Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 152

Chapter 152 Grasp The County Government
A piece of news did not attract anyone’s attention in the official circles, but it surprised the entire Daxing County Yamen. Their county magistrate, Lu Tu, actually made a request to the Ministry of Officials to resign.

If it had been placed more than a month ago, they would never have believed it. Lu Xiancheng had been in the county government for many years, and his power had completely overshadowed all the previous county magistrates, and he had obtained countless benefits from this. A person like him would resign from his official position? Perhaps even if he was given a county magistrate elsewhere, he might not agree to it.

However, the recent series of changes in the county government had allowed everyone to see some changes. The newly appointed county magistrate looked young, but his wrist was really smart, and he was tough. After a few moves, he actually ran over Lu Xiancheng to the point that he could only get sick at home.

Although everyone thought that Lu Xiancheng shouldn’t just swallow his anger like this, he should also make some sort of counterattack. However, after receiving the news of his resignation, many people were able to accept it. Because now county magistrate Lu had completely taken the initiative, not only did he change the people close to county magistrate Lu and replace them with a batch of new people, but he also recruited Zeng Zhubu and Yue Dianshi as second officials, making it impossible for county magistrate Lu to find any helpers.

Therefore, shortly after hearing that Ying Ding and the others had been captured for causing trouble, they learned that Lu Tu had resigned, and everyone could accept it. After everyone heard this news, they felt even more reverence towards County Magistrate Lu. Without a word, he actually forced such a powerful figure like Lu Xiancheng to leave this path. This was enough to show how powerful his county magistrate was.

Moreover, all of this was accomplished less than a month after Lu Zhen took office. I’m afraid that dealing with Lu Xiancheng hasn’t allowed him to fully reveal his true strength! Together, everyone in the yamen didn’t dare to look down on this young county magistrate, and all of them seemed to be behaving themselves.

When Lu Zhen first lined up at the beginning of August, he saw that everyone looked extremely respectful, as if a mouse had seen a cat.

The so-called Pai Ya was a formal ceremony in the county government. In detail, it was very similar to the Son of Heaven’s early dynasty, but its number and scale were much smaller. It only gathered people from the yamen in the hall of the county government to report on various matters. This was also the crucial moment for Yiya Zhengtang to show his might to his subordinates.

There was always a saying in the official circles that the local officials always envied the capital officials, because they could always meet Emperor, so the chances of getting promoted were naturally much higher. Moreover, the capital officials also had a large amount of unplanned income every year, such as Bing Jingchan Jing and the like, which was much more comfortable than an ordinary local official living a bitter life with only that small salary.

However, there was one thing that was far inferior to the local officials, and that was their extravagance. Being in Beijing, you should be cautious. In order to prevent people from gossiping, it is better to keep a low profile on some things. Even the officials of the six divisions wouldn’t dare to perform such a ceremony in the various yamens. However, when they were outside the city, a small county magistrate could gather all the people of the yamen to perform the ceremony. Some people would even become addicted to it, and they would do it once every few days.

As a capital official, Lu Zhen naturally had to keep a low profile, but in order to bring the people of the county government together, he also made an exception. However, just to be on the safe side, their platoon was also done behind closed doors, so that outsiders wouldn’t find out and provoke criticism.

Standing high in the lobby, Lu Zhen looked down at the group of people bending over to listen to the lecture with their eyebrows curled up. Lu Zhen was still quite pleased with himself, and even revealed a smile on his face. He was indeed happy, for it would be entirely up to him, and the rest of the people below would do as they pleased. This feeling of controlling everything was really wonderful.

However, he quickly stopped thinking and his complacency was swept away. Instead, he said with a solemn expression, “Everyone, don’t be too courteous. We will work together in the yamen in the future. This official still has a lot to rely on you. You are all my capable subordinates.”

“We should obey the county magistrate’s orders!” Everyone hurriedly replied in unison, and their momentum wasn’t small either.

Lu Zhen nodded his head in admiration before continuing, “Before saying anything else, this official has something to announce. Lu Xiancheng had been an official here for many years, and he had indeed worked hard, but after all, he was not young and had many patients on his body, so he took the initiative to bid farewell to the Imperial Court this time. However, my county government can not be less county cheng, so this official and the Ministry of Officials, please life, promoted to the county cheng book. Brother Zeng, from now on, everyone will call you Zeng Xiancheng! ”

Zeng Guang was obviously stunned. He did not know that Lu Zhen would make such an arrangement. His face was immediately filled with joy. He hurriedly went forward to pay his respects and said, “Thank you for your promotion, Your Excellency. I will remember it in my heart. I will definitely cooperate fully with you in the future.”

Zeng Guang had reason to be pleasantly surprised. This was a big promotion. An official like him who was a student invigilator could only be a small third or even fourth in command after a lifetime. Now that he was promoted to the second in command of the county government, it was already an exception.

Previously, he had considered helping Lu Tu sit in the county magistrate’s seat. In that case, the other party might help him find a space to rise in return, but even he wasn’t too sure about this. After all, there were rules in Great Ming’s official circles, so it was not so easy to make an exception.

But now, Lu Zhen actually helped him raise the county magistrate that he dreamed of in the blink of an eye. Just this point alone was enough to make Zeng Zhubu, no, now it was time to call him Zeng Xiancheng, enough to make him extremely grateful.

When Lu Zhen saw his pleasantly surprised appearance, he only smiled and said, “If you do a good job in the future, this official will not forget you.” As he said that, he turned to look at Yue Liqiu, who was staring at him. “Yue Dianshi, where are you willing to take the position of the master book?”

“Xiaoguan … is willing to listen to Lord’s will!” Yue Li Qiu swallowed his saliva and hurriedly said. Although this promotion was slightly lacking, it was still a step forward, wasn’t it?

Lu Zhen nodded his head, and then brought another honest leader who had been in the county government for many years to the position of Dianshi, allowing Lin Lie to take his place. Everyone else also had their own advantages. For a moment, everyone’s faces were filled with joy.

Ordinary people might just be excited about their own benefits, but smart people like Zeng Guang and Yue Liqiu were shocked by Lu Zhen’s ability to do all of this.

Although the county government was dominated by him, the power to appoint a few second-ranked officials was not in the hands of this county magistrate. This was a method used by the Imperial Court to check and balance the local officials, and it was also a rule that had been in place for many years. Otherwise, if he handed over such authority to a county magistrate, it would very likely lead to a situation that could not be lost. This was especially important in the capital.

However, Lu Zhen actually managed to complete everything without any hesitation. One must know that this was not a temporary appointment, but a direct appointment. It was an official appointment issued by the Ministry of Officials’ Yamen. In other words, County Magistrate Lu was actually able to let the Ministry of Officials promote two people through an exception!

Moreover, all of this was accomplished in a short period of time, which was even more astonishing.

There were countless scholars in the world, but there were only a few officials. Everyone yearned for the Ministry of Officials to choose them as officials. For this reason, how many people had used all sorts of methods to unlock relations in the Ministry of Officials’ yamen? They still had to wait for several months or even years before it would be their turn. However, County Magistrate Lu was quite good. He managed to obtain this vacant position for them in a casual manner. Does this mean that he has a powerful backer behind him?

Thinking back to his tough attitude when he fought Lu Tu, the few of them finally understood. County Cheng Lu really did die, actually dared to fight against county magistrate Lu who had such backing, even if he could really fight county magistrate Lu before, I’m afraid the outcome would not be better than now.

Of course, they didn’t know that Lu Zhen was able to accomplish this because he was very satisfied with Lu Tu’s defeat this time. This time, granting his request was just a feedback and a reward from Hu Butang. If Lu Zhen couldn’t even defeat Lu Tu, Hu Ying would definitely not help him, because what he wanted wasn’t an incompetent burden.

Regardless of whether they could see the powerful forces behind Lu Zhen, the people in the county government were completely convinced of Magistrate Lu anyway. This was reflected in their attitude after that. When they reported the many affairs in the county government to Lu Zhen, they did not dare to conceal anything in detail.

Lu Zhen also behaved appropriately in this regard. Although they did do some disgraceful things, Lu Zhen did not pursue them. He only said seriously, “I do not intend to pursue what you did before. However, after today, the people of Daxing County Government will no longer be able to bully goodwill and abuse their power for personal gain.” If there are any more offenders, don’t blame me for not being considerate. ”

The effect of these words was naturally very good. Lu Qianche could learn from them. They asked themselves that they did not have the power of Lu Xiancheng, so they naturally did not dare to go against County Magistrate Lu’s intentions.

Seeing that they only said yes, Lu Zhen’s expression softened slightly, “Next, this official will talk about external matters.” Since our Daxing County Government is in the capital, our duties are naturally much heavier than those of other county governments. In the past, it was because we were too weak to be bullied that our county government was ignored by everyone. Regardless of whether it was the people or officials, they almost didn’t think of us when something happened. But once something goes wrong, we will bear the blame. County Magistrate Li finally gave up his post because of this. This was also a crucial reason. ”

Hearing him say this, many people were stunned. What is our county magistrate doing? Our Daxing County Government is indeed located in the capital. Is it possible that we can still contend against those high-ranking officials?

Seeing their thoughts, Lu Zhen sat upright and said solemnly, “This official has already listed out 30 laws that all of my subordinates will have to abide by from today onwards. In these few days, you will declare it within the territory of the county government, and make sure that everyone knows the rules set by this official!”