Traveler Major League

Chapter 310 I’m going to buy a county magistrate’s title too!
When the sound of gossip reached the ears of the county magistrate, his originally leisurely expression froze in an instant, replaced by panic and uneasiness.

He knew that killing an official in the Ming Dynasty was tantamount to rebellion, but what about killing an official who had retired? Especially for someone like him who was hated by everyone, if he continued to stay in this county, he would probably be in danger.

So he decided to escape without hesitation.

What farewell party, what umbrella, at this moment, has become nothing but clouds in his mind.

He no longer cared about the empty pomp and face, he just wanted to save his life as soon as possible.

That night, he took a few trusted followers and porters and hurried out of the city under the cover of darkness. He did not even take the sedan chair that was necessary for daily travel, for fear that it would expose his whereabouts, and fled the county in such a panic.

This scene is just like the scene in "Water Margin" when Yang Zhi was escorting the birthday gift. In order to avoid the thieves, Yang Zhi chose not to lead a large group of horses and soldiers, hoping to disguise himself and get away with it.

But this method, can be said to be effective, it can indeed conceal one's tracks to a certain extent; but it is useless, once you are targeted, you will ultimately not be able to escape the disaster.

Our county magistrate is in the same situation right now.

The next day, the spy at the inn at the foot of the mountain keenly discovered this group of suspicious "traders". The spy did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately went up the mountain to report to Han Yuechuan: "Boss, that group of people must be the county magistrate's group. Someone has recognized one of the doormen. Should we rob them?"

When Han Yuechuan heard this, his eyes widened and he shouted loudly: "Needless to say, just one word: rob!" His momentum was, as if there was nothing in the world that he dared not do. Robbery with the report of the local gentry and the traitor was the easiest thing to do, and they had been waiting for it for a long time.

Following Han Yuechuan's order, everyone acted quickly.

On that day, our former county magistrate and his family and entourage were ambushed and surrounded. There was no way to escape, no way to the sky or the earth.

At first, the county magistrate was still hoping for a lucky break, thinking he could get away with it. He thought to himself that he would have to spend some money, but as long as he could save his life, he could make plans later.

Let's just fool them first. After all, they had heard of Han Yuechuan's name before and knew that he was well-behaved and had no bad reputation. Maybe there was still a glimmer of hope.

The county magistrate stepped forward, smiling, and said respectfully: "Please spare us, sir. We are honest businessmen and do not know the rules of your place. We have offended you unintentionally. Please be merciful. We are willing to pay the toll as an apology."

If Han Yuechuan and the others didn't know their background on normal days, they might have been fooled by their words. But today, everyone around had already received the news, and they were waiting for them.

Han Yuechuan raised his lips slightly, sneered and said: "That's right, but we can only know if you are merchants after searching!" After that, he waved his hand, and his men rushed forward and turned the luggage upside down. After searching, they found that it was full of gold and silver treasures, shining temptingly in the sun.

Now, no matter how much the county magistrate and others explained, it was useless. Although none of them, the peasants, knew the county magistrate, but looking at this scene, who else could it be but them?

So, Han Yuechuan asked about their true background after a few words.

With the porters' evidence, it was clear that this group of people was exactly their target - the county magistrate.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Han Yuechuan sat on an old wooden chair, looked at the county magistrate with cold eyes, and asked, "Master, you broke the rules and offended the gentry. Why? Do you think you can escape with your life?"

The county magistrate was already pale with fear. His wrinkled face turned pale and blue due to fear, like a palette. He said tremblingly, "What else can I do? If I don't break the rules, I won't get any money, and I won't be able to escape death. Maybe I'll end up in a worse situation and bring trouble to my family."

Han Yuechuan listened quietly as the former county magistrate spoke slowly, and only then did he reveal the inside story.

It turned out that at this time, the eunuch party of Wei Zhongxian was in power, and he knew the difficulties of being in charge. Liaodong needed money, the southwest needed money, and the warehouses everywhere were empty. Having climbed up from the bottom, he knew that the emperor could not send hungry soldiers, and he knew the importance of money. So, he naturally began to make money, only caring about money and ignoring other things.

No matter who you are, whether you are a landlord, a bully, a smuggler, or a pirate, as long as you have money, someone can help you get an official position. This official business, with clear prices and no deception, is truly a short-lived crazy era.

Not enough money? Not enough money? That's not a solution. As long as you are brave, there are people who can lend you money. For example, the wealthy merchants in Shanxi have connections that can get you anywhere, even in the important towns of the nine borders. Whether it's Mobei or Liaodong, armor, food, weapons, gunpowder, as long as it's a business that makes money, they will do it, not to mention the stable business of buying and selling officials.

They are easy to do and love to do it! And this county magistrate is one of the bravest ones. He is over fifty years old and has no ability to take the imperial examination, but he has the courage to buy an official position with money, and it is very bold.

The person who goes through the process first agrees on what kind of official position he will be appointed to and how much money he will be loaned. That is clearly marked and reasonable. It is more convenient and quicker than actually going through the imperial examinations to run for an official position, entertain guests, give gifts, and rely on personal connections.

Besides, officials who take this path are closer to each other, right? They can look after each other.

As long as you sign the document and agree on a time to repay the money used to buy the official position, including the principal and interest, then everything will be fine and the rest will be yours.

Nine out of 13 return, no matter how high the interest is, as long as you squeeze more money out of the people, you can still make some money.

There are skills involved. You have to be clever and legitimate in making money. The distribution of interests with local tyrants such as the gentry is a big deal.

As the saying goes, the county magistrate may come and go, but the master remains.

Fairness should be the key to sharing the public benefits equally. If you do it well, you will be a good and honest official. If you do it poorly, your reputation will be poor.

But this rule was broken by the county magistrate. Although there were disasters year after year, the common people really had no money to make.

But you can buy and sell human beings, hoard goods, lend money at high interest rates, and engage in corruption!

But you should never take food from the mouths of the gentry. This is a taboo, and how can you do it without paying a price? You may be harmed by some rioters and strongmen, and lose both your money and your life.

But if we don't do this, it will be even worse if we can't pay back the money we borrowed to buy the official position. Those people have connections everywhere.

Now that the written agreement has been signed, if you cannot pay it back, not only will you suffer a bad fate, but your relatives and family will also be implicated and suffer misfortune.

It's the lesser of two evils, so I have no choice but to take the risk and go down this path.

Now that the county magistrate was arrested, he accepted his fate. He knew that he would never be able to pay back the money, so it would be better for him to die and put an end to it all, so as not to bring trouble to his family.

Putting aside the county magistrate who was sitting on the ground with a pale face, Han Yuechuan was obviously more interested in being an official.

He stared at the county magistrate and asked, "As long as there are connections, anyone can buy an official position?"

The county magistrate replied weakly: "As long as you have money, it's all right."

Han Yuechuan's eyes lit up, and he asked again, "Can I be a county magistrate?"

"To be able to do that, you need to be rich!" the county magistrate replied weakly.

Han Yuechuan stood up and pointed at the loot that had just been looted and piled up, saying, "This is just money."

Yes, this was the money for buying an official position that the former county magistrate earned by working hard to extort money from the land. It was enough to buy an official position, and even the official uniform and other necessities were all there.

Han Yuechuan paid the porters and servants who were unaware of the situation and kept the county magistrate and his cronies in custody.

As for the gentry's money, Han Yuechuan didn't want to share it. He had only one thought in his mind at this moment: "I'm going to buy a county magistrate's position too!"

(End of this chapter)