Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 140

Chapter 140 Daxing County Magistrate
Hu Ying waited for the Emperor’s question. He immediately smiled and said, “In fact, His Majesty saw him two days ago.”

“Huh?” Zhu Qizhen was slightly stunned. He couldn’t help but ask, “Why is the person who built this airship the official of the Central Government? This is truly beyond my expectations.”

“That’s right, this person is the Guangling County Magistrate Lu Zhen who His Majesty allowed him to come forward to answer at the time of the First Years of the Imperial Court.” Hu Ying immediately gave the answer.

“It’s actually him? I didn’t expect that Lu Zhen would not only be able to govern the place, but also have the courage and knowledge to actually have such ability? This really makes me look at him with a new look.” As he spoke, Emperor lifted his head to look at the airship hanging high in the sky and began to praise it with a tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.

“This person is indeed capable, so I think the Imperial Court should promote him easily and use him.” Hu Ying immediately said while the iron was hot.

The Son of Heaven nodded in agreement, “You are right. It is my great fortune to have such a talented person in the court. It is also my fortune. We should promote him properly. By the way, Mr. Hu, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. You must be the most clear about what vacancies there are. Why don’t you recommend him?”

“I didn’t think of any official position suitable for Lu Zhen before, but now I have one.”

“What is it?” The Emperor asked curiously.

“This is the position of county magistrate of Daxing County in the capital! As the capital of Daxing County, the importance of Daxing County is self-evident. There must be someone capable and courageous to preside over the situation. Although Lu Zhen is not old, from what he has said and done in the past, he is someone who can be entrusted with important responsibilities. May I ask what His Majesty’s sacred intentions are?” Hu Ying said what he meant.

The Son of Heaven pondered for a moment before nodding his head, “Mr. Hu is indeed the pillar of my Imperial Court, and his employment is very experienced. That’s right, I should feel a little relieved when Lu Zhen becomes the county magistrate of Daxing County.”

With these words, the fact that Lu Zhen sat on the county magistrate of Daxing was certain. After such a result, many people who had felt envious and jealous of Lu Zhen being able to enter Emperor’s eyes twice in a row felt their minds balanced, because everyone knew that the chair of the Great Xing County Magistrate was really not easy to sit on. The previous one was a lesson from the past. Generally speaking, it was very difficult for officials in this position to end well. They would often lose their posts for one reason or another after a year and a half. They would even be involved in the future of studying hard for ten years.

Although Lu Zhen had indeed displayed extraordinary strength before, in the eyes of everyone, he was still just a fool. It was easy to imagine what the outcome would be if such a fellow became the county magistrate of Daxing County.

At the same time, many people were puzzled as to why Hu Ying would do this today. For this reason, he even brought Emperor to the school grounds to perform this show. One had to know that as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he had sufficient power to arrange for Lu Zhen to be placed in the position of county magistrate of Daxing. After all, this was only a rank six county magistrate. It was a little unnecessary for him to do so.

Only a small number of people could see its true purpose. Hu had promoted Lu Zhen to Daxing County Magistrate through the mouth of the Son of Heaven, not only to justify himself, but also to protect this young official. Only by leaving an impression on the Son of Heaven would Wang Zheng, who he had greatly offended, dare not attack him. It could be said that Hu had worked hard to protect Lu Zhen.

Sure enough, after hearing Emperor’s words, Wang Zhen’s expression became gloomy again, but he was helpless. He knew that he couldn’t deal with Lu Zhen with the power of the East Factory for the time being, or else he would only get into more trouble. Of course, he still intended to viciously retaliate against the other party, but he had to do it more cleverly and concealedly, and even use Yang schemes instead of conspiracies.

Through Hu Ying’s actions today, Wang Zhen once again confirmed one thing-he still had too little say in the court. If he wanted to succeed, he had to quickly cultivate his connections and influence in the court.

After admiring the floating airship for a while and resisting the thought of boarding it to see the scenery below, Zhu Qizhen issued a decree to return to the palace. At this time, it was already dusk, so he really couldn’t delay outside any longer. Otherwise, once the palace gate was locked according to the rules, the owner of the imperial palace would be locked outside.

However, the impact of the airship’s takeoff did not end with Emperor’s return to the palace, because the citizens of the city had seen this strange thing appear in the sky.

This airship was floating in a miraculous manner. To ordinary people, it could be described as a miracle. Countless people knelt on the ground and even took out incense sticks to pay their respects. They all thought that this was a sacred object descended from the gods and buddhas in the sky.

For this reason, many folk scholars have also written many notes and essays, all of them mentioning this strange scene in July of the ninth year of the orthodoxy, and directly saying that this is the auspicious descent of the heavens, a manifestation of the heavens protecting our glorious era of the Ming Dynasty.

For a time, everyone inside and outside the capital was overjoyed, and many temples and temples were brimming with incense. The situation that had caused people to panic because of the successive killings had finally been reversed. This was somewhat beyond Hu and the others’ expectations.

Of course, not everyone would be happy about this matter. After Wang Zhen returned, he viciously lost his temper.

He did have reason to be furious, because he had never lost face like this in the past few years. The hundred households of the Royal Guards called Yang Zhen actually broke through the trap laid by Xu Gong. Not only did they escape to Jiangnan, they also killed the ambushers as a demonstration. As a result, Wang Zhen didn’t trust Xu Gong, an incompetent subordinate. He had already completely changed his mind. As for the candidate, it was his nephew Ma Shun.

However, at least for a short period of time, he would not put this idea into action, because in Eunuch Wang’s eyes, Lu Zhen, who had suddenly switched sides and ruthlessly humiliated himself, was the one who deserved to die the most.

Although he was unable to use force against him because of this incident-after all, this was an official noted down by Emperor, and no one knew when he would remember this person asking a few more questions-he could still do something behind his back to make him make a big mistake, and then punish him with court law. These were obviously good choices for the Royal Guards, so he wanted to use Xu Gong again.

When Xu Gong was called in front of Wang Zhen, he was even more panicked than last time. There was no other way. Who told him to screw things up again?

However, this time, Wang Zhen did not get too angry. He only snorted coldly at him and said, “The matter of Yang Zhen can only be put on hold for a while now. You don’t have any manpower to arrange it in Jiangnan, do you?”

“Yes” Xu Gong wiped the sweat off his forehead and whispered, “I didn’t expect them to be so alert that they could even kill such a layout …”

“Hmph, that’s because you don’t know how to employ people. Forget it, let’s not talk about this matter. Our family will give you another chance to atone for your sins. Don’t mess things up this time.”

“Eunuch, please instruct me to do my best.” Xu Gong hurriedly replied. He could tell that this might be his last chance. If something went wrong again, the Royal Guards’ commander would have to change his seat.

‘”Not only will Lu Zhen be safe and sound this time, he will also be in the position of county magistrate of Daxing County, and our family won’t be able to deal with him anymore. Therefore, we can only use some extraordinary methods. I want your men from the Royal Guards to keep an eye on him, and the people from the Daxing County Government. I want him to be unable to move a single step in the county government.” At this time, Wang Zhen was clearly furious, and his words were no longer so obscure.

Seeing this, Xu Gong couldn’t help but make a sudden move and hurriedly agreed. He had also made a decision in his heart. No matter how much effort he put in, he had to complete everything. Fortunately, this was just a county magistrate, so there were always ways to plot against him.

@ @ @ @

Apart from Wang Zhen, there was actually another person who hated Lu Zhen, the county magistrate of Daxing who was suddenly awarded the title of county magistrate by the Imperial Court. This person was the second in command of the county government, County Magistrate Lu Tu.

He was only a person of high birth, but with his shrewd mind and ability to drill, he actually managed to get along like a fish in water at the bottom of Great Ming’s official circles. For more than ten years, although he had always been the deputy and assistant two officials, he had unexpectedly advanced all the way to become a county magistrate of Daxing County.

Moreover, he had been in the position of county magistrate for four years, bribing all the people in the county government.

Previously, the county magistrate relied on his guidance on many things. In a sense, he was the person in charge of the Daxing County Government. A few days ago, there was a case. It was precisely because of his restraint that his boss was completely unable to investigate the case. In the end, it ended in a sad ending.

Lu Tu originally thought that with his many years of operation and the fact that the position of Daxing County Magistrate wasn’t very popular, not many people would compete with him, so it should be the item in his pocket. However, he didn’t expect that in just two days, the Ministry of Officials would send over the documents, saying that there was already a new candidate for county magistrate, Lu Zhen, who was transferred from Guangling County in Shanxi Province!

When he saw this document, Lu Tu’s entire face was twisted and distorted. What was the hatred in his heart? Could it be that the officials of the Imperial Court had always ignored him because he was only a person of high birth? Could it be that he was destined to only be a minor assistant official, and that there was no longer the possibility of him sitting on that chair in a dignified manner?

He could not accept such an outcome. He wanted to fight back and change this unfair outcome. With a gloomy face, Lu Tu looked at the document in his hand and finally fixed his gaze on the blinding name, “Lu Zhen? How can a county magistrate like you dare to come to Daxing as a county magistrate? I will let you know how difficult it is for the capital magistrate!”