Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 608 Beat the master to death with random punches

Yang Sheng was wearing a bellyband and sitting on a mat with his bare butt, playing with toys by himself.

A little maid was sitting beside the table, watching over him with a smile to prevent him from accidentally falling off the couch.

By the window, Li Shishi was sitting there, drinking tea and flipping through the account book.

Since she had a son, she spent less time at the tea plantation.

She tried her best to delegate the daily affairs of the tea plantation to two managers she had selected.

Li Shishi has always focused on trading tea, porcelain and silk.

Among these three, tea is her main business, while porcelain and silk are both investments in other people's businesses.

However, after the incident at He Qiqi's printing and dyeing workshop, Mr. Nanfeng took the initiative to sell her more shares. Now the silk business jointly run by the two has become dominated by Shishi.

Li Shishi's business is all luxury goods, and these do not conflict with Luxi's business in spices, jewelry, catering and other industries. Instead, the two sides complement each other.

Therefore, they joined forces to operate overseas markets, and now they have gradually caught up with the scale and strength of the Arab merchants.

After all, they have the advantages of geographical location and human resources, and the cost of obtaining goods is lower, which leads to dumping trend overseas.

In the Song Dynasty, they developed on their own.

In the Song Dynasty, Hangzhou, Jinling and Mingzhou were the first places where Shishi set up stores. Yangzhou, Xiangyang and Chengdu were the second.

Since the Tang Dynasty, there has been a saying that "One Yang, Two Yi, Three Xiang". This was a major city at that time, second only to Chang'an, the Western Capital, and Luoyang, the Eastern Capital.

Yang is Yangzhou, Yi is Chengdu, and Xiang is Xiangyang. These places were still big cities in the Song Dynasty, and their consumption capacity for luxury goods was enormous.

Here, I am carefully watching the revenue of the newly opened stores in the above three places, and working hard to build an empire for my son.

Little Yang Sheng, who had no idea that he had been sitting on a golden mountain since he was born, was playing with his toys with great interest.

There were all kinds of toys on the mat, including a wheel with a human and a horse, a paper grid with eight-treasure patterns, a tortoise-shell plate, a small spinning top, a red pagoda, a boxwood elephant, and a ceramic monkey...

Fei Yuye walked in lightly with a "Mohele" in her hand. The little maid stood up hurriedly when she saw her.

Just as she was about to salute, Fei Yuye put her finger to her lips, asking her to be quiet, then waved her hand away, and the little maid understood and retreated.

Yang Sheng was still concentrating on playing with his toys, completely unaware that someone had changed his position.

Shishi looked up, smiled slightly, and went back to looking at her account book.

Fei Yuye handed the "Mohele" to Yang Sheng.

"Mohele" is a transliteration of Sanskrit, a toy shaped like a child, which can be regarded as the "Barbie Doll" of the Song Dynasty.

These things can be cheap or expensive, and a valuable one can cost thousands of coins.

Therefore, children from ordinary families, wealthy families and even royal families are all loyal users of "Mohele".

Yang Sheng suddenly saw a new "Mohele" and immediately stretched out his little hand, grabbed it, then raised his head happily.

Seeing this, Yang Sheng began to shout with joy, and waved his little hands, "Auntie, Auntie!"

Xiao Yangsheng can now speak some simple words and can even walk a few steps unsteadily.

Fei Yuye was a frequent visitor to Li Shishi's home, and Xiao Yangsheng became very affectionate with her as soon as he saw her.

Yuye giggled and picked up little Yang Sheng. Yang Sheng held "Mohele" and snuggled in Yuye's arms.

Fei Yuye looked at the toys on the table and said with a smile, "Wow, so many new toys, who bought them for you?"

"Daddy, Daddy, buy it."

Yang Sheng jumped up and down in her arms.

Daddy is the best to him. Every time he comes, he plays with him and brings him either delicious food or fun things.

Especially sugar, which mom wouldn't let him eat, so dad would secretly put a little honey on his lips with a chopstickful of sugar when mom wasn't paying attention.

So he feels happy whenever his father is mentioned.

Daddy?

Fei Yuye narrowed her eyes, picked up Yang Sheng and walked towards Li Shishi: "Godmother~"

Fei Yuye called out in a delicate voice with a long drawl. Usually when she acted like this to Li Shishi, she wanted to ask for something.

It was okay for her to act like a spoiled child to Li Shishi in the past, but now Li Shishi looked clearly like her sister, so she had to use this title in private.

When the two of them went shopping together, she could only address her as sister, otherwise the merchants and passers-by would feel strange.

"Go away and wait for me to finish my work."

Li Shishi didn't even raise her head, still looking at her account book intently.

Fei Yuye curled her lips, then carried Yang Sheng back to the table and played with him.

After a while, Li Shishi finished reading the account book, took a pen and wrote something down, then closed the account book and walked over slowly.

"Hasn't the merchant ship heading to the capital already arrived? Aren't you busy? Do you still have time to come visit me?"

Fei Yuye widened her eyes and said, "No, he was first imprisoned, and then kidnapped. Didn't you ask about it, godmother?"

Li Shishi rolled her eyes at her and said, "Do you think I haven't heard about your rescue? And you're more relaxed in prison than at home, and you even have time to walk with Yang Yuan in Lin'an Prison. Do you think I don't know?"

Fei Yuye rolled her eyes and said with a smile: "Godmother knows everything about the world without leaving home."

She suddenly whispered, "Could it be that Sheng'er's father told you?"

Li Shishi's eyes flickered, and she said calmly, "I run silk, tea and porcelain business in Lin'an. I have so many shops and so many people. Couldn't I have found out about it myself?"

"That's true." Fei Yuye smiled, but her smile was a little mysterious.

"I haven't told you yet. Aren't you supposed to be busy today? How come you have time to come over?"

"Godmother, my daughter has been bullied. I can't bring myself to tell my mother, so I'll have to ask you to take charge."

Fei Yuye's expression changed immediately, and she spoke to Li Shishi in tears and in a wronged tone.

Li Shishi was surprised and asked, "You were bullied? Who bullied you?"

Fei Yuye repeated to Li Shishi what had happened in the underground palace, omitting the difficult parts.

Of course, in her statement, she absolutely did not ask Yang Yuan to blow out the candle and take off his clothes to welcome her.

She was just a helpless, weak and pitiful little woman who was abducted in order to rescue Yang Yuan.

But in order to escape, Yang Yuan turned against her and forced her while she was weak and unable to resist.

After hearing this, Li Shishi flew into a rage: "Yang Yuan is so shameless! Why are you looking for me, your godmother? Report him to the authorities, arrest him, and exile him 2,000 miles away!"

"Eh?"

Fei Yuye was stunned. This shouldn't be the case. Could it be that his godmother had a falling out with him?
But... after a quarrel, she wants to send him to jail. This godmother is such a vicious woman.

Fei Yuye originally lowered her head, looking shy.

At this moment, she quickly glanced at Li Shishi, but unexpectedly, Li Shishi was also secretly glancing at her.

When their eyes met, they looked away as if they were electrocuted.

Li Shishi coughed lightly and sat down at the table: "It's just... this will ruin your reputation. Godmother thinks you should be more cautious."

"Yeah yeah."

Fei Yuye breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "So, I came to find my godmother and asked her to help my daughter make the decision."

Yang Sheng lay in Fei Yuye's arms. Seeing that his aunt was only talking to his mother and ignored him, he wanted to crawl to the mat to play.

Fei Yuye put him back on the seat and stared at Li Shishi.

Li Shishi's eyes wavered for a moment, and she quickly turned her head to look out the window, then she suppressed her laughter: "Hey! Godmother must know your feelings, so that I can make the decision for you."

Fei Yuye said quietly, "If you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, you follow the dog; if you marry a carrying pole, you carry it with you. I have already given my innocent body to him. Even if I am reluctant, after thinking about it, it seems that there is no other way out except to follow him."

Li Shishi suddenly choked and quickly covered her mouth and coughed twice, then said solemnly: "Well... this is not a bad idea. Do you want your godmother to mediate this matter for you? However, Yang Yuan already has a wife, this matter..."

Fei Yuye lowered her head and said, "Yes... She used to be a court lady, she is very wealthy, and her character and appearance are not inferior to Miss Song. Now she is forced to lose her virginity to him, and has to endure this injustice..."

Li Shishi frowned and said, "But, you can't ask someone to divorce his wife and marry someone else, right?"

Fei Yuye said quietly, "I'm not such a domineering person, I just don't want to suffer in vain. In fact, my father once sent a letter home..."

Fei Yuye told Li Shishi the meaning of her father's letter.

Li Shishi thought to herself, "No wonder you, a little rascal, dare to spy on me while I'm working. It turns out that you have received your father's letter and have long wanted to belong to him, but you don't realize it yet."

Li Shishi cleared her throat and said, "To be more specific, with your current perspective, apart from him, there are probably not many people in the world who can catch your eye.

Your father's idea is really good. Then follow your father's idea and find Old Man Song to be your adoptive father. Why do you have to come to me?"

Fei Yuye held onto the hem of Li Shishi's clothes and said coyly, "Godmother, it seems like they are worthless when they come to you on their own initiative.

Besides, that person has received a favor from the Song family. Wouldn't he be unable to hold his head up in front of Miss Song for the rest of his life? "

Li Shishi suppressed her laughter and nodded, "That's true. Now it's that brat Yang Yuan who has let you down. If the Song family doesn't want to send their good son-in-law to jail, they have to ask you to marry them. That means they owe you, and naturally they won't be able to act like the main wife in front of you in the future."

"Yes, but how can I say these words out loud? That's why I came to beg you, godmother. Godmother, please help me. I will definitely remember your kindness and will treat Sheng'er as my own son and be kind to him in the future. Godmother..."

"Forget it, it's really an injustice, then... Godmother will go through this for you."

Yuye was immediately overjoyed when she heard this, but she had to remain reserved and just nodded pitifully.

Li Shishi was a quick-tempered person and immediately told the maid to prepare clothes for her to go out.

After changing clothes, Li Shishi said to Fei Yuye, "Help godmother take care of Sheng'er. I'll go right away."

Fei Yuye was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Godmother, do you want to take my father's letter home? My father is Old Man Song's old boss, and this letter may be of some use."

"No need. We are in the right. Why should we be afraid of him? They have no choice."

"Well...but...but I just don't want to suffer any loss, so there's no need to be so overbearing..."

Li Shishi rolled her eyes in her heart, then she raised her eyebrows charmingly, leaned close to Fei Yuye's ear, and whispered, "You look so worthless, tell me honestly, is it because Yang Yuan has a lot of money that you would have agreed to it a long time ago?" Fei Yuye's face immediately turned red, and she said hesitantly, "What are you talking about, godmother? His Yang family is rich, so does my Fei family not also have a lot of money? Who... who would care about money?"

……

Xiao Yiran and Lu Chengze are both extremely capable talents. The experience they have gained in the Censorate has rapidly improved their practical abilities.

They and Yu Zeping handed over the case they were handling and put all their efforts into investigating the case of Qiu Shunquan, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel.

The next morning, when Yang Yuan went to the yamen, they handed the sorted files to his desk.

Qiu Shunquan, the Deputy Minister of Examination, was reported by someone whose name was Mo Mo and he was a "palace official".

Palace and temple officials are also called temple and salary officials, and they began to appear during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song Dynasty.

The original purpose of establishing this official position was to accommodate those people whom the court no longer wanted to use, but felt that dismissing them would be too cruel, so the court wanted to give them an idle official position with corresponding salary.

Therefore, the imperial court appointed these idle officials as envoys, deputy envoys, judges, supervisors, supervisors, and inspectors of some palace or temple near the capital.

I don't know why a Taoist temple needs to arrange these official positions. Anyway, these people do nothing, they just maintain the treatment and salary of corresponding ranks.

Later, when all the palaces and temples in the capital and nearby were full, they continued to be assigned to other places, and remotely held official positions in palaces or temples elsewhere.

This Mo Mo is the chief abbot of a Taoist temple in Wuling.

He was obsessed with power and wanted to get a real official position, so he did not hesitate to spend all his wealth to bribe Mr. Qiu in order to get a real official position.

Qiu Shunquan agreed. While he was working for him, the imperial court suddenly launched a vigorous campaign to cut redundant officials and streamline institutions.

The second batch of layoffs this time will be to cut those redundant officials who have been created due to overlapping positions from among the existing officials who are actually vacancies.

The third group to be laid off are redundant officials caused by overlapping institutions.

But that would involve streamlining the organization, which is not something that can be done right now.

The first group to be cut off will be existing idle officials who only receive salaries and have no real vacancies.

This includes Mo Dujian.

This was a major reform carried out from top to bottom. Not to mention Qiu Shunquan, a sixth-rank Yuwenlang, even if he was a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, he could not keep the position of Mo Du. So Mo Dujian, who originally wanted to get a real vacancy, suddenly lost even the idle position.

After his hopes of becoming an official were dashed, Mo Dujian went to ask Qiu Yuanwailang to return the bribe he had given him in a rage.

Mr. Qiu refused to return it and threatened him to shut up.

Supervisor Mo Du failed in his task and lost all his family property. Not only was he furious, but his family also blamed him for everything.

In a rage, Mo Dujian ran to the Censorate to file a complaint.

The crime of bribery has existed at least since the pre-Qin period, and the punishment is not light.

For example, the Qin Dynasty law stipulated that even minor bribery would be punished with a fine and five years of hard labor.

This is also the reason why Yuanwailang Qiu felt that Mo Dujian could only suffer in silence and did not dare to report him.

Who would have thought that this official-loving man was so ruthless that he would rather lose eight hundred of his own lives than kill a thousand enemies, so he actually sued him.

Xiao Yiran said: "This Mo Dujian told us which shops and properties he sold and how he transferred them to Qiu Shunquan.

Yesterday, I, the humble servant, and the two censors Lu and Yu, worked separately and have done some investigations.

"The facts that have been investigated so far are all true. Will the judge immediately bring this Mo Dujian to trial?"

Lu Chengze added: "I have arranged for people to keep an eye on the relevant people. They can be arrested at any time and the case will be ironclad."

Yang Yuan shook his head and said, "You said yesterday that Qiu Shunquan alone cannot accomplish these things.

The reason why Qiu Shunquan refused to return the money was most likely because he did not take the money alone, but gave it to people from all walks of life.

In this case, Mo Dujian can ask him for money, but how can he ask for money from his colleagues and superiors? Will he continue to do this "business" in the future?
If we follow the procedure and first arrest those who provide money to Mo Dujian and Qiu Shunquan, Qiu Shunquan and their accomplices will have enough time to respond.

Since we have confirmed that Mr. Qiu is indeed guilty, let's arrest him first, so that the people above him will panic, and the people around him will be in chaos. As for the people below, it won't be too late to arrest them after we arrest Qiu Shunquan!"

……

Ministry of Personnel, the government office of heaven.

Although people often joke that there are officials everywhere under the emperor's feet, no one should show off when going out.

Because you never know what kind of official you might run into, and he might be more powerful than you.

However, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel are definitely the most powerful group of officials in Beijing.

Among the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, the one who examines performance has the most power, and only the confidant of the Minister of Personnel can be appointed to this position.

Take Qiu Shunquan, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel, for example. He was only a sixth-rank official, but the fate of all officials below the fifth rank in the world was in his hands.

Fifth rank. Except for a very small number of prefects of upper states, the prefects and governors of various local governments were only of the fifth rank.

If these prefects and governors did not have strong backers in the court, a mere examiner would be enough to make them suffer to death.

This is also the reason why Li Jianwu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Left Selectman, was only a fifth-rank official, but the Censorate arranged for Xiao Hongji, the Left Vice-Censor-in-Chief, to investigate him.

Xiao Hongji was a fourth-rank official, and in order to accommodate Yang Yuan, the imperial court downgraded the entire Censorate to a lower rank by one rank.

Otherwise, Xiao Hongji should be a third-rank official.

Of course, although the entire Censorate was downgraded by one level, it was because Zhao Qu wanted to make it easier to arrange for his good buddy Yang Yuan.

But Zhao Yuan would not let Zhao Yu mess around. He agreed because the establishment of the Censorate had already attracted the attention of all officials. If the entire yamen of the Censorate was suppressed by one level, the resistance from all officials would be smaller.

Therefore, the government just went with the flow.

Qiu Shunquan knew that Doctor Li had been criticized by the Censorate a few days ago, but the matter had basically been settled.

As for Qiu Shunquan, that damnable Mo Dujian hadn't come to cause trouble for him for several days. For a moment, Qiu Yuanwailang felt refreshed.

After all, I accepted your benefit, and it’s not like I wouldn’t make arrangements for you.

It's just your bad luck that you happen to encounter the situation where the court is laying off redundant officials. This is a matter that the Prince of Jin and the other councilors are in charge of. How can I protect you?

Pay back?

I only took one-fifth of the money, and I spent the rest on bribery. How could I ask for money from others?
If I ask for this money back, who will dare to work with me in the future? Aren't you destroying my "money career"?

Thinking of the ungrateful Mo Dujian, Qiu Shunquan felt angry. He snorted coldly and then opened a file.

Some time ago, the Prince of Jin arrested some incompetent and corrupt officials who condoned the rebellion of laid-off officials, and wanted to transfer some officials such as Lu You, Yang Wanli, Yu Yunwen, and Fan Chengda to these prefectures and counties near Beijing to take up posts.

He had to complete the evaluation of these people as soon as possible, after all, they were people nominated by the Regent Prince Jin.

Qiu Shunquan was flipping through the files when he heard a commotion coming from the signing room outside.

Qiu Shunquan was very displeased. He left his seat, walked quickly over to open the door, and shouted angrily, "Why are you making so much noise? It's so rude."

A chief officer stammered, "Qiu... Deputy Qiu, someone from the Censorate has come and wants to... to arrest... arrest Deputy Qiu and bring you to justice..."

Before he could finish his words, Yang Yuan pushed him away.

Yang Yuan saw Qiu Shunquan, smiled and said, "Qiu Shunquan?"

Qiu Shunquan's heart thumped, and his first reaction was: Did Mo Mo report me?

But he immediately dismissed the idea.

Bribery is only one level less severe than accepting bribes. No matter how crazy that Supervisor Mo is, he wouldn't report me even though he knows he'll go to jail, right?
So, what exactly happened?
Qiu Shunquan was worried, but he tried to remain calm and said, "It is me, may I know who you are?"

"The Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Yang Yuan."

A person's name is like a tree's shadow. Qiu Shunquan's face suddenly changed when he heard this. He forced a smile and bowed, saying, "So it's Yang Qianxian. I wonder what business you have in my Ministry of Personnel?"

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "I'll get you!"

As soon as he waved his hand, Lu Chengze rushed over with several officials from the Office of the Censorate and the Office of the Prison.

The two men grabbed Qiu Shunquan and handcuffed his wrists with shackles with a "click".

This "杻" is similar to modern handcuffs. If the neck is also locked, it becomes a "睻".

Yang Yuan had no intention of wasting time talking to him. If Yang Yuan had not been worried that Xiao Yiran and Lu Chengze could not control the people from the Tianguan Yamen, he would not have come in person.

After handcuffing Qiu Shunquan, Yang Mu turned around and left: "Take him back to the Supervisory Office."

"Wait a minute, Yang Qianxian."

Someone had already told his superiors, and Li Jianwu, the Minister of Personnel and the Left Selectman, hurried over upon hearing the news.

Seeing Qiu Shunquan already in shackles, Li Jianwu couldn't help but frown, "Yang Qianxian, you, the Censorate, came to my Ministry of Personnel to arrest someone, don't you need to inform my Ministry of Personnel officials?"

Yang Yuan blinked and said, "Oh? I would like to ask, which article or which rule in my "Imperial Song Criminal Code" stipulates that when an official breaks the law and the officials are to arrest him, they need to first ask for permission from the official in charge of the offending office?"

Li Jianwu was stunned for a moment. This... was definitely not in the law.

But this is the custom!

You didn't say hello or inform me first, which shows that you don't respect our Ministry of Personnel, right?
As an official of the Censorate, you are also subject to performance evaluation by the Ministry of Personnel. Aren’t you afraid of offending the Ministry of Personnel from now on?
But this reason cannot be put on the table.

How come I met such a "reckless" person? Does he want to be a lone minister?

Seeing that Li Jianwu was speechless, Yang Yuan bowed and smiled, "Who are you?"

Li Jianwu said with a sullen face: "I am the Minister of Personnel, the Left Selectman, my surname is Li, and my name is Jianwu!"

Yang Yuan nodded and said, "So it's Doctor Li. I'm sorry. Someone has reported that Deputy Doctor Qiu is corrupt and abuses his power. I have the evidence in my hands and I want to arrest him for investigation. Goodbye!"

"Wait a minute!"

Li Jianwu didn't expect that the Censorate would launch a surprise attack on them. They were the Ministry of Personnel, but they dared to arrest people without any notice.

Li Jianwu is not afraid of tough guys, but when he meets this stupid guy, he can only wear him down in the future, but he has no way to deal with him now.

Li Jianwu walked towards Qiu Shunquan and said in a deep voice: "Vice-Chairman Qiu, you can go now. You don't have to worry about this. If anyone dares to wrongly accuse you, the Ministry of Personnel will definitely seek justice for you!"

When their eyes met, Qiu Shunquan grinned and nodded, saying, "Qiu is upright and honest, so he is not afraid of being investigated. I have not finished my official duties yet, so I hope Doctor Li can make good arrangements and not delay the official business."

(End of this chapter)