A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 605
The turmoil in the capital, as well as the business war on the East Road, the government and the public are all paying attention, and the officials and generals of the Xuanda towns are no exception.

In the area under its jurisdiction, the defense of Shanxi Town includes all the places in Taiyuan Prefecture, but the general army has always been stationed in Ningwu Pass, and only the governor usually stays in Taiyuan City.

The defense area of ​​Datong Town includes Datong Mansion, facing Xiawu Mountain in the south, and bordering Shanxi Town with Yanmen Pass.

Xuanfu Town, east to Longmen, is close to the land outside the Great Wall, and west to Datong Town, Tianchengwei is not far away. Tianchengwei goes west to Yanghewei, and Yanghe City has always been the residence of Xuanda Governor. place.

Except for Governor Ji Shiwei of Xuanda, Governor Zhu Zhifeng of Xuanfu, Governor Cai Maode of Shanxi, and Governor Wei Jingyuan of Datong, they either just took office, took office not long ago, or have not yet taken office.

I don't know whether Wang Dou's luck was good or bad. Among the local governors in the late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zhifeng, Cai Maode, and Wei Jingyuan, who were relatively honest, public-minded and most loyal to Daming, all gathered in the three towns of Xuanda.

In history, after Li Zicheng invaded, these three governors all committed suicide and died for the country. On the contrary, the general soldiers of the three towns of Xuanda, except Zhou Yuji, and the guarding eunuchs surrendered without surrender. Put down your arms without shame.

Of these three governors, Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of the Xuanfu, has a strong temperament and a strong character. Historically, as soon as he came to power, he impeached and imprisoned Tang Yu, the general who corrupted the law. Of course, he also has a greater desire for power and a greater desire for control. strong side.

Zhu Zhifeng was born as a Jinshi in the fifth year of Tianqi. He used to be a magistrate in Shandong. Restoring farmland, inspecting false military salaries, checking hidden fields in the town, and putting an end to the misappropriation of taxes and silver by local officials.

He presided over the compilation of the tax list in the town day and night, and he was also very concerned about Yang Guozhu's new army fields. He once severely warned that any officer who dared to attack the new army fields would be mercilessly impeached and eliminated. .

Under his strict supervision and review, the corruption phenomenon in Xuan Town was brought under control. Of course, he also inevitably offended a large number of people.

Wang Dou is famous, and the newly appointed Governor Zhu naturally knows that there are more than a sack of relevant intelligence collection, and he even summoned the East Army to prepare Ma Guoxi for detailed discussions, and it is very important for Ma Guoxi to win over Wang Dou and try his best to serve the Ming dynasty. Appreciate.

He also had the confidence to appease Wang Dou and make Xuanzhen governor and commander-in-chief a model of local civil and military cooperation and reporting to the court.

After the rumors about the capital spread to Xuanzhen, he was very angry. Regardless of his staff and the persuasion letters from his disciples and old officials, he resolutely wrote to the court to defend Wang Dou.

And when the news of Wang Dou's alliance with the frontier army came, he was equally angry. He wrote to the court and reprimanded Wang Dou. An upright position.

Governor Zhu was also angry when everyone tried to cut off foreign merchants from entering the East Road. He severely condemned the actions of profiteers who harmed the local area.
For a while, everyone looked sideways. In the early days of the Kingdom, merchants were untouchables, but now, how powerful are merchants?Even the chief assistant of a pavilion has people from merchant families one after another, and their words can be described as shocking.

And because many caravans entering the East Road have encountered criminals from various masters, and the subordinates waited for their ulterior motives. In anger, Governor Zhu personally led a bid camp and escorted some salt and tea into the East Road. The power of the major merchants is overwhelming. , and did not dare to openly kill the governor of a town and intercept his team.

When the news of Wang Dou's appointment as Marquis came, Governor Zhu immediately sent envoys to the General's Mansion on the East Road to congratulate him, saying that the Marquis of Yongning would return soon.

For a while, they were not afraid of the sky, the earth, and even death, and only called the upright two hundred and five, and all parties were helpless.

Wherever Governor Zhu went, it could be said that ghosts and gods were scattered, and no one dared to approach him, but there were fewer and fewer people who got close to him, and he was quite lonely.

Of course, after this incident, the army and civilians of the East Road still had a good impression of Governor Zhu, and Emperor Chongzhen admired him very much. In the land of Xuanzhen, there is Zhu Zhifeng on the top and Ma Guoxi on the bottom. There is still something to do.

Cai Maode, the governor of Shanxi, was a former soldier in Liaodong and Ning, and participated in politics. During the Battle of Jinzhou, he fought the enemy side by side with Wang Dou, forging a deep comrade-in-arms friendship. He even discussed Buddhist theory with Wang Dou when he was in Ningyuan. He takes Wang Shouren as his idol, is frugal and self-disciplined, and always looks like a modest gentleman.

His qualifications came early, he was a peaceful person, and he was credited with the battle of Jinzhou. At this time, he was promoted one step higher and became the governor of Shanxi Town. He was still on his way to Taiyuan. Just one sentence: "General Wang has a strong temperament, but he has made great contributions to the country, so he should not be treated like this."

He believes that peace should be the most important thing for both parties. If there is a stalemate, it will not benefit each other. In particular, everyone should block the East Road. This should not be done, and peace is the most important thing.

Datong Governor Wei Jingyuan, like Zhu Zhifeng, has principles in his bones, is just and honest, and enforces the law. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, he served as the supervisory censor of Shanxi Province. , The stick killed the Yamen beetle.

He even impeached Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, Zeng Chuqing, the servant of the Ministry of officials, and opposed Yang Sichang's proposal to suppress the salary. people.

However, unlike Zhu Zhifeng's dark face all day long, he is quite gentle, with a constant smile on his face on weekdays, and secretly, he is known as a smiling tiger.

At this time, Wei Jingyuan also took office not long ago. He didn't like the powerful local merchants. He also admired Wang Dou's efforts to fight for the country. Like Feng, he was unhappy.

He pays attention to the way he speaks, and only vaguely points out this point in the memorial, but his attitude is very clear. He said that it is inappropriate for all the people and officials to jointly block the East Road. in this way?"

Of course, the three of them are quite concerned about the outcome of the business war between Donglu and everyone.

Even this uproar gradually spread to Zhongzhou and Jiangnan, and people from all walks of life in various places also paid close attention.

It was faintly heard that King Jin of Taiyuan, King Dai of Datong, and King Gu of Xuanzhen were quite dissatisfied with Wang Dou.

Accompanied by many local civil servants and military generals, powerful people from all over the country, especially the deputy general of Xuanfu Town, the "Qian Shuguan", all commanded Zhang Guowei, who took pleasure in others' misfortunes. , Wang Dou is also too arrogant and domineering, and he should be rewarded.

But although he was happy, he didn't participate in all kinds of activities this time. Perhaps Wang Dou's slashing and killing on the East Road back then left a shadow on him. Once bitten by a snake, he was afraid of well ropes for ten years and dared not act openly again. up.

Also, Du Xun, the eunuch in charge of Xuanfu Town, also ridiculed Wang Dou. If Wang Dou is really as everyone said, wouldn't his various sources of income be cut off?He had only arrived in Xuanfu Town not long ago, and he was collecting all kinds of red envelopes and dry stocks.
Eunuchs can't be officials, can't marry wives, and they are more attracted to money. It is difficult to understand their love for gold and silver. In addition, the palace eunuchs Wang Yumin, Qi Benzheng, Zheng Zhihui and others, the local eunuch Liu Yuanbin because of Wang Dou or demoted or Death, these people are friends with Du Xun, it's no wonder they have a good impression of Wang Dou.

In mid-November, Yanghe, Xuanda Governor's Mansion.

Ji Shiwei sat in his study and pondered. The current incident on the East Road made him worry. To him, Wang Dou, the son-in-law, was more important than his own sons. arrived.

only……

Ji Shiwei let out a long sigh, lamenting that as the governor, he wanted to help with the East Road matter, but he had more energy than he wanted.

Not long ago, Ji Shiwei received the court's recommendation that he was appointed as the governor of the three towns of Xuanda. How high-spirited he was at that time.

However, soon after Ji Shiwei arrived in Yanghe, he encountered the feeling of powerlessness he felt when he was in the army. Same dust.

But right now, it is impossible to be in harmony with the light. All parties and his son-in-law are in danger of tearing their skins apart.

When everyone was besieging the East Road, he was worried and disturbed, so he asked a businessman to befriend him, leading a caravan, escorting salt and tea, and wanted to enter the East Road. Unexpectedly, the caravan set off from Yanghe City not long ago. Before approaching Xuanfu Town, the caravan was slaughtered by the "Mongols outside the Great Wall".

The businessman who made friends with him was put into a sack and trampled to death with a horse's hoof. When I saw his body, I couldn't confirm that the pile of meat was the shopkeeper He who usually talked and laughed with me?
He was angry and wanted to investigate, but he hadn't acted yet. The impeachment and attacks from all sides had come one after another, which made him burnt out.

After this time, he has deeply experienced the power of government-business collusion. For a hundred years, how powerful they have been operating, even if he is the Xuanda Governor, if he fights against it, he will feel like he is a car.

Sometimes he has the impulse in his heart to persuade his son-in-law not to fight against those businessmen, and then this idea is deeply suppressed by him.

He knows his son-in-law's temper, how can he be the one to let it go?

If he returns with the main force, it will be a time when blood will flow everywhere, thinking about it, he can't help shivering.

If this is the case, can I still be the governor?
And those three governors were not easy to get along with, which was also one of the reasons for his headache.

Perhaps, I am really not suitable for living in the officialdom. Think about the 11th year of Chongzhen, when I called my son-in-law Wang Dou to come to speak because of my daughter's elopement. A military general who can lead troops to fight may not be inferior to a literati, and the Governor may not be able to use officials in the future."

"Who can say clearly what will happen in the future? One day, maybe the governor will think that letting Jun Jiao follow me is a wise decision."

Yes, letting her daughter follow Wang Dou is indeed a wise choice.

It's just that as Wang Dou's status becomes more expensive, and now he lives in the Marquis of Yongning, Ji Shiwei also has a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart. That country woman Xie Xiuniang has a steady stream of awards, but her own daughter doesn't have a single title. This is unfair .

How honorable is my daughter's status, how can she be willing to be subordinate to the resident's wife just because of her status?
But, no matter how unwilling it is, he has secretly obtained the news that for Xie Xiuniang, the son-in-law even rejected the dignified princess, alas, what a stubborn one.

Of course, Ji Shiwei still appreciates this point, so what about the princess, if she wants to enter the Wang family, she has to wait behind her own daughter.

He suddenly made up his mind that even if the governor quit, he would collect more evidence of those profiteers for his son-in-law, so that he could justify his actions in the future.

At worst, he resigned from office and returned to the farmland afterwards, and concentrated on urging his daughter to give birth to a son.

After making up his mind, Ji Shiwei suddenly felt relaxed, and at the same time felt pity for himself. Could it be that he can only rely on his son-in-law for food?
The cheap husband-in-law is in pain.

Just as he was thinking about it, suddenly the butler came to report, and the young master begged to see him.

Ji Shiwei was refreshed, and his eldest son, Ji Boqing, still satisfied him. He will soon be transferred from the magistrate of Guangchang County to Weizhou as the magistrate.

Not long after the age of [-], the handsome Ji Boqing entered the study room, and there were whispers in the room: "... Fifth Sister wants to go further, only brother-in-law..."

After a while of silence, Ji Shiwei's furious voice came suddenly, as well as the clattering of teacups: "This bastard, I'm really mad at this old man... It's unfortunate that the family has such a trouble!"

(End of this chapter)