Ming politicians

() The next inspection became a formal matter. Accompanied by officials at all levels in Shanzhou, Su Tiancheng went to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County to inspect, listen to the report, and meet with the county magistrate and others.With Shanzhou's understanding of the situation, Su Tiancheng grasped one thing, eating and drinking is fine, but he will never accept any gift, no matter it is in the form of souvenirs or in the name of hard work, etc., he will never accept it.

In today's atmosphere, doing this seems a bit hypocritical, and it seems to be distanced from officials at all levels, but Su Tiancheng has to do this. In the atmosphere where he doesn't know the specific situation of Henan Mansion, this is his best self means of protection.

Although this is the form, Su Tiancheng still has some basic information.

Yanxiang County is close to the southernmost part of Henan Province, a typical border area of ​​three provinces, close to Shanxi and Shaanxi. I remember that hundreds of years later, Yanxiang County was revoked and belonged to Lingbao County.It is not too much to describe Yanxiang County as being poor and poor. The county town belongs to the category of pocket cities. It takes less than a quarter of an hour to walk through the entire county town. The registered population is less than 2, and the biggest feature is probably poverty. Although the county government has made sufficient preparations, the dilapidated city walls and low-rise houses cannot be concealed.

The situation in Lingbao County is slightly better, mainly because the county is bigger.

When the magistrate reported the situation, he did not conceal the damage caused by the bandits. Most of the gentry and wealthy households in the two counties moved away. Those with good conditions went directly to Luoyang or Kaifeng, and those with poor conditions went to Shanzhou. , the rich people who stayed, almost nothing, the rogues in Shaanxi and Shanxi.They have to come to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County every year. Even if they didn’t attack the county town, they also went to the villages and towns near the county town. The rich people definitely couldn’t stay there.

The common people of the two counties also left more.The reason is also the harassing and bewitching of the rogues, many people directly joined the rogues' ranks.

Su Tiancheng will not fully believe that such a report of shirking responsibility, the damage caused by the rogues may be the actual situation.However, the damage directly caused by the officials to the people may be more than that of the rogues.

Although the people in Lingbao and Yanxiang counties are very poor, the officials in the two counties don't look much different, at least their complexions are ruddy.Very healthy.

On the 21st of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng and his party left Yanxiang County and headed for Lushi County.

Li Zixiong, the magistrate of Shanzhou, sent Su Tiancheng and his party all the way to the border between Yanxiang County and Lushi County.

Li Zixiong participated in the whole process of supervision and followed Su Tiancheng.

Because of Li Zixiong's following.Su Tiancheng's supervision has basically become a form, and the pattern is also fixed. Officials such as magistrates and county magistrates in Lingbao County and Yanxiang County also follow in their jurisdictions. In view of this situation, Su Tiancheng is not even interested in going to villages and towns. Go and have a look.

At the time of parting, Li Zixiong asked whether the sergeant of the Shanzhou Inspection Department should follow Su Tiancheng and his party.Going directly to the county seat of Lushi County, Su Tiancheng smiled and said no need.

After leaving Yanxiang County, Su Tiancheng and his entourage hurried to Lushi County.

There is some desolation along the way, even though it is an official road.But there were not many pedestrians to be seen, Su Tiancheng's mood became more and more heavy.

At night, a group of people rested in a small village next to the official road.

At noon on the 22nd day of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng finally saw the city wall of Lushi County.

At the gate of the county seat, as usual, there are sergeants from the inspection department, who check the directions of people coming and going. However, there is no charge of two yuan for entering the city, but the inspection is stricter.

After entering the county seat, Su Tiancheng and his party went directly to the county government office.

After the report and the banquet, Su Tiancheng and his party went into the official post to rest.

Qu Qingze, who had gone out for a while, came back soon, and after entering Su Tiancheng's room, he took out a stack of letters.

"My lord, there is information about the Henan Province from the dark thread, and some information has come from the dark thread of Shanzhou and some counties in the Henan Province."

Qu Qingze had already closed the door. After putting the letter on the table, he was still a little worried. He went to the door to listen to the movement and see if there were other people outside. This was actually a habitual action. You must know that Wang Dazhi stayed outside, and ordinary people could not get close. Besides, this is an official post, and not everyone can come in.

Qu Qingze was mainly worried that the information from the dark thread was already in violation of the regulations. If such a thing was known to outsiders, he would definitely be impeached, and he and Su Tiancheng would be in trouble.

Su Tiancheng has been waiting for this information. On the 22th day of the first lunar month, the mission was scheduled. Today is the [-]nd day of the first month, so the information should arrive.

Sitting at the table, Su Tiancheng opened the letter and read it carefully.

Time passed slowly, Su Tiancheng remained silent, and Qu Qingze was still standing at the door.

More than half an hour passed, and Su Tiancheng finally finished reading. In fact, it didn't take so much time to read these letters. Sometimes, Su Tiancheng was meditating, probably thinking about something. This shows that the information sent by the dark thread is indeed valuable. .

After putting away all the letters, Su Tiancheng stood up.

"Old Qu, walk outside with me and find a quieter place."

The backyard of the official post is relatively quiet, there will be no outsiders disturbing here, and the weather is cold, so most people don't want to come here.

Su Tiancheng walked very slowly, every step he took seemed to indicate that he had made some kind of determination.

After a quarter of an hour, Su Tiancheng finally spoke.

"Old Qu, the information provided by the dark wire is very important. I can tell you with certainty that the Jiangning camp is in a bad situation, and our situation is just as bad. The information sent by the dark wire this time does not only involve the provinces under the jurisdiction of Henan Province. County, the situation of the rogues, and the situation of Mr. Hong in Shaanxi."

Qu Qingze didn't speak, he still had such patience.

"Lord Hong has already given a report to the imperial court, suggesting that the Jiangning Camp enter Shanxi to eliminate the bandits, saying that this is the best opportunity. According to my estimation, the imperial court will definitely approve it, but I have no confidence in the matter of eradicating the bandits."

"Why do you say that, my lord?"

"Old Qu, you and I have been working together for a long time. You are clear about the principle of my work. I have always believed that simply killing the bandits will not solve the problem at the root. If the peasants have no food, If you are forced to go into desperation, you still want to rebel. If you can kill all the bandits, can you kill all the common people? These days, the problem I am worried about has been clearly revealed. If you can't solve this problem first, wipe out Rogues, it is impossible to win a decisive victory."

"Is your lord talking about the officials of the Henan government?"

"Not only the officials in Henan Province, but also the officials in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and even Shandong and Huguang. It is estimated that there are some problems. The situation in Shanzhou is by no means an isolated phenomenon. The imperial army killed good people and pretended to be meritorious , You know, the continuous famines and the harassment of bandits, the officials not only failed to treat the people well, but also added fuel to the fire, under such circumstances, is there any way for the people to survive?"

"We used to be in Jiangning County, where the conditions were good, and the common people could eat enough to eat. We didn't experience such troubles. I always felt a little strange. The Battle of Central Capital was led by Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and Li Zicheng. The elite were wiped out by the Jiangning battalion. When they left Zhongdu, at most there were more than 1 mobs left, but how long it took, they had more than 5 people. Not at that speed."

"I'm sure that if they were in Nanzhili, the rogues would have no way out, and it would be difficult to recruit soldiers. Why did they grow rapidly after arriving in Shanxi, Shanxi? What's the problem?"

"The situation sent by the dark line confirmed my judgment, and the government forced the people to rebel."

"Talk about the situation in Henan Province. The wheat noodles here are basically eight qian silver a stone, the rice is one tael, and the salt is two tael. The salaries of officials are also unbearable, food is the most important thing for the people, and food cannot be guaranteed, so there is no way for ordinary people to survive."

"I thought that the merchants here are black-hearted and have earned too much money. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. After reading the information sent by the dark thread, I finally understand why the princes and officials are so rich. .”

"Officials in Henan Province are actually merchants, the most black-hearted merchants. For the harvest of grain every year, they buy it at the lowest price and sell it at a high price. The merchants are just helping them to get some leftovers. That's all."

"People don't dare to store grain at all, otherwise they will be regarded as smugglers, but the gentry and wealthy households are different. They store grain openly and wait for the price to rise, thereby exploiting ordinary people."

"The spread of this situation has become a vicious cycle. The common people have basically no way to survive, and they can't eat enough to work as cattle and horses. Although the salaries of officials are very low, they collude with gentry, wealthy households, and merchants to get a lot of money. Little money, worry about food and clothing."

"The situation like this is terrible. To put it bluntly, the Jiangning battalion is fighting the bandits in the front, and the people in the rear may join the bandits at any time and fight against the Jiangning battalion."

"If that's the case, what's the point of Jiangning battalion exterminating the bandits?"

"Old Qu, to tell you the truth, the information sent by the secret line also comes from the vassal princes, among which there are many information about King Fu, who can be said to be a rich man in Henan Province, no, it should be the richest in Henan, Shaanxi, and Shanxi. He has accumulated a lot of money, why King Fu is so rich, I don’t need to explain it.”

"After figuring out the situation, I finally understand a little bit. Why would someone plot against me and Jiangning Ying? If the policies I implemented in Jiangning County were brought here, I am afraid that many people will suffer."

In the darkness, Qu Qingze did not speak.To be continued. , You are welcome to come to the starting point to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. m read. )