high official

Chapter 56
"Let's go dreaming!" These days, Wei Zhixian has been too involved in the drama, and he is already a little bit out of control. I saw him screaming: "I will not bow to them!"

"Dong Weng, you have to behave after all," Sima Qiu said with a wrinkled old face, "We must give them some face..."

"Sir, it's not a matter of face." Wang Xian was finally invited to the inner lottery room, and he no longer needed Sima Qiu to send a message: "Just like this time, the fight is not about the ownership of the autumn grain, but about this Fuyang County. Who has the final say!" After a pause, he said: "If the subordinates say something unappealing, the timing, location, and harmony are not on the side of the elder. When they unite, they are not afraid of the seal in the hands of the elder. If you want to suppress them, there is no other way but to be ruthless and tough!"

"Well said! This official thinks so too!" Wei Zhixian praised: "Even if you want to talk, you have to come to the county office. Follow my rules, otherwise you won't talk!"

"Dong Weng, it's too late." Sima Qiu was about to pull off a few strands of mouse whiskers, and said anxiously: "If this play continues, it will not be easy to take it back. If they don't play the game, we will be on the verge of riding a tiger." Already!"

"Uh..." Wei Zhixian looked at Wang Xian and said, "So who, do you have a way to end it?"

"It should be possible." Wang Xianxin said that it was really difficult for the leader to remember him. After so much effort, he was still "that who".

"Well, then continue!" Wei Zhixian seemed to be addicted to acting.

"Alas." Sima Qiu looked at the young magistrate and even younger Wang Xian, and sighed inwardly, there is a generation gap, there is a generation gap...

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Three days later is the first day of the winter month.

According to regulations, on the first day of each month, that is, on the first day and the 15th day of the lunar new year, the county magistrate must personally lead the officials of the county to preach the holy decree to the people in front of the Yamen, so that the county people can always listen to the holy teachings and understand the holy meaning, so as to be loyal to the king and patriotic , deeply educated.

Today is the day for preaching the oracle, and before the hour, Yaqian Street is crowded with people.Here, there are old Lijia who must come to listen to the lecture so that they can go back and convey it to the villagers; there are county residents who come to join in the fun and see the scene; .

This is because there are rumors that the Grand Master will go crazy today!

As for the content of the madness, ordinary people naturally don't know, but this makes them even more curious.And the squires who knew some inside information were anxious to see if the county magistrate really dared to lift the cover!

At a quarter of the time, the gentry and common people on Yaqian Street saw the gate of the government office slowly opening, and the three classes of government servants lined up in two lines, standing every few steps, holding water and fire sticks for vigilance, until they came to the front of the eight-character wall to set up a guard. The high platform was raised, and the two teams just joined hands.

When the yamen servants lined up, the heavy ritual music was played, the noisy voices died down, and the ceremony gate opened slowly.The six Zaolis walked ahead in pairs each with the cards of 'Quiet', 'Avoidance' and 'Imperial Order'.Immediately afterwards, four Zaoli came out with the title of Grand Master, and wrote letters such as "Yiyou Juren", "Bingxu Jinshi", "Fuyang County Zhengtang", etc., to show the qualifications of the Grand Master.

The guard of honor passed by, and Wei Zhixian, who was dressed in a red court uniform and wearing a two-beam crown, stepped out of the county office with his head held high.

Behind him, followed by Jiang Xiancheng, Diao Zhubo, Ma Dianshi, and county education officials, who also wore court uniforms.After that, there is a group of officials in green shirts, including Wang Xian.Seeing this majestic scene, Wang Xian couldn't help feeling envious, Grandma, this is the main character, okay? I, a humble official in green clothes, can't even be counted as the main supporting role...

On the table in front of the horoscope wall, a square table has been set up, covered with yellow silk, and on the yellow silk are the "Sacred Edict" and "Great Edict" of Emperor Taizu.The officials of Daizhi County and He County stood in front of the eight-character wall one by one, and the officials of the ceremony house who served as the master of ceremonies sang loudly:

"Kneel down to the oracle!"

So everyone followed Wei Zhixian and kowtowed to the "Holy Edict".

"Xuan—Sacred Edict——" After everyone got up, the official of the house of ceremonies sang again.

Wei Zhixian stepped onto the podium, held up the sacred edict with both hands, and read aloud to the people: "Emperor Taizu's imperial edict has six points, one is to be filial to parents, two is to respect elders, three is to be harmonious with the village, four is to teach children and grandchildren, Five, keep your physiology safe, six, don't do anything wrong! You need to remember it day and night, and don't violate it!"

"Observe the order!" The people, led by the officials and gentry, responded loudly.

After a pause, Wei Zhixian said again: "This time I will preach the sixth article for you, don't do anything wrong!"

"I have always taught people, trained children, Dangzheng clan, Shi Yueji, and taught people to know self-love and not dare to do wrong things." Wei Zhixian then opened Emperor Taizu's "Da Gao" and said in a deep voice:
"The requirement of not doing wrong is not to do prohibited things, let alone illegal things. For example, Taizu's hadith said: 'The world is beneficial to the sick. Scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants are all allowed to speak out, but students are not allowed. If there is a statement, it is a violation of the system, and it will be deposed and punished. The students themselves have their own affairs, and Xu's family members report them. , scold the gang officials, ask the leaders to send them away, and do everything for the people!'”

There was no sound in front of the yamen, the common people could not understand classical Chinese, and the gentry fell into shock... They never imagined that the county magistrate found the basis for punishing those students from the old "Da Gao"!
Jiang Xiancheng explained to the people in vernacular: "Taizu's hadith stipulates that scholars, farmers, industry, and businessmen can express opinions on major national affairs, but students are not allowed. Just put forward a sentence to violate the ancestral system theory." , expelled and punished. If it is related to the personal matters of the students, their family members are allowed to report. If they do not do their own thing, but go in and out of the yamen, they will be dismissed because of their deeds. If they dare to gather in court and shout at the officials, the leader will ask the crime Allotment, and the rest will be turned into the people!"

Now even the common people understood, the old master really started to get mad, and the first knife was to those students who complained!
This Fuyang County has no secrets, let alone such a sensational event.The common people all know that ten days ago, more than a dozen county student members beat drums and filed a complaint, demanding that the county magistrate recall and punish the subordinate staff who went to the countryside to collect taxes.The county master didn't want to agree, and he didn't want to offend them, so he wanted to delay talking.

Unexpectedly, this group of students were so bold that they surrounded the old man, forcing him to recall his subordinates first and conduct a review.

Regarding the actions of the students, the common people have different opinions. Some people think that they are so lawless that they don't pay attention to the county master.But more people are still on their side. After all, the students are holding the banner of "Jie Limin upside down". In everyone's opinion, they are speaking for the common people...

Only now do I know that the actions of the students violated the laws formulated by Emperor Taizu, which made the common people very difficult.Because Emperor Taizu's status in the hearts of the people is too high, the people regard every word of him as a golden rule, and they are absolutely unwilling to violate it.

But on the other hand, due to various reasons, the government has stopped preaching the "Da Gao" for several years, and the common people feel a little strange again.Besides, how difficult it is to be a scholar, if you just say a few words of justice for the common people, you will get rid of their fame, isn't this retaliation?

.

"Han Jiaoyu, have you dealt with the thirteen students who came to the Yamen to sue that day?" Wei Zhixian asked in a deep voice in front of the people of He County.

"Not for the time being," the county school's instruction hastily said: "The main reason is that the county school has no right to expel students, and they still need to report to the school!"

"It needs to be reported as soon as possible, and the county will also write and teach, and severely punish students who blatantly violate the ancestral system!" Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice: "It's not that the county is unkind, but the ancestral system is difficult to violate, and these people You deserve what you deserve! Even if there is no ancestral system, this county will punish them!"

The crowd was in an uproar, this is too frank...

"Do you all know why Emperor Taizu wrote the "Da Gao" in his busy schedule to educate the officials and the people?" Wei Zhixian changed the subject: "After the 'Guo Huan case' happened!"

"What kind of case is the 'Guo Huan case'? Why did Emperor Taizu make up his mind to write the "Da Gao"? Listen to me carefully." Wei Zhixian glanced at the crowd, Liang Chang stayed on his body for a while, Fang said:

"This is a large-scale case of corruption. From the household minister Guo Huan down to the little head of grain in the Ming Dynasty, they conspired to plunder the common people's money and embezzle the court's taxes!" The function makes the voice of Weizhi County deafening:
"Emperor Taizu heard that there were corrupt officials who were exploiting the people, so he immediately ordered a thorough investigation. As a result, there were more and more officials with problems, and the amount involved in the case reached 400 million shi! Emperor Taizu rubbed his eyes Don’t be afraid of sand, and with a cruel heart, ordered the execution of [-] corrupt officials, dirty officials, and bad grain chiefs across the country!”

As soon as this remark came out, the people were in an uproar, killing more than 3 people, so why not kill all the officials and food chiefs in the whole country?

"It was only after killing them all that the legacy of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was wiped out, corruption was curbed, and the country's politics became clear and its national strength flourished day by day. Those who are a little older should have experienced it!" Wei Zhixian was fascinated leisurely, wishing to 'do it again' expression said.

"That's right..." People over 40 years old nodded their heads one after another, and said in remembrance: "There were indeed no corrupt officials in the time of Taizu, and the taxes were much lighter. Life is much better than it is now."

"How did they embezzle so much money and food?" Someone also asked curiously.

"They are the 'Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers'! Let me talk about the grain chiefs around you first. It is said in the "Da Gao" that when they collect taxes and grains, they kick the tip of the dendrobium, stand up for their fame, and wantonly increase the levy! There are various names and tricks, such as water feet money, car foot money, food money, warehouse money, cattail money, bamboo basket money, gods and Buddha money, etc..."

Wei Zhixian didn't finish talking, and the people clamored again, because these money-making schemes are now resurrected!

"There are more people doing evil now, it's really time to invite the great grandfather to come again and kill another batch of corrupt officials!" The people said bitterly.

The food chiefs wished they could get into the cracks in the ground, how could they have the face to face others?

"But it's just a small trick that won't get on the table, and there is a real big trick!" Wei Zhixian said in a deep voice: "The "Da Gao" says that the imperial court and the local government colluded, and the officials colluded with the grain chief and Li Zheng. The Yellow Book made troubles in order to achieve the goal of "receiving more and releasing less"! For example, Hongwu's 18th year's Zhejiang autumn grain should have been 450 million shi, but they only sent more than 200 million shi to Taicang, and the remaining 250 million shi were privately sold by them separated!"

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(End of this chapter)