Luo Xingye, the governor of Yangzhou Prefecture, lowered his head and faced the draft of the official document in front of him, and was stunned for a while. This draft is nothing else, it is the one that the official of Jiangdu County Yachao learned about it through an insider and told Li You.

Luo Zhifu was very hesitant. In the past two months, a series of conflicts with Li You that he took the initiative to provoke were still under control. However, the surname of snatching the right to take the county examination under the pretext that Li You has no merit is more serious than all the previous conflicts, which is tantamount to directly encroaching on the most important power of the county government. If the manuscript is signed and stamped and becomes an official document, the consequences are probably uncontrollable.

Of course, he understood that this kind of similar approach to revealing people's scars might make Master Li lose his mind, and it was difficult to predict what he could do. And it is certain that he will completely tear his face with Li You, and it may even go to the point of not dying.

Is it worth it? Luo Zhifu was silent and thought repeatedly. Suddenly, the official of the government office was anxious to see him, and he entered the room and reported: "Master, there is a notice from the county office!" The Jiangdu County test is scheduled to start on the tenth day of the first month of next month, and the county yali room will start accepting registration from now on! ”

Luo Zhifu was slightly surprised, he hadn't used the trick yet, but Li You's side made a move first, and asked, "Have you ever checked the text to the mansion?" ”

"Not yet."

There are several forms of official documents between the local and subordinate yamen in the country, such as inspection, declaration, detail, and ceremony, and the inspection documents belong to the type of documents that are reported for the record.

There are a lot of candidates in Jiangdu County, although they are not as good as some places in Jiangnan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, but there are thousands of people participating in it at every turn.

However, this field is used by the government and county yamen in Yangzhou City, and the government and county examinations are all here, and whoever wants to take the exam will use it. Therefore, according to the rules, the county government must say hello to the government office before holding the county examination. However, this time, Jiangdu County ignored the government and directly issued a notice and started the preliminary work of the county test, which is very unreasonable.

Luo Zhifu snorted coldly, he couldn't hesitate any longer, and signed the manuscript of the case.

Soon, a letter ordering Master Li to hand over the authority to take the county examination was sent to the county office. At the same time, another notice about the county test in Jiangdu County appeared on the eight-character wall outside the government office. The gist is: Jiangdu County violated the instructions of the government on the county test, so the notice of the county government is invalid. And because someone is not qualified to take the main exam, the prefect will take the main exam on behalf of the prefect, and the test child is asked to register in the government room.

This is a-for-tat contrast with the notice of the county government, and the viewers are thinking in their hearts, now that the boss has an order, is the notice of the county government really invalid?

However, as if it was a demonstration, the notice of the county government was not removed from the outer wall, but was further posted on the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City and the fields and ends of the four miles and eight towns outside the city.

Now people have tasted the taste, this is a public collision between the government and the county government!

In a county examination, two yamen announced that they were the main examiners and accepted the registration respectively, and the most well-informed people had never seen such a strange thing. Since Li Xianzun arrived in Jiangdu County, all kinds of new things have really emerged.

It has nothing to do with idlers looking at the excitement, this official is also a person, and there is no difference between being angry and fighting for family property with our small people. But those who are preparing for the exam have a headache, where to register?

Of course, the Huizhou people who are registered are definitely not entangled, and the county government prohibits them from signing up, so they go directly to the government to sign up, and there is nothing to choose.

The native of Jiangdu County is a little at a loss, and both sides have their own advantages, and it is difficult to distinguish between them and others.

The advantage of the government is that it is, after all, the boss's yamen, and has all kinds of power to suppress the county government, which is heavier than the authority of the county government, and it must be difficult for the county government to bear it in the end. Besides, after the county examination, you have to go to the prefect's main examination for the prefect's government examination, if you go to the county government to register, you will be dumbfounded when you are lucky enough to be selected and when you get to the prefectural examination.

The county government also has its advantages. First, there is no strong competitiveness of the registered person, the proportion of customs clearance is high; The second is that the current official is not as good as the current management, and the Jiangdu County Ya is the one who directly manages the current management within a radius of one hundred and eighty miles, and his net worth is within the jurisdiction of the county government; The third is that Li Xianzun is an official who thinks about his native people very much, and is willing to take the risk of offending the salt merchants to expel the people who are sent to his hometown. If you turn your back on the county government and go to the government to register, it will be a bit unconscionable, and there is a danger of being condemned by public opinion.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and it is impossible to divide a county exam into two ends, but it has been stalemate for several days, and the government and the county government will not give in to each other. The gentry and people in the city were all talking, and no one could guess what the future would hold.

In addition to a large number of Huizhou people to go to the government to register, whether in the county or in the government, there are very few local registrations, everyone is waiting, anyway, there is still a month to leave the exam, no need to worry.

These are all expected by Li You, and he is not in a hurry, only when the exam is really approaching, the situation will become hot, and it is not yet time.

In addition to the county test notice, the war between the Yangzhou government and the Jiangdu county government quietly spread in places where the people could not see.

At this time, Lord Li's three masters suddenly came to the hall to appeal their grievances.

Master Cui said first: "Recently, the serious criminal cases reported for review in this county have all been rejected by the government for retrial, and they are miserable. ”

Zhou Jiexi was also unwilling to complain, "When the summer tax was released to the government treasury, the county was repeatedly harassed, and the progress has been slow so far, which is too deceitful. ”

In the end, Master Zhuang said unhurriedly: "The various detailed official documents reported by our county are like sinking into the sea, and I don't know what to do. ”

Although he still doesn't understand why Luo Zhifu has repeatedly taken the initiative to provoke, Li You has a very clear insight into the mentality of Fuzun.

This surnamed Luo is nothing more than relying on the momentum of the government office, probably he feels that the county government is congenitally deficient in the face of the government office, and Li Xianzun can't help Luo Fuzun due to this constraint, so he will be unscrupulous and kick his nose and face in official affairs.

Once official business is involved, it will be the government government to the county government, not Luo Xingye to Li You. When he greeted Hai Shangshu two months ago, Luo Zhifu still had the intention of going head-to-head with Li You, but in the end, he was counterattacked to the point that he was completely skinless, and then he learned a lesson and no longer had a one-on-one approach.

Li You sighed, it seems that this lord of the mansion also has the common problem of being a scholar with low skills and not being familiar with popular affairs, and he really thinks that he can try to live in the county government with the two words of the government office? The relationship between the government and the county government of Fuguo County has never been so simple, and Luo Zhifu knows why it is true.

Master Li likes this kind of opponent the most, since you have confidence in the rules of chess for the government to suppress the county government, then this official will completely defeat your confidence! Let you know how the rules in the yamen are played.

On July 14, when the Luo Governor's Mansion was thinking about how to lure the examination boy to the government to register for the county examination, he saw his master Mr. Kong looking for him with a sad face.

"The proprietor, but there is something unpleasant." Master Kong reported: "The first half of the year in Jiangdu County has not yet arrived, and the county government said that it would stop and not give it. ”

In recent years, there have been a variety of bad rules in the government, also known as regular silver, which in the 21st century is gray income, such as the loss of money and food, the benefit of doing things, and the hardship fee. Don't underestimate this part of the income, it is definitely the bulk of the income from the main hall officials to the officials in the yamen.

But there is another rule, half of the money earned by the subordinates must be paid to the superiors, and half of the so-called meeting. For example, according to the practice of previous years, Jiangdu County should send 4,000 taels of silver to the government every six months, and Yangzhou Government should also send silver to the governor's yamen.

Jiangdu County is the most populous and wealthiest county among the seven counties in the three prefectures under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture, with a large proportion of the economy, and it accounts for more than one-third of the government's regulation silver. Of course, these are tacit rules in the public door, and they will not be said on the table.

When Governor Luo heard that Jiangdu County had stopped regulating the bank, he couldn't help but calculate in his heart. Every six months, the government government collects about 10,000 taels of silver from various prefectures and counties, and then pays a tribute of 5,000 taels to the governor's yamen, and keeps 5,000 taels for himself. If there were no 4,000 taels in Jiangdu County, there would only be 1,000 taels left for the government office after the governor's offering

What is this silver enough for, entertaining VIPs for a few times will be gone, and your regular silver will also be withdrawn from this... Luo Zhifu really felt a lot of pain.

Some people may think that if you don't have money, don't pay tribute to the governor's yamen, but you can only say that this proposal is too creative. The government that sends five thousand taels of silver every six months suddenly stopped sending money, and presumably the governor of Fengyang will be very pleased and impressed by this.

Faced with Master Kong's helplessness, Luo Zhifu squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Send it first!" ”

As soon as he finished talking about the silver regulation, the little official in the ceremonial room panicked and came to the urgency, "Master! Hundreds of garrison battalions rushed into the field and forcibly occupied it, saying that they were going to be stationed there. ”

Of course, the subject field is the scheduled county examination room. Hearing this news, the fool could guess who instigated it, wasn't the one in the county government still in charge of the garrison department?

Hearing this, Luo Zhifu was furious and said: "Ridiculous! How can there be a reason for soldiers to be stationed in the field! Is this a rebellion with the surname Li! ”

If Li You is allowed to rely on force to occupy the examination hall like this, where else can the government find a place with thousands of seats as an examination room? I know that if there is no exam room, who will sign up?

Thinking of this, Luo Zhifu hurriedly summoned the official sedan chair honor guard, and he wanted to go to the department in person. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Luo Zhifu did not see the long entourage to invite him to travel.

He suppressed his anger and walked out of the hall, but saw that in front of the hall, in addition to the attendants, there were only two palanquin bearers and one sign-holding handyman - he should have been equipped with four sedan chairmen and eight sign-holding handymen. And Chang Sui was sweating on the top of his head and saying something.

"What's going on? The dogs are so slack! Luo Zhifu shouted.

The chief ran over and said to Master Luo with a sad face: "Everyone else has gone home." ”

Miscellaneous servants such as sedan chair men, food cookers, fire men, horse grooms, and night watchmen are the lowest level of personnel in the yamen, and they are not hereditary employment like government officials and small officials. The people in charge of these errands were all conscripted civilians, who did the hardest and most tiring work in the yamen in the form of service, and were replaced when the service period expired.

The Yangzhou government itself did not directly manage Fangxiang Township, and the more than 100 miscellaneous laborers used were all requisitioned from the local household registration in Jiangdu County to serve the labor.

This morning, the Jiangdu County government sent people to take a document with a big seal to send a message to the government officials, and when the service period is over, they will all leave. Whoever dares to work for one more day, the county will let him work for a lifetime!

The miscellaneous servants of the government are very strange, the government has always delayed the service period, and today the sun came out of the west, and they actually let them go home early after the expiration of their term.

But strange is strange, these tiring and dirty work, who wants to do it except for those who are forced to serve in desperation? Since the county government has spoken, the government officials and miscellaneous servants are very obedient and scattered in an instant, and they go back to their respective homes without dragging mud and water, anyway, there is a county government on top.

The old ones are gone, the new ones are not coming, and now it is impossible for Jiangdu County to send new miscellaneous servants over. That's why Luo Zhifu saw that there were only three people left in his palanquin and honor guard.

The dignified four-pin Huangtang, what is it like to go out in a two-person sedan chair!

Only officials, petty officials, and officials remained in the entire government. In addition to the guard of honor of the sedan chair driver, I am only afraid of the food in the Yamen kitchen, tonight's night patrol, the coolies who carry things, the gate guard, the sweeper who sweeps, including the dozen or so servants used by the internal government, no one has done it... The living can't let the urine suffocate to death, the top priority is to go to the department first, and then talk about other things when they come back. Luo Zhifu gritted his teeth and gathered the officials, ordered a number of unlucky candidates, and ordered them to carry the sedan chair and hold the sign. In the midst of a lot of complaints, Fuzun's team set off.

The temporary servant was really too far worse than the professional sedan chair driver, and after only a few steps, Luo Zhifu felt uncomfortable. After walking a few more steps, I saw through the gap in the sedan chair that I was out of the gate of the government office, but why is there so little flow of people outside the government gate today?

When Luo Fuzun was wondering, the sedan chair suddenly stopped, what was going on? He opened the curtain and was about to scold.

The lead flashed to the side flexibly, so as not to block the old man's view.

Luo Zhifu looked ahead, but saw that a number of earth and stones had been piled up not far away, and the streets and alleys were excavated, just blocking the way forward.

Not only ahead, Luo Zhifu looked around and found that the east, west, and south roads leading from the gate of the government to the surrounding area were all cut off.

A person dressed as a small official saw the honor guard here, quickly trotted over, kowtowed and knelt down: "The little one is the warden of the county government workshop, and he has seen the lord of the mansion!" ”

"Who allowed you to cut the road?" Luo Zhifu scolded.

The county official said: "The county lord said that the roads in the old city are in disrepair, the weather is dry and dusty, and the rain is muddy. He also specially instructed that the alleys around the government should be carefully leveled and then paved with stone slabs. Before it is repaired, one or two can still squeeze through, but the brigade is afraid that it will be difficult to pass. ”

As the main hall of Jiangdu County, Lord Li certainly has the right to make arrangements for the construction of the city, but during this period of time, the government will be as quiet as isolated.

Luo Xingye stood in a dilemma in front of the sedan chair, and the first Buddha was born and the second Buddha ascended to heaven, and said hatefully: "Three lives do evil, the government and county are in the same city!" ”

The surrounding officials were speechless, although they often heard this, but they were all scratched by the magistrate. It feels strange to say it from the mouth of a prefect today.

As the official of the main hall of the government, Luo Zhifu still has a little contempt for the county government in the same prefecture. Luo Zhifu always thought that Li You had no way to take him and was unscrupulous, but now he can be regarded as realizing that Li You really wants to start looking for trouble, and he will vomit blood as well.

In the past, the prefects who were underestimated by the prefect of Luo were not afraid of the government or the prefect himself, but the prefect's power over his subordinates. A few words can largely determine the future and fate of the magistrates.

After all, Li You is different from those cowering magistrates in the past, even if Governor Luo writes a thousand bad reviews to Li You, it is useless. Master Li has someone in the court, who is the bird, how do you write it?

(To be continued)