Xie Ming

Chapter 91 Ni Yuanlu and the other three went directly to Nanjing
Xu Jizu was the eldest son and grandson of the third old master of the Xu family in Jiulong Town. His ancestor had produced a fifth-rank official, so he had some weight in the family. But later on, there were no more capable descendants, so his family fell into decline.

In his generation, there were three brothers and one sister. The sister was called Cui Ling'er. She married to Yi County before the New Year. Her husband's family was considered well-off in the local area. The groom was willing to study and passed the examination to become a scholar. However, he made no progress in his official career. So, since his family had an old relationship with the county magistrate, he got a job as a clerk at the government office.

When going to Yi County, Xiao Jingchuan appointed Xu Jizu to lead the troops. Apart from the responsibility of recommending and guiding the troops by his clan, his family's connections in Yi County might also be of great use to this trip, which is why he was valued so much.

The development of the official and corvée system in the Ming and Qing dynasties had reached perfection.

Generally speaking, the people in the yamen can be divided into three categories, namely "officials, clerks, and servants". The officials make decisions for the officials, the clerks do paperwork, and the servants serve as dispatches for the two. The division of labor is very clear.

Often at the hour of Mao every day, yamen runners and clerks would report for duty at government offices. Although there was no concept of organization, they still had to be on time for their posts and were not allowed to be late.

The work of clerks also revolves around handling official documents, handling lawsuits and other trivial matters. The daily workload is very heavy. Especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to the excessive filling of clerks, the specialization and quality of officials declined significantly. Therefore, anyone who can read and write and has some connections can be employed to fill vacancies.

Moreover, apart from their daily work in the county government, these officials also have a lot of contact with people from all walks of life. Over time, they will inevitably develop a desire to seek personal gain. This will create many small groups of private power dependent on the public power in the local counties.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the official career was widely opened up, and the three paths were the imperial examination, the civil servant examination, and the student examination. All of them could be promoted to officials. As a group with a relatively large base, there were also many civil servants who passed the examination and were promoted to Shangshu and Shilang.

But in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the status of officials underwent a fundamental change, with officials taking different paths and clerks merging into one.

The status of officials became increasingly low, and their opportunities for promotion became fewer and fewer. The paths and space for officials to rise were almost blocked and squeezed out.

They can only rise from the position of imperial examiner to the position of registrar and clerk in prefectures and counties, and it becomes extremely difficult to move up further.

Precisely because the upward path is blocked, these people will turn to those below them to seek personal gain.

In addition, officials in the Ming Dynasty had low salaries and humble status, but they had extremely high authority.

This has led to a series of strange situations in which power and status are unbalanced.

On the one hand, it provides those who are good at scheming with plenty of loopholes to exploit, and on the other hand, it also accelerates the alienation of the psychological imbalance of officials.

On the seventh day of April, at the first quarter of the morning (3:15 am).

Xiao Jingchuan's troops marched almost all day and night, and finally arrived at the designated camping site in the mountains northwest of Yi County as planned in the early morning.

The soldiers were exhausted and had no energy to struggle when they arrived at the place, so Xiao Lang directly ordered them to set up camp and rest. The soldiers set up their tents in a hurry and fell asleep quickly.

Qiu Zhizhong and others were not so lucky. After only about half an hour of rest, the scouts sent by his men set out again and dispersed to the gates of Yi County, waiting for them to open so that they could enter the city as soon as possible to gather information.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, curfews were implemented in all capital cities, prefectures, and county towns, especially now that we are still in wartime.

Generally at 4:15 a.m., which is : a.m., the morning bell would be rung, all city gates would be opened, and traffic would be allowed without restriction.

At 20:15 a.m., which is : p.m., the evening drum will be struck, all city gates will be closed, and travel will be prohibited again.

If anyone was caught walking on the city streets during the second, third, and fourth watches, they would be punished, and forty lashes were common.

Anyone who violates the curfew after the first watch and shortly before the fifth watch is lifted will be flogged thirty times.

Urgent matters such as illness, childbirth, death, etc. may be accommodated, but they also require money to arrange.

This is where the saying of morning bells and evening drums comes from.

Early in the morning of the seventh day, at 5:30 a.m.

When it was daybreak, Xiao Lang and several generals woke up one after another, and Ni Yuanlu, Li Shichun and Lin Zengzhi prepared to set off.

The three of them had been riding in sedan chairs all the way, so they still had plenty of energy and did not plan to delay their journey.

Before coming, the three men disguised themselves in civilian clothes. Before leaving, Xiao Jingchuan, Qiu Zhizhong and others walked with them for a while as a farewell.

After they arrived at the junction of the forest and mountains, Ni Yuanlu and the other three turned their heads and saluted. "General Xiao, young friend Qiu, you two will take us here!"

"Go ahead and we'll go by ourselves!"

"This trip is a long way to Nanjing. After we leave, I hope you two will take good care of the prince!"

Ni Yuanlu bowed and spoke, looking at him with a pair of old eyes, which were slightly sad but also very sincere.

"Old Minister Ni, Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong) has arranged for people to take care of you on your way to Nanjing, so I think nothing will happen!"

"On the contrary, after arriving in Nanjing, I hope you will be careful!"

"Old Minister Ni, you are well-known and you were the first to advocate for the redress of the Donglin people in your early years. Several figures in Nanjing, the secondary capital, such as Shi Kefa and Ma Shiying, should not make things too difficult for you. However, the current situation is turbulent. It is possible that these people who have lived in the south for a long time will not have the idea of ​​supporting a vassal king close to them when they see the north in crisis."

"I hope the old minister will look into this carefully and make good arrangements for the prince to take over Nanjing in the future, so as to accumulate popularity and avoid disasters!"

As Xiao Lang spoke, Ni Yuanlu took him seriously and nodded solemnly several times.

"Also, there are the four towns in northern Jiang."

"Huang Degong, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, and Gao Jie have lived in Jianghuai for a long time, and their roots are deep."

"Although the three of you have personally gone to Nanjing to mobilize troops with the Crown Prince's order, these people may not be willing to move out of their nests and go north to take risks!"

"Old Minister Ni, I hope you will do your best to transfer these four towns to the designated location to serve the king and protect him."

"I have few soldiers and it is difficult to protect the prince all the way to Nanjing. We must get support from the four towns to ensure safety!"

Xiao Jingchuan also bowed, showing a sincere heart, and entrusted the important task to the old minister before his departure.

"Ah, General Xiao is not only greedy for the credit of protecting the emperor, but also considers the safety of the prince at all times. I admire his righteousness!"

"General, don't worry!"

"For the sake of the general and Mr. Qiu, and even more for the sake of the prince, I will do my best!"

Ni Yuanlu spoke again, and after he finished speaking, the three of them bowed, and Xiao Lang and others returned the greeting.

Afterwards, the three old ministers and several bodyguards arranged by Qiu Zhizhong finally set off.

"Old Minister Ni, take care on your journey!"

Xiao Jingchuan paused on the spot, and watched him bid farewell together with Qiu Zhizhong and others!
Several people went straight to Nanjing and arrived soon after a long journey.

Seeing that Xiao Lang had no intention of staying, Qiu Zhizhong patted Xiao Lang on the shoulder.

"Okay, Lao Xiao, let's go back to camp!"

As he spoke, Qiu Zhizhong wanted to turn around and go back.

"Fei Yu (Qiu Zhizhong), don't leave in a hurry, look over there!"

After he finished speaking, Zhizhong was startled, and looked in the direction of Xiao Lang's finger. He saw two small black dots in the distance. He squinted his eyes and took a closer look. It turned out that they were the secret sentries that Chen Zao had sent to the city to investigate.

Thanks to viewers Jiuwan Chensan and ux1088 for their recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)