It rains when it rains, and it rains when it is late. This sentence is very suitable for Taizhou prefect Tan Lun. Some time ago, Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou Prefecture. The bandits were aggressive and broke through several counties in the territory and surrounded Taizhou Prefecture. Fortunately, Jingnan County Magistrate Zhu Ping'an fought hard and made three great achievements, killing the Japanese pirates, defending the city, and recovering the city, which saved the face of Taizhou Prefecture. In addition, he made some arrangements, so that Taizhou Prefecture survived the disaster safely.
However, no one expected that after surviving the Japanese pirates, they would be hit by this once-in-a-century flood.
Although the flood was a natural disaster and spread to most of Jiangnan, and no prefecture in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was spared, the court would not hold them accountable for the flood, but if they failed to provide disaster relief, they would not be able to escape accountability.
Therefore, since the flood occurred, Taizhou prefect Tan Lun has been working diligently every day, personally deploying and directing Taizhou prefecture's disaster relief work. From the prefectural capital to the counties below, he has personally reviewed all matters related to the flood, no matter how big or small.
With the prefect acting like this, the officials below him naturally did not dare to slack off, especially Wang Jingli from the prefectural government's experience department.
Three days ago, when the Taizhou prefect Tan Lun was checking the maps of mountains, rivers and streams in Taizhou prefecture, he found an official document entitled "A letter from Jingnan County Magistrate Zhu Ping'an to Taizhou prefecture on early warning of floods and flood control". Because the document was submitted by Zhu Ping'an and the title of the document was about early warning of floods and flood control, the Taizhou prefect Tan Lun began to read it.
When Taizhou prefect Tan Lun read the content and saw the date of signature, he could not help but become furious.
More than ten days before the flood occurred, Jingnan County Magistrate Zhu Ping'an had already sent a letter to Taizhou Prefecture to warn of the flood!
Why didn’t it attract attention!
If we had followed the advice in Zhu Ping'an's official document and taken precautions in advance, the flood in Taizhou Prefecture would not have been so serious!
Therefore, Wang Jingli, who was in charge of the government office's experience department, was summoned by Taizhou prefect Tan Lun and severely criticized.
If Tan Lun had not remembered that he was preparing for war outside the city and had indeed told Wang Jingli and his subordinates not to disturb him unless it was something important, Wang Jingli would have faced more than just a severe criticism!
After this incident, Wang Jingli became more careful and paid extra attention to the official documents submitted by the counties below. Once it was related to floods, no matter how big or small, he would submit it to the prefect Tan Lun for review as soon as possible.
"Sir Wang, this is the official document submitted today by Linhai County, Taiping County, and Huangyan County."
A clerk from the Experience Department came in and handed the official document to Wang Jingli with both hands.
Wang Jingli took the document and read it carefully. Linhai County reported that the price of grain in the area had been reduced and stabilized at 500 wen per dan of grain, and Huangyan County also reported that the price of grain in the area had been reduced and stabilized at 500 wen per dan.
Well, yes, this is good news. The Lord will definitely be very happy to hear it.
After Wang Jingli looked through the official documents submitted by Linhai County and Huangyan County, a smile appeared on his face.
The same should be true in Taiping County.
While thinking about it, Wang Jingli opened the official document from Taiping County. Yes, it was indeed the news that the price of grain in the territory had been reduced to 500 coins per stone... Hey, why is there another page at the end? !
What?! Expose and report Zhu Pingan?!
After reading the contents, Wang Jingli lost his composure and immediately ran to the room of Taizhou prefect Tan Lun with three official documents.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency..." Wang Jingli hurried to Tan Lun's room without even knocking on the door.
"What's the matter? You're so flustered. How can you be so flustered?"
Taizhou prefect Tan Lun was discussing with Zuo Zhen the matter of sending new soldiers into the city to help maintain order in the refugee camp. When they were at a critical point in the discussion, they were suddenly interrupted by Wang Jingli, who looked up and said with some displeasure.
"Your Excellency has taught me that I have behaved inappropriately. Please punish me." Wang Jingli said with his head down.
"There's no need for punishment. Tell me, why did you come to see me in such a hurry?" Taizhou prefect Tan Lun took the matter lightly and did not pursue the matter any further.
"Your Excellency, I have just received official documents from Linhai, Huangyan and Taiping counties." Wang Jingli reported.
"What happened in the three counties?" asked Taizhou prefect Tan Lun.
"All three counties reported that the price of grain in their areas has dropped and stabilized at 500 coins per stone, and..." Wang Jingli reported back.
"Lowering the price of temperature-controlled grain is a good thing. Why do you feel like this?" Upon hearing this, Taizhou prefect Tan Lun said dissatisfiedly.
"Your Excellency, there is also a letter of accusation in the official documents of Taiping County Magistrate, exposing and reporting Jingnan County Magistrate Zhu Ping'an, saying that Zhu Ping'an, in the name of the county government, forcibly defined the grain price in Jingnan as 2,500 coins per stone! He sought personal gain from it. According to the local people in Jingnan, Zhu Ping'an accepted bribes from grain merchants amounting to tens of thousands of silver coins."
As Wang Jingli spoke, he picked out the official document from Taiping County and handed it to Taizhou prefect Tan Lun with both hands.
"What?! There is such a thing!" Upon hearing this, Taizhou prefect Tan Lun's face changed instantly! His face was filled with rage!
"Impossible? Jingnan County Magistrate Zhu Ping'an is not such a person, right?!" Zuo Zhen opened his mouth in surprise after hearing this, but he was skeptical about the exposure and accusation made by Taiping County Magistrate.
Because Jingnan killed an unusually large number of Japanese pirates, he and the prefect Tan Lun went to Jingnan for a private visit to check. In fact, he had a prejudice against Zhu Ping'an at the beginning, and did not believe that Jingnan would have so many gains. He even suspected that Zhu Ping'an killed innocent people to take credit, but he did not expect that this was indeed the case. Not only that, they found in their private visit that Zhu Ping'an, the magistrate of Jingnan, was highly praised by the local people and was known as a person who loved the people, was honest, and was an able official. Therefore, Zuo Zhen turned from a black to a fan of Zhu Ping'an. He did not believe that Zhu Ping'an could do such a thing as ignoring the lives of the people, raising grain prices, and accepting bribes from grain merchants.
After being shocked, Taizhou prefect Tan Lun also found it hard to believe. However, the records in the Taiping County Magistrate's official document were well-founded and detailed, and did not seem to be fictitious. Moreover, fabricating evidence to frame others was a serious crime, and the Taiping County Magistrate would not dare to do so. To be on the safe side, Taizhou Prefect Tan Lun sent people to conduct a secret investigation.
Soon, the secret investigator came to report with an official document.
"From today onwards, each dan of grain in Jingnan County will cost two thousand five hundred coins..." The words are written in black on the white paper and the big red seal is there no falsehood!
Taizhou prefect Tan Lun and others looked at the official document in front of them setting the grain price in Jingnan, and had to believe that the Taiping magistrate's revelation was true. Zhu Ping'an really set the grain price in Jingnan at 2,500 coins per stone in the form of an official document! As for Zhu Ping'an's acceptance of huge bribes from grain merchants, it must be true!
In the face of the flood, people are living in poverty, and Zhu Ping'an dares to act so recklessly! Taizhou prefect Tan Lun couldn't help but be so angry that his face turned blue.
"Your Excellency, I request your permission to capture the corrupt official Zhu Ping'an and bring him to justice!" Zuo Zhen gritted his teeth in anger and clasped his fists to Tan Lun to ask for permission.
At this moment, he turned from a fan to a hater, and once again became a hater of Zhu Pingan. Zhu Pingan, I trusted you so much and even defended you in front of the Lord of the Mansion. I never thought that you would be such a corrupt official who didn't care about the lives of the people and only cared about personal gain!
"Okay!" Taizhou prefect Tan Lun nodded, but soon shook his head to stop Zuo Zhen.
"Your Excellency! If we allow Zhu Ping'an to continue messing around like this, how will the people of Jingnan survive?!"
Zuo Zhen was puzzled and asked hurriedly.
"Left General, Zhu Ping'an is not an ordinary county magistrate. He has made great contributions in fighting against the Japanese invaders and has just been promoted by the emperor to be the deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Criminal and Supervisory Commissioner's Office. He is only the temporary county magistrate of Jingnan. Moreover, his teacher is the current cabinet minister Xu Jie. I heard that he was promoted to the deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Criminal and Supervisory Commissioner's Office because of the care of cabinet minister Xu. If we only rely on this official document that defines the grain price, I am afraid that he will have many excuses and it will be difficult to convict him. Let's wait for some time, when the situation in Jingnan is corrupt and out of control, and then we will punish Zhu Ping'an. By then, he will not be allowed to shirk his responsibilities!"
Taizhou prefect Tan Lun spoke slowly. He has always been calm and considers things more thoroughly than Zuo Zhen.
In addition to the above, he was also worried that if he hastily executed Zhu Ping'an, he would be branded as jealous and intolerant.
After Zhu Ping'an was promoted to the position of Assistant Official of Zhejiang Provincial Criminal and Provincial Inspection Commissioner for his meritorious service, the title of the youngest and most promising official in Zhejiang and Jiangsu fell from Tan Lun to Zhu Ping'an. He was 32 years old, a rank 4th; Zhu Ping'an was only 16, but he was already a rank 5th, only half a rank lower than him. With the speed at which Zhu Ping'an was promoted, no one would doubt that Zhu Ping'an would become his superior in a few years. Although he did not care about this false reputation, many people in the circle said so. He was worried that if he hastily sent Zhu Ping'an away, other officials would misunderstand that he was jealous of talented people and could not tolerate others.
I have the ambition to be granted a title of nobility and become a prime minister. If I leave behind a bad reputation of being jealous of talented people and intolerant of others, it will have a great impact on my career.
I will wait for some time until the situation in Jingnan becomes deteriorating and out of control, and then I will make decisions about Zhu Ping'an.
There will be no more misunderstanding.
"Alas! This is the only way. However, the people of Jingnan will suffer for some time." Zuo Zhen sighed.