Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

Chapter 386 Illegal appointment
Chen Xunzhou was taken away. The Sichuan Prosecution Service acted very quickly. In less than ten days, the case was examined, the evidence was collected, and Chen Xunzhou was sentenced to confiscation of his home and exile.

Compared with the things Chen Xunzhou had done before, this sentence was indeed too light, and it actually allowed him to save his life.

The reason behind this is that on the one hand, due to the long history, even if many of the accusations against Chen Xunzhou are true, there is insufficient evidence to convict him.The main crime he can be convicted of now is that he violated the regulations as an official and served as a colleague.

As for the high rents, fish and meat towns, etc., strictly speaking, this is not just the crime of Chen Xunzhou, but the crime of the Chen family, and even everyone related to the Chen family. The implications are too wide, so I have not dealt with them one by one. Investigate them one by one.

On the other hand, Gu Yunji knew that Chen Xunzhou had previously been involved with the Chief Envoy Pu Tingnan. His case could be settled so quickly this time. Maybe it was because Pu Tingnan was afraid of digging too deep and implicating himself, so he closed the case hastily, hoping to stop it.

As he wished, neither the imperial court nor Emperor Jingfeng raised any objection to the current result. Chen Xunzhou's matter was Chen Xunzhou's matter only. Except for a few small officials who were pushed out to take the blame, the Chief Secretary, including Yan Zhengqian, was almost unaffected. , Pu Tingnan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, for the internal affairs of Xuzhou Prefecture, the impact of this matter is considerable.Chen Xunzhou is currently the most promising son of the Chen family, and is also the confidence and pride of the Chen family. If he collapses alone, the Chen family will basically lose.

Since Chen Xunzhou himself was an official, in order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, a large-scale purge of officials was carried out in the entire Xuzhou Prefecture Yamen.All the children of the Chen family were deposed, and the quotas for junior students in county schools and prefectural schools that had long been occupied by the Chen family were also redistributed. The bottom management of Xuzhou Prefecture was finally no longer the sole responsibility of the Chen family.

Most of the Chen family's fields were in the name of Chen Xunzhou. Chen Xunzhou's family was confiscated and exiled. All these fields were confiscated and became official land of the government.The leasing relationship with the original tenants is still maintained, and the tenant rent will always be consistent with the court's tax revenue. The tenant rent will be charged according to the amount of taxes levied by the court.

The court's tax revenue is now [-]%, which is lower than the [-]% before the Chen family's rent increase. The tenants are rejoicing, as the heavy burden on their backs is finally lifted, as if they have been reborn overnight.

Although the fields were in Chen Xunzhou's name in the past, the farming and management were done by the Chen family. It could almost be said that their lives depended on Chen Xunzhou.Now that the fields are gone, the Chen family has also lost their most important livelihood. Not only have they lost their former wealth, but they are even despised and spat on by others when walking on the road.

Some Chen family members couldn't bear it anymore, so they sold their remaining possessions and left Xuzhou Prefecture for a long distance.For a time, they were able to walk away and catch each other. Most of the Chen family who can still stay in Xuzhou Mansion safely are old and weak.

In just ten days, the Chen family's great power collapsed.

Chen Xunzhou brought the blame on himself, and most of the Chen family were not innocent. Although Gu Yunji was happy to see such a result, his master Chen Peishi, who was following him, was also from the Chen family, and he saw that his energy was deteriorating day by day these days.

Chen Peishi has been with Gu Yunji for more than two years. He does his best in everything he does and cannot be called disloyal.Gu Yunji checked him out and found that as the eldest son of the Chen family, his family background was relatively ordinary and he had never bullied the common people. Instead, he was often suppressed by his direct descendants.

Seeing that Chen Peishi had a bad look on his face, Gu Yunji couldn't bear it and said tentatively: "Chen Peishi, how are you... lately? The Chen family..."

Chen Peishi understood what he meant and squeezed out a smile: "Don't worry, sir, I'm fine. Although the Chen family has been defeated, sir, you have high prestige in Xuzhou Prefecture. I am your master. Everyone cares about you." , It doesn’t embarrass my family. Our house is now relatively easy to live in among the many branches of the Chen family."

"Over the years, people in the clan have done a lot of things that have violated their conscience. In the final analysis, it is all their own fault, and our Chen family's own fault. We cannot blame others. Besides, my family is relatively lucky and has not suffered much losses. What was it like before? It’s still the same now, it’s good enough to live a peaceful life.”

Having said that, after all, this is the family he comes from, and no one can look at the family's defeat with a normal heart. Chen Peishi's thinking this way is nothing more than a kind of enlightenment for himself.

Since their positions were different, Gu Yunji couldn't say anything, so he could only remain silent and patted Chen Peishi on the shoulder to express comfort.As the days passed, Gu Yunji's official life in the government office returned to normal.

Yan Zhengqian was still as indifferent as before. Without Chen Xunzhou and the new co-president had not yet taken office, all the official affairs of Xuzhou Prefecture fell on Gu Yunji alone.He was so busy every day that he had no time to spare, and before he knew it, another winter came quietly.

In the twelfth lunar month, Gu Yunji rarely took a break. It happened to be a heavy snowfall, covering the streets and alleys with light plain clothes.

Sichuan is located in the southwest, with the Qinling Mountains in the north blocking the cold wind from the south. The climate is relatively mild. Snow in winter is a relatively rare sight, causing people to come out of their houses with stoves and brave the cold to go out to enjoy the snow.

Xu Shuhua stretched out his hand to catch a piece of fine snow foam and watched it melt instantly in the palm of his hand. He said with a hint of disappointment: "This snow is so small that it turned into water as soon as it fell on my body. It was hard to tell whether it was rain or snow." .”

Gu Yunji saw that her jade-white knuckles were red from the cold, so he put them into his palms to warm them, and said with a smile: "The southwest is also the south after all. It's not easy to get snow. How can we expect to have snowflakes as big as goose feathers like in the capital?" Average? Look, those pedestrians outside still have to hold umbrellas."

"The southwest is pretty good. We are lucky. We can encounter snow in our third year in Xuzhou. I grew up in Jiangnan for so many years, but I have never seen snow once."

Xu Shuhua was aroused by Gu Yunji's words. He looked far away and said: "It turns out that it has been three years. It feels like it was just yesterday that you were transferred to the southwest. Speaking of which, a comprehensive evaluation of officials' performance will be conducted at the end of the year. Do you think you will stay? Or promotion?”

"It's hard to say." Gu Yunji recalled, "We spent five months on the road in the first year, and it was already September when we arrived in Xuzhou Prefecture. Because the time was too short, we only rated it as 'fair'. It’s quite satisfactory, nothing worth saying.”

"The second year was pretty good. I got an 'up and down' rating. If I can get another 'up and down' rating this year, I will have met the standard for promotion. But I can't say whether I can get promoted. After all, there was a drought this year. "

"Even if you want to be promoted, you may not leave the southwest. Let alone the far distance, let's just say that there is a vacancy in Xuzhou Prefecture. Isn't there a vacancy for colleagues?"

Xu Shuhua raised his eyes and looked at him: "Then do you still want to stay in Xuzhou Mansion?"

Gu Yunji thought for a while and said: "You can stay or not, but as for myself, I kind of want to go back to Jiangnan. Since I went to Beijing to catch up with the national examination, I only stopped by when I was transferring to Xuzhou Prefecture to take office. We stayed in Songjiang Mansion for a few days, but the time was too short and can be ignored."

"If I think about it seriously, I haven't lived in Jiangnan for six or seven years, and I really miss it."

Xu Shuhua also said: "Don't talk about you, I haven't been back for a long time. It's a pity that you and I are both from Jiangnan, but our daughter has never even seen what Jiangnan looks like."

Gu Yunji comforted him warmly: "There will be a chance. One day, we will not only be able to return to Jiangnan, but also to the capital."

(End of this chapter)