Chapter 71: Shyness and Indignation

  Some people also blamed the old master of Zhizhou for not managing affairs, letting a salt policy inspector take all the power away. In early April, the same knowing and state official came to the Zhizhou government office, and also talked to the Zhizhou master about this matter in a roundabout way, hoping that the Zhizhou master could take charge of it.

  Yan Zhizhou, although a scholar by training, was not oblivious to the ways of the world. He naturally knew that his subordinates wanted him to be the scapegoat, so he slowly spoke up:

  "Before Yan Mou arrived in Jiaozhou, this place was notorious for being infested with thieves and bandits. Although there were no civil disturbances, the area was not peaceful. However, after Yan Mou took office, he found that the area was very peaceful, but he didn't know who to credit for it!"

  As soon as the sentence was finished, the officials of the Zhi Prefecture who had opinions suddenly closed their mouths. Everyone knew that the reason why Jiaozhou's business was booming and the ground was peaceful at this time was that without the consent of the Xun Jian Yamen, even stealing things on the main street would not happen in the second month after Li Meng entered the city to take office.

  There are people from the countryside who come to the city to buy medicine and have their silver money stolen. They go to the government office to report the crime, but the officials don't bother to investigate because they haven't received any bribes. Even if someone tells the truth, it's as if they had given them silver, we can't catch the thief, it's not worth offending anyone. The thief is caught and brought back, but they refuse to confess, so they're beaten and thrown into a large prison cell. A few days later, they're released. The local officials are worried that someone will throw things at their homes in the middle of the night.

  The one who bought the medicine was buying it for his parents to see a doctor, an urgent matter of life and death. At that time, he was so anxious that he sat on the street and cried loudly. It happened that Chen Liu saw him passing by, and Chen Liu felt the same way about the cost of the medicine. He immediately agreed to help find it. His method was also quick and efficient, directly taking out money to pay for the other party first.

  Back to the patrol officer's office, Li Meng sent someone to find Li Zhuanggui at a nearby warehouse in Jinzhou. Then he asked Li Zhuanggui to find some familiar yamen runners. Whether these runners could catch or not was one thing, but as for who the thief was and where they were hiding, everything was clear.

  The next thing was very simple, Chen Liu led the 40 salt dings brought by the yamen runner to walk around the streets of Jiaozhou City. The small Jiaozhou City had only about 15 or 16 thieves, and they were all caught within an hour. Li Meng didn't even need to send them to the government office for interrogation.

  They were sent out of the city and handed over to the saltworks, where they would be forced laborers. It was said that after two years, if they hadn't starved to death, they would be released.

  The day after the incident, Jiaozhou City suddenly became peaceful and tranquil, with everyone being harmonious and not daring to commit any crimes. Logically speaking, it was a good thing for the government officials, but the people of Jiaozhou City all knew who had the final say, and whenever something happened, they would go find Yan Zheng, which in turn made Li Meng's side feel annoyed, and eventually, all these trivial matters were pushed to the government.

  But Yan Ding became more and more powerful, with this god-like figure standing there, no one dared to casually pass by. As for the affairs of Jiaozhou, they all had to be asked about Li Xun's opinion before being handled.

  In the past, Mu Xun's inspection was indeed arrogant and domineering. But after all, he was just a local tyrant. Li Meng, on the other hand, was grasping for money and power, which made the officials of the prefecture's government extremely angry.

  Of course, the anger is still there, and these people can only complain to Zhi Zhou. This time, Zhi Zhou looked at the people below with an air of resentment and asked again:

  "How many soldiers and police officers are guarding the city gate of our Jiaozhou?"

  The county lieutenant and the vice prefect exchanged a glance, quickly calculated the number, and opened their mouths to say:

  There were eighty-six people present.

  Yan Zhizhou slowly said again:

  "This official has heard that there are nearly a thousand salt workers under Li the Patrol Officer. I ask you all, have the customary silver payments from the salt administration ever been short?"

  It's already unnecessary to say more, you're not even worth the other party's spare change, they've already given what they should have given, and they've already given enough face, what else do you want, do you want to tear your face apart? Although it's been half a year since Li Meng took office.

  But these officials thought of the dozens of corpses on the official road, and they had nothing to say. They silently bowed their fists and bid farewell, thinking that for a long time to come, they would not complain about this matter again.

  Yan Zhizhou was practicing calligraphy slowly while speaking, Yan Zhizhou is a Zhejiang native, and his family also has some industries. He doesn't take money matters seriously. On the other hand, Li Meng paid all the usual silver, which can be considered as giving face to both sides, and Zhizhou didn't want to interfere too much.

  After all, with Li Meng's existence, his place is prosperous and peaceful, and the evaluation of the Ministry of Officials' performance must be good. Three years have passed, and promotion to the imperial court is obviously not a problem, which is enough for Yan Zhizhou.

  As he thought and wrote, Yan Zhi-zhou put down his brush, feeling very satisfied. He figured it was about time for lunch, and the lady of the house should be sending someone to call him to eat soon.

  Someone outside the door shouted respectfully:

  "Master, madam asks you to go to the back hall."

  Judging from the tone, it seemed that there was something else, and it was still some time before lunch. Yan Zhizhou walked out of the study with a hint of surprise, only to see the butler standing by the door, smiling and saying:

  "Master, Li Xun has just sent someone to deliver some gifts to our mansion. The mistress is inviting you over to take a look."

  "Li Xunjian?" Yan Zhizhou shook his head and smiled wryly, thinking that this morning a subordinate colleague had also come to him for the salt administration inspection, and was just talking about him. On this side, he suddenly sent gifts over. This day wasn't any festival, the only recent one being Dragon Boat Festival. If it was to ask for something, it really couldn't be seen what else Li Meng would have to request from himself.

  In Yan Zhi Zhou's impression, Li Meng was a person who didn't follow official rules and regulations. He would directly give gifts to get things done, without even considering the process or giving face. Of course, he didn't know that Li Meng wasn't just not following the rules, but rather, he simply didn't know how. Ning Qian Gui only taught him how to open doors, and didn't have time to consider these details.

  When he arrived at the back hall living room, Yan Zhizhou saw his wife and a housekeeper in the living room excitedly looking at gifts. When Madam Yan saw Yan Zhizhou standing outside the door, she laughed and called out to him repeatedly:

  "Husband, come and see, unexpectedly this small place of Jiaozhou City has so many exquisite porcelain pieces. Look at the pattern on this one, and the color of that one."

  Rich people's homes are always well-equipped with such things. Yan Zhi Zhou didn't want to dampen his family members' enthusiasm, so he walked into the living room, where there were indeed many things, from everyday bowls and plates to porcelain pillows, pen holders, and toys, all of which were complete. Yan Zhi Zhou carefully examined a few items and smiled, saying:

  "They should all be high-quality goods from Jiangxi, but they were all fired in large kilns. In Shandong, they are also considered good things."

  He then turned his head and said to the woman beside him:

  "Go invite Miss over, if she likes these things, it's a pity that some of our family's better pieces are in Jiaxing..."

  Yan Zhi Zhou seemed to be enjoying the family time, accompanying his wife in a leisurely manner as they played with porcelain, chatting and laughing. After a while, Yan Zhi Zhou pointed at a porcelain piece and burst out laughing, shaking his head and saying to his wife:

  "This Li Meng really has no rules at all, who sends gifts and invites Bodhisattvas back, it's all about going to invite them back yourself."

  Madam Yan also looked over and smiled when she heard this, but then walked a few steps closer, stroking the Guanyin Buddha statue and saying:

  "Oh, this Guanyin is indeed a high-quality celadon, it must have been made by a skilled craftsman."

  As he turned his head, Yan Zhizhou only then noticed that his daughter was already standing by the door, probably having been there for a while, staring intently at those porcelain pieces. Zhizhou knew his daughter liked porcelain and thought to himself that she must have been completely absorbed in them. But upon closer inspection, something didn't seem quite right. He opened his mouth to ask:

  "Good heavens, why is your face so red? Ma'am, take a look, our child must be running a fever!"

  In the seventh year of Chongzhen, May, Shandong was drought and less rain, although it is not a complete loss, but the harvest is also hopeless. The border area between Qingzhou and Yanzhou, which had been calm, began to become lively again. Both Yanzhou and Qingzhou were gathering local troops to quell the rebellion, and Shandong was once again plunged into a tense atmosphere.

  However, what troubled Li Meng was not these things, but after sending gifts to the county government office, there was no response from the other party. Of course, if he said that those porcelain were sent to Miss Yan, even if County Magistrate Yan was as calm and collected as a cloud, she would have to fight with him to the death. It's not convenient to ask, nor does he know the other party's intentions, or whether his own intentions are known to the other party. Li Meng is really confused.

  In modern times, Li Meng has never been in a romantic relationship. All his knowledge about it comes from books and movies. In his impression, pursuing someone should be done by holding flowers and loudly confessing, but that's definitely not feasible in this era.

  In the middle of May, the official gazette for this month arrived at the yamen. Apart from the imperial decrees posted on the city gate, there was also a notice that was circulated among all officials with a rank in the province. Li Meng also received a copy. After all the officials read it, they didn't pay much attention to it.

  It was said that the servants in Li's mansion said that Li Meng had a bad mood that day, and several military households were scolded by him for trivial matters.

  The news in the newspaper is not complicated, saying that Gong Yude, a rebel general from Dengzhou who sailed out to sea in Chongzhen 6 years, has already had news. He defected to the Eastern Barbarian Tartars, and his more than 10,000 soldiers were divided into one flag, called Wu Zhen Super Ha. Gong Yude was conferred by Huang Taiji as Du Yuan Shi, Zhong Ming General Officer, equivalent to the Eight Banners' Ho She Beile, with a noble status.