It is said that Lu Yuanguang has been invited to eat and drink a lot since he became the ambassador of Chongwenmen's propaganda class, but today he was invited by a "big man" like Li You, which is the first time.

After three rounds of drinking, Li You asked Ambassador Lu: "Your Xuanjiao Division, Nancheng Imperial History, and Soldiers and Horses Division are all in Nancheng, and each has its own management, what is the relationship between them?" ”

Lu Yuanguang drank a few glasses of wine, went to be restrained, and replied very frankly: "You Xian asked this question, and he has promoted the lower official." The Xuanjiao Division is the Jiupin Yamen, and it is also the Jiupin Yamen that attracts people's eyes, how dare you be careless?

The eldest lord in the court also had a headache when he saw the imperial history of the city patrol who was in charge of pressing the ground, not to mention my nine products. The Xuanjiao Division is acting under the nose of Nancheng Yushi, and he really doesn't dare to be a little slow, lest he picket impeachment and cause trouble. ”

One of Li You's purposes in wooing Lu Yuanguang was to find some clues to deal with the imperial history and the Terracotta Division in Nancheng, after all, the Xuanjiao Division was also in Nancheng, and it was also a snake-like yamen, so he knew the situation better.

Among the five cities under his command, the southern city and the middle city have been unruly so far, and they must take the opportunity to clean up Liwei. Otherwise, if it goes on like this, it's okay for a short time, but after a long time, I'm afraid that the other cities will also lose their morale.

After listening to Ambassador Lu's words, Li You asked again: "You are making money every day, and the imperial history of Nancheng and the Soldiers and Horses Division are not hot?" ”

"What about eye heat? The one who collects taxes is also the Xuanjiao Division, not other yamen, but the Nancheng Procuratorate and the Terracotta Division are not without a way to collect money..."

When the key place arrived, Li You hurriedly pricked up his ears and listened.

Ambassador Lu hesitated slightly, but continued to talk with the mentality of currying favor with Li You and his friends from the dead Dao. Besides, the Nancheng Imperial History and the Soldiers and Horses Division were originally under Li You's jurisdiction, and that little thing could be concealed from the first day of the first month, and sooner or later there would be rumors.

"Of the five cities in Beijing, only the southern city belongs to the outer city, and most of the residents are traders, craftsmen and civilians, and it is also a place where foreign merchants gather. The money of our propaganda division is collected from the goods, while the money of the Nancheng Procuratorate and the Terracotta Division is collected from the people. ”

"Most often they use the pretext of arresting unemployed people. The usual method of searching merchants for no reason and making things difficult in every possible way is to threaten to repatriate to their places of origin without clear roads, and those who are investigated can only swallow their anger and avoid disasters. ”

Master Li was furious when he heard this, and said: "At the feet of the Son of Heaven, there is such a evil deed! How can it be appeased! How can you do it! ”

The impact of this incident on his political voice is not mentioned, and people who don't know the truth are afraid that they will think that he is covering up, and if they are officially investigated and punished by the imperial court for any reason. He had to be punished with an ignorant and lax punishment. And still carrying the black pot without knowing it. This is the most intolerable thing for Lord Lee.

Then Li You asked again: "Why didn't you cause any turmoil when you were so bold?" ”

"They also have a choice when they find merchants, of course, they have to find people who have no backing and some wealth. Such people are timid and afraid. In case of trouble, it is better to break the fortune and avoid disasters. ”

The fine Li You still had doubts, grasped the details and continued to ask: "How do the procuratorate and the Terracotta Division know who these foreign businessmen are the best targets?" ”

Ambassador Lu hesitated for a moment, and replied helplessly: "Merchants always have to file taxes. All the details of our mission division will be clear, and if there is a suitable one, we will inform the procuratorate..."

It is really a reasonable division of labor, one uses the opportunity to file taxes to find out the details, and all those who pay taxes honestly without any personal greeting must have no background; The other is looking for risk-free objects for extortion... Master Li couldn't help but accuse: "It turns out that you are also acting for the tiger. ”

"I can't say that, how can Xiaguan, the little ambassador of the Propaganda Division, dare to fight against the dignified Imperial History of the City Patrol? What do they want the officials to do, they can only do it, how dare the officials offend? . It's not just the lower officials. The same is true for the predecessor, which is considered an old practice over the years. ”…,

This is a disadvantage... Li You has already begun to think about how to clean up the maladministration in his heart, and it is not a bad thing to eliminate hidden dangers and brush up some prestige by the way.

The key is how to get the evidence and where to find the victim? What's more, in this kind of trick of paying money and releasing people, the victim may not have any strong evidence to prove that he has been asked for money, and it is easy to be denied and cannot be dismissed.

There is another difficulty. The Imperial History of the City Patrol and the Soldiers and Horses Division themselves are responsible for the relevant duties, and it is very legal to investigate a few "suspected" people on the surface, and it is difficult to define whether it is a violation or not.

This kind of small problem was not difficult for Master Li, and he immediately had an idea. The society is governed by man, and what evidence can be stronger than witnessing and grasping a current one?

He said to Lu Yuanguang: "This official intends to clean up the accumulated malpractices. I would also like to ask Ambassador Lu to help me. ”

Lu Yuanguang suddenly understood very well that Li Baixian was going to take Nancheng to establish his authority. He was still thinking about it just now. Li Baixian asked in such detail, could it be that he wanted to get a piece of the pie from Nancheng? It seems that this is not the case, and I have a little bit of a low opinion on Li Yanxian's character.

To help or not to help? Ambassador Lu quickly thought about it and resolutely agreed: "I don't know how to do it?" ”

After all, Nancheng Yushi and Terracotta Division are Li Yanxian's subordinates, and their arms can't twist their thighs. Moreover, Li Baixian's relationship with the officials is beyond the ordinary, and he directly pinched his future, this is not a joke, Duan's father-in-law is in the deep palace, and he may not be able to take care of him.

For example, if he is deliberately placed in Yungui or the ends of the earth to be the county magistrate, he will suffer a big loss. So in any case, the wisest choice at the moment is to follow Master Li and not offend his interests.

Seeing that the other party was interested, Li You was not afraid of him playing tricks, "I want to fish and enforce the law, and the matter of bait will be entrusted to you!" ”

What does "fishing law enforcement" mean? Ambassador Lu is not clear. But he knows the allusion that Jiang Taigong fished for the bait. What does Master Li mean is to release the bait, and then wait for the Nancheng Soldiers and Horses to eat, and finally get all the stolen goods on the spot?

I heard Master Li ask, "Yesterday you released the merchant surnamed Dai, do outsiders know that it has something to do with me?" ”

Ambassador Lu replied: "If the lower officials do not reveal their words, they should not be able to spread it. After all, my propaganda branch is not a criminal name yamen, and there is no reason to detain the characters for a long time, so it is normal to let go of the detainees. ”

Li You thought about it and decided to arrange it as realistically as possible, so that Dai Miaozhu would be used as a bait, and he himself would lead his entourage to hide around Dai Miaozhu and pretend to be a buddy, and then he would act at the opportunity.

When Ambassador Lu learned of Li Baixian's thoughts, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, in the public case novel, Qing officials often made private visits to solve cases, which turned out to be a bit of a basis, and I originally thought it was all made up. If you think about it carefully, if you don't do this, it will indeed be very difficult to collect evidence.