I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 137: Governor Zhang Checks the Accounts as Soon as He Arrives
Wangxuzhai Post Station was changed from the former Wangxuzhai Front Left.

Laizhou prefect Ding Wu and Denglai military deputy envoy Liang Chuyong were sitting at the dining table in the main hall of the post station, talking in low voices.

"Brother Liang, I heard that Zhang Futai is your master?"

"Yes, in the 32nd year of Jiajing, Zhang Futai, as a distinguished Hanlin, presided over the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination and luckily saw my paper. At the Luming Banquet, Zhang Futai also gave me some careful guidance, which enabled me to make further progress in the examination."

Seeing the pride in Liang Chuyong's eyes, Ding Wu felt jealous, envious and hateful.

"Brother Liang is so lucky that he can actually worship Zhang Futai as his teacher. Everyone in the court knows that Zhang Futai is not only the tutor of the crown prince, but also the tutor of the crown prince's grandson. Zhang Futai has been a teacher and student for two generations of crown princes. The emperor's favor will continue for decades.

Brother Liang, when you are successful in the future, don't forget Ding Wu, who used to eat with you at Wangxuzhai Inn. "

"Brother Ding, you are too polite. Everyone knows that your master is Duke Gao of Xinzheng. Everyone in the court knows that in front of the East Palace, who can compare with Duke Gao of Xinzheng in terms of trust?"

Ding Wu sighed and said worriedly, "Brother Liang, you don't know. I am from Luzhou, Shanxi. I was lucky enough to be selected by Xinzheng Gong. Logically, I should be a member of the Jin Party.

However, Ding's career has not been smooth in recent years. He has been transferred from place to place and has not been in their eyes. In the 40th year of Jiajing, Ding went to Beijing to report on his work and sent his name cards to the residences of Chen Xixue and Zhang Siwei.

The servants at Chen Xixue's mansion looked down on Ding, who was still a judge, and threw his name card out. At Zhang Siwei's mansion, they asked for my article. Unfortunately, Ding's article was poorly written, and Zhang Siwei replied with a comforting word, and nothing more happened.

Liang Chuyong leaned over and said, "Brother Ding, this is a blessing in disguise! If you had become Chen Xixue's disciple..."

The two men couldn't help but shudder when they thought of Chen Xixue's family who were all killed.

Ding Wu said with a distressed look on his face: "Xinzheng Public School has many students, and they don't need a mediocre person like Ding."

Liang Chuyong could tell that this person was planning to change his allegiance.

But he had no say in the matter. He hadn't even become a disciple yet, so how could he dare to respond to such a question?

"Hey, why hasn't Zhang Futai come yet?" Liang Chuyong asked deliberately.

"Futai Zhang will first go to question the postmen at the post station. They are in the side yard and we have to wait for a while." Ding Wu replied.

This is Laizhou Prefecture, his territory, and he is the one who arranges all matters.

"Oh," Liang Chuyong said, and changed the subject to something else.

Zhang Juzheng summoned the postmaster and postmen of Wangxuzhai Post Station in the side courtyard and had a talk with them.

While asking questions, Zhang Juzheng was thinking about the imperial post system in his mind.

According to Taizu's custom, the Ming Dynasty post stations were divided into water horse post stations, express delivery stations, and delivery offices.

The Shuima Post is divided into Ma Post and Shui Post.

Water horse stations were the most numerous in the dynasty. Horse stations were set up on land routes, and water stations were set up where there were water routes.

Wangxuzhai Post Station is a horse post station.

It takes exactly one day to travel between the two water horse stations.

The distance between horse stations is sixty to eighty li, and the distance between water stations is one hundred to one hundred and twenty li.

The express delivery shop originated in the early Song Dynasty, when it was called "Jijiaodi".

The Qing dynasty inherited this system and carried it forward.

"There is an express delivery shop every ten miles," which is specially used to deliver urgent matters such as military intelligence and political orders.

Zhang Juzheng knew that in reality, due to topographical factors, the roads were not as uniform as this one. There were Balipu, Twenty-lipu and even Sanshilipu in various places.

The delivery office was the first of its kind in the Ming Dynasty. In fact, it was simply a separate establishment for the cattle, mule, donkey, and camel stations in the former Yuan Dynasty.

The Guochao abolished the former Song Dynasty's Transportation Bureau, so there was no unified delivery department in the local area, and all transportation was carried out separately by prefecture and county.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the transportation was done by the garrisons of various guards.

Later, Emperor Taizu discovered that this would easily affect the combat effectiveness of the local garrison troops, so he set up separate delivery stations, one in each city.

Liu, the postmaster at Wangxuzhai Post Station, is fat and big-eared, and seems to be living a comfortable life.

The postmen were all dark, thin and dry, just like dried-up firewood.

When Zhang Juzheng asked questions, Liu Yicheng's answers were very appropriate. He had received and seen off many guests and was quite knowledgeable. The other postmen were timid and cowardly, stammering and mumbling, and it was unclear what they were saying.

Zhang Juzheng knew that all the post stations in the imperial court were nominally under the jurisdiction of the Military and Chariot Administration, but in reality they were "directly affiliated with the prefectures, counties, and their income and expenditure were recorded."

In other words, the officials of the post stations were handed over to the prefectures and counties where they were located, and the expenses were also borne by the prefectures and counties.

The financial and taxation system of the imperial court was terrible, and the imperial court had no control over any expenses of the post stations.

What should the local government do when it is caught in the crossfire? They can only apportion the burden.

Then it's a mess.

Zhang Juzheng asked more than a dozen questions, took a look at the situation of the post station, and said, "Liu Yicheng, bring the post station inspection book."

Liu Yicheng was stunned. Could it be that the governor wanted to check the accounts?
He is not afraid of audits!
The Ming Dynasty Express Delivery Shop was only responsible for delivering urgent letters, the Delivery Office was only responsible for transporting goods, and only the Water Horse Post had the function of receiving travelers.

But the Shuima Post Station is not a place where just anyone can stay. You must have a post station token issued by the Ministry of War’s Chariot and Vehicle Department, which states your identity, where you are going, what you are going to do, the places you are passing through, and other information.

Then take this post token and stay at post stations along the way, with food and accommodation provided.

The post station verification book is a record kept by the post station chief after he has verified that the post station token is correct. It also records how many days the person stayed, how many meals he had, and how much money and grain he spent. The book needs to be reported to the county or state government.

Liu Yicheng ate such a rich diet and never falsified the food in the inspection records. He just diluted the food with water.

There were three people, the master and his servants, but he wrote five.

He stayed for two days and wrote for three days.

He spent ten taels of silver in cash and wrote off twenty taels.

No matter where in the world, who would chase after those people to check their accounts?

Zhang Juzheng flipped through the post office records and soon saw several familiar names.

Chen Yide, a Hanlin scholar from the Hanlin Academy, passed by Wangxuzhai Posthouse on August 26. He and his six servants stayed there for one day, spending five taels, six cents and three cents on food and money.
Chen Yide?
Old colleague, very familiar, often in contact.

He has been in the capital this year and has never left the capital. How come he is here at Wangxuzhai Post Station?

I remembered that at the beginning of the year, his nephew went to Beijing from his hometown, saying that he was visiting relatives, but in fact he was going to open up opportunities for next year's provincial examination.

He left Beijing in early August, reportedly by sea to Dengzhou, then walked south overland to Jiaozhou, from where he took a boat straight to Shanghai, and then went up the river back to Jiujiang.

If you don't get seasick, it's fast and comfortable.

So it seems that the person who passed by Wangxuzhai Post Station on August 26 was Chen Yide's nephew.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is truly observant. He actually noticed this malpractice in the post station that was hardly noticed by others, and he even mentioned the matter before leaving.

That's why I investigated it carefully, and it turned out to be a stagnant pool with many problems.

Since the Zhengde period, the post token became a gift. Officials would ask for one and give it to their relatives and friends. It became a must-have for traveling at home and visiting relatives and friends.

The Ministry of War's Chariot and Vehicle Department will accept anyone as long as your official rank is high enough and you have a certain reputation. They will give you the postal tokens at will, since they don't have to pay for it anyway.

"Liu Yicheng, show me the accounts of Wangxuzhai Post Station for the past three years."

Liu Yicheng, who had a clear conscience, immediately took out the accounts. Zhang Juzheng looked through them and found that the money and grain expenditure of Wangxuzhai Post Station was higher every year.

Zhang Juzheng had an idea in mind, so he asked his staff to copy down some data, and sent Liu Yicheng and the postmen away to the hall.

"Sir Ding, Deputy Envoy Liang, I am late. Please forgive me!"

As soon as he entered the door, Zhang Juzheng bowed politely.

"You are too polite, Governor. I am honored to meet you." Ding Wu responded quickly.

"I am Liang Chuyong, a student, and I am here to greet my teacher, sir." Liang Chuyong performed the great salute between teacher and student.

Zhang Juzheng narrowed his eyes, "Liang Chuyong? I remember now. That year, I presided over the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination and selected you. Haha, what a fate. Both of you sit down, both of you sit down."

(End of this chapter)