The news that Hua Qingfeng read from the mansion newspaper was said to be gossip news, but in this era, it was considered gossip news in serious official "newspapers" like the mansion newspaper, but in fact it was still news in official circles. He just said it in a more joking and relaxed tone.
The news was actually five months ago, and it was actually old news. It was about Chu Tianxing, a Tongzhi in Fengxiang Prefecture, Shaanxi Province, who was demoted to a loose official because of drinking. This old man neither ate flower wine, nor did he do anything detrimental to the official authority when he was drunk, but he liked things in the glass, and he often had a few drinks with friends.
The problem is, this brother Chu drank public wine. The so-called public wine refers to the wine brewed for official business, used for official business, and kept in the official treasury on weekdays. There are public wines in the official treasuries of all levels of yamen, which are specially used to give gifts to officials who come and go, as well as officials who have been appointed or dismissed. If the local officials pay attention to good neighborliness and friendship, it is also acceptable to give gifts to officials in neighboring states and counties.
But there is one thing. The special thing about public wine is that it is a public character, which can only be used for official business. If you give gifts to officials in neighboring states and counties, that is considered official business, but the giver and receiver, including the public wine given back to the other party, are not. For private ones, the official treasury will also be taken back. If you stay and enjoy it, it will be against the law. This is like a state visit by officials of later generations, and receiving gifts from other countries cannot be regarded as private property.
In fact, today is not the same as when the country was founded. The laws and regulations of the country have been relaxed a lot, and many rules have survived in name only, but these regulations have not been cancelled.
This Master Chu, a fellow-prefect of Fengxiang Mansion in Shaanxi Province, received fifty bottles of public wine from the officials of the neighboring county, but did not send them into the official treasury, but drank them himself. Li Boxian, the censor of Shaanxi Province, had just taken office, and was about to appeal to several people to show his political achievements, so he immediately filed a letter of impeachment on this matter.
In fact, this lord censor was just trying to add a little political achievement to himself, and he didn't think that this matter could really be dealt with by the court. This is like some institutions in later generations who have nothing to do and do some useless "study" and "training".
Unexpectedly, this impeachment memorial was actually approved, and as a result, this powerful Tongzhi adult was dismissed from his post and became a loose official with no official position. It's interesting because the censor was just gathering some materials for his "year-end summary" and didn't really want to sue lord Chu. As a result, when the news came out, the censor was very embarrassed, even though the censor was The pickets are all officials, but if such a trivial matter is to be impeached, how can you mess around in the local area, won't you be alienated by all the officials, and make gods hate ghosts? Poor Li Yushi was irreparable, so he had to drink heavily to relieve his worries, and often got drunk. Of course, what he drank was definitely bootleg alcohol.
Is drinking public wine a trivial matter? It wasn't originally, if small goodness is not done, how can it become great righteousness? In fact, the regular dynasties attached great importance to the personal morality of officials. At the beginning of the founding of the country, this was a serious crime that could be severely punished.
In the Song Dynasty, a high-ranking official asked his subordinates to sell some waste paper used in the office and exchange it for wine money to entertain guests. However, because the waste paper he sold was from the public, the wine should be public wine, and the private use of public wine is "self-stealing". ", so he was dismissed from office, and more than a dozen officials who were invited to drink by him were also demoted and kicked out of the capital, which shows the severity of the punishment.
It’s just that the development of any dynasty cannot avoid a common law: when the country was founded, most people were clean and honest, and the laws were strict. The chaos is frequent, and all kinds of unimaginable and strange phenomena have become the norm, which makes people numb.
When everything gets out of hand, it will be invaded by foreign enemies or replaced by internal strife, the dynasty will be changed, order will be rebuilt, and then the cycle of rise and fall will be repeated again. Whether it is nature or human society, this law is inevitable, and this can be regarded as a kind of self-cultivation of the way of heaven.
However, the rules and regulations of the country are far less stringent than when the country was founded. Drinking public wine is really not a big deal. Even if someone puts it on the stage to talk about it, at most they will be reprimanded or fined a few months of salary. How can they be dismissed. When things go wrong, there must be a demon. Hua Zhixian thought about it for a while, and he actually figured out the reason.
The great misfortune of this Tongzhi master must be related to the current situation of the court. In the edict of the emperor's decree to dismiss him from office, there was a sentence "capable but not virtuous". Presumably this reason touched the emperor's sensitive nerves. We must know that Zhang Juzheng, a behemoth, was brought down less than a year ago, and his liquidation is still going on, and in the emperor's mind, Zhang Juzheng is a typical example of "capability but no virtue".
Zhang Shoufu took advantage of his power and unscrupulously used his son as the number one scholar. He was greedy for huge bribes, and even dared to confiscate the land and property of the confiscated criminal vassal. When the emperor asked two musicians to dance for fun, he was scolded by him Wept bitterly, and finally issued a "crime edict" to criticize the whole world before he was forgiven, while Zhang Shoufu himself had a group of wives and concubines, and he continued to accept beauties from others...
All these scandals were exposed one after another in the liquidation of him, which made Emperor Wanli, who had always regarded him as a moral model and a sage of Duke Zhou, hate him deeply. The sentence of "capable but not virtuous" is exactly the vent of the emperor's resentment, and the reason why this fellow magistrate of Fengxiang Mansion ruined his life's future after drinking a few bottles of public wine is self-evident.
"Is there ability but no virtue..."
The more Hua Qingfeng thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. Zhang Juzheng's contribution cannot be denied. It was a real political achievement. The emperor wanted to liquidate Zhang Juzheng. In this political environment, he must severely punish similar incidents, so that he can continue to emphasize the rationality and correctness of dealing with Zhang Juzheng.
A fellow magistrate would inevitably be a victim under such circumstances, so what is Ye Xiaotian, a small county magistrate? Hua Qingfeng jumped up excitedly, and finally found a breakthrough to rectify Ye Xiaotian, but he immediately thought, Ye Xiaotian is not a good match, if he wants to find fault with him, can't his ass be cleaned
Hua Qingfeng felt guilty for a while, thought for a while, and ordered someone to find Su Xuntian. When Su Xuntian heard that Hua Qingfeng was looking for him, he felt a little puzzled. Ever since Hua Qingfeng favored Miss Ziyu and left Mrs. Su Ya in the cold, the relationship between brother-in-law Hua and Uncle Su has always been tense. Could it be that the sun hits the west today? Out
Su Xuntian looked up at the sky, and the sun was still hanging in the east. Su Xuntian shook his head, but still rushed to Hua Qingfeng's study. When Hua Qingfeng saw Su Xuntian, he blurted out and asked, "Xuntian, is that casino... ever closed?"
Su Xuntian was stunned, never expecting that Hua Qingfeng asked him about this matter when he saw him. After he was killed last time, Ye Xiaotian once advised him not to have anything to do with the casino, but that was Hua Qingfeng's few source of funds, how could he cut it off easily? When it became prosperous, Su Xuntian himself made a lot of money from it, so he was even more reluctant to settle it.
Su Xuntian asked angrily: "Brother-in-law, you take more than two hundred taels of silver from me every month, but now you come to ask me if the casino has been closed long ago. Where do you think I got the money from?" "
Hua Qingfeng blushed, and replied embarrassingly: "Uh... Back then, the purpose of protecting the casino was to fight against King Xu's generation, so it was a big deal at the expense of the little ones! Now that King Xu and the two are gone, we don't need such unrighteous things." Money, Xuntian, you close the casino quickly, and don't have any connection with it!"
Now that Su Xuntian also got a lot of profit from the casino, how could he be willing to part with it, so he persuaded: "Brother-in-law, I have done everything, can the stain be washed away by mending it after a dead sheep? Besides, although there is no restraint from the generation of King Xu, The two adults, Ye Bai, are also very respectful to you. You don't need money to buy your cronies to strengthen your reputation, but more money is always a good thing. If you don't stick hands with me, it's hard to keep others from sticking hands. Besides, my nephew is about to be born, so I have to save money for him. Let's get the next job."
Hua Qingfeng's face sank, and he said righteously: "Nonsense! Although what I did in the past was lawless, it was always a cheap way to regain power from the treacherous hands and serve the court. It is definitely not for my own self-interest. Today I Even if he has an heir, he should be allowed to study sage books and take the imperial examination. Do you want to use ill-gotten gains to try to become a rich man? Needless to say, end the casino quickly, and no matter what, we can no longer have anything to do with it connection."
Su Xuntian had no choice but to agree. Hua Qingfeng thought for a while, and then asked: "The incident of beating people to death in the past didn't leave any troubles?"
Su Xuntian only thought that his usual timidity had flared up again, and replied angrily: "With Master Ye's help, I have dealt with it long ago, so what troubles can there be? This matter has long since subsided, and the family is also No one came out to seek justice. As the saying goes, if the people don’t raise their case, and the officials don’t investigate, what kind of trouble can happen.”
Hua Qingfeng felt relieved, waved his hand and said: "That's good, brother-in-law is also thinking of you, you can step back, remember, we must quickly end the casino, and don't let our family have anything to do with it. When you do, remember to let me know."
Su Xun agreed grumpily, and retreated angrily. Hua Qingfeng stroked his beard and thought to himself, I just ignored me that day, and Ye Xiaotian took care of it all by himself. Now even if he is impeached by this official, he can't make a fuss about it. This official has never done anything, so he can avoid it. He himself cannot escape the responsibility, and he certainly dare not mention it.
Thinking of this point, Hua Qingfeng suddenly felt that he had a great foresight, and couldn't help being complacent. He opened the door, and there were sporadic firecrackers in the distance, and the smell of the New Year had gradually permeated. I also feel great relief in my heart:
"It's been the sixth year that Hua has come to Hu County. Now that I have an heir and no enemy, as long as Ye Xiaotian is killed, all the achievements of Hu County will fall on me, Hua, until the term of office expires. When re-electing officials, is there a good place to go?"
When he first arrived in Hu County six years ago, he was also ambitious, wanting to fight Qi Mu and Meng Xian Cheng, but in the end, Meng Xian Cheng hindered him inside, and Qi Mu used his strength outside, not only frustrated his schemes one by one, but also defeated him. Hold his wife in his hands and force him to submit, and he will almost end up losing his wife and losing his army.
After five years of sharpening his sword, Master Hua finally rose again today, but he didn't know whether his sword was good or bad. But Hua Zhixian himself is full of confidence: "People have three declines and six prosperity. Hua has been unlucky for so long, so it should be extremely prosperous..."