The prefect of Jinan sighed to himself, and another official came in outside, but arched his hand to him.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly." He didn't want to attack outsiders, so he barely held back his temper and whispered.

"Your Excellency, the supervisor sent by Yan Xiang, that is, the waiter of the Ministry of Officials, Chen Tongpao, has arrived, and the two clerks are waiting outside the gate."

"It's not done yet, so it's like this...... Forget it, please ask Master Chen to come to this interview, and the good tea should be served immediately, don't slack off! ”

"Yes."

However, after a while, the official took Chen Tongpao into the second hall, and the prefect saluted him, and then invited him to sit on the opposite circle chair.

Chen Tongpao said: "This official is not familiar with the situation in Shandong, and he wanted to go to the governor's yamen first, but he never found it, only to know that the local government has never been appointed as a governor, but somehow?" ”

The prefect said with a smile: "My lord has been in Beijing for a long time, and I don't know that the provinces around this capital division have always been for security reasons, and I am afraid that the governor's authority is too great, so I will not set it up for a long time." All government affairs in Shandong will be handed over to the government for governance. ”

"Wouldn't it be more troublesome to set up a post like this?" The two clerks believed that they were from Zhongshu Province, and quarreled dissatisfiedly, "As long as you are a prefect here, how can you control the people below?" How can Yan Xiang's good governance be carried out! ”

Comrade Chen turned his head slightly, coughed twice, and interrupted: "Alas, this is the rule established by this dynasty, it is difficult to find a change, why bother to complain about others." If everything is going well, what else will the deputy minister send us to do? Isn't it just to help the prefect solve his problems? The two men were speechless.

"Lord Prefect, you don't have to worry about these inconsequential matters anymore," Comrade Chen turned his head and smiled, "You can first talk about the situation of running schools in the province." ”

The prefect wiped the sweat from his head, bent down and replied, "Okay, then the lower officials will start with official learning." The so-called official schools, that is, county schools, government schools, etc., are specially taught to local students, and adults should still be able to remember. In order to ensure the operation of the school, it is generally allowed to have more than 30 acres of school land, rent it to the peasants for farming, collect rice every month, and compile a book for verification. In order to facilitate management, local officials often entrusted the school fields to the squires for management, so that it was easy to control the group of tenants. Who knows that these landlords are stubborn by nature, not only blocking Yan Xiang's new policy, but also complaining about the expansion of the school. Among them, Qufu is the most serious, and the government is helpless. ”

"A bunch of bastards!" As soon as the words fell, a clerk shouted angrily, "Fool in the countryside, how to understand national affairs!" Lord Chen, as a school supervisor, you should quickly punish these squires and landlords who poison the people! ”

When the prefect heard their shouts, he couldn't help but glance at his comrades in horror, and when he saw that the latter didn't say a word, his heart was even more panicked: "Please also ask the proctor to show me." ”

"Oh, ask my opinion, yes?" Chen Tongpao smiled faintly at him again, what the two said was very reasonable, Yan Xiang's policy must be implemented. But as the saying goes, hearing is false, seeing is believing, in the end, I will go to Qufu first, and then make a conclusion. What do you think? ”

Although the two clerks were not satisfied, they couldn't resist Chen Tongpao after all, and just sighed: "Everything is up to you." Don't know where to go today? Going tomorrow? ”

"The weather is not sunny today, but tomorrow is better." Comrade Chen stood up and dusted off his official uniform, "Lord Prefect, please vacate three guest rooms, we will make do with one day and sleep in the yamen." ”

"Understood." The prefect reluctantly exhaled and respectfully sent the two out of the door.

"My lord, the people who came inside didn't say anything, did they? It's not easy for you, eat something, just take a break. At this time, the sky was already dark, and a henchman relied on the sparse moonlight and a bowl of broth to find the prefect who had not yet slept.

"Thank you for your hard work, and you sent me such a thing in the middle of the night...... "The prefect hurriedly brought the soup, blew a few mouthfuls, and then raised his eyes and ordered him to sit down.

"My lord, is that Chen Shilang coming fiercely?" He didn't dare to sit down, and asked standing up.

The prefect said: "This person has a good way of talking and knows the general situation, but the two secretaries are arrogant and do not leave the slightest room for the official, which is very unexpected." ”

The henchman sneered: "Those two people were sent by Yan Wen, and their duty is nothing more than to make suggestions, and they don't have to bear the responsibility." Naturally, he wanted to complete the reform as soon as possible, so as to return to the DPRK and invite merit. ”

"When it comes to figuring out people's hearts, you officials still know it in your hearts." The prefect smiled and drank the soup.

"Don't take this kind of thing as a joke," the henchman said busily, "You should actively promote the relationship with Supervisor Chen, otherwise you will have no relatives and no one to clean up the situation for you, and when the time comes, they will mess up Shandong, and you will probably lose your head." This is the villain's heartfelt words, a piece of loyalty, I hope the adults will accept it! ”

After hearing this, the prefect put down the porcelain spoon in his hand and frowned: "Your words are indeed reasonable. However, Chen Jianxue did not even know whether there was a governor in Shandong, and he did not understand the local political system at all, so he would inevitably not be able to see through the current situation here. How dare you count on him now? ”

"But you also said that Chen Shilang is a smart person, as soon as he arrives in Qufu with you and looks at Xuetian, he will immediately understand. Pay attention to his expression, and if you notice anything unusual, take the opportunity to advise him not to be harsh. ”

The prefect shook his head: "The two bookstores around him are following closely, how dare I talk to the superintendent?" ”

The henchman was stunned for a while, and suddenly patted his head: "The villain has an idea!" ”

"Speak quickly!" As soon as the prefect was excited, the soup also spilled into the cuffs.

The henchman widened his eyes and looked to both sides, signaling that the matter should not be silenced; The prefect understood, so he tore a note from the table and asked him to write it himself.

Under the reflection of the candlelight, I saw my henchman wave his hand and write for a moment, gesture to the prefect, fold the note, and hand it to him; The latter also did not say a word, and silently stuffed the note into his arms.

Outside, birds were chirping on the eaves, and the lights in the study had gone out.

The next day, it was a warm day. The clerks urged Chen to get up early in the morning, and hurriedly set off, and it was even the beginning of the morning when they arrived in Qufu County.

"It's here!" The prefect grabbed the reins of the horse in front of a boxy courtyard, turned back to his comrades and said, "Supervisor Chen, this is the county school in Qufu." ”

Everyone dismounted together, and when they looked up, they could see that the scale of the yard was not large, and there were only a few scattered dead bamboos outside the door, and a few stone walls that were no more than two feet high, which had not been brushed, and there were traces of paint in the past.

"Lord Prefect, in this hometown of a saint, even the county school is so downcast!" The two clerks did not follow the two inside, but stood at the door and pointed and complained.