Rise From the Humble

The house leaked, but it rained all night, and the late boat encountered a strong wind. This sentence couldn't be more appropriate for Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou. Some time ago, Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou Prefecture. The bandits were so fierce that they broke through several counties in the territory and surrounded Taizhou Prefecture. Fortunately, Zhu Ping'an, the magistrate of Jingnan, worked hard and made three major achievements: killing the Japanese, defending the city, and restoring the city, which saved Taizhou Prefecture's face. , and with some careful planning, he was able to survive the disaster safely.

But I never expected that just after surviving the Japanese pirates, a once-in-a-hundred-year flood would come.

Although the flood was a natural disaster and spread to most of the south of the Yangtze River, no one in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang prefectures was spared. The court would not hold itself accountable for the flood, but if the disaster relief was ineffective, it would not be able to escape accountability.

Therefore, since the floods occurred, Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun has been working hard every day, personally deploying and directing Taizhou Prefecture's disaster relief matters. From the prefecture to the lower counties, all matters related to the floods, no matter how big or small, have been personally reviewed.

With the prefect like this, the officials below naturally dare not slack off, especially Wang Qingcheng from the Yamen Experience Department.

Three days ago, when Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun was checking the Taizhou Prefecture's mountains and rivers map, he found an official document titled "Jingnan Magistrate Zhu Ping'an Respectfully Submits Taizhou Prefecture's Early Warning and Flood Control Book" because the official document was submitted by Zhu Ping'an. The title of the official document was about early warning and flood prevention, so Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, started reading it.

Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, couldn't help but become furious after reading through the contents and the date of payment.

Zhu Ping'an, the magistrate of Jingnan County, had already sent a document to Taizhou Prefecture to warn of the flood more than ten days before the flood!

Why didn't you pay attention to it?

If we had followed the advice in Zhu Ping'an's official document and taken precautions in advance, how could the flood disaster in Taizhou Prefecture have been so serious!

As a result, Wang Qingcheng, who was in charge of the government office's experience department, was called in by Taizhou magistrate Tan Lun and gave him a severe scolding.

If Tan Lunnian hadn't thought that he was arranging the army outside the city to prepare for the Japanese war, and he had indeed told Wang Qing and his subordinates not to disturb him if there was no big deal, otherwise what Wang Qing would have faced would not be as simple as a severe rebuke!

After this incident, Wang Xingcheng's memory improved, and he paid special attention to the official documents submitted by the following counties. Once they were related to floods, no matter how big or small, they were submitted to the prefect Tan Lun for review as soon as possible.

"Sir Wang, this is the official document submitted by Minghai County, Taiping County and Huangyan County today."

A clerk from the Experience Department came in and handed the official documents he received to Wang Experience with both hands.

Wang Xingli took the official document and read it carefully. Linhai County reported that the domestic grain price had dropped and stabilized at 500 Wen per stone, and Huangyan County also reported that the domestic grain price had dropped and stabilized at 500 Wen per stone.

Well, yes, this is good news. The master of the palace will be very happy to hear it.

After Wang Chengcheng looked through the official documents submitted by Linhai County and Huangyan County, he couldn't help but smile.

The same should be true for Taiping County.

Wang Xingli thought as he opened the official document from Taiping County. Well, it was indeed a report that the price of grain in the country had been reduced to 500 yuan per stone. Why is there a page at the end? !

What? ! Expose and report Zhu Pingan? !

After reading the content, Wang Qiancheng couldn't calm down and immediately ran to the room of Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun with three official documents.

"Master of the Palace, Master of the Palace" Wang Xingcheng hurried to Tan Lun's room without even bothering to knock on the door.

"What's going on? How can you behave in such a panic?"

Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, was discussing with Zuo Zhen the matter of deploying new soldiers into the city to help maintain order in the refugee camp. They were discussing at a critical point when they were suddenly interrupted by Wang Xianwen, who raised his head and spoke with some displeasure.

"What the Prefect taught me is that if you lower your rank as an official, you should be punished because it is unbecoming of an official." Wang Xingcheng lowered his head and said.

"Punishment is waived. Tell me, why did you rush to see me?" Tan Lun, the magistrate of Taizhou, took it easy and did not pursue it further.

"After returning to the government, my official has just received the official documents submitted by Linhai, Huangyan and Taiping counties." Wang Xingcheng reported.

"What happened in the three counties?" Taizhou magistrate Tan Lun asked.

"The three counties all reported that the price of food within their territory has dropped and stabilized at 500 wen per stone," Wang Xingcheng reported back.

"It's a good thing to lower the price of temperature-controlled grains. Why do you do this?" Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, said dissatisfiedly after hearing this.

"Master, the official document of Taiping County Magistrate also contains a letter of accusation, exposing and reporting Jingnan Magistrate Zhu Pingan, saying that Zhu Pingan, in the name of the county government, forcibly set the price of food in Jingnan at 2,500 yuan per stone! From this! For personal gain, according to local people in Jingnan, Zhu Pingan accepted bribes worth tens of thousands of silver from grain merchants."

As Wang Chengcheng spoke, he picked out the official documents from Taiping County and handed them to Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, with both hands.

"What?! This is happening!" When Tan Lun, the magistrate of Taizhou, heard this, his expression changed instantly! His face was full of anger!

"Isn't it possible? Jingnan Magistrate Zhu Ping'an is not like this, is he?!" Zuo Zhen opened his mouth in surprise after listening, but he was skeptical about Taiping Magistrate's report.

Because Jingnan killed an unusually large number of Japanese pirates, he and the prefect Tan Lun went to Jingnan for a private visit to check. In fact, he was very prejudiced against Zhu Pingan at first. He didn't believe that Jingnan would achieve so many achievements. He even suspected that Zhu Pingan killed good people and took credit for his crimes. However, he didn't expect that this was indeed the case. Not only that, they discovered during private visits that Zhu Ping'an, the magistrate of Jingnan County, was highly praised by the local people and was known as a caring, honest and capable official. Therefore, Zuo Zhen's dislike of Zhu Pingan turned into a fan. He did not believe that Zhu Ping'an could do such things as raising food prices and accepting bribes from grain merchants regardless of the lives of the people.

Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun was shocked and found it unbelievable. However, the records in Taiping Magistrate's official documents were well-founded and detailed, and did not seem to be fictions. Moreover, fabricating evidence to frame others was a serious crime, and Taiping Magistrate would not dare to test it. . To be on the safe side, Taizhou magistrate Tan Lun sent people to investigate secretly.

Soon, the secret investigators came back with an official document.

"Starting from today, every stone of grain in Jingnan County will be 2,500 yuan..." The black words on the paper and the bright red seal are all true!

Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun and others looked at the official document defining the grain price in Jingnan in front of them, and had to believe that the Taiping Magistrate's report was true. Zhu Pingan really defined the grain price in Jingnan in the form of an official document at 2,500 yuan per stone. ! As for Zhu Ping'an's acceptance of huge bribes from grain merchants, it must be true!

In the current flood situation, the people are in dire straits, how dare Zhu Ping'an act so recklessly! Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, couldn't help but turned livid with anger.

"Master Fu, please order me to arrest the corrupt official Zhu Ping'an and bring him to justice!" Zuo Zhen gritted his teeth angrily and asked Tan Lun with his fists clasped in his hands.

At this moment, his fan turned negative, and once again became Zhu Ping'an's anti fan. Zhu Ping'an wasted my trust in you and defended you in front of the governor. I didn't expect you to be such a corrupt official who doesn't care about the life and death of the people and only cares about personal gain!

"Yes!" Taizhou Magistrate Tan Lun nodded, but soon shook his head and stopped Zuo Zhen.

"Master Fu! If Zhu Ping'an is allowed to continue doing this, how will the people of Jingnan survive?!"

Zuo Zhen was puzzled and asked hurriedly.

"General Zuo, Zhu Ping'an is not an ordinary magistrate. He has made great contributions to the fight against the Japanese. He has just been promoted to the post of Zhejiang Provincial Envoy and Inspector, and he is only the temporary magistrate of Jingnan. Moreover, his magistrate is Xu Jie, the elder of the imperial court. , it is said that his promotion to Zhejiang Province was due to Mr. Xu Ge's care. If we only rely on this official document defining the price of grain, I am afraid that he will have many excuses and it will be difficult to convict him. And After some time, when the situation in Jingnan has deteriorated and become out of control, Zhu Ping'an will be punished. At that time, he will not be allowed to shirk!"

Tan Lun, the prefect of Taizhou, said slowly. He had always had a calm personality and was much more considerate than Zuo Zhen.

In addition to the above, he was also worried that if he dismissed Zhu Pingan in a hurry, he would be criticized for being jealous and intolerable.

Zhu Ping'an was promoted to Zhejiang's Sentinel Inspector Si Qian for his meritorious service. Afterwards, the title of the youngest and most promising official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was transferred from Tan Lun to Zhu Ping'an. He is thirty-two years old, starting from the fourth rank; Zhu Ping'an is only sixteen, and is already the fifth rank, only half a rank lower than himself. With the speed at which Zhu Pingan was promoted, no one doubted that Zhu Pingan would become his boss in a few years. Although he didn't care about this false reputation, many people in the circle said so. He was worried that if he dismissed Zhu Ping'an in a hurry, other officials would misunderstand him as jealous of talents and intolerant of others.

I am interested in becoming a prince and prime minister. If I leave a reputation of being jealous of talents and intolerant of others, I am afraid it will have an impact on my career.

After some time, when the situation in Jingnan deteriorates and gets out of hand, I will send Zhu Ping'an down again.

No more misunderstandings.

"Alas! That's the only way it can be. It's just that the people of Jingnan will have to suffer for a while." Zuo Zhen sighed.