The convoy consisted of more than a hundred ox-carts, and was escorted by a guard team of three thousand men. It was so grand that the farmers on both sides of the road stopped their farm work and stood to watch.
Fang Yun stood up from the pavilion and went forward to meet them with the officials of Ning'an County.
The convoy stopped and a large number of officials got out of the vehicles.
Fang Yun smiled and glanced at the crowd. At first glance, he saw many familiar faces.
Three Hanlin officials walked in front.
One of them was originally the Minister of Rites, Sai Zhixue, a fellow villager of Fang Yun. When Fang Yun was named "Model of Literary Man", it was he who escorted the reward with the secret order of the Empress Dowager. Now, he will serve as the governor of Mizhou!
Another one is Yu Xingshu, a general from Yuhai City. After a confrontation with Guan Fangyun, he finally broke through and became a Hanlin, and thus served as the governor of Mizhou.
The third one is Hu Yu, a disciple of the Minister of Literature, who holds an important position in the academy. When Fang Yun was studying in the academy in the capital, he met Hu Yu many times and even received his guidance. Now he serves as the governor of Mizhou Academy of Literature.
This means that except for the Yingyang Army, all other forces in Mizhou will be taken over by the monarch's faction.
Unlike the other three states, Mizhou only has four prefectures left, so the governor, the prince and the governor have relatively little real power. They are barely on par with the director of the Transportation Bureau and are lower than the general of the Yingyang Army.
As for the four prefectures in Mizhou, except for Qingwu Prefecture, whose prefect is still Cai He, the prefects of the other three prefectures have all been replaced. As for the generals and ministers of the four prefectures, they have all been replaced.
However, the generals who belonged to the military or the monarch's faction in the Yingyang Army left, and all of them were controlled by the Zuo Xiang's party. After all, the Queen Mother and Wen Xiang were powerless against the Yingyang Army, so it would be better to exchange it for control of the local armies.
The only high-ranking civil servant in Mizhou who has not been replaced is Geng Ge, the director of the Transportation Department. This is an important position that Liu Shan cannot give up. Once he gives up the Transportation Department, the Yingyang Army will be at the mercy of others.
Fang Yun looked around and found that not only did he recognize the three chief officials of Mizhou, but even the new prefect, the general, and the governor were either his acquaintances or he had met them many times, and even his uncle Fang Shouye.
In addition to prefectural officials, more than a dozen county magistrates also came. There are nearly forty counties in Mizhou, and it will take some time to replace all of them.
Fang Yun was extremely pleased. It was he who pushed the power of the left prime minister from the entire Mizhou into the Yingyang Army. These important positions would certainly be coveted by countless officials. Especially for the positions of Si Zheng, Zhifu, Fuyuanjun, Fujiangjun and Zhixian, which the Jinshi could compete for, the competition would inevitably be fierce. The competitors would even ask people from the aristocratic families to intercede with the Queen Mother or the Minister of Literature.
However, the two men withstood the pressure and only appointed Fang Yun's acquaintances, which meant that the favor was on Fang Yun's side and also showed that the court fully supported Fang Yun in the palace examination.
From today on, whatever Fang Yun says will be the final word on all government orders.
After getting off the car, the officials stood in line, with the three chief officials of Mizhou in front, the officials of various departments and prefectures in the middle, and the rest of the county-level officials in the back.
After standing firm, everyone bowed deeply together.
"Meet Fang Xusheng!"
Fang Yun straightened his back, nodded slightly, and accepted the courtesy from everyone without hesitation.
After the ceremony, Fang Shouye smiled and said, "Our Fang family in Dayuan Mansion is still promising!"
"Are you talking about the one who works as an aide to Fang Xusheng?" Wucuo Novel Network does not skip words.
Everyone laughed. Fang Shouye's son worked as an aide to Fang Yun's mansion.
Fang Yingwu rolled his eyes and was too lazy to look at his father.
Fang Yun took all the officials to the county literary academy. After they were settled, he held a banquet and literary gathering at the county government office at noon.
Because it was the end of spring and the beginning of summer, it was the common "Send Off Spring and Welcome Summer Literary Meeting". Not only officials from the capital were invited, but also people from various palaces stationed in Ning'an County and local scholars were invited.
The scholars in Ning'an County used to only respect Fang Yun, but now they both respect and fear him. He was just an acting county magistrate, but he attracted the four halls of the Holy Academy to be stationed there. In just a few months, he took away Mizhou, which had been managed by the Left Prime Minister for many years, and only left the Yingyang Army for the Left Prime Minister's party. He was so powerful that he could change the situation at will, which was really terrifying.
Fang Yun sat in the main seat and said almost nothing except a few words before the literary gathering began.
Literary gatherings have always been a stage for young people. Fang Yun is younger than anyone else, but he can no longer be regarded as a young person. Even when young people write poems and ask for comments, they are not qualified to ask Fang Yun.
In the eyes of everyone, only poems from Mingzhou could make Fang Yun speak. However, it was already a great achievement for a literary gathering in Ning'an County to produce a poem that could leave the county. It was extremely difficult to even reach the prefecture, let alone Mingzhou.
After the young men finished writing poems, everyone started drinking and chatting, and moved on to the second theme of the literary gathering. Officials from Ning'an County welcomed the new officials on behalf of Mizhou.
As Fang Yun was a virtual saint, he naturally could not go on stage, so the county magistrate Tao Dingnian went on stage, forced out an extremely sincere smile, and introduced to the officials of Ning'an County their immediate superior's superior, and their immediate superior's superior's superior's superior's superior.
Every time Tao Dingnian introduced an official, nearly a hundred officials in Ning'an County would stand up and greet him, and later they just stood there all the time.
Fang Yun was smiling from beginning to end. It was normal for local officials to welcome officials from other places, but it was normal for a group of Ning'an County officials who had been abandoned by the Left Prime Minister's Party to welcome the new big men from Mizhou. Just imagine how complicated their feelings were. However, they could only hold their noses and welcome them again and again, calling them superiors over and over again. It really took some skill to hold back their laughter.
At the end of the literary gathering, Fang Yun suddenly heard a minor official whisper something. He tried not to laugh out loud, but Ao Huang laughed.
"Ah, I finally understand how Lord Fang felt when he entered Mizhou alone. We must be in the same situation as him now."
The situation has completely reversed.
The officials of the nearby Ning'an County kept nodding their heads. This literary gathering was too terrifying. The lowest official was also the new county magistrate of Ning'an County, and his position was higher than that of all the officials except Fang Yun.
It was obvious that the officials came here together deliberately to give the officials of Ning'an County a huge warning, to let them know Fang Yun's true status and tell them who is the real master of Mizhou.
All officials in the state should bow before Fang Yun!
Although Fang Yun was in power, he did not do anything out of the ordinary from beginning to end except smiling. He was still the same harmless and low-key county magistrate as when he first arrived.
As evening approached and the literary gathering was drawing to a close, the governor of the state, Sai Zhixue, stood up to make a final summary and express his gratitude.
After finishing his final thanks, Sai Zhixue looked at Fang Yun and said with a smile: "Although you are a virtual saint, you are only the acting county magistrate now. If I, the governor of the state, say something in Ning'an County, will it still have an impact? "
Everyone chuckled and looked at Fang Yun together. They didn't know what Sai Zhixue wanted to do, but it seemed that he wanted Fang Yun to take action, but was afraid that Fang Yun would be unhappy.
The officials in Ning'an County became more and more depressed. This was not the way the governor was talking to the county magistrate, it was simply the county magistrate talking to the governor!
"Old Sai, stop being so mysterious. If you have something to say, just say it. I want to go home to be with my wife." Fang Yun's words caused another burst of laughter.
Fang Yun's address to Sai Zhixue did not involve his official title, so the awkward situation of the two people being in a different position would be solved. (To be continued...)