Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Ding Meixia looked around and found no sign of the Imperial Master.

"The Imperial Master is ill and will not attend tonight's dust-cleansing banquet."

"I heard that the Imperial Master has the magical ability to control wind and rain. He is like a living god. It is difficult to see him today, but I am extremely sorry." The smile on Ding Meixia's face became even stronger.

The two chatted for a few more innocuous words, and Song Li excused himself to show his respects and took his leave.

As soon as he left the small building, Song Li saw three people waiting anxiously by the roadside.

There are two figures among them, and they are Wang Shijie, the deputy magistrate of Changzhou Prefecture (deputy to the prefect) who is in the fifth rank, and Zhang Yulin, the official of Changzhou Prefecture (in charge of criminal names) who is in the seventh rank.

Zhang Yulin is a marginalized member of the local officialdom who has been wasted for many years. Logically speaking, although the official has the right to hear cases, he does not have the right to convict and impose sentences. Except for the crime of cane, all other crimes are not counted according to the official. But When Zhang Yulin arrived, he couldn't even say anything about the cane punishment. Trial of cases and determination of crimes were one of the main ways for Ding Meixia to gain power and make money, so it was not his turn to comment.

As for Wang Shijie, he was an old colleague of Song Li. During the Hongwu Dynasty, Song Li briefly served as the head of the Household Department. At that time, Wang Shijie was also serving in the Household Department. During the Jianwen Dynasty, he was transferred to Changzhou Prefecture and promoted to a higher level.

Song Li was so conspicuous in his scarlet robe. Wang Shijie knew Song Li and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

"Da Ben (Song Li's character), you are finally here."

Wang Shijie looked gloomy.

Zhang Yulin whispered to comfort another colleague beside him: "Don't worry, since Mr. Song agreed to come, he will definitely help us find a solution."

Song Li had exchanged letters with Wang Shijie before, and he knew how corrupt the officialdom of Changzhou Prefecture was, so he naturally understood the other party's expectations. However, the Imperial Counselor had not yet obtained the key evidence that Ding Meixia had stolen and sold military rations, and Wang Shijie was being ignored. , and there was no evidence in his hand, so it was hard for him to say anything.

But no matter what, they should not meet in private on Ding Meixia's territory, unless there are extremely urgent or public matters that need to be reported to him face to face.

Song Li frowned and asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Zhang Yulin responded quickly: "Sir, there was a heavy rain the night before yesterday and there was a flash flood. Many villages over Yutang Village were flooded. That night, hundreds of victims who were temporarily placed at the foot of the mountain ran away because they woke up late. They were too slow and were trapped alive in the flash flood. Some of the remaining victims were lucky enough to survive, but some still died... These days, they have been hiding in the woods, looking for wild vegetables and gnawing tree bark when they are hungry, and they are freezing at night. Stiff all over.”

"Why were the victims temporarily placed there? And why were they hiding in the woods?" Song Li was almost furious.

None of the three dared to answer, but if they didn't dare to answer, they had already answered.

Song Li was about to go back and look for Ding Meixia. He was a dignified minister and a third-rank imperial official, but he was not afraid of Ding Meixia, a fourth-rank prefect.

"Big Ben!" Wang Shijie exclaimed.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Song Li stopped and turned to look at Wang Shijie doubtfully.

Wang Shijie looked solemn and reminded: "It's not advisable to stay here for a long time, it's better to leave as soon as possible!"

"You guys go back to the Cleansing Banquet first. I'll be there later." After Song Li finished speaking, he planned to leave alone.

Wang Shijie stood there for a moment, then shook his head.

It was precisely because he was beaten by Ding Meixia that he knew that officialdom was dangerous.

Song Li was a minister of the Ministry of Finance and an imperial envoy to control water. When he was on tour, his status was comparable to that of the prime ministers of the Tang and Song Dynasties. On ordinary days, he would definitely be superior and respected to the highest degree.

But this time the case was handled in Changzhou Prefecture, which was Ding Meixia's territory. Ding Meixia had been in Changzhou Prefecture for more than ten years. etc.), the governor, the minister, the school inspector, and the warden were all Ding Meixia's people. There were only two or three big cats and kittens like myself and Zhang Yulin, and they couldn't compete with them at all.

Although Wang Shijie knew that Ding Meixia had committed various illegal acts, he was suffering from the lack of evidence. Even if his old colleague Song Li came, he could not bring down Ding Meixia, a local snake, so he persuaded him to leave. He also planned to take care of one or two things and start from Changzhou Mansion. Transferred back to Nanjing.

Again, if Ding Meixia deliberately concealed it so that no one would see it, there would be no need to put in any effort at all.

But Zhang Yulin, as the official in charge of punishment, suddenly asked Song Li: "Sir Song, is the Imperial Master a legendary saint-like figure who cares about the common people in the world? Qingping Bofan's family, as a local hegemon, will bring trouble to the countryside. It’s been a long time, but the Imperial Master is determined to eradicate it?”

Song Li was stunned for a moment, recalling all that Jiang Xinghuo had done, and nodded sincerely.

Zhang Yulin seemed relieved after hearing the news, and his hands retracted into his sleeves unconsciously.

In the pocket on his sleeve, he had a copy of Ding Meixia's evidence, but he never dared to hand it over. He had been waiting for someone who could use this evidence to bring peace to Changzhou Prefecture.

Qing Ping Bo Fan has committed countless heinous crimes, and as a judge, he should obviously try her countless times and give justice to the people!

However, Ding Meixia doesn’t allow it!

Wang Shijie looked at Zhang Yulin, who was trembling slightly, and thought for a moment that this person, who usually never drank alcohol, was so drunk that he took leave in the morning after hearing the news that Qingping Bofan's family was exterminated yesterday.

Thinking of this, Wang Shijie couldn't help but be touched.

"Where is the Imperial Master?"

——————

The Imperial Master is busy discussing business.

"I will test the 20,000 shi of rice later, but it's just a price. After all, from Changzhou you can take the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal into the Yangtze River, and you can go up the river to Wuhu, Qingyi River, or Juxi. It should be for trackers and peasants, and the price per stone should be reduced by another eighty cents."

Naturally, Jiang Xinghuo didn't intend to pay the other party even half a copper. All he wanted to do was find out the fact that Ding Meixia and other Changzhou officials stole and sold the grain stored in Changping warehouse and prepared the Japanese army's rations.

But since he is playing the role of a businessman, he has to discuss matters in business, otherwise he will arouse suspicion for nothing.

Shopkeeper Chen also replied seemingly sincerely: "You have your difficulties, and we also have our difficulties. Food is life these days, and the price of food is still rising, one day at a time. Our transaction volume is large, so we can make it cheaper as appropriate. At most it’s only fifty cents cheaper per stone.”

Stealing food from official warehouses is simply a business without a basis.

Jiang Xinghuo snorted in his heart.

If I hadn't known the hurdles, I might have been moved by his sincerity.

Jiang Xinghuo had a thought in his mind, so he said with an expression of embarrassment: "Well, since shopkeeper Chen said so, let's each take a step back, seventy cents."

"Sixty-five articles." Shopkeeper Chen gritted his teeth.

Jiang Xinghuo patted his fan and said, "Then I'll comply with Shopkeeper Chen's wishes."

"But the ugly story comes first."

After Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment, he continued: "This time we trade, I will inspect all the grain in the granary."

It needs to be inspected in the granary, not at the time of delivery.

Shopkeeper Chen frowned slightly.

In this case, if he agrees, the Midian granary will naturally not have 20,000 koku. Even the Changping Granary does not have that much, let alone the Jinong Granary. So much rice.

Here we have to talk about the granary system of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang himself suffered from hunger, so after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he paid great attention to the establishment and storage of the granary system.

Unlike Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty who would rather let the people eat a grain of rice if they were full of grain, Zhu Yuanzhang established the granary system from the perspective of serving the people, including the reserve granary (Changping granary) and the Jinong granary. , Shecang three types.

The so-called Changpingcang is a reserve granary set up by the imperial court in order to prepare for famines, including magistrates, counties and other administrative regions at all levels to prepare for famine relief. The specific amount of grain storage depends on the size of the administrative region, ranging from 15,000 shi to 20,000 shi. wait.

If there is a famine and the situation is serious, the warehouse will be opened unconditionally to release grain. If the situation is not serious, the grain will be loaned to the people without interest. If there is a lean year and the price of grain starts to soar, the warehouse will be opened at the normal price. Grain stabilizes grain prices.

But this is an idealized state. The normal situation is the situation in Changzhou Prefecture.

The grain in Changpingcang was stolen and sold out. Not to mention stabilizing grain prices or lending it to the people, it was not enough even for disaster relief.

Jinongcang is a policy used by the government in exchange for people's initiative to donate grain. If anyone pays more than 1,500 shi in grain, the imperial court will commend him as a righteous citizen and exempt the household from household chores. This policy is mainly aimed at wealthy people. People who have no rights and do not want to do corvee labor.

But in fact, in this era of Ming Dynasty, who with money can’t get power? Therefore, Jinongcang was completely empty in the middle and late Hongwu Dynasty.

With the implementation of the policy of "sharing the labor into the acres" advocated by Jiang Xinghuo, the corvee was abolished, and the existence of the agricultural warehouse was naturally no longer necessary.

As for the last Shecang, it means that every twenty or thirty households of the people are organized into a society. Lao Zhu asked a person from a well-off family to be the head of the society, a person with reliable character to be the leader of the society, and a person who knows writing and numeracy to be the deputy of the society. According to different family backgrounds, he will be divided into upper levels. The middle and lower classes meet on the first and fifteenth day of every month. According to different grades, they each contribute four to one dou of rice and deposit it in the communal warehouse. If there is a famine in a bad year and the upper-class households are short of food, they will lend grain to the middle-class households. The lower-class households will consider the relief and not have to pay it back.

Needless to say, this system could not even be implemented. It was automatically abolished after being enforced for a period of time. In the end, it only stayed on the paper of Lao Zhu.

After weighing for a long time, Shopkeeper Chen finally agreed and gritted his teeth and said, "Then just follow me."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled calmly.

Shopkeeper Chen is smart and knows that this is his bottom line. If he persists, his business will be ruined.

"By the way, the place I will take you to next, as well as our transaction, no matter what the outcome is, will be kept confidential. No one is allowed to reveal a word to the outside world. You have to promise me."

Shopkeeper Chen said suddenly.

"That's natural." Jiang Xinghuo nodded in approval.

However, out of caution, Jiang Xinghuo still brought more than ten guards with him.

Shopkeeper Chen also knew that the other party was afraid that he would take him to a remote location and kidnap him again, so he didn't say anything.

In fact, shopkeeper Chen didn't know at all that there were White Lotus cultists lurking in Midian. Ding Meixia and the White Lotus cultists she cooperated with had already seen their transactions, which was why Ding Meixia was so well-informed.

These White Lotus cultists with different identities have long formed a pervasive intelligence network in Changzhou City under the protection of the government.

As the sun set, a group of people walked on the golden glow to a large granary area next to the canal in the city.

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.