"Sir, there is someone outside who claims to be from Liang Jing and wants to see you!"
In a room full of documents in Cangzhou, Zhou Xu, the Tongzhi of Cangzhou, was sitting inside, playing with a gadget in his hand. Seeing his subordinates hurriedly pushing the door in, he was about to get angry and scold them for being unruly, but his mind was attracted by what he said the next moment.
"From Liang Jing? What kind of person is he?" he asked.
The subordinate thought for a moment and said, "They parked three carriages outside the government office, and it was their drivers who came down to deliver the message. I haven't seen the people in the carriages yet."
Zhou Xu snorted coldly: "You haven't even seen the person yet, why are you so anxious? Who am I? If I want to see anyone casually, won't I be busy from morning till night every day?"
The subordinate nodded and bowed quickly: "Your Excellency is right, I was not thoughtful enough. I will go out and send them away!" He paused, but still couldn't help but want to defend himself, saying: "When I heard that they were from Liangjing, I lost my composure and thought that the newly appointed prefect had arrived."
After saying that, he turned and walked out. Before he even stepped out of the door, a voice came from behind: "Wait."
"My lord, what else do you want?"
"You think it's the newly appointed prefect who has arrived, but what's so special about their carriages?" Zhou Xu had lived in Liangjing for three or four months when he went there to take the imperial examination. Naturally, he knew that many carriages of aristocratic families had special markings.
The yamen runner recalled for a moment and said, "Their carriage seemed to be taller and bigger than the other carriages."
"Who asked you this?" Zhou Xu was a little depressed. "I was asking you, does the carriage look particularly luxurious, or does it have any strange patterns or designs on it?"
The yamen runner shook his head, as if he hadn't seen what the master had just said.
Zhou Xu frowned and thought for a while, then said to himself, "But the governor's confidants never said that the governor would take office in the next few days. Don't they know for sure when the governor will arrive?"
"Forget it, just go and invite them in first." Zhou Xu decided to find some time to meet them. If they were unimportant people, he would have time to fine them some silver and kick them out.
After making up his mind, Zhou Xu took the opportunity when the yamen runner went out to invite someone in to casually tidy up his desk to avoid it being too messy.
Here, Jiang Miao and Pei Che were sitting in the carriage, waiting for the yamen runner to come and invite them in after announcing. Not long after the yamen runner went in, the man came out. After he came out, he went straight to the window of the first carriage, knocked on the wall, and said, "The Tongzhi invites you to come in and meet him. Please follow me in."
The car window was opened, revealing a face with a friendly and pleasing smile: "Thank you, brother. We will be right down."
The yamen runner nodded, took a few steps back, and saw the man who had just appeared get off the carriage. Then he saw a man whose appearance and aura made people dare not look directly at him step down from the carriage.
When leading the way, his eyes would always unconsciously fall on Pei Che. A person with such outstanding appearance and imposing aura must not be an ordinary person. He didn't know who he was and why he came here to see their adults.
When they arrived at the messenger's room, the messenger knocked on the door first, and only opened the door and led them in after hearing permission from the inside. After the two came in, Zhou Xu looked up casually, and like all the other people who saw Pei Che for the first time, his expression was a little dull due to shock.
After a moment, his expression calmed down and he asked, "I heard that you two came from Liangjing and wanted to see me. Now that we've met, can you tell me your purpose?"
Pei Che said, "Sir Zhou, I am an official appointed by the court. I have come here today to take over the post of Cangzhou governor. Here is the document and seal of the official appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. Please take a look."
Pei Che didn't even bother to exchange a few pleasantries. He went straight to the point and revealed his identity. He then took out his certificate and showed it to Zhou Xu.
After verifying Pei Che's identity, Zhou Xu hurriedly walked out from behind the table, bowed respectfully, and performed a great salute.
"I didn't know that you would take office today, my Lord. I am sorry for not coming to greet you in person. I hope you will forgive me. What I did just now was also my duty. Please forgive me!" Zhou Xu lowered his attitude and no longer looked like he did before.
"Ignorance is not a crime, so it's okay. Sir Zhou, don't take it to heart." Pei Che smiled slightly, looking elegant and good-tempered.
Before Zhou Xu could breathe a sigh of relief, he changed the subject: "When I entered Cangzhou this morning, I accidentally parked my vehicle somewhere on the side of the road. Then I was discovered by the patrol officers here, who took me away and fined me six taels of silver."
As he spoke, he handed the "receipt" to Zhou Xu's desk: "Although the silver is not much, it really reminds me that I must always be alert when I go out. Otherwise, if I commit a mistake this time, I will be fined, but the next time I commit a serious crime, I may be beheaded. Lord Zhou, what do you think?"
Zhou Xu's face turned pale, his legs trembled, knowing that Pei Che was trying to explain to him. He didn't expect it to be such a coincidence that those people fined this gentleman who came to the office in a simple manner, giving him a handle!
Suddenly, he frowned. No, this was clearly done by the cronies of the man in front of him. Was he trying to clear himself of the matter and make him take the blame by saying this
"Sir, why do you ask about the fine when you already know the answer?" Zhou Xu smiled and hinted at Pei Che.
Pei Che said solemnly, "This is the second thing that puzzles me. Both the yamen runners and the local people keep saying that this was done on the orders of the newly appointed prefect. Does this Cangzhou actually need two prefects to govern together? I wonder what the other prefect's name is?"
Zhou Xu was stunned: "Sir, are you kidding? There is only one new governor here, and that is you. When did you need two of us? However, this order was given by two of your trusted followers, and we are just following it."
"My two trusted followers?" Pei Che laughed sarcastically. "I just took office today, why would my trusted followers come here first?"
"Well, those two said at the beginning that the master was busy with family affairs, so he sent them here first to assist in Cangzhou's affairs, and asked us to obey his orders." Zhou Xu felt a little panicked. Looking at the appearance of the master in front of him, it seemed that those two were not his confidants. Then who were they
"Ridiculous! As far as I know, the two men came here a month and a half ago. However, the palace examination had not yet been held at that time. Let alone being sent as officials, we were not even Jinshi yet. How could anyone use the excuse of being busy with family affairs to send a trusted person to help manage the government office?"
Pei Che looked at him with disappointment. As an official appointed by the imperial court, he was so confused. Such a big Cangzhou was fooled by two impostors!
"My Lord! Although we are stupid, we dare not take such a thing lightly. It was only after repeated verification that we believed he was truly your confidant." Zhou Xu quickly complained for himself and spread the responsibility to others.
"How did you verify it?" Pei Che asked.
"They also have official documents and seals in their hands. How can these two things be obtained by anyone other than an official of the imperial court? This is why we believe that the two men are really trusted by the Lord."
"Oh? If so, why didn't you feel strange when I took out the documents and seals? How could there be two copies of the same thing? To privately carve the imperial seal is a capital crime!"
"I thought that the two of them sent someone to send the two things back. After all, they are indispensable on the road to taking office." Zhou Xu said.
"We have the seal and documents before the official is sent out. Have you never doubted this?" Pei Che raised another suspicious point.
Zhou Xu was a little embarrassed, and after a long while he said, "They said that the master was a descendant of a Liangjing family, and had already regarded Cangzhou as his own. He made some arrangements casually and asked the Ministry of Personnel to give them the things in advance."
Pei Che was speechless and didn't know what to say. Could it be that the corrupt officials below were so bold that they thought such unbelievable things were reasonable
(End of this chapter)