The Heavens: From Knowing Whether You Rule the World

Chapter 47 I'm waiting for the army, what are you waiting for?
Relations in Hangzhou are somewhat at a standstill.

Wei Ran thought he had a complete plan and was the only chess player.

In his plan, Chu Hong will confront Li Jin and Zhao Shun, slowly reaching the point where Li Jin and Zhao Shun are defeated and Chu Hong is falsely accused of a stigma.

And he, Wei Ran, will become a life-saving straw and help Chu Hong resolve the crisis. From then on, he will gain the protection of Prime Minister Han Zhang and the gratitude of Chu Hong, the prefect.

Therefore, he had been waiting for Chu Hong's signal.

But if Chu Hong wants to be able to exert considerable political power to deal with Li Jin and Wei Ran, he must at least make them familiar with the political affairs of Hangzhou.

He was not in such a hurry. Chu Hong would be an official in Hangzhou for at least three years, which was a long time.

Li Jin and Zhao Shun also had ulterior motives.

These two people are not that smart, but they react quickly enough.

The two of them were bewitched by Wei Ran and intended to offend Chu Hong.

But, not completely bewitched!

After receiving the hint from Chu Hong about the situation, the two men were really unsure of the situation and simply chose to protect themselves.

The reason why they got involved in this matter was mainly because of what Wei Ran called "the general trend set by the government", which aroused a little greed.

But now Chu Hong and Wei Ran each hold their own opinions. Wei Ran says that this is the government's general trend, while Chu Hong says that the letter is false.

I can’t see clearly, I really can’t see clearly!

In the eyes of the two men, Chu Hong came to Hangzhou just to gain political achievements. If they really couldn't see the situation clearly, they would just come clean.

At worst, I can give up the so-called "great achievement", at least I can keep my capital.

Therefore, while Li Jin and Zhao Shun agreed to Wei Ran's request, they also secretly revealed their cards to Chu Hong. Although they did not have the best of both worlds, they did not offend anyone.

As for what Chu Hong said about overthrowing the Wei family, the two of them also took it to heart.

However, they were not so decisive. Before Chu Hong showed no hostility towards Wei Ran, they were destined not to move.

Chu Hong didn't make any big noise either.

He was waiting for the government to send troops to the local area to suppress the rebellion.

Chu Hong has always been clear about his position and has never thought about engaging in political struggles with people in Hangzhou.

Hangzhou is a small place, but it is home to many powerful local families and the relationships are somewhat complicated. It would be a lot of work for an outsider to eliminate these forces through political struggles.

No need!
Wait for the army to arrive, frame them, and then just push them away.

What he wants to do is always to attack from a lower dimension.

As a result, Hangzhou, which had been quietly turbulent some time ago, became inexplicably quiet again.

This day was the day when Chu Hong officially took office.

Yes, take office immediately!
Although he killed the Tongzhi some time ago, it was done quietly.

Although he had lowered his profile some time ago and fought against the four major families in Hangzhou, pointing fingers at others.

Although he had plans for Hangzhou, a place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery, it was for people with good moral character to live there.
However, theoretically speaking, he was just living in Hangzhou for some time and did not actually take office.

In other words, no process was followed!

There is nothing much to say. The first step after taking office is naturally to visit Yan Fu, the governor of Liangzhe Road.

This is quite necessary and has been an unspoken rule for many years.

This process was not about paying homage to a leader or becoming a disciple or former official, but rather a process of recognizing Yan Fu's status.

There is nothing special about this process. Chu Hong is not on Yan Fu's side. He says nice things to those with lower official positions and some polite words to encourage those with higher official positions.

After getting a little familiar with each other, Yan Fu gave a general introduction to the officials in Liangzhe Road, and Chu Hong also appropriately praised the clean and upright atmosphere in the appointment of officials in Liangzhe Road.

This took about two hours. Yan Fu formally sent a council official to personally escort Chu Hong to his post. With the presence of officials of all ranks in Hangzhou, the taking-off of Chu Hong was truly completed.

This process is neither troublesome nor easy, but it also takes almost a day.

It took a day for Chu Hong, the new prefect, and a day for Yan Fu, the governor.

The government affairs in Hangzhou have to be delayed for one day, and the government affairs in Liangzhe Road have to be delayed for one day as well.

But this process is quite necessary.

The governor now has a new chief official from a prefecture or county under his command, so he has to meet him no matter what.

This time must be wasted.

In a place, no matter it is a county or a state, if you want to have the right to speak, there are only two things.

One is money, the other is power!
Money can keep minor officials at bay, and power can suppress high-ranking officials.

Therefore, the first thing Chu Hong did after officially taking office was to sort out the accounts and check the appointment relationships of personnel in Hangzhou.

Compared with the complex and extensive personnel relationships in Bianliang, the relationships in Hangzhou are also complicated.

However, compared to the complicated situation in Bianjing where a petty official might be involved with a royal relative or a big shot in the six ministries, Hangzhou had a lot of complicated relationships, but fortunately there were no big shots.

Even if there is, it is not bigger than Chu Hong.

Therefore, Chu Hong can basically act with confidence.

After careful calculations, the Hangzhou account book showed a surplus of more than 70,000 taels of silver.

The surplus of 70,000 taels was roughly equivalent to half a year's salary for officials of all ranks in Hangzhou.

This amount can only mean that the former prefect was not a corrupt official.

I guess I'm a bit greedy!

Generally speaking, the tax revenue of a state mainly covers the taxes paid to Bian Jing, military expenses, engineering expenses and official salaries.

In recent years, Hangzhou has not had any major projects or major military expenditures. The only large and continuous expense is the salaries of officials.

A surplus of seventy thousand taels is really not much.

This is already an emergency state, which is equivalent to the government not having any money saved and relying on this year's taxes from the people to cover next year's expenses.

Financially, average!
When it comes to the appointment of officials, Chu Hong looks at officials of the fifth rank and above in the states of Liangzhe Road and officials of the ninth rank and above in Hangzhou.

This was because the positions of Tongzhi and Tongpan were vacant in Hangzhou. When Chu Hong met Yan Fu last time, he gave him face, so Yan Fu naturally knew when to advance and retreat, and promised to let Chu Hong choose one of the two positions, Tongpan or Tongzhi.

If we were to say Chu Hong’s first choice, it would definitely be to move people from his hometown in Yangzhou.

Unfortunately, no!
Moving people from Yangzhou is a cross-regional adjustment of official positions. Now it is not the time for the three-year examination. If you want to be an official during this period, either officials in Bian Jing will apply for transfer, or the local government will report to Bian Jing, and the Ministry of Personnel will send officials to take assessments and promote them as an exception.

Both of these have to be handled in Bian Jing, which takes at least half a year, and is quite troublesome.

However, compared to adjusting official positions across routes, adjustments within a route are less troublesome.

The internal adjustment among officials of prefectures and counties within a route is within the authority of the local governor, that is, the internal adjustment among officials of prefectures and counties in Liangzhe Route is under the jurisdiction of the governor of Liangzhe, and after the adjustment, it just needs to be reported to the Ministry of Personnel.

The Ministry of Personnel will check the files to adjust the officials' reasons for changes, qualifications, political achievements, etc. If there are no problems and it is a normal promotion issue, the Ministry of Personnel will not send people to conduct an assessment, but will only approve the documents.

Now, the adjustment of vacant official positions in Hangzhou is obviously suitable for internal promotion in Liangzhe Road. Chu Hong is watching the officials of the fifth rank and above in Liangzhe Road just for this matter.

As for the officials of the ninth rank and above in Hangzhou, Chu Hong wanted to allow his family members sent from Yangzhou to occupy relatively important positions of minor officials.

These family members have all worked as minor clerks, but have never been officials.

Even though he had been an official, he had never reached the level of a high-ranking official.

The promotion of such a minor official to the ninth rank is within Chu Hong's authority. If it really doesn't work, it's the same to get on the bus first and buy the ticket later.

First occupy an official position with real power, and worry about the other things later.

What is this called?

All power, big or small, is for the benefit of the people of Hangzhou.
Chu Hong blew a sip of the tea in the cup and suddenly became interested when looking at the official introduction in his hand.

"Zheng Bin?"

He was an honest official. He had learned professional trial methods from officials of the Ministry of Justice. He acted decisively, enforced the law strictly, and was not afraid of the powerful.
Wow, this is a very interesting cruel official, who can also be an upright censor!

interesting!
However, he was ranked eleventh in the second class twenty-one years ago, and was the Tongpan of Changzhou fifteen years ago. Fifteen years have passed, and you tell me that he is now the Tongpan of Wenzhou. He has not been promoted to the next level in fifteen years?
He has served in several states during these fifteen years and is an official with experience as a Hanlin scholar. This means he can be promoted just by accumulating seniority, right?
Chu Hong took a sip of hot tea. It was easy to guess what Zheng Bin was like. It was obvious that he had offended a big shot, so he was being held back from promotion. He had experience in several states and had a little hope of promotion, but he was trampled upon again and again.

If I'm not mistaken, as the Wenzhou Tongpan, he certainly has no real power in Wenzhou and has definitely been sidelined by someone.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that he has offended a big shot, and petty officials dare not get involved. With no one to use, it would be strange if he is not sidelined.

Being helpless, powerless and without help is even more interesting!

"Chen Qi."

"The subordinate is here."

An official who was sorting out the account books hurriedly trotted forward. This was the magistrate of Hangzhou, a seventh-rank official. He was not from a big family, and he didn't have any background. He was a thorough farmer and scholar, and he was considered to be clean and upright as an official. Chu Hong thought he was okay, so he kept him for the time being.

"Do you know about Zheng Bin?"

Chu Hong gestured to Chen Qi to pour the tea himself. Chen Qi hurriedly added tea for Chu Hong and poured himself a cup at the same time.

"Zheng Bin, is he the magistrate of Changzhou?"

"Exactly!"

"Zheng Bin's story all started thirteen years ago when he offended Mr. Fu Bi. At that time, he..."

The agarwood is burning, and the warm light is swaying. The mottled screen is depicted with landscapes and figures, and the traces of time make it more beautiful.

The leaves of the sycamore trees outside the window sway gently, and wisps of breeze pass through the gaps in the window lattice, blowing through the gauze curtains and lightly brushing over the rice paper and inkstone on the sandalwood desk, making people feel relaxed.

Chu Hong held a cup of hot tea and listened quietly to Chen Qi's story.

About two quarters of an hour later, Chu Hong roughly understood the direction of the matter and was amazed, "In other words, Zheng Bin was born in a poor family, was an honest official, and was extremely capable, but unfortunately he was not very good at speaking.

At that time, Fu Da Xianggong was inspecting eight provinces for His Majesty. When they arrived in Changzhou, a group of people were entertaining him with a banquet. Zheng Bin went up to say auspicious words, but his words were not perfect and he said too much. One of them was to wish Fu Da Xianggong's son to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi?"

"That's right. It was for this reason that the Minister Fu, who was inspecting eight provinces at the time, got angry in public and severely criticized Zheng Bin for not learning good things and instead learning some flattering methods to please his superiors instead of practicing the truth in a dignified way. At that time, the banquet was turned into a banquet to criticize Zheng Bin."

Chen Qi also felt a little sad. Who could have thought that an official who was ranked among the top two and walked through Hanlin Road would be ruined by such a trivial matter?
Chu Hong thought about it carefully, "Mr. Fu Da inspected eight provinces. Hiss. If I remember correctly, he had not yet entered the cabinet that year. In order to compete for a cabinet position, he fought with the then Minister of Personnel. Was he mocked for not having any descendants?"

“That was the year.”

Magistrate Chen Qi nodded repeatedly.

"Is that so? It is said that because of the scolding of having no descendants, the emperor summoned Fu Da Xianggong to comfort him. This led to the conversation between the emperor and his subjects, which made the emperor understand Fu Da Xianggong. From then on, Fu Da Xianggong got the opportunity to inspect the eight provinces and was appointed as a prime minister."

Chu Hong took a sip of tea with a smile. There were many rumors and versions in Bian Jing about the conversation between Emperor Fu Bi and his ministers.

Well, the most widely circulated version is that the official also had no children, and the emperor and his subjects cherished each other.

"But this kind of private information involving important people is known by Minister Fu, but most officials in Liangzhe Road are not aware of it!"

Prosecutor Chen Qi shook his head slightly. How could ordinary county officials know such private matters?
In fact, it was because of Zheng Bin's incident that officials in Liangzhe Road all knew that Prime Minister Fu had no children.

For this reason, officials in Liangzhe Road were inexplicably more concerned about the offspring of important figures, for fear of repeating the same mistakes.

Chu Hong shook his head slightly. What else could he say?

Zheng Bin was unlucky and accidentally said some auspicious words that came close to his face.

In this era, literature is flourishing.

There is nothing wrong with what Zheng Bin said about wishing Mr. Fu's son to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. This sentence itself is also a very good auspicious word.

As a result, who would have thought that an old man in his fifties would have no children?

This simply added fuel to the fire. Fu Bi lost his temper and started to scold and abuse.
"But Mr. Fu is quite magnanimous. He won't ruin someone's career, right?"

Chu Hong was a little confused. These were just temporary angry words and insults that would be over after a period of time. Why would they be held accountable for a lifetime?

"After that, Mr. Fu was appointed Prime Minister and was busy with many things. He never mentioned this matter again."

Chen Qi shook his head slightly. This kind of thing is really difficult to deal with.

Chu Hong understood and nodded immediately.

Fu Bi did not pursue the matter and did not mention it. Either he deliberately wanted to let it go, or he really forgot about it.

But no matter which of these two things happened, it would mean that Zheng Bin's career was ruined.

Needless to say, Fu Bi held a grudge and no one dared to promote or appoint Zheng Bin.

Even if Fu Bi really forgot, the result would be the same. Fu Bi would not pursue it, but this does not mean that his students and former officials would be willing to use Zheng Bin.

This is a direct offense to the boss of one's own faction. It would be good enough if the subordinates don't take advantage of the situation. It is simply wishful thinking to take the risk and employ him.

Fu Bi's people did not take the initiative to employ Zheng Bin, and officials from other factions were even less likely to risk offending Fu Bi to rescue Zheng Bin. As a result, Zheng Bin's future was definitely ruined.

In this case, if Zheng Bin wants to restore his career to normal, there are only two ways. One is for Fu Bi to remember this matter and personally order the rescue, and the other is for the core figures of other factions to rescue him.

Needless to say, Fu Bi rescued the man, but the person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it.

The probability of core figures from other factions rescuing people is basically zero. There are only a few people in the world who are qualified to rescue people under Fu Bi's pressure.

The real core figures of a faction can be counted on one hand, and these people are either in high positions or are representatives of the next generation.

Those who hold high positions may not visit the local areas once or twice in more than ten years, and there are only one or two representatives of the next generation. They are basically trying to make political achievements in their own faction. There are so many people who have failed in their careers. How could they know a mere Zheng Bin?
Not to mention daring to use it is one thing, and being willing to use it after weighing the pros and cons is another.

"Do you think Mr. Fu has forgotten about this, or has he acquiesced to it?"

Chu Hong looked at Chen Qi, wanting to hear his opinion.

“Speak freely!”

"I thought you had forgotten it!"

Chen Qi gave his own judgment.

"That makes sense. Let Zheng Bin come to see me."

"Yes!"

Chen Qi had expected this and knew that this person probably had a crush on Zheng Bin. He couldn't help but feel a little envious. After the envy, he also felt happy and fortunate. He thought that the one who is close to the water will get the moon first, and it was not too late for him to curry favor with him.

Without any hesitation, Chen Qi immediately stepped down, put down the official business in his hands and went to carry out the prefect's instructions.

Chu Hong held the tea and smiled. This Chen Qi is not bad. Let's see how he performs in the future. If he is really good, he can be properly trained and promoted.

As for Zheng Bin, it depends on whether he can be conquered. If he can be conquered, then Zheng Bin is someone worth focusing on training.

After all, people who have experienced failure will definitely cherish the hard-earned mentor more.

Such people are often die-hard fans!

Don’t worry, the army will crush us tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)