Ji Changze checked his memory.
Sure enough, he was right. He was a corrupt official.
This is Da'anguo. The original owner was Ji Qing. The family was originally a merchant and lived in Mingyu County for generations. The Ji family has no background. Fortunately, the parents are diligent. Although they don't talk about the rich, they are still relatively ordinary people. Quite affluent.
Da'an has very strict rules in this country. After entering the merchants for three generations, scientific research is not allowed. By the time the original owner happened to pass three generations.
He was the only child in the family, so all of a sudden the whole family regarded him as Ji's hope that he could leave his business status. Since he was a child, he has been pampered with the strength of the family.
The original owner is also striving, and has some talent in reading, so Shun Shunli has passed the exam along the way. Although he is not very talented, he is also at the top of the academic level.
Hanchuang studied hard, went to Beijing to take the exam, and got the end of the second class.
I was very lucky at first, but in the end I smashed a pie in the sky, and smashed an official, well-known, upright daughter and his wife.
It is also lucky for the original owner. At that time, the students went to Beijing to rush for the exam. Everyone inevitably had to party. He also had a party at other gatherings. As a result, he ran into a woman's shirt at the party and had a problem. The outer ribbon broke and the outer shirt was in front of him. Face down.
An dynasty is a very magical dynasty. Say that they have strict management of women, but there is no hindrance to women going out. Unmarried girls also wear drapery hats, but married women do not have to be restrained at home. Most of the girls from the capitals of the capital are also. They all love to read books and have parties. Like this time, the original owner ran into this girl because the party he attended at that time was for both men and women. It was only on the side of the man and the side of the woman, with a screen in the middle.
But to say that it is not strict with women, and it is very important to guard against men and women. If you are engaged after the face, you can talk in front of the elders, but you can't contact foreign men at all.
Although the girl just fell off her coat, she didn't show up that shouldn't be exposed, but in An Chao's situation, she still had several girls in front of her. She had only three choices, one was to die, and the other was As an aunt, the third is to marry the man.
Thus, the original owner got a wife.
This relationship is considered to be his high level, after all, although he is a son, but this girl is the daughter of Master Cheng Wei in the royal history.
Cheng was the third rank in the Imperial History of the An Dynasty, and it was originally something that the original owner could not afford. In addition, the Wei family was still a big family. There were many children in the Wei family, most of whom were officials and rich in wealth. These were all famous.
The Wei family has prosperous heirs. When the children grow up, they will be married again, and the children born from the marriage will be married again. It is not an exaggeration to say that one third of the officials in the court are related to the Wei family.
It is conceivable that his marriage with the Wei family is equivalent to standing behind a company of patrons, and the official route will surely rise.
The original owner knew that he was about to marry such a golden doll and was naturally ecstatic. After a few days of being happy, he learned the fact that although Lord Wei came from the Wei family, he was actually not close to the Wei family.
It is said that Master Wei was only a side branch of the clan at the time. The family's father, who was the pillar of the family, had an accident. There was a domineering man in the clan who invaded their fertile land. His mother was seriously ill and urgently needed money to buy medicine, so he hurried to ask the clan for help. shelter.
However, the members of the clan watched this with cold eyes. Eventually his mother passed away due to illness, and their family was invaded, leaving only a dilapidated house.
Master Wei kept his filial piety while studying assiduously, and then passed the exam all the way, and finally reached his current official position.
Although the Wei family is an aristocratic family and many of its children are officials in the court, they have seen a decline in recent years, and they have not been able to offer a positive third grade, but this side branch who has never been close to the clan stands in the position of the positive third grade. on.
Yu Shi Zhongcheng had the right to impeach the three gongs and the nine princes. Master Wei was highly valued by the emperor, and the family had a good idea of returning to the family, but Master Wei was never lukewarm, and would rather make people feel that he was disrespectful to the elders. Don't want to greet people with a smile.
The clan can't sue him and ask him to find out the past that the Wei clan allowed their children to bully orphans and widows, and took away their property, leading to the death of Mr. Wei's mother. The Wei family has long been accustomed to being aloof. I was also angry, and there was not much contact between the two sides.
To put it in the wild, Master Wei just broke up with his family, and he came from his own family. Not only will the Wei family not help him and his son-in-law, but he may also stumble because of resentment in his heart.
And Shili Hongzhuang, which the original owner was looking forward to very much, was gone.
Master Wei is clean and honest, and although the family also has an estate, even if she has a dowry for her daughter since she was born, she is definitely not inferior to other peers of the same rank with family background.
It stands to reason that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even if the dowry given by the Wei family is inferior to others, it is more than enough for the original owner of the little rich family.
Mr. Wei has an upright character, and although he will not open the back door for his son-in-law, having such a father-in-law is enough for him to be a court official in the future.
But the human heart is not enough to swallow the elephant. The original owner thought that he could plug in a rocket and fly into the sky after marrying his wife, but in the end he still had to rely on himself, and suddenly some dissatisfaction arose.
And let's talk about Miss Wei. It was not an accident that her belt broke that day. It was done by another girl who had a bad relationship with her.
At that time, the three princes had reached the age of getting married. The three princes were born by the queens, their status was respected, and they were always loved by the emperor. Although many people didn't say anything on the face, they believed that the three princes were the future princes.
If you marry him, wouldn't it be a queen in the future.
Master Wei has always been loved by His Majesty, and Miss Wei is born with stunning beauty, she has always been knowledgeable, calm and generous, and has been educated very well.
At that time, the queen called the minister's school-age girl to come to the palace to hold a flower banquet. Miss Wei was very popular with the empress and gave her a pair of jade bracelets.
If you don't do anything, the position of the three emperors will be gone.
Thus, this "accident" happened.
Originally the jewel in the family's palm, the imperial daughter of Yu Shizhong had to be taken off the shelf to a merchant who was born. Even if he was admitted to the Hanlin Academy, he was only worthy, not to mention that the original owner was only in the second class. It's still the end of the top two, and the results are not outstanding.
For the ladies in Beijing, Miss Wei's life is over.
Married as a husband, and her husband can't get up, no matter how good her character is, no matter how capable she is, what is the use.
However, the girl who arranged the game did not give up. She arranged for someone to chew the tongue in front of the original owner, and fabricated a series of "The fall of the clothes belt was not an accident, but Miss Wei deliberately did it. She intended to do it on the same day." Falling in front of the three princes who came to the banquet, so smoothly and smoothly to marry the three princes.
The original owner believed.
The clothes of the big families are made of the best materials. Even if Master Wei is clean and honest, it is impossible to wear cheap clothes that can easily break.
What's more, the three princes are gaining momentum and save others with oneself. If you change to him, you will naturally choose the third princes.
In this way, the original owner became disgusted at Miss Wei, hating her for shamelessness. A daughter's family used this method to calculate the marriage, but did not dare to offend her for fear of provoke the Master Wei behind her to settle accounts.
Consciously having to curry favor with a weak female stream, the original owner became more and more repulsive towards Miss Wei.
After that, the Wei family's envoy, asked him to come to this ever-barren Weeping Liu County as the magistrate, and the original owner hated it more and more.
Although the magistrate is the largest among the counties, it is no more than eight-rank in terms of official quality. He is a talent and can be a magistrate even after his operation. He is a magnificent emperor who actually fell here.
When marrying a lady, the father-in-law refused to help, and he had to get into the Wei family. Although he had a lot of dowries, it was difficult for him to misappropriate. The lady might still think of other men in her heart.
The original owner was still willing to pretend when he was in the capital. When he arrived in Weeping Liu County, he was in his own territory, and he gradually became cold and cold towards Miss Wei.
On the one hand, he used the name of Master Wei to search for minzhimin anointing in Weeping Liu County, while squeezing local wealthy households, increasing taxes, and invading farmland. Although he did not directly accept concubines, he raised a lot of outside rooms.
Miss Wei was left out in the cold, and she didn't know where she angered her husband. She could only be confused and aggrieved and waited carefully. The original owner was afraid that she would appeal to Master Wei and did not dare to do too much.
After that, Miss Wei was pregnant, so she focused on the child and took care of her body. She was doing well. On the day of delivery, the original owner bought the midwife.
It could have been safe for mother and child, but in the end it became mother and child.
The position of the mistress was vacated, and he could marry another concubine in a fair manner. Secondly, Master Wei's grandson was in his hands, so he didn't worry that the patron of Master Wei would not help him.
Poor Miss Wei, who grew up spoiled too, ended up so unexplainedly killed by her husband.
In the second year after Miss Wei passed away, the original owner bullied the people too much, and the other party went to Beijing to file a court case. The court sent people to investigate and found out a large number of his crimes.
He was convicted of beheading, and the child of Miss Wei became a slave because of his father's crimes before he was two years old. The political opponents of Master Wei also used this to pull him into the water. In the end, he also got off the official hat and ransacked his home.
But in the current period of time, it was not long after the original owner came to Weeping Liu County that she began to be indifferent to Miss Wei, and he had just partnered with the county prime minister to knock a fortune from the wealthy households in Weeping Liu County.
In the eyes of today's wealthy people in Weeping Liu County, his new magistrate is a corrupt official.
Although this is true.
The Xian Cheng with his face full of "I am the standard villain" next to him is still muttering, muttering, and saying things like raising a family is not easy, Xian Cheng sighs, expressly implied, and it means one thing:
It's time to divide the spoils, my lord.
Ji Changze turned a deaf ear and walked outside.
The county Cheng was left in a daze for a few seconds.
? ? ? How can this new county magistrate be more cheeky than him, and so arrogantly trying to avoid penalties?
He hurried to chase after him. In the spirit of not giving up and not giving up, he ran to Ji Changze's side breathlessly: "Sir, the small family is poor, and there is no more rice to cook. The firewood in this stove can't be bought. , The weeping willows are barren, and the county government has always been unable to make ends meet. The previous Master Hu left in a hurry, and the villain hadn't issued his salary last year, do you think..."
The county prince with a beard touched his two moustaches, rubbed his fingers at Ji Changze with a smile, his eyes were full of hints.
Ji Changze had reached the gate of the county government office and was looking at the street outside.
Weeping Liu County deserves to be a notoriously poor place.
Look at the loess this time, look at the dilapidated houses, and look at the people walking by in the distance with shabby clothes and sallow faces.
He looked back at the county office again, good fellow, it was broken enough inside, but even broken outside.
The words on the plaque are all blurred, and there are many holes made by small insects in the door.
The Xian Cheng next to him is still rubbing his fingers: "Sir, the younger one hasn't used any food today, and the wife and children in the family are still waiting for the younger one to buy rice and go back to the pot..."
So you quickly divide me a little bit of money.
Ji Changze turned his head and looked up and down Xian Cheng with a look of pity: "It turns out that Wuxian Cheng's family is so poor."
Answered the conversation.
Is it the next step to give money?
Xian Cheng smiled and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, his face that was not so pretty was even more wretched.
He looked at Ji Changze with expectation, and at the sympathetic opening of the magistrate in front of him:
"After that day, your family's food will be served by the official, and you will eat it at the county office from now on."
Wuxian Cheng: "..."
Ji Changze looked at him with a stiff face in surprise: "Why look at the official like this?"
"Oh..."
He made a sudden realization and nodded: "Wuxian Cheng is too grateful to this official, right? It doesn't have to be the case. Everyone is a colleague and should support each other. Although this official is also poor, it is enough for your family to eat and drink. ."
Poor? ? ! !
The lion who didn't blink his eyes opened his mouth before? ?
Wuxian Cheng: "...but my lord, this, you asked the wealthy households in the county for those silver taels..."
Ji Changze was surprised: "What the official wanted? Wuxian Cheng was afraid that he had remembered it wrong. When did the official ask them? Didn't they donate them voluntarily to contribute to the construction of our county? "
Wuxian Cheng has been tossed by these words and can't think about it: "Build, build?"
What do you mean?
No matter what, no matter what you mean, money matters!
He worked hard to organize the wording: "My lord, you promised to be an official before. As long as the official can help you find the wealthy people to collect money, the benefits will be indispensable."
You have eaten meat, so you should always have some soup for the people underneath.
"Hey...what I said, naturally counts. In Wuxian Cheng's eyes, is this official the one who does not speak honesty?"
Ji Changze very affectionately reached out and patted his shoulder: "Look, this money will be used to improve the environment in Weeping Liu County, help people out of poverty, and boost the county's economy. This is a good thing, right?"
Wuxian Cheng looked dumbfounded. In fact, he didn't understand well, so he could only understand a general idea, but the Shangguan asked all the questions, and he could only hesitate to answer: "Right, right?"
Ji Changze: "Weeping Willow County is barren. If you and I change it into a prosperous place together, without closing your house at night, and the road, everyone is full and full of winter clothes, then you, the county prime minister, will be a great achievement. What good is it?"
That's right, but Wuxian Cheng is not stupid. It shows that he is drawing a big cake for him.
"My lord, but there is indeed a lack of money in the official family..."
Ji Changze sighed and stretched out his hand to hold his hand: "The official also knows your difficulties. Although the office is empty, the official is willing to pay for it out of his own pocket and return to you the salary owed to you by the previous office."
The surprise came too quickly, Wuxian Cheng's small eyes widened: "Thank you, sir!"
"Don't say thank you, although you and I don't get along much, but your talents, character, and ability to do things are all in sight."
If Ji Changze wants to praise people, he is absolutely sincere.
The feelings are sincere, the tone is sighing, and the white face is full of affirmation, which makes people unbelievable.
Every time he said a word, Wuxian Cheng's waist straightened by one more point.
"The grown-ups are absurd, but the young ones are only a county leader. How can I learn."
"Why not, if you didn't, you wouldn't be able to sit firmly in this county's position for so long."
Wuxian Cheng said nothing.
In fact, the main reason why he can sit in this position for so long is because he has no background.
He wanted to move, but he couldn't move.
People become more and more wealthy when they become officials. He becomes an official...
A group of poor people in Weeping Liu County have stayed here for so long. From his first smugness to his daily sighs and sighs without rice, he almost forgot. He was also young and swore to Make a career.
Nowadays, people are too old and can't toss about them anymore. I don't intend to give up on myself, and be a corrupt official happily, so that I can't even afford to eat.
Then I ran into Ji Changze.
Although stingy, it's not bad to get your salary back.
Don't ask for money anymore. This is Shangguan, and it's not good to offend.
Cheng Xin in Wuxian County was done, hehe smiled and bowed to Ji Changze: "Thank you, my sir. If your salary can be there, you can feel relieved."
Seeing that he didn't mention the money they had pitted the wealthy family together before, Ji Changze asked: "Are you not going to divide the money?"
Divide a ghost.
This Shangguan has such a thick face that it won't take a long time for him to continue. If he continues to do it, he won't be a fishy person, so he should just accept it as soon as he sees it.
Wuxian Cheng scolded his mother in his heart, and smiled on his face: "The adult is laughing, when the official wants the money, it is just the salary that has not been paid before telling the adult."
Ji Changze smiled with satisfaction and nodded: "Wuxian Cheng is as good as the official thought, and he can withstand the test."
Wuxian Cheng: "...Test???"
Ji Changze gave him a look of "yes, that's it":
"Before the county government relied on you to operate. The official thought you were good, but he didn't know much about you. I was afraid that you were the corrupt official. Only then did he come up with such a way to test you. As a result, Wuxian Cheng really It is not greedy for money and power, as long as you deserve the salary you deserve, nothing else is actually indifferent. Nowadays, it is very rare in this world to be like Wuxian Cheng who is not fascinated by gold and silver."
Wuxian Cheng: "..."
"... But if it's a test, those silver taels, your lord, are you looking for rich people?"
Ji Changze gave him an expression of "it's worth saying": "That's because they are hiding taxes. The official came here for the first time and didn't want to make trouble too ugly. Just find an excuse to give them a chance to redeem their sins."
Hidden tax, that is, tax evasion.
Anguo is very strict in this regard, but there are still people who can't help the temptation. Most of the wealthy households in Weeping Liu County are aware of the tax concealment in Wuxian Cheng. After all, in this ruined land in Weeping Liu County, no one has ever come to investigate, and everyone is naturally free. Played.
But Ji Changze, a newcomer, found out that these wealthy households were hiding taxes so quickly, which really made Wuxian Cheng look confused.
Not only was he stunned, the goose bumps all over his body were also getting up.
He turned the matter around in his heart.
In other words, there was nothing greedy for money from beginning to end, it was just a scene that the new Shangguan deliberately did in order to test him.
No wonder, he just said why the magistrate, backed by Yu Shi Zhongcheng, had to greet such a small amount of money.
It turned out that he was just taking the opportunity to check whether there were corrupt officials around him, so that he could do what he wanted to do after he checked it out.
What a deep scheming, what a powerful method.
If it wasn't for him to be afraid of offending Shangguan, and then he had just failed to convince him and didn't ask for any more money, I'm afraid this Master Ji would not be able to forgive him lightly.
Obviously it was not summer, but Wuxian Cheng was full of sweat behind his back.
Good risk, good risk.
He regarded a good official as a corrupt official, and almost surrendered. If he hadn't just been witty and smart, and had made a choice with a strong desire to survive, it would be hard to tell whether the head was there in a few months.
It was actually a walk between life and death.
correct!
Wuxian Cheng suddenly got a shock, his pupils tightened.
Master Ji acted like this, is it possible that there is still a big move? ?
If not, what he wants to do is to directly order, why bother to do such a scene, unless...
What he waited for was someone like himself to cast the effect, and he was the last to catch it.
Wuxian Cheng gave Ji Changze a trembling smile.
No, his wife's nephew works as a bookkeeper in a wealthy family's house. He has to go home and inform him of the news, so that this nephew can quickly withdraw and retreat, so as not to be troublesome during the settlement of Master Ji.
Wuxian Cheng left in a hurry.
He told the nephew who was the accountant that the accountant had always been treated courteously by the owner, and he couldn't bear to watch the owner suffer a catastrophe. He gritted his teeth and quietly informed the owner.
The wealthy family was shocked, and hurried to check the accounts, and the tax calculations, wishing to multiply the money that used to hide taxes by ten times and send it to the county government.
They also have relatives in-laws, so this move is naturally too busy for relatives, and relatives come to inquire, can you not tell me?
After an afternoon passed, at least three wealthy households in Cheng's Fu of Tuowu County learned that the previous actions of Master Ji were not greedy for money.
He was obviously here to test the reckoning, and he also pretended to be a corrupt official, so that they would lose their vigilance after being despised.
It's really insidious.