When Tan Ximin, the prefect of Huzhou, saw Li Huan's report, he was so angry that his nose was crooked. He went into a rage in the Yamen on the spot, slapping the table and shouting: "A county's soldiers and horses were wiped out by a village owner! How come there are so many wastes?" Are they all together?"
The Ming Shi case did not occur while Tan Ximin was in office, and the delay of the past six months cannot be blamed on him. However, his superiors in Hangzhou threatened that if he could not handle the matter quickly, he would be guilty of negligence. Tan Ximin knew very well that this was Hangzhou's warning to him not to bend the law for personal gain. This case was clear and no one could suppress it. If the local magistrate didn't want to live, he could just continue to take money from the banker.
Now that he knew that the court wanted to thoroughly investigate the matter, Tan Ximin naturally did not dare to consider accepting bribes to protect the banker. When he ordered Li Huan to pick up the people, he told him that he did not even need to return to Huzhou and escorted the prisoners directly to Hangzhou to avoid letting himself suffer. Getting involved in right and wrong - In the past two years, there have been many officials in the Huzhou magistrate's office who have taken money from bankers. What Tan Ximin wants to do most now is to distance himself. If Zhuang Yuncheng dies in prison after being escorted back to Huzhou, then Tan Ximin will be considered to be in trouble. Upper body.
"I didn't expect things to turn out like this. Tan Ximin became angrier as he spoke. He even suspected that the county magistrate wanted to protect Zhuang Yuncheng.
"If the governor knew about this, he would definitely think that I wanted to protect the banker and exaggerate the difficulties so that the governor would retreat." After careful consideration, Tan Ximin felt that Gui'an County did not have the courage. Moreover, Li Huan also needed to make meritorious deeds. Even if he killed Zhuang Yuncheng, he would be more likely to be defeated than by pretending to be defeated: "They are just a bunch of idiots. This old thief Zhuang Yuncheng is also a coward. He actually dared to resist arrest."
Tan Ximin summoned his staff and officials to discuss sending troops. When they first heard that the prefect was going to dispatch the army, the staff were shocked and asked where the trouble was.
"I want to send two battalions of soldiers to capture Zhuang Yuncheng." Tan Ximin said with a straight face.
After hearing this, the staff were all stunned. One guy who was not very smart suddenly burst out laughing. The laughter woke up the rest of the people, and everyone suddenly realized that it was the prefect who was telling a joke. Although I don't know why Tan Ximin was so interested, how dare everyone not laugh when Shangguan told a joke, and the yamen suddenly burst into cheers. Only the subordinate officer who sent the report to Tan Ximin's desk did not follow suit and looked worriedly at the purple-skinned Huzhou prefect.
"What's so funny!" Tan Ximin slammed the table: "When will the army be dispatched? How much food and rewards should be given?"
It was only then that everyone realized that the prefect was really serious about doing this. One of the staff members reacted and immediately jumped up to persuade his boss to take back the order.
"Is this Zhuang Yuncheng who wrote a counter-proposal? Your Excellency asked Gui'an County to send a team of government officials to capture him." The staff member was still wondering as he said this: "Didn't Your Excellency discuss this matter with us a few days ago? ? The official document for Gui'an County was drafted by a villain."
"Are you an idiot when you think I'm an official? You can't remember what happened four days ago?" Tan Ximin scolded: "The yamen servant was defeated by Zhuang Yuncheng"
"This guy is so brave, he actually rebelled!" The staff were in an uproar. Before Tan Ximin could finish his words, people present shouted: "Why didn't Gui'an County send the Green Battalion to suppress it?"
"We sent it, and the Green Camp garrison was defeated by Zhuang Yuncheng. Now even Zhu Youming has rebelled!" Tan Ximin said angrily.
There was silence in the yamen for a moment. No one dared to laugh this time, but everyone felt incredible. Tan Ximin waved his hand and handed Li Huan's report to his staff and officials for circulation. The staff rubbed their eyes and after reading the report over and over again, they had to admit that it was really necessary for Fucheng to send troops to suppress the resistance of the two rich men.
But the army in Fucheng cannot be easily mobilized. First, the reason and purpose of sending troops need to be reported to the provincial capital. If the real reasons are reported, the superiors in the provincial capital will probably not believe it at first, and then get angry. So this year's performance appraisal in Huzhou Just don't want it anymore. However, concealment cannot be concealed. The movement of the Green Battalion of the Third Battalion was too big, and they also needed to take out the money for the departure from the treasury, prepare for post-war rewards, and also need to issue double rations during the expedition¡ªHangzhou was sure will be alarmed.
"Sir, for the two village owners to send out soldiersthiscan the governor agree? The departure, consumption, and rewards will definitely not be recorded in the account. This is all a loss." A staff member said anxiously.
"Don't you know that you are an official?" Tan Ximin asked, "What good ideas do you have?"
The staff looked at each other, and Tan Ximin was even more angry when he saw this: "Do I have to pay for this shortfall myself? What's the use of supporting you?"
"Sir, please calm down." Finally, a staff member stood up and proposed a solution that was not a solution: "We can only let Gui'an County fill this shortfall. However, there are too many soldiers in the three battalions. It is better to go to one battalion and one village owner. ArrivedCapture him? "
"What a fool. If you can capture them easily, why do you need to come here to bring in reinforcements?" This staff member said a solution. In any case, this year's performance evaluation will definitely be poor. Tan Ximin is not willing to bear this financial responsibility anyway. Loss: "Send a message to Gui'an County. The cost of sending troops this time will be considered theirs. The government can pay it in advance. The balance will be calculated monthly with interest. It must be paid back after the autumn harvest."
"The expenses for the third battalion are too high. I'm afraid we won't be able to pay them back this year." Several staff members looked sad.
But there are also people who agree with Tan Ximin: "The dealer has defeated the county soldiers, so it is better to send more soldiers, at least two battalions. If we send less soldiers to save money, the fight may be very difficult, and more people will die. Isn't it better to send more soldiers?" More pension?"
When the issue of casualties comes up, the people who objected just now become silent. Local finances have never been rich, and the annual balance is very limited. The boss's regular money and the staff's monthly money also have to come from this. Everything is based on the principle of saving as much as possible. In the Battle of Hangzhou the year before last year, the Huzhou Green Battalion that participated in the war lost a large number of officers, soldiers and equipment. It took six months to barely make up the difference in personnel. Until now, the equipment has not been fully restored. The expenses required for pensions and replenishment cost Huzhou last year. Everyone is living a tight life, and the ten-day one is looking for various excuses to become the one-month one.
If hundreds of Green Battalion officers and soldiers are lost this time, just the pension will prevent everyone from celebrating the New Year this year - don't expect Gui'an County to bear all these expenses, let alone this year, even next year the county will not be able to pay for it. The advance payment from the government cannot be ignored unless the extortionate expropriation that provokes civil uprising is disregarded.
"Send out three battalions of soldiers, 1,500 in armor, and move quickly. Solve the problem within three days, and then come back as soon as possible. This battle can be regarded as training for battle. The training in the second half of the year has been stopped for some reason." The suspension of operations may cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers, so they still have to give some rewards to appease them. However, the Huzhou Prefecture really cannot hold on any longer: "Although the action must be fast, casualties must be avoided as much as possible, and must be controlled within twenty people. It would be better if it¡¯s less than ten. It¡¯s just two village owners, so that should be fine, right?¡±
? ?Everyone thinks it¡¯s okay. Although Zhuang Yuncheng was very rich, all the staff present knew that Zhuang Yuncheng could only mobilize 400 strong men even if he was full. Seeing that Fucheng had sent more than a thousand armored soldiers (empty pay was unavoidable. In fact, Huzhou Prefecture's quota of 1,500 soldiers was not full, and the number of armored soldiers was almost 1,200). Even if Zhuang Yuncheng wanted to fight to the end, he Most of the villagers will surrender in fear. Even if there are thirty die-hards left and a few armors are lost, they will be taken down - until now, the staff still can't figure out why the garrison in Gui'an County can't even defeat a village owner. It must be that Gui'an County has been too harsh on free wages, and normal training has also been stopped. Well, that must be the case. After taking Zhuang Yuncheng, we can settle the accounts with them and use the property of those corrupt officials to fill the shortfall in the treasury.
"If we just send government officials to ransack homes, even if the people below embezzle and rob, the Fucheng government offices will still be able to obtain some property." If the army is dispatched, then Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming's family fortune will not be able to count on it. The more Tan Ximin and his staff thought about it, the more they resented it. When calculating the amount of food and wages that needed to be advanced to the treasury, they cursed in unison that all the officials in Gui'an County could be killed.
Although the government has reached a consensus, it will still take time to formally dispatch the army. Since there was no large-scale rebellion, there was no reason to act hastily. This military operation still had to be reported to Hangzhou in advance, lest the governor's office felt that the Huzhou magistrate did not take Shangguan seriously.
In the report to the Governor, Tan Ximin scolded himself at the beginning, proactively admitted that he had neglected his duties, and did not think highly of the bad officials in Gui'an County. He first admitted his mistake in front of the Governor, and at least had a good attitude; and then Tan Ximin accepted the return. Part of An County's rhetoric claimed that Zhuang Yuncheng jumped over the wall and bribed thousands of bandits to resist. Of course, this was Gui'an County's fault. They actually leaked the news, making Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming determined to die. Under normal circumstances, it would be leaking the news. It's not a big deal, but why did the government officials fail to deal with the two village owners? Now the situation is getting out of control. In order to complete the tasks assigned by the court as soon as possible, Tan Ximin had to decisively order the Fucheng Green Camp to attack in order to capture Zhuang Yuncheng and bring him to justice as soon as possible.
While sending envoys to the provincial capital to deliver the apology letter and the official document requesting a green camp attack, Huzhou also began military mobilization, notifying the officers below about the military mission and the identity of the enemy.
After learning that the government troops would be dispatched to deal with the two village owners, the generals and officers of the Green Camp felt dumbfounded, but no one would push away this opportunity to make a fortune in the countryside. Over the past year, things have been tight in the prefect's yamen, and the same goes for Luying.
Soon the news that Huzhou Prefecture mobilized the entire army to attack Zhuang Yuncheng spread throughout the city. Jin gentry in Huzhou have recently heard more or less about the "Ming Dynasty Case". Some people are worried that they or their relatives and friends will be implicated, so as soon as the news spread, it received great attention.
That night, almost every scholar closed the door and discussed with his family the extraordinary courage of Zhuang Yuncheng and Zhu Youming. By the way, they also mentioned the astonishing incompetence of the Gui'an County Yamen. It is obviously a matter that can be solved by the yamen servants, but they still come to the mansion for help - but no one thinks that Zhuang and Zhu can survive Tan Ximin's anger. The more people know Zhuang Yuncheng, the less they believe that there will be any miracle. .