A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 188 Borrowing Money
Wang Dou and Xie Xiuniang came to the flower hall in the back hall. Wang Dou didn't know what the young lady wanted him for, but since she begged to come to the door, he had to see her for the sake of Zhizhou Li Zhenzhen.

When I arrived in the hall, I saw the young lady sitting there, quietly thinking about something.

Seeing Wang Dou approaching, she got up and put on her bag of blessings, and said: "I have met Lord Guarding King myself, I am well."

Wang Dou said: "Young Madam, you are being polite, please."

Support the young lady from a distance.

Like a surge of internal force, the young lady stood up accordingly.

Wang Dou glanced at her. Today, the young lady is wearing a sable fur, which makes her elegant and luxurious, and full of the charm of a young woman. A woman like her who came from an official family has been fascinated by her since she was a child, and her demeanor is impeccable. Wang Dou Of course the Dou couple can't compare with her.

Wang Dou sat down, picked up a cup of tea and took a sip, said: "Young Madam came to the humble house, the luxuriant plants are shining, what's the important thing?"

The young lady looked at Xie Xiuniang with a look of embarrassment on her face.

Xie Xiuniang smiled reassuringly at her. Usually in Zhoucheng, Xie Xiuniang admired the demeanor of the young lady, and also wanted to imitate her demeanor. However, demeanor should be cultivated since childhood. Xie Xiuniang worked hard to learn, but she did not make much progress.Today, the young lady came to ask for help, Xie Xiuniang was very willing to help, but of course her husband's consent was required.

She came to Wang Doudao, it turned out that the young lady's father-in-law, that is, Zhizhou Li Zhenzhen, has suffered eight lifetimes of misfortune recently. He thinks he is diligent, and he has been quite effective in governing the city recently. The three-year exam in Ming Dynasty is coming. According to the situation in the state of Zhoucheng, no matter how you take the exam this time, you have to be competent. Unexpectedly, there is news that the Ministry of Officials is very likely to be incompetent in the exam this time.

Hearing this news, Li Zhenzhen was stunned. After going through various relationships in Beijing, he finally understood the reason of the incident.

In the tenth year of Chongzhen, Hou Xun, the Minister of the Household Department, committed a crime and was imprisoned. Zheng Sanjun, then the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, deliberately gave a light sentence. Chongzhen was furious and sent Zheng Sanjun to prison.The next Minister of the Ministry of Officials who took over was Tian Weijia. Tian Weijia had always had a bad relationship with Zheng Sanjun. After taking office, he took the opportunity to clean up Zheng Sanjun's team.Li Zhenzhen was also unlucky, and was considered by Tian Weijia to be Zheng Sanjun's former student. The officials of the Ministry of Officials figured out Tian Weijia's intentions, so they decided to give Li Zhenzhen some eye drops for this exam.

Li Zhenyu was in trouble, he thought about it, and he could only take advantage of this opportunity to go to Beijing for a pilgrimage.

These civil servants have to take three exams in nine years. Every three years, they must go to Beijing for a pilgrimage for the exam. Beginning on the [-]th day of the lunar month, Honglu Temple introduced them one after another.

As for the military officers of the Ming Dynasty, there is an inspection every five years.The rest will be evaluated by the governor, governor, and censor. According to the end of the year, according to whether the military officials are worthy or not, the post will be published, the book will be handed over, and the Ministry of War will be examined and written. Finally, it will be submitted to the emperor for adjudication.Food and military affairs are in the hands of civilian officials, which is why the status of military officials was low after the mid-Ming Dynasty.The advantage is that the military officers of Ming Dynasty do not need to take the Hajj assessment.

That Tian Weijia is greedy and arrogant, as long as he has money, he can do things easily. There is news from his friends in Beijing and China that as long as they use money, this catastrophe can be avoided.Li Zhenyu considered himself clean and honest, and he was diligent in doing things, but in the end it was this result. In order to keep his official position, he had no choice but to take advantage of the opportunity of the pilgrimage.

It's a pity that there are quite a lot of silver taels needed, and Li Zhenyu can't get them out for a while. Can he borrow "Beijing debt"?Those loan sharks can eat people without spit out their bones. After thinking about it, Li Zhenyu thought of Wang Dou, hoping to borrow some money from Wang Dou, but he was ashamed to ask, so he asked his wife to come forward.

After hearing Xie Xiuniang's words, Wang Dou secretly shook his head and sighed. He knew that corruption was common among officials in various ministries at the end of the Ming Dynasty, especially in key departments such as the Ministry of Officials, accepting bribes was common. amount.The pilgrimage of foreign officials every three years is a good opportunity for Beijing officials to make a fortune. People at that time also called the year of pilgrimage "the year when Beijing officials collect rent". A batch of usurers who specialize in lending money to newly appointed and pilgrimage officials, known as "Beijing debts".

Although Li Zhenyu had various flaws, he was generally considered a good official, but he ended up like this. Wang Dou had to feel that they were all colleagues, so please help if you can.

Later, when Xie Xiuniang mentioned the amount Li Zhenzhen borrowed, Wang Dou was shocked: "1000 taels of silver?"

If it's dozens or hundreds of taels of silver, Wang Dou can still consider it. This 1000 taels of silver is not a small amount, and my money is tight...

Wang Dou pondered, seeing Wang Dou's appearance, the young lady got up gracefully, and said: "My lord was deceived by a traitor, please read it as a colleague and help me."

Xie Xiuniang said: "Husband, Sister Wanyun is at the end of her rope. Her brother, who is guarding Mashuikou, sold all his property in order to collect enough money. It is still far from enough. If Husband has the ability..."

"Oh, her brother is guarding Ma Shuikou?"

Wang Dou made a decisive decision and smiled: "I work with Li Zhizhou's colleagues. Li Zhizhou is diligent in government and loves the people. Wang has always admired him. Now Zhizhou is in trouble. As a colleague in the city, how can I, Wang Dou, stand idly by? Okay, this is 1000 taels of silver. I'm out."

The young lady was so grateful that she prostrated herself, "I thank you sir."

……

On that day, Wang Dou mobilized 1000 taels of silver to Li Zhenzhen. Daming had 16 taels per catty, and 1000 taels of silver weighed dozens of catties. Seeing these silvers, Wang Dou thought that if he wanted to take over the job smoothly, he would have to bring a lot of silver to Beijing. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will take care of everything.

After receiving the money, Li Zhenju invited Wang Dou to a banquet that night. When he saw Li Zhenju, Wang Dou was grateful and ashamed at the same time.Wang Dou didn't mention the matter of borrowing money, but just talked and laughed happily with Li Zhenyu. Seeing that Wang Dou took care of his feelings, Li Zhenyu was even more grateful. When he asked about Wang Dou's going to the capital to take over, he said: "I will go to the capital for a pilgrimage in a few days. There are colleagues from various towns in Xuanda, and there are governors, patrolling, according to the senior officials, isn't it like Mr. Wang and the lower officials walking together?"

Wang Dou thinks about it, this pilgrimage assessment, the officials of the three towns of Xuanda are led by the governor Lu Xiangsheng, the governors of the three towns, and the magistrates of the prefectures and counties. It is indeed a good opportunity for all kinds of people to meet Lu Xiangsheng again and deepen their relationship, so he agreed immediately.

A few days later, Li Zhenyu first went to the town to join the officials. Wang Dou brought his general Xie Yike and several guards to wait at Jiming Station. He brought a lot of money and silk on this trip, and a horse was also loaded with a heavy amount of silver. .In addition to these, Wang Dou also brought his own military registration, which was the identity certificate of the soldiers in the guard at that time, and could be used as a guide.

Two days later, in the cold wind, Wang Dou saw the mighty, large and small official sedan chairs coming one after another.

(End of this chapter)