The Red Mansions

Chapter 593 Serving as an official will benefit one party
The next day, the governor's office

Early in the morning, Jia Heng and Princess Xianning sat around a table and ate food.

"Sir, did you deliver the memorandum last night?" Princess Xianning asked with bright eyes, fixedly looking at the boy opposite.

Jia Heng picked up the teacup, took a sip, and said: "Earlier in the morning, let Liu Jixian send a fast horse to deliver it quickly. His Highness also took time to write about the civil affairs of the past few days, and played Chen Shengshang."

You can't patronize him...to fall in love, but you have to perform the duties of a good female secretary.

"Sir, it was four o'clock last night, the lights in the study were still on, don't be too busy." Princess Xianning said with concern.

Jia Heng said: "There are many things that need to be reported. I have written six memorials, and some of them cannot be explained clearly in a few words, so it took a long time to write."

There are a total of six memorials, all of which do not go through the secret memorials of the Tongzheng Secretary, and use the channel of the Jinyi Mansion to enter the imperial court.

It can be said that I summarized what I did the day before yesterday into items, and reported my follow-up arrangements and considerations to Emperor Chongping. Because it was too detailed and there were many things, I wrote six letters.

The first letter is a complete summary of the pacification of the bandit rebellion in Henan. After clearing out the remnant bandits and appeasing the people a few days ago, the bandit rebellion in the Central Plains has basically come to an end.

The second letter mentioned the rebuilding of the Henan capital, about the recommendation of Fengguoyong battalion general Qu Guang as the commander of the capital, and described Qu Guang's achievements in detail, including but not limited to Sishuiguan, which wiped out [-] enemies.

The above two letters are also memorials that Emperor Chongping can present to his ministers for discussion.

In the third letter, the whereabouts of Li Yanqing, the leader of the bandit, was secretly reported, and the Bailian sect bandit was secretly bewitching and instigating in Gaoyue.

The fourth letter is the governance and prospect of the county and township grassroots, as well as the thinking of the civil uprisings in the Central Plains, the cause analysis, and the trial implementation of countermeasures. Finally, the six words "restrain the powerful and the powerful, and punish the unjust prison" are adopted. The common people are outraged.

The memorandum wrote thousands of words, from civil affairs, money and food to prison lawsuits, comprehensively summarizing the failures of local officials in governance, why the people rebelled, why did the bandits join together, and the common people responded?

Writing this letter itself is to vaccinate Emperor Chongping in advance, lest someone say that he practiced tyrannical (gentry) politics in the local area.

The fifth letter is about concerns about river affairs, suggestions and measures, and the appointment of Feng Lian, the nephew of Empress Dowager Feng, as a counselor for the vassal, organizing civilian husbands, dredging river canals, and suggesting that Emperor Chongping send commissioners to patrol the river. Planting trees, consolidating the foundation and saving the soil, quoted the views of Chi Jingzhou, Minister of the Ministry of Industry at the time of the founding of the country, on the latter.

In the sixth letter, Fei Siming, governor of Yanshen River, Zhou Dezhen, former governor of Henan Province, Sun Long, political envoy, Jiang Yuanwu and other officials, listed their crimes for their greedy and despicable appearances, and implored a thorough investigation of the corruption case of Hedao.

The above six letters took him a lot of effort.

At this moment, Liu Jixian said outside: "My lord, the gatekeeper has been invited to the official hall."

Jia Heng asked: "Your Highness, I'll meet you first, wait a moment, you change into the flying fish suit, and let's go to inspect the river embankment."

Princess Xianning responded softly, and said, "Sir, go."

Jia Heng came out of the wing room, suddenly asked Liu Jixian, "Did you scare anyone?"

For a big official like him, an important minister in the court, it is just a matter of one sentence, and it is impossible to visit the sage in person.

Referring to this matter, Liu Jixian said: "I didn't let the Jinyi school lieutenant ask for the invitation, but I asked the clerk of the governor's yamen to ask for it. I didn't see any surprise."

Jia Heng nodded his head with appreciative eyes.

When I came to the official hall, I saw at a glance the gatekeeper of the "family origin" mentioned by the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple.

This is a middle-aged man in his mid-thirties, with slightly dark skin and a goatee under his jaw. He is wearing a white-washed blue long gown. He has a thin face, slender eyebrows and deep eyes. .

It's not that he has never seen a second-rank official in the imperial court, but he has never seen such a baby-faced boy, who is too young.

He secretly reminded himself that the person in front of him was a powerful Jiang Chen, he quickly got up from the black lacquered wooden chair, his face straightened, he cupped his hands and said, "The student has seen Mr. Jia."

Jia Heng nodded, stretched out his hand to invite, and said: "Mr. Guan, quickly excuse me, Liu Jixian, serve tea."

Liu Jixian responded and offered tea.

A few greetings.

Jia Heng also knew Liu Jixian's identity and fame as a scholar from Liu Jixian before. Because his father was a small official in the Hedao Yamen, he entrusted his relationship and worked in the Hedao Yamen. Paint for a living.

The guard at the gate was worried, and said respectfully: "I don't know if my lord is looking for students, what can I teach you?"

Jia Heng looked gentle, and said: "I was ordered by the emperor to be the governor of the Henan military administration. However, I visited the river channel in the past two days and found that the embankment is dilapidated and needs to be repaired urgently. Mr. Guan is an expert in this field. Can you know about this?"

Harnessing rivers and building dikes is not something that can be done by one person alone, it needs collective wisdom.

The gatekeeper looked hesitant, and said: "The students have been away from the Hedao Yamen for more than two years, and I really don't know what the current situation of the river affairs is."

Jia Hengdao: "Mr. Guan doesn't need to hide his clumsiness, don't hide it from Mr. Guan. Fei Siming, the former governor of the river, embezzled the funds for the construction of the river. The evidence of the crime is solid. Investigate to the bottom, and punish severely, Mr. Guan let you know the details of the river affairs, all from this official, how about it?"

The gatekeeper looked at the boy in the python suit, feeling entangled in his heart.

In fact, Liu Jixian, who was wearing a flying fish suit and an embroidered spring knife, was the biggest deterrent in itself.

At the level of Jia Heng's power, even Lu Qi, the admiral of Shandong, was intimidated by Jia Heng, who threatened the victory, and avoided his edge, not daring to confront him directly, let alone a former Hedao yamen official.

The gatekeeper sighed, and said: "Actually, the Hedao Yamen has not repaired the river embankment for four or five years. Since Hetai Fei Siming took office as the Hedao, he has been obsessed with restraint and has no intention of doing anything. But the students observed that this kind of drought will not If it lasts too long, there will be big changes this year, and there may be continuous torrential rains in late May until June and July, when the time comes, the Yellow River may flood.”

Jia Heng frowned and said: "Mr. Guan's statement, is there evidence?"

He is just a judgment based on common sense. There is no such thing as a few consecutive years of little rain and little snow. Moreover, he remembers the severe drought during the Chongzhen period in his previous life. It lasted for a long time and the scope of the drought was so wide.

It has been in drought for more than five years, and it is also drought in the north and flood in the south.

To make matters worse, it later turned into a flood in the north and a drought in the south.

At the same time, the drought was accompanied by locust plagues and plague. Because of the ups and downs of Chongping's monarchs and ministers, coupled with the wealth of his family, he has survived until now, but before his arrival, it was also difficult for the people.

Gatekeeper Fang said: "This is the collation of the records of the astronomical phenomena in the River Channel Records Department since the student worked in Hetai, and checked the records at home, inferring that the astronomical phenomena have changed."

As Liu Jixian said, he took the booklet from the gatekeeper and handed it to Jia Heng, "My lord."

Jia Heng stretched out his hand to take it, untied it and looked at it, and saw that there were a series of symbols and related records densely recorded on it, and finally came to an inference, the temperature dropped sharply on a big day.

Seeing this, the pupils shrank.

Because this is very similar to the research conclusions of meteorological experts in later generations, the abnormal activity of sunspots led to the Little Ice Age. Of course, what is recorded in this book is only the phenomenon, and there is no scientific explanation for the cause.

Jia Heng turned over for a while, looked up at the gatekeeper, and asked aggressively, "Mister, you figured this out yourself?"

In ancient China, astronomy and meteorology were recorded in books, and solar eclipses, earthquakes, and floods were all recorded by special personnel, but those who can infer some laws are talented people.

In fact, scholars love to study astronomy and astrology. For example, Xu Youzhen, who was involved in the Tumubao incident, watched the sky at night and made a divination. Yu Qian slapped his face.

However, the study of astronomy and astrology is too profound, and if one plunges into it, the imperial examination may be abandoned, and it is not an official status, so it is a bit taboo to study this.

Hearing the inquiry, the gatekeeper clearly showed some hesitation on his face. After all, considering the identity of the person in front of him, it was not easy to hide it, and said: "My grandfather worked in the Qintian Supervisor in Shenjing during his lifetime. Later, my father transferred to the Hedu Yamen, and the students I have been influenced by my ears and eyes, and some inferences have been made based on the records. If the masters of Taiwan do not believe it, they will just talk about it at night, and the children will just talk in their sleep."

Jia Heng stared at the face of the person opposite, and said: "It is recorded in the sir's book that it was caused by the abnormal weather. Last year's winter was indeed much colder than usual, and in the earlier summer and July of last year, Hebei unexpectedly fell. There was a hailstorm as big as a bowl, and it was exactly as what you said, the climate is cold, so disasters and catastrophes happen frequently.”

Seeing that the important minister of the court on the opposite side was recorded in his own book, he believed that the tense muscles of the gatekeeper gradually relaxed, and said: "Master Taiwan, the student just made an inference based on the weather at home, thinking that when there are four temperature Abnormal,"

At this moment, Jia Heng has completely believed that the person in front of him has a different understanding of meteorology and water conservancy. After pondering for a moment, he asked: "Mr. Guan just said that after summer, there will be heavy rain in Jianghuai and other places in the Central Plains?"

The guard paused for a moment, and said: "After four or five years of drought, even if it is common sense, it should rain, but the students are just speculating."

Worried about being too eloquent, the gatekeeper hurriedly added a sentence.

Jia Heng pondered for a moment, then said: "This official intends to supervise the repair of the river embankment to prevent the heavy rain and summer flood. Mr. Guan has previously worked in the river government office and should be familiar with the affairs. If the matter is completed, I will recommend you to the imperial court as Tongzhi Guanhe."

Under the Governor of Hedao, the Dahan set up three levels: Dao, Department, and Battalion. The officials in charge of the department-level government office were Guanhe Tongzhi and Tongju.

Hearing the words, the gatekeeper quickly got up and left his seat, paid respects, his heart was agitated, his voice was a little trembling, and he said: "Students, thank you for your guidance and support."

Jia Heng handed the booklet to Liu Jixian, motioning him to pass the booklet to the gatekeeper, and then slowly said: "Now that the river is being rectified, it is at a critical moment, and I will go to patrol the river immediately and prepare to build dikes."

If it is just myself who judges that there will be a rainstorm and a flood based on the impression of later generations, then the sudden coincidence of a former river yamen official undoubtedly supports the judgment in my heart.

Besides, even if nothing happened, there is nothing wrong with strengthening the embankment.

During the period of three months, the dikes and weirs will be reinforced and the rivers will be dredged to prepare for the summer flood. One term as an official will benefit one party.

Then there are only two points of focus for his achievements as the governor of Henan's military administration.

One, restrain the powerful and picket the lawless.

Second, improve the river affairs and build dikes and weirs.

These two things are exactly what can be seen in the short term.

As for other things, such as comprehensive river control, sorting out and rectifying the water transportation system, he needs to promote it after he returns to the court, and he also needs to take other opportunities.

Jia Heng made up his mind, and didn't stay any longer, turned around and went to the back house to see if Princess Xianning had packed up.

"Sir, let's set off." Seeing Jia Heng coming, Princess Xianning had already put on the flying fish costume, with beautiful and moving eyes, and heroic spirit, not far away were Xia Houying and several captains in Jinyi , with a cold and solemn face, grasping the knife and following.

Jia Heng nodded, his eyes were a little gentle, and he said, "Yes."

This is the reason why he "sees Princess Xianning differently". As a noble daughter of the clan, he has worked tirelessly to go to dangerous places, even if it may be for...love, but it also shows that his steadfastness is precious.

After that, Jia Heng led Princess Xianning, accompanied by the Jingying Cavalry and Jin Yiwei, to the north and south banks of Kaifeng to inspect the embankment.

From Liuyuankou Yellow River Ferry up the embankment, people looked along the river embankment in a mighty manner.

Looking at the Yellow River in the distance, Jia Heng said with emotion: "It's the middle of March now, and the water flow is very gentle."

The gate guard said: "Master Taiwan, not only in Henan, but also in Guanzhong, there has been no heavy rain in the past five years, and the officials along the way have already become slack."

Not far away, Princess Xianning was also looking at the river. What she saw with her eyes made her heart feel much wider.

Jia Heng looked at the embankment under his feet. He could see cracks and cracks everywhere, and weeds grew in the crevices, swaying in the wind. He frowned and said: "It is indeed in disrepair for a long time. If the flood comes, this If the embankment can't hold up at all, Kaifeng Mansion is in danger."

"This is just under the eyes of Kaifeng Mansion." At this moment, Princess Xianning took over the conversation, and the clear and sweet voice rang out in the spring breeze, which made people feel refreshed, and said, "I'm afraid that Fengqiu and others who crossed the other side of the Yellow River The situation is even worse."

After she goes back, she will also write a memorial to her father, stating the disadvantages of the river affairs.

Well, it can be regarded as helping Mr.

Jia Heng's face was like iron, with cold eyes, he said: "The imperial court allocates 300 million taels of silver to the two river governors every year, and orders them to repair and strengthen the embankment. These corrupt officials may spend three times on the river course. Chengdu does not."

Because of the severe droughts in the Central Plains and Shandong, the river affairs have not been urgently repaired. In addition, Chen Han’s financial difficulties, in recent years, the Ministry of Households has actually allocated very little silver to the river, but it is roughly 200 million taels a year. about.

However, the corruption of the two river governors is very serious. There are many things that can be done by hand, such as earthwork and stone materials, and manual estimation and sales.

Jia Heng thought about this, and ordered to Liu Jixian: "Let the Jinyi Mansion organize relevant personnel to imprison all the relevant officials in all sections of the Hedao Governor's Yamen in Henan, and wait for the imperial court's order."

In the case of river corruption, he is the governor of the Henan military and government, and he can act cheaply no matter how big or small it is. Not to mention other places, he still has the power to intervene in this one-third of an acre of land.

Liu Jixian clapped his hands and said yes, and ordered the guards in brocade clothes to send an order.

Next, Jia Heng led Princess Xianning to inspect the five or six miles along the embankment. Even if it was not based on the judgment of the gatekeeper, it was basically based on the perception of a normal person.

If the embankment is not repaired, there will definitely be big problems when the flood comes.

Just like that, for two days, Jia Heng inspected the embankments on the north and south banks of the Yellow River in Kaifeng Fucheng, and found many problems, focusing on three.

First, the river embankment was severely damaged and in disrepair for a long time, and urgently needed to be repaired and strengthened. Second, the discipline of the defense soldiers along the river was lax, that is, there were no relevant people to patrol the embankment.

These were all recorded by Jia Heng, written into a memorial, and sent an urgent letter to Shenjing City, Chen Zuo Chongping Emperor.

Princess Xianning also recorded the relevant situation and sent it to Shenjing City.

……

……

Three days later, the governor's office

Jia Hengduan was sitting behind a table, surrounded by guards of the Jinyi Mansion on the left and right, and on a row of chairs below, on the left row were several generals from the Beijing camp, including Qu Guang, Cai Quan, Xiao Lin and others. Sitting in the right row are officials from the Fan and Standard Divisions, as well as Feng Lian, Song Xuan and others.

In the official hall, it was dark and full of people, standing full of officials of the sixth and seventh ranks in green official robes and black gauze hats.

Among the 28 counties in the four prefectures under Kaifeng Prefecture, except for Xiangfu and Weishi counties, the magistrates of other counties and prefectures gathered together after a few days of travelling, to meet the new Taiwan-making master.

Except for the officials who died after the county was breached when bandits swept Kaifeng, all the officials were counted.

Now it is only a meeting of one prefecture. If the governors of other prefectures and counties from Henan, Nanyang, Runing, Guide, Huaiqing and other places gather here for a meeting, they can form a small civil and military official.

This is the big official of the frontier, there are many generals in the Beijing camp, but most of them are superiors and subordinates. It is the first time for Jia Heng to manage such a large province.

"I've seen the master of Taiwan."

Nearly thirty magistrates and county magistrates in green official robes and black gauze caps were divided into four rows and bowed their hands towards the boys in python suits behind the case. Although they were all civil servants and their voices were strong or weak, they were numerous and powerful. The crowd still shook the official hall.

"My lords, please stand up." Jia Heng expressionless, looked at a group of officials who were a round or two round older than himself, and even one or two gray-haired officials could be seen, without any abnormality in his heart, and said in a deep voice.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhitai." Dozens of officials in the crowd clasped their hands together and said.

Jia Heng didn't let dozens of officials sit down, and said in a deep voice, "I called you here to discuss two matters."

He doesn't talk nonsense about literature, and he talks about two points.

All the officials below looked solemn, pretending to be listening attentively. Some of the well-informed already knew that the new Governor-General was not easy to mess with.

"First, money, food, household registration, and acres of land. Since the ninth year of Chongping, Henan has repeatedly reported disasters. The central plains, which is a major food taxation area, now needs to be transported by a central hub to feed food and fodder, so as to be self-sufficient. Now it has led to rebellion. , It is really heartbreaking. After investigation, I found that the local officials were very exploitative. In this matter, I have ordered the commissioner to rectify the morals and rectify the lawlessness. However, the money and food household registers are messy and need to be reorganized."

Speaking of this, he looked down at the magistrates and said: "This time, the capable officials of the counties will go to the countryside to conduct a census of hidden households and hidden fields, measure the acres of land, register and make a book, and the deadline is one month. At the same time, the official will send people to accompany them. Check the household registration, money and food." Jia Heng said: "This year is the year of the local plan, and you should also check."

If you don't even know the number of household registrations, money and grain, and acres of land in Kaifeng Mansion and even the whole of Henan, then you are an incompetent border minister.

As for the assisted investigation, a group of literate generals and schools were temporarily dispatched from the Beijing camp as supervisors, and at the same time suppressed local sages.

All the county magistrates below felt relieved and agreed in unison.

Seeing the seriousness of the young dignitaries, they thought it was something, and they didn't want to just check the household registration, money and food.

"This census of household registration, money and grain, and acres of land is to be strictly checked. Afterwards, the official will send someone to conduct a spot check in a certain county. If the two aspects fail to match, they will be severely punished!" Jia Heng said in a deep voice.

As a big official in the frontier, he naturally has a great say in the right to appoint and remove personnel.

When everyone heard this, their hearts trembled.

"Secondly, the water conservancy has not been repaired. I am now supervising the military administration in Henan. I want to reorganize the water conservancy and the river affairs to prepare for the summer flood." Jia Heng said in a deep voice.

As soon as this remark came out, all the magistrates at the scene paused, and thought to themselves, is it possible that the platform is ordering them to recruit civilian husbands and distribute corvees?

This... they are too familiar.

"My lord, as far as I know, there has been very little rainfall in the Central Plains for the past three years, and it is still in the drought period. Is it too early to build river embankments? Besides, the chaos of bandits and bandits is peaceful, and everything is waiting to be done..." At this time , the magistrate of Taikang County hesitated for a while, and said bravely.

I'm afraid that the people who have just passed through the rebellion cannot bear this kind of tossing about this young dignitary.

Jia Heng looked at the magistrate of Taikang County, and said, "Magistrate Ye, what's your opinion?"

Just as the Yellow River flooded at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, those who clamored not to allow the repair were not necessarily treacherous officials. Similarly, this Ye Lang was also not a treacherous official.

(End of this chapter)