Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 139 Allegiance
After Chen Bangyan left, a blue-robed official soon walked into the hall and began to tell everyone what the city inspectors were responsible for, and everyone stood quietly and listened.
After the blue-robed official finished speaking, several clerks carried two boxes into the hall. The blue-robed official above took a list of names and began to call out the names.

"Gongchenfang West District, Inspector Wang Bao, Deputy Inspector Zheng Yan, Liu Changqing... these five people come forward to receive their official badges."

After the clerk finished speaking, a middle-aged man named Wang Bao, wearing a long shirt, stepped out from the left, his face excited.

The crowd dispersed and looked at the middle-aged man with envy. Wang Bao quickly led four men who also looked delighted.

"Here are the official hat, badge, and certificate you've been waiting for. Keep them safe."

The blue-robed official handed Wang Bao a black gauze hat, a wooden waist badge, and a document with a seal, and the handover was complete.

The blue-robed official wanted to send Wang Bao and his men away and continue calling for help, but Wang Bao, holding his official hat in his hand, was trembling slightly and his face was red.

He was nearly forty years old, and he had failed the provincial examination after years of taking it. He had already given up on the path of imperial examinations out of despair. There were countless ordinary scholars like him in the Ming Dynasty. People like them would never be able to wear the official robes and the gauze hat in their entire lives.

Those who passed the imperial examination all dreamed of wearing a green robe to support the emperor and bring peace to the people. However, the path to the imperial examination was too cruel. Not to mention the red robe, how many people in the world could finally wear a green robe?

Wang Bao held the gauze hat and the thin certificate, his eyes slightly red. He walked to the front of the hall, stepped back a few steps, and suddenly knelt down in front of the empty throne above.
"Your Highness, I, Wang Bao, will swear to be loyal to you till death in order to repay your grace."

Wang Baopang kowtowed respectfully to the empty seat like a warrior.
The blue-robed official was about to continue calling for help, but when he saw the middle-aged scholar bowing respectfully, he was stunned for a moment, and then he waited quietly on the side with a solemn expression on his face.
Several other deputy inspectors who were in charge of the same area as Wang Bao also woke up as if from a dream. They all held up their official hats and bowed down to the empty throne behind Wang Bao.
After Wang Bao and his companions kowtowed, they left the hall holding their official documents. At this moment, the originally noisy hall suddenly became solemn. Everyone stood to one side with a serious look, no longer as casual as before.

Suddenly, a space in the main seat area in front of the hall was vacant. After the blue-robed official on the side of the hall called a group of people, someone came forward to receive the official hat and certificate of status, and then knelt respectfully in front of the empty main seat, kowtowed and saluted. Everyone in the hall also looked solemn, watching the person in front salute.
The originally somewhat childish ceremony of awarding officials suddenly became serious. Everyone followed the sudden process, accepting the official post, bowing, and then leaving.

In the process of kneeling and knocking, their identities have changed from ordinary people to officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Chen Shangchuan stood in the field for about a quarter of an hour before he finally heard his name.
"Cangqian Street Central District, Patrol Inspector Chen Shangchuan, Deputy Patrol Inspector Qu Dajun, Kuang Hong, Chen Qice, these four people come forward to receive their official titles."

Chen Shangchuan had a solemn expression on his face. He stepped forward and took the official hat and certificate from the blue-robed official with both hands. Then he led Qu Dajun and the other two, holding the official hat and certificate, and knelt down in front of the empty hall.
"Your Highness, I, Chen Shangchuan, Qu Dajun, Kuang Hong, and Chen Qice, swear to be loyal to you till death in order to repay your highness's great kindness."

After the three of them kowtowed respectfully, they stood up, holding their veiled hats, and walked out of the hall toward the passage left on the left. The blue-robed official behind them began to call out the names of the people.

Chen Shangchuan led the three people to the side yard. At this time, the courtyard was already filled with officials who had received official titles, with three or five people standing in each place.
Chen Shangchuan led the three of them to a corner, where they had a chance to see the people in the same area as him.

Qu Dajun and Kuang Hong on the left are both wearing long robes, and they are obviously as famous as Chen Shangchuan. Chen Qice on the right is a big man wearing a black robe, and he looks like a clerk.

The four of them greeted each other, and Chen Shangchuan also found out their origins.
The younger one is Qu Dajun, courtesy name Wengshan, a student from Nanhai County. The one wearing a sword at the side is Kuang Hong, courtesy name Jumeng, also a student from Nanhai County.
The two are good friends, both of them are from Nanhai County, and are real Guangzhou natives.

The burly figure on the right wearing a black robe is Chen Qice, courtesy name Zhenggong. He is indeed a clerk and the leader of the Xinhui County Zhuangban. This time he was escorting the autumn silver of Xinhui County into Guangzhou City, but he was trapped in the city before he could return.

There was chaos in the city last night, and someone took advantage of the chaos to loot Chen Qice's residence.

Chen Qice led several of his yamen runners to fight off the bandits and protect the peace of the nearby people. This morning, the government office recruited people to guard the city, and Chen Qice was nominated by the people in his neighborhood to come to the government office to apply for the selection.

The four people passed their names, and Chen Shangchuan spoke

"Just now in the hall, the court has informed us of our duties. Each of us inspectors is in charge of a district. Although there are many responsibilities, they can be summarized into three: one is to recruit soldiers to defend the city, two is to sell official grain, and three is to be responsible for the public security of the area under our jurisdiction. We must not allow chaos in the city again."

Qu Dajun and the other two nodded slightly after hearing this. Chen Shangchuan thought for a moment and then said
"Among these three points, recruiting soldiers to defend the city is the most important. The magistrate of the prefecture government emphasized this when he introduced it just now. He ordered us to recruit civilians immediately after we return. It can be seen that the situation outside the city is quite urgent."

Upon hearing this, Qu Dajun looked at Chen Shangchuan and said
"Brother Shengcai's words make sense. Your Highness was attacked outside the city, and the imperial guards must have suffered some damage. As we all know, the Guangzhou Guards have long been in disrepair and unusable, so the court has to recruit civilians to help defend the city."

Qu Dajun frowned slightly when he got to this point, and continued speaking.

"But this is not an easy task. Brother Shengcai, you may not know that the government office began recruiting civilians nearby last night, but there were only a few people who volunteered."

"Many people witnessed the Qing invaders attacking Xicheng yesterday. Although the imperial court now only calls them bandits, rumors are spreading in the city, and many people already know that those outside the city are not bandits but Tartars."

"Although the court has prepared five taels of silver for each applicant, I am afraid that even if there is silver, the people may not be willing to apply in the current situation." "In addition, the court has strictly ordered that each district must recruit 50 young and strong men and hand them over to the army before noon tomorrow. The time is so short that it is not an easy task."

Chen Shangchuan frowned slightly when he heard this, while Chen Qice on the side spoke loudly

"The first thing we need to do now is to defend the city. The Tartars are already at the gates of the city. Isn't the reason why the court recruited us inspectors to recruit young and strong men to help defend the city as soon as possible?"

"Since you don't want to, then force it. It's not like you won't give me the money. How can you delay any longer?"

Chen Qice had a resolute look on his face. He was born as a yamen runner and was used to this kind of thing. He had no particular objection to the so-called Qiangzhong.
When he was in the county government, even if he didn't have money to settle down, the people would immediately come to volunteer to do the work when the county government gave the order.
Chen Shangchuan and the others didn't have any special expressions on their faces. Kuang Hong frowned slightly, but suddenly spoke

"It's OK to use a gong, but if you go door to door with a gong, it might cause chaos."

"The government office just emphasized that we should restore order in each district as soon as possible. We, the inspectors, must not only recruit civilians, but also be responsible for public security in our jurisdiction. If we cause unrest among the civilians, I'm afraid we will also be held accountable to the court."

When they heard this, they frowned slightly and looked at Chen Shangchuan in front of them.
The time set by the court was too urgent. If they did not come up with a plan now, they would definitely not be able to send out fifty people by tomorrow.

Chen Shangchuan frowned and thought for a while, then said

"Use both kindness and force. First, persuade them with emotion and lure them with benefits to see if the people are willing to volunteer. If they are not willing, then use force. At this time, everything must be done with the defense of the city as the top priority," Chen Shangchuan said with a resolute look on his face.

"It's possible to persuade them with emotion, but how can we lure them with benefits?" Qu Dajun asked.

"Food is the most important thing for the people. The city was suddenly closed, and the people were in a panic and eager to store food. However, the city was already under martial law, and the people were not allowed to move around. If the people wanted to buy food, they could only buy it from the inspection offices in each district.

"The imperial court has designated a district as having 3,000 to 4,000 people, but the imperial court has only distributed 7 or 8 stones of rice to each district every day, which is obviously not enough for the people in one district. In addition to the salary for settling down, we might as well use food as an inducement first..."

Chen Shangchuan spoke out his thoughts, and after listening to them, their eyes lit up and they nodded frequently.
Seeing that several people agreed, Chen Shangchuan spoke again

"Even so, we cannot put all our hopes on the people's willingness. We still need to be prepared for a strong response."

After hearing this, Qu Dajun thought for a moment and then said
"In that case, let's put aside the issue of the gongs for now. In addition to the gong soldiers, we also need to distribute food and wages to the people in the area under our jurisdiction."

"After we return, we can ask the local residents to register with their household registration cards in the name of selling grain, so that we can find out the situation of the young and strong people in the area. This way, we can have a clear target when we need to use force. Brother Kuang and I are both locals and are familiar with the local accent. We can do this."

Chen Qi Ce also said

"In this case, I will be responsible for public security. There are several brothers who came with me outside, all of whom are county yamen runners. We can do this easily."

"Also, if you want to find out the situation of the people in Cangqian Street, you can recruit one or two people from Cangqian Street. You can find out how many people there are in a family and which family has young and strong people. These locals will definitely know. With their help, you should be able to find out the local situation faster."

"Okay, let's do this. First, go to Yongfeng Warehouse to get the rice and silver for the soldiers in this area, then immediately rush back to Cangqian Street and start recruiting the people."

Chen Shangchuan made the decision, and the others did not hesitate any longer. They left the government office and headed straight to Yongfeng Warehouse in the city.
But when they arrived at Yongfeng Warehouse, they were dumbfounded. The rice, grain and silver were taken out smoothly. With the support of the ministers at the central government, no one in the government office dared to make any trouble.
However, each district was given seven or eight dan of rice, which was nearly a thousand kilograms. The government office released the grain but did not give it to the imperial carriage, leaving the inspectors of each district to figure out how to deal with it.

Chen Shangchuan and his companions stared at the grain bags piled in front of them. There were many people like Chen Shangchuan in front of Yongfeng Warehouse. They had all received rice but did not know how to transport it.

Finally, Qu Dajun entered the government office. Somehow, he managed to get two carts out of the government office.

Chen Shangchuan and his companions loaded the grain bags onto the cart, and then, with the help of the two yamen runners brought by Chen Qice, they pushed the cart back to Cangqian Street.

(End of this chapter)