Chapter Ten A Trip of Muddy Water

  Everyone was taken aback by the words, but soon relaxed again. Cao Hu, the burly captain with a scar on his face, sneered coldly: "Brother Chen, what's there to fear? Without our support, Jiang You County would be in chaos no matter who takes over. The previous one relied on having connections in the imperial court and was arrogant, but now the Ming dynasty is in disarray, with factions vying for power and struggling to survive. Who would care about a small official like him? Ha! With just a little manipulation from us, he couldn't even collect autumn taxes, and his term wasn't even up yet before he was ousted."

  Cao Hu did not call Chen Gui "Chen County Magistrate", but directly called him "Brother Chen", from which we can see that the relationship between the two is not ordinary.

  "Ha! Zhang Yunhui, sporting a goatee, chuckled and said: "As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress the local snake. If he knows what's good for him, he can keep his position for a while longer. But if he deliberately opposes us, then it's just bad luck for him."

  If Chen Gui is considered the leader among the crowd, then Zhang YunGui is the mastermind. Many of the ideas were his, and he also held a high position in Jiangyou County.

  Household servant Zhou Dàyuān said with a gloomy face: "It's almost October, and the new county magistrate hasn't arrived yet. With so many violent people around, I'm afraid he might be killed on the way."

  Cao Hu said with a nonchalant expression: "In these chaotic times, who dares to guarantee anything? Moreover, our Shaanxi province has been rainless all year round, and it's already in a state of chaos. It's just that our place is remote and quiet, last year's harvest was okay, the common people still have some stored grain, so they're relatively at peace. If he doesn't come, it's for the best, this way we won't be bothered by him. Honestly, I really wanted to take care of him on the road."

  "Cao Hu, be careful what you say." Chen Gui stopped Cao Hu and said: "Some words can't be spoken carelessly. The Great Ming is still the emperor's Great Ming, we just want to live a peaceful life. If the Embroidered Uniform Guards hear these words, even with nine heads, it won't be enough to chop off."

  As soon as the words "Imperial Guards" were spoken, everyone's faces changed greatly, as if they had heard something extremely frightening. Since the founding of the dynasty by Taizu, the Imperial Guards have been an invisible shackles on the heads of officials and civilians in the Ming Dynasty. No one knows when they will appear, but once these people become ruthless, having a family broken up is still considered light.

  "Yes, yes, Brother Chen is right. I, Cao Hu, am indeed a rough man. Now I'll punish myself with three bowls." Cao Hu also knew he had misspoken and was startled, but upon hearing Chen's rebuke, he immediately acknowledged his mistake, picked up his bowl and drank three large bowls on his own, before sitting back down again.

  Chen Gui held up his wine cup and stood up, saying: "According to the Da Ming law, in order to avoid suspicion, all county magistrates are external officials. These outsiders would not hesitate to scrape off three feet of land, for the sake of Jiangyou County's more than 500,000 parents and villagers, we must hold on tight and unite as one, only then can we stand firm."

  For the sake of tens of thousands of fellow villagers, all these are empty words. The county magistrate is appointed for three years, with a small assessment every year and a major assessment every three years. At that time, based on the assessment results, they will either be promoted or demoted. No matter what, the burden still falls on them, the local households. They are all fellow villagers, familiar faces everywhere, so naturally, things can't be done too absolutely. The cake is only so big, if the new county magistrate takes more or doesn't let them take it, this is not what they want to see. When the county magistrate position is vacant, everyone conspires together, and the accounts can be described as shocking. With the arrival of the new county magistrate imminent, Chen Gui, who was in charge, gathered everyone together to discuss and avoid being caught off guard at that time.

  Cao Hu immediately responded, "Brother is right, we stick together as one, and no one dares to look down on us."

  "That's right, County Magistrate is correct, I'll listen to you."

  "Whoever is not wholehearted is not one of us."

  "Yes, with concerted efforts, Jiangyou County is still our territory."

  Everyone present more or less benefited, sitting on the same boat, and being tied to the same rope as a cicada. Upon hearing this, they responded enthusiastically, and finally, under Chen Gui's proposal, everyone raised their wine cups and clinked them together, forming an alliance: a league against the future county magistrate.

  "Ah... Ah Chao" At this time, a young man in casual clothes at a roadside snack stall in Jiangyou County let out two consecutive sneezes. After finishing, he rubbed his nose and said: "Who's talking behind my back?"

  The person speaking was Lu Haoshan. He brought Liu Jinzhu to rush to Jiangyou County, and finally arrived ahead of schedule. However, contrary to Liu Jinzhu's expectations, Lu Haoshan did not rush to the county government to take office immediately. Instead, he changed into coarse cloth clothes, disguised himself, and quietly entered the city of Jiangyou County, running to a small food stall by the road to eat.

  Liu Jinzhu said with some discontent: "Shan Ge, aren't we here to be officials? Why don't we go to the government office to enjoy good food and drink, but instead come here to eat this coarse and rough noodles?"

  The two had a case of murder on their hands, and could be said to be fugitives. With the current social unrest, they didn't even know if they would see tomorrow's sun. Therefore, they didn't hesitate to spend the money they got from Li Xiangcai. Although they were traveling, they chose to eat fine food and stay in luxurious accommodations. As the old saying goes, "it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality." The silver money hadn't been spent yet, and Liu Jinzhu, who was originally satisfied with eating plain porridge, now found fault with the noodles he used to only have on New Year's.

  Lu Haoshan couldn't help but knock on his head and said, "You're so temperamental, just eat when you have food, if you keep making a fuss, tomorrow I'll let you eat wild vegetable congee."

  "No, no" Liu Jinzhu hastily apologized: "Shan Ge, I, I wasn't being curious?"

  "I heard on the road that the previous magistrate of Jiangyou County was only halfway through his term when he was dismissed and investigated for not doing a good job in collecting taxes. It's said that he was also suspected of extorting money, and ended up losing everything." Lu Haoshan said with some worry: "I'm afraid this trip won't be easy either."

  "It can't be, we're coming, that's the official, County Magistrate, with appointment documents and official seals. Shan Ge, you are the biggest official here, others have to fawn over you, try to please you, who dares to oppose you? At that time, whoever performs poorly, just dismiss them directly." Liu Jinzhu said matter-of-factly.

  Lu Haoshan smiled wryly and shook his head, saying: "You've heard too many stories, it's not that easy. In a county government office, except for the county magistrate who is an outsider, the county lieutenant, chief clerk, six department officials, three classes of runners, instructors, teachers, historians, inspectors, post station masters, tax supervisors, and horsemen, etc., are mostly local people. Unless your background is very strong and you can control them, or they are a loose group and easy to manage, otherwise, they will collude with each other, deceive their superiors and subordinates, slack off, and trip you up at critical moments. That's how the previous Jiangyou County Magistrate died, his term wasn't even half over, he was stripped of his official hat and position, and I heard he was thrown into a big prison too."

  He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said: "Before taking office, let's get to the bottom of things. This way, if there's anything going on, we won't be cheated and help them count their silver. In these times, life is precious, and caution is key."

  Liu Jinzhu suddenly realized that in his eyes, he thought that as long as he was an official and sat in the county government office, he could get whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. He thought that his subordinates would constantly offer him tributes, and every day he would be surrounded by beautiful women and piles of silver, with a luxurious sedan chair to ride in and fine clothes to wear. He thought he could do whatever he pleased, but now it seemed that was just too simplistic. Upon hearing this, he hastily said: "That's right, that's right! It's no joke that so many local people are bullying two outsiders. Shan Ge, your brain is really useful, I'll just listen to you from now on."

  Lu Haoshan nodded and didn't say a word, focusing on dealing with the noodles in his bowl.

  "Waiter, bill!" Soon, the two finished their noodles and Lu Haoshan loudly called for the bill.

  "Alright, two gentlemen, that'll be twenty cents." The shop assistant was very quick and immediately came over as soon as he heard the request to pay.

  Lu Haoshan didn't even look, grabbed a handful of copper coins and put them in the waiter's hand, at least 30 or 40 cents. The waiter immediately said: "Sir, you gave too much." After that, he wanted to return the excess money to Lu Haoshan.

  "Not much, just wanted to ask about something."

  It turned out to be so, the little servant immediately smiled and received the money well, with a flattering face said: "The guest is really generous, what's the matter you ask, I Zhao Er has been mixed since childhood, it's not an exaggeration to say that whatever wind blows in Jiangyou County, I know."

  After receiving the reward, Xiao Er's attitude was exceptionally good.

  Lu Haoshan smiled and said, "Actually, it's nothing. My brother and I are just preparing to do some business here, so we thought of asking you first. What does the county magistrate like? Where does he usually go for a stroll?"

  "I could tell you were outsiders from the start, and it seems you're here on business." Shopkeeper Zhao Er smiled and said: "You've asked the right person, but you don't need to bother with County Magistrate Dai. Go find County Lieutenant Chen instead - no matter what, he's always the one to go to."

  Liu Jinzhu interrupted from the side: "Won't be, a county lieutenant is even more powerful than the county magistrate?"

  "Hmph!" Zhao Er sneered twice, nodding his head and saying: "You guessed right. Let's not mention the previous county magistrate being dismissed and investigated, the new county magistrate hasn't taken office yet. Now the county government is under Chen County Magistrate's control. Even if there was a county magistrate, they wouldn't be able to surpass him. A strong dragon can't suppress a local snake, understand? That County Magistrate Chen Gui is from a wealthy local family with vast lands and numerous assets. He's one of the top families in Jiangyou County. The six rooms of officials and the three classes of rapid government offices all have his people. When new county officials come, they don't have anyone to use, as long as County Magistrate Chen doesn't support them, nothing can be done, nothing can be implemented smoothly. We have a few local sayings here: 'Jiangyou, Jiangyou, County Magistrate is like an ox, new officials come and stumble around'."

  After finishing, he looked around and lowered his voice: "Our previous county magistrate had a falling out with County Magistrate Chen. As a result, during the autumn grain collection, he was tripped up by someone, couldn't get it into storage on time, and then pushed all the blame onto him. He also incited local scholars and gentry to attack him, and in an instant, he was ruined."

  Lu Haoshan and Liu Jinchu couldn't help but look at each other: the good are not effective, the bad are effective, this Jiangyou County is really a mess...