I

In the garden, spring is getting warmer and the flowers are blooming one after another.

Pang Chunlai came over with a cane. His cane was more like a pathfinder, so as not to trip over stones and fall due to unclear vision.

"Sir, please sit down." Zhao Han helped him make tea.

Pang Chunlai sat down, without picking up the tea cup, and said straight to the point: "Those scholars need to be cured, not only the Jishui scholars, but also the scholars in Luling and Anfu counties. The gentry in the three counties are converging. Since the rogue bandits ravaged Nanzhi, They really believe you can make it happen.”

This statement seems very contradictory. The northwest bandits roamed across the southern Zhili, tearing off another fig leaf for the imperial court. Scholars in Ji'an felt that Zhao Han could succeed, so they sincerely wanted to join him, but why did they still need to punish these people?

No contradiction!

The gentry tried to steal the fruits of the rebellion, not to overthrow Zhao Han. They also needed Zhao Han to take the lead, but they wanted to control more power.

Zhao Han asked: "What do you think of this case, sir?"

Pang Chunlai said: "Severe punishment is necessary, otherwise the prestige of the General Military Office will be ruined. The missionary officers are sent by the General Military Office and the Datong Association. What do they want to do?"

"What else?" Zhao Han asked again.

"No, this is what I stand for and must be severely punished!" Pang Chunlai said.

Zhao Han asked Xiyue to send Pang Chunlai away and brought another tea cup. Soon Li Banghua came in.

Li Banghua looked a little tired and sighed: "Brother Pang, I actually don't want to argue with him."

Zhao Han asked: "What do Mr. Li think?"

Li Banghua said: "It is inappropriate to insult women, let alone a female preacher, but the death penalty must not be imposed. Now, the scholars from the three counties have returned home, and only a few are still harboring ulterior motives. In such a situation, one case cannot be used to Let the scholars of the three counties be alienated from their morals, and their small impatience will lead to chaos in their big plans. I think he should be revoked from the post of mayor, ordered to pay money, and fined ten acres of land as a warning."

"I understand." Zhao Han said.

After sending Li Banghua away, Zhao Han couldn't help but sigh.

Whether it was Pang Chunlai or Li Banghua, Zhao Han was very disappointed.

Pang Chunlai was from the perspective of the General Military Mansion and the lower class gentry, and he had a deep fear of the gentry class. His insistence on severely punishing criminals was purely to maintain the prestige of the General Military Mansion and to attack the gentry who tried to control power.

Li Banghua focused on "stability and unity" and still felt that the upper-class scholars were more worthy of reliance and that these people would be needed to govern the world in the future. Now that the scholars have returned home, we should take the opportunity to speed up development and quickly occupy the entire Ji'an Mansion.

There is also Li Banghua's hard work in this. It was his personal persuasion that made the scholars in the three counties gradually recognize Zhao Han.

However, neither Pang Chunlai nor Li Banghua took the victim seriously!

So what if a good prostitute became a missionary? It’s not like I’ve been slept with before. It’s not a big deal if I’m slept with again. The other person is a good person.

Chen Maosheng was immediately invited in. When he met, he said excitedly: "You must hang according to the Ming Law! A prostitute is not a good person if she is a good person? If a good woman is insulted, what do these scholars say? Also, she is a preacher. These bastards don’t take the missionaries seriously! If this person is not hanged, how will the mission team do anything in the future?”

"Very good." Zhao Han expressed satisfaction.

Chen Maosheng finally looked at the problem from the perspective of the victim, instead of purely focusing on power and the overall situation like Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua.

In other words, Chen Maosheng can relate to this, as he has been slept with by gentlemen countless times. If any gentleman dares to sleep with him now, he will definitely fight to the death.

In Chen Maosheng's view, good prostitutes also have dignity, and good prostitutes do not want to be raped.

After Chen Maosheng was sent away, Fei Chun was invited in again.

Zhao Han asked: "What do you think?"

Fei Chun said: "Our grain store has been built and several granaries have been repaired. However, the landowners who surrendered voluntarily did not have their grain confiscated, which left hidden dangers. It is already February, and there is no harvest. The land was divided after last year's autumn harvest. Although the farmers are not starving, they are still a little short of food. Grain merchants in Luling, Jishui, and Anfu counties are working together to hoard grain and not release it. They want to deliberately raise the price of grain in the city. This is what they have done over the years. A common tactic.”

Zhao Han was a little surprised that Fei Chun actually said this.

Fei Chun said: "When Mr. Li was in charge of the grain bank, the grain merchants and landowners were still giving them face. After Mr. Li left office, I was fully in charge of the grain bank, and these bastards started to mess up. In order to stabilize grain prices, I released half of the grain stored in the warehouse! The gentry of the three counties had their land taken away, and they could no longer make loan sharks. They could only manipulate the grain market to make money, and they would do it even if they offended the General Military Mansion. The gentry of the three counties merged , that is, the one with the most food in the family is the main force, and we must use this case to rectify it!"

The butt determines the head, Fei Chun is in charge of money and food, and what he sees is also a money and food crisis.

Send Fei Chun away and invite Fei Ruhe in.

"Do you know everything?" Zhao Han asked.

Fei Ruhe nodded and said, "I understand."

Zhao Han asked: "What do you think?"

Fei Ruhe sneered and said: "Most of the members of the missionary team are from Luling County, and they have joined us very early. Bullying them is bullying us outsiders, and bullying our brothers and sisters who were the first to rebel!"

Well, this guy is more direct. He made it clear at the beginning the conflict between the Elder Faction and the Jishui Faction.

Then, Xiao Huan was invited in again.

"What do you think of Daliang?" Zhao Han asked.

Xiao Huan directly took out a piece of material and said: "Please take a look at it from the headquarter."

Zhao Han opened it and took a look, suddenly with a sneer on his face.

Zhao Han's political secretary Liu Fang and his younger brother married the daughter of the Zou family in Jishui.

The nephew of Zhao Han's military secretary, Huang Shunde, was engaged to the Liu family in the suburbs of Ji'an.

The General Military Mansion experienced Zuo Shan, and his son was engaged to the Xiao family in Luling.

The General Military Mansion took care of Huang En and married the niece of Jishui Zhou family as his second wife.

The list is very long, including more than thirty. Among them, eight people from Zhao Han's General Military Mansion were on the list. Those gentry were so pervasive!

Once Zhao Hanzhen becomes emperor, countless high-ranking officials will be related by marriage to the gentry of the three counties.

These gentry themselves have many children who are also serving as officials under Zhao Han. From now on, they have the final say in the entire court?

Zhao Han asked: "Are there any signs of corruption among these people on the list?"

Xiao Huan shook his head and said: "No, the corruption investigation is tight, and no one dares to reach out. However, they married the gentry and received many gifts from the women. Although the gentry lost their land, their families had a lot of money and food."

"What do you think should be done?" Zhao Han asked.

Xiao Huan replied: "All the people on the list will be removed from their posts!"

Zhao Han shook his head and said, "It's too rough."

These people really did nothing illegal and were just getting married normally. How can we deal with them all in one blanket?

Moreover, you have to leave some hope for the gentry, so that they have something to look forward to, otherwise it will be ruined.

…

The next day.

Huang Shunde was called to Pang Chunlai's office, and he saluted respectfully: "Master Pang is doing well."

Pang Chunlai's real position is the head of the Civil Affairs Department of the General Military Mansion, which is equivalent to Zhao Han's Minister of Civil Affairs.

Pang Chunlai smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Huang Zhangshu."

"It's not hard to work for the main town." Huang Shunde said quickly.

Pang Chunlai said: "This is the transfer document. From now on, you can go to the Anfu County Government to handle matters."

When Huang Shunde saw his new position, he suddenly lost all hope and stammered: "I...I, Director Pang, what did I do wrong?"

Pang Chunlai sighed: "As the military secretary of the main town, don't you think you talk too much? And you also like to show off. The main town tolerates these things and thinks you are an old minister. You, your nephew and I What kind of marriage is planned by the Liu family?"

"Is it wrong to be engaged to the Liu family?" Huang Shunde couldn't understand it at all. He thought it was a glorious thing to be engaged to a rich family.

"You don't have any brains at all, and you still serve as the military secretary of the General Military Mansion?" Pang Chunlai sneered, "When you go to Anfu County, you can do things well, and you can be promoted if you do well. The general town will still remember you in its heart. "

Huang Shunde left the office in confusion, only to see Liu Fang waiting outside, as if she was about to be called in for a lecture.

Huang Shunde suddenly remembered that Liu Fang's younger brother was also married to a wealthy family!

Endless fear struck, and Huang Shunde finally woke up. He was inexplicably involved in a political struggle.

The resentment in his heart dissipated instantly, and Huang Shunde had no idea. He just wanted to go to Anfu County to take office as soon as possible to avoid being involved in the disaster. By the way, my nephew is not old enough. He is just engaged to the Liu family. He must go back immediately to cancel the engagement. I hope there can be some remedy!

Liu Fang was unable to remedy the situation. His younger brother had already married a daughter of the Zou family, and when Zhao Han personally led his troops to surprise Yuanzhou.

Liu Fang really couldn't even cry. He belonged to the lower class of scholars, the kind who couldn't even pass the exam to become a scholar. His family was very poor, but by being shrewd and not afraid of hard work, he was promoted to the position of Government Secretary of the General Military Mansion.

If Zhao Han can conquer the world, Liu Fang can at least be the minister of six departments, and there is no chance that he will become the prime minister.

Just because your younger brother is married to a rich family, his future is ruined?

Within one day, all eight officials of the General Military Mansion were transferred and demoted. This incident attracted everyone's attention.

A quick-thinking person quickly concluded that they had something in common: they were all married to rich families!

As for the officials outside the General Military Mansion, Zhao Han did not move for the time being and was too lazy to do so. He could just write them down in his notebook.

Just because he didn't move doesn't mean that the person involved is not afraid. This signal is too obvious.

What followed was mass divorce, and those who were engaged quickly broke off their engagements. The gentry involved were so angry that they went to the county government to file a lawsuit, saying that it was unreasonable for their daughter to be divorced.

February 28th.

Xiao Huan took the officials, followed by Li Zheng and five hundred soldiers, and took a boat straight to the Zou family outside the east gate of Jishui.

"Surround the back door, side door, and don't let anyone go!" Xiao Huan ordered.

The Zou family was panic-stricken, and an old man was helped out: "Master Xiao, what... is going on?"

Xiao Huan took out a document: "By order of the General Military Administration, the Zou family at the east gate of Jishui destroyed the land allocation policy. In early October last year, more than 6,000 acres of land from the family were donated to Qingyuan Temple as temple land. This matter has been since I have never come to the government to report! What do your Zou family want to do?"

The old man quickly explained: "So that Mr. Xiao can know that I believe in Buddhism..."

"Don't say anything, Qingyuan Temple is also being searched," Xiao Huan sneered, "If you believe in Buddhism, you can live in the same cell with the abbot of Qingyuan Temple, and you can slowly discuss Buddhism in prison!"

Qingyuan Temple outside Jishui County is the ancestral temple of the Qingyuan School of Zen Buddhism.

Not only that, when Wang Yangming was an official in Jiangxi, the first place he gave lectures was Qingyuan Temple, using the Buddhist hall as the lecture hall. Therefore, Qingyuan Temple not only had a great influence on Buddhism, but also won the respect of scholars for its integration of Zen and Confucianism.

The Zou family of Dongmen, the deceased Zou Yuanbiao, had disciples and disciples all over Ji'an, and even Li Banghua was a student of Zou Yuanbiao.

What do these guys want to do together?

Even if you are not messing around, you still have to be a role model to suppress it!

Seeing that Zou's house was ransacked, Li Banghua was so frightened that he hurriedly came to see Zhao Han: "General Town, you are using too much force. How can you govern like this!"