was well aware of these situations, and Su Tiancheng must also be aware of them.

If Su Tiancheng wants to protect the interests of the people, he will inevitably touch the interests of these big families. It is impossible to take both into consideration. Shandong Province has already started a large-scale attack on land mergers, and some wealthy gentry have even directly sued the court. up.

Fan Jingwen understood that what Su Tiancheng insisted on was correct no matter from what level. To overthrow these correct things and maintain the decaying imperial court, as Fan Jingwen, how to choose has really become a difficult problem. .

After the inquiry, Su Tiancheng requested that all confiscated gold, silver and jewelry be registered and stored in the treasury. No one is allowed to touch them. These are the property of the people in Haiyan County, and they are taken for civilian use. Yu Min, now is the time when people are in the middle of nowhere. After the government's exploitation and Liu Zeqing's toss, I don't know how many ordinary people can't survive. These gold, silver and jewels must be used to help the people, and Jiang Ningying also has to take out some of them. Food, large-scale relief to the common people.

After arranging all these things, Su Tiancheng will start to arrange big things, that is to wipe out the [-] troops led by Liu Zeqing. This is not something to talk about casually.

Su Tiancheng didn't ask Fan Jingwen and others to avoid him, but Fan Jingwen voluntarily left the hall of the county government office. This was the core matter of Jiang Ningying's discussion. He was not from Su Tiancheng, but represented the imperial court. It didn't sound right here, so Yan Zizhang followed. He left, but Wu Weiye stayed and did not leave.

Su Tiancheng smiled and patted Wu Weiye's shoulder. He knew that Wu Weiye had made a choice with practical actions. After all, he was a candidate for the palace examination. After honing in the court and in Shaanxi, his understanding was different. (To be continued..)