The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 171 The price of being late

Chizhou Mansion, on a street in Qingyang County, a policeman in official uniform walked down the street in a daze, his former air had long since disappeared.

"Xu Tou, why haven't you left yet?"

"It's coming soon."

Facing the inquiries from familiar vendors along the street, the head catcher could only force a smile, and casually said.

The arrester was Xu Fu, a small head arrester in the county government office. After the implementation of the New Deal, he was awarded the official rank of nine ranks. After the cabinet's transfer order came down, Xu Fu, like other officials, resisted very much.

Even after the cabinet's second strict order came down, Xu Fu still didn't give up. He wanted to talk to the county magistrate about staying in Qingyang County, and spent a lot of money on this.

But at the beginning, the county magistrate took the money, and because Xu Fu was very respectful on weekdays, he agreed with all his heart, but his attitude became colder day by day, so that he didn't see him today, which made Xu Fu's heart sink to the bottom.

What made him even more anxious was that the familiar people in the yamen had left long ago, and all the strangers came, and today his position was taken by a head catcher who just arrived.

In addition, it was only the last ten days until the end of April, Xu Fu was completely resigned, knowing that he had been deceived by the county magistrate, and he must not delay any longer.

"Master, why did you come back so early today? Did the magistrate get a reply?"

As soon as Xu Fu returned home, a woman with a big belly greeted him.

Immediately, four people, old and young, came out of the room.

As soon as the courtyard entered the courtyard, there were three main rooms and two side rooms each. Although they looked a little crude, they were kept quite clean, and the family looked good.

Although it is not a wealthy family, it is really rare to have such a place to settle down in the troubled times.

Looking at the expectant eyes of his elderly parents, young siblings, and his wife who was six or seven months pregnant, Xu Fu also sighed.

"Don't mention it, the county magistrate didn't see you at all today, he probably has been cheating on me all this time, and today another arrester came and took my place too."

"What, then what can we do?"

"There is no time. We must sell the fields and houses outside the city as soon as possible, and set off immediately, otherwise it will be too late."

"But my body is inconvenient, and my father's legs and feet are not good. I heard that Dingyuan County is hundreds of miles away from our Qingyang County."

"Son, our family's ten-acre field is all good farmland. Why don't we stop working in the yamen, and we can live by guarding those ten-acre field."

"That's right, brother, this person who left his hometown went to Dingyuan County, and he doesn't know what will happen in the future."

The whole family was obviously reluctant to sell the land and the house, and the old father and wife had mobility problems, which made Xu Fu not hesitate to take out all the family savings and wanted to stay in Qingyang County.

"What you said sounds good. Without this skin, who will take me seriously in the future?"

Xu Fu said in a bad mood, he knew that without the errands in the yamen and the contacts in the yamen before, life in Qingyang County would only be more difficult in the future, and the ten acres of fertile land would definitely not be preserved.

"But in Dingyuan County, this place is unfamiliar, where will our family live?" The pregnant wife looked worried.

"There must be a way for the car to reach the mountain. Anyway, I am now a ninth-rank official. As long as I have an official status, it is better to go to a new place than to stay here. Besides, isn't there a monthly salary of five taels of silver? Even if there is no land, I can feed you."

"Come on, you have been working in the yamen for so long, when did you get paid?" His wife gave him a blank look.

"Although I don't have a salary, the money I get every year is no less than the salary. Well, it's settled like this. You guys clean up quickly. I'll find someone now..."

Even if the family didn't want to, they had no choice but to turn around and go back to the house to clean up, while Xu Fu went to the Yamen again. Although many big merchants had approached him recently, the price they offered was too low.

So he wanted to go to the yamen and ask those who had just arrived, if anyone wanted to buy land or a house.

As a result, when I came to the Yamen to inquire, a group of officials and officials almost didn't steal their heads. In the end, more than ten acres of land and the house were sold for more than 200 taels.

The next day, the whole family hired two carriages and set off for Dingyuan County in Fengyang Prefecture.

There are still many petty officials like Xu Fu who were deceived, but almost none of them were deceived until April [-]th like him. Most of them woke up not long after being deceived by the county magistrate.

Dingyuan County is located in the south of Fengyang Prefecture. The county magistrate is Wu Hong, a new Jinshi who just took office not long ago.

At this time, he looked at the master book and asked: "Master Wang, today is the end of April, have all the staff in the county government offices arrived?"

"My lord, except for Xu Fu, the nine-rank head arrester in Qingyang County, who has not yet arrived, all the rest have arrived." The chief secretary hurriedly replied.

"Hmph, I haven't arrived today, so I don't think I will come. I will prepare the official document tonight, and after I check the seal, I will send it to Nanjing tomorrow morning!"

Wu Hong snorted coldly, then waved his hand and ordered.

"It's my lord, I'm going to prepare now."

Originally, the magistrate should be responsible for the official document to verify the situation of the county government personnel, but Wu Hong pushed it to the head of the head book, and the head book didn't dare to refuse.

"Master Wang, I heard that the atmosphere in the yamen is very bad recently, don't blame me for not reminding you, as the saying goes, it's short-handed to take people, and short-mouthed to eat people.

Both His Majesty and the Mace brothers attach great importance to the new policy this time. If something goes wrong, it may not be as simple as dismissing the official. "

"The lower official understands, don't worry, my lord, the brothers all know the seriousness, this is some of the brothers' wishes, and I hope the lord will accept it."

The master also understood that the county magistrate was jealous of the big guys accepting gifts from those big merchants these days, so he hurriedly took out the filial gift list that he had prepared in advance.

Wu Hong took the gift list and looked at it, and then threw it on the table. He couldn't see any reaction on his face, but said in a cold voice: "I will accept your wishes, and you don't need money."

"My lord, this..."

Seeing that he didn't accept it, the director was also a little surprised.

"Go back."

"Yes!"

After the director left, Wu Hongcai sneered.

These guys have collected the money from those big families, and when the time comes to measure the land, they will definitely play tricks.

If he accepts their filial money now, if the matter is revealed and found out, he will definitely be dismissed and investigated.

And if he didn't collect their money, he would be at most negligent and be admonished.

If he can hide it from the past in the end, he has a lot of ways to make them filial, so there is no need to be so anxious.

There is no way, both His Majesty and Nama Shiying attach great importance to the New Deal this time, if you are not cautious, you will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor sooner or later.

at the same time.

At the gate of the city, Xu Fu's family hurried and hurried, and finally arrived outside the city of Dingyuan. Seeing that the gate was closing, Xu Fu rushed forward, shouting.

"Wait...wait a minute..."

"Damn, where is the bird man, looking for death."

When Xu Fu rushed to the gate of the city, the gate had been closed so that only one person could pass through. The officials and soldiers guarding the gate saw that someone was disturbing and prevented the gate from closing, so they all drew their swords and glared at each other.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, I'm Xu Fu. I'm the head arrester of the county government who just took office. I'm delayed on the way. I would like to ask my brothers to make it easier and do me a favor. I will definitely invite everyone to drink and thank you some other day!"

Xu Fu hurriedly smiled and explained, and also took out his badge and official documents.

Sure enough, when the little official and the soldiers heard that this guy was a head catcher who had just taken office, their attitudes immediately became intimate.

"It turned out to be Brother Xu, disrespect and disrespect, little brother Liu San..."

After introducing each other politely, the soldiers opened the city gate again, and at this time the carriage also drove up.

Xu Fu also heaved a sigh of relief, seeing their attitudes, he knew that it was right for him to choose to take office.

After inquiring about some news with these soldiers, and making an appointment for a treat, Xu Fucai brought a group of family members to an inn.

At this time, it was already dark, and Wu Hong was about to fall asleep, when he learned that Xu Fu, who was late, finally came to see him, he was furious, but he still ordered someone to take him to the study.

"Xu Fu, the next official, has a meeting with the county magistrate."

Although Xu Fu is also an official, he still bows down.

He knows whether he can take office now, it all depends on a word from the county magistrate. He has already inquired about it just now. And does not have his name.

"Get up, Xu Fu, why did you come here today? Don't you know the deadline set by the Ministry of Officials?" Wu Hong said coldly.

"Returning to my lord, my wife is pregnant and my father is unable to move, so he was delayed on the road. I would like to ask your lord to be more accommodating. I am very grateful."

Xu Fu didn't bother, and directly gritted his teeth and took out 100 taels of silver. He knew that if the county magistrate really didn't want to give him a chance, he wouldn't meet him.

"Well, it turns out that's the case, but it's understandable. After all, you arrived today, and you're not overdue. Anyway, I'll just draft another official document. You should go back and settle down first!"

Seeing that this guy took out 100 taels of silver in one go, Wu Hong nodded in satisfaction, his tone softened, and he waved his hand after speaking.

He took this money with peace of mind, and with this 100 taels of silver, it is not impossible for him to write a new official document himself.

"Thank you, my lord, then I will take my leave first."

Xu Fu hurriedly thanked him, his heart was so painful that he was about to bleed, and his intestines were full of regrets. If he had directly chosen to take up the post from the beginning, he would not have been involved in more than 200 taels back and forth.

After Xu Fu arrived, there were more than 120 small and high-ranking officials in Dingyuan County, and all of them were present. Obviously, no one was willing to give up his official position.

After the official document was sent to the Ministry of Officials in Nanjing, in the following days, Wu Hong, the county magistrate, and all the officials were waiting for the government's decree to implement the new land policy.

The gentry and landowners everywhere are also waiting. Obviously, everyone wants to know what the new land tax policy is.

But seven days later, instead of the decree on the land, everyone waited for the announcement of the distribution of salaries.

What surprised all the officials was that the imperial court actually wanted to pay the salary this time, and they still had to go to the bank in the county where they were located to open some kind of account to receive the salary every month.

Everyone felt very novel.

(End of this chapter)