Zhu Pingjin pretended to be a guard in the Huangcheng Dam, but some people were making trouble nearby, and they were doing big things.

In the private room on the second floor of a tea room not far from the Huangcheng Dam, Chen Shiqi, who had been dormant for many days, wore a Dongpo scarf and a dark gray dress, sitting at one end of the coffee table. He picked up the white porcelain tea cup, a flattering and ghostly smile appeared on his sallow face, and said to the middle-aged man wearing a Tang scarf opposite:

"Lord Liu, please!"

This Lord Liu is none other than the new Sichuan Governor Liu Zhibo.

He followed Chen Shiqi's example to brush off the tea foam, took a sip, and then put down the teacup and praised: "Good tea!" Fragrant but not greasy, bitter but not astringent. Tea into the throat, clear fragrance through the spleen. Good tea! ”

"Lord Liu is really a person who knows tea!" Chen Shiqi hurriedly complimented Liu Zhibo and began to introduce the origin of this tea.

"This is the snow bud of Mount Emei. Mount Emei is 1,500 zhang high, and the snow line is up and down the thousand. Above the snow line, the snow is accumulated all year round, and it does not melt all year round. In this dog season, the top of the mountain is still covered with snow, which is really interesting. This tea is the tea tree that grows above the snow line. Because of the coldness of the snow water, it is particularly cold and fragrant in the throat. Xiaguan was born in Fujian, and the tea in our hometown is ......"

"This official has already said that Lord Chen and this official are colleagues and have the same grade, so it is inappropriate for Lord Chen to call himself a subordinate official!" Liu Zhibo suddenly raised his eyebrows, interrupting Chen Shiqi's introduction, and his angular face sank.

Liu Zhibo was born in a not wealthy peasant family in Fengxiang Mansion, Shaanxi, and he was born with nothing to do with elegant things such as tea tasting. The praise of tea just now is good, but it is just a word for the occasion. At the invitation of Chen Shiqi, he went out in civilian clothes to taste tea, but he just wanted to hear what the long-dormant deputy military envoy had to say.

In the past few days, he has a lot of things, especially a lawsuit from Qiongzhou that bothers him very much. He didn't have time or mood to accompany Chen Shiqi to drink tea and chat.

Two days ago, Hu Heng of the Shangnan Branch and Xu Kongtu, the governor of Qiongzhou, submitted to him two submissions with completely different opinions at the same time, and along with the submissions came a private letter written to him by Yang Shen, the former official of the Ministry of Literature.

For Yang Shen, Liu Zhibo is not only no stranger, but also has a special feeling.

Liu Zhibo belongs to the category of late bloomers. He was born in the seventh year of Chongzhen (1634) and the third year of Jiaxu (XU). Middle-aged and first, the ranking is outside the two hundred and tenth, so when he was conferred the official, he did not expect to stay in Beijing. Who knew that after the official roster, he was assigned to the pedestrian division and became a pedestrian of the eighth grade.

The Department of Pedestrian Affairs is subordinate to the Ministry of Etiquette and is responsible for external reception, which is roughly equivalent to the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Zhu Pingjin's previous life.

In Jingshi, although the pedestrian division is a clear water yamen, the official quality of the pedestrian position is even lower. But it belongs to the Beijing officials, which compares the same science and scholars in the places where Ren Zhi County and the judge worked. Everyone in officialdom knows that the future of Beijing officials is far greater than that of local officials. At that time, Yang Shen was the official of the Ministry of Literature. Therefore, Liu Zhibo is very grateful to Yang Shen who takes care of his future.

Sure enough, in the next few years, Liu Zhibo not only relied on his own efforts and ethics, but also relied on the emperor's appreciation, and also relied on Yang Shen, who was in charge of cadres, to take care of him all the way. This year, when I went down to Sichuan, it was a provincial patrol, the eyes and ears of the Son of Heaven.

It was precisely because Yang Shen had a personal favor to Liu Zhibo that when Hu Heng and Xu Kongtu's submissions and Yang Shen's private letter arrived at the same time, Liu Zhibo keenly felt that this was a tricky matter.

Sure enough, Hu Heng and Xu Kongtu started a pen and ink lawsuit, and it involved Yang Shen and other Qiongzhou gentry.

Hu Heng is the plaintiff, and his accusations are deafening.

He believed that the five-year rent reduction implemented by the royal government in Yazhou was an unprecedented act of benevolence and righteousness, which was completely in line with the teachings of the sages to the herdsmen, and should not hesitate to implement it throughout Sichuan.

However, Xu Kongtu, the governor of Qiongzhou, stubbornly supported the local gentry led by Yang Tianguan, which led to heavy rents and heavy taxes in Qiongzhou, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, the gentry having fine clothes and food, and the tenants being hungry and poor. From spring to summer, there have been more than a dozen major anti-rent and anti-tax riots in Qiongzhou. In the long run, Qiongzhou will sooner or later cause large-scale civil unrest, just like the terrible scene at the beginning of the year!

Xu Kongtu is the defendant, and his defense is strong.

He said that the imperial court tax is a rule set by the officials. As an official who guards the land, he must implement it to the letter, otherwise he will only get a pass in the triennial examination.

The gentry's collection of rent was a voluntary contract between the people, which had nothing to do with the government, and the government could not disturb the people at will.

However, as a pro-people official and a land guard, he has the responsibility to stop the palace from taking advantage of the 55 rent reduction to seize the people's land! He believes that the royal government, relying on the privileges of Zongfan, wantonly encroached on the people's land, occupied the land, and the land profits flowed into the palace, while the government gained nothing. "One more acre of Wang Tian" means "one less national tax"!

Yang Shen's private message was kind and kind, and there was no anger at all. In addition to catching up with Liu Zhibo, he mainly expressed his opinions on the controversy between the two officials. As an official and a representative of the Qiongzhou gentry, he sided with Xu Kongtu.

In addition, he also mentioned the bet he made with Zhu Pingjin at the beginning of the year. Yang Shendao said that he had fully fulfilled his promise and reduced the rent to fifty percent. As for the gentry and common people in order to cope with the disaster year and help the poor people spontaneously set up a righteous cang, it is a great good deed, and some people exaggerate the side effects of the righteous cang, which is completely ulterior. Yang Shen assured Liu Zhibo that he had been in politics for decades and had countless experiences, and as long as the Wangzhuang in Wangfu Yazhou and Meizhou no longer took in the fugitives from Qiongzhou, Qiongzhou would be clear and peaceful. A handful of traitors who escaped punishment at the beginning of the year tried to make trouble in Qiongzhou, but they were just rats crossing the street and could not make a big deal.

Hu Heng is the official of the supervision system, that is, Liu Zhibo's direct subordinate. According to officialdom practice, Liu Zhibo should support Hu Heng in order to maintain the authority of his own system. However, this time he hesitated.

First, he took office as a new official and did not know much about the situation; The second is that Xu Confucius made it very clear that it involves the Zhuangtian of the royal palace, and it also involves the tax policy of the governor and the political secretary. At the beginning of the year, in addition to the situation of the five beetle civil unrest, Liu Zhibo also initially learned some theories, including Liao Daheng's pursuit of the levy in a hurry, which caused rumors of civil unrest in the province; The third is, of course, Yang Shen's tendentious opinion. Yang Shen has been a eunuch for decades, and this is still very conclusive, and he can't help but believe it.

Therefore, Liu Zhibo accepted the submissions of Hu Heng and Xu Kongtu and Yang Shen's private messages, and did not immediately express his position rashly. In the past two days, he has already instructed his subordinate officials to understand some of the actual situations below and report back, especially the Zhuangtian in the palace and the people in Qiongzhou. With more than 30 years of living experience in the countryside, Liu Zhibo pays special attention to the real thoughts of the people.

He privately believes that the people take food as the sky, and this is the great truth. No matter what reason, no matter what policy, no matter what official, if you can really keep the people fed and clothed, that is the best reason, the best policy, and the best official!

……

Liu Zhibo did not allow Chen Shiqi to call himself a "lower official", he was modest on the surface, but in fact he was extremely polite, which made Chen Shiqi chuckle in his heart.

Chen Shiqi was originally going to use tea as a metaphor. Compare Liu Zhibo to the snow buds beaten by frost and snow, compare himself to the warm and fragrant Tieguanyin, put a high hat on Liu Zhibo, and then start today's official topic, who knows that Liu Zhibo will not pick up his stubble at all.

In the unspoken rules of officialdom, it is clear that Chen Shiqi has been rejected.

Of course, Chen Shiqi was annoyed in his heart, but after lying dormant for several months, his cultivation had taken to a higher level. If he was choked to death by Liu Zhibo's words, then he wouldn't come here.

"Lord Liu!" Chen Shiqi remained silent, still smiling, "The Yamen people are full of mouths, and there are often strange-looking people near my house wandering inexplicably. The stakes are very high, so the official took the liberty to invite Lord Liu to this quiet place to talk. ”

Liu Zhibo's answer was very brief and straightforward.

"Since the stakes are very high, then please ask Lord Chen to elaborate as soon as possible!"

"Xiaguan and Fu Chongqi, the imperial historian of Sichuan salt tea, want to play the Ming court with a chapter, impeach Zhu Pingjian, the prince of Shufu, and ask Lord Liu to lead the way." Chen Shiqi explained today's topic.

He took out a folded white silk from his sleeve and handed it to Liu Zhibo, which was densely covered with small characters.

Impeach the royal palace and impeach the prince! Liu Zhibo's heart was shocked.

As soon as I arrived in Sichuan, I encountered such a major event!

He didn't have time to think about it, and hurriedly took the white silk. The room was dark, so he left his seat and took it to the window to read it.

After reading it, Liu Zhibo was even more surprised. Chen Shiqi's letter not only impeached Zhu Pingjian, the prince of Shu, and Qiu Shi, the princess of Shu, but also implicated more than a dozen local and royal officials, including Liao Daheng, the governor of the domain, Chen Qichi, who participated in the politics of the feudal department and guarded the western road, the minister of the kingdom of Yazhou, and He Youyi, the deputy envoy of the inspection of Feixian Pass. In addition, Ningchuan Wei commanded He, Chengdu Guard commanded Tongzhi Xu, Yazhou Shouyu Qianhu Chen Fajie and other military attachés, as well as Tianquan, Dong Bu and other Tusi, and even Zhu Pingjian's fiancée Luo Yuhong and her younger brother Luo Jingyun did not miss it.

If the imperial court approves this impeachment, then the heaven of Shu will be changed by half!

In Chen Shiqi's recital, Zhu Pingjin was impeached for three major crimes: organizing and training private soldiers, violating the ancestral system; Collusion with the feudal domain to poison the place; Traffic toast, bad intentions. In addition to the three major crimes, there are also seven minor crimes, such as encroaching on people's land, smuggling tea and horses, inflating grain prices, establishing a military system without authorization, secretly making weapons, and so on.

After each charge, the facts of Shu Shizi Zhu Pingjin's crime were listed in detail. Rudong City purchased Jingzhuang, Bifengxia secretly trained troops, went to Tianquan in person, Yazhou took advantage of the chaos to collect money, Chen Youfu impersonated the official army, and finally went to protect the caravan to expand in Yazhou, etc., from the end of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen to the beginning of May of the fourteenth year.

The evidence of the accusation was clear and detailed, which made Liu Zhibo tremble.

If all this is true, then Zhu Pingjin is not a simple violation of the ban, but a crime of rebellion!

Liu Zhibo turned around and left the window, and did not return to his seat, but said in a deep voice in the room: "Lord Chen! The law of the Ming Dynasty, false accusations and reverse! Is this true? ”

"This official and Master Fu take the head of the item as a guarantee, and everything is true."

"The matter involves the clan, can there be any physical evidence? The Son of Heaven will definitely ask about the trial! ”

"Of course, there are witnesses. From the first month to the end of February, the rebels surrounded the Chengdu Mansion, and the officials and Liao Fu were trapped in the city. How did the official know about these secret things? Naturally, someone who knows the inside story can report it! As for the physical evidence, the caravan guard and the village guard team trained by the royal government are physical evidence! ”

Liu Zhibo's voice became more and more gloomy, and he felt like ice water.

"Can the officer see such a witness?"

Chen Shiqi smiled and refused:

"If Lord Liu decides to lead the performance, such important witnesses will naturally be visible. It's just that the matter is too big, and in order to prevent the news from leaking, someone wants to kill people and kill people, so the witnesses are protected......"

Before Chen Shiqi finished speaking, Liu Zhibo had already folded the white silk and stuffed it into his sleeve.

He interrupted Chen Shiqi and said, "The matter is too big, this official can't listen to it and believe it!" Lord Chen should protect the witnesses first, and then talk about it after the official verifies it. After more than ten days, the official will naturally give a reply to Lord Chen and Master Fu. If this is the case, even if there is a friendship between relatives and relatives, Your Majesty will not be able to keep that Zhu Pingjian! The official is willing to cut his whole body, and he will also pull him off the horse! ”