Several men quickly shuttled between the streets and alleys, and after turning around, they finally came to the deepest part of a remote alley. Standing at the back door of the last house, and sure that no one was following, they knocked on the wooden door regularly, and when it opened, they dodged in.

The two tall men guarding the backyard nodded at them and whispered, "The young master is waiting for you in the east wing." Only then did a few people answer, and continued to walk briskly to the second wing of the courtyard in front of them.

After a while, these men had already come to Xu Qinglian, who was gently shaking a folding fan, holding a book, and looking more like a scholar than a person in the rivers and lakes, and told everything they had just seen when they went out.

When they heard them say that the important person in the court who came to Governor Lu Ren this time was actually a young man named Lu Jin, the indifferent smile on Xu Qinglian's face suddenly fell, her hand shook, and the fan was put away with a bang: "Is it him?" ”

"What? Does the young master know about this person? Or did you fight him? The other person in the room asked a little strangely, he was Xue Xin, the incense master of the White Lotus Sect's Shandong Branch.

After being stunned for a moment, Xu Qinglian's face showed a hint of uncertainty: "I haven't really fought with him, but I failed to act with my second child in Jiangsu a while ago, and I heard afterwards that it was because he was in the way." However, at that time, he was just a master of the government, and later I heard that he was rewarded by the imperial court for that incident. It's only been a few years, can he actually become the governor of a province? ”

"This ...... Could it be someone with the same name and surname? Xue Xin's face was full of disbelief. Although he is in the rivers and lakes, he also knows how difficult it is for officials in the Ming court to be promoted, how can a young man be promoted from an ordinary person to a second- or third-rank feudal official in just a few years?

Judging from the appearance and age of the person he described, there should be no mistake. And don't forget, the Ming Court is now short of people, maybe he took this opportunity to steal such a high position. Xu Qinglian speculated. Then, Zhengse said: "Actually, it doesn't matter if he is that Lu Zhen or not, for us, his existence is always a trouble." ”

"Yes, who would have thought that the Ming Court would suddenly send a governor to Shandong, which would make our next actions a little more variable. If it had been like before, and the government had constrained each other, we would have been able to do it! Xue Xin nodded approvingly: "By the way, young master, do you think he will come for us?" Isn't it that Ming Ting has already found out our purpose? When he said this, this person's face changed slightly, as if he was a little worried.

In their original plan, the non-subordination of the three yamen in Shandong was a very crucial link, which was also a loophole in the local area of the Ming court.

It is said that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang has always been wary of rich officials because he was from a humble background and was bullied and oppressed by the government. This habit has not changed much even if he has become the king of a country. So Lao Zhu set all kinds of the most stringent laws and regulations for the ministers below, and even the Yulu was the least in the past dynasties.

That's not all, Lao Zhu then engaged in a set of means of balancing and containing. For example, in the imperial court, a speech and official department was set up to monitor hundreds of officials, and then even frantically made a brocade guard. As for the localities, they have divided the military and political power into three, and have set up a political envoy and a yamen, a government envoy and a command envoy, so that they can monitor and restrain each other, so that they cannot truly achieve a monopoly of one family.

Although such a practice can ensure the centralization of power in the imperial court, at the same time, when something major happens, it may cause several yamen to quarrel and shirk responsibility. Later generations of the descendants of the Zhu family saw this drawback, so they set up a governor above the three local divisions, a feudal official who really monopolized the military and political power of a province.

However, unlike a few decades later, when almost every province had a governor, and the position of governor became almost the highest official in a province, the governor is still only a temporary appointment. They are all specially dispatched by the imperial court for a certain errand or purpose, and after the matter is completed, they will return to the court to resume their lives and hand over their official positions.

It is precisely because Xue Xin understands this that he is worried that this is the arrangement of the imperial court for his own family, and the so-called concern is chaos, and he is a thief.

Xu Qinglian quickly denied this speculation after thinking about it: "We haven't really taken action yet, how can they have corresponding arrangements?" However, there are such variables, we must be more careful, this time in Shandong, Xu Sheng is not allowed to lose! ”

"My subordinates understand that everything is going according to plan, and as long as this rain is really getting heavier and heavier as expected, our chance will come."

"Then go and prepare everything accordingly, everything here in Shandong depends on you Xue Xiang, don't let me down." Xu Qinglian patted the other party's shoulder and admonished.

"Young master, just watch it." Xue Xin said with assurance.

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At this time, the officials in Jinan City did not know that there were already thieves from the White Lotus Sect in their jurisdiction, and they were about to wreak havoc. They also pushed cups and changed lamps in the Luwei Pavilion to catch the wind and wash the dust for the governor.

After a few rounds of wine toasting each other, the atmosphere on the banquet on the highest floor was already quite harmonious, and in the midst of the staggering, there were constantly people toasting with Lu Jin, and at the same time saying some flattering words such as adults who are young and promising, and their future is bound to be limitless.

In the face of these people's constant kind words and toasts, Lu Zhen could only barely cope. Fortunately, his identity is here, and he doesn't need to drain the wine in the glass like the toaster, just drink it a little. But even so, after a few rounds of toasting, he drank a lot, and his whole face was a little red at this time.

Just as Lu Zhen was holding a piece of Xiajin cloth bag chicken and putting it in his mouth to slowly taste the world-famous flavor of Lu cuisine, another official came to him with a wine glass and shook it and saluted: "Xia Guan heard that when Lord Futai was an official in Guangling, he had already shown his extraordinary, and he was a county commander, leading all the soldiers to stick to the city and repel the invading enemy, which really made me admire." I would like to give you a glass to show my respect! As he spoke, he didn't wait for Lu Jin's reaction, and drank the wine in the cup cleanly.

Lu Zhen heard that he admired his merits so much, but he couldn't help but express it, so he drank half a cup of residual wine in the cup into his mouth. Seeing this, the officials applauded.

Before Lu Jin could say anything or say a few words of modesty, someone came over with a wine glass. This time, the other party used Lu Jin's hard top Wang Zhen when he was in the capital as a reason for toasting......

If this is the case, people continue to come forward and list the merits that Lu Zhen has made in the court in the past few years, what is not afraid of the powerful to solve the murder case, and what is the killing of the Japanese in Hangzhou...... Anyway, as long as it is the credit of being hooked with Lu Jin, they will not fall behind, they will all cite it, and then take the opportunity to toast.

At the beginning, Lu Zhen didn't think deeply. But after a few glasses of wine, his mind cleared up a little: these guys' toasts were clearly flattering and pleasing themselves, but in fact, in addition to getting drunk, there seemed to be another layer of meaning hidden - their subordinates knew everything that the governor of Shandong had done in the past! In other words, they are all in their hands.

After thinking about this, Lu Jin's expression turned cold, and the smile on his face became sarcastic. It's really hard to say whether these Shandong officials are bold or cowardly. It's too contradictory to say that they are cowardly, and they dare to use this way to semi-threaten themselves, but to say that they are bold, but they are so hidden, and they look so respectful.

Maybe the purpose of these guys is to force themselves to retreat. Lu Zhen slowly woke up, and he already had a way in his heart.

After drinking half a glass of wine with another official, Lu Zhen asked his glass to be filled, then stood up and made a toasting gesture.

Some of the officials who wanted to step forward, as well as the people who were talking to each other and toasting on the side, all calmed down after seeing the governor's action, and turned their attention to Lu Jin.

I saw Lu Zhen holding the wine glass with a smile and said: "They are all Shandong people who are the most enthusiastic, and this official can be regarded as a leader today." You are indeed all well-intentioned, but after a long journey all the way, this official is indeed a little tired, and he is already overwhelmed by alcohol. This glass of wine, the official respects all of you......"

Hearing him say this, all the officials and gentry also raised their wine glasses, and were ready to drink a full cup before they dispersed. After all, they didn't have the courage to directly pour the newly appointed governor directly down.

But just as everyone brought the cups to their mouths, and when Lu Zhen drank with him, he suddenly said: "In addition, when you were toasting this official wine before, you talked about the small merits I have made, but in fact, those are not worth mentioning at all......"

"My lord is too humble, the merits you have made for my Ming in the past few years are enough to make me and other courtiers ashamed, if you are not worth mentioning, there is no credit in this world to be mentioned." Immediately, there was flattery.

Lu Zhen didn't answer this, but continued to take care of himself: "For this official, no matter how meritorious the former is, it can't compare to the merits that he can make when he comes to Shandong this time." This opening of the sea is the top priority of my Ming Dynasty in the next hundred years, if it can be done, then you and I will go down in history. Therefore, my lords, please drink this cup with me, and from now on you and I will work together to complete the opening of the sea under the orders of the imperial court. After speaking, without waiting for everyone's reaction, he had already dried up the wine in his stomach.

And the people in front of him who were holding wine glasses and just wanted to drink them were all stunned at this time, and after a while, they drank the wine with some hesitation. It's just that the wine enters the mouth, but at this time I can only feel a burst of spicy and bitter......