However, Fang Yun did not just use the Minggu County magistrate to establish his authority. On the second day after the Minggu County magistrate was arrested, officials from all over the country were arrested and brought to Baling City.
People in the Governor's Office spread the word that these people were just like the magistrate of Minggu County, who did not stop after Fang Yun announced the rectification of officialdom.
At the beginning, many officials thought that Fang Yun was purging Qingguan or Zuo Xiang's forces, because anyone with a little experience in officialdom knows that the so-called rectification of officialdom or the punishment of corruption is essentially a political struggle, and in essence, a new emperor means new ministers.
How can the new official eat his fill if he doesn’t overthrow a group of people
After a few days, everyone discovered that Fang Yun was completely different from the previous officials. There was no pattern to those who were arrested. Not only did they have backgrounds in Qing Kingdom or Zuo Xiang, but there were even staunch royalists. There was even a seventh-rank county magistrate who was a relative of the emperor's wife and grew up wearing open-crotch pants like the empress dowager's brother-in-law.
If we must say what these people have in common, it is that after Fang Yun warned everyone, they not only stopped but also did not know how to restrain themselves.
In less than ten days, two Hanlin scholars, eleven Jinshi scholars, ninety-four Juren scholars and more than three hundred scholars were arrested and dismissed one after another.
Those with serious crimes will be escorted to the capital for sentencing, and may eventually be exiled to various places.
Those with less serious crimes will be fined ten times the amount of their corrupt gains, stripped of their official robes, and driven out of the government offices. Then their criminal records will be submitted to the Holy Academy, and they will never be employed by any country or region of the Holy Academy.
Scholars must not be killed indiscriminately, but they must not be allowed to commit crimes without paying any price.
Fang Yun's iron-fisted approach shocked the entire human race. Many people then realized that this time, Fang Yun was serious and he really wanted to create a bureaucracy that was at least relatively clean and pragmatic.
Gradually, all the people in Xiangzhou felt that all the officials had changed a lot. No one would ignore them when they went to the yamen to do business anymore. Some officials used to ask for benefits on their own initiative, but now they dare not even accept them for fear of being caught.
In the past, when problems were reported to the government, the government would often take a long time to respond. But now, they arrive very quickly and do things meticulously according to government regulations.
Many officials began to complain constantly, but some officials thought it was good this way. At least they didn’t have to go to eat and drink with the emperor every day. They had strong bodies, but they were ruined by eating and drinking.
For the first time, the people of Xiangzhou deeply felt the benefits of Fang Yun's arrival, and they admired Fang Yun even more.
Some people gathered in front of the Governor's Mansion to thank Fang Yun, but Fang Yun did not meet them. Instead, he asked the officials of the Governor's Mansion to go out and deliver a message to the people.
"The world was originally a place of orchids, full of fragrance, but evil prevailed, turning the place of orchids into an abalone shop. After living in an abalone shop for a long time, you can cheer and feel grateful when you smell the fragrance of orchids again, but you must remember that we are just like orchids!"
Fang Yun's words are quite profound. Different people have different interpretations, but no matter what, they have positive meanings.
The people of Xiangzhou loved Fang Yun more and more, and anyone who said something bad about Fang Yun would inevitably be refuted by many people.
Soon, the officials in Xiangzhou coined a phrase: "officials have a hard time making a living."
Not long after, some officials handed in their resignations and left the yamen.
Everything in Xiangzhou seemed to be under Fang Yun's control.
Every winter, lower-level officials would pay some silver to their superiors on the pretext that their superiors needed to buy wood for heating, but they would never mention the money. They called it "charcoal tribute". In the hot summer, they would pay "ice tribute".
But this year, no official in Xiangzhou dared to send charcoal as tribute to officials in the capital, and the minor officials in Xiangzhou did not dare to send charcoal as tribute to their superiors, because some of them had been caught by Fang Yun for doing so.
Without the charcoal tribute as in previous years, officials in Xiangzhou suddenly felt a little inconvenienced, especially some officials who were short of money, who began to have some inappropriate emotions.
On October 28, the Juyuan Prefecture issued a decree. In order to respond to the call of the Governor-General, from today onwards, all public kitchens in the prefecture will reduce meat dishes, and all meals will be limited. Everyone must save food and seek benefits for the human race.
As soon as this decree was issued, there was widespread complaints in Juyuan Prefecture, and some officials became increasingly dissatisfied with Fang Yun.
Court meetings often lasted a long time. After the meeting, the monarch would arrange for officials to have a meal. Therefore, the meals arranged by the palace for civil and military officials were called "retirement meals". Because the meal took place in the corridor in front of the palace, it was also called corridor meals.
Ordinary government offices would arrange a free lunch for all officials every day. They did not dare to call it a meal in the dining hall, so they called it a public kitchen.
When the Juyuan Prefecture issued this decree, most places were waiting and watching, but a few counties followed suit and also announced that they would reduce the amount of meals in public kitchens in response to the governor's call.
As a result, many officials in these places worked on an empty stomach in the afternoon, and when the time came, they almost ran home to eat.
This matter was written into an official document and appeared on Fang Yun's desk. Fang Yun took a look at it, pondered for a moment, and then put it aside, seemingly not caring.
Just after November, every household prepares for the Winter Solstice Festival.
On the fifth day of November, Tangshan Prefecture issued an official document stating that in order to return the fragrance of Zhilan to Xiangzhou, all the embassy's money this year would be confiscated.
As soon as the news came out, all the officials in Tangshan Prefecture were in an uproar. Some officials even went to the prefect of Tangshan Prefecture, but were scolded by the prefect and forced to leave.
The so-called public money was originally public funds used by high-ranking officials, such as travel and entertainment expenses. Later, many funds were also considered public money.
The government ran some workshops. If the workshops performed well, the government would give the officials some public money during the New Year and other festivals. During the period of best performance, the public money in a year could even be dozens of times the court salary.
Although the official workshop in Tangshan Prefecture had mediocre efficiency, the public money earned from the four festivals starting from the winter solstice to Laba, Little New Year and Spring Festival was at least equivalent to half a year's salary, which was not a small amount of money for many officials.
The lower-level clerks and the more honest officials who do not have extra income need this money more. It is no exaggeration to say that this money is life-saving money.
Now Tangshanfu has been directly confiscated, completely disrupting the lives of these people.
The next day, Tangshan Prefecture issued another notice, canceling all winter gifts this year.
Many officials cursed loudly.
The so-called winter gifts were originally gifts from the king to officials, such as silk, cotton clothes, rice, flour, oil, chicken, duck, fish, etc., and local governments would also give similar gifts to minor officials. In an ordinary winter, although the winter gifts from Tangshan Prefecture were not much, they were enough for the official's family of three to change into new clothes, eat for two months, and have a good New Year.
Soon, the Juyuan Prefecture also issued an announcement to cancel all envoy fees and winter gifts.
The officials from both places began to curse wildly. Some old officials who were fearless of anything went to the yamen and cursed in public, but since they did not mention anyone's name, no one could punish them.
This matter was soon posted on the discussion board, and many people found it absurd. The charcoal tribute and the like were one thing, as they were indeed things that could not be spoken of openly, but the ambassadorial money and winter gifts were both legal and reasonable subsidies for officials of various countries. It was too much to deduct such money.
On the seventh day of the eleventh month, another bizarre notice was posted on the notice board of Juyuan Prefecture. Official Wang Nian was reported for buying three taels of meat without paying the butcher. He was reported for taking the goods of the people and was dismissed from his post as a warning to others. (To be continued)