I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 193 The indignant poor official in Beijing

Yuan Xian'an put on his official uniform and hurried out of the courtyard, and saw everyone running in one direction.

"What's wrong?" He asked a neighbor next to him.

"I heard that it was an assistant teacher at the Imperial College. He received his salary yesterday but returned empty-handed. Last night, he was so angry that he hanged himself in the woodshed."

Yuan Xian'an was shocked. Assistant professor at the Imperial College?
Oh my God, it must not be Wei Yunlai, Brother Wei.

After turning a corner and entering Yunjin Hutong, I saw a group of people gathered in front of me, right near Wei's residence.

Yuan Xian'an felt a chill in his heart and became more and more uneasy.

As we got closer, we heard deafening cries coming from Wei's house. Women, children, the elderly and the weak were crying with hoarse voices, shaking the earth.

More than a dozen officials in green and blue robes who had rushed to the scene after hearing the news gathered at the gate of the mansion, shaking their heads and sighing, with a look of sorrow on their faces.

"Brother Wei, Brother Wei, what's wrong with you?" Yuan Xian'an staggered to the door of Wei's house and saw a corpse in the yard, lying on a door panel placed on two benches, covered with a white sheet.

Wei Yunlai's wife and four daughters surrounded the corpse and cried bitterly.

In the dim living room, four old people were sitting on the doorstep. Some were howling, some were crying silently, some were crying heart-wrenchingly, and there was an old lady who almost fainted, and a maid was frantically supporting her.

Yuan Xian'an knew Wei Yunlai's situation. He came from a poor family and his father-in-law was his enlightenment teacher. After he passed the imperial examination, his family suffered a flood. He had no brothers or relatives to take care of his parents and his father-in-law and mother-in-law, so he had to bring the four of them to Beijing to fulfill his filial piety.

She could have waited for her eldest brother to grow up and return to his hometown to support the family, but Wei Yunlai gave birth to four daughters in one go, so she had no way of returning to her hometown to support the family.

He could only wait until retirement and return to his hometown as an official. Then he could find ways to recruit some donors and live a good life as a rich man for a few years.

Yuan Xian'an rushed to the corpse, lifted the white cloth, and saw that it was indeed Wei Yunlai, with a deathly gray face, tongue sticking out, and bulging eyes.

He was shocked and quickly put down the white cloth, feeling a sense of sadness.

He and Wei Yunlai were both Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing, but they were both third-class Jinshi, and according to the rules, they were selected and sent to local places as county magistrates or county magistrates.

At that time, the Yan Party was in power and the Ministry of Personnel was controlled by Yan's father and son. They only cared about money and not people. If you didn't give enough silver to those Pi Xiu in the Ministry of Personnel, you would be directly picked up and sent to Yunnan and Guangxi. If you were in poor health, you would die on the way to your post.

He and Wei Yunlai pooled some money and gave it to the Ministry of Personnel, and only then was he able to stay in Beijing and become an official in a leisurely government office.

There is no way. The county magistrates in remote and cold places such as Yunnan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Guangxi, and Liaodong are bad jobs and they will assign you there if you don't pay.

Being a county magistrate in the southeast, Central Plains, Shanxi, Shandong, Huguang, Lianghuai and other hinterland areas is a good job, especially in Jiangnan and Liangzhe, which is a lucrative job and can only be obtained if you pay money.

The little money Yuan Xian'an and Wei Yunlai stuffed into the Ministry of Personnel could only save them from having to make a trip to cold and bitter border areas like Yunnan. If they wanted to get a good and lucrative job, they had to pay more!

If you don't have money to pay, then just stay in this leisurely government office in Beijing and wait it out.

"Brother Wei, my brother Wei, why can't you understand why you left like this!"

Yuan Xian'an was overwhelmed with grief and cried loudly for a few times.

Soon, several other fellow disciples or close friends arrived one after another, surrounded Wei Yunlai's body, wailed a few times, and shed a few tears.

Then they gathered in the yard to discuss things.

"Brother Wei's family is extremely poor. We all need to help with the funeral expenses," said a mature classmate.

His name was Zhou Bingzhou, and he worked as a censor in the Censorate.

"Brother Zhou is right. When Brother Wei leaves, the family will be full of old and young women and children. The funeral will cost money, and carrying the coffin back to the hometown will cost another amount. The old, weak, women and children will also need money to settle down when they return to their hometown.

The Imperial College may have some compensation, but the current situation of the court doesn't seem to have much. We are all classmates, hometown friends and friends of Brother Wei. It would be unreasonable not to help him."

The person who spoke was Li Zhibin, who was the head of the Ministry of Rites.

"Okay, I just got my salary yesterday. This morning I asked my servants to go and exchange the pepper for money. They should be back by now. I'll go back and get some silver. Let's all pool our money together."

"Brother Yuan is right, let's all get together."

Everyone apologized to Mrs. Wei and went home to get the silver. When they got home, Yuan Xian'an waited for a while and saw the servant who went to exchange money came back angrily, carrying the six liters of pepper.

Yuan Xian'an was shocked: "What's wrong?"

"Master, I went to more than ten grocery stores, but none of them would accept it."

"This is pepper, it's usually in great demand, why don't you buy it?"

"Master, the shopkeeper and the clerks of the grocery store have said that this month and the next two months, the Ministry of Revenue will distribute pepper. The whole capital is full of pepper sellers, and the price has been falling since yesterday.

They first collected the pepper from officials of the third rank and above, and then from officials of the fourth and fifth ranks. After they had collected their pepper, it was our turn, but no one knew what the price would be at that time.

Master, I have asked, even the ministers and ministers, their pepper is discounted by 80%."

Yuan Xian'an felt a chill in his heart. If the pepper sold by the Shangshu Shilang was discounted by 80%, wouldn't he, a seventh-rank official, be in big trouble?
With no other options, Yuan Xian'an turned to his wife and asked, "Is there any money left at home?"

Yuan's wife shook her head and answered through gritted teeth: "No more."

"Wei Feiqi hanged himself last night. He is dead. His whole family is crying in the yard. The old and the young are all in the house, with women and children. Several of us, good friends of the same age, have discussed and decided to raise some money so that Brother Wei can pass away in a dignified manner!"

Yuan's wife was silent for a while, then went back to the house and took out two taels of silver. "This is all the change we have at home. I'll give it all to you."

Yuan Xian'an sighed deeply, took the little silver, and hurried back to Wei's house sadly.

Soon, Zhou Bingzhou, Li Zhibin and several other good friends of the same age came back, collected fifteen taels of silver, and handed it to Wei's wife, asking her to deal with Wei Yunlai's funeral with peace of mind.

Several people gathered in a corner of the yard, and the more they thought about it, the angrier they became.

"Those bastards in the Ministry of Revenue don't treat us as human beings! We don't have much salary to begin with, and they want to reduce our salary. How can we live?"

"Now Brother Wei has been forced to death. We can't even get enough money for the funeral. We are worse than beggars! It really makes me beat my chest and stamp my feet!"

"No, we can't let these traitors cause chaos in our government!"

"Submit an impeachment petition?"

"It's useless! Minister of Finance Gao Gong is the emperor's teacher in the palace, how can he be impeached?"

"Oh, the court sees us as beggars, so let's be beggars for once!" Zhou Bingzhou said angrily. He raised his arm and shouted, "Everyone, why don't we go to Chaoyang Gate and beg for some money for Brother Wei? We should also let the dignitaries in the court see how they have ruined the court's finances by sitting in office and doing nothing!"

Li Zhibin immediately responded, "Okay, that's right, the Ministry of Revenue regards all officials as beggars, so let's become beggars for once!"

The others were also very excited.

Yes, there is no article in the ancient national law that forbids officials from being beggars. The Ministry of Revenue is messing around like this, we must disgust them to death!
Soon, someone went home and got a piece of white cloth, someone brought pen and ink, and everyone brought a bowl. Then they went to Chaoyang Gate, and lined up on the busiest street, squatting on the roadside, placing bowls and hanging banners.

"The Ministry of Revenue is unscrupulous. They forced their colleagues to death and begged for alms to raise money for the funeral!"

Five officials in green and blue robes became beggars inside Chaoyang Gate and begged on the street. The news spread throughout the capital like the wind.

When Xu Jie, who was in the cabinet duty room, heard this, his expression changed slightly and he called in his trusted aides.

"Mr. Xu, this matter is obviously directed at Gao Xinzheng."

"I know. Go check who is behind this, whether it's someone from Xiyuan or one of ours."

"Yes, the student will check it out right away."

In Xiyuan, Zhu Yijun heard about this and couldn't help but slam the table, "Gao Xinzheng is the one who messed up the matter!"

He stood up, put his hands in his sleeves, walked back and forth, then turned to Feng Bao and said, "Go and invite Mr. Shilu, Mr. Dazhou, Mr. Taiyue, and Mr. Shu'an."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)