I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 210 Mob Attacks Government Office! Secret Envoy Shen Nian Goes on Field Mission
July 1st.

Shen Maoxue, a Hanlin Compiler and Commissioner of Commerce, led a trade delegation of over one hundred people, carrying the imperial edict for opening trade from the young Wanli Emperor, and left the capital for the northern border.

In the team.

There were officials from the Ministry of Rites responsible for handling foreign-related disputes, officials from the Court of State Ceremonial in charge of foreign etiquette, and more than twenty merchants selected by the Ministry of Revenue to voluntarily go to the northern border to do business.

This configuration is more than enough to deal with the Tatars.

Next.

Shen Maoxue would inevitably become the object of flattery by various Tatar tribes.

Because he controlled the trade rights between the Ming Dynasty and the various Mongol and Tatar tribes, whether the Tatar tribes wanted to eat meat or be beaten depended on whether they could satisfy Shen Maoxue.

In trade wars, the winner takes all.

It is a war that kills without shedding blood, yet is more brutal than killing, and it is also the most advantageous form of war for the Ming Dynasty at present.

How to stabilize peace through trade, increase the income and cohesion of the border people, and keep the Tatar tribes from having time to disturb the Ming Dynasty while they are constantly fighting among themselves, depends on the performance of Shen Maoxue, the top scholar.

……

July 5th.

With the active cooperation of Li Chengliang, the General of Liaodong, the imperial censors and secret police sent by the court conducted a thorough investigation of him.

Upon investigation.

The killing of innocent soldiers to claim credit and the exaggeration of battle results were indeed true, but the main reason was that the soldiers below were vying for credit, and Li Chengliang was at fault for not strictly managing his troops.

As for the charge of "raising bandits to enhance one's own importance" that led to his impeachment, it was merely the implementation of the court's policy of "using barbarians to control barbarians," and he was neither guilty nor at fault.

There is no concrete evidence to support the impeachment alleging that Li Chengliang "trained the soldiers of Liaodong into his own private army." The main reason for this was that Li Chengliang emphasized brotherhood and loyalty like Guan Yu in the army while neglecting military discipline and law.

At last.

Emperor Wanli punished Li Chengliang with half a year's salary for lax military discipline, ordered him to rectify the military appearance and discipline, and dispatched a eunuch stationed on the border to inspect Liaodong.

This result may be inaccurate.

However, a large part of the reason was Li Chengliang's proactive cooperation.

If Li Chengliang had ordered his subordinates in Liaodong to obstruct the court's investigation of him, the punishment might have been quite different.

For border generals, obedience has always been more important than military talent.

……

On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, around noon, the weather was hot.

Within the drafting department.

When Shen Nian was drafting a memorial, he suddenly saw a memorial jointly signed by Zhao Xian, the governor of Shandong, Zhu Qingfu, the provincial treasurer of Shandong, and Zhao Yunsheng, the imperial inspector of Shandong.

The three people said: On June 17, a vicious incident occurred in Qufu County, Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province, in which a local powerful man, dissatisfied with land surveying, gathered a group of ruffians and hooligans to break into the county government office and beat up officials.

This incident resulted in injuries to more than ten officials and clerks in Qufu County.

Among them, Tang Xianzu, the magistrate of Qufu County, was beaten by a group of people, vomited blood, and fell into a coma, suffering the most serious injuries.

He is currently receiving treatment.

Prefect You Jixun of Yanzhou Prefecture has dispatched Xu Liang, the Vice Prefect of Yanzhou Prefecture, to Qufu County to jointly manage the county administration with Bai Youlu, the Assistant Magistrate of Qufu County. Xu Liang will arrest, interrogate, and severely punish all those who storm the government office and cause trouble, and then report the matter to higher authorities.

After reading the memorial, Shen Nian's face turned ashen.

He picked up a pen and wrote on the draft paper: "Violently storming the government office and assaulting officials is a serious crime of treason. I suggest that the mastermind be sentenced to death and that the accomplices be severely punished."

The most difficult task in measuring land was undertaken by local county officials.

They were the ones who directly confronted a group of land grabbers, including feudal lords, local powerful families, and wealthy rural households.

For personal gain.

Those who annexed land did not hesitate to use various means such as secretly altering measuring tools, forging land deeds, fraudulently transferring land, and offering land as tribute to hide their private land. They even used money and beautiful women to make local officials collude with them, and used their power to oppress and frame others.

County officials cannot succeed if they are not assertive, resolute, and resourceful.

The nationwide field survey has been underway for the past six months.

There have been hundreds of clashes between land annexers and state and county officials.

However, this is the first time that a county magistrate has been seriously injured.

Qufu County, though the hometown of Confucius, is not a wealthy county; the people outside the county seat remain poor.

This is because there are two vampires in Qufu County who are entirely supported by the local people.

One was Kong Shangxian, the 64th generation Duke Yansheng of the Kong family, and the other was Xue Bian, the seventh generation descendant of Xue Lu, a meritorious official of Emperor Chengzu during the Jingnan Campaign.

They have acquired more than 80% of the farmland in Qufu County.

However, since the nationwide land survey began.

The two were very honest and actively cooperated with the court. When their hidden land was discovered, they either chose to sell it or pay high taxes to the court.

However, due to their previous "exemplary" role, a large number of wealthy gentry and landlords emerged in Qufu County.

In such an environment, the gap between the rich and poor in Qufu County is enormous.

In addition, Qufu County has a very strong academic atmosphere, and some poor people who can't even afford to eat will sell their pots and pans to send the male members of their families to study and pass the imperial examinations.

Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are all very expensive.

Therefore, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

In such impoverished counties, problems are most likely to arise after land surveys and tax reforms.

At this moment, Shen Nian could only pray that Tang Xianzu could escape this calamity.

at the same time.

After the three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet came across this memorial, they drafted a resolution to severely punish the mastermind, deserving the death penalty.

The imperial court had zero tolerance for storming county government offices and assaulting officials.

When the young Wanli Emperor saw this memorial, he was also very angry.

He was deeply impressed by Tang Xianzu, who was full of talent, upright, and only twenty-eight years old. He was a key figure being groomed by the imperial court.

He simply approved it with the word "approved," meaning the mastermind would undoubtedly die.

……

In the afternoon, at the Hanlin Academy, cicadas chirped incessantly.

Shen Nian was reviewing documents when a clerk quickly approached and gently knocked on the door.

"Go in!" Shen Nian said.

“Scholar Shen, there is a little beggar outside the gate who says he has important business to discuss with you, but when the soldiers at the gate ask him what it is, he doesn’t say a word. He just kneels on the ground and looks very weak. If you don’t recognize him, I will take him to Shuntian Prefecture!”

Shen Nian's reputation for "putting the people first" and "making officials suffer is worse than making the common people suffer" is known to everyone.

Every now and then, some people who wanted to seek redress would not go to the Shuntian Prefecture or the Ministry of Justice, but instead come to the Hanlin Academy.

In this regard.

As long as it wasn't something Shen Nian knew or didn't know, the clerks basically took them to a suitable place.

This is the order of officialdom.

If Shen Nian were to do such a good deed, his reputation would spread, and the area outside the Hanlin Academy would immediately become as bustling as a market street. Shen Nian would probably be too busy to even attend to his official duties.

Shen Nian was about to nod and order the clerk to take him to Shuntian Prefecture, but then she thought that he was just a child and said, "Come with me and let's go out and have a look!"

……

After a while.

Shen Nian walked to the gate of the Hanlin Academy.

A boy who looked to be eleven or twelve years old, dressed in tattered clothes soaked with sweat, was kneeling in the scorching sun.

His neck was covered in rings of dirt, clearly indicating that he hadn't bathed in a long time.

Shen Nian looked at him, and the boy also looked at Shen Nian with a puzzled expression.

Shen Nian said, "I am Shen Nian, a lecturer in the Hanlin Academy. What brings you here?"

"You...you are really Shen Nian? Scholar Shen? You...you...how can you be so young?"

"Stop talking nonsense! In front of the Hanlin Academy, who dares to impersonate Scholar Shen!" said the clerk beside Shen Nian, glaring at him.

"Shen... Scholar Shen, I... I am a student of Magistrate Tang... Magistrate Tang Xianzu, I'm looking for you..."

The boy only spoke halfway through his sentence.

Whether from heatstroke or extreme thirst, he fainted.

"Tang Xianzu's student?" Shen Nian turned to the two guards at the door and shouted, "Come on, carry him into my room and cool him down first!"

……

After a while.

The boy woke up as soon as he was carried to the soft couch in Shen Nian's room.

He looked anxious.

She wanted to speak to Shen Nian, but was too anxious to say anything.

Shen Nian said, "Don't rush, catch your breath first, then wash your face, drink some water, and eat something!"

After Shen Nian said this, the clerk beside him immediately went to make preparations.

Not long after.

He then brought two clerks with him, along with a basin of water, a towel, and two plates of snacks. He also brought a large rough porcelain bowl and a large teapot filled with cooled boiled water for the boy to use.

They wouldn't let the slovenly boy use the tea set on Shen Nian's table.

The boy paused for a moment.

Then, after getting up, he squatted in front of the wooden basin and began to wash his hands and face.

As soon as he touched the water, the water in the basin turned black. He was a little scared and didn't dare to pick up the white towel next to him.

"That towel was prepared for you. Don't worry about it getting dirty, take it and use it!" Shen Nian said with a smile.

The boy paused for a moment, then picked up a towel and began to vigorously wipe his filthy face and neck.

After using two basins of water, he looked a bit cleaner.

Then he picked up the snacks and wolfed them down. Judging from his complexion, he hadn't eaten for at least three days.

He stopped after a full quarter of an hour, then knelt down facing Shen Nian.

"Scholar Shen, Magistrate Tang... Magistrate Tang, my... my master asked me to... to deliver a message to you. He said... he said... this concerns the entire population of Yanzhou!"

Say it.

The boy suddenly pulled out a cloth belt from his waist and then used his teeth to bite open the long thread sewn on it.

Tear!

He pulled a small strip of cloth from his belt and handed it to Shen Nian.

Shen Nian looked suspicious as she took the strip of cloth, unfolded it, and saw a line of small characters inside, the ink almost completely worn away.

Shen Nian recognized that this was Tang Xianzu's calligraphy, but it seemed to have been written in a great hurry, and the characters were somewhat deformed.

The line reads:

“The entire Yanzhou is a den of snakes and rats. If I die, I will surely die a violent death. I humbly beg the court to thoroughly investigate the matter of annexation.”

Shen Nian's expression turned serious.

"When and where did Magistrate Tang give you this strip of cloth, and what was his situation at the time?"

"It was...it was June 17th, in the Qufu County jail. I had just finished my jail lunch when Magistrate Tang came to me and said he would release me. Then he gave me this strip of cloth and a tael of silver, telling me to do everything I could to get to the capital to find you, saying it concerned the entire population of Yanzhou. Then...I got into a merchant caravan's carriage..."

June 17th, noon, just before Tang Xianzu was beaten by a mob.

This shows that Tang Xianzu had already realized that someone wanted to harm him, so he sent the boy to spread the news.

"The prison lunch? And what's the story behind you being Magistrate Tang's student?" Shen Nian asked.

“I… my nickname is Xiangwa. I’m an orphan. I made a living by stealing in Qufu County, and then… I was caught and thrown into Qufu County jail. Magistrate Tang saw that I was young and only stole money from bad people, so he taught me to be good and made me his student. He said that when I got out of prison, he would teach me to read and write, and even said that he would let me participate in the imperial examination!”

"He gave me a formal name, following his surname, Tang Mingyuan, and then... and then the things he asked me to do, I... I would do them even at the cost of my life. He is the only person in this world who is good to me!"

……

After hearing what Xiangwa (Tang Mingyuan) said, Shen Nian's mind raced.

now.

He had determined that the incident of storming the government office and committing violence in Qufu County was definitely not as simple as reported in the memorial.

Tang Xianzu described Yanzhou as a place where snakes and rats were all in the same pot, indicating that there were problems from You Jixun, the prefect of Yanzhou, down to the lowest levels.

It also involves measuring land.

According to custom, county magistrates did not have the authority to submit memorials directly to the capital; if a county magistrate complained to a prefectural magistrate, he should go to the provincial magistrate.

Instead of through such private means.

Tang Xianzu's actions demonstrate his distrust of the provincial officials in Shandong, including Zhao Yunsheng, the Shandong Provincial Inspector.

Shen Nian thought for a moment and said to the clerk beside her, "Take Mingyuan to take a bath and change his clothes, and then let him stay in the courtyard of the clerk of the Hanlin Academy for the time being."

"Yes."

Shen Nian looked at Xiangwa (Tang Mingyuan).

"Mingyuan, you stay put. You've already completed the task Magistrate Tang assigned you!"

"Uh-huh!"

The boy nodded timidly, and Shen Nian calling him by his full name made him very happy.

immediately.

Shen Nian took the strip of cloth and ran towards the cabinet.

Tang Xianzu, who was born into a junior official family, was a student of Shen Nian. Shen Nian trusted his character and believed that what he said was absolutely true, and did not want anything to happen to him.

……

About half an hour later, Shen Nian appeared in the cabinet's duty room.

The three Grand Secretaries stared wide-eyed before they could see the contents of the cloth strip and recognized Tang Xianzu's handwriting.

Among the junior scholars of this cohort.

The two people most widely recognized as outstanding are Tang Xianzu and Feng Mengzhen.

"The three Grand Secretaries, Yi Reng (Tang Xianzu, courtesy name Yi Reng) was beaten and injured by a mob, and his life is in danger. Judging from the words he left behind, he had already foreseen that someone wanted to kill him. The person behind it should be an official, and the main cause should be Zhang Tian!"

“At present, the officials of Yanzhou Prefecture are all untrustworthy, and even the officials of Shandong Province are untrustworthy. I suggest that Your Majesty send a secret envoy to first find Yi Reng and then investigate this matter in detail!”

Lü Diaoyang, Ma Ziqiang, and Yin Zhengmao all nodded.

……

A moment later, at the Wenhua Hall.

Shen Nian reported the entire matter of the cloth strips to the young Wanli Emperor.

The three cabinet ministers and Shen Nian all hoped that the court would immediately dispatch a secret envoy to investigate the matter.

The matter involved land surveying and the fact that the fate of a county magistrate was unknown; for the imperial court, this was a matter of paramount importance.

After thinking for a moment, the young Wanli Emperor said, "I will have Shi Qing make the trip!"

Upon hearing this, Yin Zhengmao stepped forward.

“Your Majesty, Shi Qing is skilled at investigating cases, but not at investigating politics. This matter may involve the Shandong Provincial Government. Moreover, since the land survey, there have been constant conflicts between the local county government and the people. I request to be appointed as a secret envoy to investigate this matter thoroughly and use it as a model to make some local powerful families wary and dare not lead the people to attack the county officials again!”

Upon hearing this, the young Wanli Emperor suddenly shivered.

"Grand Secretary Yin, if you make a move, I'm afraid you'll lose your head again!" Little Wanli's eyes darted around, and he suddenly glanced at Shen Nian.

"You are all getting on in years. This matter requires us to get to Qufu County as soon as possible without stopping. I think it would be more appropriate to entrust this task to Minister Shen!"

"Your Majesty, I second that proposal!" As soon as the young Wanli Emperor finished speaking, Lü Diaoyang and Ma Ziqiang immediately seconded the proposal.

They all did not want Yin Zhengmao to go on a killing spree again.

The young Wanli Emperor looked at Shen Nian and said, "Minister Shen, you will have to make this trip. Apart from officials of the inner court, not just anyone is qualified to serve as my secret envoy!"

"Your subject obeys!" Shen Nian said, bowing.

There is actually another layer of meaning behind what the young Wanli Emperor said.

He wanted to tell everyone: Shen Nian was his person, not Zhang Juzheng's person.

The young Wanli Emperor had very far-sighted thoughts.

He hoped that after he took power, all these old guys would retire, including Zhang Juzheng.

Then there's Shen Nian, his strategist who understands him.

He can live a happier and freer life, and then create a prosperous era with a wise ruler and virtuous ministers.

He ordered Shen Nian to do these tasks that were not part of Shen Nian's job duties, also for the sake of Shen Nian's performance evaluation, hoping to promote him faster and leave all the old guard behind.

(End of this chapter)