There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 9 Exposed

Nie Yu'an's training time was neither long nor short, just twenty-one days.

Although Zhang Zhengmo did not deliberately conceal it, Yangjinfan was still a township area. During the government's routine taxation and labor service, it belonged to the territory of the landlord gentry class and was basically not under the jurisdiction of the county.

The two can be said to have kept to themselves.

The exposure of the news was not the work of Zhang Zhengmo, nor was it due to the county government's keen sense of smell. It was simply because a traitor appeared in the class.

In the inner hall of the county government office, Yidu County Magistrate Shen Yuan twirled his beard and spoke in a serious tone.

"Are you saying that Mr. Nie from Yangjinfan has converted to the White Lotus Cult and is now recruiting refugees in an attempt to rebel?"

Zhang Wanfu, who had tipped off the magistrate below, quickly bowed and said, "Yes, County Magistrate, I guarantee with my wealth that Mr. Nie, the richest man in Yangjinfan, has definitely joined the White Lotus Sect. Just two weeks ago, he was still sheltering refugees in the shantytowns, numbering over a hundred. If you don't believe me, please send someone to investigate."

Magistrate Shen, still twirling his beard, pondered for a moment and said, "This matter is already known to the county. Since it involves the White Lotus Cult's chaos, as the father and mother of Yidu, this county magistrate will investigate thoroughly and restore justice to the people and gentry of Yidu. You may leave first!"

"Thank you, Master!"

After receiving the reply from County Magistrate Shen, Zhang Wanfu showed a happy expression, but at the same time he felt a little pain in his heart.

In order to "frame someone", he spent almost half of the cash he had on managing relationships and bribing the county magistrate.

Originally, Zhang Wanfu didn't intend to do such a drastic thing, but as an outsider landlord, he was able to make a fortune thanks to his father-in-law who was a juren, so his foundation was too shallow.

In the past few years of development, it has been difficult to make progress at the local level.

This is actually normal. The local land has been distributed long ago. How could you take away a large piece of it just by relying on the background of a father-in-law who is a juren?
Coincidentally, when Zhang Wanfu was having a headache, he ran into Nie Yu who was recruiting refugees from the shantytowns and preparing to train troops for an uprising.

More than 400 people may not sound like a lot, but these were rare strong laborers among the refugees. They were all taken away by Nie Yu, who later opened a porridge stall and distributed porridge every now and then to relieve the disaster.

This offended the surrounding landlords and factory owners who wanted to exploit the labor of the refugees. The key point was that many refugees felt that their original wages were too low and their treatment was too poor, so they made a fuss.

Zhang Wanfu saw the opportunity and, using Lao Taishan's connections, contacted the county magistrate's official (if there was no county magistrate or chief clerk, the official would be in charge of all matters, with no responsibility) Jia Xincheng...

What White Lotus Cult is nothing but an excuse.

During the prosperous reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, the number of "White Lotus Sect" among the people increased the more they were "suppressed".

If their wishes are not fulfilled, the government will falsely accuse someone of a cult and convict them. This is a common practice among the government.

"Dianshi Jia! What do you think?" County Magistrate Shen rubbed his few remaining beards, almost turning them into a braid.

Jia Dianshi knew his grandfather very well. If he didn't get the red envelope, he would lose his life.

But this matter... involves the White Lotus Sect. Although he knows what's going on, he has to save face, so he can't force it.

Jia Dianshi thought for a moment and then pretended to ask for instructions, "Sir, since this matter involves the White Lotus Sect, and the imperial court has previously issued a clear decree that all White Lotus followers should be arrested and executed, you can notify the patrol camp, Captain Wang Qilongwang, to lead his troops to suppress the White Lotus Sect."

County Magistrate Shen was even more pretentious. He actually thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head and said.

"Hmm... no, since this involves the White Lotus Cult, we can't make such rash inferences. Otherwise, if the situation is not true, won't we blame the good people? Besides, the Miaozi rebellion in Hunan has not been resolved yet, and the elite officers and soldiers of the entire Hubei Province are gathered in Hunan. Hubei can't afford to cause any more trouble."

Jia Dianshi quickly agreed, "Your Excellency is right. It's my humble position (Dianshi is powerful, has no rank, and is not considered a leader) that has been foolish. Why not send a few people to Yangjinfan to personally question and investigate Mr. Nie? If it's true, he will be punished severely. If it's not, everyone will be happy." After a moment's hesitation, County Magistrate Shen said, "That's very good. Let's do it!"

In just a few words, it seems like nothing was said, but everything was said.

What's the point of sending people to question and investigate? It's nothing more than extorting a large sum of money.

If they pay the money and bleed obediently, then they are not members of the White Lotus Sect, but Zhang Wanfu’s false accusation.

If he doesn't give money... he dares not to give it. The county government and the gentry have always kept their distance from each other. But if the other party really doesn't know what's good for him, as an official appointed by the imperial court, a mere richest man in Yangjinfan, it would be a good opportunity for the gentry in Yidu County to see what a dragon crossing the river is.

County Magistrate Shen has been in Yidu County for just over a year and has been busy making money without using any political tactics. Now he is taking advantage of the "White Lotus Sect" in Yangjinfan to make some headway.

This is interesting. The squire Zhang Wanfu wants to "frame the Nie family" and use the county government to embezzle the land and property of the Nie family; the county magistrate Shen is looking for an opportunity to make a fortune and take the opportunity to use the issue to crack down on the gentry in Yidu; Jia Dianshi is the county magistrate's white glove. The county magistrate takes turns, but he, Jia Dianshi, is still Jia Dianshi. The county magistrate eats meat and he drinks soup, and the county magistrate takes the risk of taking the blame.

Everyone was thinking about how to profit from it, and no one considered whether that "Mr. Nie" might really be planning a rebellion and was not deliberately "framing" someone else.

Even Zhang Zhengmo, a real member of the White Lotus Sect and the actual controller of the White Lotus Sect in Yidu, was sitting back and watching the show. He never thought that Nie Jieren would abandon the White Lotus Sect. At most, he just wanted to fight for the right to speak.

The county government acted quickly and sent three officers to Yangjinfan early the next morning to investigate the case (extortion).

It was not the first time that the three men had done this. They were already very familiar with it. They simply put accusations on others and threatened them, then took the initiative to find excuses to exonerate them, and finally hinted at them to pay money.

After all the operations, most of them were willing to spend money to avoid disaster, and a small number of them were because they had no money. If they had no money, they would be arrested and either forced to do labor or imprisoned.

You can always squeeze out two taels of oil.

"Stop!"

The three officers were still discussing their plan when they were stopped by two village soldiers who were patrolling the entrance to Yangjinfan Town.

Isn’t Yangjinfan an ordinary small village?

Where did the village soldiers come from?
The three younger officers immediately shouted, "How dare you! We are sent to Yangjinfan by the county government on official business. Are you trying to rebel by stopping us?"

If it were an ordinary villager, he would have been so scared by these angry words that his legs would have gone weak and he would have kowtowed and begged for mercy.

It would have been better if these people didn't listen. As soon as they heard the words "official" and "official business", they reached for their waists and pulled out a Tang sword.

Wow, I didn’t notice just now that these people actually carried knives.

what's the situation! ?

The young officer who started to shout angrily almost had his legs weakened with fear. He was supposed to draw his sword to scare the people, but why did the other party draw his sword first?

This young officer was considered good, but the leading officer in the front row, who seemed to be the oldest, was completely confused.

He suddenly had a bad feeling.

　Gather a hundred people and start an uprising today (I will push it up the day after tomorrow, ready to PY)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)