Section 23 Making a Big Deal (Part 2)

  On the second day, a big-character poster appeared on the main streets of Kuaiji County, attracting many people to gather and watch. There were many literate people in Shaoxing City, and without needing to be asked, someone would always read it aloud to the crowd...

  "Shaoxing has been known as Kuaiji since ancient times, its people living in peace and contentment, with the whole city not closing its gates at night. However, there are shameless ones from Shanyin who are arrogant and rude, stealing half of our Kuaiji's land to live on. They have no integrity or shame, forgetting the kindness of their fellow villagers who took them in. Three times they lightly insulted us, repeatedly provoking us, viewing us as enemies... Our Kuaiji has always been tolerant and magnanimous, often enduring patiently, hoping that they would suddenly awaken to their mistakes and reform themselves..."

  "However, the nature of the land can be changed, but its inherent nature is hard to shift. They have become wolves by nature, how can they follow goodness? They take my tolerance as something that can be deceived, and my forbearance as something that can be insulted. In the end, it's just a case of changing the root and adding severity, lawless and heavenless! A group of bandits, on the previous day, secretly entered our Kuaiji territory, under the watchful eyes of everyone, at the City God Temple gathering, openly beat up Shen He, a student from this county, and several of his sons."

  "If it weren't for the righteous gentleman Yao Changzi stepping forward and refusing to yield to the evil-doers, if it weren't for the county's elderly gentlemen filled with indignation and lending a helping hand, Director Shen would have already returned to the underworld and been separated from us by the boundaries of life and death. However, although Director Shen's narrow escape from death is not to be envied, his severe injuries are indeed real; his tendons are broken, his bones are fractured, his internal organs are all injured, and he lies on his sickbed gasping for breath, his spirit wandering outside the gates of hell... Whether he will live or die is still uncertain. It's heartbreaking to behold him, and it brings tears to one's eyes..."

  "Who is this Sheng? Taizu personally ordered to treat him with kindness and respect, and in his hometown, everyone admired and respected him, thinking he was the best of our county! But then the bandit from Mountain Yin dared to commit a great evil under heaven, and openly beat him brutally in front of the City God Temple! Was this an insult to Minister Shen? No, it was truly an insult to all several tens of millions of old and young people of Kuaiji County!"

  "This is a great shame for our county! If this vendetta is not avenged, heaven will not tolerate it. If this humiliation is not washed away, how can I face the ancestors and elders of my hometown?"

  "Moreover, after the article was written, I heard that yesterday, the bandits of Shanyin kidnapped the righteous scholar Yao's eldest son and took him away. The whereabouts of the eldest son are still unknown today, and the bandits' brutal actions are as clear as day! Their ferocity is so outrageous that it makes one's blood boil with indignation, and the heavens and earth change color. I have searched through ancient and modern historical records, but there is no precedent for such an atrocity! The fate of the eldest son also makes one's heart ache with worry."

  "Now I will rally the old and young to unite as one, to join forces and defeat the enemy at the most critical moment! If they are unharmed and return my eldest son, then even in a desperate situation, there is still room for forgiveness; but if they persist in their obstinacy, hesitating and wandering on a treacherous path, ignoring the omens of disaster, they will surely bring about their own downfall. Look at today's Shaoxing, whose world is it?"

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  As soon as this article came out, the whole city was in an uproar.

  Although the government reacted extremely quickly, within two quarters of an hour, all the posters were collected. However, those powerful long and short sentences had already been printed in the hearts of everyone who saw or heard them, and spread rapidly throughout the county.

  "Look at today's Shaoxing, whose world is it?!" This statement full of temptation quickly resonated throughout the county. The unpleasantness between the two counties in the past was also turned over one by one, and the anger in people's hearts became more and more intense, and the call to rescue Yao Changzi grew louder!

  Soon, one after another, the petitions of the gentry and the requests of the scholars flew onto the county magistrate's desk like snowflakes, covering up all the official documents. This made the county magistrate, who had always prided himself on his policy of "non-interference", extremely angry.

  County Magistrate Li Pengcheng, courtesy name Yunju. His ancestral home is in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. He entered school at the age of eight and took his first imperial examination at sixteen, passing as a student at the tender age of twenty. This was just the beginning of his academic career. After years of hard study, he finally passed the imperial examination at the age of thirty and became a respected scholar-official.

  Once he passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi, his life would be settled for the rest of his years. But our Li Lao Ye had high aspirations and disdained those unconventional paths, determined to make a name for himself through the orthodox way. However, the provincial examination was a fierce competition among the best in the country, how could it be easy to pass? The next year's spring list indeed did not have his name on it. No need to say more, wipe away tears and go home to continue studying hard.

  After several setbacks, he finally made it to the imperial list at the age of 40 when his first grandson was born. However, the ranking was not ideal, no chance for the top two classes, and even in the third class, the ranking was not impressive, of course, no chance for the Hanlin Academy, only granted the title of "Tong Jinshi"... If he were to follow his temper, he would have to take the exam again, at least to get rid of that annoying word "tong". "Tong" means the same as something else. Tong Jinshi means the same as Jinshi, but it also implies that they are actually different.

  After taking the exam again and again, I ended up with a subpar product. You tell me if it's infuriating or not! But becoming a jinshi is the highest level of examination in the great Ming dynasty. Once you pass, you'll be appointed immediately, there's no reason to take the exam again. As a new jinshi, I can only humbly go to the Ministry of War to report for duty and become an honorary candidate for county magistrate, waiting for a vacancy to arise.

  However, having a vacancy is not something you can go to at will. You have to wait until a certain number of positions are gathered, and then the Ministry of Officials will bring in the same number of alternate county magistrates to a relatively bright place, hold a ritual of drawing lots, and have a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Officials draw according to the strokes of the candidate officials' surnames. Wherever you draw, that's where you go.

  This method seems fair and reasonable, with no deception of the young or old. In reality, however, it is a common trick used by officials to make money. On those seemingly identical slips of paper, there are tiny dots the size of sesame seeds. The official in charge would use the number of these dots to determine which slip was from where, operating behind closed doors with absolute accuracy.

  How is it allocated? Look at who sends more money. Those in front will be sent to Shandong and Guangdong to enjoy good fortune; those behind will be assigned to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, these not-so-peaceful poor places. If you are appointed again, you'll have to go to Yunnan and Guizhou to get close to the local officials, with slim hopes of further promotion.

  But that's not the worst, in this era, the two worst places are: one is the northern Xuan-Da line, and the other is the coastal areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. Because the northern Mongols have been invading for years, and the southern Japanese pirates are rampant. In other places, at most, you won't get promoted, but being an official in these two places comes with the risk of losing your head.

  Mr. Li from a poor family was assigned to Shaoxing Kuaiji County, this perilous land of fish and rice.

  More than thirty years of hard study had exhausted his energy. The final ranking was not as expected, and he was assigned to the anti-Japanese front line, which also consumed his last bit of enthusiasm.

  Since arriving in Shaoxing, the disheartened and listless Magistrate Li spent his days indulging in flowers and wine, sleeping under the skirts of courtesans, idling about and neglecting official duties. When others urged him to rouse himself and properly govern Guiji, he would say "Anyway, the Japanese pirates will come sooner or later, and when they do, even three thousand grand houses will be destroyed in an instant - why bother with such trivialities?" Leaving people speechless and at a loss for words.

  However, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that since he took office, the Japanese pirates who had been wreaking havoc along the coast suddenly disappeared and to this day, there has been no sign of the notorious Japanese pirates.

  Once the war was over, Shaoxing became one of the richest places in the world. He attributed his good fortune to his own "Huang-Lao governance", and governed with an air of complacency.

  This year, when the term was about to expire, although the name of dereliction of duty spread throughout the province, he got a "medium" evaluation in the Ministry of Officials because of his connection with the Japanese pirates. As long as there were no major mistakes, he could continue to serve another term safely and stably.

  But if this matter is not handled properly now, his peaceful days will come to an end.

  Division line

  This chapter is quite difficult to write, killing a lot of brain cells, asking for votes and collections to supplement...